12 740 miles per gallon

You read it right. That's the fuel efficiency reached by the Pac Car.

At 5385 km/l (12 740 miles / gallon), it holds the World record.

To learn more:

http://www.esoro.ch/english/content/kernk/nhanst/paccar/01paccar.htm#

http://www.paccar.ethz.ch/

Retirement is Worst-Case-Scenario Insurance

Picture by teo58

I just started reading a fascinating book by Timothy Ferris titled The 4-Hour Workweek (Wall Street Journal Bestseller).

Although there are some shortcuts and assumptions in the book, it is so far (50 pages out of 300) refreshing both by the concepts exposed and by the style of the author. I can't garantee my workweek will be shrinked by 60 hours when I finish reading it, but I will have learned a few things.

Here's and except about the irrelevance of planning for retirement that somehow relates to one of my older posts (You can't pack a lifetime into a retirement):

Retirement as a goal or final redemption is flawed for at least three solid reasons:

a. It is predicated on the assumption that you dislike what you are doing the most physically capable years of your life. This is a nonstarter - nothing can justify that sacrifice.

b. Most people will never be able to retire and maintain even a hotdog-for-dinner standard of living. Even one million is chump change in a world where traditional retirement could span 30 years and inflation lowers your purchasing power 2-4% per ear. The Math doesn't work. The golden years become a lower-middle-class life revisited. That's a bittersweet ending.

c. If the math does work, it means that you are one ambitious, hardworking machine. If that's the case, guess what? One week into retirement, you'll be so damn bored that you'll want to stick bicycle spokes in your eyes. You'll probably opt to look for a new job or start another company. Kinda defeats the purpose of waiting, doesn't it?

Maybe it's time to wash your hands in the toilet bowl

Picture by Vagamundos

Anyone who brings raw ground beef into his or her kitchen today must regard it as a potential biohazard, one that may carry an extremely dangerous microbe, infectious at an extremely low dose. The current high levels of ground beef contamination, combined with the even higher levels of poultry contamination, have led to some bizarre findings. A series of tests conducted by Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, discovered far more fecal bacteria in the average American kitchen sink than on the average American toilet seat. - Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation

100 MPG

Once again, my inspiration of the day comes from Fast Company.

This is the story of a Kansas kid who left school at 13 to tinker with used cars and who might hold the solution Detroit ingeneers have long been looking for.

Johnathan Goodwin can get 100 mpg out of a Lincoln Continental while cutting emissions by 80% and doubling horsepower.

After buying a Hummer H1 in 1990 and being totally disappointed, he decided to tweak the huge truck and he did it in spades. First, he worked around the anti theft system to replace the gas engine by a Duramax v8, GM's core diesel for lage trucks. Next, he coupled it with a five-speed Allison transmission. After 5 days of work, the Hummer was getting 18 mpg (twice as much as original) with double the horsepower.

To get even better mileage and power, Goodwin perfected a technique developed by Uli Kruger, a German who has spent decades in Australia exploring techniques for mixing fuels that normally don't mix.

One of Kruger's system induces hydrogen into the air intake of a diesel engine, producing a cascade of emission-reducing and mileage boosting effects.

For the show "Pimp My Ride", Goodwin converted a '65 Chevy Impala to run on biodiesel. He tweaked the car to 25 mpg and increased its pull from 250 to 800 hp. (It smoked a Lamborghini on the quarter mile). Watch the race.

The funny thing is that his conversions are made with 90% of stock GM parts that he assembles in clever new ways.

He's surprised himself that GM can't (or won't) build cars more efficiently from the start.

Read the full story on Fast Company: Motorhead Messiah (It's worth it!)

How Big is eBay?

Actually, how big was it in 2006 (now it's even bigger, but we don't have the numbers).

Ebay marketplaces (including StubHub, Rent.com, and local classifieds): $4.3 billion

Paypal: $1.4 billion

Skype: $195 million (up 686%)

Total annual revenue : $5.895 billion

Let me repeat: $5 895 000 000 - that's a lot of zeros...

If eBay was a country instead of a single company, it would rank 131th out of 180, ahead of Nicaragua, Haiti, Mauritania and Rwanda. Check full country listing by GDP.

Source: Fastcompany.com

The Turning Torso of Malmö

The Turning torso of Malmö is one of the most fascinating buildings I ever saw.

Inaugurated in 2005, it was designed by superstar Santiago Calatrava who is also the mastermind behind the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Montjuic Communication Tower in Barcelona and the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia (Spain).

It is 190m (623 ft) high and uses nine five-story cubes that twist as it rises; the top-most segment is twisted ninety degrees clockwise with respect to the ground floor.

For more info:

http://www.turningtorso.com/

http://www.bizzbook.com/map/turningtorso.html

Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires

How to spot a millionaire

I just finished reading a book I first came across 10 years ago. To my great surprise, it stood the test of time pretty well.

And, with the january credit card bill looming over the horizon, it might be a good time to start reading it.

21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires is an easy read packed with interresting ideas.

Author Brian Tracy does a good job of synthetizing the information and it probably is one of his best books.

There's no big insider secret, but rather logical and sound advice on how to become wealthy.

The downer is: it takes time and effort. But hey, as my friend Franco says: if it looks to good to be true, it probably is.

I will not give the 21 secrets here as I encourage you to read the book, but here are 2 phrases that caught my attention:

What kind of a world would my world be if everyone in it was just like me?

You will be the same person in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read.