Author: Serkadis

Um dos carros mais famosos dos EUA completa quatro décadas de existência: O Dodge Challenger. Para comemorar o fato, a Chrysler disponibilizou para o público várias imagens que mostram um pouco da bela história do veículo.

Na época de seu lançamento, entre 1970 e 1974, o Challeger teve um motor de seis cilindros e, claro, suas versões V8. A maior diferença entre a primeira geração e a atual do Challenger é que não existe uma versão conversível do modelo atual.

Depois da versão de 1974 parar de ser produzida, foram vendidas 188.000 unidades no total. Em 1978 a segunda geração do Challenger foi construída, e o modelo foi baseado em carros da Mitsubishi (que particularmente, foi a versão mais feia desse carro, mas enfim) que tinha um motor 1.6 com 77 cv ou um motor opcional de 105 cv 2.6. Em 2006, a terceira geração do Challenger apareceu como um conceito, e após 2008 estava nas ruas, com versões V8 e seis cilindros. Vejam a história em fotos a seguir.

Imagens do veículo

Via | Carscoop

Filed under: Motorsports, Earnings/Financials

There has been no shortage of entrepreneurs over the last couple of decades hoping to play host to a Formula One race. But as many of them have discovered, hopping into bed with Bernie Ecclestone is a surefire way to prove Roger Penske’s motorsports maxim: “The quickest way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with large fortune.”

Tavo Hellmund and his team at Full Throttle Productions have some mighty big dreams for a new dedicated F1 race track in Austin, Texas. So far, however, they don’t seem to have land, financing or much of anything else. The owners of the Donington Park track in England already had a track and more time to get ready to host the British Grand Prix and they still failed.

According to ESPN columnist Terry Blount, the $200-300 million estimate for the track seems very low compared to the $250 million spent on Texas Motor Speedway – a facility that was built 15 years ago. The odds of a brand-new track being ready for a race in Austin by 2012 seem pretty slim unless the cash starts flowing and the bulldozers start moving the dirt very soon. Now, a street course, on the other hand…

[Source: ESPN F1 | Image: JJWright85 via CC 2.0]

ESPN Columnist: U.S. Grand Prix in Austin has a lot of hurdles originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 May 2010 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has introduced a couple of new features for its advertising solutions, in particular the DoubleClick Ad Planner. For anyone outside of the online marketing business, that may not sound particularly interesting. What is interesting, though, is the new Ad Planner 1000 list, which features the top 1,000 websites in the world ranked by unique vis… (read more)

One of the problems of brute force electrolysis has always been the amount of energy it takes to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The use of different kinds of metal or chemical catalysts, sound wave frequencies and other methods to loosen the bonds between hydrogen and oxygen atoms have met with encouraging success.

And, another attempt at lowering the voltage requirements of splitting water has gained laboratory success by Japanese researchers. The Solar Light Energy Conversion Group, the Energy Technology Research Institute and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have developed a tungsten oxide (WO3) photocatalyst that along with solar energy reduces the voltage requirements for producing hydrogen by 50-percent.

According to the press release, “The high efficiency of the WO3 photocatalyst was achieved using a new method—treatment of the surface of the photocatalyst with Cesium (Cs). The activity of the treated catalyst is more than ten times that of untreated catalysts. The quantum yield of the new photocatalyst is 19% under visible light of wavelength 420 nm and is approximately 50 times the previously reported values (0.4%)*. The use of solar energy can reduce the voltage required for water electrolysis by almost 50%. Hence, the low-cost production of hydrogen is expected.”

One of the main arguments that critics have of producing hydrogen (even from renewable methods such as solar) is that it takes too much energy to produce H2 and why not just store this energy in batteries. By significantly lowering the voltage needed to produce hydrogen fuel from water, this argument is taken away.

Hydrogen cars have a longer range and much quicker refueling times than battery electric vehicles and if the production of hydrogen is cost effective this means that one more hurdle will be crossed in the realization of a hydrogen-based transportation system.

Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Aston Martin, UK

If you want to get your hands on a pristine or historically significant vintage Aston Martin, there’s only one place to go: Bonhams‘ auction at the old Works Service in Newport Pagnell. Think of it as the Aston equivalent to RM’s event at Maranello every year. It’s been held for the past 11 years running, and this year’s was the most successful yet with £4.7 million ($6.8M USD) in sales.

