Author: Serkadis

In what is a preview of the 2010 NASCAR season, the non-points precursor of the Daytona 500 will see Roush Fenway driver Carl Edwards starting from the pole position, after wining the draw for starting positions at this weekend’s Shootout.

Edwards will be followed by Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle in the top five. Unfortunately for Harvick, a crash early in practice which wrecked his car will place him at the back of the pack, because he will field a car he did no… (read more)

Article Tags: ClimateGate

University of East Anglia scientist Paul Dennis denies leaking material, but links to climate change sceptics in US drew him to attention of the investigators

A scientist at the University of East Anglia has been questioned by detectives ­investigating how controversial emails were leaked from the campus’s climate research unit.

Norfolk police have interviewed and taken a formal statement from Paul Dennis, 54, another climate researcher who heads an adjacent laboratory.

The leaked emails from the head of the unit, Professor Phil Jones, surfaced just before the Copenhagen conference in December and caused a furore because they suggested that data which did not support theories of global warming was being deliberately withheld. Dennis denies leaking the material. But it is understood that his links with climate change sceptic bloggers in North America drew him to the attention of the investigating team, and have exposed rifts within the university’s environmental science faculty.

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Source: guardian.co.uk

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By Frank X.Shaw, Corporate Vice President, Corporate Communications.

Former Microsoft employee Dick Brass has an op-ed in the NYT (NYT) arguing that our better days are behind us, (“clumsy, uncompetitive innovator” . . . ouch!) and using examples from his tenure to make the point that the company can no longer compete or innovate. Obviously, we disagree. But his piece does represent a good opportunity to touch briefly on how we think about innovation.

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By Dick Brass, Op-Ed Contributor, New York Times

As they marvel at Apple’s (AAPL) new iPad tablet computer, the technorati seem to be focusing on where this leaves Amazon’s popular e-book business. But the much more important question is why Microsoft, America’s most famous and prosperous technology company, no longer brings us the future, whether it’s tablet computers like the iPad, e-books like Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle, smartphones like the BlackBerry and iPhone, search engines like Google, digital music systems like iPod and iTunes or popular Web services like Facebook and Twitter.

Some people take joy in Microsoft’s (MSFT) struggles, as the popular view in recent years paints the company as an unrepentant intentional monopolist.

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And you thought the 90210 porno was disturbing: David Letterman, David Hasselhoff, and Lindsay Lohan are among the celebs being spoofed in a new X-rated feature produced by Hustler and inspired by ABC’s smash reality dance competition, Dancing With The Stars.

Trailer Slightly-NSFW!

This Ain’t Dancing With the Stars XXX sees fiery adult film star Scarlett Fay as real-life trainwreck Lindsay Lohan — who seduces her dance instructor — and Otto Bauer as Hasselhoff, who sexes up the dance floor with raunchy tango.

“Beneath the polished glamour and glittering elegance, these wild celebrities are ravenous sex junkies,” a spokesperson for Hustler Video said this week, shrugging off any suggestion that parodying the popular series — and the host of C-Level celebs that frequent it — may be inappropriate.

Synopsis: Dancing so sultry, so sexy even The Judges can’t resist! Watch sex-hungry stars work up a sweat on the dance floor, then satisfy their lust backstage. Hustler dazzles the senses with a dirty Disco, a sex-crazed Country & Western and a hot-and-tempting Tango. With parody celebrity impersonations like David Letterman, David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff and our favorite little train wreck, Lindsay Lohan, anything can and will happen in this hilarious spoof…..

This Ain’t Dancing With The Stars is available now….

At the end of January, the Swedish trucks manufacturer has seen signs of increased demand, meaning that they were able to reduce stocks and increase production. But in the fourth quarter Volvo had to adjust costs to a considerably lower level of demand, which contributed to an operating loss of $0.27 billion. The company managed to create a positive cash flow of $1.18 billion, which is one of the best cash inflows ever for a single quarter.

• In the fourth quarter net sales decreased by … (read more)

By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily

Is TiVo (TIVO) about to roll out a new HD DVR?

Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible pointed out in a short research note today that TiVo’s $250 HD DVR – the primary SKU for its stand-alone business – is out of stock on both TiVo.com and BestBuy.com (BBY).

That could reflect strong holiday sales, he says. But he thinks it is “a likely harbinger that a new product launch in on the way.”

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{img align=left}Daimler AG and Audi AG’s Indian arms, DAI respectively NSU.XE announced earlier this week that their local sales saw a serious increase in January, driven by a rising demand, as Dow Jones writes.

Audi Indian said that its sales almost tripled to 306 units, from 109, while Daimler’s unit, Mercedes-Benz India report an even higher increase, with its January sales reaching a figure of 403 vehicles, up from 82 in January 2009.

