Porsche - a brief history

Ferdinand Porsche played an important role in the development
of airplanes and racing cars, and the construction of tanks for
the Wehrmacht. He is an automobile engineer with more than
a thousand patents to his name. He was appointed chief engineer
at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart in the 1920s. Later on, he set
up his own engineering workshop and designed among others
the Volkswagen. At the plant where Volkswagen was made,
Wolfsburg, he was chief of operations and at the end of the war
he was interned by the Allies.

He was released a few years later and started building his first car
with his son, Ferry Porsche. The car was named the Porsche 356
and it was a sports car and a reminiscent of the Volkswagen.
It had the same four-cylinder boxer engine that was rear-mounted,
just like the VW. It was far from being a powerful sports car,
developing only 40 bhp and a maximum speed of 87 mph (140 km/h).
First produced as a convertible and later as a hard top it distinguished
by the very elegant and innovative body. It was developed in the
workshop of Erwin Komenda, a master of restrained streamlining
who had been in charge of sheet metal and design techniques at
Porsche since the VW Beetle.  The new style of closed coupe was
designed by Komenda and it soon became the embodiment of the
sports car, thanks to its fastback.

This tradition was continued by Komenda and Ferdinand “Butzi”
Porsche, the founder’s grandson, with the 911.

The 911 became easily recognizable: it had attractive sloping
bonnet and what later became characteristic “frog eye” headlights,
curves running from the top edge of the windscreen to the rear bumper
and a straight waistline. From a functional and technical point of
view it was more like BMW 1500, although it retained the stylistic
features of the original Porsche. The new 911 will become the
foundation stone of Porsche’s identity, even though the design
was not always appreciated. During the 1970`s and 1980`s, the
designers attempts to distance Porsche from its legendary design brought
the company to the edge of disaster. The more modern 924 model,
“a people’s Porsche”, developed with Volkswagen, as well as the
928 were far from fulfilling the expectations.

In the 1990`s, the company realized that what for over twenty years
was perceived  as a straitjacket, it was in fact a market
advantage. During the 1990`s, Porsche became highly
profitable since they now knew that the typical Porsche features
were timeless. Nearly forty people now worked in the design
department on further developments of the long-running 911.
These developments included the 911 GTI, a powerful combination
of sports and racing car, put forward by the in-house designer
Anthony R. Hatter. In 1999, chief designer proudly presented the
new Boxster which enabled Porshe to establish a second
independent range of models.

Safety A Garage Necessity

What do you see when you first examine a garage?

The garage door. This is the first and most important “contact” of
your garage to the world. If you want full confidence in your
garage, this “contact” should be 100% secure and safe. Also the
door says a lot of you and of your taste in design. You can have a
beautiful house but if your garage door is a wooden, plain,
white one with that makes an awful sound when opened or
closed, says a lot of you and your negligence regarding style and
safety.

An ageing garage door and opener could be a real threat for
your children or pets. Injuries and death are a thing of the past
with the new openers and garage doors. If you plan to remodel
your garage, one of the first steps in doing this must be changing
your doors and openers.

Old garage doors have been heavy, huge, wooden colossus that
rot and crack. Even though wooden doors provide a wide range
of styles and textures the problems related to poor insulation are
real and even of present times. An alternative is the fiberglass
material, inexpensive, easy to lift, resistant to corrosion and the
require little maintenance but they also provide little insulation
and security.

If you want a maintenance-free, durable and not-wrapping garage
door you need steel. They also provide good insulation, being
made of two or more sheets of steel alternating with a variety of
insulating materials. The also come in various textures, styles,
shapes and colors suited to your needs. Moreover, you can add
windows including the reflective type that provide an obscure
view into the garage.

In 1991, automatic reversal doors for garage door openers have
been required by law in the United States and in since 1993
optical sensors became a requirement. The sensor works perfect
for your safety: if something gets in the way of the sensor beam
while the door is going down, the sensor sends the door back up.
Also the new design provides more security and quieter
operation. Today, the silence options include a belt-driven trolley
made of Kevlar or, the cheaper option, a screw-drive model with
a plastic-lined track to lessen the noisy contact of metal-to-metal.

