Author: Serkadis

Rising barrier Manual OF/Industry Tertiary

* Great robustness
* Balanced boom with bearings
* Up to 5 meters
* Wild range of options and accessories
BCA is the leader of the French manufacturers of rising barriers.

Thanks to a long experiment, our company is capable to meet all your needs as regards equipment for pedestrian and access control vehicles (barriers, housings, bollards, road blockers, full height turnstile, tripod turnstile, proximity cards & readers, magnetic loop detector, photoelectric cel, radio remote control, intercom, traffic lights, …)

BCA, the engagement of a team to satisfy you in full safety.

Sensortechnics’ new CLW series detects point levels of liquids and granular or pulverised materials without contacting the media. The user can easily adjust a high and low switch point with a hysteresis of less than 25 mm. The CLW device uses a new non-invasive capacitive sensor technology and allows for complete media compatibility and sterility. Due to its miniature size these level switches can be perfectly integrated into OEM devices.

The CLW sensor can be mounted to the outside of a container or vessel and is able to measure through almost any non-metallic wall material. The level switch is highly flexible and can be easily calibrated to measure to the desired levels, media and application set-up. The CLW series achieves a very high accuracy and reliability due to an additional reference electrode which compensates for all changes in ambient environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. Additionally, Sensortechnics can also provide continuously measuring level sensors based on the same contact-free capacitive technology.

Important features of the new CLW series are:

– Contact-free capacitive sensor technology
– Point level monitoring of liquids, granular or pulverised materials
– Adjustable hysteresis of less than 25 mm
– Miniature size for easy integration into OEM devices

Due to its new contact-free capacitive technology Sensortechnics’ CLW level switch can be used in many level monitoring applications within medical, laboratory and analytical technology, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, also biotechnology as well as food and beverage.

Our product line has evolved to a new level of outstanding peformance and value in analytical instruments: the Ultrameter II series.

While priced like affordable single-parameter instruments, the Ultrameter II does the job of three, four or even six instruments.

Both Ultrameter II models deliver performance of ±1% of reading (not merely full scale). This high level of accuracy has been achieved through advanced four-electrode conductivity cell technology, a unique pH/ORP sensor and powerful microprocessorbased circuitry. With displayed values of up to 9999, the full four-digit LCD ensures resolution levels never before
possible in such affordable instruments.

Factory calibrated with NIST traceable solutions, each Ultrameter II may be supplied with both certification of traceability and NIST traceable solutions for definitive calibration.

Beyond their affordable purchase price, Ultra-Fast, Ultra-Easy, Ultra-Powerful Ultrameter II‘s save both time and money. Measure for measure, Ultrameter II‘s give you a better return on your investment than any other handheld instrument.

Filed under: Motorsports

More Danica Patrick news and this time, it’s actually racing related. Last week came a report that Ms. Patrick had inked a multi-year deal with the recently restructured Andretti Autosport, putting to rest the rumors that the sometime-swimsuit model was headed to NASCAR. Well, Sporting News is now reporting that the gun might have been jumped on that conclusion. It seems that the GoDaddy pitchwoman is about to announce a deal to drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR Nationwide Series team in 2010.

SN is reporting that Danica will run the full IndyCar calendar and a limited Nationwide schedule, with GoDaddy sponsoring her stock car. According to the GoDaddy website, the formal announcement will come at 1 PM ET Tuesday, December 8. We’ll be sure to watch for that announcement and update as needed.

[Source: Sporting News | Image Source: Streeter Lecka/Getty]

Continue reading REPORT: Danica Patrick to race NASCAR in 2010

REPORT: Danica Patrick to race NASCAR in 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PrometheeFeu writes “The French Minister of Culture Christine Albanel has just been assigned a mission to prepare the French publishing industry for the digital economy. The phrasing of the mission-letter makes it clear that while developing legal offerings and digitizing books is part of the plan, the focus is on getting the cooperation of publishers to enforce the 3-strike law (Google translation from the original). The language actually talks about inciting publishers to do so which leads me to wonder why the government should incite people to exercise their rights if they don’t want to do so…

The letter makes it clear that IP enforcement is seen as the only way to distribute value to authors and distributors (consumers are not mentioned). Here is a choice quote:

“The government cannot accept to see another cultural industry threatened by the pillaging.”

