Author: Serkadis

Supermodel mom Gisele Bundchen has donated $1.5 million to the earthquake relief effort in Haiti, The Boston Globe said Friday. The benevolent beauty — who has lent her famous form to brands like London Fog, Rampage, and Victoria’s Secret — wrote a $1.5 million check to the Red Cross to help Haiti recover from a devastating quake that rocked the island this week.

Way to go, G!

Just days ago, Gisele topped a list of the world’s highest-paid supermodels, earning a reported $35 million in 2009.

Michelin has decided to close its plant in Ota Japan, which currently employees 380 people, as just-auto.com reports.

The factory will be closed in July after several measures destined to increase productivity and cut production costs failed to offer a satisfying result. Since 2007, the plant has been dedicated to the production of complex products but this did not improve its efficiency either. To be more specific, production costs at the Ota factory are about twice as high as those of other… (read more)

Motorsport safety experts Lifeline have just released details of their new range of competition mirrors, which are currently on display on Lifeline’s stand at Autosport International at the NEC, Birmingham from January 14 to 17, together with the company’s range of motorsport fire extinguishers and other key aids to driver safety.

It is no secret that, in terms of durability and reliability, race mirrors currently available to the sport fall way short of driver requirements. Most are awkwa… (read more)

Did Taylor Momsen attend The Pat Robertson School of Public Relations? Between shooting scenes for her CW teen drama Gossip Girl and recording her debut rock album, Little Cindy Lou Who (Who’s about two years and a flopped career away from her first stint in rehab….) can hardly be bothered with this week’s tragic Haitian earthquake or the massive relief efforts taking place in the Caribbean. The often-pantless blonde didn’t even feign interest when OK! Magazine quizzed her for her thoughts on the catastrophic 7.0 quake that shook the already impoverished island nation on Tuesday.

“Um, right now I’m trying to just finish my record and getting through the last season of Gossip Girl for right now. So not so much thinking about that,” Taylor said dryly during a promotional event at the Victoria’s Secret store in NYC’s trendy SoHo District yesterday. “But it’s awesome that everyone is ya know working towards a good cause,” she quickly added.

Guess it’s safe to assume she won’t be making a donation! What an Obnoxious Little Twit!

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

We Americans sure do like our food. Not only does the land of the Red, White and Blue have one of the higher rates of obesity of any industrialized nations, we feed our roads, too. The Missouri Department of Transportation has been solving its road ice problem with the help of beet juice. The product in question, Geomelt, is a sugar beet-based liquid, and according to the Boonville Daily News, MoDOT has increased its use by 700 percent since it was first introduced in the Show Me State in 2006. That’s 242,000 gallons of the nutritious substance used in 2009, or more than 50,000 eight-ounce servings for every staff member at Dunder Mifflin. We’re guessing it takes it takes more than 60 acres of beets to make 242,000 gallons of nature’s de-icer.

While using food to combat road ice might not be ideal for the environment, it’s likely better than the salt most states use. Salt gets into fresh water supplies, which can wreak havoc on groundwater quality. Besides, this is the only good use we can think of for beet juice, and we’re thinking our man Dwight wouldn’t be able to maintain his prized 1987 Pontiac Trans Am without the extra income.

[Source: Boonville Daily News | Image: NBC]

Missouri reportedly combating icy roads with beet juice, Dwight Schrute pleased originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

CITSens Bio allows real-time analysis of the measurements relevant to the cell culture process. Glucose, glutamate and lactate are measured in situ directly in the disposable bioreactor. CITSens Bio helps to ensure long-term stability and sterile conditions of the cell culture. It is particularly suitable for 3-D cell cultures, development of new cell-line cultures and applications, and cell cultures with limited volumes. The CITSens Bio sensor is a screen-printed electrode that can be used with all standard disposable bioreactors such as roller bottles, Erlenmeyer flasks, and bag reactors.
The sensor is connected to the radio transmitter Biobeamer. The measured data are transmitted wireless to the radio receiver ZOMOFI and transfered to the PC my means of RS232 or LAN.

KELLENBERGER was established in 1917 and is specializing in the development and production of hydraulically and numerically controlled precision grinding machines and systems for the application in the field of medium and high technology.

By the use of most modern manufacturing means future-oriented technology is being created, which can meet the customers technical and economical requirements today and tomorrow. Wherever highly accurate grinding is required, KELLENBERGER precision grinding machines are in use.

For the toughest requirements, with 28 different wheelheads the machine specifications can be optimally adapted to your needs. The best shape accuracy in the interpolation of the X and Z axes due to hydrostatic guides, for contour grinding or form truing.

