jonfrederick.com

Prague & London

Jon — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:31:57 +0000

I have all of the pictures from Prague and London up in the gallery, check them out.

Top Gear: Audi Q7 vs. Volvo XC90, Olympic Style!

Jon — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 15:36:32 +0000

I found some great video clips on YouTube and Google Video today from the newest episode of Top Gear. This week the show is ‘Olmypic’ themed, and Jeremy and James race a Q7 and XC90 Biathalon style. Check out the videos, its worth it.

As you can tell, I’m still deciding whether i like Google Video, or YouTube better. You be the judge!

Beer Review: Sam Adams Utopias

Jon — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 21:10:33 +0000

A suggestion from my associate Youse, to start writing reviews on beers that I have tried. I figured since I try so many different beers that it would make sense to sharing my thoughts.

I attended the Extreme Beer Fest this weekend which is held annualy by BeerAdvocate.com at the Boston Center for the Arts. This is the second time I attended a beer fest held by BeerAdvocate, and I highly recommend them. Up next is the American Beer Fest on June 16 and 17.

The highlight of the show for me was the chance to taste Sam Adams Utopias. I have been craving a taste of this beer since I first moved to Boston and took a tour of the Sam Adams brewery. Details:

The latest in our strong brews, Samuel Adams Utopias has been brewed in two small limited batches to date. The first batch which was released in 2001 as Samuel Adams Utopias MMII topped out at 24% ABV, while the second batch which was released in 2003 as Samuel Adams Utopias pushed the alcohol to 25.6% ABV. Both batches were released only once and in limited quantities.

Samuel Adams Utopias was brewed at a very high gravity using a wide variety of malted barley and a touch of maple syrup. It was then fermented and conditioned in a blend of scotch, bourbon, port and cognac casks for up to ten months using a pair of proprietary yeast strains we developed at our Boston Brewery.

I was only given a small sample at the beer fest, but I must say it was the most unique beer I have ever tasted. I highly recommend trying some if you ever get the chance. I have only seen 1 bottle for sale at Kappy’s, and there are a couple up for sale on eBay right now.

Movie Review: When a Stranger Calls

youse — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:56:26 +0000

I went to see When a Stranger Calls last night, which is a remake of the 1979 horror movie “When a Stranger Calls” Let me just say it was better then I expected it to be, but it was still a lame movie. The build-up of the movie took forever and then BOOM it was over. What I did not like was that most parts that would normally scare you were shown in the previews so you knew what was going to happen. I would go into more detail but I don’t want to ruin the movie for you. I will just say that it is a typical scary-teen movie.

All-in-all I will give this movie a C+. Not really worth seeing in the theaters, but if you’re bored on a rainy day I guess it could be a rental.

The End?
: y0use

Masterwerk.

Jon — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 02:30:00 +0000

I stumbled across a mini site for the new type 997 Porsche 911 Turbo. The car hasn’t been ‘officially released’ yet, but the site is pretty cool. There is an extensive video of the history of Porsche and their use of turbo chargers, and some quality wallpapers for your desktop.

Specs:

480HP @ 6000rpm
457 ft/lb torque
0-62 mph in 3.9 seconds
$122,900

Masterwerk. The new Porsche 911 Turbo.

note: flash player required.

Gizoogle, biatch.

Jon — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 15:57:12 +0000

Google, I aplogize to you, for I have now found my new favorite search engine. I dedicate a certain amount of time during my workday to browsing the internet, and i happened across Gizoogle. Gizoogle provides the same search engine capabilities as Google, but translates search results into the universial language known as Jive. Gizoogle extends it’s Jive features even further when you click on a search result by translating that page into Jive as well.

F E N G S W O R L D goes LIVE

Jon — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 19:07:08 +0000

You’ve read it right. Fengsworld is now official. Fengsworld is a product of two guys (my roomates) spending 2 days on the sofa, inebriated, and recording it all to make the greatest podcast ever. Expect guest appearances of myself in future episodes. Don’t forget to check out the MoBlog too, definitely hours on entertainment.

Happy Holidays!

Jon — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 19:45:16 +0000

I hope everyone scored some sweet toys for Christmas, and had a good time on New Years. I was home for about 2 weeks, and it was very action packed. I bought myself some new skis and spent as much time as I could on the slopes while I was home. I spent a lot of time hanging out with my family and friends too.

Katie and I drove to Pottsville and went on the Yuengling Brewery tour, I took some good pictures of the brewery and the caves below, and posted them to my photo gallery.

New Years was definitely good times. Jared, Matt, Ashley, Katie and I made some dinner, had some drinks, played Drunk Jenga, and watched the ball drop. Everyone had fun except for Matt because he can’t remember anything that happened… Check out the New Years Party pictures in the photo gallery.

And, if you’re bored, Here is a sweet commercial for the Audi RS4 that I found.

Oh yeah, all the presents I bought my family for Christmas, they already had. I sucked at Christmas this year.

