bravo

I was waiting for the 120GB PS3's to break the $550 barrier when I saw an awesome deal in Bond and Bonds latest mailer. 250GB PS3, God of War 3 (latest release pre-order, not on the shelves yet), and HDMI cable for $599!!! 120GB PS3 is that much on it's own - 250GB is usually $699. Not even on their website. Went out and got one straight away. The staff were surprised and it's either the start of a price drop for PS3, or a mistake. To price-match it, Noel Leeming would be out of pocket by a couple of hundy I'm informed, and they're owned by the same crowd. Was asked if I didn't mind ordering it in from Bonds so they weren't out of pocket. I know the folks down there so agreed. So if you're in the market for a PS3, get yourself a good deal.

Then they'd have to admit that radar detectors can have a legitimate purpose, and so their argument for "fake" radars, and campaign to get detectors banned wouldn't hold water.

The door is always open Sam, the spare rooms always available, and the fridge always full of beer - you know that.

Bought a 250GB PS3 today. Am also buying some audio gear off a BS member. Upped my budget and getting a Pioneer VSX-919, so I guess I ended up taking your advice in a way Alias. Plus a set of Wharfies to go with it. Should be the business. Bank balance needs to recover before I get the flat panel.

f/l e30's are based on the old m20 block/head so, you'd get away with that one if you're sticking with m20. Which means I'd be in the clear if I did my conversion after May. Didn't get picked up on my crankcase venting to atmosphere though! I should re-plumb it with a check valve at some stage.

Not sure if that's a rhetorical question, but ACC pulled the oldest trick in the book. Threatened to raise levies by an unrealistic amount that was bound to attract protest - which they got, they then "reduced" the increases to around half and everyone thinks it's great. The thing is, they're still increasing them by a ridiculous amount, they still haven't addressed the inequalities that exist. Multiple vehicle owners get stung even though they can only drive one car at a time, owners of unique vehicles get stung as they pay the same eve if they only use their vehicles a few weekends a year, and farm bikes and off road bikes get off scott-free even though they are highly represented in accident statistics. It's good to know about the proposed tyre change rules, but I was surprised how incensed members are about these changes compared to total silence on a much more important imminent law change. Hell you could buy a new set of correct-sized tyres for the extra acc levy in many cases.

^^ hah - love your work.

I think the new ACC levies are a more important issue to waste breath on personally.

Exactly. Electric motors make maximum torque at every rpm, so Torque cure is a dead flat straight line, and power curve is perfectly linear (minor fluctuations form voltage/current/heat aside.

I still disagree. Most of my investments are leveraged to some degree and there are some fantastic tax incentives to do things this way. It's about risk management and not borrowing outside your means to repay if everything turns to sh*t (ie - don't rely on return on investment to repay the loan, make sure you have a guaranteed income source from somewhere else to service it). People are scared to borrow to invest based on what happend with the Wall Street crash, but that was like the prime housing crash - people were ovver leveraged on investments that were selling for inflated prices due to the high demand created by easy finance. If you manage your borrowing to safe levels and buy wisely there should be no problem. I disagree. I bought my first shares at school at age 15 similar to Ron (RvT) $1000 worth of a nz transport infrastructure company. Blue chip, minimal risk, and I paid cash, so could afford to lose it. The younger you are the more risk you should take on (within your own financial limits). you have the rest of your life to rebuild if you make a mistake. You should reduce your risk as you approach retirement and your earning potential declines. There are less risky share investments too - buy an index or a series of indexes if you are worried about choosing the wrong companies. There are plenty of good investment products out there for the cautious-moderate risk investor. ^^^^This. And this ^^^ except the part about not worrying about balancing risk. You can still make a packet on some movers and shakers, whilst retaining some more low or moderately risk investments as a backstop and as funding source for more risky investment. Balanced does not necessarily equal boring or low return. Some of the wealthiest people I know have lost their shirts several times. I have a family member who goes boom to bust on about a 5 year cycle. I don't like that lifestyle but he has a ball. The busts suck, but during the boom's its Lambos and his and her Mercedes and the like. And all legitimate (but fairly risky) business ventures.

