Author: Serkadis

Filed under: Aftermarket, Subaru, Specialty, Design/Style

In the real world of asphalt and hydrocarbons (yes, that’s possibly redundant), the Subaru WRX STI is a common target for zealous mods. While much tuning can go on under the stock skin, which isn’t exactly subtle on a Rex, it’s de rigeur to go at the exterior with pieces of thermoplastic and visions of reshaping dancing in your head.

If you’re not deft enough to translate inspiration to metal, or you don’t have a WRX, or you just want to avoid getting gunk under your fingernails and cutting your hands all up while trimming out big pieces of sheetmetal, you can do it with bits and bytes instead. Of course, a digital mockup is a good way to test out ideas before taking the nipper to the roof, too.

Pete from Digimods has decided that the WRX could really use a rear-mounted engine, plenty more scoops, and a giant roof duct to supply air to the engine, and drown it if it gets taken out in the rainy season. It’s a very nicely done rendering. Some will love, some will hate, all will likely have something to say. Have at it, kids!

[Source: Digimods via CarScoop]

Rear-Engine Rendering: Student-styled Subie is the hot hatch of dreams, nightmares originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Rumors

Google China’s former head has posted what appears to be insider details about the (possibly) upcoming Apple tablet device. According to Gadget Mix, Kaifu Lee blogs that “an informed friend” told him the Apple tablet looks like a larger scale iPhone with “an awesome UI packed in a beautiful 10.1-inch screen.”

Gadget Mix’s Tommy Lawson writes that Kaifu Lee’s Chinese-language post (Google Translate version) suggests that the tablet will provide eBook functionality, a virtual keyboard, and a built-in webcam, with 10 million units to be produced in the first year of distribution. He adds that Lee’s ongoing relationship with Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group lends weight to his reliability as a source on the subject.

Although this development adds no new features into the tablet rumor mill, it’s comforting to know that the possibly mythical tablet is getting more and more plausible by the day.

TUAWRumor Mill: Tablet to be large-scale iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyundai announced today that it will expand its Assurance program into 2010 and will add its America’s Best Warranty and 24-hour Roadside Assistance to the mix.

“Hyundai will extend the vehicle return option through 2010, continuing the unique program that permits Hyundai customers to return their new vehicle if they unexpectedly lose their income,” the Korean automaker said in a statement. “The program set a trend in early 2009 for similar consumer guarantees from airlines, retailers and other automakers looking to alleviate the stress of making a significant purchase during a recession”

Hyundai says that its sales increased 6.2 percent through November, helping it improve market share faster than any other automaker in 2009.

Hit the jump for the press release.

Press Release:

HYUNDAI ASSURANCE ENHANCED FOR 2010

EXPANDED PROTECTION INCLUDES AMERICA’S BEST WARRANTYTM, VEHICLE RETURN AND ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE, CREATING THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE CONSUMER SAFETY NET IN THE INDUSTRY

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 12/29/2009 – Hyundai Motor America will expand Hyundai Assurance in 2010 to include America’s Best WarrantyTM and 24-hour Roadside Assistance. These programs will join the innovative vehicle return program, initiated in January 2009 to protect consumers in an uncertain economic environment, as complimentary services on every Hyundai model sold in the United States. The suite of protection now offered under Hyundai Assurance provides the most comprehensive safety net in the industry, all at no additional cost to the consumer.

“Hyundai Assurance represents our complete commitment to our customers, with job-loss vehicle return coverage, five years of roadside assistance, and our industry-leading 10-year warranty,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. “Assurance shows that we’re doing things a little bit differently at Hyundai, and this is making a difference in our business results. You can expect more of this in 2010, starting with the all-new Tucson and Sonata.”

For 2010, Hyundai Assurance coverage includes:

America’s Best WarrantyTM

The warranty that changed the industry at its inception in 1999 now headlines a suite of protection programs under the Hyundai Assurance umbrella. America’s Best Warranty is highlighted by a fully transferrable five-year, 60,000-mile new vehicle warranty to repair or replace components manufactured or originally installed by Hyundai that are defective in material or factory workmanship, under normal use and maintenance. Additionally, new Hyundai buyers are covered by 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain coverage which includes repair or replacement of Hyundai-manufactured or installed powertrain components (i.e., selected engine and transmission/transaxle components) under normal use and maintenance. Other coverage includes seven-year, unlimited miles anti-perforation warranty, 12-month, 12,000-mile replacement parts and accessory limited warranty, and eight-year, 80,000-mile federal emission and performance warranty. For full details about America’s Best Warranty, please see: http://www.hyundaiusa.com/warranty.aspx.