Among the lots that rolled across the auction block were a 1950 DB2 raced by Sir Stirling Moss (£513,000/$740k) and a mint-condition ’68 DB6 that went for £124,700 ($180k). The Goldfinger DB4 sold for a more modest £84,000 ($121k) – but even that doubled it’s low £40-50k pre-sale expectations, capping a day of sales far exceeding their estimated values. Details in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Bonhams]

Continue reading Bonhams auction at Aston Martin Works Service most successful yet

Bonhams auction at Aston Martin Works Service most successful yet originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 May 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Laptop per Child (OLPC), creator of the hundred-dollar laptop, announced this week that they will debut   a prototype XO-3 computer two years ahead of schedule. The tablet will eventually cost 75 US dollars according to OLPC’s founder and chairman Nicholas Negroponte.

OLPC will partner in this project with the U.S. semiconductor manufacturer Marvell.

The Marvell Moby Tablet Platform has a low-power ARMADA 610 processor, 1080p full-HD encode and decode, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connectivity and support for multiple software standards like Adobe Flash, Android, Windows Mobile and Ubuntu.

The first prototypes would most likely run Google’s Android operating system, but they said it’s ultimately an open source Linux laptop. The device will have a dual mode 9 inch display, one that works both in sunlight and backlit, and will require only one watt of electricity to operate.

The first prototypes could be ready by January 2011 and the final XO-3, with the original design aspect in March 2012.

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Tony Hayward, head of British Oil Company BP who are heading the cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, has recently stated that the oil spill still taking place off the coast of Louisiana represents an “environmental catastrophe.”  While being lamely interrogated by some CNN personality, Hayward responded frankly that the spill was a “very significant environmental crisis.”

Additionally, President Obama’s 11 year old daughter, Malia, has expressed her own concerns over the spill.  “You know, when I woke up this morning and I’m shaving, and Malia knocks on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says, ‘Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?’”  Unfortunately, Obama did not say whether or not he responded to his daughter by saying “that’s what she said.”

Currently the strategy being used to “plug the hole” involves shooting debris like golf balls, shredded rubber tires into the into the blowout preventer, the idea being to clog it and stop, or at least slow, the leak.  This method, called the” junk shot”, is supposed to fill up the preventer, the device which failed to prevent the leak in the first place.

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The ‘Rat King‘ is trending and it is the most searched on Google today. But who is the Rat King? The Rat King is fictional character for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles multimedia franchise.

The character ‘Rat King’ was created by Jim Lawson. It’s first appearance is in the comic Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 written by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Since then, the character has made various appearances in the comic books, in the animated series and video games.

The Rat King was described with telepathic influence over rats, distinguishable attire, which is filthy and prominent. It has tattered rags with various bandages that covers all his body. The Rat King also has immense strength and other consistent powers.

The Rat King remains one of the more mysterious characters in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with various appearances depicting him as either a villain, a neutral character and even an ally of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book is published by Mirage Studios.

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Google doesn’t do much advertising for itself, but when it does it goes for something a bit off the beaten track. And it doesn’t hold back on the ‘wow’ factor. This was the case with its latest ad for the Google Chrome browser, which pitted its speed against a Tesla Coil, a huge speaker, a potato gun, and so on. The i… (read more)

A versão melhorada do Audi TT, chamada de TTS Coupé, teve novas imagens reveladas pela montadora e agora podemos ver algumas mudanças realizadas no esportivo alemão. Aparentemente, o modelo é bem parecido com o TT, mas na parte dianteira por exemplo, foram inclusas barras horizontais de alumínio e para choques maiores, além de detalhes cromados e a inclusão de faróis deneblina.

A parte interior do TTS tem um acabamento especial em alumínio no volante e no painel. Mas qual é então a verdadeira atração do TTS? Sua potência, claro! O novo modelo tem um motor 2.0 TFSi, que gera 272 cv de potência, sendo um dos mais potentes da linha, apenas perdendo para o TT-RS, que tem um motor 2.5 biturbo e 340 cv de potência.

Sobre a transmissão, ela é de embreagem dupla e acelera dos 0 aos 100km/h em 5.2 segundos, atingindo a velocidade máxima de 250 km/h com limitação eletrônica. Por enquanto ainda não foram revelados valores de venda do veículo. Confiram as imagens a seguir.

