Author: Serkadis

McLaren Automotive today announced its global retail network that it will feature 35 retailers in 19 countries in 2011. The 35 retailers will start selling the new 2011 McLaren MP4-12C. McLaren says that it has plans to grow the network starting 2012.

North America (including U.S. and Canada will initially get 8 retailers. U.S. dealers will be located in the following cities: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa.

In Europe, McLaren will have 12 dealers spread out through UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland). The Middle East will get two while South Africa will get one.

Later in 2010, McLaren will announce an additional two retailers in the U.S., five in the Middle East and a network of four retailers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Click here to read more news on the McLaren MP4-12C.

Refresher: Power for the 2011 McLaren MP4-12C comes from a 3.8L V8 twin-turbo engine producing around 600-hp mated to a 7-speed Seamless Shift dual-clutch gearbox (SSG). 0 to 60 mph is expected to come in the low 3 second range with a top speed of more than 200 mph. Sales begin in early 2011.

2011 McLaren MP4-12C:

Press Release:

McLAREN AUTOMOTIVE CONFIRMS CITY LOCATIONS FOR ITS FIRST GLOBAL RETAILERS

Media Information
MTC, Woking, England

* McLaren Automotive global retail network to feature 35 of the world’s best car retailers in 19 countries in 2011; further growth planned from 2012
* McLaren Automotive’s first 23 retailers due to be confirmed ahead of MP4-12C’s global debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed
* Demand for McLaren brand underlined by over 2,500 prospects on www.mclaren.com, and over 500 retailers requesting the opportunity to represent McLaren Automotive
* Mario Micheli, McLaren Automotive’s new Commercial and Marketing Director, driving programme to present 12C at over 100 events in 2010

WOKING, UK (May 21, 2010) – McLaren Automotive today announces the city locations for its global retail network. Operating independently, but located at the heart of the McLaren Group, the company expects to confirm the names of the majority of its partners in these cities within weeks, with the remainder making up the launch network of 35 retailers confirmed through the autumn.

An initial eight retailers in North America (USA, Canada), 12 in Europe (UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland), two in the Middle-East, and McLaren’s South African representative are expected to be the first confirmed retailers in the company’s network, which begins selling the McLaren MP4-12C from spring 2011. A further 12 retailers will be announced through 2010, completing the initial line-up, including McLaren’s Spanish retailer, two further retailers in the USA, five more in the Middle East, and the company’s network of four retailers in its Asia-Pacific region.

McLaren Automotive can confirm that it will be represented by many of the world’s best automotive retailers in the following cities and markets:

* Europe: Birmingham, London, Manchester; Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich; Brussels; Monaco, Paris; Milan; Barcelona/Madrid; Zurich
* North America: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa; Toronto
* Middle-East / South Africa: Manama; Doha; Jeddah, Riyadh; Dubai, Abu Dhabi; Kuwait; Johannesburg
* Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong; Singapore; Sydney; Tokyo

Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive’s Managing Director, said: “This is a landmark day for McLaren Automotive as we confirm the locations of the first of our partners that will represent us around the world. It has been incredibly encouraging to experience the demand to sell McLarens from the world’s best car retailers – in every country in which we planned to launch and at the heart of all performance car markets.

“We have proposed sensible, but high quality, expectations from our preferred retail partners and have been amazed at some of the proposals presented by potential retailers: nearly half are building brand new flagship showrooms.

“There is clearly an appreciation of McLaren all around the world. Aside from the obvious Formula 1 links, we believe this is down to our strong business plan, our exciting and innovative product line-up, and a focus on what is best for the retailer – sensible investment, and attention to customer service and aftersales, both in how we treat the customer and how we design the car. We will offer the retailers a unique focus on the customer, supporting them far more than is typical after a sale has been completed. We have a phrase at McLaren that sums up our attitude and appeals to the retail business: sanity, not vanity.

“We will also develop a global network that has fewer retailers than our competitors, selling a smaller volume of higher quality cars with more useable technology and performance; almost the perfect scenario for experienced retailers of premium high-performance sports car,” Sheriff concluded.

High demand to represent McLaren; high demand to buy a McLaren
A unique combination of a premium sports car ‘designed around the driver’, focus on the customer, and McLaren’s unrivalled motor racing heritage in Formula 1, Le Mans, Can-Am, and Indy Cars, has attracted many of the world’s best car retailers to take up the opportunity of representing McLaren at the birth of its global car company.

