Author: Serkadis

  • Motorola ME600 BACKFLIP now available in China

    motorola-backflip-china

    While AT&T customers wait for the Motorola BACKFLIP to debut here in the U.S., folks in China can score one today directly from Motorola China.The unlocked ME600 BACKFLIP will set you back a robust 4,298 Chinese yuan ($629 USD) and includes an 8GB memory card and a car charger. The U.S. variant of this uniquely styled handset is expected to debut in March with a carrier subsidy that should bring the final price of the handset to under $200, hopefully even lower.

    [Via Unwired View]

    Read

    Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

    Read Original Article

  • Toyota Loses $21 Billion, Plans Media Comeback

    The Armageddon-like recall of Toyota vehicles is proving to be a tougher nut to crack for the Japanese carmaker. What started out as a minor glitch is now turning into a problem of biblical proportions, a problem which already cost Toyota and its investors $21 billion in stock. Toyota’s stock dropped 14 percent last week alone…

    To limit the proportions of the disaster, Toyota now plans a media blitz, emphasizing how safe, reliable and trustworthy the carmaker and it leadership are. The blit… (read more)

  • In the Lab: More promises re Tutankhamun DNA

    Washington Post

    Egypt will soon reveal the results of DNA tests made on the world’s most famous ancient king, the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun, to answer lingering mysteries over his lineage, the antiquities department said Sunday.

    Speaking at a conference, archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said he would announce the results of the DNA tests and the CAT scans on Feb. 17. The results will be compared to those made of King Amenhotep III, who may have been Tutankamun’s grandfather.

    The effort is part of a wider program to check the DNA of hundreds of mummies to determine their identities and family relations. The program could help determine Tutankhamun’s family lineage, which has long been a source of mystery.

    AFP

    Zahi Hawass told AFP he has scheduled a news conference for February 17 in the Cairo Museum.

    The announcement will be “about the secrets of the family and the affiliation of Tutankhamun, based on the results of the scientific examination of the Tutankhamun mummy following DNA analysis,” Hawass said.

    The tomb of the boy king, who reigned from the age of nine and died under as yet unknown circumstances at about 19, was unearthed by British archaeologists in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, causing an international sensation.

    Egypt’s antiquities authorities said in August 2008 that they had taken DNA samples from Tutankhamun’s mummy and from two foetuses found in his tomb, to determine whether the still-born children had been fathered by the boy king.

  • Pictures: Grammy Awards 2010

    We’ve added alot of High Quality pictures of Beyonce’s big night at the Grammy Awards.

    01.31 – Grammy Awards – Arrivals

    01.31 – Grammy Awards – Performance

    01.31 – Grammy Awards – Show

  • “Little Fockers” Release Date Dec. 22

    The release of the third film in the Meet the Parentstrilogy has been delayed until next winter.

    The new movie, tentatively titled Little Fockers, revisits the characters from the first two films — Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers. Production on the film has been stalled and the release date pushed back.

    The comedy, which had been due to debut on the silver screen in July, will now hit theaters on Dec. 22.

    A representative for Universal, the studio behind the picture, has put the move down to scheduling conflicts – but insists a Christmas release will give Little Fockers a better chance of success at the box office.


  • Toyota’s remedy for recalled pedals announced, dealers to remain open extended hours [w/video]

    Filed under: , ,

    Toyota remedy for recalled pedals – Click above to enlarge

    Toyota announced early this morning exactly how it’s going to repair 2.3 million Toyota brand vehicles affected by its latest sticking accelerator pedal recall. The fix involves installing a “precision-cut steel reinforcement bar” into the pedal assembly that will reduce friction between a shoe and the adjoining surface, the place where Toyota has found these defective pedals to be sticking. The automaker says the fix is “effective and simple” – it should take around 30 minutes to perform – and has been rigorously tested on pedal assemblies that have been known to stick. Since words only paint so clear a picture, we’ll be searching for more visual evidence today of how the repair works, so stay tuned.

    In the meantime, Toyota says owners of vehicles affected by the sticking pedal recall can expect a letter by mail sometime in the next couple of days with instructions on how to coordinate their repair with a dealer. Dealers, meanwhile, will remain open extended hours to perform the repairs, some even 24 hours a day. And for those owners whose vehicles are affected by both the floormat recall and sticking pedal recall, Toyota will try to coordinate only one trip to the dealer for both fixes.