Imagens do veículo

Via | Auto Portal

Singam is an Indian Tamil action film starring Surya Sivakumar and Anushka Shetty in the lead roles. Sivakumar stars as Durai Singam, a police officer or a sub inspector in Nallur Tuticorin district.

Singam wants to run the family business – running a provision shop and converts it to a huge department store. But Radha Ravi, his father, wishes him to become a cop. Durai Singam lives up to his father’s wishes.

Here are the Casts:

Surya Sivakumar as Durai Singam
Anushka Shetty as Kavya
Nassar
Vivek as ‘Eatu’ Erimalai
Prakash Raj as Mayil Vaaganam
Manorama
Sumitha
Priya as Divya
Vijayakumar
Radha Ravi
Nizhalgal Ravi
Bose Venkat

Review:

Production: K.E. Gnynavel Rajan, Kalanidhi Maaran
Story, Direction, Dialogues and Screenplay: Hari
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Banner: Big Picture, Studio Green, Sun Pictures

Hari deserves all praises for the outstanding work with this movie. From the start of scene 1 up until the end, the audiences would not dare miss a single shot because every scene is “mind-boggling“. The film is said to have more profits than Surya’s previous films.

Rating for this film is 3.5 out of 5.

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Just a few days back we reported of Lindsay Lohan missing the court proceedings, on which the court had ordered an arrest warrant on her. Lohan got stuck up in London attending the Cannes Film Festival where she lost her passport and wasn’t able to return to the pavilion and report in front of the judge. Later on the court ordered the lady to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet, more known as the Scram Bracelet. This simple tool was made necessary as to make her avoid drinking alcohol of any type.

Just recently, the lady was seen enjoying a night out with her friends at the bar in her new blonde look. The actress danced and fooled around but never touched alcohol. The bracelet might be helping her keep on the right track but today we noticed something funny or we may say trendy.

Lindsay Lohan called upon Chanel to spice up the bracelet and give her a new look as it was ruining her image and she herself felt a bit non-comfy. She asked to bring some beauty on the bracelet as we followed her on the great social networking site, Twitter.

The site has always been on the lead as different celebrities voice concerns of their life.

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Eco Factor: Green Tricycle with large luggage area

Smaller luggage area often holds you back from carrying your favorite items while leaving you homes. But, a China-based group that includes professors, engineers, IT professionals, and other professionals have come up with a brilliant idea that wouldn’t let you make that sacrifice. The Tasuke I group presented their creative tricycle that would be ideal for your Sunday picnic or grocery trip.
(more…)

On the back of increasing awareness and urgency over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexic0 (which President Obama has recently taken responsibility for) it would seem that many tourists are considering alternative R&R destinations for fear of oily Gulf beaches; however, hotels across Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi are trying to assure people that their beaches are just fine.

President Obama has also chimed in to express his concern over the potential deflected tourism: “Americans can help by continuing to visit the communities and beaches of the Gulf Coast,” he said at a press conference, and also that: “I was talking to the governors just a couple of days ago, and they want me to remind everybody that except for three beaches in Louisiana, all of the Gulf’s beaches are open, they are safe and they are clean.”

Yet seemingly, despite encouraging words from hotel representatives and the President of the United States, people are still discouraged from visiting Gulf beaches on account of the spill.  “We are just devastated to be rolling into Memorial Day,” said one hotel rep over the decline in reservations, “it’s horrible.”  We might wonder if said hotel rep was equally devastated by the environmental disaster itself.

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The WEITEC car tuners have released a stunning styling kit for the Volkswagen Golf 6 GTI to make it a lot more eye catching. The hot German hatchback received a new full aero kit that consists of many aggressive parts. Included in the package are new front and rear spoilers, side skirts, carbon fiber hood, and if all that’s not enough, then check out the Lambo doors. It reminds me of the popular post we wrote about the high modified Worthersee Golf GTI back in the day. For the suspension, WEITEC went with a new KW coilover kit and custom Sport F springs to lower the car 20 mm. But wait, they still offer better suspension packages if you want to take it to the track.

For 999 euros, WEITEC offers the Hicon TX plus coilover for the Volkswagen Golf 6 GTI, which is optimized for the race track. If your not into the race scene, well they have an extreme lowering kit dubbed the Ultra GT, and it will drop the car 40 mm closer to the ground. Rounding out the tuning package are a set of new wheels wrapped in high performance tires. The final product shows us that with all these modifications, your VW Golf 6 GTI will be ready to win some car shows in no time.

