Author: Serkadis

Nissan has announced that its overall 2009 sales in the Chinese Market (including the Infinity brand) increased by 39% totaling 756,000 vehicles.

For the Nissan brand, 2009 has been an even better year in China, as its sales grew 48% to a record figure of 518,968 units, a major improvement as compared to the 350,000 vehicles sold in 2008.

The company’s Infinity luxury brand’s sales in China also increased (although with a smaller amount) by 25% percent in 2009, totaling 5,000 units.

T… (read more)

Article Tags: Doug L. Hoffman

There have been a number of strange theories regarding the conditions deep within Earth’s interior circulating around the internet. Claims that solar flares will cause nuclear reactions deep below our feet are perhaps the most ludicrous, but fairly easy to dismiss. More timely, perhaps, is the sudden conversion of global warming guru Al Gore into a geothermal energy booster. Evidently Gore thinks it’s bad to drill for oil, but good to drill for heat. TV documentaries threaten mega-volcano and talk about mantle plumes underneath Hawaii, but just what does science tell us about our planet’s interior?

Gore, trying to explain geothermal energy to Conan O’Brien, stated that geothermal energy is plentiful because the Earth’s core temperature is millions of degrees. That’s not quite accurate, the inner core calculates out at about 4100 to 4200°C. Kei Hirose, from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, points out that the rocks and minerals of the deep mantle are not accessible in nature, except those occurring infrequently as inclusions in diamond. Writing in a perspective article in the January 8th issue of Science, Dr. Hirose explains that a paper by Tetsuo Irifune et al. in that same issue could have profound implications for predicting the properties and dynamics of the deep mantle.

“Recent such experimental investigations, as well as theoretical calculations, have suggested that the properties of lower-mantle minerals vary with increasing depth much more than was previously thought,” states Hirose. Irifune et al. report changes in mantle composition for conditions corresponding to depths below 1100 km involving iron (Fe) partitioning between the two main lower-mantle constituents, iron-magnesium silicate perovskite (Pv) and iron-magnesium oxide (ferropericlase, Fp).

Click source to read FULL report from Doug L. Hoffman

Source: theresilientearth.com

Read in full with comments »   

Another “Girl Next Door” is getting her own reality drama.

E! Entertainment Television has picked up a docusoap featuring Hugh Hefner’s former girlfriend Holly Madison as she works, lives, and loves in the City of Sin. The announcement follows the ratings success of the Girls Next Door spinoff Kendra — which set records for the network when it premiered last year — as well as Holly’s own holiday reality special for E!.

Holly’s World follows Madison on- and offstage as she stars in the Las Vegas production Peepshow, The Hollywood Reporter said Friday. The E! network has ordered eight half-hour episodes of show, which is set for debut this summer.

Article Tags: Audio, Piers Corbyn

Piers has been in the media spotlight with his 2009/10 winter forecast, this is yet another UK interview, this time on LBC radio.

Read in full with comments »   

As the Linux Foundation tells it, the Linux-related job market is today 80 percent larger than it was five years ago. Whereas other industries have had to shed workers in the current recession, the Foundation is hopeful penny-pinching measures might actually encourage businesses to transition to Linux-based software and thereby further stimulate employment opportunities within the sector. We’re not told exactly what “Linux-related” means in this context, but the newly set up Linux.com Job Board indicates that the vast majority of new openings are for system admins. That’s right, the corporate world is crying out for more geeks — won’t you answer the call?

[Thanks to Overlord59 for the Tux images]

Linux Foundation sets up Job Board, cites 80 percent growth in Linux-related jobs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Ars Technica, Linux Job Board  | Email this | Comments

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

Article

Looks like all that GSM code-cracking is progressing faster than we thought. Soon after the discovery of the 64-bit A5/1 GSM encryption flaw last month, the geniuses at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science went ahead and cracked the KASUMI system — a 128-bit A5/3 algorithm implemented across 3G networks — in less than two hours. If you must know, the method applied is dubbed ‘related-key sandwich attack’ where multiple values of known differentials are processed through the first seven rounds of KASUMI, then using resulting quartets that are identified sharing key differences, subkey materials can be obtained in round eight to build up the 128-bit key. Sure, it’s hardly snooping-on-the-go at this speed, but worryingly this was only an ‘unoptimized implementation… on a single PC.’ At the same time, the paper condemns the presumably red-faced GSM Association for moving from MISTY — a more computationally-expensive but much stronger predecessor algorithm — to KASUMI. Guess we’ll just have to stick with Skype.