    Follow the jump for Toyota’s official statement as well as a video released today in which Toyota Motor Sales President and COO Jim Lentz expresses some heart felt apologies to current customers.

    [Source: Toyota]

    Continue reading Toyota’s remedy for recalled pedals announced, dealers to remain open extended hours [w/video]

    Toyota’s remedy for recalled pedals announced, dealers to remain open extended hours [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Microsoft Sticks a Cautious Toe into the Ad Exchange Business [MediaMemo]

    Is Microsoft is finally ready to a launch its long-delayed advertising exchange? Just barely.

    Redmond is set to roll out AdECN, the “real-time” ad exchange it bought in 2007, within the next two weeks. But only in the most cautious of tests: Microsoft will open up AdECN to a handful of ad buyers, and says it will only allow them to purchase a “select, limited amount of Microsoft inventory.”

    Which means that even as Google’s AdX exchange, relaunched last fall, continues to gather momentum, Microsoft will still be dabbling around the edges. And some industry sources tell me they’re not sure that Microsoft is convinced it wants to launch an exchange at all.

    The promise of the exchanges is that they allow ad sellers and buyers to haggle over specific pieces of inventory at the moment that a Web surfer is engaged with them.

    That’s important, theoretically, because it means an ad buyer can determine if a visitor who is, say, looking at this Web page at this very second is worth more or less than the one who was looking at it just before. Or after. Etc.

    Entrepreneurs and investors in ad technology think this is a big deal, because it will allow dollars to flow into online display ads much more efficiently. Traditional publishers, though, fear that the exchanges will simply function as more traditional ad networks do — that is, it will commoditize most of their ad inventory and push prices even lower.

    Microsoft itself is having that debate about its own exchange, sources familiar with the company tell me. They tell me that some executives in Redmond are desperate to launch AdECN in order to compete with Google — and likely Yahoo (YHOO), which is testing its own real-time platform. But others aren’t eager to launch a product that may end up pushing down prices on Microsoft properties like MSN.

    That would explain the long delay in launching AdECN, which has been promised for many months. Most recently, industry sources were telling me that Microsoft would launch the exchange in January.

    It appears they’ll be off by a few days. Here’s Microsoft’s statement to me, in response to a question about AdECN’s launch date and plans:

    To date, we’ve been piloting the AdECN Federated exchange system internally with Microsoft Content Ads and through the Microsoft Media Network. In the next two weeks, we are extending it to a select group of advertising network partners in a test phase, which will enable participants to bid for media in real-time across a select, limited amount of Microsoft inventory. We’ve been intentional in our launch approach – by initiating this test with a small group we believe that will help us to refine and build future functionality. We expect to share more details about this test and our strategy in the coming months.

    Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

    Read Original Article

  • Super Mario Bros. Visit Jersey Shore

    MTV’s Jersey Shore has got to be one of the most brilliantly stupid TV shows to come along in recent years. Seems like Super Mario Bros. would fit in just fine.


    Jersey Shore: Super Mario Bros. – Watch more free videos

    Related posts:

    1. Super Mario and the Princess Make a Sex Tape
    2. Mr. Norm’s Super Cuda is One Badass Retro Car
    3. Bing Makes Finding Porn Just A Little Easier

  • Lecture summary: Lecture reveals history behind ancient Egyptian pottery

    Truman State University Index (Jennifer Lewis)

    The Egyptian pottery residing in the Ophelia Parrish art gallery is accompanied by a story about how it had been unearthed and nestled safely in those glass cases. Sara Orel, art history professor and temporary curator of the exhibit, told the story in her faculty forum presentation “The Garstang Excavations at Beni Hasan, Egypt” on Jan. 26 in Magruder Hall 2001.

    Orel said she is intimately familiar with the pottery, on loan from The Royal Ontario Museum, because she wrote her dissertation in 1989 on the excavations performed by John Garstang in Beni Hasan, Egypt, where the pottery originated. She said she chose to focus on Beni Hasan because of its size and significance to the ordinary people of ancient Egypt.

    “It has one of the largest and best-excavated and preserved sets of burials of people who are essentially part of the middle class,” Orel said. “I have always been interested in daily life, not kings or queens and historical artifacts, but more the archaeological material.”

