Author: Serkadis

There were a lot of announcements on the first day of the Google I/O 2010 conference and plenty of interesting new products and technologies. Last year, though, things were a little different, everyone was talking about one thing, Google Wave. The star of the 2009 Google I/O, Google Wave proved to be less kind to the communications platform in… (read more)

Filed under: Motorsports, Event Alert

The ESPN X Games are coming to the LA Coliseum July 29 to August 1, and for the first time, SuperRally will be coming with them. Americans might know SuperRally as the Harley Davidson events, but it’s actually a renaming of the European sport of RallyCross, which looks for all the world like motocross but with cars.

The field begins with 12 drivers who will do time trial runs to decide the grids for three elimination races. According to ESPN, “The winner of the Elimination heats and the highest seeded driver who has not yet advanced will compete in a four-lap last chance qualifier (LCQ). The winner of the LCQ will join the winners of the Elimination heat races in the five-lap final race.”

We’re not quite sure how that’s going to work, but we’re sure there’ll be a lot of wheelspin, jumps and flying dirt, which is really what this is all about anyway. Tickets for the X Games go on sale June 24. Thanks for the tip, Joe!

[Source: Rally America | Image: Jeff Gross/Getty Images]

X Games adds SuperRally to rally events originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 May 2010 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And there were only two. Americal Idol 2010 is nearing its end this season. Last Tuesday, Lee DeWyze was performing really well but will he make in this weeks elimination?

As usual, American Idol like all other seasons was a great succes, with high ratings, no doubt its one of the top shows ever on television. You will be able to see Simon Cowell for only one more week in this seasons American idol. He is not only an important person but he contributed to the success of this show.

Now lets go down to business, last night was a great night for all since Justin Bieber had his performance on the legendary American Idol stage. After Bieber left the stage, it was Ryan Seacrest who told the world that Lee DeWyze was safe, and will be performing in the finals. Crystal Bowersox and Casey James were left, since many would love both of them to stay, there’s no way around, one has to go, that’s the rules. This is why we have to say Goodbye to Casey James because he was sent home.

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3. Wango Tango 2010 Features Justin Bieber and Adam Lambert

YouTube and some Wikipedia pages are added to the list of websites banned in Pakistan, on Wednesday after a court ordered the temporary blocking Facebook because the site issued a call to draw the prophet Mohammed. Draw the prophet is prohibited outright by the Muslim religious laws.

Pakistani authorities for social networks broadcast sacrilegious content. Facebook will remain restricted until 31 May, it ruled the U.S. Supreme Court. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority was the body that ordered the Internet providers to close YouTube and Facebook, among others, in the country. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has blocked 450 websites containing derogatory material in his opinion.

The authorities have even set up a hotline where citizens can call to report offensive material they have seen on the network.

YouTube has not yet reacted to the ban. But Facebook issued a statement saying that “while this contest does not violate our terms for content, we understand that it may be illegal in some countries.”

Facebook page “Day of the drawings of Muhammad” had on Thursday with nearly 80,000 people registered.

In response to competition from Facebook created another web page under the name “Against the Day of the drawings of Muhammad” which calls for boycott of the site and already exceeded the 90,000 fans.

Related posts:

1. Pakistan Prohibits Facebook in the Country Because of “Draw Mohammed Day”
2. Facebook Users Found More Loyal To News
3. Facebook: Privacy Setting, 2010

Na última quarta-feira, dia 19, a Honda demonstrou ainda não estar confiante quanto ao sucesso dos carros elétricos, que estão começando a invadir o mercado automotivo cada vez mais. Especialmente depois de ter encerrado as vendas do EV Plus, que era um carro elétrico. O chefe de pesquisas da empresa, Tomohiko Kawanabe, diz o seguinte:

“Ainda não temos confiança o suficiente neste tipo de veículo. Não sabemos se os consumidores vão aceitar as desvantagens de ter uma baixa autonomia e o tempo necessário para recarregar as baterias”.

