RobiNZ Personal Blog

Fiat New Zealand gearing up for the Grande Punto

Fiat New Zealand have a Grande Punto on their home page for the first time. The only detail on range is confirmation, in a news article, that they will bring the high performance 1.9 litre diesel. With 130 bhp, why quote bhp in metric NZ?– it’s 97 kW, and 280 Nm of torque it’s claimed to be New Zealand's first diesel hot hatch. They are also hosting a review, from Autocar (U.K.), where the Fiat Punto 1.2 Active triumphs (surprised?) over the new Renault Clio 1.2 16v Extreme and Toyota Yaris 1.0 VVT-i T2. They actually pick the Clio as... Read more →

Upon the radioactive ash

I hope not, the view looks familiar! gapingvoid: upon the radioactive ash "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards" by hugh macleod View from Work Read more →

Is it the Fiat 500 Abarth?

Auto Express claim to have pictures and details on the Abarth version of the new Fiat 500. Click thru for high resolution versions. 500 takes Abarth! | Car News | Auto Express via www.eurocarblog.com Read more →

Traffic Light Thought - Death at the lights

Traffic is worse than usual, school are back after the holidays and it’s been raining all night. I’m sitting gazing at a red traffic light, at the front of the queue, when in the corner of my eye I see something head across the road. Didn’t wait for the red, didn't press the button for the crossing, just picked a gap in the crossing traffic and took off. Where were the parents? Nobody else around to stop it but then it’s too late. The driver had no chance, it’s struck with a glancing blow, and a small body is flung... Read more →

Traffic light Thoughts

Commuting means you sit at traffic lights, random thoughts occur in an attempt to fill the void… Read more →

Komodo Clone or a Virgin Birth?

For some reason I’ve always been fascinated by Komodo Dragons. One of the best chapters of Douglas Adam’s “Last Chance to see” is about an epic trip to view them in the Flores Island (Indonesia) but I only had to go to Animal Kingdom in Florida. They are endangered but for some reason don’t get the same publicity as cute Pandas etc. It now appears they are trying to help themselves by reproducing without needing a partner… Some advice from Douglas Adams if you ever meet one: "Komodo dragons sleep headfirst in large burrows. It is a very, very, very... Read more →

Michael Schumacher @ Melbourne

My Dad went to the Australian Grand Prix and came back with these photo’s (taken from his seat near the start line) of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari. Before: After: Bugger! Happy to see things went considerably better at Imola! Read more →

Remarkable account of Ferrari at Imola

A remarkable account of the Ferrari resurgence at Imola from an unlikely source! The Italian Risorgimento! - Blog RenaultF1 Read more →

After a blog holiday, Scoble shoots for the moon

I don’t blog about work. It’s something I’ve considered but, to be honest, I’m not sure what I could say that would benefit either me or the company so it’s easier to avoid it. Perhaps if I could write like Robert Scoble does I would… Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger » How Microsoft can shut down Mini-Microsoft I dream of a Microsoft that no longer has anything for Mini, or his commenters to complain about. Read more →

Wwwwwwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeee OK?

Since most visiting this blog run larger than the average screen/resolution I’m trying a variable width post column. It should adjust to your monitor rather than the old fixed 500 pixel width. Interested in any feedback, positive or negative as it may cause layout oddities. What does it look like at 1920x1200? Read more →