Mereja

Author: Serkadis

  • Toyota Incidents in Europe: 26 (and Counting?)

    After yesterday the European arm of Japanese carmaker Toyota announced it will begin recalling cars equipped with faulty accelerators on the Old Continent, the number of related incidents was revealed: 26. There is still no word on how many vehicles are affected by the problem in Europe.

    "We have no reports of any accidents, we have had a number of reports of incidents," a Toyota spokesman, speaking for just-auto.com, said. "We have 26 such reports, but a report is provided by… (read more)

  • Brazil becomes Fiat’s biggest market

    Fiat in Brazil

    For the first time in Fiat’s 111-year history, Italy is no longer the brand’s number one market. The local market has been overtaken by Brazil, purchasing 750,000 cars a year to Italy’s 722,000. If any evidence was needed as to Brazil’s “emerging” market status, the stats speak for themselves. Italy’s purchases decreased by 0.5 percent, while Brazil’s increased by 12.6 percent.

    That’s a big number which has left even CEO Sergio Marchionne surprised (figures of this kind were expected for Brazil, but further down the track). What’s more, Fiat seems to be on a winning formula for this South American market, taking out the number one spot for car manufacturers, too. Volkswagen follows, selling 695,395 vehicles and General Motors trails behind a little at 610,836 sales.

    The results are not due to one particular model, but a combination of Fiat’s hard work over a number of years to build their presence in the Brazilian market, providing vehicles that customers want to buy, and new car tax incentives from the Brazilian government. By comparison, the Italian car market is likely to experience a slight decrease this year, which could get very costly if the government chooses not to continue scrappage schemes.

    Source | Autoblog.it


  • This 80-port USB charge board had to come from Thanko

    Most of Tokyo-based Thanko’s USB accesories are utterly useless, but I don’t know what to think of their latest creation, a 80-port USB board [JP]. Yes, they put 80 USB ports on one board. You can’t transfer data over the ports but only charge your gadgets though, it’s not a USB hub.

    The board is sized at 200×200×19mm and obviously needs to be plugged into a wall socket to work (100V). The picture below shows it with just 40 of the 80 ports used.

    I don’t know who’d be interested in owning such a monster, but Geek Stuff 4 U is offering to people living outside Japan for $208.68 plus shipping (it went on sale in Japan today).


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  • Daily Crunch: Nothing’s On Edition

    The 6 rules of shopping for an HDTV this Super Bowl season
    Warning: These retro gaming keychains from Bandai won’t attract ladies
    Mouse pad + 10-key + USB hub = Converged hotness
    GOG.com inks deal with Activision to sell DRM-free classic adventure games
    These “home commuting” accessories may just make a blogger out of you


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  • Massa Not Afraid of Alonso Challenge

    Felipe Massa doesn’t seem too worried that he’ll be partnering a double world champion at Ferrari next season. Even though Fernando Alonso revealed to the media that his only goal for the season is to take another world crown, the Brazilian driver is convinced he’ll be able to match his new teammate.

    The expectations as far as my team-mate is concerned I’ve been living with for many years now. When there’s a new driver at Ferrari, there are great expectations and the goal is to work well as a… (read more)

  • Toyota Faulty Accelerator Fix

    With Toyota’s biggest recall ever far from over, the Japanese carmaker released today details on how it plans to fix the faulty accelerator problems which led to this unprecedented measure. According to Toyota, the 2.3 million pedals found to be faulty in recall announced earlier this month will be fixed by inserting a metal shim into a gap in the friction lever of the pedal. This will allow the reduction of the friction and prevent the pedal from sticking.

    "As early as next week, we wil… (read more)

  • The Rein Before the Cloud [Voices]

    By Siki Giunta, President and CEO, Fortisphere

    Cloud computing is inevitable. In fact, it’s already thriving. Salesforce.com (CRM) is in the cloud.

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  • Drunk Driver Gets Into More Trouble After Posting Facebook Photo [Voices]

    By Thomas J. Prohaska, Reporter, News Niagra

    Ashley M. Sullivan is in Niagara County Jail, and Facebook may be to blame as much as the car crash that killed a Niagara Falls man.

    Sullivan, 17, of Linden Avenue, North Tonawanda, was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to six months in the County Jail and five years’ probation for crashing her car while drunk and killing her boyfriend May 30 on Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda.

    She pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to criminally negligent homicide and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.

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  • Verari Founder Outlines Strategy After High-Speed Wipeout and Rebirth

    Verari_Technologies_WhtBck

    Bruce V. Bigelow wrote:

    The demise of San Diego’s Verari Systems and its resurrection as Verari Technologies happened so fast you might not have realized what happened unless you were paying close attention over the holidays.