Vehicle Return Program

The Hyundai Assurance vehicle return program, the first of its kind for an automaker in the U.S., returns for 2010. The coverage allows consumers to walk away from a financing obligation when certain adverse life events occur, such as involuntary unemployment, providing protection from financial shortfalls that arise from vehicle depreciation (negative equity) up to $7,500.
Hyundai Assurance will remain standard protection on new vehicles financed or leased from a participating Hyundai dealer, and supplements all existing consumer incentives. The program is available to any consumer, regardless of age, health, employment history or financed amount of the vehicle. The program is complimentary for the first 12 months of the financing or lease date for vehicles financed through any lender and financing source.

The Hyundai Assurance vehicle return program is administered by WALKAWAY USA, LLC. For more details, please visit www.HyundaiUSA.com or www.HyundaiAssurance.com.

Roadside Assistance

If for any reason a new Hyundai becomes disabled, owners have a safety net with five years of 24-hour roadside assistance. Roadside assistance offers drivers peace of mind under the following circumstances:

* Towing for inoperable vehicles, including accidents
* Battery jump starts
* Change flat tire
* Lock-out assistance
* Out of gas assistance
* Trip interruption

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 790 dealerships nationwide.

– By: Kap Shah

The activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management became the largest shareholder of fund management company Legg Mason, after picking up two million shares on Monday.

The New York firm now owns 5.6% of Legg Mason, ahead of Dodge & Cox’s (a mutual fund) 5.5%.

FinAlternatives: Peltz’s Legg buying spree cannot last forever. As part of the deal that put him on the firm’s board, Peltz agreed not to build a stake larger than 9.9% during a standstill period that could run another two years.

Regardless, LM appears in play.

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See Also:

• Details On The New Hyperinflation-Beating Farmland Hedge Fund From Optima
• Hedge Fund Manager Jonathan Hoenig Bribes Us With 100 Trillion Zimbabwe Note
• Hedge Fund BlueGold: The So-Called Sovereign Debt Crisis Is A Distraction

Russia’s space program is considering launching a spacecraft in order to blow up an Asteroid.

Apparently, this particular hunk of rock had a 1-in-37 chance of hitting Earth in 2029 – a number both Russia and the U.S. are none too pleased with.

———————————————-

AP: Russia’s space chief said Wednesday his agency will consider sending a spacecraft to a large asteroid to knock it off its path and prevent a possible collision with Earth.

Anatoly Perminov said the space agency will hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis, telling Golos Rossii radio that it would invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project once it is finalized.

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated the chances of it smashing into Earth in its first flyby in 2029 were as high as 1-in-37.

Further studies ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters.

In October, NASA lowered the odds that Apophis could hit Earth in 2036 from a 1-in-45,000 as earlier thought to a 1-in-250,000 chance after researchers recalculated the asteroid’s path. It said another close encounter in 2068 will involve a 1-in-330,000 chance of impact.

Scientists have long theorized about asteroid deflection strategies. Some have proposed sending a probe to circle around a dangerous asteroid to gradually change its trajectory. Others suggested sending a spacecraft to collide with the asteroid and alter its momentum, or using nuclear weapons to hit it.

Without mentioning NASA findings, Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. “I don’t remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032,” Perminov said.

He wouldn’t disclose any details of the project, saying they still need to be worked out. But he said the mission wouldn’t require any nuclear explosions.

Hollywood action films “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon,” have featured space missions scrambling to avoid catastrophic collisions. In both movies space crews use nuclear bombs in an attempt to prevent collisions.

“Calculations show that it’s possible to create a special purpose spacecraft within the time we have, which would help avoid the collision without destroying it (the asteroid) and without detonating any nuclear charges,” Perminov said. “The threat of collision can be averted.”

“People’s lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people,” he added.

Boris Shustov, the director of the Institute of Astronomy under the Russian Academy of Sciences, hailed Perminov’s statement as a signal that officials had come to recognize the danger posed by asteroids.

“Apophis is just a symbolic example, there are many other dangerous objects we know little about,” he said, according to RIA Novosti news agency.

See Also: The 10 Most Expensive Environmental Disasters Of The Decade >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The 10 Most Expensive Environmental Disasters Of The Decade
• The Worst Internet Disasters Of The Decade
• 10 Looming Geopolitical Disasters

It looks like Apple is getting ready to replace the aging 8GB iPhone 3G that currently sells for $99 with a newer iPhone 3GS model, if their packaging is to be believed. A user on the German apfetalk discussion forum posted the image above, which is the label on the iPhone 3G 8GB box, and while he did receive a regular iPhone 3G, the box clearly says “iPhone 3GS v2.2 8GB” and has us thinking that Apple is finally ready to have the entire product line fall under the 3GS brand. Heck, the 8GB iPhone 3GS is a year-and-a-half old now, and we all know that Apple is set to release an all new iPhone model this summer, so it all makes sense to us.