Remote controls have been upgraded so you can find a
remote control having enough buttons to control the lightening or
appliances in your home and garage. Another option for your
remote-control buttons are the child-safe lock-out and the rolling
security codes witch automatically change every time the garage
door opens to prevent the stealing of your opener’s code.

Even though you have all these changes added to your garage,
security and safety are not 100% guaranteed.  It is better that the
installation of a new garage door and opener be done by a
professional team who can make the proper adjustments that will
allow the sensitive equipment to provide you with the maximum
amount of safety in your garage.

Porsche vs Ferrari

Porsche and Ferrari are German and Italian sides of the same
coin, interpretations of the sports car idea. Both founded by a
dominant patriarch, both honed in racing, both more than 50
years old, both with engineering and styling integrity. Whether on
the track of Le Mains or on the streets, the two have always been
put head-to-head and compared. Even the most naive motorist
associates these two names with both performance and style.

We’ve decided to compare the methodical Porsche 911 Carrera
4S and the passionate Ferrari F430 because both of them astonish
with their performance while attempting to maintain a reasonable
amount of practicality but do not pretend to be anything other than
sports cars.

A modern sports car should feature these characteristics: it should be
started easily, maneuvered around town, blasted on a couple of
country roads, it looks and performs the part on a racetrack but at the
same time it is very safe.

The easier way to separate the two cars is by measuring figures since
both of them have mastered the modern sports car requirements and
basically there’s no other way to choose between these two phenomenal
cars.

What initially impresses is Ferrari's lightning fast 4-second 0-100km/h
acceleration and thrilling exhaust tone. As the occupants are pinned to
the seats, the new generation 4.3-litre V8 pushes out 368 snarling
kilowatts. Porsche’s acceleration also offers that kick in the pants a
super car should deliver, although it is 0.8 seconds slower at the 100 km/k
mark.

With such acceleration performance, it comes natural for both cars to
excel in the braking department. The two cars offer optional ceramic
discs for impressive stopping.

Porsche’s engine gets the upper hand as it is more refined and on
the economy rank leaps ahead Ferrari with a 11.8 liters per 100 km
as opposed to 18.3 liters. Both cars deliver the power through impressive
6-speed gearboxes and offer top rate handling performance.

Both F430 and Carrera4S offer great interior comfort and even if the
space is limited, the occupants don't feel claustrophobic and flustered.
Although an impressive mix of suede, carbon fiber and aluminum abound
in the Ferrari, the Italians stand no chance when it comes to the high finish
level attained by the Germans.

Speed and silence are key elements for any super car.  The look and
appearance is the biggest draw card. The Carrera 4S is a typical Porsche,
despite the new proportions. It is a great looking car, like any other 911 but
somehow the styling no longer creates the jaw dropping reaction that the
Ferrari does. Indeed, traditionalists may say that Porsche pays homage to
its roots, but the truth is that Ferrari F430 simply draws the attention.

However, even if Ferrari F430 takes your breath away with its appearance,
the super car title goes to the Porsche Carrera 4S with a more complete all
round package.

A Wealth of Kid Hobby Ideas

Every young person needs a hobby.  An interesting kid hobby will help children learn as well as keep them entertained for hours.  It might even help them stay away from a bad peer group and stay out of trouble.  Some kids might think of video games or TV as an appropriate kid hobby, but most parents would like to see their kids doing something more challenging or educational.

A good kid hobby is playing a musical instrument.  The guitar can often be self-taught from a book if a child has the interest, but for piano playing or other instruments, you will probably have to invest in lessons.  Practice is, of course, an essential part of mastering any musical instrument.

Another type of kid hobby is pursuing an art or a craft.  Kids can learn to draw, paint, or make scrapbook pages.  They can learn needle arts, such as embroidery, sewing, knitting or crocheting.  Beginning carpentry is a very useful kid hobby that may turn into a career, or at least skills that will be used for a lifetime.
  Tinkering around on gas engines or electronics is another kid hobby that can lead to useful skills.

There are all sorts of things that kids might like to collect for a hobby.  Some of the more common collections are of stamps, coins, and rocks.  Stamps are interesting because they can be from many different countries, becoming a geography lesson.  Coins and stamps both are of historical significance, and encourage reading to learn more about different eras in history.  Rock collecting as a kid hobby requires looking into science books.

