Some Words about Homelessness

Homelessness is the condition and social category of people who lack housing, because they cannot afford, or are otherwise unable to maintain, regular, safe, and adequate shelter. The term "homelessness" may also include people whose primary nighttime residence is in a homeless shelter, in an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.A small number of people choose to be homeless nomads, such as some Romani people (Gypsies) and members of some subcultures.An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines a "chronically homeless" person as "an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years

The term "homelessness" includes the people whose primary daytime residence is in an institution that provides a residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping conditions for human beings.

Other names for homelessness

The term used to describe homeless people in academic articles and government reports is "homeless people". Popular slang terms for the homeless include: vagrant, tramp, hobo (U.S.), transient, bum (U.S.), bagman/bagwoman, street walker, urban outdoorsmen , or the wandering poor. The term '(of) No Fixed Abode' (NFA) is used in legal circumstances. Sometimes the term "houseless" is used to reflect a more accurate condition in some cases.

The major reasons and lack of causes for homelessness as documented by many reports and studies include:

• Lack of affordable housing.
• Unavailability of employment opportunities.
• Poverty, caused by many factors including unemployment and underemployment.
• Lack of affordable healthcare.
• Substance abuse and unavailability or lack of needed services.
• Mental illness, such as and unavailability or lack of needed mental health services.
• Domestic violence.
• Prison release and re-entry into society.
• The mass deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill in the Western world from the 1960s and 1970s onwards.
• Natural disaster.
• Forced eviction - In many countries, people lose their homes by government order to make way for newer upscale high rise buildings, roadways, and other governmental needs. The compensation may be minimal, in which case the former occupants cannot find appropriate new housing and become homeless.
• Mortgage foreclosures where mortgage holders see the best solution to a loan default is to take and sell the house to pay off the debt. The popular press made an issue of this in 2008; the real magnitude of the problem is undocumented.

A substantial percentage of the U.S. homeless population are individuals who are chronically unemployed or have difficulty managing their lives effectively due to prolonged and severe drug and/or alcohol abuse. Substance abuse can cause homelessness from behavioral patterns associated with addiction that alienate an addicted individual's family and friends who could otherwise provide support during difficult economic times.

Increased wealth disparity and income inequality causes distortions in the housing market that push rent burdens higher, making housing unaffordable.

Problems faced by homeless people

Homeless people face many problems beyond the lack of a safe and suitable home. They are often faced with many social disadvantages and reduced access to private and public services such as:

• Reduced access to health care.
• Limited access to education.
• Increased risk of suffering from violence and abuse.
• General discrimination from other people.
• Not being seen as suitable for employment.
• Reduced access to banking services to save money.
• Reduced access to communications technology, such as telephones and the internet.

Violent crimes against the homeless

There have been many violent crimes committed against the homeless. A recent study in 2007 found that this number is increasing.

Assistance and resources available to the homeless

Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people. They often provide food, shelter and clothing and may be organised and run by community organisations (often with the help or volunteers) or by government departments. These programs may be supported by government, charities, churches and individual donors.

Income sources

Many non-profit organizations such as Goodwill Industries maintain a mission to "provide skill development and work opportunities to people with barriers to employment", though most of these organizations are not primarily geared toward homeless individuals. Many cities also have street newspapers or magazines: publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people or others in need by street sale.

While some homeless have paying jobs, some must seek other methods to make money. Begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many cities. Despite the stereotype, not all homeless people panhandle, and not all panhandlers are homeless. Another option is busking: performing tricks, playing music, drawing on the sidewalk, or offering some other form of entertainment in exchange for donations. In cities where plasmapheresis centers still exist, homeless people may generate income through frequent visits to these centers.

Homeless people have been known to commit crimes just to be sent to jail or prison for food and shelter. In police slang, this is called "three hots and a cot" referring to the three hot daily meals and a cot to sleep on given to prisoners. Similarly a homeless person may approach a hospital's emergency department and fake physical or mental illness in order to receive food and shelter.^{[citation needed]}

Invented in 2005, in Seattle, Bumvertising, an informal system of hiring the homeless to advertise by a young entrepreneur, is providing food, money, and bottles of water to sign-holding homeless in the Northwest. Homeless advocates accuse the founder, Ben Rogovy, and the process, of exploiting the poor and take particular offense to the use of the word "bum" which is generally considered pejorative.

Australia

In Australia the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) is a joint Commonwealth and state government program which provides funding for more than 1,200 organisations which are aimed to assist homeless people or those in danger of becoming homeless, as well as women and children escaping domestic violence . They provide accommodation such as refuges, shelters and half-way houses, and offer a range of supported services. The Commonwealth has assigned over $800 million between 2000-2005 for the continuation of SAAP. The current program, governed by the Supported Assistance Act 1994, specifies that "the overall aim of SAAP is to provide transitional supported accommodation and related support services, in order to help people who are homeless to achieve the maximum possible degree of self-reliance and independence. This legislation has been established to help the homeless people of the nation and help rebuild the lives of those in need, the joining of the states also helps enhance the meaning of the legislation and demonstrates the collaboration of the states and their desire to improve the nation as best they can.