    The longtime local company, which specializes in making high-performance servers, server racks, and energy-efficient data storage centers, laid off 223 employees and ceased operations just two weeks before Christmas. It was hard to make out what was happening at the time, chiefly because Verari denied media reports that it had shut down—saying instead that its doors were open and it was merely “restructuring” its business.

    But a few weeks later, a notice on Verari’s website said the high-performance computer company was in fact soliciting buyers in a public auction. All Verari assets were later sold through a liquidation known as an “assignment for the benefit of creditors.” Such liquidations, sometimes known as “friendly foreclosures,” are not that unusual—especially these days, according to Bruce Bennett, a Los Angeles bankruptcy lawyer. Bennett told me that in these scenarios, a senior secured creditor, usually a bank that provided a business loan, forces the issue, but ultimately with the company’s cooperation. “It’s just an inherently simpler and less expensive way of liquidating the assets instead of going through bankruptcy,” Bennett says. In most cases, no new company emerges from such liquidations.

    But Bennett says it’s not that unusual for a key figure from a distressed company to step back in and acquire all the assets—which is what happened at Verari. Dave Driggers, who founded the San Diego company in 1991 and was working as Verari’s chief technology officer, led an investment group that bought all of the old Verari’s assets. Driggers also stepped in as CEO to reboot the San Diego computer company, which is now known as Verari Technologies. Less than 40 percent of the old Verari’s 223 employees are expected to get their jobs back.

    Dave Driggers

    Dave Driggers

    Verari reopened for business last week, capping a lightning-fast salvage that took less than six weeks to carry out. But it tortures common sense to describe what happened as a restructuring.

    In a recent interview, Driggers told me that all of Verari’s previous investors were wiped out—after raising $59 million in three rounds—and that they were not part of the group that bought Verari’s assets. “You never heard me announce a restructuring,” Driggers said. “I chose not to say anything during the process—from the day we shut down until after the acquisition.”

    During our conversation, Driggers explained why he’s optimistic about the future of Verari Technologies—which he says is moving forward with the same technology and a better business model. He also explained why the old Verari failed.

    With a mixture of exasperation and pride, Driggers said that Verari “had incurred a huge amount of debt” while its technology and products were …Next Page »

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  • Hyundai Posts Outstanding Q4

    Hyundai Motor reported a 2009 Q4 operating profit which exceeds analysts’ expectations, thus indicating that a new path may lie ahead for the world’s 4th biggest automaker (if we consider its alliance with Kia Motors), as Reuters reports.

    The global crisis forced consumers to change their options and move towards the small cars segment. Government incentives were also available and they were offered for this particular part of the automotive market. Hyundai foresaw the opportunity and granted… (read more)

  • Nissan Receives $1.4B Loan to Produce the LEAF in NA

    The US Department of Energy announced yesterday it has approved a $1.4 billion loan to Nissan North America to allow the carmaker to produce the Nissan LEAF vehicles and the lithium-ion battery packs to power them at its Smyrna, Tenn., manufacturing plant.

    The loan was issued as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which was designed to accelerate the development of vehicles and technologies that will create cleaner means of transportation in the United States…. (read more)

  • Feathered Dinosaurs

    I have posted extensively on what we call dawn age reptiles. These are critters that are at home in swamps and deep water and are mostly aquatic.  I avoided talking about the later reptiles for the nonce.

    The niche occupied by dawn age reptiles immediately solved a huge problem of temperature control.  They lived almost exclusively in water and avoided the whole issue.  Even our old friend Nessie fitted nicely into the oceanic version of this niche.

    However, the minute we allow these critters to stray away from water, it is necessary to think about temperature control.  Exposed skin does a poor job of controlling temperature.  We do not go out and work naked in either the mid day sun or the dead of winter without serious consequences.

    Every critter exploiting a wider range of temperature using any vigor must be insulated.  Basking is not an activity.  This has meant hair or feathers.

    Not surprisingly, these late reptiles are showing signs of using feathers.  This probably thinned out as they became large.  The internal mass by itself would then be largely sufficient.  Down and feathers would be necessary for the young in any case.  I think that the default mode for active advanced reptiles included down and feathers as a pre condition to leaving the swamps.

