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by Paul Jackson
ISBN 978-1-84584-148-5
$14.95 US
www.veloce.co.uk
Amazon.com
review by Rich Helms
rich@RichHelms.com
Naming a car “smart” is a bold move invoking the question “What’s so smart about it?”
My reply is “What’s so chevy about your car?” The brand name smart started as a short form of “Swatch Mercedes Art.” The inherent word meaning was a bonus.
Like the brand, the book title is all lower-case letters. the little book of smart is compact, at 5 1/2” square with 128 pages and over 100 photos. The book is packed with pictures provided by smart and smart car enthusiast Paul Guinness. Most of the copy is picture description, making this a quick, light read. Were it not for the small size, I would describe this as a coffee table book. I carry mine in my smart and show it to people when they ask about the car. It fits nicely in the dashboard storage tray.
Jackson’s book covers the model history of this unusual vehicle. While the smart was only introduced to the United States in 2008, the brand has been available around the world since 1998 and in Canada since 2004. The brand now offers only the fortwo coupe and cabrio, previously known as the city coupe. Other models have come and gone, including the roadster, roadster coupe, forfour and the crossblade.
The author touches on the smart clubs, focusing on the UK club www.thesmartclub.com but misses the largest smart club in North America www.ClubSmartCar.com. Jackson also discusses fun smarts like the forfun2 monster truck as well as prototypes such as the crosstown and formore. He touches on safety, focusing on the Tridion safety cell and active systems such as stability control. As well, he celebrates the fact that like the old VW beetle, the smart is a pallet for artists and enthusiasts who want to create a statement.
For Americans not familiar with smart, the book is a fun introduction. The book is available direct from Veloce, but North American buyers will probably prefer Amazon or some other US-based online book store.
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That’s Rich Productions is the brainchild of Rich Helms, a writer and the owner of a computer firm who has worked in image technology since the mid-1980s. This film production company is the culmination of a lifelong dream to merge Rich’s left- and right-brain skills in a medium that stretches the bounds of creativity.
Currently, Rich and his staff have several films in various stages of the creative process, including a comedy film short entitled “Mother May I?” and a short horror/comedy called “The Usual Sacrifice.”
Rich’s computer career claim to fame is the ability to thrive working on the bleeding edge – to approach problem-solving in brand new ways. Tell him it can’t be done and he’ll find a way to do it. This innovative filmmaker hopes to make similar inroads in the film industry to offer movie-goers exciting, inspiring experiences.
That’s Rich Productions is located in Sunderland, in the Durham Region of Ontario, Canada.
www.ThatsRichProductions.ca
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Date: Saturday Jan 26, 2008
Instructor: Rich Helms
Location: Pickering Public Library
Time: 1-4:30
Cost: $50+GST ($52.50) : $45+GST ($47.25) for WCDR, UAA, PWAC and HHWEN members
This is a half-day workshop on how to self-publish on a budget. With Open Source software like Open Office and services like Lulu.com, it is possible to write, publish and distribute a book with a personal computer, a lot of work and little to no money. Like most do-it-yourself projects, this is a trade-off of time versus money. My goal is not to cover every shareware software package, but to show a path through the various steps in writing, producing, selling and advertising a book.
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Workshop Date: Saturday Jan 19, 2008
Workshop Goal: A website can serve several purposes. For me, it is my portfolio of my articles and writings. For you, it may be a selling tool, information vehicle, etc.
WordPress is a popular blog engine that I use to write websites. During this six-hour workshop, students will sign up for a free WordPress.com website and create their own individual basic website. The course includes a copy of my Learning WordPress Workbook. This workbook will walk you through the steps of creating the site, as well as designing your site based on your site goal. Your workbook serves as a reference and as your worksheet for your site design and implementation.
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CARES (Computer Assisted Recovery Enhancement System), a computer system for aging missing children was a joint project between the Metropolitan Toronto Police and IBM Canada Lab. CARES was the first computer-based child aging system in the world. This is TV network coverage on the press conference.
This video is CARES on a show called Top Cops from the mid-80s.
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CARES (Computer Assisted Recovery Enhancement System), a computer system for aging missing children was a joint project between the Metropolitan Toronto Police and IBM Canada Lab. CARES was the first computer-based child aging system in the world. This is TV network coverage on the press conference.
This video is CARES on a show called Canada AM from the mid-80s.
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CARES (Computer Assisted Recovery Enhancement System), a computer system for aging missing children was a joint project between the Metropolitan Toronto Police and IBM Canada Lab. CARES was the first computer-based child aging system in the world. This is TV network coverage on the press conference.
This video is CARES on a show called Missing Treasures from the mid-80s.
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By Dorothea Helms
There are several ways to gauge whether a marriage is on solid ground. One is to do a long car trip together and see how it goes. My husband and I put our 35-year marriage to the test in May, except we added an extra challenge. We drove 3,800 km in total on our holidays – in his Smart Car!
When Rich asked me a few months ago whether I’d like to attend a microcar conference festival in Madison, Georgia with him in May, he was shocked when I said yes. He had already taken several long trips with the Smart – even as far as Arkansas - and I was always too busy to go. I’d ridden in the Smart many times, but never for long distances. I figured with months to plan, I could take a few days away from my freelance writing businesses. Plus, we were able to combine the car event with visits to family along the way.
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Rich Helms as Professor Snape
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City TV coverage of the smart parade on Feb 20, 2005. PS. The green smart car with the bicycle on the back is mine. (more…)
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