Outras montadoras concorrentes, como a Nissan, já não se mostram tão pessimistas a respeito. A empresa acredita que os carros elétricos representem 10% do mercado mundial de automóveis novos até o ano de 2020. Kawanabe, porém, diz que a Honda está realizando várias pesquisas com carros elétricos, mas que informações não podem ser reveladas.

Via | Quatro Rodas

Eco Factor: Sustainable house design with solar canopy to power a series of desalination fields

American firm Zellnerplus’ ingenious and futuristic thinking showed it the way to bagging the second spot at the Fort Tilden Field House Competition. The concept proposal for the Fort Tilden Field House located on a former military site in New York is an exploration of the unformulated edge between landscape urbanism and ecological conservation. The idea is to power a series of desalination fields using a huge solar field.

(more…)

So famous cyclist Floyd Landis admints that he has been using performance enhancing drugs.

After winning the 2006 Tour de France he now is also accusing his team mate Lance Armstrong to also have used performance enhancing drugs to win his seven titles in Tour de France. Landis admitted to ESPN to have used EPO, accompanied with blood transfusions with female hormones, his performance levels greatly improved.

Floyed Landis has been sending a range of e-mails to cycling officials explaining the drug use, together with some other news outlets. “I want to clear my conscience,” Landis told ESPN.

“I don’t want to be part of the problem anymore.”

“I don’t feel guilty at all about having doped. “I did what I did because that’s what we (cyclists) did and it was a choice I had to make after 10 years or 12 years of hard work to get there; and that was a decision I had to make to make the next step. My choices were, do it and see if I can win, or don’t do it and I tell people I just don’t want to do that, and I decided to do it.”

On the other hand Landis told ESPN that he had no evidence to prove most of what he is claiming.

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1. Floyd Landis admitted doping and accuses Armstrong
2. Rookie Of The Year Brian Cushing Positive For Performance Enhancing Drugs
3. Say goodbye now to Insomnia!

Online store to purchase applications for Apple’s iPad is already on outside of the United States. Members from United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Israel, France, Germany and New Zealand can buy directly applications for their iPad using their iTunes account. Apple is advancing to the international launch of the Apple Tablet is going to be available in Europe starting 28 May.

Apple has begun to turn on the access to iPad App Store from outside the United States, for owners of one of these Tablet PCs, which although it has not officially released in other areas it has managed to cross the border.

Still lack access to the purchase of iBooks and iWorks applications, but it seems that everything will be ready for the International iPad release (it is official), which in Europe is scheduled for May 28.

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2. First day iPad sales exceed 300.000
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Confirming what was probably the least-well-kept secret in Detroit, General Motors said today that it plans to produce a high-performance version of the Regal GS. The Regal GS unveiled earlier this year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit was labeled a concept car – but the extensive engineering that went into it clearly indicated GM’s plans for official production.

GM vice chairman Tom Stephens confirmed to the Detroit News that the Regal GS has been green lighted for production, although he didn’t give an anticipated on sale date or any hint about volume.

Stephens also did not indicate which features of the virtually production-ready Regal GS concept would make production.

Leftlane reported late last year that there was a possibility of a high-performance Buick Regal coming for U.S. consumption, and now it appears that Buick is very close to making that a reality. Although based heavily on the Opel Insignia OPC, the Regal GS features a unique powertrain tailored to the North American market.

The Buick Regal GS concept car features a 255 horsepower, 295 lb-ft. of torque, direct-injected, turbocharged 2.0-liter Ecotec engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission that distributes its power to all four wheels through an adaptive all-wheel-drive system. If that wasn’t enough, the GS also features an electronic limited-slip rear differential, a lowered suspension, 20-inch forged aluminum wheels, performance tires, massive Brembo brakes, sport steering wheel and pedals and Recaro racing-style seats.

“We designed the Regal GS to explore the appeal of a high-performance variant of the Regal,” said Craig Bierley, product marketing director for Buick. “Like the Regal, the Regal GS is based on the award-winning Opel Insignia, and we believe it will reinvigorate Buick’s storied Gran Sport legacy.”

Inside, the Regal GS varies from the standard Regal by featuring a completely jet black interior extending all the way up the pillars and into the headliner. There is also a sport shifter for the six-speed manual transmission and a suede-covered, flat-bottom steering wheel like those used in international racing series. The instrument panel displays in ice blue whenever the driver engages the sport mode of the Interactive Drive Control System (IDCS).