    I think this story is only beginning to be told.
    Dinosaur Sported Colorful Feathers
    By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
    posted: 27 January 2010 01:01 pm ET

    http://www.livescience.com/animals/colorful-dinosaur-feathers.html#comments
    http://i.livescience.com/images/feathered-dino-100127-01.jpg
    A meat-eating dinosaur called Sinosauropteryx likely sported a rim of colored feathers on its head, down its back and tail when it lived some 120 million years ago. The tail probably had a striped pattern of orange and white. Credit: © Chuang Zhao and Lida Xing.
    _______________________________________
    Our image of what dinosaurs looked like has just been colorized, thanks to fossilized feather remains showing one meat-eating beast sported a striped tail of white and gingery bands.

    Not only do the results paint a jazzier picture of the ancient giants, they also confirm the presence of real feathers, not just “feather-like” or bristly structures, in some meat-eating dinosaurs called theropods, the scientists say. The finding has implications for understanding the origin of feathers, since scientists think birds evolved from a group of theropods called maniraptors, some 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period.

    “Our research provides extraordinary insights into the origin of feathers,” said Mike Benton, a professor of paleontology at the University of Bristol. “In particular, it helps to resolve a long-standing debate about the original function of feathers — whether they were used for flight, insulation, or display. We now know that feathers came before wings, so feathers did not originate as flight structures.”
    Rather, feathers were likely used for color display at first, he added.
    Specifically, Benton and his colleagues found remains of melanosomes, which are tiny structures enclosing pigments that are embedded within the structure of feathers. Melanosomes are responsible, in part, for the colors exhibited by the feathers of some modern-day birds, such as zebra finch feathers.
    The team looked at melanosomes from remains of theropods and primitive birds using a scanning electron microscope, finding melanosomes for reddish-brown to yellow pigment and those for black-grey pigment. While the remains didn’t include actual pigments, the researchers matched the shapes of these melanosomes with those found in the feathers of today’s birds to figure out the color. 

    The pattern of the melanosome structures suggested the theropod Sinosauropteryx had simple bristles with alternating white and ginger, or chestnut-colored rings down its tail. And the early bird Confuciusornis had patches of white, black and orange-brown coloring on parts of its body.

    “There’s a very clear rim of feathers running down the top of the head kind of like a Mohican [Native American headdress] all the way down the back and along the tail,” Benton said, referring to feathers on Sinosauropteryx, which lived some 120 million years ago.

    In the past, some have suggested that what scientists assumed were fossilized feathers were actually bits of tissue.

    “These bristles really are feathers,” Benton said during a press briefing yesterday on the discovery. “If they were bits of skin or connective tissue or something else they would not contain melanosomes.”

  • Siemens PLM Software Used by Over 90% of Automakers

    Ever wonder what do over 90 percent of the automakers present at the Washington Auto Show have in common? Well, the way they build their cars, as almost all automakers use product lifecycle management software and services provided by Siemens PLM Software.

    The complexity of producing safe, consumer friendly automobiles is constantly increasing and we are proud to be partnering with automakers to manage this complexity throughout the product development, manufacturing and support lifecycles.
    … (read more)

  • The Subplots Of the iPad Blockbuster

    Obviously, yesterday was all about the iPad. Actually, today is too. There have been thousands of stories already written about the device (including something like two dozen on TechCrunch alone), but a few points seem to be completely overshadowed by the glow of the iPad itself. Let’s revisit those.

    The A4

    While only a few people really picked up on it, in my mind, the biggest news yesterday was not about the iPad itself, but rather about what powers it. Apple has created a new processor, the A4, a customized ARM A9 processor. Never mind that it appears to match the specs of the Snapdragon (the chip inside the Nexus One), the key point is that Apple is now in control of their processors. Is there really any doubt that these Apple-designed chips will end up in the next iterations of the iPhone from here on out?

    One of the things that makes Apple well, Apple, is the tight integration they weave between their hardware and software. That’s because, for the most part, they’re absolutely in charge of both unlike many other companies that do either one or the other. But for chips, Apple has still had to rely on outside parties to provide those. And in most cases, they’re the same chips that everyone else is using — Intel (in the Macs) or Samsung-built ARM chips (in the iPhone). There’s a reason Steve Jobs and Apple VP of Hardware Engineering, Bob Mansfield, were touting these new chips and their built-in GPU and power management systems yesterday during the keynote. With the A4, Apple really is in charge of the whole system.