Unround, thread and tapered grinding in one setting. Comes optionally with loader. Distance between centers up to 1500 mm, height of centers 175 to 250 mm, weight of workpieces 250 kg.

Broadband field meter with data logger for electric and magnetic field measurements from RF to microwave

Features
– Available with isotropic probes to cover 100 kHz to 60 GHz
– Large graphical display
– Plug-and-play probe interface with automatic probe parameter detection
– Fully automatic zeroing
– Extensive memory for logging of up to 5000 results

Options
– GPS interface and mountable receiver for positioning data documentation
– Voice recorder for adding comments
– Conditional logging, threshold controlled

Japan Steel Works, Ltd (JSW), which has been cultivating the solid technology and know-how through the production of plastic injection molding machines and magnesium alloy injection molding machines, has newly started to produce the cold chamber die-casting machines for light metals including aluminum and magnesium in alliance with Bühler Druckguss AG, Switzerland. We offer high quality and high efficient molding machines corresponding to not only plastics but also light metals amid emerging concerns about the global environment.

We supply the die-casting machines through JSW & Buhler Machinery, Ltd. (JSW Bühler) which is a joint venture between JSW and Bühler.

Maximum Performance, Minimal environmental impact

New Trailer Refrigeration Product Range From Thermo King

The SLX range delivers reduced fuel costs, whisper-quiet operation, efficient load protection and unmatched ease of use. By minimising fuel consumption, engine emissions and operating noise, the SLX provides you with the ideal temperature control solution, for an environmentally-responsible operation.

Reducing environmental impact and cost
From the start of the SLX development project, a key deliverable was reduction of environmental impact.
The design team conducted a life-cycle assessment of the SL range to identify areas where the greatest gains could be achieved without compromising cost of ownership or performance.
The result is a product range with a substantially reduced environmental footprint.

Easy to operate and optimal data management
Driven by growing concerns over product quality, governments and customers worldwide are demanding tighter control and more accurate monitoring of temperatures throughout the cold chain. Raw cooling capacity is only one factor determining the performance of a temperature control system.
The Smart Reefer 2 (SR-2) controller protects loads by simplifying the user interface and employing the latest technology to monitor system performance.
It is the most user-friendly control system in the industry, with an easy-to-read display, large buttons, simple and logical menus and a choice of 21 languages.

Load Protection
To protect the load, temperature variance throughout the trailer must be kept to a minimum. To help the system move more air through the load, the SLX features a larger evaporator air-intake and a more efficient evaporator blower this means more heat is removed from within the load space and more efficiently.
Variations in temperature can significantly affect the shelf-life of produce. With the SLX range, you get the power you need, when you need it, to ensure protection of the most delicate and valuable cargo.
Good Temperature control is vital for perishable products, we have to ensure that we are controlling air temperature and humidity both of which are vital when safe guarding the shelf life of the produce carried. The SLX delivers maximum cooling capacity when you need it: during temperature pulldown for rapid pre-cooling and during temperature recovery after door openings.

Minimising downtime
The challenge in developing the SLX range was to reduce down-time and maximise equipment utilisation. This has been achieved by a process of evolution: retaining the best features of the SL while applying innovative design and material solutions to further raise standards of reliability.
Individual components are now even more rugged and their operating environment more benign. Our most rigorous test programme ever has included years of non-stopmore benign endurance runs.
Customer field trials were held in the most adverse conditions, from Pole to Pole. These have amounted to the equivalent of over 11 million kilometres.

Life time Care
Thermo King Dealers have been servicing Transport Temperature Control equipment for over 70 years now. More than 250 service points across Europe, all within 2 hr driving and at your service 7 days – 24 hrs.
TotalKare is a single source service contract designed for fleets operating nationally or internationally. The contracts are designed to optimise the efficiency of your fleet, minimise operating costs, and maximise the resale value of your equipment.
Our tailored solutions range from those designed to remove the non core tasks from your daily business operations such as maintenance planning, scheduling, invoice interpretation, and general fleet administration to the ýall risks covered packageý which offers complete peace of mind and agreed fixed costs

KINTO is the leading supplier in China for manufacturing of flexible insulated busbars. Such busbars consist of several layers of uncoated or tinned copper strips and are insulated with flexible high quality PVC compound.

The main features of flexible insulated busbars:
– Easy assembly.
– Possibility of reducing sizes of the equipment.
– The bending-radius could be smaller than that of normal cable or solid copper bars, so that the connections could be more simple and short, and visually it could have better effect.
– Lower temperature rise on the flexible insulated busbars than on normal copper bars.
– High flexibility: no problem with vibrations or thermal expansions.

Technical data of electrical conductor
Copper strips (>99.9%Cu).
Surface: uncoated or tinned.
Electrical conductivity: >56 Sm/mm2.
Tensile strength: >200N/mm2.
Extensibility: >30%.

