Author: Serkadis

Men’s Vogue may have unfortunately folded in the U.S. the past year, but the Chinese edition is still strutting along in fine style. A new layout photographed by Yan Zhixiong culls camel colored clothes, from pale as sand to dark as rum, to create tonal, tony looks featuring lean, luxury-minded pieces by Bottega Veneta, Emporio Armani, and Dries Van Noten.

Continue reading for more images.

Source: Design Scene

Filed under: Aftermarket, Performance, SUV, Porsche, Luxury

Aha – so that Enzo MIG-UI wasn’t the only duotone beast that Gemballa was hiding. For an encore, try this: the Gemballa Tornado 750 GTS/4. Based on a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, the German tuner adds new headlights and a night vision system, more of that widebody-and-vents thing, with LEDs hidden in the vents ahead of the front wheels. The inside is bathed in leather, Alcantara, and carbon, and the rear bench is bisected by a center console. The package is lowered on 22-inch wheels and is powered by a 750-horsepower engine.

If you want to turn the volume on your tuned Cayenne down a bit, then try the Gemballa GT 500 Aero 3, which wears less ostentatious aero lowered over 22-inch wheels, a new exhaust, and a revised interior.

Both SUVs are slightly tweaked and repainted versions of the Tornado 750 GTS and GT 500 Aero 3 that Gemballa released earlier this year. You can have a look at both in the gallery of high-res photos below.

[Source: Gemballa]

Tornados Touch Down: Gemballa releases another pair of tuned Porsche Cayennes originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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El fabricante japonés Honda, acaba de hacer publico que próximamente presentará un nuevo compacto dedicado en exclusiva para el mercado indio. Por el momento, los datos sobre este nuevo concept son escasos aunque ya conocemos su nombre.

Este nuevo compacto se llamará (por lo menos temporalmente) New Small Concept. Por otra parte, también se ha especificado que el vehículo está siendo desarrollado actualmente como un modelo de pre-producción para los mercados emergentes y la India.

Honda también ha dado a conocer la fecha exacta en la que será presentado, el próximo día 5 de Enero de 2010. Tendremos que estar atentos a esta y el resto de novedades.

Related posts:

1. Ford Figo low-cost para el mercado indio
2. Honda P-Nut Concept
3. Honda Mugen Type R para Europa

The former chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch David Komanksy told an audience in Westport, Connecticut that that recession is not yet over.

“It’s very hard to assume that the trials and tribulations that the global economy have gone through are over now,”  Komansky told the Men’s Club at Temple Israel in Westport.

Komansky lives in Westport. He serves on the board of BlackRock, the asset management firm that is 34% owned by Bank of America.

“I think much of it is behind us, but I think they’re still problems that are ahead of us that we are working our way through,” Komansky said.

“The economy is hardly standing on its own two feet right now. It’s being propped up–and I think properly being propped up—by the many, many different government efforts, and I don’t think you can really say the recession has ended until you see the economy function without the government aid and support that’s going on right now,” he explained.

Here’s the video, courtesy of Westport Now.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Economist: The Recession Was Nothing, Here Comes The Real Pain
• Obama Administration Can’t Decide Whether The Recession Is Over, But It Wants Banks To Lever Up
• Risk Of Double-Dip Recession Is Rising, Says Krugman

Some may scoff but Closed casts coveralls as the star of its Spring 2010 collection and makes a strong, sophisticated case for the choice buy cutting them in khaki and denim, then dressing them up in soft, summery suitcoats. Sherbet-flavored cardigans, button-ups in gingham and chambray, and Closed’s core speciality, denim, complete the line-up and are all given a breezy, soaked-in-the sea patina.

Continue reading for more images.

Source: The Fashionisto

If concern about the internals of the Samsung Omnia 2 has been keeping you from buying one, Techblog.gr has you covered, with this short teardown video revealing no hidden nasties present at all.

If that has not been a concern, you may enjoy the hip-hop sound track in any case.

See many more pictures at Techblog.gr here.

Via Engadget.com

Sometimes you just shake your head and wonder. It’s truly amazing that people don’t realize what will happen when they send out ridiculous legal nastygrams. Take, for example, the situation from a few months back where the company Ralph Lauren got itself into a lot more hot water by sending a bogus DMCA takedown, rather than just ‘fessing up to the fact that it photoshopped a model’s image (badly). But in sending the DMCA takedown, Ralph Lauren called a hell of a lot more attention to a situation that most people would have forgotten otherwise.