Over 600 automotive businesses have been considered to be McLaren Automotive retailers; McLaren pre-selected 100 preferred partners to review, with a further 500 making direct approaches to McLaren following the announcement of the company’s business plans in September 2009.

The 12C, the first in the company’s new range of ‘pure’ McLaren high-performance sports cars, goes on sale from spring 2011. Up to 1,000 12Cs will be manufactured and delivered in 2011. Of the 19 countries launching the 12C in 2011, the USA, UK, and Germany will be the company’s biggest markets. Between 300 and 400 cars are planned for North America, 400 to 500 for Europe, and 100 to 200 each for the Middle-East/South Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.

Initial demand for the 12C appears to validate McLaren’s strategy for a high-quality, performance-oriented and highly efficient sports car featuring Formula 1-inspired technology. Over 2,500 ‘prospects’ have registered ‘expressions of interest to purchase’ on www.mclarenautomotive.com .

Once the first retailers are contracted, McLaren will begin to deliver those prospects’ details to the retailers to take orders. With retailers adding their own contacts, demand for the McLaren’s first ‘pure’ high performance sports car is due to be high.

The first 12Cs will be delivered to customers in Europe, followed by a phased distribution to retailers in the Middle-East/South Africa, North America and Asia-Pacific. McLaren Automotive’s long-term strategy is to sell a range of around 4,000 high-performance sports cars per year that will account for between three and four percent of the annual global market for premium sports cars: a conservative target based on the 2003 market for luxury and performance cars.

Further retailers will be added in select mature and emerging markets from 2012 as McLaren moves to full production of its model line-up by the middle of the decade. McLaren Automotive’s aim is for its global network to remain smaller, more flexible, and more profitable than competitors’ networks. McLaren does not anticipate a global network of more than around 70 retailers, ensuring effective communication and logistics, and strong business relationships between McLaren and its retailers that will be of direct benefit to customers.

Formula 1 at heart: in design, build and show
The 12C will make its global public debut, alongside the company’s Formula 1 team, at the world-famous Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England in July. McLaren Automotive will then present the 12C, and other core assets such as the car’s motor racing-inspired one-piece MonoCell carbon chassis, at a number of public, high-profile events through 2010. All McLaren retailers will also host 12C launch events for VIPs and prospects as part of the car’s 2010 world tour. Aimed at car enthusiasts and potential customers alike, McLaren Automotive anticipates presenting its first McLaren at over 100 events in the second half of 2010.

Mario Micheli, McLaren Automotive’s recently-appointed Commercial and Marketing Director, said: “McLaren is a name that resonates with motorsport fans around the globe: no other racing team can match our achievements and this means for many prospective retailers and customers, it is easy to understand our aspirations for the new sports car range. If you know McLaren, you will know we bring passion, commitment and an absolute ambition to succeed.

“However, launching a global car company will require engaging with more than just motorsport fans. That is why we are pushing ourselves and the new network to make a huge impact through global events. Whether you know McLaren or not, we believe it is vital that our prospective customers see the 12C, feel its quality, and meet our team behind its development in order to really understand the culture that drives everything at McLaren – to be the best,” Micheli concluded.

Uniquely, the full range of cars will be designed, engineered, developed and built within and alongside the home of the company’s Formula 1 cars at the award-winning McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) global headquarters in Woking, England. A brand-new manufacturing facility, the McLaren Production Centre, began construction adjacent to the MTC on March 1 2010. Within two months, its construction was already two weeks ahead of schedule.

Commitment to customer satisfaction
McLaren Automotive plans to repay the successful retailers’ commitment to bespoke McLaren dealerships with innovative technologies and processes aimed at delivering new levels of customer satisfaction in the sports car market:

* Intense focus on aftersales: McLaren Automotive and its retail partners will invest in the aftersales process, where it adds true value to the ownership experience. The ’sanity not vanity’ principle will deliver a focus on the customer by favouring heavy investments in training and diagnostic equipment over showroom ‘palaces’.
* Innovative construction: The 12C is constructed from a unique one-piece carbon fibre chassis, with bolt-on aluminium secondary structures that makes it stronger, lighter, more rigid and much easier to repair and maintain than other cars in the segment.
* A commitment to more effective repair processes: McLaren Automotive will be supporting retailers in stocking at least one spare part of almost every component. This will ensure immediate parts availability to speed up repair and minimize the time cars are off the road.
* Bespoke diagnostics: New desktop, remote, and dynamic diagnostic processes and equipment developed for McLaren Automotive will ensure more accurate and quicker diagnosis and resolution of issues.

