Author: Serkadis

Will Spotify be headed off to the “next gen consoles”? This seems to be the rumor circulating the Internets, as excitement continues to grow for the p…

Just one more day left to make a donation to Colony Cats and enter to win a set of Curve perch shelves from Urban Pet Haus!  This wonderful organization is working hard to help improve the lives of cats in Central Ohio. Every donation will help to ensure that they can continue their good work.

We are currently 85% of the way to meeting our goal of raising $1000 for Colony Cats. Won’t you please make a donation today and help us reach our goal!

>>Visit the Colony Cats fundraising page at GiveForward to make a donation and enter to win!

As a potential financial crisis, traders have already forgotten about Dubai.

The key factor is that the UAE is backstopping banks, which, as we know from experience here, is the signal to go back to business as usual.

Bloomberg: The euro and the Australian dollar rose against the greenback and the yen after the United Arab Emirates’ central bank said it “stands behind” the country’s banks, easing concerns about a possible default by Dubai World.

The U.S. dollar pared earlier gains against Japan’s currency after the Mainichi newspaper reported Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii as saying the government won’t intervene to weaken the yen. The euro gained for the first time in three days after the Abu Dhabi-based central bank of the U.A.E. said lenders will be able to borrow using a special facility tied to their current accounts.

“The market is willing to assume that there will be no actual default in Dubai,” said Sean Callow, a strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. “We’re likely to get back to what everybody is most comfortable with, which is selling U.S. dollars.”

After swooning on Friday, the futures are already in the green for tomorrow.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• UAE Central Bank Intervenes To Stem Dubai Meltdown
• Here’s What Dubai Will Look Like If It Gets REALLY Bad
• Dubai Plans Appeal to Bondholders

Seven models are today available. The number after the acronym indicates the number of blowing cavities. The model SFR 9/27 is equipped with 9 stations able to carry either 9 standard shell molds or 9 triple-cavity molds for a total of 27 blowing cavities. The model SFR 16/32 is equipped with 16 stations carrying twin cavities for a total of 32 cavities.

Applications
Mineral Water, Carbonated Soft Drinks, Fruit Juices, isotonics and functional drinks, Tee, coffee, Milk and milk based products, Edible oil.

Wireless Telecom Group Introduces the new Boonton 59318 RF Peak Power Sensor that is optimized for Boonton’s 4540
and 4500B Peak Power Meter product lines.

Wireless communication and aerospace technology is getting increasingly complex. Highly dynamic signals with noise like signal characteristics, fast switching carriers, as well as pulsed signals need to be measured and analyzed. Developers and engineers need measurement tools that allow them to tackle such intricate waveforms. Boonton proudly announces a new RF Power Sensor that fulfills these requirements – the 59318. The dynamic input power ranges from -24 dBm to +20 dBm in
Peak mode and -34 dBm to +20 dBm in CW mode, with input frequencies of up to 18GHz. With its very fast rise time of <10 ns and a bandwidth of 50MHz, the new 59318 can handle the most difficult signal forms. Due to its high speed the sensor is likewise ideal for statistical measurements.These are utilized if signals show noise like characteristics; hence do not support conventional trigger methods. The 59318 is extraordinary fast but also able to handle very low frequencies, starting already as low as 50 MHz. Frequency range is dependent upon which bandwidth the sensor is set to; it ranges from 0.5 GHz to 18 GHz in high bandwidth mode and from 50 MHz to 18GHz in low bandwidth mode. All 59310 sensors are equipped with an N (m) connector. “Boonton customers expect high quality, combined with state of the art test equipment allowing them to solve their measurement problems. In wireless technology, that translates to reliably measuring very complex signal forms, at very high accuracy – and our new Boonton 59318 Power Sensor delivers”, says Wolfgang Damm, Product Management Director of the Wireless Telecom Group. “Not only is this sensor built with the latest technology, it offers an outstanding value at a very affordable price.