3G GSM encryption cracked in less than two hours originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhoneArena  |  International Association for Cryptologic Research  | Email this | Comments

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

Article

The North American division of smart today announced the launch of its first national lease program through Daimler Financial Services. The new lease program is available for all new smart models and will be offered in increments of 24, 36 and 48 months.

"Our new lease program allows customers added flexibility with financing options and allows smart customers to enjoy leasing benefits such as low monthly payments, driving a new vehicle every two-to-three years and ease of vehicle turn… (read more)

Jessica Simpson was left horrified after she was accidentially flashed by an elderly gentlemen at the gym.

Don’t you just hate when that happens?

“Dear elderly man at the gym: it’s hard 4 me 2 keep composure whilst punching at chipmunk speed when ur ball sack spills out of ur wind shorts (sic),” the singer/actress wrote in an empassioned plea on Twitter Thursday.

However, the incident didn’t completely discouraged Jessica from working out. The 29-year-old star has taken up boxing to get fit after being criticized for seemingly gaining weight last year

Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends, Apple

Steve Jobs hates styluses (styli?). At the January, 2007 Macworld Expo keynote where Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world, he went so far as to ask “Who wants a stylus?” and expressed his distaste for stylus input with a “Yeccch!”

However, that hasn’t kept Apple from applying for a patent on using a stylus on devices like the iPhone that are designed for finger input. The iPhone and other touchscreen devices use capacitive screens that require styluses with conductive tips. Older resistive screens, such as the one on the Apple Newton MessagePad (at right), could use virtually any plastic-tipped stylus for navigation and handwriting input.

The patent application, filed on January 14th, is titled “Stylus adapted for low resolution touch sensor panels”, and lists John G. Elias as the applicant. Elias is one of the co-founders of FingerWorks, a company acquired by Apple in 2005 for its pioneering work on multi-touch interfaces. What this all means for tablet devices is unknown, but it’s fascinating to see that the word “stylus” is still echoing around at least some of the conference rooms in Cupertino.

[via MacRumors]

TUAWApple considering stylus for the tablet? They’ve applied for a patent, but… originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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

Read Original Article

Hoping to get rid of some bad opinions from its rocky past, Chrysler is considering changing the name of its mid-size passenger vehicle – the Chrysler Sebring. The Sebring is scheduled to be amongst the nine vehicles that Chrysler Group LLC will significantly upgrade this year.

As WardsAuto points out, a competitive mid-size vehicle is very critical to the success of a mass-line automaker. That is why Chrysler designers and engineers have completely torn apart the Sebring and are starting from the ground up. So much so, that they are considering a new name for the car.

When the revised model is launched in the fourth quarter, “you’ll see a completely different animal.” CEO Sergio Marchionne said. “Actually, we were having a discussion about what name this animal should have.”

Do you have any suggestions? Drop them in the comments section below.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: WardsAuto

Amazon.com this morning announced that it is expanding its self-service Kindle Digital Text Platform worldwide, giving more authors and publishers the chance to upload and sell books in English, German and French to customers around the world in the Kindle Store.

Until today, DTP was only available to authors and publishers based in the United States. Amazon says additional language options with DTP will be added in the coming months.

This is of course a logical expansion for Amazon to make, one that is bound to reinforce the notion that Kindle isn’t simply a ereader device + ebook store but a true global ecosystem of writers and publishers.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

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

Read Original Article

For many years, cable/telco/satellite companies would do “exclusive” deals with apartment buildings and other developers, which would limit what services could be offered in those buildings. Back in 2007, the FCC stepped in to say such deals were illegal. But, of course, there are always loopholes. Broadband Reports highlights how a bunch of buildings are using loopholes like telling you can chose any cable company you like… but if you choose a different one they have to pay an extra $40 for water and trash. And… the FCC says these kinds of deals are legal, for now, though it may move against them soon. But, in the meantime, your landlord can effectively force you to choose a cable/telco/broadband provider.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

Before a vehicle hits the dealerships for sale to customers, the designers, engineers and the vehicle itself, go through numerous tests to make sure the buyer never comes across any issues. All that gets even more difficult when you’re introducing a vehicle in the market with new technology – like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

General Motors has just released a video of the Volt undergoing heat testing at 95 degrees Celsius (greater than 200 degrees Fahrenheit).