Antony Sheriff said: “Our business will succeed or fail on our ability to exceed our customers’ expectations – for technologically advanced cars, great quality and reliability, and excellent relations with their retailers. Our aims are simple: to offer the best cars and service ever seen in this demanding market.

“Therefore, our challenge has been to find retail partners with the same attitudes as McLaren – an absolute focus on being the best that is inherent in everything we do and a natural result of our successful motor racing heritage,” Sheriff concluded.

– By: Kap Shah

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3. Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man

Filed under: Performance, Marketing/Advertising

McLaren Automotive has announced the 35 cities where the MP4-12C will be available when it goes on sale next year. Dealers in the 19 countries on the list are still being evaluated and at least 23 of them will be named by McLaren prior to the public debut of the new sports car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

There are few surprises on the list of cities, with all of the usual suspects being represented including Paris, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo. As you’d expect, the Middle East is over represented with seven locations, including two in Saudi Arabia. The UK isn’t left of the mix with one dealer each in Manchester and Birmingham, while those of us in the States will have to check out McLaren’s newest supercar in Tampa, Florida. Over 500 dealers have applied for the first 35 outlets and McLaren expects some expansion in 2012. Of course, that’s all dependent on demand, but with 2,500 prospects expressing interest in buying an MP4-12C so far, there could be a McLaren boom in the making.

[Source: McLaren]

Continue reading McLaren Automotive names first 35 cities to get dealers

McLaren Automotive names first 35 cities to get dealers originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 May 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Following the success of the Mercedes-Benz CLS, many luxury automakers are now creating what is known as a four-door-coupe sports sedan. Porsche has its Panamera; Jaguar has its XJ; and Aston Martin has its Rapide. BMW is working on its own four-door-coupe sedan, which will be influenced by the new BMW Concept Gran Coupe and Mercedes-Benz is working hard to save its dominance over the market with the next Mercedes-Benz CLS in the works, which will be influenced by the F800 Concept.

Audi’s A7 four-door-coupe will be unveiled later this year, but a Spanish designer by the name of Dani Garcia, is wondering what if Audi went another route than building a model based on the Sportback Concept.

Known as the Audi A9 Concept, Dani Garcia’s version of an Ingolstadt-based four-door-coupe is inspired by design cues from the R8.

Hit the jump for the high-res image gallery.

Audi A9 Concept:

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Dani Garcia (via Jon Sibal)

Well, here we go again with the difference between real copyright law and “file sharing copyright” law. Just as a court in the southern district of California has suggested that Rapidshare is not liable for infringing activities of its users, a court in the central district of California has come down hard on Isohunt, demanding the site wave a magic wand and delete all infringing links. Of course, since we don’t live in fantasy land where that’s possible, it basically means the site needs to be shut down. As with the original ruling against Isohunt, however, it appears the judge doesn’t quite understand the technology at play, and ascribes to Isohunt functionality that it has nothing to do with. For example:

Second, given the way in which
Defendants’ system works, when Defendants’ end-users download one of
Plaintiffs’ works, the end-users automatically and simultaneously
further distribute the work to innumerable others as a required part of
the download process; additionally, at the conclusion of the download,
Defendants’ end-users obtain an unprotected digital copy of Plaintiffs’
work that those end-users can further distribute indefinitely at will.

But, uh, that’s how BitTorrent works. Not IsoHunt. I don’t quite see how it makes sense to blame IsoHunt — which is basically a search engine — for the activities done by its end users and the technology of BitTorrent. The court also takes it as fact that the availability of unauthorized free copies must harm the market, despite no evidence to back that up. It’s faith-based rulings, based on Hollywood (on the heels of its best box office year ever) making claims with no facts, that the judge just accepted:

It is axiomatic
that the availability of free infringing copies of Plaintiffs’ works
through Defendants’ websites irreparably undermines the growing
legitimate market for consumers to purchase access to the same works.

But that’s wrong. It may cause harm, but it’s hardly irreparable. If the movie studios actually, you know, adapted to the changing market (as some are figuring out), they could actually do much better. Why does the judge suggest otherwise with no proof at all?