The Noisecom 60 GHz Noise Figure test set has 4 separate systems designed to perform Y-factor noise figure measurements using a high performance Spectrum Analyzer or a dedicated receiver. Each system contains a highly stable V-band noise source, isolator(s), optional waveguide to coaxial transitions and an optional pre-amplifier for use with a spectrum analyzer. The two standard calibration tables have ENR data points at 1 GHz intervals.* System ENR is measured before the DUT connector and at the final output stage allowing for pre-test calibration of the system.

About Wireless Telecom Group Wireless Telecom Group, Inc designs and manufactures a variety of products serving the global wireless and telecommunications markets. Comprised of four brands brought together through acquisitions, Noisecom, Boonton, Microlab, and Willtek Communications, the group provides a complementary suite of RF and Microwave-based products, with a major portion focused on advanced telecom testing. Their products include peak power meters, precision noise generators, mobile phone testing solutions, and passive component solutions for cellular/mobile, WiFi, satellite, and other advanced communications networks, all critical enablers to the rapid growth in world-wide communications and computing solutions. This technological synergy has enabled Wireless Telecom Group, Inc. to become a full service supplier of both the commercial and military telecommunications industries. Wireless Telecom Group’s website address is www.wtcom.com. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release may be considered “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include declarations regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect actual results. Such risks and uncertainties are identified in the Company’s reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended by Form 10-K/A, for the year ended December 31, 2007 and Forms 10-Q for 2008.

Motion Index Drives Trunnion Index Drive units utilize our standard RT Series of Rotary Index Drives mounted in a vertical position. Trunnion Index Drives are ideal to move great mass with smaller units, which allows for space saving. All Trunnion Units can be ordered with standard or custom frames fully equipped with head and tailstock supports and one piece base weldments

Reinforced output flange bearing for higher tilting moment
Can be ordered as complete assembly with head stock, tail stock and base frame
Custom index and dwell angles can be tailored to your requirements
All sizes available in 100% programmable flexible Trunnion Dial Table solutions
Ready to accept most servo motor brands
Extremely reliable with long service lives
Available in clockwise, counter clockwise, oscillator index mode of operation
Flame or Induction hardened cams allowing smaller turntables to have higher load capabilities
High efficiency mechanical components require less input power
Barrel Cam and Cam followers and bearings fully immersed in oil bath
High precision cam followers and machined cams allow for accuracies of up to .0009″ (0.023 mm) while our Trunnion Index Drives are in dwell.
Cam followers are good for the entire calculated life of RT Series Trunnion Index Drive
Most RT Series models completely maintenance free
Highly efficient mechanical parts decreases input power needed to operate effectively
Completely wear-free when used with optional universal control TIC

Filed under: Aftermarket, Etc., Honda, Suzuki, Toyota, India, Tata, Design/Style

It was bound to happen. Think back to when Volkswagen Beetles infested the roads of the globe; there was no shortage of customized Bugs. Tata aims to put the world on wheels with its low-priced Nano, offering mobility to India’s massive population for what many Americans just dropped on Black Friday. To stave off an impending swarm of same-same vehicles, and cash in with buyers looking to stand out, New Delhi-based Carnation Auto (not to be confused with North America’s Car Nation) has teamed up with Dilip Chhabria’s DC Design to offer prefab-custom options for the Nano.

The endeavor has been given the tagline, “The Artist Meets the Enabler,” and it began with tarted-up offerings for the Toyota Innova, creating a car called the Innov8. If the reworked MPV is any indication, we can expect the DC Design Nano to have an interior that apes a Gulfstream, while we can all plainly see what’s been done to the exterior. The Nano kit is not yet available, but Carnation says it will be ready to join the already-available Innova, Honda City, and Suzuki Swift kits in 2010. We’re sure opinions abound over this visually-charged Nano, so feel free to express yourselves in the comments. Press release posted after the jump.

[Source: CarnationDC.com via Indian Auto Talk]

Continue reading It Begins: First tuned Tata Nano spotted

It Begins: First tuned Tata Nano spotted originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Canada

It’s official, Formula 1 and Montreal are in love again. Bernie Ecclestone’s supersonic price increases in 2008 drove the Canadian venue (and North America entirely) off the map in 2009. It was the first time in three decades that the F1 club didn’t visit Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and by the end of this summer, everyone was highly motivated to get it back.