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With the failed attempted terrorist attack last week, there has been a tremendous amount of confusion and changing stories concerning airline security. What was especially odd was that there were so many conflicting reports about what the TSA was requiring that it really made the very concept of flying a total pain. There were some reports saying that no carry on baggage was allowed and other reports saying no electronics were allowed. Then there were the reports that you could carry on one bag, but wouldn’t be able to leave your seat in the last hour of the flight or have anything (anything at all) on your lap during that hour. Every flight seemed to be different and the TSA was silent for a few days, before finally issuing a vague “guidance” press release that didn’t really answer any questions. Basically, the TSA said that it was changing rules constantly. One supposes that the idea was to completely vary the rules so that no “terrorist” could prepare for them and get around them, and I actually can see some merit in that, conceptually. But from a travelers’ perspective, it’s ridiculous. You simply can’t plan ahead with any sense of reason.

And since the TSA was so quiet and/or vague, there were a ton of people searching for information. Even the NY Times was relying on info found on airline websites rather than the TSA itself. So it was of little surprise that there would be plenty of demand for anyone to share any info that they knew — not for any nefarious purpose, but just so regular travelers could properly prepare for their trip.

Among those who found and posted such information was blogger/reporter and travel expert Christopher Elliott, who regularly blogs about travel issues. He posted the details of a TSA order requiring pat-downs of all passengers on international inbound flights. The order that he posted had been sent to US Airways employees, and seemed like a reasonable bit of information that people would probably like to know about, so it’s no surprise that Elliott blogged about it. But last night, Elliott received a surprising knock on the door from a Federal Agent with a subpoena demanding he hand over the details of where he received the info on the pat down procedure (thanks to Rob Hyndman who pointed me to an account of this incident).

Now, the argument in favor of this action is that these sorts of security procedures are probably supposed to be kept quiet (again, the idea would be to throw off any terrorist), but if you actually think about this, it doesn’t make any sense. First, it wouldn’t take long at all for reports of universal pre-boarding pat downs to be spread around. After all, thousands of people get on planes to fly to the US every day. In fact, among the many stories I heard, the universal pat down story was among them. So it’s not like it’s actually a secret. It’s quite clear from what’s being done. Second, if the TSA’s security plan is based on keeping information like this “secret” (even if it’s made obvious by their actions), then we’re in even more trouble than I thought. It’s security through pretend obscurity. It’s ostrich-level security theater. It’s security theater where the idea is that if the TSA pretends no one knows what’s actually happening, then it can assume that no one knows what the procedures really are for airport security.

Instead, the whole thing (once again) demonstrates how silly the TSA security procedures are. And, oh yeah, rather than sending federal agents to issue subpoenas to folks like Elliott to figure out how he got the security procedures, shouldn’t Homeland Security be spending more time tracking terrorists and coming up with plans that actually make us safer? What good is it engaging in a witch hunt over who passed on the obvious info that people get patted down before they board a US-bound flight?

Update: Wired has details of another blogger who received a similar visit, that was a lot less friendly (lots of threats involved) named Steven Frischling. Frischling cooperated, and they went through his phone — even calling his mom, and then wanted to get an image of his hard drive. When they had trouble making the image, they ended up taking his laptop. I’m still confused as to how this makes anyone safer.

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Next week will be the first time in a few months I have traveled in an airplane and honestly in the wake of the failed bombing of the Northwest Airline, I’m a bit apprehensive. I had gotten down the take the shoes off, whipping the belt out, and unloading the computers in trays in just a few minutes. But I can only imagine what we will be headed in for now. Domestic flights will certainly be on high alert but international flights are going to be hellish. In the international US Airport terminals you will most likely find full-body scanners as a primary screening tool.  While this is all well and good because of the current situation – is it really?  I’m personally not a fan of the TSA since they ransacked my luggage sometime ago and stole a diamond ring of mine, so do I really want them to see me naked now too?? I mean are they really going to pay attention to a bomb strapped to a thigh, or rather how big someone’s fake boobs are?  Are they going to notice something hidden in someones undies or something else in someone’s undies?

I personally don’t care what they see but how much of ourselves do we have to give up in order to make sure the skies are safe? Why is America so reactive instead of proactive? Why does something terrible have to happen or possibly happen for security to step up. Sure we are all on high alert now. But in a few weeks the body scanners will be put away and the laziness will set back in letting those terrorists that threaten to harm us regroup and find new creative ways for attacking Americans on our own soil.

In the meantime Americans and innocent people have to be violated and treated as they are criminals instead and once our image is scanned, is it discarded or filed away in some database that will keep track of how our body changes every time we fly internationally. Obviously I’m a fan of technology but how much is too much when it comes to our privacy? Sure we should scan people in order to protect ourselves from another attack but everyone better be scanned and treated no different regardless of race, color, or creed.

NowPublic has a great list of current US Airports that have full-body scanners. Below is the list they currently have and it looks like they will be keeping it up to date, so definitely bookmark it in preparation of wearing your best lingerie or boxers on your trip.