Author: Serkadis

Although Michael Schumacher is still regarded as a traitor by the majority of the Italian tifosi, the 41-year old German told the media that his relationship with the people back at Maranello did not suffer too much from his signing with rivals Mercedes. After spending 14 years at Ferrari, Schuey insisted that all the great moments experienced at Maranello cannot be erased in a few months.

You can’t forget and deny all the good moments together. I’m still in regular contact; every so often St… (read more)

German carmaker Daimler announced today it has debuted production of the hottest model in its lineup, the SLS AMG Gullwing, at one of its biggest facilities, Sindelfingen. Unlike with other models, most of the construction of the SLS will be hand-made – including the aluminum spaceframe, the engine and final assembly.

"Made in Sindelfingen also stands for the very highest production and product quality where the SLS AMG is concerned," Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Cars said i… (read more)

(This post previously appeared at the author’s blog)

According to Standard and Poors, a three pronged government attack is likely to take stocks lower over the coming weeks.  The three reasons for the potential for more downside are:

1. Regulating the banks
2. Chinese rate hikes
3. Bernanke’s re-confirmation

S&P’s Chief Technican, Mark Arbeter, says the S&P 500 is likely to correct 10% further to the 1035 area.  At these levels there are major trendlines, retracement levels and moving averages that should provide support to an uncertain market.  The Nasdaq could fall to the 2050 level.  The continuing dollar rally is only throwing fuel on the fire:

“We think a continued rally in the greenback will hurt those areas of the market that have provided a leadership role since the bear market bottom, namely emerging markets and commodities. While we think these investment choices will continue to move higher longer term, we would avoid them for now.”

Sam Stovall sees the decline as a potential buying opportunity, however.  Unlike Robert Prechter, he does not see the resumption of a continued bear market:

“As a result of government interventions worldwide, global equity markets are in retreat and have stalled the 10-month bull market. While we believe the S&P 500 could decline by as much as 10%, we don’t think we are in the beginning of a new bear market. However, investors will need time to reassess the global earnings expectations as a result of governmental attempts to temper growth and prevent further financial crises.”

Source: S&P

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• 3,000 Smashed
• Chinese Bank Valuations Dirt Cheap As They Collapse To Crisis Levels
• Did This Robert Prechter Interview Tank The Market?

Twitter has made it official, the new Local Trends feature is now available for everyone. It enables users to set their location and see the trending topics from their country or city. For now, the feature has a rather limited location selection, but Twitter says it’s working on expanding it. When the feature matures, it would add a new… (read more)

The primary circuit plug connector RobiFix reduces assembly times by up to 50% and saves both space and money. In collaboration with makers of robots and transformers, Multi-Contact has developed a new connection system for dresspacks on welding robots, using single-conductor, double-insulated cables and compact housings.

Dresspacks must meet exacting demands with regard to functionality and quality. There is limited space for mounting them on the robots, and maintenance work must be carried out within a very short time. The materials have to meet extremely high specifications, while the purchase price needs to be kept low. There is a growing tendency to divide the dresspack into a number of sections. These sections are joined by plug connectors. In the event of a fault it is no longer necessary to replace the complete dresspack, but only the affected section. This saves material costs and time. Drawbacks are the large dimensions of conventional plug connectors and the complexity of assembly, for which special tools are often needed. Damaged leads cannot always be quickly replaced.

The primary circuit plug connector RobiFix provides an economical complete solution from axis 1, the base of the robot, to axis 3, the welding transformer. RobiFix can be screwed directly on to the robot without the need for special tools, and the ready-assembled cables can be quickly and simply fitted by hand. In the event of damage, only the defective cable needs to be replaced. Setting-up and maintenance costs are reduced, and long down times for time- and labour-consuming repairs are a thing of the past. As a result of its very low power loss, the high-quality contact system is very energy saving and has a long life. The basis for this is the tried and tested MC-Multilam technology.

The number of assembly components and dimensions have been reduced by half. The advantage: a time saving of up to 50% and a small space requirement. The low material costs also have a favourable impact on the price. No compromises have been made on the quality of the materials: all components are resistant to welding vapours and sparks. The housings in protection class IP67 are constructed to prevent accidental pole reversal. A cable strain relief for single wires with an outside diameter of 11 to 17 mm is integrated. RobiFix is designed for 690 V AC / 150 A and cable cross-sections of 25, 35 and 50mm².

PCC1000 is Kyland’s solution for IEEE1588 clock convertor. As a PTP (Precision Time Protocol) terminal in a precise synchronization network, it is calibrated by the standard timing system and assures the precise synchronization clock to all downlink IEDs and devices. It can support 1 100Base-FX or 1 100Base-TX input, 2 PPS outputs, and 1 IRIG-B outputs.Its fanless ribbed casing design and ability to handle a wide range of temperatures ensure high reliability in extreme industrial environments. Based on Kyvision3.0, CLI, WEB interface, it offers concentrative management.