    Orel said Beni Hasan is an Egyptian tourist site, but the numerous middle class tombs often get overlooked because of their simplicity.

  • Kamui Kobayashi Revealed Renault F1 Talks

    Had it not been for Peter Sauber moving very fast towards securing Kamui Kobayashi for the upcoming season of Formula One, the Japanese driver would have probably been offered a racing job with Renault F1. Actually, according to his own sayings during the Sauber C29 launch in Valencia last weekend, he had plenty of offers to choose from before finally deciding on the Swiss outfit.

    When asked about this by the reporters present at BMW Sauber’s car launch in Valencia, Kobayashi replied I had th… (read more)

  • Teenager invents low-frequency radio for underground communications

    You know what’s really annoying? Teenagers. Even more annoying? Teenagers inventing legitimately useful things and getting awards for it. Meet Alexander Kendrick, the 16-year old inventor of a new low-frequency radio that allows for cave-texting, which isn’t some fresh new euphemism, it just means people can finally text while deep underground. How deep, you ask — well, Alexander’s team of intrepid explorers went far enough (946 feet) to record the deepest known digital communication ever in the United States. What you see the young chap holding above is the collapsible radio antenna, though plans are already afoot to ruggedize and miniaturize the equipment to make it more practical for cave explorers and rescuers. Way to go, kid.

    Teenager invents low-frequency radio for underground communications originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink Slashdot  |  sourceNPR  | Email this | Comments

    Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

    Article

  • Online resources: Egyptology news sources

    Late last year I promised to do a list of all the best Egyptology news blogs and websites. These are the ones that I know of. Do let me know of any others.

    Egyptology News
    Andie Byrnes
    Updated several times a week. Links with sample paragraphs. Photo for each day’s posting.

    EEF News
    Aayko Eyma
    If you subscribe to the list you will see news items as they drop in. You can also subscribe to a weekly digest or see it at the above page.

    News from the Valley of the Kings

    Kate Phizackerley
    Updated as and when news items appear. Photos, explanatory text and links to news stories when available.

    Talking Pyramids
    Vincent Brown
    In spite of the name of the blog this includes a daily list of links to news items about all periods of ancient Egypt.

    Egypt Then and Now
    Ben Morales Correa
    Updated several times a week – includes items on modern Egypt

    Egyptians
    Tim Reid
    Updated several times a week. News, photos and comments.

    Dr Hawass.com

    Zahi Hawass and team
    Updated several times per month. Press statements, news items, photos.

    OsirisNet News
    Thierry Benderitter and John Hirst
    Updated monthly. Links and sample paragraphs. English and French

    What’s New In Papyrology
    Updated as and when news items and book reviews etc are available.

    Cyberscribe News
    Clair Ossian
    News digest. Updated monthly

    My favourite of the general archaeology/museum news items are:
    Stan Parchin’s Art Museum Journal
    Tony Cagles’s Archaeoblog
    ArchaeoNews

  • Online resources: British Egyptological Society Directory

    Sussex Egyptology Society

    The British Egyptological Society Directory, hosted by Sussex Egyptology Society, was updated on 23rd January 2010.

    Here’s the introductory text. The full directory is available at the above page.

    The last few years have seen an extraordinary blossoming of regional Egyptological societies in the UK. A development without parallel anywhere else in the world, it gives enthusiasts throughout Great Britain the chance to get together, to attend Egyptological lectures previously only available in major cities, and thus to share mutual interests. Geographical and other factors mean that some groups have more of a struggle for survival than others, but EgyptologyUK exists to help promote all of them, and bring Egyptology to as wide a public as possible.

    This is now the 10th edition of the BES Directory of British Egyptological Societies.

    Founded by the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society, the Directory was created to help keep the growing band of UK Egyptological groups informed about each other. It provides details about each society’s officers and membership, its lecture venues, and links to the individual society websites for details of lecture programmes where available.

    Sometimes groups change officers, move or disband — if your society is in this Directory but its details need changing please let us know. Also, if you know of any new or unlisted groups, please tell us so that we can ensure that the BES Directory is as complete as possible.

    This web-based document can be viewed, downloaded or printed as required. However, if you would like a printed & bound copy please contact us at the e-mail address below. We are happy to provide this service at a minimal charge to cover our costs and postage.

    The information in this Directory has been provided by the individual societies. If you find any errors, please contact the relevant Society direct and let us know.

