Author: Serkadis

German tuner Lumma is working on a complete tuning package for the BMW X6 M, which will be presented at the Geneva Auto Show.

Meanwhile, new pictures of the project have come from Russia with love, via the company’s Russian distributor, Topcar.

The full name of the car will be CLR X 650 M, and it will be fitted with an aggressive body kit. The front of the car features a redesigned bumper with huge air intakes and led daytime running lights accompanied by a pair of black nostrils. On the s… (read more)

Every once in a while the Australians get it right when it comes to the Internet. Not exactly renowned for their ‘forward-thinking’ approach, the Aussies have plans to implement a mandatory filter to keep out anything on the web that isn’t ‘appropriate’, this latest news from Down Under is a welcome change. A lawsuit triggere… (read more)

If you’ve ever spent any time trying to parse through your list of Twitter followers, than you know how time consuming it can be. “Who’s this guy?” you ask yourself, as you open up their profile in a new tab, just so you can read their little blurb about who they are and what they do and why you care.

Twitter’s latest feature, Hovercards, will offer that contextual information without making you ever open up another tab.

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Twitter announced the feature last night, though for many unfortunate souls, such as myself, it has yet to go live. As with most Twitter features, this one will be rolled out over time.

As you can see above, the hovercard is like a business card that will appear whenever you mouseover another user’s name or avatar. The Twitter announcement says that this will happen in “any timeline” so we can only hope that this means it will work when you’re trying to organize who you follow into lists. We asked Twitter but didn’t receive a response by press.

The Twitter blog also notes that the hovercards will work for its new retweet format, showing you information about the person who is being retweeted. They will also let you direct message the person from within the hovercard. It seems like there could be other basic functionality too, from the looks of it, but its too early to tell.

Of course, this feature only affects those of you that actually still visit Twitter.com instead of using an third-party app, but it surely seems like a great tool for looking through your followers and trying to create lists.

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LOS ANGELES — More than seven months after Michael Jackson’s death from an anesthetic overdose — and following days of heightened speculation — the pop singer’s doctor will be arraigned Friday on a charge connected to the death, according to a person familiar with the planning.

Dr. Conrad Murray is set to be arraigned at a Los Angeles courthouse, the person, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation, told The Associated Press Wednesday.

The possible charge was not disclosed.

However, two law enforcement sources have told the AP that prosecutors plan to charge Murray with involuntary manslaughter.

The officials also requested anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the case.

Los Angeles County district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said she could “neither confirm nor deny” that Murray would appear Friday afternoon at the courthouse.

Jackson died June 25 at a rented mansion on the west side of Los Angeles.

Murray, who has a practice in Houston, came to Los Angeles last weekend and has been strategizing with his team of defense attorneys. Lead attorney Ed Chernoff said his client was ready to surrender to authorities in the event a charge is filed.

“We are prepared for whatever occurs,” Chernoff said. “We have time to meet and strategize for possible scenarios, but in reality we’ve had eight months to do that.”

The arrival of Murray and Chernoff in recent days from Houston led to a new round of speculation that a charge could be announced this week. Camera crews and reporters converged on a downtown criminal courthouse Tuesday morning awaiting word of possible charges, although Gibbons said she had no word on when any developments were likely.

Chernoff was waiting for news in a Los Angeles-area hotel, while Murray was at a friend’s house in Santa Monica, where a crowd of paparazzi was waiting outside.

“There’s no joy in representing someone who shouldn’t be charged in the first place,” Chernoff said. “There’s some truth to the proposition that the waiting is the hardest part.”

Police have been investigating Murray since Jackson’s death at age 50. The doctor told detectives he’d given the singer a powerful anesthetic and other sedatives to get the chronic insomniac star to sleep. Jackson died soon after and investigators have been gathering evidence to try to show Murray was negligent in administering the drugs.

Murray maintains nothing he gave Jackson should have killed him.

Meanwhile Wednesday, a judge in Las Vegas found Murray in default on a nearly $132,000 (€94,000) debt related to office medical equipment and services.

Murray had no lawyer in the case. He has long-standing personal and professional debts, and faced near foreclosure last summer on his Las Vegas country club home.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Though Toyota is in a lot of trouble, the Japanese keep an open mind and think about all repercussions. The automaker decided to help out its dealers in these tough times. And what better way of helping them than writing a check?