Features
1. As the PTP (Precision Time Protocol) terminal in a precise synchronization network, it is calibrated by the standard timing system, and assures that all downlink IEDs and devices are synchronized with the main clock precisely.
2. Support 2 PPS(Pulse per Second) clock outputs, 1 IRIG-B clock output, and 1 100Base-TX or 1 100Base-FX clock input.
3. Support GPS time synchronization, support PPS clock and IRIG-B clock.
4. Support IEEE1588 v1/v2, BC(Boundary Clock), TC-E2E(E2E Transparent Clock), TC-P2P(P2P Transparent Clock).
5. Support hardware setting and getting timestamp in the physical layer.
6. Support G.8261 synchronous Ethernet.
7. Support CLI, TELNET, WEB, SNMP V1/V2 management functions.
8. Support network topology automatic generating, and centralized web management.
9. Device basic information and system running information query.
10. Necessary data port protection circuit meeting the requirements of industrial level 4.
11. EMI immunity exceeds industrial level 4 being adaptive to the harsh EMI environment.
12. Abundant power supply options, able to provide dual redundant power supply
13. Relay alarm output port with power loss alarming function
14. Uniform network management software of SICOM series: Kyvision3.0
15. Ribbed Alumnium heat disspension (patent), fanless design
16. Operating temperature: -40 to 85°C(-40 to 185°F)
17. DIN-rail or wall mounting
18. IP40 protection class

Credit default swap (CDS) protection buying against sovereign debt default has spiked to five times the level of similar protection bought for corporate bonds, as the potential for a wave of sovereign debt defaults intensifies.

CDS notional amounts for 54 governments around the world jumped 14.2% since October 9th 2009 according to Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

Outstanding CDS amounts for all other kinds of debt only rose 2.6% over the same period.

Demand for default protection has been particularly strong for Europe's fiscally disastrous nations:

Bloomberg:  European countries led the jump, with the amount of protection on Portugal rising 23 percent, Spain 16 percent and Greece 5 percent.

...

The cost to protect against a default by Greece has more than doubled to 325 basis points since Sept. 30 as the government struggles to reduce a budget deficit that’s 12.7 percent of gross domestic product, CMA DataVision prices show.

...

Bets on Italy have jumped 13 percent to $25.4 billion, while the net amount of swaps on Spain climbed 16 percent to $15.2 billion.

Read more here >

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See Also:

• PIMCO: The US Falls Into The Sovereign Debt Ring Of Fire
• The U.K. Is About To Crash Along With The Sovereign-Default PIIGS
• Reminder: The Worst Sovereign Isn't Greece, Iceland Or Ireland

American manufacturer Ford announced today that its Executive Chairman Bill Ford will serve as co-chairman of the Detroit Local Organizing Committee for the Frozen Tour. Moreover, the Ford Transit Connect, recently named North American Truck of the Year, will serve as the official vehicle for the NCAA championship event, to be held on April 8-10 at Ford Field.  

Bill Ford will oversee the committee’s activities and fundraising and host several events such as FanFest, open practices and Frozen… (read more)

Each year the World Economic Forum at Davos holds number of technology focused sessions. Last year I moderated a high profile discussion about the next digital experience. This year, Loic Le Meur is hosting a discussion on the growth of social networks.

Participants include Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn, Greylock), Owen Van Natta (MySpace), Gina Bianchini (Ning), Evan Williams (Twitter) and George Colony (Forrester Research) and Don Tapscott (nGenera). Randi Zuckerberg, Jeff Jarvis, Russian super-investor Yuri Milner and others also dropped by to participate.

The room is packed, standing room only, and bursting at the seams. These guys are popular in Silicon Valley. Bring them to Davos, Switzerland and everyone wants to hear what they have to say.

Each panelist is giving a short 3-4 minute talk on how they frame the interesting issues around social networking (Hoffman says, for example, that privacy is only an issue for old people, young people don’t care.). We have videos of most of these comments and will embed them below as we process them..

Seven of the 15 most traffic sites in the world are social sites, Colony says in his intro. Only 17% of online users will visit a social site each day, though, including mobile usage. This varies widely by age – 27% of those 25 and under will visit a social site each day.

Stand by for videos…

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Here’s the latest action:

LinkedIn revamps its interface — The professional networking site has changed its look and feel to make it easier to find your connections, organize them with tags, and determine how they have updated their profiles at a glance.

Google Docs debuts thumbnails, spelling suggestions — Now when you search for files in Google Docs, the site will check to make sure you are using the correct spelling. On top of that, it now allows you to view thumbnails of your files to find them more easily. The Official Google Blog has more.

TechCrunch hacked yet again — The popular technology news site was hacked twice in the last 24 hours, the second attack directing readers to a hostile note directed at editor in chief Michael Arrington. Read the full text here.

PlayStation 3 finally hacked — Well known for hacking iPhones, George “Geohot” Hotz, just came out with a new exploit code to crack open the PS3, giving users full memory access. He says a guide for other hackers is forthcoming.

Twitter tallies 75M users — While the micro-blogging site boasts 75 million registered users with about 6.2 million signing up every month, only about 17 percent of accounts on the site were updated in the last month. There are only about 10 to 15 million active users.

