Just as I provided some common sense tips for pedestrian safety, I thought now would be a great time to provide some common sense tips for winter driving too. Granted that “winter driving” is going to be different from region to region, so I’m going to focus primarily on the kinds of winters we get in Vancouver. At the same time, a colder and snowier winter is being predicted this year, so proceed cautiously.

If You Can’t See, Don’t Go

Last night when the snow was at its heaviest, I was walking through an outdoor mall parking lot. Suddenly, one of the cars starting back out of its spot while I was directly behind it. The driver didn’t see me. Even when I waved my arms and hollered, he proceeded to reverse out of his parking spot. He didn’t see me at all, yet he continued to move his car.

Don’t do that.

The entire back portion of his car was covered in the snow, since he didn’t bother brushing it off or waiting for his defogger to do the job. This is just one example. If you’re facing conditions where your visibility is severely compromised, don’t keep driving based on faith and intuition alone. Lives are at stake.

Avoid Sudden Acceleration and Braking

One thing that I’ve learned very quickly is that Vancouver drivers can oftentimes be over-confident. We don’t get a lot of snow around here, so people drive around the same way they would on a bright sunny day. That simply does not work.

Winter driving means making slower, but more deliberate movements. This means that you should avoid any sudden acceleration, sudden braking, or sudden turns. It is largely because of this faster movements that people lose control of their cars. This is also why you should keep extra distance between you and the vehicle in front of you.

They’re Winter Tires, Not Just Snow Tires

“Oh, it’s not that much snow. I don’t need snow tires.”

You can get away with your all season tires to a certain extent, but don’t confuse “winter” tires for “snow” tires. Just because there isn’t snow on the ground doesn’t mean that you don’t need winter tires. These tires are specially designed to handle snowy and icy conditions, but they also use a compound that is better suited for the colder temperatures. Likewise, be sure to check your tire pressure periodically, as the drop in temperature can have a dramatic effect.

Look and Steer If You Skid

Even the best of drivers can find themselves in a skid while driving in the winter. The key is knowing how to manage that skid so that you can regain control of your car. Again, it goes back to avoiding sudden movements. Ease off the gas (and don’t slam on the brakes either). As obvious as it may sound, you should then look and steer in the direction that you want to go, but make sure you don’t oversteer either.

Transport Canada has some nice diagrams for how to get out of a skid for a front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and an all-wheel drive vehicle.

Clear Snow and Ice From Car

Going back to the first point about visibility, it’s important to clear off as much of the snow and ice from your vehicle before you even start moving. Far too many people only bother brushing the snow off the windshield, but you have to consider all the other areas of your car too.

Get the snow off all the windows, all the exterior lights, the top of your bumper, the roof of your car, and just about everywhere else. See and be seen. Leaving a cloud of snow in your wake is not doing your fellow drivers any favors.

Allot A Lot of Time

Driving in the winter, particularly under more adverse conditions, isn’t the same as driving on a sunny summer day. It’s going to be slower. Expect to face more gridlock and delays. This isn’t Fast and Furious, so expect that you’re going to take more time getting from point A to point B. If you give yourself that extra time, you won’t feel as rushed and you’re less likely to make a stupid mistake.

And that’s all the advice in a nutshell: don’t be stupid. Everyone can thank you later.

Not to be confused with The Fast and the Furious (which was the first movie in the franchise), Fast and Furious (2009) takes place some time between the second and third films. Here, we find our heroes caught up in a drug cartel that is using the street racing scene to find the best drivers on the planet. They need these drivers to act as mules, delivering their product across the Mexican-US border.

As you may suspect, Fast and Furious offers a little bit of automotive eye candy for all the “enthusiasts” in the audience. While our friend Paul Walker is driving an R34 Skyline GT-R (the AWD Godzilla that precedes with the current Nissan GT-R), it seems that this flick has more of a focus on American muscle. Vin Diesel’s Toretto, for instance, finds himself behind the wheel of a Chevelle.

Though Fast and Furious is a movie that is clearly playing up its street racing heritage, I found the car eye candy to be a little lacking compared to previous outings. Yes, we catch a glimpse at a Honda NSX and a Nissan Silvia, but there might be more for you to see at your local auto show instead. Also, there isn’t all that much street racing for a street racing movie. I’m not encouraging or condoning these kinds of races in real life, but this is fiction. Let it rip. That’s why we came here.