“The idea behind the Regal GS was taking the production model in a more aggressive direction to appeal to performance enthusiasts,” said John Cafaro, Buick design director. “But along with its aggressive stance, there’s sophisticated style in the design that complements the driving experience.”

The Buick Regal GS is expected to accelerate from 0-60 mph in under six seconds.

References
1.’GM to make…’ view

Source: Leftlane

A few months back, President Obama publicly stood behind ACTA despite tons of concerns about it from the public. It’s disappointing that as more and more concerns and problems with ACTA have been highlighted, Obama has not reconsidered. He still seems to be taking the position that “more copyright must be good, and ACTA therefore is good.” That’s a naive position. The group Open ACTA points us to a statement made by Obama in Mexico, concerning better trade relations with Mexico, where he again insists that ACTA is a key part of better trade relations:

Innovation and investment in technology and human capital are keys to sustained economic growth and competitiveness in both Mexico and the United States. The protection of intellectual property rights is essential to promote such innovation and investment. With this in mind, the Presidents charged their administrations to work together to formalize and expand the efforts of the existing bilateral Intellectual Property Rights Working Group. These efforts will include industry training (including of small and medium size enterprises); work between Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to streamline patent reviews; and collaboration, training and increased intelligence sharing among law enforcement agencies to enforce intellectual property rights more effectively. The Presidents also reaffirmed their commitment to the negotiation of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and charged their administrations to conclude these negotiations soon.

But, this blind assertion that stricter copyright enforcement without key exceptions and consumer protections that actually contribute more value to the economy than copyright restrictions, isn’t just wrong, it goes against the very purpose of copyright law.

Hephaestus points us to a submission to the Australian government, by the Australian Digital Alliance, that does a great job highlighting the negative impact of ACTA (pdf) and how it goes against basic copyright law:

“The text of ACTA does not reflect one of the most important objectives of copyright — to ensure access to information for the benefit of society. Protecting creators to encourage continued innovation is only one half of the copyright equation, ACTA fails to recognise the dual purpose of copyright.”

The whole submission is worth reading, as it highlights all sorts of serious issues with ACTA and the impact it would have:

ACTA might have a negative impact on individuals as Internet citizens and as consumers of digital
technologies because some of its requirements go beyond Australian law. ACTA will facilitate
excessive damages payouts by mandating the controversial ‘lost sale analysis’ for the assessment
of damages and encouraging punitive style statutory damages that set arbitrary amounts for
infringement. ACTA will also broaden the scope of commercial scale infringement to criminalise
purely private acts that occur in the homes of some Australians….

ACTA might have a negative impact on intermediaries that will damage Australia’s digital economy
by diminishing Internet innovation, the free flow of information and legitimate commerce. ACTA
provides for the unqualified award of injunctions against intermediaries, which creates new rights
with significant potential for abuse and cost implications for ISPs. ACTA defines where third party
liability will be imposed, which is a highly controversial issue that requires the flexibility of being
dealt with at a domestic level. ACTA will burden intermediaries with more onerous requirements for
safe harbour protection that may encourage three strikes.

What’s most frustrating about all of this is that it really does appear that many ACTA supporters are simply going by the boilerplate myth that “stronger copyright protection” is “good for society,” without ever once bothering to understand the details and why such a statement isn’t just wrong, but dangerous.

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Only days to go and the next American Idol will be crowned next week – battle between Lee DeWyze and Cystal Bowersox. While it is just the beginning of an Idol’s dream, it is Simon Cowell’s time to leave American Idol. Cowell, who is known for his often straighforward and nasty remarks, will bid farewell to the show next week. His take on Lee Dewyze’s performance of Hallelujah shows how much he can influence the talents and the American audience for that matter in choosing the next big winner.

“Going back to Hollywood week, he ripped me apart. I took everything he said into consideration as time went by. I’m glad he sees a genuine person in me,” remarked Dewyze. Cowell showed his side of being able to put across what Idol talents are made of.