GM to churn out electric motors — Giving EV and plug-in hybrid companies and suppliers a run for their money, General Motors announced that it will be spending $246 million on a new plant to assemble electric motors in-house.

eBay switches up its store format — The major auction site says that it is debuting a new pricing structure at the end of March. Listings in the site’s current Stores Inventory Format will be transitioned to Fixed Price listings. The new format will also make it easier for users to find variations of the same product — like different sizes and colors.

Algae production not so green after all — A new study weighing the costs and benefits of growing algae for biofuel manufacturing says that the processes involve actually emit more greenhouse gases than other biofuel feedstocks like switchgrass and even corn. Greentech Media has the details.

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Plenty of fake photos have  popped up of Apple’s tablet device, which it’s supposed to be unveiled later this morning. Now Engadget has a new batch of pictures sent from a tipster, which it deems “the most likely suspect” among the photos the public has seen so far.

Well, we’ve heard from a source with inside knowledge that this is the real deal — the fabled tablet. Of course, you can’t actually make a whole lot out, what with the blur and the blocking out of parts of the device, but it seems to resemble a giant iPhone, particularly with its “home” button at the bottom and the Safari mobile web browser open. That’s not too surprising, especially since McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw confirmed on CNBC that the tablet will run a version of the iPhone’s operating system. (He was also the first to officially confirm that the tablet even exists.)

Of the parts of the photo that are clearly part of the tablet and not whatever it’s encased in, that home button is the most obvious element that wasn’t present in the photos that leaked late Monday, suggesting that those were fakes.

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Former Grand Prix driver and F1 race winner David Coulthard said that Michael Schumacher will undoubtedly become the leader of the new Mercedes GP team in the upcoming season, but ruled out recent rumors that the German manufacturer will hand the 41-year old the No 1 status within the Brackley garage.

Writing in his usual Telegraph column about how things are going to work in the Mercedes GP team through the 2010 campaign, DC argued that Rosberg will not be able to maintain the same level of … (read more)

Ever heard of quantum tunneling? It’s the basis for the latest approach to gather steam in the never-ending quest to endue touchscreens with force recognition, and its promises are as lofty as you’d expect. Developed by UK researchers Peratech, this new methodology revolves around a 75-micrometer (less than a hundredth of a milimeter) quantum tunneling composite, which display makers can add to their screens relatively cheaply and painlessly. The pressure-sensing layer consumes no power when it isn’t depressed and requires a miniscule two micrometers of movement to register a touch. Japanese display maker Nissha (who counts LG and Nintendo among its customers) has grabbed a license and we’re even hearing devices could be coming out as soon as April. Check the Peratech site for more info.

Pressure-sensitive touchscreens show up on the not too distant horizon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If a picture’s worth a thousand words, a thumbnail’s got to be worth at least one hundred. That’s what the Google Docs team reckons anyway and they’re putting to the test with the introduction of a thumbnail view as an alternative to the regular list file view. The app generates thumbnails for all the regular file types Docs supports so, in a … (read more)

I was just recently suggesting that the massive focus on “apps” and “app stores” may be a red herring, as eventually many of those apps can be built via the web (especially as HTML 5 moves forward), without having to go through any kind of app store approval process. So it’s worth noting that, in fact, Google has done exactly that with its Google Voice app for the iPhone (doing so because of problems getting a client-side app approved by Apple). While the app is still rough around the edges, it should be a reminder that there are ways around the app store, and web-based apps have plenty of potential.

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Dear Right-wingers:

In the wake of the imprisonment of one of your new icons, ACORN pseudo-exposing “douche-a-mentarian,” James O’Keefe by the MAN, for the mere allegation of illegal wiretapping, you have our sympathies — our very amused sympathies. What say you, Freeper denizens?

I agree frame up.

FREE THE NEW ORLEANS 4

I guess we’ll see you at the Free Mumia rallies now, right?

 

Here’s a look at new pics of the Volkswagen Golf R from its official presentation in the snow of Austria, showing off its all-wheel drive 4Motion system. Improvements on this new model include changes to the torque transmission for smooth distribution across the four wheels, but you may be more interested in the incredible performance stats. The Volkswagen Golf R has 270 hp and 350 Nm of torque at 2,500 to 5,000 rpm.

Those figures come from the two-litre, four-cylinder TSI engine with turbocompressor and direct injection. DSG six-speed transmission is used, helping keep fuel consumption and emissions to 8.4 l/100 km and 195 g/km respectively. Top speed is 250 km/hr and the Golf R accelerates to 100 km/hr in 5.5 seconds.

Other features include a lowered body with DCC adjustment, Normal, Sport and Comfort suspension modes and disc brakes measuring 345 mm at the front and 310 mm at the rear. There are also 18-inch wheels, LED day driving lights, sat nav and a five-door oprtion. Look to shell out 39,000 euros for the entry level Golf R, while 41,000 euros will get you the DSG gearbox.

Volkswagen Golf R new pics