United States

Housing First is an initiative to help the homeless get re-integrated into society, and out of homeless shelters. It was initiated by the federal government's Interagency Council on Homelessness. It asks cities to come up with a plan to end chronic homelessness. In this direction, there is the belief that if homeless people are given independent housing to start off with, with some proper social supports, then there would be no need for emergency homeless shelters, which it considers a good outcome. However this is a controversial position.

In Boston, Massachusetts, in September 2007, an outreach to the homeless was initiated in the Boston Common, after some arrests and shootings, and in anticipation of the cold winter ahead. This outreach targets homeless people who would normally spend their sleeping time on the Boston Common, and tries to get them into housing, trying to skip the step of an emergency shelter. Applications for Boston Housing Authority were being handed out and filled out and submitted. This is an attempt to enact by outreach the Housing First initiative, federally mandated. Boston's Mayor, Thomas Menino, was quoted as saying "The solution to homelessness is permanent housing". Still, this is a very controversial strategy, especially if the people are not able to sustain a house with proper community, health, substance counseling, and mental health supportive programs.

Refuges for the homeless

There are many places where a homeless person might seek refuge.

• Outdoors: On the ground or in a sleeping bag, tent, or improvised shelter, such as a large cardboard box, in a park or vacant lot.
• Shantytowns: Ad hoc campsites of improvised shelters and shacks, usually near rail yards, interstates and high transportation veins.
• Derelict structures: abandoned or condemned buildings
• Squatting in an unoccupied house where a homeless person may live without payment and without the owners knowledge or permission.
• Vehicles: cars or trucks are used as a temporary or sometimes long-term living refuge, for example by those recently evicted from a home. Some people live in vans, sport utility vehicles, covered pick-up trucks, station wagons, sedans, or hatchbacks.
• Public places: Parks, bus or train stations, airports, public transportation vehicles (by continual riding where unlimited passes are available), hospital lobbies or waiting areas, college campuses, and 24-hour businesses such as coffee shops. Many public places use security guards or police to prevent people from loitering or sleeping at these locations for a variety of reasons, including image, safety, and comfort.
• Homeless shelters: such as emergency cold-weather shelters opened by churches or community agencies, which may consist of cots in a heated warehouse, or temporary Christmas Shelters.
• Inexpensive Boarding houses: Also called flophouses, they offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging.
• Residential hotels, where a bed as opposed to an entire room can be rented cheaply in a dorm-like environment.
• Inexpensive motels also offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging. However, some who can afford housing live in a motel by choice. For example, David and Jean Davidson spent 22 years at a UK Travelodge.
• 24-hour Internet cafes are now used by over 5,000 Japanese "Net cafe refugees". An estimated 75% of Japan's 3,200 all-night internet cafes cater to regular overnight guests, who in some cases have become their main source of income.
• Friends or family: Temporarily sleeping in dwellings of friends or family members ("couch surfing"). Couch surfers may be harder to recognize than street homeless people
• Underground tunnels such as abandoned subway, maintenance, or train tunnels are popular among the permanent homeless. The inhabitants of such refuges are called in some places, like New York City, "Mole People". Natural caves beneath urban centers allow for places where the homeless can congregate. Leaking water pipes, electric wires, and steam pipes allow for some of the essentials of living.

Health care for the homeless

Health care for the homeless is a major public health challenge.

Homeless people are more likely to suffer injuries and medical problems from their lifestyle on the street, which includes poor nutrition, substance abuse, exposure to the severe elements of weather, and a higher exposure to violence (robberies, beatings, and so on). Yet at the same time, they have little access to public medical services or clinics. This is a particular problem in the US where many people lack health insurance: "Each year, millions of people in the United States experience homelessness and are in desperate need of health care services. Most do not have health insurance of any sort, and none have cash to pay for medical care."

Homeless persons often find it difficult to document their date of birth or their address. Because homeless people usually have no place to store possessions, they often lose their belongings, including their identification and other documents, or find them destroyed by police or others. Without a photo ID, homeless persons cannot get a job or access many social services. They can be denied access to even the most basic assistance: clothing closets, food pantries, certain public benefits, and in some cases, emergency shelters.

Obtaining replacement identification is difficult. Without an address, birth certificates cannot be mailed. Fees may be cost-prohibitive for impoverished persons. And some states will not issue birth certificates unless the person has photo identification, creating a Catch-22.

This problem is far less acute in countries which provide free-at-use health care, such as the UK, where hospitals are open-access day and night, and make no charges for treatment. In the US, free-care clinics, especially for the homeless do exist in major cities, but they are usually over-burdened with patients.

The conditions affecting the homeless are somewhat specialized and have opened a new area of medicine tailored to this population. Skin conditions and diseases abound, because homeless people are exposed to extreme cold in the winter and they have little access to bathing facilities. Homeless people also have more severe dental problems than the general population. Specialized medical textbooks have been written to address this for providers.

There are many organizations providing free care to the homeless in countries which do not offer free medical treatment organised by the state, but the services are in great demand given the limited number of medical practitioners. For example, it might take months to get a minimal dental appointment in a free-care clinic. Communicable diseases are of great concern, especially tuberculosis, which spreads more easily in crowded homeless shelters in high density urban settings.

In 1999, Dr. Susan Barrow of the Columbia University Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies reported in a study that the "age-adjusted death rates of homeless men and women were 4 times those of the general US population and 2 to 3 times those of the general population of New York City".