Other collectibles include bean bag toys or figurines of a certain thing, such as owls, frogs, or unicorns.  Anything a child has an interest in can be collected.  If a kid is interested in dolphins, for instance, she may not only collect dolphin figurines and posters, but also be motivated to read books about dolphins.

Construction sets also make a good pastime for kids.  Many people may think of these only as toys, but children who have grown up with these sets and added components to them down through the years can create some pretty impressive models.  They are also gaining skills in reasoning and perception as they build.

Making model, such as cars, boats, and airplanes, has always been a popular kid hobby.  If your child is interested in making models, be very encouraging in the beginning.  Model car kits can be very complicated and require a great deal of precision.  If your child's first few creations leave a little bit to be desired, don't laugh or scold, or he is likely to never want to try to make anything again!  Get the easiest kit he is willing to make and then patiently help him as much as needed.

Many kids enjoy sports, making any athletic activity a great kid hobby.  Soccer, basketball, and little league baseball all come to mind, but don't forget about track and field events.  Maybe your child would enjoy distance running or gymnastics.  An active kid hobby will help your child stay in shape as well as make an interesting pastime.

The Learning environment

There is often a trap in the words 'after school activities'. One may
easily believe that since these activities are after school, they are not
of much importance. But, one couldn't be more wrong. Research suggests
that children pick up some of their most important skills from after
school programs. That is why children who do not participate in any extra
curricular activities are generally slow and less vibrant.

The learning environment that one fosters in after school activities must
be as disciplined and as functional as that found in the school. This is
especially true of educational after school programs. This is the best
place to teach the child important skills like time-management and goal
setting. Time-management is a vital skill, but it is not achieved easily.
Children need to feel the discipline that is needed to finish a task and
the happiness of finishing the allotted work in a specific time frame.

Children look for different things in an after class program. The learning
environment should be attractive, colorful and informative. Use charts,
pictures, posters and drawings to liven up a class. Additional resources
(resources that are not easily available in the school) will make the
classes interesting. For instance, when teaching a biology lesson, allow
the child to see through a microscope or see slides of bacteria. This
will add to his knowledge and also make him more enthusiastic about his after school program.

Discipline is a must in after school activities. In fun or sport-based
activities, it is easy for children to step out of line and wreck havoc.
While children should be allowed to have fun, they should be curtailed
from unacceptable behavior. The best way to enforce discipline is to lay
down the rules at the very beginning. Let the children know what is
unacceptable, right at the beginning.

Rewards are an important part of any learning process. The reward can be a
simple pat on the back or a token of appreciation. Motivate your children
to aspire for higher things by rewarding their achievements. Holding
competitions or sport activities where the children can show their
proficiency is a reward in itself.

Children can get bored easily, especially in the case of an educational
program. The main thrust of an academic program is to repeat what has been
taught in class and to allow the child to learn it quickly. It is
difficult to pique the child's interest a second time, especially when the
child is already tired of one dose of the same lesson. It is best to
thwart boredom by using creative techniques like an impromptu extempore on
any topic, a quiz program or a slideshow.

After school activities are becoming more popular by the day. Parents want
their kids to learn more. Children too have an insatiable quest for
knowledge. In an after school program, it is possible to pay individual
attention and quench this thirst using various effective techniques.

Porsche Boxter

The Porsche Boxster and Boxster S are fast, powerful cars and most
of all the best-handling production roadsters on the planet.
Introduced in 1996, it remained essentially unchanged, other than
moderate horsepower and interior-options tweaks. That’s what
Porsche usually does with the successful models: it retains car
look and configuration for ages.

A more powerful second-generation Boxster was introduced in 2005
and it keeps Porsche’s conservative evolutionary path. Like its
precedent, it is a mid-engine, six-cylinder two-seater that looks like
Porsche Spyder.  Still, over half of Boxster`s structure and electronics
are borrowed from the 911 Carrera.