When Ecclestone’s original demand of $175 million Canadian ($165M U.S.) over five years became $75 million Canadian, ($71M U.S.), the Montreal, Quebec, and Canadian governments got together to split the cost three ways. When the government’s commitment to spend such an amount on a sporting event was questioned, Quebec’s minister of finance replied that the GP will cost Quebec $4 million but return $10 million to its coffers alone. On top of that, Ecclestone promised them 30% of ticket sales every year, which, for a hugely popular grand prix, should be a substantial number. Vive le Montreal GP and June 13, 2010! Thanks to everyone who submitted tips

[Source: F1 Live | Photo credit: Vinod Sankar via CC2.0]

Canadian GP back on F1 calendar through 2014 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bagels.

Yum. Those round, dense, chewy, tasty bites of history now grace the plates of people from all over the world. Toasted or not, slathered with cream cheese, lox and whitefish, or topped with pizza or sandwich fixin’s…bagels are mainstream! McDonald’s even has had Breakfast Bagel sandwiches filled with egg and cheese.

I literally cut my teeth on bagels, as many kids did. Every Sunday as far back as I can remember, our family shared bags and bags of fresh, warm bagels on our breakfast / lunch table along with vast amounts of the best lox, whitefish, tomatoes, onions and of course, cream cheese. Bagels have been a part of our family’s daily menu as well, for a quick breakfast, or a late-night snack or something in-between, bagels rock!

You can buy bagels fresh, frozen, whole-grain, egg, blueberry, and all the way up to the “Everything” bagel. Best of all, you can make them at home for your family (See my recipe for homemade 100% whole-grain bagels.)

One thing that bagel-lovers share, no matter what their ethnic background, is the danger while cutting those sometimes-slippery rounds of deliciousness. Over the years, we have seen several different types of safety bagel cutters on the market. Remember the old plastic clamshell-type cutter (circa 1960-70’s)? Didn’t work so hot because they only worked (somewhat) on the small grocery-store type of bagels, but even then, it was a dangerous operation for fingers and bagels alike. It also did not accommodate the uneven, large shape of the handmade or homemade bagels. Similar problems exist with the bagel slicers available today, injuries can occur.

According to The American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT), bagel-cutting injuries are a serious problem. Here’s an excerpt from their information regarding what they refer to as “Bagel-Hand.” (I’m not kidding, take a look for yourself!)

“Bagel hand“
Ask many doctors and hand therapists what they believe to be the most dangerous food for possible injury during preparation or serving – and many will say bagels! Thousands of people each year end up in the emergency room from slicing more than just their bagels. According to the Department of Emergency Services at George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C., the most under-reported injury is hand cuts from slicing bagels. Some emergency rooms have even started calling the ligament and tendon damage “bagel hand.” Many of these injuries are so severe they require surgery and months of hand therapy to regain normal movement and function.

“Use a bagel slicer instead of a knife,” says ASHT President Christine Muhleman, OTR, CHT.

Good advice!

I have FINALLY found a wonderfully versatile, truly safe, bagel cutter in the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer. THIS is the one I would let my children use. When I was asked to review this product I had no idea what it would look like and given my past experiences with awkward, ineffective and dangerous bagel cutters, slicers and guillotines, I was hopeful for the elusive safe bagel-cutting utensil for my whole family.

When I opened the box and saw the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer, my first reaction was “Now that is adorable!” But the fun really set in when I used it. Ingeniously simple, the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer works and works well with no nicked fingers, no cut hands, no mangled or mooshed bagels and no slippage.

In Product Testing, the only bagel slicer that passed our tests for safety and efficiency is the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer. This is the only one we can recommend for the whole family.

Photo: Brooklyn Bagel Slicer

Advantages of the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer are many. They include the fact it is well-made and sturdy, but lightweight and easy to use, even for a child. The design keeps the cutting blade away from the edge of the cutter so the fingers and hand do not come in contact with the blade. Additional advantages include NSF® certified, dishwasher-safe and easy to store. A BIG plus is that the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer is made in the U.S.A. and developed by a physician for safety. The stainless steel serrated knife blade makes short work of cutting through a bagel or bialy and uneven-shaped objects. The best thing is that you can use this on homemade, 100% whole-grain bagels (which other cutters, slicers and guillotines cannot handle well).