Apparently Demi Moore and her lawyers missed that whole story. Back in November some folks noticed what appeared to be a photoshopping of Demi Moore’s left hip on the cover of W magazine. There was some debate over it, but either way, people moved on and it was forgotten. Not so fast! While there was some discussion about it — and Moore herself chimed in on Twitter to claim that the photo was not altered — she’s now had her lawyers threaten at least two publications over the original story. Their claim is that the posts are defamatory. Even if there was no retouching of the photo, it’s hard to see what is possibly “defamatory” in the story. Digital retouching happens all the time, and claiming that a photo was retouched, if anything, would implicate the photographers or graphic artists at W, not Moore. There’s simply nothing even close to defamatory in regards to Moore herself.

Either way, the really bizarre part is why sic the legal dogs on this? Any lawyer should know that this has zero chance of actually working and a very high likelihood of simply calling a lot more attention to the question of whether or not the image was altered. And, in fact, the guy who apparently first noticed the supposed retouching — and a recipient of the legal nastygram — has responded by presenting some pretty compelling evidence that the image was, in fact, retouched. At the same time, he also reiterates that even if this is true, there’s nothing wrong with that and certainly nothing defamatory about it. So what was the purpose of the legal nastygram?

And, in the end, what makes Demi Moore look worse? The fact that some a cover shoot photo of her may have been slightly altered… or the fact that lawyers on her behalf sent out ridiculous legal nastygrams against those discussing this story?

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Several private equity firms and Arris, a cable gear supplier, which recently paid $20 million for Digeo, have expressed interest in purchasing Motorola’s profitable set-top box division.

Several sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the first expressions of interest were due on Wednesday, but were completely nonbinding. Interested private equity firms included Bain Capital, TPG Capital, Blackstone Group KKR and Silver Lake Partners. Arris is likely to team up with a private equity firm.

Last month, reports leaked out that said Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was interested in selling its home and networks mobility unit, which recorded $10.1 billion in 2008 sales. The news that Motorola was interested in selling the unit came as a surprise because it was previously interested in spinning off its struggling mobile phones business. The sale of its profitable set-top business would ding the company’s overall earnings, but may also buy it more time to turnaround the handset business.

A final bid date may take months to schedule. Motorola’s advisers on the deal include Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. The division may sell for close to $4.5 billion.

Related

• Report: Motorola Considers $4.5 Billion Spin-Off Of Set-Top Box Business

While the LG GM750, Vodafone’s first Windows Mobile 6.5 device, has launched some time ago, we have not heard too much from it directly from the carrier.

For that reason this short promotion of the smartphone is quite welcome, with the casual presentation making the device seem pretty approachable to the mainstream.  Pity about that missing 3.5 mm headphone jack then…

The handset is available for free on a £25 per month plan, which includes unlimited data, from Vodafone here.

Published Dec. 17, 2009
By Lena Vargas, KEPR TV

PASCO–More people are going back to school and that means competition for financial aid is big.

Nationwide a growing number of non-traditional students are filling campuses and filling financial aid offices.

Ceci Ratliff with CBC’s Financial Aid Office says it’s seen a twenty percent increase in the number of students who need financial aid.

“A lot of the people who have just now completed files have been at cbc in the past, so that tells me they might have stopped out, found themselves without a job,” said Ratcliff.

Students have to compete with whatever dollars are left. This is a year when the state has cut 14 percent of the school’s funding, with more cuts possible next year.

It’s something high school seniors need to consider now. Ratcliff recommends they apply for the FAFSA as soon as it comes out online on January 1st.

The financial aid office has so much extra work it has had to close Thursdays and Fridays to catch up with the back log of financial aid applications.

For students, it means fewer office hours and fewer programs.

REDUCE

FAT IS DANGEROUS Fat enters the body when food is consumed in excess of one’s needs; it can be removed by lessening the fat making food intake or by muscular exercise. There is no other way for it to get in or get out.

