Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by sevendogz

Others are marching just when Toyota is stalling

sevendogz — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:46:56 +0800

Toyota to recall 2.3 million more vehicles as its troubles continue

Posted by: David Welch on January 22

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The bad news just keeps rolling in for Toyota. Even with some $29.6 billion in cash (as of Sept. 30) the company can’t seem to buy a break. On Jan. 21, the company said it is voluntarily recalling 2.3 million Toyota brand vehicles to correct a sticking accelerator pedal. This recall is in addition to the 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles that are being recalled to correct problems with floor mats sticking on the accelerator, the company said in a statement. The recalls came amid claims from some vehicle owners that either floor mats or the accelerator pedals were causing the car to lurch forward unexpectedly, causing accidents.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys have already been lining up. But for Toyota, the bigger damage could be done in the court of public opinion. Even though problems with the recalled models are not common, according to Toyota’s statement, this is just the latest in a series of large and embarrassing recalls. For its part, Toyota explained in its press release that, “the condition is rare, but can occur when the pedal mechanism becomes worn and, in certain conditions, the accelerator pedal may become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position. Toyota is working quickly to prepare the correction remedy.” Here is the list of cars being recalled: 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2008-2010 Sequoia.

Toyota is voluntarily recalling those cars to head off major problems or potential accidents. The company is known for handling recalls well. But the more pressing problem for Toyota is that these recalls and quality snafus can threaten the company’s reputation for quality. That image for great reliability is the foundation of the company’s sales success. For all of its prowess, Toyota is simply not known for having great styling or grin-inducing performance. Toyotaphiles appreciate the company’s quality, engineering and fuel-efficient technology.

Quality was supposed to be a given. And when problems started to appear, Toyota vowed it would make quick amends. Back in July 2006, former Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe bowed deeply in apology at a press conference, according to a report in the New York Times. The company launched an initiative to solve quality problems, examine customer service and look at costs. After Toyota’s headlong expansion in the ‘90s and most of this decade, it seems they had lost control of some of the basic principles that made it such a great company. Watanabe was trying to reaffirm the company’s commitment to quality.

New CEO Akio Toyoda has redouble those efforts. If Toyota doesn’t get a handle on this issue, the company could make the same kind of missteps that Detroit’s automakers did when quality problems started cropping up in the ‘70s. Those problems gave consumers a reason to look elsewhere, creating opportunity for Toyota, Honda and Datsun—which became Nissan in the early ‘80s—to get a foothold in the U.S. market. It’s far too early to count Toyota out. The company isn’t near where Detroit’s carmakers were in the ’80s. But if the recalls continue, Toyota could be exposed to a resurgent Ford or to ambitious players like Hyundai-Kia and Volkswagen. Even General Motors is showing some signs of stability. All of those companies are on the march just when Toyota is stalling.
soure

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat...a_to_recal.html

fixed home loan at 4.85 (n-zec) 4.99 (zec)

sevendogz — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:28:25 +0800

looking for home loan for my RM300k DSL in BM, Penang...
stumble upon this ING site with fixed home loan rate at 4.84 and 4.99 over the entire loan period
is it a good deal or what do u think of it...
pls comment..
thank u

D90 kit or GF1 (pana pancake + oly kit lens)

sevendogz — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:36:00 +0800

i personally are torn between the two....
ok, i will choose the GF1 set.. because it's smaller and the rangefinder design just so cool

LCD screen on for 2 seconds then black

sevendogz — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:25:27 +0800

i got this 19 wide lcd, been using for about 5 years, no problem before today.
when i switch on the LCD, it will show dim images for about 2 seconds then black screen...
i have to switch off the LCD and on again, same, 2 seconds and there goes again, black screen...

what could be the problem, and anything i can do to try to revive it?

ps. i am sure it's not the connection nor power cable problem.

many thanks in advance

How to email photos using N81?

sevendogz — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:23:17 +0800

Hi all,
does anyone know how to capture a photo on the spot and email it to a friend using nokia N81?
pls guide me if u know..
many thanks in advance

Toshiba laptop dead after bios update

sevendogz — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:14:26 +0800

I downloaded the latest bios for my Toshiba L40 N502 and did what was instructed from the readme.txt.
The laptop restarted, I managed to get into the setup and pressed F9 as instructed and save. Another shut down and I thought it'S gonna restart but it just went dead, no movement, no screen nothing...

anyone out there with any idea how to revive the laptop?

CD-R don't last forever

sevendogz — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:59:34 +0800

"CD-Rs don't last forever. Although manufacturers may quote lifespans of decades in length, they are unlikely to last more than a few years. Our simple test showed that even when stored properly, CD-Rs that were just 7-9 years old were failing at a significant rate. Of course, how significant it is to you would depend on whether you used CD-Rs to store replaceable files (downloaded media) or critical files (family photos and videos).