Technical data of insulation
Material: PVC.
Color: black.
Thickness: 1.8-2.1mm.
Shore hardness: A70-80.
Electrical strength: >23kV/mm.
Oxygen index: 30%.
Flame retardant; self-extinguishing.
Elasticity: >180% after 7-day aging-test under 135 degree celsius.
Tensile strength: >20MPa.

Technical data of flexible insulated busbars
Operating temperature: -30 degree to +105 degree celsius.
Operating voltage: 750V.
Voltage withstand performance with 15min / 50Hz AC:
– between flexible insulated busbar and earth: >15kV.
– between two flexible insulated busbars: >30kV.

The CSP 2008 Universal Controller is used for the evaluation of up to six sensor signals. Two sensors can be directly connected to the controller. Four other sensors are connected to the controller via separate Ethercat modules.

The CSP 2008 provides extensive arithmetic calculation options and is ideally suited to measuring thickness, planarity, etc. The controller offers real-time capability due to the Ethercat bus system.

A Aatelec-Telec, manufacturing flexible heating components and elements presents it’s drum heater

Description
3a drum heater is a flexible panel with two coated fabrics : an heating side and an insulated side.
3a drum-heater is supplied with eyelets which, laced with an elastic rubber, lets the barrel heater lie flat on the barrel, essential condition for a good heat exchange.

Advantages
In comparison with heating belts which need several main supplies and do not wrap totally the barrel, 3a barrel heater totally wraps the cylindric part of the barrel, allows smooth and homogeneous warming and, thanks to the insulated face, is maintaining temperature in the barrel for hours after you switched it off.
A utility is accessible (www.aaatelec.fr) to determine the time of heating necessary for the application.

Technical data
Standard output : 575W
Standard voltage : 230 V
HORNF 3×1,5 main supply cord : L2m
Outside dimensions : 0,85X1,90m
Heating side color : rouge
Insulated side color : bleu
protective index IP54
Heat self-protection +80°C
Max maintenace T° (switched on) +60°C
Max exposure T° (switched off) +80°C

Considering the amount of hype and buzz that came about when Dean Kamen’s Segway was first introduced, it seems like the company is going for the exact opposite in discussing its recent merger with a UK company. The company didn’t even mention it for nearly a month, and only said something once rumors started spreading, and then the blog post they put up about it gives very little in the way of detail. They don’t even mention the company’s name:

Segway Inc. is pleased to announce that in connection with a merger that occurred on December 24, 2009, Segway was acquired by a company that is based in the United Kingdom. The acquiring company is backed by Jimi Heselden, a prominent U.K. businessman and the Chairman of Hesco Bastion. Mr. Heselden is also an investor in the independently owned Segway U.K. distributorship.

The company also got some funding (and lost its latest in a long, long, long line of CEOs), but in an interview with the local paper, Dean Kamen admits that he doesn’t even know who the new investor is.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

Just prior to the projected sale of Swedish brand Volvo to a Chinese company Geely, Volvo’s chairman of the board, Finn Johnsson, decided to resign and pursue his own interests. He will be replaced by Louis Schweitzer, member of the board since 2001.

I have worked on various Volvo Boards since 1989, in particular the Board of AB Volvo, of which I have been a member since 1998 and Chairman since 2004, but I need to free up time for a growing number of increasingly comprehensive assignments, w… (read more)

Article Tags: ClimateGate, Headline Story, Joe Daleo

(This is a preliminary introduction – final much more complete report will be posted here and on SPPI, which has supported the study shortly)

The global data bases have serious problems that render them useless for determining accurate long term temperature trends. Especially since most of the issues produce a warm bias in the data.

The Climategate whistleblower proved what those of us dealing with data for decades already knew. The data was degrading and was being manipulated. The IPCC and their supported scientists have worked to remove the pesky Medieval Warm Period, the Little Ice Age, and the period emailer Tom Wigley referred to as the “warm 1940s blip.” They have also worked to pump up the recent warm cycle that ended in 2001.

Click source to read FULL report by Joe D’Aleo

Source: icecap.us

Read in full with comments »   

Capcom has released a new triler for Desperate Escape, the second downloadable mission for Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition. Don’t worry about the Japanese text at the beginning. The audio’s in English.

If you really are a fanatic about Super Mario Brothers, then how about placing some pine boxes that resemble the Question Mark boxes from the game in your home? Each question box features an accompanying power or coin. It’s too bad these don’t actually work in real life, because I would hit my head into the question mark box till it bled if it actually did spit out coins.  The sizes of the boxes are roughly 5×5 and the smaller box on top is 3×3. They are available at Etsy for $25.