The one street race through the streets of Los Angeles is pretty thrilling. Unlike some of the previous races where the roads were closed off, this race has no roadblocks whatsoever. The four drivers, who are racing for a spot on the drug cartel’s team, rip through the busy LA streets with absolutely reckless abandon. While we don’t get Ja Rule screaming out to Monica, we do get a nod to the original when Brian engages his NOS, saying that Dom hit his NOS “too early.”

The Fast and Furious franchise is built on memorable lines that are cheesier than Velveeta. I know that Dot Com Pho member Ed Lau can pretty well recite the first movie from memory. Nobody likes the tuna here. You almost had me? You never had me – you never had your car… Granny shiftin’ not double clutchin’ like you should. But I digress.

Even though I listed Fast and Furious as one of the more highly anticipated epic blockbusters to come out this year, I can’t say that I was terribly impressed. At the same time, I can’t say I was overly disappointed either. If you’re willing to suspend your disbelief and you got a kick out of the other movies from the series, Fast and Furious will provide a good night of entertainment. If you’re looking for lots of hot cars, hot girls, and a deeply involving storyline, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

The scary thing? A fifth Fast and Furious movie is already in development. It’ll be the fastest and furiousest one ever! Now if only I could find my two bottles of NOS. I do need them by tonight, after all.

Since we were already downtown for the Vancouver International Game Summit, Stephen Fung and I decided to take a quick jaunt over to the Art Gallery.

It was there that they were holding an opening day reception welcoming both guests from VIGS and folks there for VidFest. Unfortunately, there was no open bar (you had to pay for drink tickets). We did, however, get to watch one crazy demonstration.

The Mondo Spider, according to the official website, de-invents the wheel. This “ridable mechanical walking machine” was inspired by Vancouver Junkyard Wars. Designed by some UBC Engineering alumni, the Mondo Spider is a giant mechanical spider of enormous proportions, weighing in at about 1,500 pounds. It was originally created as a Burning Man 2006 funded art installation.

This gigantic metal spider has to be seen to be believed. Check out the video below that better explains a tweet that I put out the other day. The Mondo Spider won’t outrun a Nissan GT-R, but it could stomp all over it. If you look carefully, you can see Mostly Lisa in the background.

[Flash/Javascript needed. If you can't see the video, go to Beyond the Rhetoric.]

I had the opportunity to check out the 2009 Nissan GT-R when I was in Tokyo late last year and then I had another look at it when it rolled into town as part of the 2008 Vancouver International Auto Show. There is no denying that the Nissan GT-R is an absolute beast of a car and if it wasn’t already receiving enough positive attention already, the Japanese supercar has now earned the approval of resident car guy Jay Leno.

As you may have heard, there were rumors swirling that Top Gear could be coming to the United States and Jay Leno could serve as the host. Seeing how Leno is stepping down as the host of the Tonight Show soon to make way for Conan O’Brien, it could almost make sense. However, the man with the giant chin has already officially turned down the offer. The closest thing to a Leno-hosted Top Gear is Jay Leno’s Garage, as evidenced by the clip below.

The electronics in the Nissan GT-R are absolutely amazing, providing a customized display based on the driver’s preferences, showing virtual pods for oil temperature, boost, oil pressure, and 14 other metrics. The multi-information display was developed by the same people that brought us the PlayStation and Gran Turismo. Power for the GT-R comes from a 3.8L twin-turbocharged (and twin intercooled) DOHC V6 engine, developing 473 horsepower and 430 lbs-ft of torque. The 0-60mph time is just 3.5 seconds and, according to Jay, “it just pulls.”

Enjoy. American prices start at about $70,000 for the base model, whereas the Canadian version starts at about $80,000.

Zoom zoom zoom. Just as I attended the 2007 Vancouver International Auto Show last year, I had the opportunity to head under the dome at BC Place Stadium for the 2008 Auto Show earlier this month.