Of course, GM could just drive to some hot desert in the United States, but why leave frigid Detroit when you can create your own solar heat in Motor City.

Click here for more news on the Chevrolet Volt.

Check out the interesting video of the Volt undergoing solar heat testing after the jump.

2011 Chevrolet Volt:

2011 Chevrolet Volt:

– By: Kap Shah

Simon Cowell turned down a $100 million deal to remain a judge on American Idol, The New York Post’s Page Six Column. The British music mogul announced this week that he will be leaving his post on the popular FOX talent show to bring his UK singing show, The X Factor, to The States.

And they’re out.

EPS of $.74 per share blew past estimates of $.61 per share. But revenue of $25.2 billion may be a bit light.

Analysts had been looking for $26.8 billion.

The stock is currently drifting lower by less than a buck on the news.

Here’s Jamie Dimon’s commentary on the numbers:

“We are gratified that we generated earnings of $3.3 billion for the fourth quarter and nearly $12 billion for the year. Though these results showed improvement, we acknowledge that they fell short of both an adequate return on capital and the firm’s earnings potential. We benefited from the diversity of our leading franchises, as demonstrated by the continued earnings strength of our Investment Bank, Commercial Banking, Asset Management and Retail Banking franchises. We are proud that, throughout these tumultuous times, we never stopped investing in the fundamental growth drivers of our consumer businesses – such as checking and credit card accounts in our Retail Banking and Card Services franchises – and have developed new products and services to meet the needs of consumers and small businesses. While we are seeing some stability in delinquencies, consumer credit costs remain high, and weak employment and home prices persist. Accordingly, we remain cautious.”

“In the fourth quarter, we further strengthened our credit reserves to nearly $33 billion, or 5.5% of total loans. Our earnings generated additional capital, and we ended 2009 with a very strong Tier 1 Capital ratio of 11.1% and a Tier 1 Common ratio of 8.8%. We remain confident that this capital and reserve strength, combined with our significant earnings power, will allow us to meet the uncertainties that lie ahead and still continue investing in our businesses and serving our clients and shareholders over the long term.”

Here, meanwhile, is further color on consumer lending, which is still looking very ugly:

Consumer Lending reported a net loss of $1.4 billion, compared with a net loss of $416 million in the prior year. The decrease was driven by lower net revenue, a higher provision for credit losses and higher noninterest expense.

Net revenue was $3.1 billion, down by $1.0 billion, or 24%, from the prior year. The decrease was driven by lower mortgage fees and related income and lower loan balances, partially offset by wider loan spreads. Mortgage fees and related income decreased due to lower mortgage production revenue and lower net mortgage servicing revenue. Mortgage production revenue was negative $192 million, compared with positive $62 million in the prior year, as an increase in reserves for the repurchase of previously-sold loans was largely offset by wider margins on new originations and the absence of markdowns of the mortgage warehouse in the prior year. Operating revenue, which represents loan servicing revenue net of other changes in fair value of the MSR asset, was $564 million, up by $41 million. MSR risk management results were $109 million, compared with $1.4 billion in the prior year.

The provision for credit losses was $4.0 billion, compared with $3.3 billion in the prior year. The provision reflected an increase in the allowance for loan losses of $1.5 billion in the current quarter, resulting in an allowance for loan losses to ending loans retained¹ of 5.04%, compared with 3.16% in the prior year (see Retail Financial Services discussion of the provision for credit losses, above, for further detail).

Noninterest expense was $1.7 billion, up by $215 million, or 14%, from the prior year, reflecting higher servicing and default-related expense.

See the full presentation and listen to the conference call here — >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• JPMorgan Set To Report, Analysts Looking For $.61 Per Share

This is a guest post by Joseph Matthews from Art of Approaching, a hands-on guide to picking up any woman.