Good advice for an inexperienced trader looking to take some risks. If you play it fairly safe, then negative gearing (borrowing) can work. Best advice I have is spread your money around in different industries, and markets. Don't just buy shares - aim for a balanced portfolio (hard with only limited funds), invest in things that interest you as you're more likely to keep an eye on it, and have fun. Oh, and this^^^ If you can't afford to lose it, then don't invest it in shares.

They look good. Fairly common (two of my mates have them on their e36's for a start), and the reps are fairly heavy, but they look good..

With or without driver?

I know what you mean - had a guy full beam me on the way home the other night (must have thought I had my brights on). A quick flick of the highs plus spots sorted that one out. Guy prob thought I was being a prick, but his highs were definitely brighter than my lows.

Turning circle is better than the old one. I used to turn right occasionally and find myself in Chile! We used to joke that the turning circle was the equator. Now I can do a u-turn on a two-lane road if I can use the parking spaces on either side. So minor improvement! God knows why the Fords and Mazdas have sh*t turning circles.

Took delivery this morning more or less a month to the day since I started looking for a new ute. Pics when the weather improves. I'm going to wish I got electric windows and mirrors, but otherwise totally stoked with it. I-pod aux-in = great. It's a funny thing, for years utes only came with cassette decks when what you really wanted was a cd stacker. Now they come standard with cd player (6-cd in-dash if you get the SDX), and all you really want is ipod interface. Odometer reads 22km Also tool kit and jack is identical to the 15yo Courier, and it still has torsion bar front and leaf rear suspension. Handles better than the old ute, but technology hasn't changed much in 15 years.

Used to keep a copy of that in my glovebox in case I ever got pulled up before I did the mods that meant I NEEDED a cert. Never needed it, but was peace of mind.

I'm not speaking from experience with e46, but t usually pays to wait for the car that has all (or at least nearly all) of the options you want rather than try and retrofit them. The only proviso would be if it was the ONLY car you you could find that was in good enough condition. Josh (hybrid) added a lot of options to his e46 after he bought it including multi-function wheel I believe so he could talk you through it, but if I recall he said if he did it again he'd buy a car already kitted out.

HB mate, have a good'n.

I starting to think I was experiencing de ja vu....

I think you would do well to first think of what NOT to do. Top Gear mainly works as it has a big budget, good personalities, and the audience trusts that they know what they are talking about (even if they don't). Every nz show that has tried to copy that format (AA car show anyone?) has failed miserably. They can't get the cars on the show people want to see, they're over excited, look try-hard, don't provide enough details or substance and aren't entertaining. Cringe-worthy stuff! A show that reviews cars has to be big budget, big brands, entertaining, informative and polished. Performance car tv was ok, but what let that down was that the tech segments were too broad brush - not enough info. The problem is, if you go into too much detail some viewers switch off. So tech segments don't work unless the tech is just part of the bigger picture. PCTV was also a bit juvenile (even for many teenagers), the presenters thought they were way more awesome than they were, and there was ALOT of sponsors advertising (ontop of the scheduled ads) Not exactly a winning formula although I beleive it did enjoy some popularity (probably because due to it being nz, there was afairly good chance you would see someone you knew in nearly every episode. On the other hand I did get sick of seeing all of the producers and presenters friends in every episode. Even though I knew some of them as alot of the northland drifters who I went to school etc with were mates with the presenters (JT, Fanga Dan,etc) it got a bit much. People like to see what other enthusiasts are up to. Think of it kind of like a tv magazine where viewers cars get segments (and decent length feature segments too, not just a 2.5min overview). Intersperse it with some motorsport higlights (and crashes) maybe some cool stuff off the web (which you could then link to your website to have a web following too), some new car and auto industry news, and some good ol' shenanigans (someones paddock racing day, some local car clubs bikini car wash, some guy who parachutes out of a plane on his motorbike, or whatever) And you'd be set. The other problem is half an hour is a bit short for a car show. Throw in 12+ mins of ads and you only have 18mins for the show - no where near enough to do it properly - Infomercials are longer! That's why Top Gear is great - it's an hour. Even 45 mins would be OK. My 2c.

Take it to PM please.

Tech I vert even looks good with the hood up! Hot.

This rocks my face!!!! Love it. This, + Alice + Josh's project = too much stimulation!

That's insane. What a mission! Buildings and streetscapes look real!