A proposed solution to homelessness

In 2007 urban designer and social theorist Michael E. Arth proposed a controversial national solution for homelessness that would involve building nearly carfree Pedestrian Villages in place of what he terms "the current band-aid approach to the problem."^[48] A prototype, Tiger Bay Village, was proposed for near Daytona Beach, FL. He claims that this would be superior for treating the psychological as well as psychiatric needs of both temporarily and permanently homeless adults, and would cost less than the current approach. It would also provide a lower cost alternative to jail, and provide a half-way station for those getting out of prison. Work opportunities, including construction and maintenance of the villages, as well as the creation of work force agencies would help make the villages financially and socially viable. ^[49][50][51]

International law and homelessness

Since the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Charter of the United Nations -- UN) in 1948, the public perception has been increasingly changing to a focus on the human right of housing, travel and migration as a part of individual self-determination rather than the human condition. The Declaration, an international law reinforcement of the Nuremberg Trial Judgements, upholds the rights of one nation to intervene in the affairs of another if said nation is abusing its citizens, and rose out of a 1939-1945 World War II Atlantic environment of extreme split between "haves" and "have nots." The modern study of homeless phenomena is most frequently seen in this historical context.

Homelessness in specific countries

Main articles: Homelessness in the United States, Homelessness in Canada, Homelessness in Australia, and Homelessness in the United Kingdom

Statistics for developed countries

In 2005, an estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless.

The following statistics indicate the approximate average number of homeless people at any one time. Each country has a different approach to counting homeless people, and estimates of homelessness made by different organizations vary wildly, so comparisons should be made with caution.

European Union: 3,000,000 (UN-HABITAT 2004)

United Kingdom: 10,459 rough sleepers, 98,750 households in temporary accommodation (Department for Communities and Local Government 2005)

Canada: 150,000 (National Homelessness Initiative - Government of Canada)

Australia: In total, 99,900 people were homeless in 2001

14,200 sleeping rough (In improvised dwellings or tents, or in streets, parks, cars or derelict buildings). 14,300 in emergency or transitional housing. 48,600 were defined as homeless because they were staying with another household and had no usual residence. Finally, 22,900 people living in boarding houses were included in the homeless count. (ABS: 2001 Census)

United States: According to HUD's July 2008 3rd Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, in a single night in January 2007, single point analysis reported to HUD showed there were 671,888 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons nationwide in the United States.^[55]. Also, HUD reported the number of chronically homeless people (those with repeated episodes or who have been homeless for long periods, 2007 data) as 123,833.^[55] 82% of the homeless are not chronically homeless, and 18% are (6% Chronically Homeless Sheltered, 12% Chronically Homeless Unsheltered). Their Estimate of Sheltered Homeless Persons during a One-Year Period, October 2006 to September 2007, that about 1,589,000 persons used an emergency shelter and/or transitional housing during the 12-month period, which is about 1 in every 200 persons in the United States was in a homeless facility in that time period. Individuals accounted for 1,115,054 or 70.2% and families numbered 473,541 or 29.8%. The number of persons in sheltered households with Children was about 130,968.

Japan: 20,000-100,000 (some figures put it at 200,000-400,000) Reports show that homelessness is on the rise in Japan since the mid-1990s.

Developing and undeveloped countries

The number of homeless people worldwide has grown steadily in recent years. In some Third World nations such as India, Nigeria, and South Africa, homelessness is rampant, with millions of children living and working on the streets. Homelessness has become a problem in the countries of China, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines despite their growing prosperity, mainly due to migrant workers who have trouble finding permanent homes and to rising income inequality between social classes.

For people in Russia, especially the youth, alcoholism and substance abuse is a major cause and reason for becoming and continuing to be homeless.

Ferrari 355TB Review

Back in the ancient days when people beyond the city limits of Bangalore cared about IT, I started and ran a little enterprise software company. It was tough to recruit people to our profitable and growing outfit because there were so many venture capital-backed employers out there flooding the airwaves and newspapers with ads.

I made an executive decision: refer five people and we give you a Honda S2000 convertible; refer 10 people and we give you a Ferrari. This was all arranged so that the cost to the company was minimal. For one thing you only got to keep the car so long as you still worked at the company. If one of our star recruiters went back to grad school, the Ferrari reverted to the motor pool.

The decision had the desired effect. I watched with glee as the whole office stayed up until 4:00 am emailing old friends from college and random acquaintances they'd made on the Internet.

Only one minor problem remained: to get a Ferrari to park in the lot out front. The first problem was finding a Ferrari dealer. I visited ferrari.com. They linked to a Boston-area dealer but the phone company said that the number was disconnected. I telephoned some Ferrari dealers in other cities and they told me that (1) there was an 18-month waiting list for a new F360, (2) the old Boston-area dealer had gone belly-up, and (3) a new dealership, Ferrari of New England, could be reached at (617) 559-0123.

18-month waiting list? I tried dealers in obscure parts of the country and in Europe. The story was the same all over the world: everyone was obscenely rich, the price of a Ferrari seemed like a rounding error, and the Ferrari factory couldn't keep up. Or perhaps the real answer is that Ferrari didn't want to expand production on the theory that cash-bleeding companies with $1 million in revenue would continue to be valued at $20 billion or more.