[Source: carsroute]

Source: Fancy Tuning – the latest car tuning news

SARDIHA-India, according to latest news, a high speed train was destroyed in Eastern India with sleeping passengers. The train smashed into the path of a cargo train, Friday. 71 have lost their lives and more than 200 have been injured.

Local television news channels showed that it was the Maoist rebels, also known as Naxalites, was behind the said incident. Officials of West Bengal approved that Maoist sabotaged the tracks and caused accident. Upon inspecting the accident area the police said that they found leaflets and posters and believed that it was owned and manage by the Maoist rebels.

West Bengal police in chief, Bhupinder Singh state that the accident was work done by the Maoist rebels. They decided with the help of the People’s Committee to Prevent Police Atrocities (PCPA) that they will take in charge and responsible in the said incident although a PCPA spokesman later contacted the news agency to deny the group’s involvement.
“It shows to be a case of sabotage where a portion of the railway track was removed,” Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said in a statement. “Whether explosives were used is not yet clear,” he said.

Police believe that the reason behind the accident was a bomb blast reported in NDTV, a television news station. Home secretary for West Bengal, Samar Ghosh, declared that 71 people were confirmed dead and at least 200 injured.
“We’re doing all we can, but I’m afraid there are still more bodies trapped in some of the carriages,” he told AFP.
The railway Minister, Mamata Bannerjee, said that the railways “a soft target” and Maoist have attacked them in the past “and, it appears that it’s until now,” she believed.

Hours after the train attack, Chidambaram held a pre-scheduled meeting with the head of the army, General V.K. Singh.

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Not long After British Oil Company BP started an internal investigation to determine who or what was responsible for the Deepwater Horizon spill that is estimated to be the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, it would seem that someone you might not expect has stepped forward to shoulder the blame: President Barack Obama.

In reference to the environmental disaster says Obama: “In case you’re wondering who’s responsible, I take responsibility.”  On the other hand, the President also was firm in his resolve to step up efforts to contain the spill: “It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen right away or the way I’d like it to happen. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to make mistakes. But there shouldn’t be any confusion here. The federal government is fully engaged, and I’m fully engaged.”

The President also admitted that his administration had waited too long to assess the severity of the situation, and that they did not put enough into reforming regulations on the offshore oil drilling industry.

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Jamie alerts us to the news that the giant luxury department store Harrods, in London, is threatening a small roadside cafe, called Hollands (accurately named after the cafe’s owners) for having a logo that’s too similar. The Daily Mail article above has a number of excellent photographic comparison shots, including a nice one showing the dumpy looking cafe juxtaposed with Harrod’s famous, iconic, storefront. The logos themselves both use similar script fonts, but it seems unlikely that anyone would be confused, and the whole thing comes off as the department store bullying a little cafe.

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F1 World Champion, Jenson Button, announced the break-up on his relationship with the super Japanese lingerie model, Jessica Michibata. Button has hit the brakes and no longer wishes to sit in the car again, to carry on with the relationship. One of the most lovely and happy couple, I have ever witnessed on the tracks after Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger.

Reason behind the break-up was pretty confusing as the racer told that it was difficult to maintain their long distance relationship. The racer is most of the times travelling to places in the world to race on the tracks while the model is also on the move for some great snaps. Both couldn’t give up on their career’s which ended up, sadly.

One good thing which we noticed was that the formula one champion was in high spirits and in a great mood as he trained in Istanbul to be ready for the Turkish Grand Prix.

The beautiful model has shown her full support for the young driver as she has attended almost all of his races including his win in Australia and China. Seems like things were a little bad from Button’s side and he couldn’t coup up with the star model. But on the other hand we have also seen Button visiting her regularly in Tokyo.

A close source revealed that the driver was dating another beautiful model, Kimberley Keay which was the reason behind the break-up.

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2010 Kia Soul Commercial: A new way to roll 2010

We’re pretty sure you remember the famous Kia Soul commercial that made its debut in March 2009 with a bunch of hamsters driving around in the new compact. Well, the group of hamsters is back for another round in 2010 and this time they have a lot of style… hip-hop style.

The commercial also features some shots at other automakers that produce cars shaped like toasters and cardboard boxes (hint: they are called the xB from some company named Scion).

Click here to get prices on the 2010 Kia Soul.

Check out the commercial after the jump to see what we mean.

Kia presents: A new way to roll 2010:

– By: Omar Rana