Finally, the court continues to live in the same fantasy land as the entertainment industry in thinking this injunction will actually slow down or prevent any file sharing:

Finally, the Court agrees that the public interest will be served
with a permanent injunction, since it will protect Plaintiffs’
copyrights against increased and unrestrained infringement.

Except, of course, it will do no such thing. Instead, those users will disperse to other sites, perhaps the same ones that the entertainment industry just helped advertise.

Finally, the actual injunction is incredibly broad and amounts to — as mentioned — demanding that IsoHunt and Gary Fung develop a magic wand to figure out if a link points to infringing material:

Defendants shall be
permanently enjoined from knowingly engaging in any of the following
activities in connection with the Isohunt System or any Comparable
System:

(a) hosting, indexing, linking to, or otherwise providing access
to any Dot-torrent or similar files that correspond, point or lead
to any of the Copyrighted Works;

(b) assisting with end-user reproductions or transmissions of any
of the Copyrighted Works through a tracker server, or any other
server or software that assists users in locating, identifying or
obtaining files from other users offering any of the Copyrighted
Works for transmission; or

(c) hosting or providing access to any of the Copyrighted Works.

This is not to say that Fung is blameless. Clearly, IsoHunt did some things that looked quite bad under the law. But that doesn’t excuse some of this ruling, which seems to go to ridiculous levels, way beyond what copyright law allows. None of this is a surprise given the earlier ruling or the proposed injunction, which included much of the same troubling language (including the bogus “axiomatic” statement). This isn’t to defend Fung or IsoHunt at all. But I do worry when judges get so hung up on how bad a site like IsoHunt must be that they make rulings that will cause trouble down the road for others. Below is the full ruling if you want to read through it:

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Within two weeks of starting the tour in North America of its ‘360 Degree World Tour‘ Bono has been in an accident during a preliminary test which forced him to be admitted to a Munich hospital to undergo emergency neurosurgery, as confirmed by a spokesman for U2.

According to the spokesman of the Irish band, Bono, 50, suffered an accident during a test for North America’s ‘360 Degree World Tour‘, which begins on June 3 in Salt Lake City, Utah. U2 went through Europe over the last year, breaking sales records wherever they played.

“Bono has undergone an emergency surgery on his back caused by an injury during training tour preparation,” the representative, who added that the singer was taken over by Dr. Jorg Tonn and Dr. Muller Wohlfahrt “specialist neurosurgeons a hospital” in the German city of Munich.

When the doctors will determine Bono’s health status there will be issued a statement which will lead to how it’s going to affect the development of the tour. It is known as the first appearance in Salt Lake City, has been suspended.

After touring the United States and Canada, the Irish band is scheduled to return to Europe, with a first concert on August 6 in Turin, Italy. Then tour the old continent to anchor the end of September in San Sebastián and Sevill, Spain.

Related posts:

1. U2’s Lead Singer Undergoes Emergency Back Surgery
2. Chaz Bono Became a Man Today
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Filed under: Europe, Crossover, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Rumormill

According to Mibz.com, the Suzuki SX4 won’t be pimped to just Fiat anymore (see: Sedici), Volkswagen is getting in on the act. Going after the small end of the market, VW is reportedly set to take advantage of its new 19.9 percent share of Suzuki and swiping the lovable little SX4 as the basis of a new model tentatively dubbed Rocktan.

Positioned as a city-sized crossover, the Rocktan theoretically slots in between the similarly tiny CrossPolo and Tiguan, though this is all unconfirmed at this point. Power will apparently not be from Suzuki, but rather from VW, likely the 1.4-liter TSI gasoline engine and 1.6- and 2.0-liter TDI diesels. This could be mere grist for the rumormill, or we could soon see a Nissan Juke-sized VolkZuki. For now, all we’ve got are dreams of another flavor of the friendly SX4.

[Source: Mibz.com]

Rendered Speculation: Suzuki SX4-based VW ‘Rocktan’ conjured up originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 May 2010 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It might take a month to wrap up any amendments on the financial bill for U.S. major banks but mere act of the Senate to start lobbying on it has triggered an increase in the financial stocks as seen on Friday’s trend.

Obama’s Government will take a dip on long standing financial policies which seemingly shield major banks for quite a while. As the country checks back on the 2008 recession and also see the Euro plunge at current times, financing banks poses as the backdrop of the pictures.  There haven’t been enough securities for consumers and investors from these elite banks where mortgages interest rate and terms left U.S. economy in shambles.