Toyota will give the dealers amounts ranging from $7,500 to $75,000 depending on the number of cars the dealer sold in 2009. In order to get the maximum amount, a dealer must have sold more than 4,000 vehicles. The money are dedicated to offering support for the affe… (read more)

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FOX LAKE — The Fox Waterway Agency seeks a candidate to fill a Lake County vacancy on the board of directors.

The board meets at 7 p.m the fourth Thursday of each month.

Meetings alternate between the Fox Waterway Agency Headquarters in Fox Lake and the McHenry Municipal Center.

Information on the Fox Waterway Agency’s structure, programs and policies can be found at foxwaterway.org..

The vacancy exists because director Mike Mueller of Antioch died Jan. 2.

Those interested in applying to fill the vacant position are required to live in the Lake County voting district of the Fox Waterway agency.

Candidates should forward a letter of interest and rsum stating their qualifications and general background. The final selection will be made by the board of directors.

Candidate submissions will be accepted until noon Feb. 17 and can be sent via e-mail to Executive Director Ingrid Danler at ingrid@foxwa terway.org.

Anyone who sends an e-mail but does not receive a confirmation e-mail should resubmit.

Read the original article from the Northwest Herald.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) today publicly unveiled the first 787 Dreamliner to feature interior components.

The third flight test airplane, ZA003, has a partial interior that provides a glimpse into the new flying experience the airplane will offer.

Configured for flight-testing purposes, the interior includes instrumentation racks, flight-test equipment and workstations for engineers.

“This airplane is specifically configured to test the passenger experience elements of the airplane,” said Tom Galantowicz, director of 787 Interiors, Commercial Airplanes.

“Our engineers and flight-test team use a disciplined process to certify the various elements of the interior and conduct airplane-level verifications.”

The interior includes 135 seats, multiple lavatories and two crew rests. Certifying the interior components involves analyses and testing of the lighting, lavatories, stowage bins, dimmable windows and galleys.

Passengers will be welcomed onto the 787 by sweeping arches, dynamic lighting, larger lavatories, more spacious luggage bins and electronic window shades whose transparency they can change during flight.

“Our team is making great progress and is looking forward to getting this airplane in the air later this month,” Galantowicz added.

Flight testing will continue in the months ahead. Delivery of the first 787 to launch customer ANA (All Nippon Airways) of Japan is planned for the fourth quarter of this year.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Scott Lefeber, +1 425-266-5824
787 Communications
[email protected]

More information: boeing.com/commercial/787family.

We have chosen not to do so because it reduces the reading legibility and clarity of the E Ink display. It increases glare, and decreases the amount of light reaching your eye. Today for the Kindle there is nothing between your eye and the E Ink screen. That’s what makes it easy to read on.”

– Steven Kessel, an Amazon senior VP for digital media, explains why the Kindle lacks a touchscreen

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the company’s new iBookstore and iBooks application for the iPad last week, he said that while Amazon (AMZN) has gone a great job with the Kindle, Apple (AAPL) plans to “stand on their shoulders and go a little further.”

Those words clearly put the fear of Jobs into Amazon’s leadership, because today comes news that the online retailer is scrambling to improve Kindle, buying Touchco, a start-up based in New York that specializes in touch-screen technology. News of the deal was first reported by The New York Times.

Established by a small team of computer scientists from New York University’s Media Research Lab, Touchco has developed a low-cost, low-power multitouch screen with a technology called interpolating force-sensitive resistance (IFSR). It hasn’t yet commercialized the product, so what Amazon is really doing here is buying some engineers. A wise move, particularly if the multitouch screen these particular engineers have devised can detect an unlimited number of simultaneous touch points and will cost as little as US$10 per square foot.

And, clearly, Amazon must do something to defend its e-book turf against Apple’s looming incursion.
But is simply slapping a touchscreen on Kindle enough? A Kindle with a touchscreen is, ultimately, still just a Kindle — a monochrome device designed for a single purpose.

And that’s what it will remain, unless Amazon is able to develop the same sort of intuitive multi-touch control metaphor that we see today in the iPhone and iPad and a vibrant software ecosystem that makes good use of it. Really, what Amazon needs here is an entirely new device, because when it finally arrives at market, the iPad isn’t just going to set the standard for tablet devices, it’s redfine consumer expectations for e-readers.

And, if it’s not able to create such a device? Well, it best start thinking about recasting Kindle as an inexpensive, or even free, single-purpose reading device or hope that the Kindle app proves as popular on the iPad as it has on the iPhone and iPod touch.