The idea of a Ferrari was more important than whether it is an F355 or F360. So we settled for a $135,000 hardtop (the "TB" part of "F355TB") from Philippe Chanial at Ferrari of New England. The car was a 1999 model, had 3000 miles on it and another year or so of warranty. In the day or two that it took to get the deposit to Philippe, someone apparently bought the car out from under us. However, three weeks later he was able to deliver a nearly identical car from California for a few thousand dollars more. We elected to lease the car from Mitch Katz at Premier Financial (203-267-7700), a company that specializes in this kind of car.

Thus did we find ourselves in possession of a 1999 Ferrari F355 TB with 4000 miles on it, paying about $2,200/month to Premier. The color is bright yellow, which is what the Great Unwashed always pick on immediately. "Why isn't it red?" they ask. We try to explain that this has been a Ferrari racing color, that it is the color behind their logo, etc., but it doesn't work.

First Impression

The car sat in our parking lot for a few days under rainy Boston skies. The factory alarm system didn't generate any false alarms. Having previously owned an aftermarket Clifford alarm, this was a welcome relief to me.

First Drive

If this were Car and Driver magazine, I'd be writing about an one-day round-trip to Nova Scotia and back. Instead, this is about a Sunday afternoon drive from Central Square in Cambridge to visit my 98-year-old grandfather in a nursing home in Melrose, about 7 miles NE.

Adjusting the seat to fit my 6-foot frame was difficult. The steering wheel tilts and that helped, but there really isn't quite enough legroom for an American body. Nor is there enough room among the pedals for my size 13.5 shoes. There is a dead pedal for your clutch foot but you can't really stretch your left leg. Interior storage is minimal. What would have been the glove box is a passenger-side airbag. There are no map pockets. There really isn't even enough room to hold the owner's manual!

The next thing I noticed was the nearly-empty gas tank: "thanks for your $140k but our margins are too thin to top this thing off with 13 gallons of premium...".

Poking through traffic in Cambridge and Somerville, I was pleasantly surprised at (1) how tight the car feels over potholes, (2) the versatility of the engine, which won't stall even if you slow down to idle speed in 2nd gear but which is also happy to be pushed to its 8500 RPM redline, and (3) the visibility all around.

The gated shifter (6-speed close-ratio manual, push down, left, and back to engage reverse) is stiff when moving from first to second gear and during aggressive driving, it is easy to miss the shift from second to third. My daily driver is a Toyota minivan with automatic transmission and therefore I surprised myself by not stalling the Ferrari when starting up from a traffic light, even stopped uphill.

On the Interstate at 70 mph the roar of the engine is overwhelming. The classical radio station disappears into the noise and the volume controls are too far away from the driver's hands to adjust, even if one were willing to divert one's attention long enough to find the little up/down pushbottons (hint to Ferrari engineers: I heard that this "knob" idea is going to catch on).

I stopped at a gas station to make sure that I knew how to fill up the tank. In some ways I was glad that Ferrari of New England hadn't done it. The gas cap is machined from a solid block of aluminum. Instead of resting it on the pump the way I do with my Toyota's, I put this one in my shirt pocket so that I would be sure not to leave it at the station.

Once back in the city, I felt foolish driving the F355. At all times I felt that I was actively controlling the car's urge to go from 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. Given that I was just trying to make it through 10 stoplights in one mile from the highway to the office, it seemed kind of silly. It was sort of how an Olympic weightlifter must feel if asked to open a jar.

Bottom line: this is not a car for city driving; it is not a car for impressing chicks (guys like it); this is not a car for highway driving (too noisy, not comfortable enough for long drives, and you'd have to go 130 mph to begin using the F355's limits), but it is still a great car! A driver of ordinary skill can spend five minutes reading the owner's manual and then zoom off into the sunset. Compare that to the last desktop computer application that you tried to learn.

If you've got an estate in Greenwich and some country roads nearby, you will want a Ferrari.

Second Drive

Our offices at this little company were on the open plan so that teams of developers could work together (i.e., shout at each other). One day it occurred to me: instead of separating people with cubicle walls, why not separate them with fish tanks? A 300-gallon fish tank filled with a rock ridge will provide adequate privacy and an ever-changing show, for about the same price as Herman Miller was charging for a boring partition.

The two aquarium service companies that had set up our tanks were both based in out-of-town retail shops and I'd never visited either. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon so I hopped in the Ferrari and headed south to Fall River to see the fish at Aquatic Designs (508-672-5471; no longer doing retail). I opened the driver's door and Alex hopped right into the passenger seat, leaning his head at first against the side bolster.

As we headed south over the broken temporary pavement on Boston's Central Artery, it became clear that the passenger seat of a Ferrari is not large enough for a 70-lb. Samoyed. The dog turned around a few times and finally settled down with his back legs on the passenger seat, his front legs in the console area behind the shifter, and his head on my right thigh.

Traffic was heavy until we got onto 24S. I began to appreciate the F355's straight-ahead assurance as the road opened out. It really is nice to drive on the highway when the car requires no little corrections. Looking down at the speedometer reading 75, I began to worry about the jack-booted Massachusetts State Police. But then it occurred to me that I was in the middle lane and people in towering sport-utilities like the Ford Valdez were passing me on the left. Unless people in southern Massachusetts were having a very tough day, the speedometer is optimistic by about 10 mph.