    Michael & Lynn Oakey
    [email protected]

  • China’s 2010 Gasoline Production Can Satisfy Demand

    Last year, China became the world’s largest automotive market, as car sales saw a 52.9% increase to 10.3 million units. For 2010, automotive sales in the country are forecast to grow by 15% to 11.9 million cars. This leads to a larger gasoline demand, but Chinese refineries can certainly satisfy the need, as Reuters reports.

    The gasoline demand in China is expected to increase half the rate of new car sales, but refineries are able to meet this demand without having to affect export volumes…. (read more)

  • Hyundai to Start Building Plant in Brazil

    Hyundai had a great year in the US. The Korean manufacturer managed to sell more cars than in 2008, which was not an easy task considering the recession. The sales increase was due to the fact that the automaker launched a lot of new models, payed serious attention to advertising and offered good financing options.

    As the US market seems to be going okay, the Koreans turned their heads to Brazil some time ago and decided to build a plant there. According to just-auto.com, Hyundai is in the fi… (read more)

  • Climategate: Al Gore and the politicization of science by Roger L. Simon, PajamasMedia.com

    Article Tags: ClimateGate, Roger L. Simon

    One of the most disturbing outgrowths of the global warming controversy over the last twenty or so years has been the increased politicization of science. Of course, this is far from the first time this has occurred, but it may be one of the most important, because we are at a particularly fragile moment in the global economy. Indeed, had it not been for the release of the Climategate emails and documents in November, the recent Copenhagen conference might have succeeded in reallocating billions, even trillions, of dollars, possibly leading to a form of global bankruptcy. Less than two months later, with the so-called science now unraveling on an almost daily basis, the whole thing seems close to insane. How could we have done it?

    Well, how could we have done it?

    Okay, I’ll take a pass at that – with the caveat that this is a very early narrative of a story that many will tell and examine in the future, undoubtedly in book form. In fact, it deserves several books.

    But let’s start with the obvious. Most of us love Mother Earth. It’s a beautiful planet to live on with many extraordinary places and creatures “in’t.” Most of us want to preserve it. And for decades we have been trying to do so – liberals and conservatives in sometimes different ways – via governmental and non-governmental means. To greater or lesser degrees, some of these means worked – or at least improved things. Anyone who lives in Los Angeles, as I do, knows the benefits of air quality legislation. You can actually see the hills and your eyes don’t tear, as they once did, when you walk into the back yard.

    Source: pajamasmedia.com

    Read in full with comments »   


  • Roger Becker Retires from Lotus

    Roger Becker, Lotus’ Director of Vehicle Engineering, announced his retirement today after 44 years of work in the automotive field. The man responsible for the development of the Esprit, Excel, Elan, Elise, Exige and Evora decided to retire due to his age.

    I have had a dream career at Lotus, with the honour of not only working directly for Colin Chapman but also working with some of the finest people in the motor industry. With the Lotus Evora successfully entering the market with unprecede… (read more)

  • Padma Lakshmi Baby Girl

    Padma Lakshmi is reportedly expecting a bouncing baby girl!

    Lakshmi — host of Bravo’s top-rated cooking competition, Top Chef — has kept her baby’s sex under wraps since announcing her pregnancy last October, but loose-lipped sources close to the foodie beauty blab that Padma is stocking up on little girls clothing just weeks ahead of her scheduled due date. The Gossip Wire is abuzz with whisperings that Columbia University professor Adam Dell is the baby’s father.


