Avoiding the CHP on the Autoweek America Adventure

"Damn revenuers," said Tommy Kendall. "They are draped all along the side of the road."

He spoke, of course, about the California Highway Patrol whose strategically positioned cars--and subsequent laser detection devices and Ka-band radar--were lighting up this two-lane south of Klamath Falls, Ore., less than two miles inside the state line.

It's a fact of economics, especially in California, a state that's running out of money faster than Greece: If you can generate cash from tourists driving along on a beautifully clear Saturday morning in the great hinterlands, do it.

Little did they know we were armed with the latest in electronic countermeasures, courtesy of Escort. So take that!

You may have read about this ingenious device. Called Escort Live, it goes beyond a single, high-powered detector you put in your car--it is an entirely holistic system of identifying, tagging, and recording the activities of laser-shooting gendarmes with a smart cord and smart-phone app. Network of drivers

The effectiveness of this system is what makes it brilliant. It is a network of like-minded people--and similarly prepared folks--with smart phones and smart cords systematically tracking those who want to separate you from your money. And while Escort can't say that it's about finding those who generate revenue for these small towns, I can: Little preservation of public safety takes place at dawn on a virtually abandoned two-lane highway.

Escort Live works at its peak when multiple systems identify and tag targets--which is why we outfitted Graham Rahal and his co-driver Chris Berry with a second unit on the Autoweek America Adventure. (Yeah, Graham, go out there ahead of us, we'll bring up the rear. No problem….). Each of our cars is outfitted with these prototype devices that will work great by themselves, but married to the smart cord and the dedicated iPhone app it gives you a dashboard of readouts from which to choose, and you feel empowered.

I've never been one to use a radar detector before. I've said the "crutch" of their function prevents me from being as attentive to what lies ahead as I should be. But no one can outrun laser. No one can see a quarter mile up the road and make out the sneering, hungry hunter in black and white. No one can, but Escort Live seemed to do just fine for us.

Didn't hurt that we were riding in a group of like-minded folks and they alerted us to a speed trap two miles south of the Shasta, Calif., I-5 bridge. There it was: a quick glint off of something out of place in the median, stretched out about a 1,000-1,500 feet ahead. What is that? It turned out to be a cop on a motorcycle spraying the infield and we "saw" him well in advance of any real visual identification… and there a mile down the road were two county locals, perched in bushes to the right on the highway, ready to pounce their prey, their big truck engines purring. You could almost see them salivating.

A New Place for Soup Dumplings and Shanghai Noodles

Just when I think I've found my favorite dumpling house, a new one pops up and I have to give it a try. New entrant Shanghai Restaurant, in the same shopping complex as Arco Seafood, has been under new ownership for about a month now, and on first impression, the cosmetic changes are very becoming.

When you walk in, thanks to the pale lemon-colored paint job and some brighter fluorescent lights, the restaurant has a warm and sunny feel. Gone are the hodgepodge of bun-displaying counters (steamed buns, of course), along with the busy TV entertainment center sitting next to the commercial metal shelves that displayed yet more buns and to-go food. In their place are clean, polished tables, providing ample seating for couples and families.

Service was prompt and friendly, an unexpected and welcome surprise, and a big bonus in my book, considering the fact I blogged about not expecting good service in these types of restaurants just last week. You had the sense that they were genuinely very eager to please, and even though the server that greeted me didn't speak English, she immediately flagged down what appeared to be the only English speaker in the place to help.

The menu was handwritten in Chinese and English, and the first items on it were the Shanghai Steamed Dumplings, or xiao long bao, just $5.50 for eight. I told the server that I definitely planned to order those, and to suggest a few more dishes.We ended up with the Couple's Delight, a slightly spicy cold dish with what appeared to be tripe and a reddish meat that was thinner than beef jerky, but had kind of a tougher dry texture and smoked flavor that my companion very much enjoyed.

Next up were the green beans sauteed with minced shallots. They were bright-green and looked great, but a bit on the overcooked side. The Shanghai noodle dish, which my server had highly recommended as a specialty item, was excellent. The roundish, white noodles were long, and with a pleasingly chewy in texture and just enough coating of light-brown savory sauce. Eating them transported me to that scene in Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp, when the two dogs are slurping up the noodles, because I found myself doingthe same thing, enthusiastically.

Our final course was the xiao long bao, the dish that has been bringing people into this restaurant through word of mouth, which my dining companion had tried just two days before. "Their dumpling wrapper is the thinnest I've had in Houston," he'd told me. The wrapper was, indeed, thinner than the ones you'll find at QQ Cuisine and FuFu Cafe across the street, and the portion of eight was not too shabby either. Unfortunately for me, most of the dumplings had leaked their soup, so the dumplings I had were good flavor-wise, but didn't give me the same satisfaction I get from slurping up the soup inside the dumpling.

First Look: 2013 Audi A4/S4

The A4 is Audi's best-selling car, topping the brand's sales chart in the U.S. and selling over five million examples worldwide since 1994. To help keep the car fresh and demand high, Audi is sprucing up the A4 and its performance sibling, the S4, for the 2013 model year.

The modifications to the updated A4 begin with a new front fascia that's not surprisingly highlighted by an updated version of Audi's signature light banks. The restyled headlamps feature a curved lower line that lend them a skinnier and more angular look, and redesigned LED running lights have also been added to the mix. The upper corners of the A4's now familiar single-frame front grille are now angled inward slightly, lending the grille more of a hexagonal appearance. The lower air inlets which house the foglights have been reshaped to sharp-edged parallelograms.

At the rear, the A4 benefits from skinnier taillights that closely match the units at the front of the car, as well as a restyled lower bumper and diffuser. Visual changes to the high-performance Audi S4 mostly mirror those applied to the A4, though the S model's front air intakes are larger.