The letter also mentions the “damages observed for the music and film industries through the growth of illegal downloads.” Obviously, no sources are given for that information. Most amusingly, the letter states that Christine Albanel (who kindly told us that OpenOffice comes with a firewall which would somehow block illegal downloads) should use in this mission her experience in working with the music and film industry. I like many French authors and I sincerely hope that they ignore whatever she says and instead try something which might actually work, but I’m not holding my breath…”

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As promised, United Front Games is back to once again give us another video walkthrough of ModNation Racers. But that’s not all folks, for those who are eagerly awaiting to tryout the customizable kart-racing game, you’ll be

I hope those of you who ordered their Lightning Pink Limited Edition Final Fantasy XIII PS3 (http://ps3.qj.net/category/Final-Fantasy-XIII/cid/1717) console have an extra US$ 168. That’s because that’s the additional cost that’s been added on

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Ford, Nissan

Recently, we ran a little poll in which we asked which car would you prefer: A Nissan GT-R or a Ford Shelby Mustang GT500? The results – which aren’t too surprising – had just over two thirds of you rooting and tooting for Godzilla. And that’s all fine. However, someone pointed out that the contest should have been between Godzilla and the new Shelby Super Snake. Well guess what?

Thankfully, Motor Trend has totally obliged you. In this video, the 412-horsepower and 393 pound-feet of torque (at the wheels, people, at the wheels) Nissan GT-R takes on the 635 hp and 581 lb-ft of torque Shelby GT500 Super Snake do the quarter-mile. The results? We’re going to make you jump to find out, but we aren’t surprised. At all. But then again, we’ve driven both cars (in fact, this appears to be the exact 2010 GT-R we drove). We will however say hats off to our buddy Ed Loh at MT for making such a fun video. Click here to watch it. Thanks to Pete for the tip!

[Source: Motor Trend]

Continue reading VIDEO: Godzilla vs. Super Snake: MT pits Nissan vs. Shelby in amusingly epic battle

VIDEO: Godzilla vs. Super Snake: MT pits Nissan vs. Shelby in amusingly epic battle originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Obama administration still has a very mixed record on transparency and openness. Despite promising to be a lot more transparent and open, the federal government has been extremely selective in where it actually is open. So, yes, it’s done a decent job with some online projects like Recovery.gov and USASpending.gov, but in other areas, such as on ACTA negotiations the government has resisted openness at pretty much every turn. So, while perhaps it’s understandable, it does seem rather ironic that the federal government’s workshop on openness is closed to the public. Yes, it’s an internal workshop for federal government employees, but it certainly seems to be a symbolic point that openness is something that’s talked about more often than done.

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XO skin is the newest full body skin for mobile phones. The company just recently started shipping and I have a copy of their skin here to give you a short and sweet review of.

Ease of install

This skin comes in a case with everything you need to get it installed on your device. The package includes: a squeegee, the full skins, skin spray and a nice great box. The kit has the directions on how to install right in the package so it should not be that hard for you to figure it out and install it. It take a good 5 steps to install and it could not be any easier. It took me about a good 3min to get it on my device and all the air pockets out, then another 20min to dry off. So for ease of install, it is really easy.

Final look and fit

The installing of this skin is easy, but the final result is not as good. The material that it is cut from is very nice material that I cant seem to scratch. It is very flexible and it even after stretching it and everything it still fit on my device. The skin wasn’t as good of a fit as I would have liked, it didn’t get to all the edges and I really hate when that happens. That only happened to the front piece, so it was not so bad for the back piece and the side pieces. This is not the best screen protector I have used, but for the price, it is pretty decent.

We will be giving some away this week, so look out for that.

Ease of Install: 5/5
Fit:3.5/5

Get your own at XOskin.com

Filed under: Performance, Audi, Design/Style, Luxury

At last week’s tony Design Miami reveal of the 2011 A8 luxury cruiser, we were able to corner Johan de Nysschen, Audi’s executive vice president in North America, and ask him for some tasty tibits on the brand’s upcoming products, including the A8‘s sexier derivative, the A7.

