Car Review: Chrysler Town & Country Minivan

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I recently drove a couple of versions of the latest Chrysler Minivans: a basic short body length car and a longer Town & Country version (rentals). My quick thoughts:

  • They work, and includes some very useful design items. The dashboard controls are easy to use (with the exception of the strange shifter) and the radio is not bad.
  • Air circulation on the short version is not great (for the people in the last row), while the longer version has adjustable air ducts throughout the mini-van.
  • Reasonable power, though they really should have a 5 speed automatic like the 2005 Honda Odyssey.
  • Handling: Low marks as the ride is rather soft, especially when the minivan has 6 passengers. The 2005 Honda Odyssey feels more sure footed.

Barnes to Move

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Philadelphia’s fascinating Barnes Foundation is set to move downtown (from the Main Line) to Museum Row. Virtual Properties has a VR scene of the exterior here. Founder Albert C. Barnes, a patent medicine millionaire, never wanted this – he loathed the downtown art crowd. Visit the Barnes before it moves… Carol Vogel has more. Background links: Alltheweb Clusty Google MSN TeomaYahoo Search
“Everything these days doesn’t have to be a tourist trap.”

Posted in Art.

Atlanta Commits to WiFi Network

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Atlanta is rolling out wifi across municipal facilities, according to Glenn Fleishman:

A big chunk of City Hall unwires this month, and chunks of the Atlanta airport by March 2005. A private firm has contracted with Atlanta to add Wi-Fi to city buildings, but will also continue its own rollout at private locations like hotels and retail stores. This is an interesting partnership, because the city?s stamp on the Wi-Fi carrier, Biltmore Communications, and the branding of the service as Atlanta FastPass should make it a much easier sell for private parties to want to climb on this particular bandwagon.

Meanwhile, Megan Costello has more on Madison’s WiFi plans.

Madison WiFi Paid or Free Service?

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David Isenberg emailed me and PLEADED that the Madison folks make this a free WiFi service as he rarely pays for it any more (other than hotels). That is largely my experience. There’s often a free hotspot available in the big cities (I parked recently in San Francisco prior to a meeting and fired up my laptop, only to find several free WiFi hotspots).
I think any local WiFi network based on subscriptions will be a challenge.

Letter to America: Jurik Martin on The Airport Security Mess

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Dave Farber forwarded Jurik Martin’s email regarding the impression the current airport security mess makes on visitors:

The collective agony is compounded because to complain publicly is not allowed any more when the issue is national security, even if its implementation is far from perfect. It is, for example, patently obvious that Dulles does not have enough security gates, but to point this out could mean a one way ticket to Guant?namo.
It would also be unwise to ask if it is always entirely necessary to half undress before passing through screening, frozen-footed, clutching belt-less trousers, boarding passes and government-issued identification clenched between teeth.
Last month I witnessed a security agent ordering a mother to pass a three-month-old separately through screening (by rolling the child through, perhaps).

Tim Kelley: Kenton Peters on local politics & development

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Tim Kelley summarized a recent letter on Madison’s downtown development trends from local developer Kenton Peters. [I’d like to link to it, but their articles go offline rather quickly]. Peters likely makes some useful points on the City’s “development process”, however, I for one, do not want to see another Peters building inflicted on the city. Peters’ federal courthouse (the blue silo version) and the WARF monster on University Avenue are surely more than sufficient eyesores. Background links: Alltheweb Clusty Google MSN TeomaYahoo Search