Not long after Obama calls for an overhaul, Greek PM made it well-known last week that Wall Street banks will be under thorough probing whether it contributed to the worst debt crisis of Greece.

In the vote of 59-39, the Senate’s task is to come up with changes that will strike more balance between financing banks and consumer rights which will eventually influence national or even global economy.

For the meantime, several arguments on the specifics are not yet settled in the Senate such as the suggestion to create a $150 billion collection from leader banks to be used in salvaging closure of financial institutions.

Related posts:

1. Fake risk levels, US banks should be monitored highly.
2. U.S. Banks Get Linked To Greece Debt Crisis
3. Obama calls for Wall Street reform

Pac-man 30^th Anniversary is commemorated today, May 22! Can you still recall the early years of Pacman game where you have to insert coin on the slot machine to start playing the Pacman game?  Insert coin is one of the earlier means to play Pacman game. Now, we can enjoy Pacman free online… that’s how Pacman game reached its Pac-Man 30^th anniversary! As a matter of fact, as the technology advances and in the existence of internet, enjoying Pacman free online is one of the trends. To cite, “Google Pacman” is a Google logo that allows one to play pacman in remembrance of Pac-Man 30^th anniversary. Try visiting a Google site.

From insert coin-Pacman game to Pacman free online, isn’t it  a real evolution? Pac-man 30^th anniversary is more than remembering the evolution of the Pacman game, it also means for everyone to enjoy and play Pacman!

Pacman game is an arcade game developed by Namco. It was first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Pacman game was widely accepted in the United States from its original release to the present day, Pacman game is considered to be one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of the 1980s popular culture… from insert coin method to playing Pacman free online!

Know more of Pac-man 30^th anniversary. After the conventional insert coin method, enjoy now the pacman free online or you may try the “Google Pacman”.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Mercedes-Benz

Since the beginning of autodom, there have always been uptight car owners wincing at every swirl mark and paint chip. Blemishes in the leather upholstery cause heartburn, and spilled milk is definitely grounds for weeping. Couple that tightly-wound protectiveness with high-end conveyances from Mercedes-Benz and you’ve got a bout of steam emanating from owner’s ears.

Mercedes-Benz thinks it has a solution in its new First Class Exterior and Interior insurance. DuPont is providing the rejuvenation service, and it means that you can grit your teeth a little less when ‘lil Johnny scrapes the side of your W212 with his handlebars. BMW is offering the same kind of coverage, and Mercedes expects it to be a popular up-sell, just as extended service contracts are.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Mercedes-Benz now offering oopsie insurance against paint, fabric blemishes originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 May 2010 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier, we wrote about the ruling against Perfect 10 in its attempt to get a temporary restraining order on Rapidshare. As we mentioned at the time, the only details we had were based on Rapidshare’s press release, that obviously presented it in the best possible light to Rapidshare. Thankfully, Christopher Harbin alerted us in the comments that he’s posted a copy of the ruling and written up his own analysis. First, here’s the ruling:

From the initial statements about the ruling from Rapidshare, saying that it could not be infringing since it was just the host, I had naturally assumed that the court found that Rapidshare was protected by the DMCA’s safe harbors. But that is not the case. In fact, the court basically tosses out Rapidshare’s safe harbor claim, because Rapidshare (bizarrely) has never set up an official DMCA agent — which is necessary to qualify for the safe harbors. I would guess that Rapidshare’s excuse for not doing so is that it’s not based in the US, but if it’s going to deal with lawsuits in the US, it’s crazy not to have set up a DMCA agent (a very simple process).

That said, there are some interesting things (not all good) in the ruling. There were a few things that helped Rapidshare here. First, is that it does do things to takedown content it believes to be infringing. Second (and perhaps most interesting) is the fact that it does not index or promote the content stored on its service by itself. Since most file sharing services include a search engine aspect, the court concludes that this is a key element of suggesting that Rapidshare is not liable for direct infringement. That’s an interesting ruling that could answer the question I’ve asked before about whether or not it actually is possible to create a site that allows for sharing of files that does not run afoul of the Grokster inducement rules.