  • Getting anxious over Anxiety Depression

    A lot of people who are exerting too much of their brain power usually exhaust not only their physical relaxation. A lot of busy people who seem to cannot fathom the idea of relaxing and taking time of from work, as well as their worries, tend to actually start having nervous breakdowns, anxiety depression and all sorts of mental illnesses tha strength when engaging in various multi-tasking activities, they also tend to over extend their brains up to the point when it plainly needs some good old time for t can cause a person’s sanity to go haywire, fortunately, if you’re one of those poor unfortunate ones who are unable to distress and is constantly worried and fussing over things, there are actually available cures and various treatments for treating anxiety depression.
    Anxiety depression is actually characterized by all sorts of irregularities and erratic behavior from the person who is suffering from it, this is usuallu due to certain stress triggers that may tend to easily cause a person undue jitters and stress. Also, a lot of people who tend to get easily nervous over stressful activities are actually prone to having anxiety depression, its just a matter of being strong-willed when it comes to facing difficult and stress-prone activities. It may be pretty hard to overcome at first, but trying to be calm and cool in times of extreme pressure is what’ll actually save your mental health from going totally downward spiral.
    When it comes to effectively curing one’s self from a mental illness, one must keep in mind that you have to be actually honest with yourself and assess what kind of depression or mental illness you actually have, go to reputable psychiatrist to get yourself diagnosed correctly as well as be able to get the right depression treatment for yourself. Here are the various types of depression:
    Manic or Bipolar depression – characterized by sudden and extreme changes in one’s mood wherein one minute he or she is in an elevated state of euphoria while the next minute (day or week) he or she is feeling to be in a personal hell.
    Postpartum depression – characterized by a prolonged sadness and a feeling of emptiness by a new mother wherein physical stress during child birth, an uncertain sense of responsibility towards the new born baby can be just some of the possible factors why some new mother go through this.
    Dysthimia – characterized by a slight similarity with depression, although this time, it’s been proven to be a lot less severe, but of course with any case, should be treated immediately.
    Cyclothemia – characterized by a slight similarity with Manic or Bipolar depression wherein the individual suffering from this mental illness may occasionally suffer from severe changes in one’s moods.
    Seasonal Affective Disorder – characterized by falling in a rut only during specific seasons (i.e. Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall) studies however, prove that more people

    actually fall in to a rut more during the Winter and Fall seasons and lastly, Mood swings, wherein a person’s mood may shift from happy to sad to angry in just a short time.

    But the type of depression that has actually been proven to be quite common among people is anxiety depression, which is actually characterized by the state of being overly anxious about things. Anxiety, a supposedly normal behavior that’ll actually help a person adjust more to a certain stressful activity like first date jitters or a grueling exam the following day. Anxiety actually helps you get psyched up towards facing certain “difficult situations”; anxiety therefore is actually a good thing. Anxiety depression however, is simply the opposite, not to be easily dismissed as a “case of the nerves”; Anxiety depression is in actuality an illness that can be caused from the biological makeup of an individual, or in other words, a hereditary illness.
    Also, there are actually various types of Anxiety depression, each having its own unique characteristics. Take for example Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD, this kind of Anxiety depression is a lot more complicated than the average Anxiety depression, in spite of possibly being a day-to-day habit for those who suffer this kind of Anxiety depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder actually makes the individual quite more paranoid than usual, anxiety attacks are more frequent, even absurd at times. They can even be anxious even when there’s no apparent reason that calls for them to behave in such a way. People suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder actually shows a lot of symptoms, from lack of sleep, to being unable to relax, getting tired easily, cannot concentrate on what they’re doing and even suffering from depression. This kind of Anxiety depression is still curable; just a little work will actually do the trick.
    Consult a reputable cognitive behavior therapist who’ll help give the individual the therapy that he or she needs to help him or her loosen up, also prescribed medicines are sort of a must to help these individuals battle anxiety attacks, help them calm down and relax.


  • Guys Think About Sex 5,000 Times A Year

    5BEEE799-5DDD-4F14-9E17-44325EDBDD4F.jpg

    Scientists have now confirmed what every red blooded guy already knows: dudes think about sex. A lot. Like nearly 5,000 times a year.

    Yes, the folks over at Onepoll.com have found that the average man thinks about sexual intercourse 13 times a day, which works out to 4,745 times each and every year. Over the course of a lifetime a guy could have thought about sex more than 300,000 times.

    The study looked at the habits of 3,000 men and women. While men think about sex all the time, the average guy only gets to do it twice a week. That’s a ratio of about 45 times of thinking about sex for every instance of actually having sex.

    Nearly a third of men in the survey admitted that sex is often the first thing they think about when first waking up in the morning.

    Women, on the other hand, think about sex only five times per day or 1,825 times a year.

    One out of three guys thinks a candlelit dinner is the best way to get a woman in the sack. Women are more likely to put on some mood music or cook their mate’s favorite meal when they want to get it on.

    photo credit: Mario Pleitez

    Related posts:

    1. Women Will Spend One Year of Their Lives Deciding What to Wear
    2. Woman Pranks her Grandma 45 Times – in One Day!
    3. Make Out Tips from a Freaky 15 Year Old