The 2005 Boxster looks sprightlier than its 2004 equivalent, thanks
to the revision of the torque and the 15 added hp and the extra power
coming on strongly between 2000rpm and 4000 rpm. The 2005
Boxster S virtually equals the acceleration and top-speed performance
of Porsche's expensive 911 Carrera. The Boxster exhaust has been
tuned to play a distinctive tromboning wail like no other car. This is a
amazing thing thinking that both engines are smaller versions of the
six-cylinder in the Carrera.

The transmission for base Boxters is five-speed manual but the optional
variant offers a six-speed.  Both models can also be fitted with a
five-speed Tiptronic, the superb Porsche-designed automatic transmission
that began the trend toward manually shifted automatics.

The bodywork and the interior of the Boxster are of high quality, but considering
that there’s noting tricky or purely decorative, we can definitely say that
these are not opulent cars. Still, the interior has been improved since the
old car was often criticized for being to cheap-looking. The center console
has been upgraded with revised switch-gear and titanium look paneling.
The seats are more supportive and body-shaped in the new version,
making them look absolutely superb. Unlike other roadsters, the Boxster
has no problem swallowing luggage for a long trip: it has two trunks, a
small one in the rear and an amply deep one under the front hood.

One of The Boxster`s best qualities is the powered convertible top, very quick
to retract or re-erect. In the new Boxster, the top can be operated at speeds
up to 30 mph. The triple-layer padded cloth tops (with a heated-glass rear
window) is as weather-tight and quiet as most metal roofs.

The Boxster is called a mid engine-car. The reason is that the sweet six-cylinder
engine is mounted behind the seats, just fore of the rear axle. So if you wand
to see what’s under the hood once in while, well…you can’t do that with The Boxster.
The only way to see the engine is from underneath or by meticulously removing
body panels, which mechanics must do to service the engine. But, the good
news is that having the engine mounted closer to the center of the car makes
for better weight distribution. And that’s what makes the car handle so well.

An Invigorating Family Past Time: Sports Activities

If you are feeling bored, listless, and out of shape, you need a new past time.  Sports activities will get your blood pumping and help you get back into shape.  Not only will you be getting good exercise but you will be starting a valuable family past time.  Sports activities are a great way to spend time with your kids.  So get up off the couch, put down that soda, and get out in the yard for a little touch football.

If touch football is not for you, why not play a little kickball with your kids.  Set up a diamond similar to a baseball diamond.  Now the pitcher rolls a large soft ball, like a playground ball, on the ground to the "batter."  Only in kickball, the batter kicks the ball and runs to first base.  Since the ball is soft, the fielding team can throw the ball at the runner to get him out.  Since the kicker will almost always manage to kick the ball and foul balls are rare, this is a classic game to play with young kids and others who are not very athletic.

A fun family game that makes a good past time sports activity is tetherball.  This rousing game can be played with one or two people.  Tetherball is called that because the ball is on a tether - it is on a rope tied at the top of a pole.  The ball hangs about hand level.  The object is to hit the ball and make the rope wrap around the pole.  The two players attempt to make the ball go different directions.  If you have never played tetherball, you should give it a try.  It is really fun!  And it really gets you moving (and laughing!)

Sand volleyball may have started on the beaches, but many towns are now installing sand volleyball courts in their public parks.  The littler kids can sit in a safe place and play with their sand toys while Mom, Dad, and the older kids hit a beach ball or volleyball back and forth over a net.  The sand feels good on bare feet (but not so good inside your shoes!)  The kids will enjoy this past time sports.

A cross between volleyball and tennis that many families enjoy is badminton.  In this game, the object is to use lightweight rackets to volley a "birdie" back and forth over a net.  The birdie looks like a little plastic funnel attached to a firm rubber ball.  You hold the birdie by the plastic and drop it onto your racket to serve to the other team.  Badminton moves more slowly than tennis and is a leisurely way to get moving with the kids.  You'll get some exercise, though!

Kids are naturally energetic and active, making past time sports activities extremely attractive to them.  Since parents need to be spending more quality time with their kids as well as needing to get more exercise, too, these vigorous games are a good idea for everyone.  Some say that the family that plays together stays together.  This could be so, since exercise gets positive hormones flowing in your mind, putting you and everyone else in a better mood.  Don't get so competitive that your family past time sports cease to be fun.  Just volley that ball or birdie for fun and exercise.