Pulling into the parking lot, two of Sharon's employees were standing outside the stoor. The young woman said "beautiful" and the young man agreed with her. She was talking about Alex and he was talking about the car.

It was getting dark as I got onto 195W to Providence. Despite the dusk, people in BMWs waved to me. People just get pissed off when they see a rich bastard driving a Mercedes, but car enthusiastics are genuinely appreciative of anyone who is kind enough to buy a Ferrari and drive it around for their visual and auditory pleasure.

Traffic was really heavy driving up 95N back to Boston. Sport-utilities and pickups towered over me and I felt claustrophobic. The traffic opened up a bit as we left Providence behind and I felt a hurricane blast of cold wind in my face. The joy of open-window motoring? No. The result of letting a Samoyed adjust the ventilation controls with his paws.

A variety of exit ramps gave me the opportunity to throw the car a bit harder into corners. It is perfectly neutral without a hint of oversteer if you lift the throttle in a turn. On the other hand, the car does not feel completely settled when cornering over rough pavement.

The next stop was Uncle Ned's Fish Factory (508-533-5969), 11.5 miles west of 128 on Route 109 in Millis. These guys are the African cichlid experts in Massachusetts and they had an amazing variety of fish, including some marked "not for sale" because they weren't sure how healthy they'd turn out to be. This indicated a level of care that you'll never find at Petco. Uncle Ned has Freshwater Stingrays under his front counter, breeding cichlids in the back, a reasonable selection of marine fish, and a lot of freshwater fish that I'd simply never seen. I fell in love with a couple of Synodontis Multi-punctatus. These are African catfish, white with black spots, and these particular two were swimming throughout a large tank in an uncharacteristically lively manner. Dan at Uncle Ned's very carefully put them into separate bags, each with some pure oxygen and water conditioner. The F355 has a fairly good-sized trunk in between the front wheels thanks to the lack of a spare tire. Without a spare tire, what do you do if you run over a nail? Ferrari includes a can of stuff that will supposedly reinflate and plug a hole in one of the four tires that are already on the car. Anyway, the bottom line is that there was plenty of room for the catfish.

The ride back to 128 and the Mass Pike was uneventful and the catfish are now happily installed in our largest African tank.

The Last Drive

The Ferrari worked out very well for our old company. Our unorthodox and photogenic approach to recruiting got us written up in some national magazines, including Fortune. I sold the company to some venture capitalists who decided that my management structure had been all wrong and that giving small programming teams profit-and-loss responsibility was insane. Where I had made several million dollars per year in profit they managed to go through $50 million in cash in 18 months before shutting the company down. They did make a profit on one item, however... the Ferrari 355tb sold for more than I paid.

The Value of an MIT Education

A lot of the programmers that I hired were MIT graduates, which made sense because so many of the founders were MITers and our offices were in Cambridge, a short ride on the T from the MIT campus. Our building manager, however, did not have the benefit of an MIT or any college education. He was just a local kid. Being in charge of the parking lot in addition to the building he had the keys to the Ferrari and often took it out on joyrides, always without incident or damage.

By contrast a day or two after the Honda S2000 arrived I handed the keys to a 23-year-old MIT graduate who had done a nice job with a computer program. He got less than 1 mile from the office before losing control of the little Honda convertible and wrecking the machine in a single-car accident on Memorial Drive.

PORSCHE 959 Review

It began with the fact that in 1972 CEO Ernst Fuhrmann (Ernst Fuhrmann) conceived depart from the "Porshe" style and make a model of a "normal" engine and the "normal" cool it, that is water.
The results of its efforts are often seen on European routes is the model 924, 944 and, of course, a powerful 928, which was not just a Porsche instead of the flagship 911 model. Although Fuhrmann Company pulling in a time of crisis, but as soon as they passed, its influence has strong protest Ferry Porsche, followed by Fuhrmann quickly gave way to a new "chief executive".
At this time hot Post by Peter Schultz, an American of German descent who had waited decisive action. And Schulz was not long in coming. First, it has invested heavily in the 911 rd, which have already been forgotten. There cabriolet 911, "so painless" adopted in Frankfurt in 1982. But a year later, in 1983 to film the public eye was the first time Porsche 959.After everything possible and impossible, he embodies the most modern sports a car logically from Porsche. It was one of the most expensive and most expeditious and car nines in the history of world famous brands.
The draft, surprisingly, has proved viable. It was originally produced only 20 "military" vehicles, which began their victorious march to the world championships. It was a Super car and pastors, who dominated the race Paris-Dakar 1984-1986. Only after three and a half years, the first "civilian" customers were promised "exclusive" showing phenomenal patience.
A huge even by today's standards of value DM 420.000 (80-x amount was fantastic and did) make the machine available only to very rich people. For example, 959 immediately extensive millionaire Boris Becker. In 1987, the company announced the production of two such as car nines.
Transmission included a box and four programmers chosen gear ratios, enabled to keep the electronic control angles hoisting and lowering. Advanced drive complement electronic anti-lock brakes system (ABS). Silent smooth riding, a sense of security, and the excellent dynamic performance.
The complex, managed Transmission Electronics was founded in the early development model 911 with the stroke of the specimen in 1981. But this time, the distribution of torque followed so. system electronic coupling Porsche (Porsche Control Clutch). Six-gearbox, despite the enormous torque of 530 Nm, in conjunction with the main couple had super short gear relations.
Suspension also had its small secrets. For example, the control system clearance. Maximum speed achieved in the body of 124 mm above the road, but it should not be forgotten that we are a car logically to conquer roads, and therefore it is possible to take a provision of 150 mm or even 178 mm
Upcoming African desert hardship forced not only assists in the body, but at the same time, make it much harder to normal. Therefore, the steel frame was equipped light and strong wings, doors, trunk lid and hood made of materials related to the aerospace industry rather than a car.
Design is a separate branch of the evolution of the model 911. More advanced tail with the "military" wing, fundamentally thick in the body; Rear wings can be seen for radiator cooling air pumped air. Lattice on the front bumper "responsible" for the addition of air to the brakes and cooling radiators, lamps drowned in the body, small triangular mirrors.

