Where Auto Insurance Is Most Expensive

The most and least expensive states for car insurance:

Source: Insure.com, from a study commissioned by Insure.com from Quadrant Information Services

Interesting! NC is near the bottom!

Rank	State	Avg. Premium
1	Louisiana	$2,510.87
2	Michigan	$2,098.29
3	Oklahoma	$1,869.39
4	Montana	$1,857.96
5	California	$1,774.41
6	South Dakota	$1,772.83
7	Washington, D.C.	$1,753.19
8	Georgia	$1,751.42
9	Illinois	$1,679.15
10	Connecticut	$1,678.90
11	Arkansas	$1,648.80
12	New Mexico	$1,603.65
13	Rhode Island	$1,595.97
14	West Virginia	$1,589.69
15	Alaska	$1,572.21
16	Wyoming	$1,552.98
17	Maryland	$1,550.13
18	Kansas	$1,524.51
19	Kentucky	$1,515.30
20	Colorado	$1,480.97
21	Mississippi	$1,474.94
22	New Jersey	$1,473.73
23	New York	$1,463.21
24	Texas	$1,462.65
25	Florida	$1,453.20
26	Pennsylvania	$1,420.78
27	Delaware	$1,405.80
28	Missouri	$1,390.59
29	Minnesota	$1,381.09
30	Alabama	$1,380.38
31	North Dakota	$1,365.22
32	Hawaii	$1,306.97
33	Indiana	$1,302.51
34	Nevada	$1,282.50
35	Washington	$1,279.84
36	Utah	$1,234.30
37	Virginia	$1,233.36
38	Nebraska	$1,210.74
39	Oregon	$1,194.69
40	Idaho	$1,183.47
41	South Carolina	$1,182.18
42	Tennessee	$1,170.12
43	Arizona	$1,152.50
44	North Carolina	$1,130.45
45	Massachusetts	$1,043.80
46	Iowa	$1,039.04
47	New Hampshire	$1,011.23
48	Wisconsin	$1,010.93
49	Ohio	$999.86
50	Vermont	$968.58
51	Maine	$902.85

Robert Lawrence on Letterman

Congrats Rob!
from Mike: " he was up in nyc for an interview and ended up going to see letterman afterwards."

Random Pictures

This is how you use a Honda Odyssey to carry a BMW F650


The Train Museum in Strasbourg PA


Dad and Tyler viewing a beautiful Chevrolet in Hershey PA


Friends at the Car Show at the BMW Zentrum

Why do I do this?

I don’t know. I guess it is just kind of fun. Now we can have any idiot in the world have a platform to share ideas and information. I think that this is the most important thing in the world, because knowledge moves along humanity.
Why do we need to solve the same problems? If someone has a good solution, let’s use it. I strongly agree with the concept of “not reinventing the wheel” However, if you know how to do something more efficiently or better, please please share.

The internet is facilitating the distribution of ideas and knowledge that it is eventually going to destroy the authoritarian governments of the world.
It is just a matter of time, similar to the Cold War.

Art Heist: Art for arms' sake

Fascinating Article about the theft of artwork and there eventual partial retrieval.

From the Independent UK
"A Texan blonde, shadowy 'charitable' organisations, stolen artworks that may have been used to fund the Falklands War and a trail leading from London to Taiwan to Buenos Aires... Simon Worrall investigates a real-life art heist more complex and unbelievable than a Frederick Forsyth bestseller" More Here

Bulletproof clothing part 2

Church of Scientology Banned From Wikipedia

This is pretty sad.
"In an unprecedented attempt to maintain some form of creditability, the Wikipedia arbitration committee has unanimously voted to crack down on the Church of Scientology by banning all IP address assigned to the organization and its associates. The conclusion of this case marks the longest running dispute proceedings in the websites history, and the full ban goes into effect immediately. The ruling also represents the single largest ban handed down by the encyclopedia monolith, an accomplishment that I doubt the Church will be adding to their entry any time soon.

The accusations made by the Wikipedia board include several counts of failing to maintain impartiality, and using the service to promote its own personal agenda. Multiple editors from the same IP range were logged in and were accused of coordinating their efforts to force through changes. This type of behavior is clearly prohibited in the terms of service, and also prevents people from using the wiki to publish original research that cannot be properly supported.

During the dispute it was argued by the Church that those editing from Scientology IPs were acting without direction from the Church itself, however, a former member of the Scientology Office of Special Affairs suggests otherwise. "The guys I worked with posted every day all day," Tory Christman tells The Reg. "It was like a machine. I worked with someone who used five separate computers, five separate anonymous identities...to refute any facts from the internet about the Church of Scientology."

So did Wikipedia handle this properly, and more importantly, do you still trust their neutrality." more here

Have you heard of Pokémon Shock?

This is Crazyness. I had never heard of the Pokémon Shock ポケモンショック of 1997. Never to be rebroadcast again. More here. ,

Saw "the alps" tonight in imax. What an amazing movie and amazing cinematography. It is playing at the science museum of virginia for the next few weeks. I highly recommend.

So I am at Virginia Tech taking a look at the school to see if my sister is interested in attending next year. Oh the fun. At least it is spring break