To quote the actor Chris Tucker – “It’s Friday, you ain’t got no job, and you ain’t got sh*t to do!”

Well, maybe you do have a job and things to do, but are you doing the things you WANT to do?

Namely: Are you going out tonight to meet some women?

Friday night is probably the BEST night of the week to meet women.

Think about it:

It’s been a long, hard week. People are getting off work. They don’t have anything to do the next day.
They can sleep in as late as they want. They’re looking to unwind and release some stress. In other words…

They’re out looking to have fun!

And what does having fun entail? Well, for most women, having fun on a Friday night means – MEETING A MAN!

That’s right. We go out to meet women. They go out to meet us!

But the question you gotta ask yourself is: Are they gonna meet YOU?

This is important. This can mean the difference between getting laid and quietly sobbing in the shower.

So how are these women going to meet you?

Well, that’s entirely up to you. I can give you some suggestions that will help you out, but honestly, it’s up to you to act and make it happen.

The first thing you need to do to make sure women are going to meet you tonight is…

Are you ready?

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

That’s step number one. You GOTTA get out and go to where the women are. This means going out with friends, or, if they’re not around to hang out, go out by yourself!

Regardless of how you do it, if you DON’T go out, you have 0% chance of meeting women. (I’m talking real women who could go home with you TONIGHT! Not internet women).

The second step is **go to where the women are!**

This is important. Bars and clubs are always a good bet to find women. But if that’s not your scene, you have other options available to you.

1. Happy hour.

Yes, I know, this is a bar thing. But, happy hour usually occurs BEFORE things get too hectic, so if you’re older, this may be a good alternative to fighting off all those youngsters out there. Most women go to happy hour after work, and then go home and change for a night out on the town. This is a GREAT opportunity for you to set up a date for LATER THAT NIGHT.

2. Bookstores & Coffee Shops

If you have a little bit more of a laid back lifestyle, bookstores and coffee shops are a good place to check out on a Friday night. If you can find a coffee shop that’s open late, all the better! Typically, the women here are quieter, book-
worm wallflower types. So it may be harder to initially engage them, but it’ll be easier to wrangle them into a conversation.

3. Hotel Lobbies & Bars

No, I’m not talking about the lobby of your local “Day’s Inn.” I’m talking about the NICE hotels in your area. You know, the 4 & 5 star kind with valet parking and an extremely nice bar area. These can be great places to meet women, especially considering a lot of “hotel hotties” are from out of town and looking for some adventure. This scene is also more laid back and less intense than your typical bar and club.

Okay, so now that we’ve covered step 1 & 2, it’s time to go to the final step:

MEET WOMEN.

Let’s face it, even though women’s lib is going strong, women STILL don’t typically approach guys. They wait for YOU to approach THEM.

So that begs the question: How do you approach them?

In my book, “The Art of Approaching,” I go into this subject in detail. Inside my book, you’ll find:

• Specific stories guaranteed to start a conversation with any woman you meet.
• Funny one-liners to get her laugh right away!
• Tactics to easily get 10-12 numbers a night.
• A step-by-step guide that teaches you how to overcome any fear or nervousness you may have when it comes to meeting women!
• Much, much more…

At the very least, walk up to these women and say to them “Hi.” But if you really want to SUPERCHARGE your ability to meet the kind of beautiful, interesting women you’ve always wanted, be sure to check out my book.

Click Here To Download Now!

Wishing you success with women.

photo credits: top – True Russian Vodka, bottom – sheilakane

Related posts:

1. Forget Casual Friday – It’s Naked Friday!
2. Some Cheesy Pick-up Lines That Actually Work
3. Father Lets Virgin Son Pick Hooker for Present

Flavio Briatore may have been exonerated by the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance for his involvement in the crash-gate, but that doesn’t mean the Italian manager is going soft on his employees. As you all know by now, the 59-year old is also co-owner of London Championship division club Queens Park Rangers, where managers tend to stay for a very short period of time.

According to British newspaper The Guardian, Briatore just fired the manager/coach of his team Paul Hart after only 5 games in… (read more)