Aerodynamics body (Sh = 0.31) has greatly contributed to a record year for speed serial for a V-nines 317 km / h. Only in the 87th year, Ferrari F40 exceeded the figure of 6 km / h. Like other Porsche Porsche 959 has been a baptism of Le Mans. After minor modifications carried out for the race this level, this machine under the symbol 961 is the first in a class GTX and 7 th in absolute credit, which could be regarded as a success.

Interior and car pastors did not do the extraordinary. The owner of Porsche with the experience was surprised to discover in the 959th familiar model 911 Turbo finishing.

Wheels for serial copies were suitable size 235/45- and 255/40-VR17 wall and the central nut, as most of racing and car nines.

Nevertheless, one of the best and car smuggle created ever Porsche, quickly became a classic icon and the company. Bold project embodied in life, was the work of Peter Schultz of the Wall Porsche AG. Some time later, and he left the company.
has infinite capacity to improve. The market is a collection car smuggle it occurs now. Mercedes in the middle of 80, and today remains one of the extraordinary and stunning family of Porsche. The production model until 1988.

Nokia N81 Review

A possible alternative to the N95, the N81 comes with a fantastic 8 Gbytes of memory, outstandingly good music and games playing features, a superb high-res screen, 3G video calling and fast downloads, Wireless LAN, and an optional GPS module. Its camera can't match the best, and the phone feels a bit plasticky, but it's still worth considering.
Best buy: *Free* with half-price line rental from Mobiles.co.uk; or on Pay as you Go from the Carphone Warehouse at £249.95.

The Nokia N81 is a very powerful multimedia device that is in some ways like the Nokia N95's little brother. Available in a choice of Cobalt Blue or Graphite Grey, it's a really nicely designed slide phone that's chunky and heavier than the N95, but slightly slimmer. The first thing that strikes you about the N81 is the huge number of keys and buttons! In addition to the usual number keys and Navi Wheel, there are dedicated keys for playing games and accessing music & video: play/pause, rewind, forward & stop. You'll either love this or hate it. We found that the whole user interface is built on the idea of complexity, as the menus and settings can be quite overwhelming, but offer full control over every aspect of the device. The N81 is very much a hard-core SmartPhone, and if this sounds like your kind of phone, then you'll love it to bits.

There are a few areas where the N81 can't keep up with the N95. The screen is the first thing that you notice: although it's a high quality display with 16.7 million colours and 320 x 240 pixel resolution (the same as the N95), the screen is physically about 15% smaller. More seriously, the camera is a poor cousin of the N95's 5 megapixel camera: the N81's camera has just 2 megapixels and lacks autofocus. So, if camera quality is important to you, you'd definitely be better off with the N95. SatNav is missing too, although the Nokia Wireless GPS module is available as an optional extra. The Nokia Maps application is included as standard. So really the shortcomings of the N81 compared with the N95 aren't too great.

Now let's take a closer look at what the N81 does have. The first feature that really differentiates the N81 from the competition is the whopping 8 Gbytes of internal memory. This is enough to store 2,000 music tracks. The N81 has a fantastic music player that can give the iPhone a run for its money. The music player supports all common music formats including MP3, AAC and WMA, as well as Windows Media DRM. Managing playlists is a breeze, and the device can synchronise music with Windows Media Player. There's a 5-band equaliser, support for Bluetooth stereo headsets and a 3.5mm headphone jack. In addition, the RealPlayer media player supports full-screen video playback. There's also a built-in FM radio with Visual Radio support that tells you what song is playing, and other info. Music lovers have everything that they could want from the N81.

The N81's other focus is gaming. We've already mentioned the dedicated games keys on the front. Games can be played in portrait or landscape mode, making full use of the fantastic 16.7 million colour display. The N81's secret is that it includes support for Nokia's NGage series of games. The choice of games is excellent and the quality of the 3D graphics is exceptional. If you're serious about games, then this is seriously highly recommended.

The list of what the N81 can do goes on ... it's a quadband 3G phone that supports video calls with a second front-facing video camera. It's fully equipped for wirefree use with Bluetooth and Wireless LAN support, voice-independent speech recognition and voice commands, automatic answering with a compatible headset or car kit, internet calls using VoIP, ... Really there isn't much that the N81 doesn't do, and being a Symbian phone the wealth of 3rd party applications that are available for download is huge.

