Julia Robert’s Interview for Entertainment Weekly

On whether she obsesses over her appearance: “I’m human. Sometimes I, like anybody, wake up in the morning and go, ‘F—. Really? This is the starting point?’ Haven’t you ever picked up a picture of yourself from, like, five years ago, and you look at yourself and you just go, ‘And I had no appreciation for how lovely I looked, how fit and healthy I looked.’ So now I say, ‘Now listen. Ten years from now, you’re really going to think you should have appreciated yourself more.’ And I’m raising a daughter, and I really want to empower her by example.”

Haven’t Slept For More than 21 Hours

Just finished my term paper. I must CELEBRATE! For the rest of the day I’m going to finish watching season 1 of True Blood, start watching season 2 of True Blood, watch Avatar when it gets really dark (Thank you Uncle Jong!), nap, eat, then eat some more, and then eat more than more.

Zdog

Hello

I finally have my license! I made 6 mistakes (the most you can make is 15) and was able to pass on the first try. I’m also a college student. I’m obsessed with school. I finally have something to look forward to on a daily basis.

Z.

Grandma Bella

Grandma just gave me gloves. I want to be just like her.

Hi

My New Year’s Resolutions       

1. Be more aggressive - Dad always emphasizes that I need to be more aggressive. I just want a good balance between what I say and what I do. If I say I’m going to do something I want to pull through with what I set out for myself.

2. Live a healthier lifestyle

3. STOP slouching! - I always catch myself slouching (right now) and it makes me want to sew a wooden plank down my spine. I need to think tall, think tall, think tall.

4. Let down my guard

5. Practice what I preach

6. Become less judgemental

7. Become less controlling

8. Read all the books in my room - Here’s my dilemma, Me + Library + Book Store = a room full of unread books. I always buy books, but never make time to read them. I WILL read all the books in my room by the end of this year. I promise.

there it is,

Z.

The peach was the first fruit eaten on the moon.

The World’s Best Book of Useless Information

To Eliminate Blind Spots

August 18, 2009, 8:33 am

Are Blind Spots a Myth?

In an effort to reduce lane-change accidents, some automakers are trying radar to eliminate blind spots that could conceal an adjacent vehicle.

For example: Ford’s Blind Spot Information System, or BLIS, which uses radar located in each rear-quarter panel to scan for objects between the rear bumper and the outside mirror. If an object is detected, a small warning light in the side-view mirror illuminates. Recently, I tried BLIS on the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, on which it is a $1,595 option, and it worked well, picking up a vehicle in the blind spot. But there is the cheaper way to eliminate blind spots.

Long ago I found the idea in a 1995 paper done for S.A.E. International by George Platzer, an engineer from Rochester Hills, Mich. In that paper, “The Geometry of Automotive Rearview Mirrors — Why Blind Zones Exist and Strategies to Overcome Them,” he described the problem and a far cheaper method to eliminate the blind spot.

Here’s the short and less technical version of what it says: The driver leans his head against the driver’s window and sets the mirror so that the side of the vehicle is just visible. Then, the driver leans to the middle of the vehicle (between the front seats) and does the same thing with the passenger-side mirror.

It is necessary to check that the mirrors are properly set, of course. Here’s how that is done: Watch a vehicle approach in the rear-view mirror. It should appear in the side-view mirror before it leaves the rear-view mirror. And then it should appear in the driver’s peripheral vision before it leaves the side-view mirror. When I Platzer-ized the Fusion Hybrid, I could see the nose of a vehicle appear just as the BLIS warning light illuminated.

So, what is the point of a system like BLIS? In an interview, Steve Kozak, Ford’s chief safety engineer, acknowledged that side mirrors can be set to eliminate the blind zone. But most drivers don’t adjust their mirrors that way so BLIS is a valuable safety aid, he said.

“If we could train everyone in the United States to do it that way, then I think we would probably be a lot better and we wouldn’t need a system like this,” he said.

One other component of BLIS is what Ford calls Cross Traffic Alert. It scans about 65 feet on either side of the vehicle’s rear. The idea is to make it easier to back out of a parking spot.

Mr. Platzer has yet another alternative. He patented a mirror system called BlindZoneMirror that uses a smaller mirror that is integrated into part of the side-view mirror. Each mirror is engineered for a specific vehicle, he said.

Mr. Platzer licensed BlindZoneMirror to Magna International, and it was introduced on the Ford Edge, on which it is standard on all models, and Chevrolet Traverse, on which it is standard on all but the base model. The BlindZoneMirror was a winner in the 2009 Automotive News’ PACE Awards, which honor “superior innovation and technological advancement.” The PACE judges described the mirror as “an elegant and inexpensive solution” to a recognized safety problem.