Because I write about cars as part of my work for Mobile Magazine, seeing the various concept cars and new releases isn’t quite as exciting as it used to be. Even so, it’s nice to finally see cars like the Chevy Volt in person. It was also interesting to see the Nissan GT-R with a left-hand-drive configuration (I saw the RHD model in Tokyo last November). The GT-R is a beast and I’ve been told that it represents the most expensive Nissan ever sold in North America.

I didn’t bother getting a press pass, because I was able to get a couple of free tickets from my brother. Can’t really beat the price of free. If it wasn’t for those tickets, admission to the 2008 Vancouver International Auto Show would have cost $12 per person (I went with Susanne). Anyways, if you check out the video above, you’ll see some of the pictures that I took while there.

Because there weren’t any new reveals — as far as I know — at the Vancouver International Auto Show, there really wasn’t that much for me to cover. Even so, I managed to pull three articles out if you want to give them a read:

• A Closer Look Inside the 2009 Toyota Matrix XRS
• Three-Wheel Performance Hybrid Approaches 100 Miles Per Gallon
• Hybrid X Concept: Toyota’s Vision of the Future

I was hoping to get more information about the 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart and the Mazda2 hatchback, but the reps had nothing for me. Shucks.

The FuelVapor concept car (seen in the video) is a local Vancouver area project and that three-wheeled “car” is said to push almost 100 miles on the gallon. This is consistent with the overall theme of the auto show, which seemed to have a focus on alternative fuels, better fuel economy, and other “green” technologies. That’s why I saw cars like the Chevy Volt, Ford Airstream, and Toyota Hybrid X. These three vehicles look very different from one another, but they’re all meant to be “green” in nature. David Suzuki would approve.

Supercars like the $178,000 Audi R8, on the other hand, aren’t very green at all… but they look like a lot of fun. Forget the Volt; get me an R8.

Maybe I’m getting older, but it seems like time has been passing by a lot more quickly than when I was younger. It seems nearly unfathomable that Halloween is only three weeks away and we all know what that means… Christmas is just around the corner. Before you know it, you’ll be sipping on eggnog, loitering around mistletoe, and singing your drunken rendition of Jingle Bells.

Before we get to that, we still have over three months to spend dabbling around in the blogosphere to see what’s going on, what people are talking about, and how you can spend your holiday bonus. For dot com entrepreneurs, like freelance writers, the only holiday bonus is the one you give yourself. I wonder how much my boss will give me this year.

Anyways, on with the ‘sphere!

Ms. Danielle is celebrating the seventh anniversary of her very pink blog, talking about all the different rankings that have developed over that period and offering five blogging tips to get there. It’s amazing what the California-based blogger and Internet marketer has accomplished in such a short time. Great work, Danielle!

Top Gear‘s Jeremy Clarkson had the opportunity to take a very unique concept car out for a test drive. Volkswagen decided to rip semi-random components from three vehicles, tossing them all into a compact hatchback. The net result is the VW Golf GTI W12 650. Why the long name? Well, this beast of a vehicle contains a 6.0L biturbo W12 engine, developing 650 horsepower and 530 lbs-ft of torque. Holy schmoly! Here’s the Top Gear video for your viewing pleasure.

Cash Quests poses the question as to whether you can make money guest blogging. I can tell you from first hand experience that you can indeed make money blogging for others, as evidenced by the paid reviews I happen to write for an evil panda slayer and proclaimed root of all evil.

HR World addresses the issue of employee depression. It may be more obvious to look at physical injuries and ailments, but depression is one of the most costly conditions for employers due to all the productivity lost as a result of it. HR World writes, “Depression not only makes employees difficult to work with, but it lowers productivity and affects the entire staff.” Given the time of year, we could be in for some seasonal affective disorder too.

Stephen Fung has proudly announced a new design for FutureLooks and he’s celebrating the occasion with eight crazy weeks of free stuff. Might I interest you in an Antec Veris MX-1 Actively Cooled Hard Drive Enclosure? Or maybe a Samsung SyncMaster 206BW 20 inch Widescreen LCD Monitor is more to your liking? Eight weeks, plenty of prizes. Check here for more details.

Here’s something I came across on Leftlane News that I thought was pretty remarkable. My perspective might be a little skewed, given that I write about the automotive and portable electronics industries on a daily basis, but this level of ignorance seems astounding.