TiVo = Upgraded

Jon — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 14:03:01 +0000

Finally, I’ve completed the hard drive upgrade of my TiVo, and let me say it was a very bumpy road.

First, I had to find a hard drive that was a good price and at least 200gb, and CompUSA pulled through with a 200gb Seagate Barracuda drive that was on sale in their Black Friday ad. So, I headed to CompUSA at 11:30pm on Thanksgiving to be there in time for the Midnight opening, and there were at least 150 people there… Somehow or another I managed to get my hands on the hard drive I wanted, and waited in line for 2 hours to pay for it ($30 after rebates!).

After extensive research on upgrading TiVo recording capacity by replacing the hard drive, I decided to use the WeaKnees.com Interactive TiVo Instructions as my guide to the entire process. The process is fairly simply, and basically involves removing the hard drive from the TiVo and placing it in a PC with the new drive, then copying the TiVo operating system and recorded programs to the new drive. If you want more detail than that, read the directions.

The entire process of copying the original TiVo drive to the new Seagate drive took about 7 hours to copy and completed without any problems…until I put the new drive in the TiVo to see if I was successful or not. As the TiVo powered up, I smelled something burning so I immediately turned off the TiVo and opened it back up to make sure all of the connections were correct. I put everything back together, and the TiVo would not go past the boot screen, and a wonderful clicking noise was coming from the hard drive, a.k.a it was dead.

Luckily, CompUSA had another drive in stock at the local store, and they exchanged the drive for me without hassle. I repeated the entire process again yesterday, and it worked! My TiVo’s orignal maximum recording capacity was 40 hours, and is now 222 hours. Not too shabby for $30 and a few hours of work…

PS If you ever buy a TiVo, refer me when you sign up using jon@jonfrederick.com as the email address!

Touareg W12 Sport Edition

Jon — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 14:11:56 +0000

It’s official: this is now my favorite SUV.
Touareg W12 Sport Edtion:

W12
450hp
20″ rims

note: the link is in German, and Google Translate makes it a bit cryptic

New England Auto Show

Jon — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:55:49 +0000

Last night I attended my second New England International Auto Show, and I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty much just a huge dealer lot… but what can I say, I still need to go check them all out…

The main attraction this year was Camp Jeep, which wasn’t too exciting, but definitly worth the wait…

I spent most of my time sitting in Audis and drooling at the Porsche collection, and checked out the new Jetta GLI (not overly impressed) But my show favorite was the new Audi 25Quattro S4.

new england auto show: pictures

ps - I updated the site beacause Matt Youse bitched for a whole month…

H20 International

Jon — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 18:02:38 +0000

Well, i had quite the eventful weekend. Saturday morning the Corrado and I started on a journey to Ocean City, Maryland to attend H20 International, and meet up with the infamous Matt Youse and Jared Henninger. The trip took about 10 hours from start to finish, and 453 miles according to Google Maps. Surprisingly, the Corrado made a respectable 28mpg on 93 octane gas, not too shabby if you ask me. We had reservations at the glorious Executive Motel that was 1 block from the beach, and right in the center of most of the VW action going on in Ocean City.

Friday night and Sunday afternoon I got to spend some time with my parents and Maggie at their new beach house which is located right near Rehoboth Beach. Too bad I live on the other side of the world now, or i would be spending a heck of a lot more time there…

Saturday was overcast and pretty uneventful, and we had lunch at the Brass Balls Saloon right on the boardwalk, and walked around a bit. The fun began when Jared and I took a short drive to the local Go-Kart track and tore it up on the Slick Track for about 2 hours straight (the “no bumping” rules were a bit of a joke that night…) We finished up the night with dinner at Big Peckers, and some partying at Seacrets.

Sunday was the day of the show, and it did not disappoint… Being my first and last VW/Audi show for the year (compared to the 5 I was at last year) I was very pleased with the turnout, and had a great time with my friends, and met some new people. Check out the photo gallery of all the cars from the show. I also picked up some Kamei eyelids for my Audi, so you will soon be seeing an update on that.

photos: H20 International
photos: Mom & Dad’s Beach House

Museum of Science

Jon — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 03:48:13 +0000

I finally made my first trip to the Boston Museum of Science, and let me tell you, i highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Beau and Meghan joined me in experiencing the Imax feature Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag and the Butterfly Garden.

I plan on going back in the very near future…

Porsche 911: best performance car ever

Jon — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 15:29:17 +0000

Looks like i was right all along… the Porsche 911 is the greatest performance car known to man (according to myself, and Auto Express magazine). Although I do not own own, nor have i ever driven one, I drool over them on a daily basis, and I aspire to own one someday (a 911 Targa to be precise).

Porsche 911 named best performance car ever by Auto Express

Porsche Panamera: Update

Jon — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:09:52 +0000

More pictures of the elusive Porsche Panamera have popped up all over the internet, it seems to have taken on the look of the Carrera GT.

Here is a pic of a Porsche 989 concept that was made in the 90’s that was dug up. As you can see many of it’s styling points made it into the modern 911.

Stay tuned for more details.