In addition to giving us the first official confirmation of the A7’s existence, de Nysschen revealed that the four-door coupe model will slot in “a little bit below” the new A8 in terms of pricing, just as we expected. Of course, it’s worth noting that the 2011 A8 faces a price bump due to substantial increases in content and technology, so when the A7 finally comes to the States, the average model is likely to sticker at around $82,000-$83,000, which de Nysschen says is about the price for a typically equipped 2010 A8 (pricing starts at $74,550 plus delivery).

Based on Audi’s new longitudinal modular platform technology, the A7 will be clearly related to the A8 (and the A6 replacement that will follow it), and de Nysschen says that the 2009 Detroit Auto Show Sportback concept car serves as a “very reliable indicator” of what the production model will look like. Judging by recent spy shots from our friends at KGP, that very much appears to be the case. While parts commonality will be “substantial,” de Nysschen says that the A7 will not use the full aluminum spaceframe design of the A8, although it will have aluminum elements.

As expected, the A8 will launch Stateside in both standard and long-wheelbase formats, with the latter predicted to make up the lion’s share of the volume (the A8L presently accounts for about 80 percent of the model’s sales).

We asked De Nysschen about how the two models will interact in the full-size luxury sedan segment, and he noted that:

“This top end segment is characterized by more conservative people, and we need to clearly take lower levels of risk with a flagship model [the A8]. But we recognize too that there is a sizable enough cluster of customers in that same segment who are ready for a more avant-garde design [the A7]. So we will essentially be positioning two cars into the same segment, which means that independently, the volume each attains is not that significant, but when you put them together, it will mean that our share of that segment will grow quite dramatically.”

All-in De Nysschen thinks that the A8 will account for about 4,000 to 5,000 sales per year in the U.S., and the less costly A7 could clear 7,000-8,000 additional units.

And what of a high-performance S8 to take on Mercedes-Benz’s AMG lineup, or the A5 Sportback? Click through to the jump for more details.

Continue reading Audi A7 confirmed for U.S. and S8 model in the works, but once again, no A5 Sportback

Audi A7 confirmed for U.S. and S8 model in the works, but once again, no A5 Sportback originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Hatchback, Volkswagen

Wimmer RS played around with a VW GTI, and this is the result: nothing too much on the outside and terror under the hood. The exterior, especially for a German tuner, is admirably untouched: just a set of 20-inch Motec Antares wheels, and a lower stance with height-adjustable coilovers.

Up front, though, the revisions take the 211-hp, 2.0-liter TFSI up to 386 hp and 336 ft-lb of torque. The upgraded grunt is courtesy of a new turbo and a thorough rework of the intake and manifold, injection valves, piston rods, fuel pump, and other sundries, along with a new software flash. Top speed is 166 mph, which just might be fast enough to outrun those graphics. Follow the jump for the press release, or have a look at it in the gallery of photos below.

[Source: Wimmer RS]

Continue reading Germany’s Wimmer RS unveils stonking 386 HP Volkswagen GTI

Germany’s Wimmer RS unveils stonking 386 HP Volkswagen GTI originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 12.7.09 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Heads up, CoD fanatics! A new patch for the console version of Modern Warfare 2 is on the way. It will include several bug fixes to address some game glitches that a lot of users have encountered.

I’ve been a fan of actor Ron Livingston for a while, so it’s disappointing to see him push forward with an obviously dead-in-the-water lawsuit against Wikipedia. Livingston is upset that someone keeps changing his Wikipedia entry to claim that he’s gay, when the actor (who recently got married) is pretty sure he’s not. Of course, the problem here is that there’s nothing that he can reasonably sue Wikipedia for. He’s trying “libel, invasion of privacy and for using his name and likeness without his permission.” None of these will stand, as all will quickly be dumped due to Section 230 of the CDA — which you can all read about on Wikipedia. Now, he might have a stronger argument if he actually sued the individual making these changes, rather than Wikipedia itself, but even then, it’s difficult to see the lawsuit getting very far. Update: In the comments people are saying that the UPI reporter got the story wrong, and the actual lawsuit is against the individual — though, again it’s difficult to see the lawsuit getting very far. So much for the “professional reporters” at an organization like UPI doing fact checking.

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Not a senator’s place to degrade a nation’s legal system

Editor, The Times:

The recent statement on the Amanda Knox guilty verdict released by Sen. Maria Cantwell was insulting to all the citizens of Italy — our NATO ally — as well as to Americans of Italian descent [“Knox support network: friends, lawyers, scientists and a senator,” page one, Dec. 5].