The other thing that helps Rapidshare is that, despite being involved in a whole bunch of copyright cases, it still appears that Perfect 10 is somewhat incompetent in understanding copyright law and availing itself of tools to deal with infringement. In this case, Perfect 10 didn’t send Rapidshare the specific links where infringing content existed. It just sent the company a bunch of files, but Rapidshare had no way to match those files to ones hosted in users’ lockers. Even then Rapidshare still did try to find as many of the images as possible, even going so far as to do Google searches, and delete them. On top of that, Rapidshare has a tool that lets content owners indicate if certain files are infringing. Perfect 10 chose not to use that.

The one part of the ruling that I found troubling, however, is that the court did say that, even without being alerted to what’s infringing, Rapidshare did have “specific knowledge” of infringing works on the site. This is a key point of dispute in the Viacom/YouTube case, where Google makes the argument that there’s no way for it to know which works are really infringing and which are there on purpose. Yet, in this case, the court says that the service provider does have specific knowledge:

Thus, it appears that specific knowledge of direct infringement may exist even where an operator does
not have information that would allow it to search its contents and distinguish infringing from
non-infringing materials. Here, RapidShare received notice of hundreds of copyrighted Perfect
10 images that were found on its servers. The Court therefore concludes that RapidShare had
actual, specific knowledge of direct infringement.

Basically, it says that because Perfect 10 alerted Rapidshare to infringing content, then Rapidshare has “specific knowledge.” That wasn’t enough to meet the full inducement standard, so isn’t a huge issue here, but that logic seems wrong to me. If that’s all it takes to create “specific knowledge,” then lots of user-generated content sites could be in trouble. So, if you want to cause trouble for any UGC site, you just upload content, and then alert the site that there is infringing content on the site, but don’t tell them where it is or how to find it. I don’t see how that’s “specific knowledge” at all, but the court felt otherwise.

Finally, while I appreciate Christopher’s analysis of the ruling, I have to disagree with his first two points. He doesn’t understand why not having a search engine matters:

Although Rapidshare does not index its files, it basically punts indexing to third-party websites. It’s trivial to find infringing material hosted on Rapidshare and other file-hosting sites and I’m not sure why dicing up storage and indexing into separate entities which obviously have a symbiotic relationship should be able to avoid liability.

I think that’s a slight misread of the ruling. It’s not saying that Rapidshare gets to avoid all liability. It’s just that it takes away Rapidshare’s direct infringement liability, because it is not, in fact, setup to make it easy for people to find that content. The fact that others have made it easier to find that content should not be blamed on Rapidshare.

Second, Christopher notes:

I’m not at all convinced that in all cases plaintiffs should be forced to ferret out all infringement on a defendant’s website. As the law stands right now, copyright holders have to employ an army of people to constantly monitor defendant’s site for infringement.

To which the obvious response is, why should that burden fall on the defendants? If it takes plaintiffs “an army of people,” it would actually take the defendants significantly more than that, complicated by the fact that the defendant has no way of knowing if the content has been uploaded legitimately or is an infringing copy.

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While many will be satisfied with the 426-hp coming from under the hood of a stock 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS, Hennessey Performance engineering is offering upgrades for those who won’t.

Known as the HPE800 Camaro, Hennessey’s upgrade package adds a pair of turbochargers that help pump a total of 847-hp and 801 lb-ft of torque from the 6.2L V8. The modification comes with a complete set of forged innards, customized camshafts, a high-flow oil pump, ported heads, a large throttle body, ported intake manifold and an upgraded fuel-system and injectors.

Click here to get prices on the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS.

The HPE800 upgrade for the Camaro SS can be mated to either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission.

Hennessey Performance Engineering offers the package backed by a one-year/12,000 mile limited warranty. No pricing details have been released.

Click through to see a video of the HPE800 Chevrolet Camaro SS on the dyno.

Hennessey HPE800 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS:

– By: Omar Rana

Next week will mark the end of “American Idol” season nine and the exit of Simon Cowell on American Idol. The Brit judge appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” last Thursday. Oprah asked Simon what is his reason for leaving the show, he answered boredom.  “After a while, you start to go on automatic pilot. Too many times I was sitting there [at the judges’ table] bored. The audience deserves more than that … and I can’t hide when I’m bored.”

However Simon also plans to make a US version of “X Factor” talent show which may be similar to Idol but would have several differences. Simon explains “It’s different because there’s no upper age limit. … Singing groups can enter the show. I have no idea whether it’s going to work or not, but I’ll put its success and failure on whether we can find a star.” When asked by Oprah why would he move on to another talent show when she is bored with “Idol”, he replied “I actually like doing it, funny enough,” he said. “I remember Fantasia singing ‘Summertime,’ and for three minutes, I lost myself. I like the buzz it creates. You want to be part of something people are talking about. I love that feeling.”