Changes to the 2013 A4's cabin are also fairly subtle, with redesigned steering wheels, a new key fob, and new chrome trim headlining the updates. Audi also has simplified some interior controls, cutting four buttons from the MMI interface. The seat heaters can now also be directly accessed from center stack rather than by pushing the button and then twisting a temperature control. Tech goodies including Google Street View and an available Wi-Fi hot spot are trickling down to the A4 from Audi's higher end models. Finally, Audi says interior upholstery choices have been "re-coordinated" and some colors have been changed.

While European A4 models are slated to receive several new engine options, cars sold in America will soldier on with existing powertrains for the time being. The U.S.-spec 2013 A4's motivation is still provided by the 211-hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four hooked up to a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission, with a choice between front- or quattro all-wheel drive. The S4 keeps its 333-hp, supercharged 3.0-liter V-6, which can be equipped with a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The biggest engine news, at least for Europe, is the addition of Audi's new turbocharged 1.8-liter inline-four rated for 170 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque, which reportedly returns as much as 42 mpg in highway driving. Audi officials we spoke with say there are no plans to bring that engine to the U.S. market. There are reportedly no plans to sell the A4 with either the 2.0 or 3.0-liter diesel engine options on our shores, either. Audi offers a whopping 10 gas and diesel engine variations for the A4 in Europe.

Not much has changed dynamically for the 2013 A4, although Audi says its ride quality has been improved thanks to redesigned rear suspension mounts and retuned shock absorbers. The A4's power steering also has been changed to an electromechanical assist setup, which reportedly improves overall fuel efficiency slightly.

Former Apple exec markets a thermostat for the iPhone generation

Now former Apple executive Tony Fadell is trying to bring some of that magic to a gadget that is an afterthought in most homes.

Called Nest, it's a smart thermostat geared to the iPhone generation. It's designed to learn homeowners' schedules and surroundings and keep them comfortable while saving them money on energy bills. Nest can also connect to a home Wi-Fi and be remotely controlled with a smartphone, tablet or laptop. With its brushed stainless steel dial, it looks smart, too, Fadell said.

With Silicon Valley backers and advisors, Fadell is looking to shake up the heating and cooling industry that for decades has mass produced plain white or beige thermostats that require complex manuals to program.

The market for thermostats is ripe for a high-tech newcomer, said Chet Geschickter, a senior smart grid analyst for GTM Research, a renewable energy research firm in Boston.

"You practically have to be an HVAC engineer to use the programmable thermostats on the market," Geschickter said. "Only one person in my home knows how to work the thermostat. If I get hit by a bus on the way home, everyone is going to be very uncomfortable for a really long time."

But with energy prices still relatively affordable, will consumers pay as much for a device that hangs on the wall as they would for a phone that connects them to the world?

Analysts say the $250 price tag could turn off all but the most environmentally conscious consumers who spend thousands of dollars for solar panels and other home energy management systems. The device goes on sale in mid-November.

"People are much more likely to get in line at the Apple store for the new iPhone than to get in line at Home Depot for a fancy new thermostat," Geschickter said. "You can throw down rational arguments about how you are going to save X amount of money in energy per year, but at some point you just end up in a small sub-segment, which is those people who want the best of everything for their homes."

The typical single family home in the U.S. racks up an annual energy bill of $2,200, with heating and cooling accounting for about half the energy consumed, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Yet nearly 9 out of 10 homeowners rarely or never program the home thermostat.

Homeowners at the high end of the market already have an array of fancy energy management options. Nest is looking to cast a wider net, much the way Apple approached the mobile phone market with the iPhone, said Gartner Research's lead analyst on the smart grid, Zarko Sumic.

Road: Norwich Circuit Series 6

The final round of the Norwich Circuit Race series enjoyed fabulous Autumn weather and possibly the closest racing of the whole series.

Although numbers were down in the youth races the lead coach, Russell Parkins changed the race format and introduced accurate handicapping to keep even the youngest riders in the mix over their six races. Dan Swindells, Gt Yarmouth CC ran out the clear winner but just three points separated the next three riders with Alice Codling taking second from Christopher Haslam and Anton Garcia.

The promoting club, Iceni Velo, had a strong representation in the Go Race Omnium, taking the overall win through Simon Tabiner. Alex Lubbock, VC Norwich was second and Stefano Casaccio Iceni Velo in third having been persuaded to ride after completing the morning club run! Special mention also to John Swindells, GYCC who virtually dismantled his bike - removing carrier, mudguards, Scuba diving flashlight - before taking to the circuit.

The 3rd/4th category criterium was won by series regular, Lewis Pendle I Team CC. A leading group of five formed early containing Pendle, Mark Farrow, Strada Sport; Phil Buick, Iceni Velo; Graham Collins, Ipswich CC and Tim Money, unattached. Collins was the first to be dropped but was always in with a chance of rejoining as the lead group tested each other on the hill and then eased up - no one willing or able to make a decisive break.

At the bell, all four were still together with the final ascent of the hill looking to be decisive. Pendle lead up the hill. Buick, under attack from a large fly at the back of his throat allowed a gap to form leaving Farrow and Money unable to bridge to Pendle who crossed the line alone. Money crossed the line second leaving the hard working Farrow in third.

As the series concludes, thanks are extended to the promoting clubs; GYCC, Iceni Velo and VC Norwich. The commissaire, Barry Smith. The coaches, Russell Parkins, Peter Cornwell and Simon Edwards. And to the small army of club members and parents who have turned up to prepare the circuit, marshall, judge, encourage and cajole the racers.