58.4 percent of U.S. college students surveyed by Anderson Analytics believe Land Rover is an American brand. Only 18.5 percent of respondents correctly identified the marque as British.

About a third of those surveyed thought Lexus was an American company. Roughly the same number knew the luxury automaker was in fact Japanese. One can only wonder what small percentage of Americans actually realize Lexus is a Toyota-owned Japanese company.

Swedish automakers were also a source of much confusion. 49 percent of respondents said Volvo was German, and 40 percent thought Saab was, too. Roughly 15 percent of those queried correctly identified the two companies as originating from Sweden.

55.7 percent of students thought South Korean automaker Hyundai was Japanese. A nearly identical number of respondents also thought Korean electronics maker Samsung was also Japanese. Most students thought LG — also from Korea — was American.

Other non-automotive companies in the study include Nokia, which only 4.4 percent of respondents could identify as Finnish, and Lego, which most students think is American.

The survey sampled 1,000 U.S. College students at 375 universities during the fall-winter 2006 semester.

I guess with everyone owning everyone else (Ford having a big piece of Mazda and Volvo, for example), the concept of being a Japanese brand or an American brand is a little blurred. For example, Lexus vehicles, while owned by Toyota, were not offered in Japan under the Lexus moniker until recently. The same can be said about the Honda-owned Acura namesake (to be launched in Japan next year).

Oh, and for the record, Lego is based out of Denmark.

I know everyone is quite upset about the record gasoline prices here on the west coast of Canada. I for one am not taking it all that bad. I got myself a sweet road bike last summer for about $1000 and change. That cost me about half the amount I would spend on gas in a year. It was even cheaper than insurance.

Gas prices have just pushed me further into making those daily commutes fueled by a bowl of cereal, rather then big Oil Co. I’m sure I will get flamed for this, but I actually hope the gas prices keep rising. This has happened in Europe and people have managed to cope, take a look at the Netherlands, innovators in the way of alternative methods. Their gas is selling for around $6.50 US a gallon! If that were here, it would equate to around $1.85 a gallon. This explains why the Dutch have 16 million bikes on the road. If gas prices keep rising, people will not only be forced to look for other means of transportation, they will demand them.

So keep on rising gas, it ain’t gonna be cheap to pollute this planet of ours any longer.

Ever since the Wright Brothers, man has dreamed about flying like a bird. We have all sorts of aircraft out there that allow you to take to the skies, but you never get the same experience as a hawk soaring over the forest or even a pigeon fluttering around in the park. Sure, we have commercial aircraft, fighter jets, and hot air balloons, but the sensation of human flight has not yet been achieved. We’re actually a lot closer to making that a reality than you think, though.

Some guy named Larry Neal developed what he calls the Super Sky Cycle. It takes a somewhat eccentric-looking bicycle, straps on a rudimentary engine, and tops it off with all sorts of rotors and other helicopter gear. The end result is a flying motorcycle that is actually road-registered and available for purchase (as a kit for $37k USD). The rotor on top can be folded up, so that the Super Sky Cycle can be stored away more easily. The transmission can also switch between driving the rear rotor and the rear wheels, so it is just as useful on the road as it is in the air. Click here for videos of the Super Sky Cycle in action

One of the biggest restrictions to the Super Sky Cycle is that it is still a vehicle that you sit in, not unlike a private jet or a small helicopter. Man is not flying, per se. Man is fluttering around in a smaller helicopter. Yves Rossy of Switzerland was a little more adventurous.

Rossy, known to some folks as FusionMan, had a decorated career in the military as the pilot of a fighter jet. He later went on to fly commercial airplanes for a living. He’s also partaken in sky surfing, but none of these ever achieved the level of “flying like a bird” that he wanted. So he went and developed one crazy flight system. What resulted was a set of fiberglass and Kevlar wings outfitted with small, but powerful Jetcat engines. It was ground-breaking. It was dangerous. But he did it. He actually flew.

When you’re on a glider, you are descending toward the Earth the entire time. With Rossy’s JetWing, he was able to remain horizontal for over four minutes. His next goal is to try to ascend. The documentary video below is definitely worth the four minutes of your time. Craaaaaazy!