Simon told Oprah “The final night will be quite emotional. I’ve had a great time. I love working over here [in the U.S.] and never thought I would.”

Related posts:

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3. American Idol 2010: Goodbye Casey James

For years, the common criticism of Wikipedia was the “brain surgery” myth, which usually was something along the lines of saying, “you wouldn’t let an amateur or ‘the crowd’ perform brain surgery, so why would you let them create a reference book?” Of course, that makes a bunch of bogus assumptions. First, it assumes that there’s some sort of equivalence between creating an encyclopedia and doing brain surgery. But that’s silly. Second, it assumes that no one involved in Wikipedia is an expert, which is not true. In fact, there are some brain surgeons who patrol Wikipedia as well. Finally, it assumes that these kinds of services are based on everyone being on equal footing, rather than recognizing that well-supported content is what gets through.

Along those lines, we’ve now got people using the same bogus “brain surgery” myth to attack the concept of “citizen journalism”:

First, would you trust a citizen neurosurgeon to remove your kid’s neuroblastoma? No, you wouldn’t. You would not trust a citizen dentist either for your cavities. Or even a people’s car repairman.

Of course not. But most people seem to recognize the basic difference between reporting on something and cutting into someone’s brain. And, many people also recognize that most reporters themselves are often not experts in the field they’re reporting on — and what participatory journalism and the internet enable is the ability for actual experts on the topic to take part in the discussion and reporting as well.

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Filed under: Etc., Technology, Audi, BMW, Ford, GM, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz

More tech in your car? Oh, that’s inevitable. But automakers are trying to figure out the best way to implement it. There are two main architectures currently; tethered and embedded. Ford’s SYNC is an example of a tethered tech-integration system that uses Bluetooth to connect to mobile devices consumers already own and carry with them. General Motors’ OnStar system is an embedded setup that builds the technology into the car. Going forward, the consensus seems to be that we’re going to see systems that combine elements of both.

A tethered system is typically less costly than an embedded alternative, and it works with equipment you already own and know how to use. Systems like Sync can extend the functionality of your gear and is an attractive option to tech-savvy consumers. The lower cost makes it possible to proliferate these kind of features into more models, instead of just being a high-end feature. However, embedded systems offer advantages of their own. With communications hardware built in to the vehicle, performance is more reliable, and safety can be enhanced by tying in to the vehicle’s crash sensors and stability control to automatically call for help if it detects a severe accident.

True to the cliche, it seems that the young’ins are more comfortable with tethered systems, while older generations prefer embedded systems. OnStar is already starting to do this, opening up the system in Chevrolet Volt applications with a mobile app that lets drivers connect to their car even when they’re away from it. The future likely holds a system that combines aspects of both, enhancing safety, beating back obsolescence and drawing on the strength of each technology to deliver the best experience as cars continue to become more sophisticated.

[Source: AutoObserver.com]

The Next Big Debate: Hardware or software? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 May 2010 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To celebrate Pac-man’s thirty years, you can play online at the official 30^th anniversary Pac-man site, pac-man.com, or at Google where they have their first interactive doodle that allows everyone to play pac-man at the search engine’s home page. You can also download pac-man from the internet and play the game while you’re offline.

Pac-man is a game made by Bandai Namco Games in Japan. They chose the title for their popular character, PUCK MAN – which was later on called PAC-MAN. It was released in the United States in October 1980. This game became a huge hit worldwide that sold over 100,000 a year.

Pac-man has simple rules with cute and colorful characters. The goal is simple, to eat all the dots in the maze and avoid getting caught by any of the four ghosts – Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. A power pellet gives Pac-man the ability to eat ghosts but only for a limited time. The pac-man trend resulted to popular animated television series and a hit disco record, “Pac-man Fever” by Buckner and Garcia. Namco Bandai will also celebrate their character with a new video game to be presented by mid of June at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

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Published May 21, 2010
By Sara Schilling, Tri-City Herald staff writer

An event aimed at helping students prepare for college or other education beyond high school is from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Pasco.

“College Bound Day” will include information on financial aid and presentations from Columbia Basin College and Washington State University Tri-Cities officials.

Seventh- and eighth-graders also will be able to sign up for the state College Bound Scholarship program, which provides tuition and books to students from low-income families who meet certain requirements.

