Author: Serkadis

2010 Lexus LS

Toyota has said that it will recall 4,500 Lexus LS models in Japan and another 7,000 units overseas to fix a computerized steering problem. The company said it has received 12 complaints about the problem in Japan, but has no reports of any accidents worldwide, according to spokesman Paul Nolasco.

The recall involves a computerized system that oversees how the steering wheel controls the tires. The steering system is standard on Japanese models but is optional on some units sold overseas.

The system varies the amount that the steering wheel turns the tires on the car, allowing the driver to turn the wheel less at low speeds when attempting to navigate or park in a tight spot. It also provides finer control at high speeds. According Nolasco, the system can take “a few seconds” to return the steering to normal after it has been adjusted.

The recall includes a total of 11,500 units of the Lexus LS, including 3,800 in the United States.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Detroit News

Filed under: Motorsports, Toyota

It might seem redundant to call a racing series that bills itself as the pinnacle of motorsports “elitist” but that’s precisely what Toyota’s Senior Managing Director for motorsports, Tadashi Yamashina, said during this weekend’s 24 Hours of Nurburgring. Toyota withdrew from Formula one at the end of the 2009 season and according to Yamashina the automaker isn’t likely to ever return.

According to Yamashina, Formula One has become so disconnected from mainstream fans over the past two decades that it makes no sense for the company to be involved in the sport. When Akio Toyoda took over as CEO last year he decided that Toyota’s racing activities should be in series where the average fan is more directly involved. That means we’ll see Toyotas running in venues like NASCAR and GT racing. Perhaps we’ll see Toyota in the American Le Mans Series one day. We know the series would certainly welcome more hybrid racers.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Report: Toyota exec calls F1 “elitest,” vows not to return originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 May 2010 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Miley Cyrus was the guest star of the show “Dancing With The Stars“  which premiered live for the first time her new song, “Can not Be Tamed. ”
The producers warned Miley that her show should be tempered with the movements because it’s a family show. During the period of the song Miley showed that the role of good girl is gone for good and that from now on is a new artist in the picture. Miley Cyrus showed crafted choreography that was devised by Jamal Sims, who has also worked with Madonna on her last tour. The staging was a success and the audience cheered.
Miley Cyrus – Can’t Be Tamed – Live – Dancing With The Stars

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1. Watch Miley Cyrus Exlcusive New album ‘Cant Be Tamed’
2. The Lap Dance, featuring Miley Cyrus
3. Top Three Unleashed: Dancing With The Stars Results Night

According to industry sources, it appears that Volkswagen will buy a controlling stake in Italdesign Giugiaro a.k.a. Italy’s largest design and engineering firm. Sources confirmed the fact that Vw will announce the deal early as next week.

Why this move from Vw? The answer is this: in order to follow the plan to be the world’s largest automaker by 2018 with sales of 10 million vehicles a year Volkswagen needs more designers and engineers for its cars. Volskwagen Group will add 60 models, including upgrades, only in 2010. For those who don’t know, Italdesign has currently 975 employees and 800 computer aided design workstations and it is owned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, 71, who serves as chairman, and his son Fabrizio, 45, who heads the design and model division. Both are expected to continue their work after Vw takeover.

[via autonews – sub. required]

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

Three pairs on Dancing With The Stars 2010 will make it to the summit of this year’s most anticipated dance reality show’s results night. To make the evening more dramatic and remarkable, teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus will grace the stage with the latest cut in her new album set for release this June.

Tonight marks the 100th elimination round of this season. Which pair will it be?

Team Evan
Team Nicole
Team Chad
Team Erin

First to dance their way into the top three is Evan and Ana. A few moments after, it was revealed that the second safe pair is Nicole and Derek. Steam of nerves and edginess surrounded the stage as the 3rd and last pair was revealed: Erin’s team is the last to join the finals. Now, the fans have to bid farewell to Chad Ochocinco and the other half of the team, Cheryl.

Although this was a dismal outcome of their onscreen tandem, reports have said the two have managed to develop a deeper relationship while dancing together in DWTS.

This season is believed to be the best the show had since its commencement. So, who will emerge as champions in Dancing With The Stars 2010: Evan Lysacek, Nicole Scherzinger, and Erin Andrews? Find out as they battle it out into the big night.

