Author: Serkadis

I know a lot of you are doing your Black Friday 2009 shopping online today, and apart from the great stuff that’s going on in the Amazon Black Friday sale, we know that Apple gear is all the rage. To that end, we had a quick tip for you. Yes, Apple has a Black Friday sale going on, and you will find some discounts on a bunch of Macs and iPods, among other things. However, for the true deals, be sure to hit the MacMall Black Friday sale. They are an Apple reseller, and they’ve got Macs at deeper discounts than Apple is offering, and with freebies thrown in to boot. They are the place to shop today if you want great deals on Apple products.

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Filed under: Motorsports, BMW

BMW 320si WTCC, BMW-Sauber F1.07 and Formula BMW FB02 – Click above for high-res image gallery

What would BMW be without racing? We could be about to find out if recent developments are any indication. The Bavarian automaker competed in F1, the World Touring Car Championship and various sportscar series, while running its own Formula BMW feeder series that has helped breed such talents as Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. The automaker announced its withdrawal from Formula One at the end of this year, and reports now indicate that they’ll be severely curtailing their participation in the World Touring Car Championship as well.

BMW mounted a concerted comeback effort in the WTCC this year, only to narrowly lose out again to SEAT. Whether the decision is directly related to the upset or not is unclear, but reports out of Europe say that BMW will be reducing the number of its cars in the championship next year from five to two. That means eliminating the national teams system it had in place, consolidating and putting its WTCC-spec 320si in the hands of Team Schnitzer (the erstwhile BMW Team Germany), which gains triple champion Andy Priaulx from BMW Team UK to partner with multiple race winner Augusto Farfus. Two-time CART champion and double amputee Alex Zanardi, who was racing for BMW Team Italy-Spain, is moving to the Superstars Series. (Touring car fans should also note that SEAT’s 2008 champion Yvan Muller is moving to Chevrolet to replace the retiring former F1 driver Nicola Larini.)

What remains to be seen is whether BMW will continue cutting its racing activities in other series as well, or if they’ll have cut enough expenditures from their F1 and WTCC programs to let its sportscar programs and Formula BMW survive the cutbacks.

[Source: OmniAuto.it]

BMW continues curtailing racing programs originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Damn. It seems Nintendo really can do no wrong in Japan when it comes to their DS handhelds. The latest DS iteration, the DSi LL, debuted at the top o…

Here is our weekly Windows Phone World Pocast featuring our usual crew of Dawid from PDA.pl, Stasys from Unwiredview.com, Wen from MobileOSNews.com and myself.

We should start streaming in about 10 minutes

If there is anything you wish us to discuss, drop a note in the chatroom below.

Streaming live video by Ustream

Chat Below

For more than 60 years Lessmann has been producing in Oettingen, Germany. Next to technical brushes for e.g. cleaning or deburring of working parts, Lessmann also offers hand brushes, brooms, dusters or other special types for standard or special applications.

Hand brushes for every operation purpose

Lessmann standard hand brushes with a wooden body are stocked with different filling materials (e.g. steel wire, stainless steel wire, brass coated steel) and can be used on various materials and applications. They are used in the metal working industry, construction industry or also by do-it-yourselfer.
LESSMANN hand brushes are of superb quality and yet are economic due to a fully automated and efficient production facility.
Using modern marking systems individual printing of brands and EAN Bar Codes can be made. This is done by burning stamps or tampon printing at low cost.

Environmental hint: LESSMANN hand brushed with a wooden body are certified in accordance with PEFC standards.

The ROKI brush made by Lessmann is a special tool for cleaning brake callipers. It is used for cleaning off clogged lining deposits when changing brake pad linings.
But ROKI is not only used in the automotive industry, but for example also in the food industry. The brush complies to the hygiene charter of the FEIBP (European Brushware Federation) and are accredited in the food industry.

Fine Scratch Brushes

Fine Scratch Brushes are also called watchmaker and goldsmith brushes. These brushes are used among other things to apply solvents and other cleansing agents. The brushes with a wooden body have a very high densitiy of filling wires and are available in different widths and with different filling materials.