His leaving meant a lot. “Simon’s departure is the end of an era on ‘Idol.’ Everybody knows the show is going to lose something big and irreplaceable when he goes,” commented Todd Gold.

Karen DioGuardi described him to have a lot of conviction and does not care what other people say besides the British accent and expressions his known for.

It may be necessary that Cowell be replaced in the Idol but it will be difficult to find someone of equal caliber.

Cowell is listed as the most influential person in reality television in 2009.

Related posts:

1. Say ‘Hallelujah’ to Lee Dewyze
2. Thoughts On Aaron Kelly Being Eliminated On American Idol
3. Watch Lee Dewyze “Hallelujah” video

Avus Performance has released a new sporty kit and performance upgrade for the Audi S4. Avus Performance Audi S4 comes with a threaded spring kit was built in that allows adjusting the height more individually, however still maintaining adjusting possibilities of the Magnetic Ride chassis.

The Avus Performance Audi S4 features mirror caps, front grill, front bumper blades and back diffuser were painted in shiny black, 20-inch wheels, 3-part CC-line rims in connection with Hankook Ventus S1 Evo wheels in 255/30/20. Interior cabin is outfitted with custom leather upholstery and a steering wheel with carbon fiber inserts.

The Audi S4 engine performance was adjusted accordingly. Instead of the standard 333 PS (245 kW; 329 bhp), 430 PS (316 kW; 424 bhp) are on now.

Source: Lincah.Com – New Car and Used Car Pictures

One of the Zippy’s most popular IP67 switches has a modified version with a screw fixing hole. DW guarantees 500,000 operations in 0.1mA. Due to its ultra miniature size, 19.75 X 5.4 X 12 (mm^3), with the screw fixing hole and different types of pillars, our users can better mount the switch on their devices!

The FISCHERSCOPE X-RAY XAN 150 instruments are compact and universally applicable energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometers for nondestructive thickness measurements and material analysis.

The XAN 150 is especially well suited for measuring and analyzing thin coatings, even with very complex compositions or small concentrations.

Typical areas of application are:
– Measurement of functional coatings, starting from a few nanometers, in the
electronics and semiconductor industries
– Trace analysis for consumer protection, e.g. lead content in toys
– Analysis of alloys with highest requirements of accuracy in the jewelry and watch
industries and in metal refineries
– Research in universities and in the industries

To create ideal excitation conditions for every measurement, the XAN 150 features electrically changeable apertures and primary filters. The modern Silicon-Drift-Detector (SDD) achieves high accuracy and good detection sensitivity.

Using the fundamental parameter method, coating systems as well as solid and liquid samples can be analyzed standard-free. It is possible to detect up to 24 elements in a range from aluminum (13) to uranium (92) simultaneously.

The instrument has an excellent accuracy and long-term stability, which among other things is reflected in a significantly reduced calibration effort. For high accuracy tasks calibrations can be performed at any time.

Excellent ergonomics, easy operation, fast calculation and data presentation are all features of the instrument.

The FISCHERSCOPE X-Ray XAN 150 is now available at all FISCHER offices around the world.

Bargteheide – Since the beginning of 2010, Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Jendryschik com-pletes NORD Drivesystems’ management team as Managing Director of Tech-nology. After a transitional period, G.A. Küchenmeister, the company’s founder and Managing Director, will retire from active work. This means that NORD will continue to be led by an executive team of five members, that also includes Jutta Humbert, Ullrich Küchenmeister, Peter Dittmers and Jens Paulsen. Dr.-Ing. Jendryschik’s last position was with a major German manufacturer of frequency inverters. A strategic leader who coordinates all technical developments, he will continue to maintain NORD’s established strengths in drive mechanics but also focus the company’s efforts on its electronics range. NORD Drivesystems has been manufacturing electronic drive technology since 1984 and has become a leading manufacturer for several product segments. These include decentralized frequency inverters that offer exceptional functional flexibility, for example through a choice of several fieldbus connection options, which has found great demand. Dr.-Ing. Jendryschik’s aims include expanding NORD’s product range, thereby systematically increasing such successful de-velopments.

