Vary Creative | Social Media | Family

Is this your next “flying” car?

chrisvary — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 02:45:21 +0000

Introducing the Terrafugia Transition Car/Plane. It’s part plane and part car. This baby can fit comfortably into a one-car garage with its retractable wings. I am not sure when something like this can be put into production… people can barely drive next to each other let alone fly.

I cannot wait to see cops in the air too! If you have $10k U.S., you can reserve one today.

They have a website and Facebook page. Take a look or flight!

Just the facts….

The Transition^®

Every pilot faces uncertain weather, rising costs, and ground transportation hassles on each end of the flight. The Transition® combines the unique convenience of being able to fold its wings with the ability to drive on any surface road in a modern personal airplane platform. Stowing the wings for road use and deploying them for flight at the airport is activated from inside the cockpit. This unique functionality addresses head-on the issues faced by today’s Private and Sport Pilots.

Terrafugia’s award-winning MIT-trained engineers have been advancing the state-of-the-art in personal aircraft since 2006. Now you can streamline your flying experience with the revolutionary integration of personal land and air travel made possible by the Transition® Roadable Aircraft.

Performance

Cruise: 100 kts (115 mph)
Rotate: 70 kts (80 mph)
Stall: 45 kts (51 mph)
Range: 400nm (460 mi)
Takeoff over 50′ obstacle: 1700′

Fuel burn: 5 gph
Fuel tank: 20 gallons
Useful Load: 430 lbs
On road: 30 mpg, highway speeds
Light Sport Aircraft (LSA)

Convenience
Front wheel drive on the ground
Automotive-style entry and exit
Two place, side by side
Automated electromechanical folding wing
No trailer or hangar needed
Cargo area holds skis, fishing poles or golf clubs

Safety
Drive in case of inclement weather
Proven 100 hp Rotax 912S engine
Full vehicle parachute available
Modern glass avionics
Automotive crash safety features

Dimensions

Folded:
6’ 9” tall
80” wide
18’ 9” long

Airplane:
6’ 3” tall
19’ 2” long
Wingspan:
27’ 6”

Cockpit:
51” at the shoulder

Training
Become a Sport Pilot in as little as 20 hours of flight time in a Transition®-specific course. For existing pilots, get comfortable quickly with the familiarization training included with every Transition® delivery.

Order Today
Place your fully refundable $10,000 airframe reservation deposit here. Anticipated purchase price: $194,000.

Has Facebook privacy “Jumped the Shark”?

chrisvary — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:28:35 +0000

Matthew Milan and Joseph Dee are attempting to mobilize a formal Facebook revolt with Quit Facebook Day. What do you think? Have you had enough of the #1 social media site or are you in it to win it?

Facebook recently has had its troubles with communication and privacy issues regarding its members. This has the masses scared that the 400M member gorilla has maybe gotten too big.

That said, Facebook is still the best way to communicate using a keyboard with friends and family. I am in it and plan to stay.

What are you thoughts? Click to vote on Mashable’s Poll.

Here is a video describing Facebook’s privacy concerns:

Type O Negative’s Peter Steele is Dead

chrisvary — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:39:30 +0000

Type O Negative, the band not the blood-type, lead man Peter Steele is dead. Apparent cardiac arrest. He led a great rock band with deep vocals. In the nineties, they released an album called Bloody Kisses. Great album. Steele was 48.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1637106/20100415/type_o_negative.jhtml

This is a song from they Bloody Kisses album, called, “Can’t Lose You”.

The Yike Bike | Refining Cycling [Video]

chrisvary — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:42:46 +0000

I saw this video on Engadget today. The Yike Bike is a new kind of electric bike that folds up to the size of a small suitcase. It’s part unicycle, recumbent and electric bike all mashed into one. Even the handle bars are behind you leaving you open when you ride. I guess no more nut shots when you go over the front of the bike!

While I think this is revolutionary, it reminds me of the WALL-E movie. I can see it now, thousands of these bikes at Disneyland. But they will be fun.

Here is a link to a FAQ on their site.

Happy Easter Everyone!

chrisvary — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 02:23:30 +0000

We are almost one week to Easter 2010. Can you believe it? It has almost been a year in Texas, time is flying. Here is a great pic of Debbie and Addison decorating some eggs.

Christmas Pictures ’09 posted in Spring

chrisvary — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:20:26 +0000

I thought that on the first day of spring I would post my holiday ’09 pictures! Here is our annual trip to Detroit to see some well-missed family. Happy spring everyone!

Day One @ SXSW2010 | Austin, TX

chrisvary — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:30:44 +0000

Today was mostly registration and meet-ups. Everyone is setting up booths, playgrounds, recharging lounges and speaking panels. I am excited to see my pals from the Weber Shandwick network and friends from around the US. Now that I am done with some calls and work, it’s time to listen in on some great speakers and music.

Here is what is happening so far:

I am excited to see the new Chevy Volt on 6th street. I saw it drive off today and it is very, very silent (hence electric). I may try to be an early adopter but I will settle for a video of the car that I will shoot.

Microsoft is here with Silverlight. With the downfall of Adobe Flash on OSX computers and YouTube moving to HTML5 (demo in link), I am interested in how MSFT is going to handle content with this new software. Netflix has chosen Silverlight for their browser viewing, good or bad. This is something to pay attention to and I want to see what is next for them.

Web Fonts on web sites are an interest to me too. With CSS3 out there, web fonts are no longer limited to times, arial, and courier. This allows designers to create some great web pages with interesting typography, finally. I am a long-time typographer and it makes me excited to see that typography will be a focus on the new HTML5 and CSS3. Here is a link where you can see it in action.

Foursquare and Gowalla are having an all-out battle here. Personally, I am a fan of Foursquare. Honestly, I have not tried Gowalla, but I stick with what works. Foursquares’ new version, 1.7 has improved UX, well needed and nicely done.

Today, the Apple iPad went on pre-sale. I am temped to get one but with the lack of Adobe Flash and internal camera I think I’ll wait. The 3G version will be a bust unless you can pair your phone with it to make calls. $14.99 a month sucks and reminds me of the days of the AOL monthly charge.

Follow me at www.twitter.com/chrisvary for updates throughout the weekend.

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Best Buy and Employee Collaboration

chrisvary — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:35:09 +0000

In this video, Best Buy demonstrates how they took some great digital tools to create collaboration with their workforce. From Blue Shirt Nation to workplace enhancements, Best Buy empowers their 155,000 employees.

Autotune the News | The guys are good

chrisvary — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:30:45 +0000

The Gregory Brothers are the famous, Autotune the News guys on YouTube. They just released an album.

This band is an all-family outfit. Brothers Evan, Andrew, Michael, and Evan’s wife Sarah have traveled the country together singing and playing. Now they reside in Brooklyn where they produce music and video antics to the delight of children everywhere.

Below is my favorite video from YouTube.

Symphony of Science – ‘We Are All Connected’

chrisvary — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:43:50 +0000

The Original Song:

Great Carl Sagan AutoTune: