Alarm für Cobra 11 changes direction again, with Daniel Roesner as Paul Renner

Poor Vinzenz Kiefer. The co-star of Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei, which commemorates its 20th anniversary next year, will be written out of the show, and not by his choice.    Since the departure of Tom Beck as Ben Jäger a few years ago, the producers of the long-running German action series decided to […]

Read More… from Alarm für Cobra 11 changes direction again, with Daniel Roesner as Paul Renner



A year of random thoughts: 2014 in review

For the last few years, I’ve looked back at the events of the year in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. (In fact, in 2009, I looked back at the decade.) Tumblr’s the place I look at these days for these summaries, since it tends to have my random thoughts, ones complemented by very little critical thinking. They […]

Read More… from A year of random thoughts: 2014 in review



The demise of Auto Katalog, and little to fill the void

It’s sad to read the news that Motor-Presse Stuttgart will not publish the Auto Katalog annual this year. That means last year’s, the 57th, could have been the ultimate edition.    There are complaints on Amazon.de, and I was all ready to buy a copy myself—typically I would have an order put in through Magnetix […]

Read More… from The demise of Auto Katalog, and little to fill the void





Dodge revives the Dart, while UK Delta owners revive Lancia

Fiat has announced that it’s going to bring back the Dodge Dart nameplate on a compact sedan based on a stretched Alfa Romeo Giulietta platform for the 2013 model year.    This was actually mentioned when Chrysler was going cap-in-hand to the US Government, so it’s not a total surprise. The nameplate, however, is.   […]

Read More… from Dodge revives the Dart, while UK Delta owners revive Lancia



Facebook hates The Scotsman, and other xenophobic bugs

Some very interesting errors on the internet today.    Facebook blocked an innocent link about the price of electricity in Scotland, from The Scotsman, because it was deemed ‘abusive or spammy’. Maybe Scottish accents don’t go down well in California. Hang on, didn’t they import Craig Ferguson?    I am told by Colvin Inglis on […]

Read More… from Facebook hates The Scotsman, and other xenophobic bugs



Autocade hits 1,500-model milestone

Thanks most recently to the work of Keith Adams, who added numerous important models into Autocade, we now have reached 1,500 models. The 1,500th is a bit mainstream, but after all the odd cars we’ve put in over the last three years, it’s nice to have something almost everyone knows. Audi TT (8J). 2006 to […]

Read More… from Autocade hits 1,500-model milestone



Zeiger confronts the U-bahn ads

A while back, in Desktop, I wrote about subvertising. This video, found via Rock Rodgers’ Tumblr, destroys the ads altogether, by means of a mirrored contraption that turns the projected images from a Berlin U-bahn station into rather nice art.    Of course it isn’t legal, but one has to hand it to these chaps […]

Read More… from Zeiger confronts the U-bahn ads



Alarm für Cobra 11: a 15th birthday celebration

Today marks the 15th anniversary of Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei, a German show I have followed for just over a half of its run.    I’ve watched it through budget cuts and some naff storylines of late. It’s of some interest to chart the course of the show over these many years.   […]

Read More… from Alarm für Cobra 11: a 15th birthday celebration



A guide to writing an Alarm für Cobra 11 episode

  Since my campaign fund-raiser on the 15th, I’ve had to take a back seat from blogging, though there is a lot to discuss about work, our city and other matters. And I would get back in to serious mode but for a nasty stomach bug that has kept me down—and taken away a bit […]

Read More… from A guide to writing an Alarm für Cobra 11 episode