Bargteheide – Throughout the world, manufacturers of cranes equip all crane types and sizes with efficient and safe drive technology from NORD DRIVESYSTEMS. Now, there is a new web address dedicated to this industry. The cranes.nord.com microsite presents solutions and products and provides access to NORD’s extensive online services, e.g. individual configuration of drive systems. Additionally, NORD’s large sales network ensures optimal avail-ability and individual consulting and support.
Cranes and trolleys employ NORD’s helical parallel-shaft geared motors with power ratings up to 200 kW and a wide range of gear ratios. Speeds are about 80 m/min for crane movement and 32 m/min for trolley movement, with an acceleration of 0.2 m/sec. Two or three-stage basic types are available with hollow or solid shafts, in foot mounted, flange mounted, or face mounted ver-sions, each with the same housing. The UNICASE concept enables high per-formance helical parallel-shaft gear units with extremely compact dimensions. They can be combined with many components from the modular NORD sys-tem.
A further emphasis in crane applications is on helical-bevel gear units, usually with hollow shafts and torque arms. With this drive version, the large range of standard components also allows the gear unit to be precisely matched to the requirements of the application. In addition to the high efficiency of gear units with helical, parallel shaft, bevel and worm gears, there are further essential benefits to operators: maximum operational reliability, high output torques, high axial and radial load capacity, quiet running, high efficiency, minimal maintenance, and long operating life. Products with protection classes IP55 and IP66 as well as rust and dust-protected versions with a special coating are optionally available. Furthermore, gear units can be filled with synthetic oil, if cranes are to be used in high temperatures, e.g. in foundries.

The American cyclist Floyd Landis, stripped of the title in 2006 Tour de France for failing a doping test, has sent a series of emails to international referees and sponsors. The former rider admitted the systematic use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances.

The information provided on Thursday by the Wall Street Journal, says Landis sent three e-mails to seven people, including international referees and sponsors, which refers to the inability of international groups to eliminate doping.

Landis accuses directly Belgian Johan Bruyneel for explaining him in 2002 and 2003, his early years in the U.S. Postal, how to use routinely steroids, synthetic EPO, growth hormone and transfusion practice undetectable in controls.

Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie appear in three emails. Landis explained how after his hip surgery in 2003 flew to Gerona, where they extracted two and a half liters of blood in three weeks, an amount that would be reused during the Tour de France. The extraction, Landis says, was conducted in Armstrong’s apartment. The bags, including Armstrong’s and Hincapie’s, were kept in a refrigerator and Landis was responsible for controlling the temperature daily.

Landis explains that in moving to Phonak in 2006, told the Swiss owner of the training, Andy Rihs, his desire to continue the program of doping conducted at the U.S. Postal, and he agreed.

Landis spent two years and more than two million dollars to defend against the charges brought against him. Today, like other repentant, has decided to collaborate with the authorities. During the last cyclist has cooperated with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which has provided information about Armstrong and other cyclists, reports the New York Times. Federal agent Jeff Novitzky, a leader of the operation tip BALCO laboratory in San Francisco, is among the leaders of the investigation.

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In the first day of the Google I/O 2010 developer conference, Google unveiled WebM, a new open and free video format aimed at solving the HTML5 video-codec debate. We’ve already covered the details of the WebM Project, the coalition of companies that support the new format, which includes Mozilla, Opera, Adobe and many ot… (read more)

As a response to the most recent privacy backlash, Facebook head of public policy Tim Sparapani announced in a radio show that the company would be offering users some new and more ‘simplistic’ privacy options within the following weeks. He said that this decision was caused by the fact that users had complained that the social network has become quite… (read more)

Dodge Caliber

The Dodge Caliber and the Dodge Nitro don’t bring much in for Chrysler LLC on a monthly basis but things seem even worse in the United Kingdom – so much so that Chrysler has pulled both models off the UK market.

The move to quietly drop both models from the lineup comes due to modest sales for both vehicles in the UK. As of now, the Dodge Journey is the only model for sale in the region.

The Dodge Journey was upgraded for the UK in early 2010 with a revised lineup and more standard equipment.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: AutoCar