All other ills of the body may sometimes fail to respond even when the best known methods are applied. Not so with obesity. The cause and elimination of obesity is a matter of mathematics and there is no argument about it. In his New Book entitled “HOW TO REDUCE WEIGHT” Bernarr Macfadden gives you the complete regime for weight reduction including full dietary instructions, actual menus, food classifications and reduction exercises. It is by all odds the most thorough and effective work on freight reduction that we have ever seen. Only 50c post-paid—send for it today.

MACFADDEN BOOK CO., Inc.

Dept. 2. 205 E. 42nd St.

New York, N. Y.

Killing Flies by Electricity

THE latest application of electricity is that of killing the green fly by means of an electric spark. This fly is a species found on rose trees and is exceedingly disastrous to the flowers. Heretofore, considerable difficulty has been experienced in ridding rose trees of these pests but the electrical method recently devised is proving both practical and efficient.

Briefly, the fly-killing apparatus consists of a small spark coil, spark gap, high frequency transformer, switches and other accessories. A flexible conductor conveys the current from the high frequency transformer to a brass ball electrode fitted with an insulating handle so that it may be held without danger of shock.

To use the apparatus, the electrode is brought near the flies on the rose-bushes. A spark then jumps from the electrode to the tree and kills the flies, the current passing through the tree to ; the ground without damage to the leaves or flowers.

“I don’t know who he is, but he just ordered J&B”

J&B RARE SCOTCH POURS MORE PLEASURE

Pennies More In Cost, Worlds Apart In Quality
From Justerini & Brooks, Founded 1749

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Cut down washday cost

Take practically all the expense out of your weekly washday. Have beautifully laundered clothes — spotlessly clean and fresh; a whole tubful washed in just a few minutes, with no labor whatever.

In your home, the yearly expense of washing must be a considerable item. Think of the high cost of a laundress’ services alone — week by week throughout the year!

A FEDERAL Electric Washing Machine With a FEDERAL, all the hard work of washday—even the wringing—is quickly done by electricity. With its unique oscillating cylinder motion, the FEDERAL literally handles the clothes—removing all grit and grime-yet, so gentle is its action that even delicate laces are unharmed. Your maid-of-all-work—in fact any woman—can do the biggest family washing easily with a FEDERAL before 9 o’clock in the morning; it does away with drudgery entirely.

Let us send you facts and figures showing how the FEDERAL actually pay a for itself and mors in a year’s time. Write today for the complete FEDERAL story. Address Washing Machine Dept.

Federal Sign System (Electric) Lake and Desplaines Streets, CHICAGO Branches in 25 Cities

Talk about a gigantic contrarian indicator -- Institutional Investor (II) has declared that the equity party is over!

Institutional Investor: The equity party is over.

After a 25-year bender in which stocks catapulted Wall Street to such dizzying heights that financial firms managed to tip off a worldwide recession, the cult of equities is declining in earnest. The resulting hangover could fundamentally change the game for Wall Street.

Here are some of their key reasons why investors will err towards bonds over stocks going forward.

• Aging investors need bonds, not stocks. "About 22 percent of Americans, some 68 million people, will reach retirement age by 2020, and as baby boomers start drawing down their assets, they can’t risk wild fluctuations."
• Investors have seen too many stock crashes in the last decade. "“They’re saying, ‘We’ve seen two major market crashes in a decade, and this one is even worse than the first — and it’s not over. I’m done,’” says Harry Dent, the author of six books on the impact of an aging population on national economies."
• Pensions regulation now favors bonds. "New legislation has impelled pension funds to match the duration of their assets to their liabilities, and as a consequence they are adding bonds, greatly downplaying equities and making their portfolios more conservative. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 made corporations pay stricter attention to funding and prevented them from smoothing their plans’ returns over many years. ... John Haugh, an analyst from Bank of America Merrill Lynch who covers institutional investors, says this could result in $300 billion to $500 billion in U.S. pensions, endowments and foundations money flowing out of U.S. large-cap equities into international markets, alternatives and fixed income.""
• Investors have already fled stocks. "Don Phillips, managing director of Morningstar, says the decline of equity is well under way. Bond fund flows are at record highs even as investors lower their exposure to equities."

Great stuff, it's just that II's conclusion is completely backwards.

A new age of stock skepticism sounds like great news for patient buyers looking to pick up cheap stocks before they become famous.