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Proton Power Systems and Smith Electric Vehicles have teamed up to produce an electric car with fuel cell range extender. This terminology will most likely go over better with battery electric vehicle fans than the term hydrogen fuel cell hybrid vehicle.

Most likely the term electric car with fuel cell range extender was chosen because the electric car without the range extender has a range of about 100 miles. By adding the Proton Power PM200 fuel cell the car picks up another 86 miles in range. Had those numbers been swapped, however we’d most likely be calling this a fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle.

The first commercial EV with FC range extender will be rolled out in Germany in the last quarter of 2010. The first customers will be fleet operators and local authorities. It makes sense that the first vehicles would rollout in Germany which is part of the European Union Hydrogen Highway system.

Germany, which has an area of 137,000 square miles has 30 hydrogen fueling stations in place with a commitment to the acceleration in building more H2 stations over the next 5 years. By comparison, California has an area of 164,000 square miles and has 27 hydrogen fueling stations operational, but not all are open to the public.

A research conducted by automobile lifecycle analysis company Vincentric found that the Chevrolet Tahoe Police 2WD has the lowest lifecycle cost in the law enforcement market, in the majority of scenarios under study.

To find out which car has the lowest lifecycle cost, Vincentric evaluated seven factors: depreciation expense, fuel costs, finance costs, opportunity costs, maintenance costs, repair costs, and insurance costs.

The Tahoe won when compared to Chevrolet Impala, Ford Crown Vic… (read more)

Yes, that is the tiny piece of metal that will save Toyota, or at least its customers, from the sticky gas pedal issue in 2.3 million vehicles.

Earlier this week Toyota released a statement outlining how it will fix the sticky gas pedal issue. The Japanese automaker said:

“A precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be installed into the assembly that will reduce the surface tension between the friction shoe and the adjoining surface. With this reinforcement in place, the excess friction that can cause the pedal to stick is eliminated.”

The picture you see above is the “precision-cut steel reinforcement bar” Toyota is talking about.

“Something like this here, easiest fix ever,” said Stephen Oranellas, a mechanic at a Toyota dealership Norwood. “It’s a very small fix for a big problem.”

Toyota began shipping the metal stamp looking “reinforcement bar” to dealerships earlier this week. The company has not yet decided on a solution for the earlier floor mat entrapment recall, which now affects 5.75 million cars.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Boston Overdrive (via KickingTires)

AReview: KARACHI: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Abdullah Hussain Haroon said that the UN Commission probing assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had refused to arrive in Pakistan due to security fears. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he expressed the concerns that the government’s assurance to provide proper security to the UN team was not being implemented, As a result the UN inquiry team has refused to visit the country, he said. “A game is being played against Pakistan in the name of Mullah Omar, al-Qaeda and Taliban,” Haroon opined, continuing our internal situation would further worsen if operation moved to Balochistan after NWFP. “We need to rethink what we got after fighting for the cause of United States for 35 years,” he commented.

Well, this is nice: a Radeon HD 5000 series graphics card available on the cheap. It looks like you’re not sacrificing much in performance, either: The $60 Radeon 5450 has full DX11 graphics and Eyefinity multi-display support.

The $60 version comes with a 512MB memory configuration, and you lose a little speed compared to the 5800 and 5600 lines. But the 5450 is also optimized for HTPCs, with HDMI 1.3a with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

UPDATED: Hey all! Took down a video that had been posted here previously, whose purpose was to demonstrate what DirectX is capable of. The 5450 does have DX11 support, but I didn’t mean to imply that this particular card would give you that exact performance shown in the video. I clearly see how that could have been misinterpreted, though. [BusinessWire]

Final Fantasy VIII headlines this week’s EU PlayStation Store update. Those looking for something newer to play can also try out demos for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Aliens vs Predator, and Half-Minute Hero. Hit the jump for

Guess what? Puxatony Phil saw his shadow and Sony announced another delay for Gran Turismo 5 in the same week. Oh, the irony. In an interview with Spanish site Canarias Al Dia, CEO of Sony Entertainment Portugal James Armstrong reportedly revealed another disappointing delay for the highly anticipating driving simulation game. Armstrong allegedly said Sony is aiming to have GT5 on store shelves before Christmas, and that the “priority is to make this game with the best quality as possible.” Does this mean that Sony and Polyphony Digital are struggling to work out bugs before the all-too-important game is unleashed on the consumer? It sure sounds that way.