As always with Symbian devices there's a tendency for the N81 to be slow or to freeze if pushed too hard, although the 8 Gbytes of memory certainly helps here. To really get the most out of the N81 you'll have to have used a SmartPhone before, or be prepared to invest time learning how to use it properly. If you don't like high-tech then keep well away, but if the music and games features appeal, then you'll do well with the N81.

Features of the Nokia N81 include:

• Operating system: Series 60 version 3.1, Symbian 9.2
• 2 megapixel camera with 20x digital zoom and flash
• VGA video capture at 15 frames/second
• Front-facing camera for video calls
• RealPlayer Media Player
• Display: 16.7 million colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2.4 inches)
• Nseries music player supports MP3 (VBR), AAC, eAAC+, AAC+, WMA/M4A, WAV
• Stereo FM radio with Visual Radio support
• Nokia Stereo Music Headset supplied
• Gaming: supports N-Gage games (Space Impact Light, Asphalt game demo, Fifa soccer 2007 demo games included)
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail with support for images, videos, music and documents
• Talking ringtone
• Speaker independent name dialing
• Voice commands
• Voice recorder
• Speed dialing
• Integrated hands-free speaker
• Automatic redial
• Automatic answer with compatible headset / car kit
• Internet calls (VoIP)
• Nokia push to talk (PoC)
• Java MIDP 2.0
• Advanced contacts database with support for multiple phone and e-mail details per entry, also supports thumbnail pictures and groups
• Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map
• Memory: 8 Gbytes (supports microSD memory cards)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, WLAN (802.11 b/g), USB 2.0
• 3G (WCDMA 2100) + Quadband GSM E850/900/1800/1900MHz
• Size: 102 x 50 x 18 mm
• Weight: 140g
• Talktime: 3 hours (3G) - 4 hours (2G)
• Battery standby: up to 400 hours
• Music playback time: up to 11.5 hours

Nokia 6500 Slide Review

The Nokia 6500 Slide is a slide design 3G phone with an excellent 3.2 megapixel camera and a large hi-res LCD display. It offers video calling, and MP3 player, an FM radio, expandable memory and Bluetooth. On the negative side it's heavier than average and its battery life could be better. Also, be aware that quite a few of our users are finding that their phones arrive with faults and have to be be replaced. Available in silver or black.
Best buy: *Free* with half-price line rental from Dialaphone (Silver) or Black or direct from Three (Black) or Three (Silver); or on Pay as you Go for £119.99 from Three (Black).

The Nokia 6500 Slide is ... wait for it ... a slide design version of the Nokia 6500 Classic. Or is it? You'd think that two phones that have the same model number and are so similar in appearance would have the same features, but no, the guys at Nokia clearly thought that would be too boring.

"Hey Aleksi! Why not release two phones with the same name but make them completely different inside?" ... "Cool idea Joonas! Let's put a nice 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus inside the 6500 Slide and a rubbish 2 megapixel one inside the 6500 Classic." ... "Niko thinks the Slide should have a bigger screen - that's what those Samsung boys do with their slide phones." ... "Roosa has a great idea - let's make them both 3G but only allow video calls using the Slide (hey, hey)"... "Arttu thinks that the Slide should have a memory card expandable to 4 Gbytes, but we won't put a memory card slot in the Classic at all!" ... "and why not put an FM radio into the Slide too, Kristiina? But not in the Classic!" ... "Oh and one more thing, Matias - because we left all the good bits out of the Classic we can make it ultrathin, but keep the Slide big and heavy!"

"So, run this past me one more time, Johanna. We make two phones with the same name. One is a Slide and one is a Classic. We put all the best features into the Slide, but we make the Classic really thin and better looking. And we sell them both for the same price! Our customers are gonna love this idea. How they will laugh at our wacky Finnish sense of humour! Those boring Swedish squares at Sony Ericsson will be so jealous!"

Nokia 5310 XpressMusic Review

In a nutshell: This is a good music phone from Nokia that can rival Sony Ericsson's Walkman range. We love the ultraslim, lightweight design, the practical keypad and the hot looks (choice of red or blue). The 5310 has a fully loaded music player and FM radio, up to 4 Gbytes of memory for storing songs, a 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth connectivity. The battery life is below average, and some users have reported a problem with freezing, but this phone is definitely worth a look.
Best buy: *Free* with half price line rental from Mobiles.co.uk; or on Pay as you Go from the Carphone Warehouse (Pink or Red) at £79.95.

Oh yes! Nokia's XpressMusic range has moved up a gear and Sony Ericsson had better watch out. The Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is a classic-shape music phone available in a choice of red or blue. It's an ultrathin phone, at just 9.9 mm, and has a lovely practical design with a good sized conventional keypad and a 5-way navigation key (Sony Ericsson take note!) There are three dedicated music keys placed at the side of the screen and volume keys along the edge.The bevelled edge makes it easy to hold in your palm, and the red or blue stripes are funky but not over the top. We like the look, we like the feel. This is definitely a phone that you can enjoy even when it's switched off, and it's small and light enough to carry anywhere - jeans pocket, shirt pocket or handbag.