Every single argument above is only bearish for those who follow a short-term greater fool theory to investing. While we might not be able to count on over-hyped stock bubbles anymore as much as we used to, if you buy a cheap company set to generate massive cash flow over the next five years, don't worry, investors will eventually notice what's going on regardless of how skeptical they initially were.

For hedge funds even, investor disinterest in stocks means that a lot of smaller companies might be very cheap, and open to shareholder activism as well. If the market doesn't recognize your company's cash flow as fast as you like, make the company pay out cash flow as a higher dividend. Or get your company sold to an industry player who can capture the value the market may temporarily miss.

Also, from a broader perspective, if debt is overpriced vs. stocks, it clearly benefits shareholders when one thinks about the funding of companies. Equity holders will be able to fund their companies via cheaper bonds (since bonds will be overly favored) rather than share dilution (stocks aren't hyped, so companies are incentived to fund a company via debt). Such a skew in investor-love for bonds vs. stocks ultimately leads to higher cash flow per share, from fewer shares and lower interest costs on debt funding. This is great if you plan to invest via equity over the next few years.

The mess of finance and investing theory can sometimes confuse us from simple truths -- if you're a future buyer, then cheaper, less hyped assets are better. Investor distate for stocks would mean a great buying environment going forward, and rather than the party being over... it would be just beginning.

Read the full Institutional Investor article here >

(Tip via Abnormal Returns)

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Stocks Still Set To Rise As Slow Growth Equals Cheap Money
• Sky High Profit Margin Expectations Baked Into Stocks For 2010
• Healthcare Stocks EXPLODE Higher After Big Vote On Reform

Tetsuya Nomura is a busy, busy man. Right now he’s working on four confirmed projects that have yet to be released: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, and The 3rd

A recent U.S. government raid on illegally sourced wood is a wake-up call to businesses.

On November 17, 2009, U.S. federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corporation’s manufacturing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. The raid was part of an investigation into the illegal trade of a rare wood species allegedly used in some of Gibson’s renowned musical instruments.

According to press reports, agents purportedly seized wood, guitars, and documents in the first known enforcement action under the recently amended Lacey Act. Widely covered in the media, the raid is a wake-up call to businesses that are part of forest product supply chains that they need to heed the Lacey Act and avoid illegally sourced wood and paper.

Illegal logging –timber harvesting that breaks a country’s national laws – squanders approximately US $15 billion of assets and revenue for developing nations each year and is a driver of deforestation. As the single largest consumer and importer of forest products, the United States has the capacity to reduce illegal logging practices on a global scale.

On May 22, 2008, the U.S. Congress passed a landmark amendment to the 100 year-old Lacey Act, originally enacted to prohibit the transportation of illegally captured animals or wildlife products across state lines. The new law extended this protection to plants – including timber, paper, and other forest products – thereby giving the U.S. government a powerful tool to eliminate illegally sourced wood and increase transparency in the global forest product supply chain.

The November Gibson raid is the first high profile amended Lacey Act investigation, demonstrating that the U.S. government is taking illegal logging seriously – and that companies in both the United States and abroad need to already be in compliance.

In partnership with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), the World Resources Institute (WRI) has released a Lacey Act fact sheet designed to answer some frequently asked questions about the Lacey Act.

The four-page fact sheet, Are You Ready for the Lacey Act? (PDF, 4 pages, 231 Kb), provides companies with answers and counsel on a suite of issues, including:

• What does the Lacey Act entail?
• What is considered “illegal” under the amended Lacey Act?
• What risks do buyers, traders, and sellers of wood, paper, and other forest products face if they violate the Lacey Act?
• What can companies do to avoid becoming the subject of a Lacey Act investigation?
• Does certification mean that a forest product is exempt or already in compliance with the amended Lacey Act?

Download Fact Sheet (PDF, 4 pages, 231 Kb)

For more information, please contact:

• Adam Grant, Senior Associate, WRI, agrant@wri.org, (202) 729-7623
• Lars Laestadius, Senior Associate, WRI, larsl@wri.org, (202) 729-7633
• Anne Middleton, Outreach Coordinator, EIA, anne@eia-international.org, (202) 483-6621

This will also be one of the featured topics at WRI President Jonathan Lash’s Stories to Watch in 2010 press conference on January 7, 2010 at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.