Motortrend First Drive of the new 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 →

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Mercedes has stepped up the E’s semiautonomous game quite well. The system is called Drive Pilot, and here are the big bullet points: The E300 can follow the car in front of it at up to 130 mph. As long as the lanes are clearly marked, you can keep your hands off the wheel. Every now and then a graphic will pop up telling you to grab the wheel, but you can just lightly brush one of the two thumb buttons on the steering wheel, and the car will keep driving forward hands-free. While Drive Pilot is engaged, you can hit the turn signal to change lanes in either direction. Once you’re in the lane you want, just cancel the turn signal. In the States the system uses GPS to automatically adjust for posted speed limits, though you can override that (i.e. speed) by pushing up on the cruise control stalk.

This is a design and interior feature I can agree on! In this case, maybe when I make captain again this would prove to be a comfortable "airport" car as a certified pre-owned vehicle. Cheers to the new E-Class W213!

Do you Clash?

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The company made profits (before certain items) of €848 million, or $964 million, on revenues of €2.109 billion, or $2.326 billion. That compares to earnings before income tax, depreciation, and amortization of €515 million, or $592 million, in 2014, on revenues of €1.545 billion, or $1.777 billion.

Clash of Clans, which debuted in August, 2012, accounted for the bulk of that revenue, though Supercell didn’t say how much. The game was ranked at either No. 1 or No. 2 during the course of 2015 on the top-grossing list. It’s not official, but it’s pretty clear that Clash of Clans is the most successful app in the world.

And to this day, my friends and I are declaring "war" every weekend. And yes, I am also playing their new game, Clash Royale. It's addicting and still fun. 

Reach Across the Aisle

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Can you come to an unanimous agreement when it comes to receiving an awesome benefit such as a free flight?

From the capital to the campaign trail, political partisanship and a contentious election make disagreement feel like the new normal. It is clear that the country is divided. Or is it? Can compromises be made for the greater good? See what happens when unsuspecting JetBlue customers are tasked with putting aside personal differences to reach across the aisle.

Have I mentioned that I love working here? 

Nest Cam Now and 10% off Nest Aware + Video History

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Now's your chance to grab a Nest Cam and take advantage of their 10% off Nest Aware + Video History offer that expires March 1st. It's a beautiful product and simplistic in setting up and monitoring. Use it for home security, nanny cam or even hook it up to an exterior compartment for some outside monitoring.

I'm still surprised that Nest / Dropcam have not come up with an outdoor solution. Hopefully soon.

Ash Wednesday And Lenten Fasting →

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"The root of all sin" is thinking that one is god, something often expressed in a total preoccupation for accumulating money and power, the pope wrote. And just as individuals can be tempted to think they have no need of God, social and political systems can run the same risk, ignoring both God and the real needs of human beings.

"Love alone is the answer to that yearning for infinite happiness," Pope Francis wrote. It is the only response to the longings "that we think we can satisfy with the idols of knowledge, power and riches."

As he advised a year ago, Pope Francis reiterated that Lent is not just about giving up the soda, video games or anything else personal per se. The bigger picture is partaking in giving and doing good for others.

But Pope Francis has asked us to reconsider the heart of this activity this Lenten season. According to Francis, fasting must never become superficial. He often quotes the early Christian mystic John Chrysostom who said: “No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”

Playboy Goes PG-13 →

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In short, the new Playboy, which will appear on newsstands as early as this weekend, has ditched its jauntily illicit aura and become a slightly saucier version of a lot of other magazines, like Esquire and GQ. But the March issue retains elements of the original DNA, including a lengthy interview (with the MSNBC host Rachel Maddow) and a long essay by a famous writer (the Norwegian memoirist and awkward-moment connoisseur Karl Ove Knausgaard).

Whether this will appeal to younger readers without alienating regulars is unclear. The problem is that many of these ingredients can be acquired separately by anyone with time and a web browser. And with a web browser, these ingredients can be acquired in no time at all.

The print version of Playboy, in other words, is struggling with the conundrum of the Internet, just like every other legacy media enterprise. But say this for the redesign: Even if it fails to increase subscriptions, it makes that deathless dodge “I read it for the articles” a little easier to utter with a straight face.

Exactly. Now we can truly admit it was always for the articles. I will miss the cartoons but who the hell am I to say. I haven't seen a Playboy magazine since my college dorm room days and back then, Maxim was the "better" magazines for pictures. Just saying.

via NYTimes via Playboy

Will Twitter's Periscope Turn GoPro Around? →

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Do you really believe that a Twitter / Periscope and GoPro solution will bring the stock back up from it's 90% drop over the last year? This chart seems to think so.

GoPro has teamed up with Twitter, according to the Wall Street Journal, and announced that its Hero 4 cameras are able to connect to Periscope and live-stream whatever the user is recording.

The connection is designed to allow users to use both their smartphones and their GoPro cameras intermittently without interrupting the live broadcast.

I still don't own a GoPro but would like one if and only if I can actually start filming while on duty. =)

Comparing the 2015 Toyota Prius to the Brand New Redesigned 2016 Toyota Prius →

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It's been a while (almost a month to be exact) since my last post, but I've been around.  Lately, it's that my 1999 BMW 5.28 iT (wagon) is on it's last leg.  And with that, I'm out with the necessity of yet another car payment.  So with that, here's to 2016! 

Over a gentle drive of 22.5 mostly highway miles, we got a dashboard display of 67.3 mpg. But when you add in a similar stretch of more stop and go driving and some winding roads, our total for 48.8 miles was 57.3 mpg. That's a great number, even if the overall average amount of fuel you'll save over the course of a year with the fourth-gen Prius instead of a third-gen model is negligible. Given 50 mpg combined in the third-gen and an estimated 52 in the new Prius, you'll save around 12 gallons if you drive 15,000 miles a year

Toyota dealerships are giving around $4,000 - $6,000 off the outgoing 2015 model. That's around $65 - $100 a month in savings at 0% APR which they don't offer on the 2016 model.

Essentially, 12 gallons a year which equates to $36 a year at current rates, it's probably best to take advantage of the 2015 deals.  Don't get me wrong, I've always believed in getting the latest and the greatest, and with the new tech in the 2016 Prius, it makes it even more tempting but let's face it; the deals they have going right now are just down right ludicrous.  

A Quick 'Photography Basics 'Run Down

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For everyone that is either receiving or giving a camera for the Christmas / Holiday season, check out Tek Syndicate's great video that covers the main three topics: ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed.

You also can't go wrong with Olympus' new OM-D E-M10 Mark II paired with my favorite Panasonic Leica SUMMILUX 25mm f/1.4. Check them both out!

Long Beach Airport Must Allow More Flights →

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Now, a recent recalculation of that formula using the noise production data of today’s quieter jetliners concluded that Long Beach must allow at least 50 flights a day (if demand exists for that many). Under the terms of the Long Beach noise ordinance, airport officials now have less than 30 days to offer nine additional sets of landing and takeoff rights to the airline community. If no such offer is made, the city’s airport noise ordinance will be voided and, at least in theory, the city would have to allow airlines to offer as many flights there as the facility can handle physically.

I hope that JetBlue capitalizes on these slots! Even more so, I hope that JetBlue and the city of Long Beach can agree to have a customs terminal built and begin some awesome Mexico or even Canadian flying!

update: picture of the Airbus A320 that I flew out of Long Beach on the 16th of December 2015 as a Long Beach based First Officer.