This is primarily a music phone, and it's equipped with a full function music player and FM radio. The music player has support for playlists, album art and an equaliser. You can listen to your music using the built-in loudspeaker (which is a bit on the quiet side), or preferably using the stereo headset supplied or a Bluetooth wireless headset (optional extra). The 5310 has a new upgraded audio chip, and the audio quality is impeccable. Really, the music player is just as easy to use as one of Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones, or even a dedicated MP3 player. We like the fact that there's a decent amount of memory built in (30 Mbytes), but you'll definitely want to kit the phone out with a memory card: the 5310 supports microSD cards up to 4 Gbytes, which is enough for around 1,000 songs. MicroSD cards are really cheap these days (around £25 for 4GB), so really there's no reason not to go for the maximum size available.

But the 5310 is not just a music phone. As well as making calls and playing music, it will do everything that you'd expect from a mid-range non-3G phone. The camera is a respectable 2 megabytes. It lacks a flash, which is a shame, but in good light it'll take decent pics. The display is outstandingly good, with a high-res screen that's as good as anything in this price range. Although the phone isn't 3G, it supports fast downloads using EDGE and has the Opera Mini Browser built-in, so you can still browse the web, and the screen is large enough to make this feasible. The phone comes with 3 games, and you can download Java games too. The UI is quite customisable, with animated screensavers, wallpapers and downloadable themes.

If there's one thing wrong with the 5310 (and at Mobile Phones UK we love to find things wrong!) it's the battery life. Nokia quote 300 hours standby - that's 12.5 days. Forget it! You'll get 1-2 days use from this phone, depending on how much you use the features. Since it's a music phone, you'll probably use it a lot and will need to charge it most days. Get over it - this is an ultrathin phone with a large LCD screen and tons of features. This is what the battery life is like in this kind of phone. If a longer battery life is essential for you, then buy a different phone (not an ultraslim one - maybe the SE W810i or SE W910i.) A number of users are also reporting that their phone freezes or restarts. This is unacceptable, and if this happens to you, return it to the shop. If it happens again, ask for a different phone.

Features of the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic include:

• 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom
• Video camera
• Display: Active matrix LCD, 240 x 320 pixels, 16 million colours, 2 inches
• Music player (MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAc+, and WMA music files / OMA DRM 2.0 and Windows Media DRM)
• Stereo FM radio with Vidual Radio support
• Ringtones: Video ringtones, MP3 and MP4 tones, eAAC+ tones, AAC tones, WMA tones, 64-voice polyphonic MIDI, message alert tones, and alarm clock tones
• Integrated handsfree speaker
• Voice commands
• Voice recorder
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (SMTP, POP3 and IMAP 4) with attachments, Nokia Xpress audio messaging
• Games: Music Guess, Snake III, Citybloxx, downloadable Java applications
• Animated screensavers, wallpaper, themes
• Internet: Opera Mini Browser, Yahoo Go!, Nokia Mobile Search, WAP 2.0, HSCSD, EDGE up to 177.6 kbps
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, modem
• Memory: 30 Mbytes plus microSD card (up to 4 Gbytes)
• Organiser: Alarm clock, calendar, to-do list, notes, calculator, stopwatch and countdown timer
• Flight mode
• Size: 104 x 45 x 9.9 mm
• Weight: 70g
• Talktime: 5.4 hours
• Battery standby: 300 hours
• Music playback: up to 18 hours

Nokia N96 Review

In a nutshell: Nokia's flagship smartphone just got better! Complete with 16 GB built-in memory, GPS satellite navigation, a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 3G video calling, and every other gadget you can think of! On the downside it's large, battery life is poor, and the Symbian operating system is still not 100% reliable.
Best buy: *Free* from Dialaphone. Available now!

The Nokia N96 is probably the most eagerly anticipated phone release of 2008. But that's partly because we've been anticipating it for so long! Lengthy delays usually mean that the engineers struggled to deliver what the marketing boys promised, so we're going to be checking the N96 very carefully for signs that some of it may not work quite as it should.

But first of all, let's take the phone out of its box and just admire it, because it's a lovely piece of kit. It's big of course - slightly bigger even than the N95, and a touch heavier too - but it's not the heaviest phone ever. But putting that to one side, it's still a really nice phone to look at. It's smoother and curvier than the N95, and the buttons are less confusing.

Now, looking at the specs, it's hard to see why the N96 took such a long time to appear, because on paper it's not very different to the N95 8GB. The only significant differences are the upgrade of the Series 60 user interface from 3.1 to 3.2, the increase in flash memory from 8GB to 16GB, and the addition of Live TV. Yes, with an internal antenna and a DVB-H TV tuner, the Nokia N96 has been designed to let you watch telly on your phone. But unfortunately there is no DVB-H system broadcasting in the UK, so you can't! The good old BBC has made its iPlayer application compatible with the N96 however, so you can at least stream BBC TV and radio content to your phone, which is arguably more useful than watching broadcast TV anyway.

We noted above that the operating system has been upgraded. Well about time too, because we found the N95 to be slow and unreliable. The N96 seems to be a more stable platform, but it still freezes from time to time. Also, in our reviews of smartphones we always like to point out that if you're not familiar with the Symbian operating system, you'll find using a smartphone like the N96 much more of a challenge than using a mobile phone with a "dumb" OS.