All LESSMANN standard articles are deliverable ex stock. Special sizes or different filling materials are deliverable on demand within short time frame.
Due to its engineering department products are upgraded and advanced constantly and new products adapted to the customers’ needs are planned and tested. Permanent quality checks guarantee products of top quality which have a long durability and which bring an eminent brushing result.

Machine manufacturers often need to measure forces or weights with a small sized load cell.

DS Europe, that has been producing measuring instruments for more than 30 years, is proposing the series BC300 miniaturized load cells (smallest is mod. BC302 with 16,5mm overall diameter and 8mm highness).

Series BC300 are strain gauge load cells with 4 active arms Wheatstone bridge and a 2mV/V sensitivity with < ±0,5%FS linearity Series BC300 can measure from 0 up to +2000Kg compression and from 0 up to ±1000Kg tension and compression. Applications: general purpose load cells for automation machines, textile machines, medical machines, testing machines, machines working wood-plastics-rubber-paper, robotics, vehicles, military, weighing, food machines, agriculture machines, machine tools, research, geophysical, anti-overload for cranes and lifts etc. DS Europe can also develop load cells accordingly to customer's technical specifications. DS Europe produces also: position transducers, pressure transducers, liquid level transducers, inclinometers, accelerometers and panel meters.

Filed under: Etc., Technology

The season of hitting the roads to places you don’t really want to go, so that you can give gifts you didn’t really want to buy and eat food you don’t really like has begun. Naturally, a lot more people on the road means a lot more folks getting lost. Fear not, you invincible iPhone-equipped holiday travelers: Appcast has ranked the created a list of navigation apps taking into account 31 different features and metrics.

With all the measuring they’ve done, they leave the decision of which one is best up to you. But with factors such as coverage area, traffic and speed camera notifications, demo routes, and even text-to-speech (including how the application handles voice instructions when the phone is playing music), you should have plenty of tools to make the best choice for your tastes.

There are seven apps tested, starting at $29.99. One of them could help make your holiday treks that much more manageable — but they still won’t eat fruitcake.

[Source: Appcast]

Which iPhone navigation app should you buy? This’ll help originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thanksgiving at our house this year involved another viewing of Dog Soldiers, so I’m a bit wary of wolves right now. The one in Okamiden, Chibiterasu,…

Earlier this week, underperforming Swedish automaker Saab received a crushing blow when Koenigsegg abruptly killed its pending purchase from General Motors. Using Penske’s 86′d Saturn purchase as a yardstick, speculations immediately arose that with no buyer waiting in the wings Saab was next in line to get the axe. Today, however, promising rumors have begun to circulate that three separate entities have expressed interesting in buying Saab, indicating there may be hope for the company yet.

The first candidate is – surprise! – Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation, which purchased the design rights to the Saab 9-5 earlier this year thereby pledging to keep the infamous Saab alive albeit in sub-par Chinese deathtrap form. The remaining two bidders paint a significantly more promising picture for Saab and include two U.S.-based investment firms, Renco and Merbanco. Noticeably absent from the bidding frey is the Swedish government, who just months ago pledged their unwavering and slightly biased support of Saab’s break from GM by guaranteeing the $600 million loan necessary to complete Koenigsegg’s acquisition. Apparently, despite Sweden’s willingness to fork over a hefty lump of Krona to ensure a smooth transfer of ownership, the government has no intention of acquiring the brand for itself.

Despite the abandonment from both their fellow Swedish manufacturer and their native legislature, Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs assured that company remains optimistic. “We have a close dialogue and close contact with several who have expressed interest in buying Saab Automobile,” Gustavs said. “It is not so surprising, given that there were 27 parties who were interested (when Saab was initially put up for sale) and 10 who came and looked the company over in April and May.”

GM executives are scheduled to convene next week to decide on the future of the brand, and smart money suggests Ake Svensson should start brushing up on his Mandarin.

Source: Bloomberg
Image Cred: Getty Images

Okay guys, if you are looking to do some Black Friday 2009 shopping, we think that the Amazon Black Friday deals page is a great place to start. Why? Well, so far today they’ve had full music albums for 75% off, The Dark Knight on Blu-ray for 72% off, and a Garmin nuvi GPS for 50% off. Oh, and there’s plenty more where that came from.