If you’re at all like us, you’re wondering by now whether GT5 will ever see the light of day. The highly hyped, multi-format racing game was supposed to be released in the fall of 2009, then in March of 2010. Now we’re talking sometime before December. Note to Sony and Polyphony Digital: Don’t publish truck loads of teasers, videos and screen shots more than a year in advance of the big kid console version of the game finds its way onto store shelves. It’s just mean.

[Source: GT Planet]

Report: Gran Turismo 5 “autumn” launch revealed by Sony exec originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

We remember the last time we reached for a Cohiba and said to ourselves, “Man, this illegal Cuban cigar would taste so much better if we had a Chrysler branded humidor. Hey Jeeves, we’re running a little low on Pernod here. Getting chopping.” Well sir, from our lips to the Chrysler marketing department’s ears (except the Pernod part). That’s right, for the low, low (we think) price of $199.95 we can have our very own laser-etched Chrysler humidor. And so can you!

There’s more than just cigar boxes for sale. Travel goodies, pens, clothing – you name it – is all branded Chrysler and up for sale on a new website. But not just Chrysler. Dodge, Jeep and Ram are in on the action as well. And we must say, the Dodge store is really cool. From the Super Bee T-shirts to the 1:64 scale trucks to the ‘68 Charger R/T ladies shirt we do want.

The Jeep store is a bit too Eddie Bauer meets Kennebunkport for our tastes. We were hoping that Jeep would go more with its new “I Live. I Ride. I Am. Jeep.” tagline, which seems to feature nothing but pretty ladies exiting hair salons, but no such luck. Still, we wouldn’t mind a Jeep T-shirt. And then there’s the Ram Trucks store which sells tough guy-stuff like work gloves, Leathermen, tool bags and shock-proof watches. Howie Long would fit right in, if he weren’t working the other side of the fence. Press release after the jump.

[Source: Chrysler]

Continue reading Chrysler brands look for part-time work, find retail jobs

Chrysler brands look for part-time work, find retail jobs originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With plans to shift its research and development department from more horsepower to fewer pounds already announced, supercar manufacturer Lamborghini is preparing the way for the extinction of the Murcielago and sets the stage for the entry of the Jota.

Needless to say, details on the Jota (named so far like this in honor of Bob Wallace’s 1970s Miura Jota test mule) are scarce, but since this hasn’t stopped us so far…The Jota, lighter than the Murcielago, will use a 6.0-liter V12 engine, w… (read more)

Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Toyota, Earnings/Financials

Despite internal predictions that its current throttle-related recall costs may dent company coffers by up to $2 billion this quarter, Toyota has raised its projections for the fiscal year ending in March. That’s according to Reuters, who note that the increase comes after the automaker beat its third quarter estimates.

Toyota had previously stated that it expected to incur a 350 billion yen loss (around $3.86 billion USD), and now it says it only expects to lose 20 billion yen ($220 million). Toyota’s previous forecast was considered “excessive conservative,” with outside brokerage houses predicting a loss of around 38 billion yen.

According to the news agency, Toyota says the updated forecast includes around 100 billion yen for recall costs (about $1.1 billion), and another 70-80 billion yen for lost sales (around $830 million), yet at the same time, Toyota says it expects to save some 1.59 trillion yen ($17.5 billion) via “emergency profit measures, an increase over earlier estimates.

Toyota stock has taken a drubbing over the two weeks since this wave of recalls began, with shares having been down as much as 23 percent – some $30 billion.

[Source: Reuters via Automotive News – subs. req.]

Report: In spite of recalls, Toyota raising annual forecast originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did you know the Palm Pre Plus is a phone for ladies? Specifically, for moms? Well, it is, you sissy! If you were a real man, you’d buy a Droid! That’s a phone for men!

Actually, that’s far from the truth. Both phones are pretty damned gender neutral, unless you’re the type of person who believes only men appreciate hard lines and ladies are drawn to curves. And apparently that’s what Verizon believes, based on their advertising.

I mean, just look at these new Verizon Pre ads! Why are they showcasing this as a phone for moms? It’s a quite capable phone that people of all genders and ages would enjoy. But I guess if they made the ads for the Droid so explodey and masculine they thought they had to make up for it with these.

Hey Verizon: they’re both good phones. Feel free to just advertise them as such. [Engadget]