Now, we are not saying that all CD-Rs will fail within a few years. It is likely that some could potentially still be readable decades from now. However, you can bet your last dollar that at least a percentage of your CD-Rs will fail after a few years. So what's the moral of this article? If you have something important to keep, back up OFTEN and use MULTIPLE storage options!"

Read the full article here.
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=641&pgno=0

List of Direct Flight Out of Penang

sevendogz — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:12:52 +0800

Hi guys,
I live in Penang and want to know is there any direct flight from Penang to Jakarta, other than AirAsia?
and any other direct flight overseas u know, pls list down here, thank u.

FF n EF

sevendogz — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:16:55 +0800

Bad Bernie was in prison for seven years. The day he got out, his wife and
son were there to pick him up. He came through the gates and got into the
car.
The only thing he said was, "F.F."
His wife turned to him and answered, "E.F."
Out on the highway, he said, "F.F."
She responded simply, "E.F."
He repeated, "F.F."
She again replied, "E.F."
"Mom! Dad!" their son yelled.
"What's going on?"
Bad Bernie answered,
"Your mother wants to eat first!"

The Three Nun

sevendogz — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:41:05 +0800

The Three Nun
Three nuns decided to quit so they went to the Mother Superior and said, "We don't want to be nuns anymore, how do we quit?" The mother told them, "Do something unholy and come back here in 24 hours." So the nuns left thinking, "What can I do that's unholy?"

The next day they went to the mother one at a time. The mother said tot he first nun, "What unholy thing did you do?" and the nun said "I stole a kid's bike." The mother said, "I guess that will do, go drink some holy water. When the nun did she wasn't a nun anymore and she left the convent.

The second nun walked in and the mother said, "What unholy thing did you do?"
The nun replied, "I slept with a married man!"
The mother said, "Well, that's sinning. Go drink holy water."

The third nun walked in and the mother said, "What unholy thing did you do?"
The third nun said proudly, "I pissed in the holy water!"

Farmer's 3 daugther

sevendogz — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:04:42 +0800

A farmer had 3 beautiful daughters who were getting ready to go out on dates.

The first beau came to the door and said, ''''I''m Eddie, I''m here to pick up Betty. We''re going for spaghetti, is she ready?''''

"No," the farmer said.

The second beau came to the door and said, ''''I''m Joe, I''m here to pick up Flo to take her to the show. Is she ready to go?''''

"No."

The third beau came to the door and said to the farmer. ''''Hello, my name is Chuck.''''

The farmer shot Chuck.

To play RMVB on Win CE platform

sevendogz — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:46:09 +0800

anyone has any idea which software to use?

Better OS for BTorrents

sevendogz — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:13:22 +0800

Reason for ur vote?
Pls also state down the details like speed, bt clients, results, hacks etc.

playing RMVB on windows CE 5.0

sevendogz — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:10:07 +0800

anybody has any clue on which player might play RMVB in windows CE 5.0?
i got the ARM processor. HP ipaq user.

playing RMVB on windows CE 5.0

sevendogz — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:09:17 +0800

anybody has any clue on which player might play RMVB in windows CE 5.0?
i got the ARM processor.

Doggie likes to urinate on my wheels

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 07:30:00 +0800

Laptop keyboard faulty

sevendogz — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:15:53 +0800

I have an old laptop, connected to external LCD, external ps/2 keyboard and usb mouse.
Recently, the laptop always behave like someone is pressing the ctrl or alt or many other keys, so i just can't use the computer like normal.
example. I click on a file, the properties comes up, I press a word, pop up ask me whether wants to delete something.

questions, can i just disable the keyboard on the laptop (I've tried unplugged the external ps/2 keyboard, same problem remained) I just can't control and command my laptop now.

Is there any way to stop the faulty keyboard on the laptop and just to use the external one?

BESTARI 206 PROMOTION, 399/MTH

sevendogz — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:33:13 +0800

Some kinda balloon instalment? anyone got any clue?

Does difference speed on RAM overheat?

sevendogz — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:30:12 +0800

I am currently using a 128mb ddr ram, too slow, so tot of replacing with a new 512 ram, but since the new ram installed, very frequent hang the lappy, felt very hot, any reason?

old ram is 226mhz
new ram is 400mhz

could it be the setting or my old lappy can't support the ram? pls comment. thankyou

trouble installing my Zen

sevendogz — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:15:52 +0800

whenever i try to install my Zen, there is a error
"class installer has denied the request to install or upgrade the device"
help.

i have tried many things but my pc still won't recognize my Zen
anyone got such experience?