Students must sign up for the scholarship by June 30 of their eighth-grade year.

“It motivates them to do well and plan for their education beyond high school,” said Janie Morales-Castro, a College Bound Scholarship counselor who covers the Tri-City area.

The event is being put on by the College Success Foundation, CBC and WSU Tri-Cities. About 200 students and their families are expected to attend.

Even if students aren’t eligible for the College Bound Scholarship, they’re encouraged to show up because there’s plenty of college readiness information to share, Morales-Castro said.

The College Bound Scholarship provides tuition and book money for students from low income families who keep up their grades and stay out of trouble through high school.

The scholarship can be used at public or private universities, community colleges or technical colleges in the state.

More than 3,300 students from the Tri-Cities already have taken the College Bound pledge.

Saturday’s event is at the Gjerde Center at CBC. There’s no charge.

For more information about the College Bound Scholarship, go to www.hecb.wa.gov/collegebound

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

Published May 20, 2010
By Briefs, Tri-City Herald

The first-ever LINKS Day at Columbia Basin College in Pasco is planned from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the Gjerde Center.

Lunch will be provided and there will be a DJ.

People who register as LINKS members will get LINKS bucks that can be used to bid on donated items, from restaurant gift baskets to $500 in tuition credit for a current and returning student.

The LINKS program aims to reach CBC alumni, current and former CBC faculty and employees, community partners and others with connections to the college.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

Published May 20, 2010
By the Editorial Board, Tri-City Herald

In some ways, higher education is used as a bank by the Washington Legislature – at least by the Democratic caucus.

Sometimes the Democrats make a little extra deposit, but then, like the past two years, they yank it back.

It’s a heck of a way to run universities and colleges.

To deal with the shortfall this year, Columbia Basin and other community colleges are raising tuition 7 percent.  CBC is cutting 100 classes taught by part-time faculty.
In other words, students will pay more and have fewer classes to choose from.

Adjunct instructors make their living doing something besides teaching.  Conducting classes is an extra in their financial lives.

But they are more than that to the students.  And to the Tri-Cities.

Around here we have long crowed about the high level of academic achievement and thought represented by the number of engineers at Hanford and advanced degrees at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

They help provide a ready source of brainpower to fill adjunct faculty positions at CBC.  That’s an asset that ought to be preserved.

Tuition raises, of course, mean students or their families must dig deeper into their pockets.

Democrats have to take responsibility for this.  They will, logically, shift the blame to a faltering economy.

That’s fair, but it leaves out the fact that Democrats have had a majority in both houses of the Legislature for years and excluded Republican ideas for meeting revenue shortfalls.
Democrats consequently must take the blame for themselves.

Plus whatever credit there is.

CBC President Rich Cummins told Herald reporter Sara Schilling that the college is doing its best to keep cuts as far from the classroom and instruction as possible.

“We’re open for business, and we’re doing the best we can to ensure we’re serving all the students,” he said.

We certainly agree the schools, all of them, are doing what they have to do and making the best of a bad situation.

But the Legislature turns so readily to higher education whenever there’s a shortfall that it’s tough for schools to lay out long-range plans.

It’s not just CBC, of course.  Washington State University, the University of Washington and all the others in the state college and community college systems are being squeezed to the same degree CBC faces.

Meanwhile, enrollment is growing.

The need for higher education opportunities has never been greater than right now.

Education is near the top of every lawmaker’s priority list.  In the next session, we only ask that deeds match words.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

Toyota Motors Corp and Tesla Motors last night announced a historic partnership in which both automakers will mass produce electric-vehicles. As a part of the partnership, Toyota will purchase a $50 million stock in Tesla. Tesla also said it will purchase the NUMMI factory in Fremont, California to produce electric-vehicles starting off with the Model S sedan.

Reuters is now reporting that the United Auto Workers are urging Toyota and Tesla to hire union workers when they reopen the doors to the closed NUMMI plant. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said that the news of Toyota and Tesla’s partnership to build EVs in Fremont was “welcome new.”

“Our union’s hope is that this venture will give first hiring preference to former NUMMI employees who are already trained and highly skilled,” Gettelfinger said.

The NUMMI factory originally produced the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma and the Pontiac Vibe for GM before closing its doors after GM pulled its stake during its bankruptcy process in 2009. The plant employed about 4,500 workers represented by the UAW.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Reuters