I recommend this product highly and suggest buying several! They make great gifts for your bagel-loving family and friends.

Come and watch the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer in action:
Brooklyn Bagel Slicer video 1
Brooklyn Bagel Slicer video 2
Brooklyn Bagel Slicer video 3

The Brooklyn Bagel Slicer is available from your local kitchen stores in the Charlotte area and online from:

• Brooklyn Bagel Slicer
• My Secret Pantry
• Central Chef.com
• Amazon.com

Filed under: Car Buying, Japan, Hyundai, Kia, Earnings/Financials, South Korea

As Hyundai continues to pull itself up by its bootstraps, the company is moving decisively and picking up share around the globe. However, one key market continues to be so problematic for the brand that they’ve decided to abandon it altogether: Japan. Rather than dodder around and wait for its disappointing performance to improve, Hyundai is tying off the bleeder that is the company’s Japanese market presence. The cars themselves, either under Hyundai badging or as Kias, have become contenders in terms of styling and quality, two key indicators of the company’s commitment. And the move into Japan was part of Hyundai’s worldwide plan for expansion. For all its efforts, though, the famously insular market has deflected this outsider. In the eight years Hyundai has been selling vehicles in Japan, it has only managed to shift 15,000 units.

For all its efforts, 1,875 cars per year just isn’t worth it to Hyundai, though it will still try to sell commercial vehicles to Japan. According to the South Korean daily, Chosun Iibo, tariffs are slapped on outsiders selling cars in Japan, and the size of some models Hyundai’s been trying to market there doesn’t match up with typical Japanese garages and parking spaces. Buyers who have the space for larger cars aren’t the ones Hyundai’s trying to nab, either. Those purchasers typically pursue higher-end metal.

Interestingly, rival Toyota might see Hyundai’s move as a sort of victory. Toyota itself established a beachhead in the more-welcoming South Korean market in 2000, and has been selling thousands of vehicles there under its Lexus and Toyota nameplates. While Hyundai is giving up on Japan, Toyota’s looking to move more cars than ever in South Korea.

[Sources: CNBC. Chosun]

How do you spell Hyundai’s Kryptonite? J-D-M originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pomegranate juice has shown promise in early studies for its blood pressure lowering effects.

According to the Mayo Clinic, more research needs to be done to determine how well pomegranate juice works in lowering blood pressure but the evidence so far looks promising.

It is believed that the high level of antioxidants in pomegranate juice is responsible for its heart-protective and cholesterol-lowering effects.

The Mayo Clinic says, “Pomegranate juice is generally safe to drink. Most studies have used a daily intake of 1.5 ounces of pomegranate juice with no significant side effects.”

Adding pomegranate juice to your daily routine may be a safe and delicious way to reduce your blood pressure.

Released new version of the Elecont Weather 1.0.1023 with Black Ice Alert

Driving a car on snowy and icy roads or even walking may be dangerous in the winter time. With “Elecont Weather” you may be secured against this weather. The program displays the alert if current weather conditions are dangerous. We’re updating current conditions twice on a hour, so it is very close to real time. In addition to this, “Elecont Weather” displays the alerts for the further 10 days – it may be useful if you’re planning outdoor activity.

“Elecont Weather” is more than weather station for your Pocket PC or Smartphone. It produces accurate 10-day and hourly forecasts, warns you in case of high solar activity and severe weather (event of a severe thunderstorm, tornado, blizzard, hurricane, or other natural disasters). The most interesting feature is Barometer – a diagram showing the pressure changes during the past 24 hours. Now you always know the cause of headache if it is linked with changes in the air pressure. When Barometer detects pressure changes then it signals with a red color. “Elecont Weather” displays 10-day forecast with text descriptions separately for day and night time. You may find a lot of useful of weather parameters: “feels like” temperatures, chance of precipitation, humidity, visibility and much more. “Elecont Weather” has a global coverage (more than 51,000 locations). The data is provided by “WSI Corp.” (the world’s leading provider of weather-driven business solutions).