    And when you consider a key quote from Jobs yesterday, “Apple is a mobile devices company,” it’s not hard to imagine that Apple hopes to create its own chips for all of its products one day — including the Macs. The 2008 acquisition of P.A. Semi has allowed them to do this. And just two years later, they’re clearly taking advantage of it. This was the big revelation yesterday.

    iPhone OS

    While it was somewhat surprising that the iPad runs on the iPhone OS rather than a separate (but similar) derivative, even more surprising may be that Apple announced the launch of the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK specifically for developers to get to work on making apps for the iPad. On one hand, it now makes complete sense why we haven’t seen an iPhone OS update in over three months — Apple was holding it back for the iPad launch. But on the other, why is iPhone OS 3.2 iPad-only right now? Wouldn’t you think a major product like the iPad would be worthy of an update to iPhone OS 4.0?

    Well, I have heard from a couple of sources that iPhone OS 4.0 is definitely coming along and soon. Usually, Apple shows off major iPhone SDK iterations in March so developers have some time to get used to the changes before the new OS rolls out alongside new iPhone hardware in the June or July timeframe. That would seem to be the case again. Since Apple wants to ship the first iPads in 60 days (the Wi-Fi version), iPhone OS 4.0 was likely out of the question. But I’d bet it will still be unveiled sometime in the next few months. And it seems likely that it will ship this summer for both the a new iPhone and the iPad.

    And with it, we could also see something that a lot of people were disappointed was missing from the iPad launch: the ability to run multiple applications at once. Since last summer, when I heard that Apple was definitely thinking about the problem, all I’ve heard is vague references to it being a priority to figure out. Now, with this new A4 processor (which again, I’d be shocked if we don’t see in the next iPhone), computing power clearly isn’t an issue. More importantly, power consumption shouldn’t be as big of an issue anymore either. Apple claims you’ll be able to get 10 hours of use from the iPad (on Wi-Fi) — and that’s with a huge screen sucking up much of the power. Just imagine what they think they can squeeze out of an iPhone with this chip (though yes, a much smaller battery).

    Google

    While Apple didn’t say much about Google during the event, Jobs did note that the Maps application on the iPad was equipped with the Google Maps backend. And despite the talk that Apple might be in discussions with Microsoft about making Bing the default search on the iPhone, Google remains the default on the iPad as well.

    He also demoed full YouTube integration on the device — including YouTube in HD.

    Google and Apple are definitely growing apart as they continue to compete, but with the iPad, at least for now, they seem cool.

    There Will Be Apps

    While the focus of the iPad event in terms of apps seemed to be on iPhone apps that would work on the iPad, it’s important to remember that developers are going to start developing apps specifically for the iPad. A few showed off their apps ported to the iPad for the event, but developers will also be able to create apps just for the iPad. This will be more important than a lot of people realize right now.

    Jobs’ Off-The-Glass Pass

    One other thing that struck me as odd during the keynote yesterday was the point where Jobs pointed out the price analysts had predicted for the iPad. Normally, Apple doesn’t do things like this. In basketball, from time to time when players decide they want to showboat, they throw the ball against the backboard to pass it to themselves so they can score. Jobs’ move yesterday, in my eyes, was largely the same thing.

    As I laid out a few weeks ago, it seems pretty likely that it was Apple that leaked much of the information to The Wall Street Journal about the tablet device prior to its launch — including the bogus $1,000 price from “analysts.” Later, a former Apple employee corroborated this. Why would they do this? It’s simple. As I said at the time, if they plant the idea in peoples’ minds that a product will be $1,000, then release it for significantly cheaper, it’s a huge win for Apple. So when Jobs announced the entry-level iPad would be $499 yesterday, it was an absolute home run.

    Don’t get me wrong, it’s a masterstroke of manipulating the media, but it’s still a showboating move.

    Information provided by CrunchBase


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  • Meet Diego-san, the latest robot baby to haunt your nightmares

    The Apple iPad wasn’t the only magical and revolutionary thing revealed this week.

    Meet Diego-san, the latest robot baby to haunt your nightmares originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Kubica Will Forget about Rallying in 2010

    As much as he’d love to do some rallying events with Renault during his stay at Enstone, Polish driver Robert Kubica confirmed earlier this week that he will stay far away from that sport throughout his first season with the French manufacturer.

    ‘The Pole’ was supposed to do his first outing with a Renault Clio R3 last week, during the IRC season opening Rally Monte Carlo. However, only a few kilometers into the preparation stage of the event, his car suffered some important engine problems … (read more)

  • Printing Lithium Batteries

    For the present of course, researchers are discovering how far they can go with this.  We know that solar cells can be printed and doing the same with battery tech is an obvious fit.  This also suggests that folding can produce larger batteries. Again it is early days for the art itself.

     

    The objective most attractive is to store solar energy without moving it at all.  That way we avoid unnecessary movement and storage and the related wastage.  Having the energy stored for example on the back of a solar panel is clearly most efficient and convenient.