"We look forward to keeping this momentum thro… (read more)

The 2010 Geneva Motor Show opening its doors in March will be used by Subaru to showcase several goodies, including the brand new Impreza XV crossover. In case this doesn’t ring any bell to you – and we’re sure this really happens because Subaru managed to keep things secret very well – the Subaru Impreza XV is a car based on the Impreza 5-door model but incorporates several new crossover-like features.

For example, it has an exclusively designed front grille and wheel arch, new roof rails an… (read more)

For former F1 team owner and boss Eddie Jordan, the upcoming season of Formula One doesn’t hold too many secrets, at least as far as the title fight goes. According to the eccentric British figure, Lewis Hamilton has the best chances of bagging the 2010 F1 title, despite the incredible competition from Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes).

I can’t get my head away from Lewis Hamilton. He’s sharp. He’s got talent and the return to the sport of Michael Schumacher will onl… (read more)

Perhaps one of the most iconic representations of the US military, the HUMVEE, will no longer be a part of the army garages starting next year. According to an Army spokesman cited by ABC News, the military has placed a final order of 2,620 new HUMVEEs, after which it will switch to newer vehicles. The stop in orders for the HUMVEE is featured in the 2011 budget report.

"Feedback from our commanders overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq was that the Humvees were just not providing the desired… (read more)

“You have to leave your mouth open a little bit. Open up. More, more, ever so lightly… otherwise you’re going to be getting smooshy. Now… slow it down… just a little bit…” Anne Hathaway on The Art of The Movie Kiss, British GQ Magazine, March 2010…..

We don’t hear an awful lot about former Dixiecrat turned Republican Richard Shelby — though when we do, it is normally embarrassing. The last thing I recall was him playing the Teabagging ‘Show us your Birth Certificate Card‘. Before that it was him leaking national security data and managing to barely get away with it.

But Shelby has now upped his jackass level to “11″.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary “blanket hold” on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate

Well there’s a new way of making things even more ungovernable. Now each of these nominations has to get 60 votes for cloture — and we all know how aggressive Harry Reid is on that and how often the GOP wants to help out.

And why is Shelby doing this? So he can get more earmarks for his sacred defense pork, especially to restore a $35 billion dollar price-tag to build refueling tankers for the Air Force.

(pic from Left In Alabama)

Just as we told you a few days ago, Peugeot and Citroen are two other companies concerned by Toyota’s biggest recall chaos ever, as the two French carmakers are building the 107 and the C1 together with Toyota’s Aygo, Based on the same platform, all three models are apparently affected by the same accelerator problem as the over 7 million Toyotas recalled all over the world.

The guys over at carsuk.net talked to Peugeot UK who tried to put things straight and clarify the matter.

"I ha… (read more)

Multiplatinum-selling recording artist Kelly Clarkson — winner of the first season of American Idol — hit her blog in a fury on Thursday, after the head of Taylor Swift’s record label made a biting reference to the TV talent show that catapulted her to stardom in his attempt to defend the country star’s widely-panned Grammys duet with Stevie Nicks.

On Thursday, Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, defended Swift’s Grammys performance by referencing the reality singing competition that introduced the world to Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Carrie Underwood.

“She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her,” Borchetta told The Tennessean. “This is not ‘American Idol.’ This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

Bloggers and media outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, pounced on Swift’s off-key performance, which Borchetta blames on technical issues.

But it was Borchetta’s remark about Idol — not Taylor’s offensive screeching — that sent Kelly clicking away at her keyboard in a blogged response, she writes:

“I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes….Thank you for that ‘Captain Obvious’ sense of humor because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well.”

The powerhouse rattled on with: “Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better. I have been criticized left and right for having shaky performances before (and they were shaky) and what my manager or label executives say to me and the public is ‘I’ll kick butt next time’ or ‘every performance isn’t going to be perfect,’” Kelly wrote. “I bring this up because you should take a lesson from these people and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.”

The “Since U Been Gone” hitmaker completed her blog by signing: “Sincerely, One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes.”

With various companies around the world making a nice profit by threatening people with “pre-settlement” cash demands to avoid a copyright lawsuit, it was only a matter of time until others got in on the action, even if they didn’t hold the copyrights at all. Slashdot points us to the news of a University of Georgia help desk employee who has been arrested for trying to shake down a student with a copyright infringement claim. Apparently, he accused at least one student of copyright infringement, and demanded money to “clear her name.” Police are now trying to find out if the guy did this to others as well. Of course, you have to wonder if he got the idea from seeing companies that are doing this on a larger scale.

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Force India has now become the third team from the current FIA entry list for the 2010 Formula One Championship that might not make the grid of the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix in mid-March. And it’s not because they don’t have the money to sustain their F1 operations, but because of their ongoing financial problems with UK’s Companies House.

According to Britain’s the Daily Telegraph, cited by the GMM news agency, Vijay Mallya’s team has failed to lodge its mandatory financial accounts … (read more)