Sound interesting? Head on over to the Amazon Black Friday Deals page to scope out what else they’ve got going on.

Tags:
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amazon deals,
amazon discounts,
black friday,
black friday 2009,
black friday deals,
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music,
nüvi,
nuvi,
shopping,

LG IQ has been caught on video being presented by Telus staff. The Snapdragon powered WM 6.5 smartphone features a fingerprint reader which seems to work pretty well, and of course LG’s S-class user interface.

MobileNinjas has the pricing of the smartphone, which will be $499.99 off contract, $399.99 on a two year contract and only $99 on a 3 year contract.

The full specs are:

3.2-inch WVGA touchscreen, 4-row slide out QWERTY keyboard, Windows Mobile 6.5, 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 5 megapixel camera with auto focus, enhanced fingerprint security, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, 1500 mAh battery,  113 x 55 x 15.6 mm and 127 grams, with optional Pico projector accessory.

Read more at MobileSyrup here.

Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Performance, Lotus, Luxury

When it comes to the successor to the Lotus Esprit, the specs — and even the name — are still up in the air. There is, however, a mule undergoing testing on the ground. Autocar has pics of an Exige with a seriously modified rear end, leading to speculation that the new Esprit’s powertrain lives underneath.

This time engine talk centers on “a version of” the Lexus lump in the IS F, but with 275-325 bhp per ton as the goal, that could mean an engine which is quite close or quite far from its source material. Knowing Lotus, we won’t doubt the power — what we really can’t wait to see are the looks. The Esprit V8 was the last of the gee-willikers rip-snorters from the house of Chapman, but it was the design of the earlier s4s that made us go “Oh yeah.” Please, Lotus, give us that lovin’ feelin’ again…

[Source: Autocar]

Spy Shots: Elise, Exige, Esprit? Lotus tests new model originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The market was down today, but given the mood, it could have been a lot worse.

Before the market opened, traders had visions of a furious, half-day, with all kinds of circuit breaker kicking in. In the end, it was just a really solid down day, with the indices all falling a bit more than 1%. The Dow only lost about 154. The NASDAQ lost 1.7%.

Oil made a big comeback, paring its early losses, and ending down only about 2%.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• After Dubai, Is Greece Next?
• Mobius: Even If We’re In A Bull Market, Dubai Could Spark A 20% Correction
• JP Morgan: Stop Freaking Out, The UAE Can Easily Save Dubai

Filed under: Videos

As any parent knows, when a child finds a video he likes he can watch it a kabillion jillion times with undiminished joy. That’s exactly the kid we turn into any time you cut up race footage and set it to classical music and exhaust notes. This time it’s the preview of the movie Titan, by French director Stephane Benini, which strings together action from the 1000 KM of the Nürburgring and features modern and vintage racers and motorcycles.

The movie has its own Facebook page if you really want to declare your love, or you can do the secret admirer thing and just enjoy the 6-minute HD clip from YouTube after the jump. The sound of the GT2 Corvette and DB9R is nothing short of knee-trembling. Follow the jump for the clip, and try not to spill your pureed peas…

[Source: Clash Productions]

Continue reading VIDEO: Titan trailer celebrates the glory that is the Nürburgring

VIDEO: Titan trailer celebrates the glory that is the Nürburgring originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After the not-so-stealthy reveal of Theif 4, Eidos Montreal has pretty much gone to ground when it comes to the game. The studio’s GM, Stephane D…

Should we use taxes to deter financial speculation? Yes, say top British officials, who oversee the City of London, one of the world’s two great banking centers. Other European governments agree — and they’re right.

Unfortunately, United States officials — especially Timothy Geithner, the Treasury secretary — are dead set against the proposal. Let’s hope they reconsider: a financial transactions tax is an idea whose time has come.

Keep reading at the NYT >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Geithner’s Disgrace
• Jim Rogers: Tim Geithner Has Been Wrong About Everything His Entire Career
• Congressman Proposes Tax On All Wall Street Trades