     

    That is the promise anyway.

     

    I wonder if the ultra capacitor powder can be also printed.  This is much more promising and in time it will be more useful if it can be done.

     

    As I described in my article on the reverse engineering of an UFO, several layers needed to be laminated together to produce the necessary working shell.  One layer been energy storage made good sense but was not necessary.

     

    We are presently mastering the necessary arts.

     

     

    Japanese Researchers Seeking to Print Out Li-polymer Battery

     

    Jan 7, 2010 15:57Satoshi Okubo, Nikkei Electronics

    A Japanese research group developed a lithium polymer battery that can be manufactured by printing technology.
    The group is led by Advanced Materials Innovation Center (AMIC) of Mie Industry and Enterprise Support Center (MIESC), a Japan-based incorporated foundation.
    The sheet-shaped battery is expected to be used with a flexible solar battery or display and to be attached to a curved surface. If the battery is integrated with a solar battery formed on a flexible substrate, it is possible to realize a sheet that can be used both as a power generator and a power storage, AMIC said.
    Because the battery is made by using printing technology, it can be reduced in thickness, increased in area and laminated. Furthermore, when combined with a roll-to-roll production method, its costs can be reduced, AMIC said.
    The lithium polymer battery was developed in a research project participated by MIESC, Toppan Printing Co Ltd, Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery Co Ltd, Kureha Elastomer Co Ltd, Kinsei Matec Co Ltd, Meisei Chemical Works Ltd, Mie University, Suzuka National College of Technology and Mie Prefecture Industrial Research Institute.
    They prototyped two types of batteries. One has an output voltage of about 4V at a room temperature while the other has an output voltage of about 2V. The thickness of the battery is about 500μm, but the battery capacity was not disclosed. Its negative and positive electrodes were formed on a flexible substrate by using printing technology.
    This time, the research group used a normal sheet-shaped flexible substrate but employed a printing technology that can be applied to roll-to-roll production, it said. When a roll-to-roll production method is used, the thickness of the flexible substrate can be reduced, enabling to manufacture thin batteries.
    The group did not use a printing technology to package polymer electrolyte this time. It did not disclose the details of the polymer electrolyte or the negative or positive electrode materials.
    The research project is a three-year project that will end in March 2011. In the final year, the research group plans to improve manufacturing technologies for commercial production, seek appropriate applications of the battery and set numerical targets such as of battery capacity.

  • Tata Indigo Manza Tyre upsize

    We have recently purchased a Tata Indigo Manza Safire Aura. Now, as is already known Manza doesn’t come with any alloys and I am actually relieved since OEM alloys are frankly quite bland (FIAT being an exception).

    Now I am a newbie to tyre upsizing. I do know that manza comes with 15" wheels with 5.5J x 15 configuration. I also understand that 108PCD alloy will be required.

    Tyres on the vehicle are 185/60 R 15.

    Now, I really want to go 16" on my car. Reason: The wheel arches are quite big and spoil the vehicle stance to some extent and I want to minimise this with a tyre upsize.

    So, Could you people please advise me on :

    1. The correct tyre upsize for this vehicle. Aesthetically, I would like reduce tyre profile to 55-50. Is it advisable?

    2. The alloys that are compatible with my vehicle.

    3. Some deviation in FE, Handling, and comfort is acceptable but large deviations need to be avoided.

    4. Which are the best companies for Alloys. I need my alloys to be elegant, sophisticated and yet stand out.

    5. Best Tyre company for the recommended upsize.

    6. Price is not a major concern. (Not major concern but not totally unconcerned. :D)

    Any help in this regard will be absolutely great. I do need to sort this out early though since the car is due for delivery in coming week. Also, colour of vehicle is Noir Grey in case it would help on deciding the alloy choice. 🙂

    Thanks in advance.

  • Danica Patrick’s NASCAR Schedule Announced

    Following the conclusion of the deal between IndyCar driver Danica Patrick and JR Motorsports, the only question regarding Patrick was which races she will attend. Today, the team has cleared the mystery and announced Patrick’s Nationwide schedule. The No. 7 car will be driven by Patrick in 12 races this season, with the possibility of a 13th appearance.

    The season opener at Daytona on February 13 may not witness Patrick’s debut, despite the fact the No. 7 Chevrolet is entered in the event,… (read more)

  • New Pokemon game in the works for DS

    A new Pokemon title is apparently in the works for the Nintendo DS. This information was sent out via the official Pokemon site, pegging the release to be later this year.