Elecont Weather is compatible with Windows Mobile Today and Home screen, Sliding panel, Titanium, CHome and Windows Mobile 6.5 default screen

We’re continuously adding new features to “Elecont Weather”. The upgrades are free of charge.

You may find more and download “Elecont Weather” from http://www.elecont.com and receive the 30% discount during the next 7 days.

This post was submitted by elecont.

We do not have personal experience of this ourselves, but one of our regular readers reports the HTC HD2 is having serious issues in Persia.

The problem appears to be in the interaction of the smartphone with the cell phone base stations, with Nokia base stations working perfectly well, and the device not being able to connect at all in areas served by Siemens/Ericsson base stations.

This effective means HTC HD2 owners are only having service in half of the country.  According to our informant importers are not taking responsibility for the issue, blaming the government owned carrier TCI/MCI, who have so far been unresponsive.

The only hope for owners (congregating at handheldusers.com forums ) at present appears to be a radio update by HTC, which is what owners are holding out hope for.

Are you an HTC HD2 owner in Iran having issues, or possibly the opposite – some-one having no issues at all?  Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks Parsa for the tip.

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Hatchback, Volkswagen, South America

The string of interesting and offbeat Volkswagens from the firm’s Brazilian division is enough to fill a coffee-table book. The SP2, for example, is one of the prettiest variations ever laid atop Type III mechanicals, one that many die-hard Volks-fans in the United States have never heard of. The rest of the world probably knows better what VW do Brasil has wrought; forty-something years of cars we’d dearly love to roll here in The States, but which never came north. Eventually, a Brazilian VeeDub did head for os Estados Unidos.

Instead of Brasilias or Karmann Ghia TCs, we got the Fox. Known in Brazil as the Gol, which rode on its own BX platform, itself a derivate of the B1 platform that underpinned other VW and Audi products. Our Foxes were all sedans or wagons, but a recent troll of old car ads on Flickr turned up this masterpiece. Look carefully – we always thought the Fox transaxle looked a lot like the naughty bits of a Beetle. And there it is, a doghouse-shrouded 1300cc bit of air-cooled muscle mounted in the FRONT. Hot diggety, this thing has it all, 3-door hatch bodywork, a flat-four, and no pesky coolant to boil over in tropical climes. The closest you can come to something like this now is an Impreza hatch, which is an exponentially better car. That doesn’t stop us from thinking about bolting that spare 1600DP into a Polo-Edition Fox and warping everyone’s minds at the next Spring Dust-Off.

[Source: Flickr/Hugo90 – CC2.0]

VW Gol: Brazilian proto-Impreza by VW? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Performance, Mercedes-Benz, Design/Style, Luxury

To put it kindly, we’ll call the attempts to tune the appearance of the Mercedes SLS AMG gilding the lily. Although the folks at Kircherer were obviously not doing the same amount or potency of drugs procured by the gents at MEC Design, they have still managed to disturb the lines of a car that most feel needed no help in the looks department.

This is said to be Kircherer’s version of a Pan-Am car, and it gets carbon fiber blackening bits all around, a rooftop air intake, Kircherer’s trademark wheels, and a leering grille lifted from an Aston Martin. You can also get that grille in gold, if you wish. But there’s only one part of the world where we see that happening…

[Source: World Car Fans]

Gah!x2: Kicherer Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG rendered originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Research has shown that pomegranate juice inhibits prostate cancer in mice.

A 2005 study done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also found that PSA markers were lower in mice given pomegranate juice.

It was the first published study to show the potential prostate cancer inhibiting effects of pomegranate juice.

A more recent study published in 2008 found that pomegranate extract reduced the size of prostate cancer tumors in mice by inhibiting the growth of new blood vessels that help the tumors grow.

Now that Cody, Adon, and Guy have been confirmed for Super Street Fighter IV, time to check out these bad boys in action. The Famitsu scans from last …