She was clearly out of line to make them, as I suspect they were based largely or entirely on information provided to her by the Knox family. Her remarks were arrogant, to the point that she basically said Knox is innocent.

Knox may be, but the senator is simply not in a position to know, and she should take better measure of the available facts before making provocative public statements that disparage the legal system of an entire nation.

Too bad Sen. Cantwell wasn’t around when two Italians by the names of Sacco and Vanzetti were unjustly tried and executed in 1927, here in America. I’m certain she would have spoken out against the flaws in the justice system on display in this country. Or would she?

— Dan Possumato, Portland, Ore.

Boycotting all things Italian

I think it would be highly appropriate for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to converse with Sen. Maria Cantwell regarding the transfer of Amanda Knox to the U.S. to serve her prison term while her appeal undergoes the glacially slow injustice system that is Italy’s.

For my part, however, I have begun boycotting Italian products, starting with Perugina chocolate and San Pellegrino, both of which I like. I will not buy them or any Italian cheese, wine, or other products as long as Knox endures incarceration as a consequence of the farcical trial just concluded.

I urge others to join me in getting the attention of the Italians who were overjoyed by Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini’s successful vendetta against Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, whose cases probably should never have been brought to trial.

— Earl J. Bell, Seattle

Meredith Kercher and family are the only victims

Isn’t it time to show some balance in this matter [“Knox ‘railroaded from day one,’ ” News, Dec. 5]? The victims, the only victims, are Meredith Kercher and her family. The murderers are found to be Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Neither deserve our sympathy, although compassion shown to their families is in order.

The attempts by Sen. Maria Cantwell and others to portray Italy and Italian justice as biased and unfit to try this case are highly offensive and should cease at once.

Knox and her family should be thankful she committed her crime in Italy and not in the U.S.

She can expect to be released from prison in around 15 years if she behaves well. She’ll be less than 40 years old. Her sentence here in the states likely would have been much harsher.

The Seattle Times would do its readers a service if it carried comment from Britain and Italy. The views of the rest of the world would be informative. We do not need to read further articles attempting to deny this crime.

— Bruce Bailey, Seattle

Why are we defending Amanda Knox?

My daughter shared a two-bedroom apartment in college freshman year with two girls who partied and brought boys home on a nightly basis. Out of fear for her safety, my daughter not only purchased a lock for her bedroom, but spent most nights squeezing into a single bed with a friend because she was too afraid to sleep in her own apartment.

This continued until one night a drunk male college student punched through an apartment wall with his fist and attempted to sexually assault my daughter’s fourth roommate returning from band practice. After my husband and I met with the dormitory authorities, nothing was done and our daughter had to change dormitories during finals.

Reading about the Amanda Knox case, I am thankful my daughter was not hurt, or worse. It seems Washington is trying to defend Knox just because she is from Seattle, while ignoring the brutal reality that a gruesome act was committed to a young, innocent life, plus the horrendous loss to Meredith Kercher’s family.

So many parents might have done better to provide direction in their children’s lives versus throwing money and influence after the fact. I shudder to think my daughter might have suffered a similar fate.

— Anchi Miller, Kirkland

I really don’t know why they don’t include the bowl season in the regular pick em–probably so they can have a Final Jeopardy crazy-like finale with the post season. Regardless, if you want to participate, go to Yahoo and sign up. You will need a yahoo email address, but you can have notifications sent to your regular one if you like. The name of our group is Fanblogs, but you need our group ID # which is 17240. The password for our group is fanblogs09 (but don’t tell anybody).

I believe we’re still limited to the first 50 pickers (or grinners), so hurry up and join. Bowl season starts December 19th and ends some time in the summer (I think). Although it makes it really easy to follow if you use the same yahoo name as your fanblogs name, you can remain anonymous if you like, but for those of you who join, chime in below so we can get a head count.

And as always, this contest is free and is not for the wagering of bets, real or imagined, but may, in fact, be used for trash-talking purposes freely.Member FBIC. If you spend four hours or longer making your picks, this is a rare medical condition known as pickempism. Please consult your doctor immediately. DO NOT TAUNT HAPPY FUN BALL. Thank you.

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