Related posts:

1. Dancing With the Stars Results May 18: Who’s Out?
2. Dancing with the Stars, April 27 elimination
3. Doherty Dances for Dad Sufferring Massive Stroke

Foi anunciado oficialmente pela Toyota que a multa imposta pelo governo norte americano devido ao mega recall que envolveu o Corolla foi paga. O valor, como anunciado anteriormente, foi de $16.4 milhões, sendo a maior multa já aplicada dentro de uma lei.

O porta-voz da Toyota disse em poucas palavras: “Sim, a multa foi paga para o Tesouro-Norte Americano”. A Toyota também diz que, se pagaram a multa, foi porque acharam justa que o fizessem, e “para evitarmos problemas legais e para que possamos nos concentrar em melhorar nossas operações de qualidade”.

A multa foi estipulada pelo governo dos EUA pela demora que a Toyota teve em anunciar o defeito no tapete do Corolla, que segundo documentos analisados em uma investigação pela NHTSA, agência que cuida da segurança do transporte nos EUA, já tinham conhecimento de tal falha e não se pronunciaram.

Via | Inside Line

It is sad but true. American Idol talents will not have the time of their life even after their weekly stunts on the talent show, reveals Chicago Tribune. It may be a matter of luck or charm but only few hit the notes so to speak. Season 9 top three will have a big break in the recording scene but the industry is unpredictable. There are sure fire winners who have made it big like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, but in the case of American Idol winner Kris Allen and first placer Adam Lambert, tables have turned. And the likes of Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson who were just finalists but then sold millions and an Oscar. There is just no guarantee of a recording deal for the rest of the finalists.

“It’s just a fact that only so many Idols can release music each year on a major label,” admitted Jason Castro who finished fourth in Season 8. Last year’s sixth placer Anoop Desai felt the crunch of it all saying, “You’d think someone who had just been in front of 30 million people for 10-15 weeks in a row has an automatic fan base and all this going for them, but for whatever reason, most of us came up empty.”

American Idol may still have a large audience share, however, it also has its downsides. Unfortunately though for many Idols, they have to work through it by themselves.

Related posts:

1. American Idol: Who’s In for the Top 3?
2. Chris Daughtry is Back on the Idol Stage
3. Say ‘Hallelujah’ to Lee Dewyze

With the new coalition government taking over in the UK, some had wondered if the Digital Economy Act might be up for repeal. The Liberal Democrats, who had at one time supported the DEA, but then, after public pressure, switched their position, now have a chance to act. Apparently, over the weekend, they’ve decided to include some of the worst aspects of the DEA to include in the list of laws to repeal. I’m not familiar enough with UK political process to understand how this works with the new government. The previous party in power, Labour, were the major backers of the Digital Economy Bill, but they got the Conservatives to vote for it as well. It’s those Conservatives who won the most seats in the recent election, and then formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Could someone in the UK fill us in on the process for repealing legislation, especially if your party is only part of the government because you were dragged along by another party?

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Eco Factor: Sustainable chair uses recycled playing cards

What keeps people glued to the Las Vegas casinos will now hold you back. Well, I am talking about the playing cards that give some very interesting games of Black Jack and Poker. The cards that were discarded by the casinos became the source of inspiration for BRC Designs, who used a few of them to create something exquisite.

(more…)

The judges determined the three top singers in the ninth season of American Idol 2010. Now you can find out who got kicked off “American Idol” on may 18 2010. In this results show, Michael Lynche left the competition (for the second time) as Crystal, Casey and Lee were placed as finalists. The program also presented Bon Jovi, Fantasia Barrino and Chris Daughtry.

There are only three left in the contest:  24 years old Crystal Bowersox, of Toledo, Ohio, the paint vendor Dewyze Lee 24, of Mount Prospect, Illinois, and the musician James Casey 27, of Fort Worth, Texas .

American Idol may 18 2010 results:

Related posts:

1. American Idol 2010: the final four
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3. American Idol Finalists Sing Frank Sinatra Hits

Eastern Conference Finals is 2 games down where Boston Celtics nailing both to set rival Orlando Magic cramming for a win in their third meeting on May 22. Not that Magic did not sweat it out on Tuesday’s match, what could have been double-digit lost was pull down to 95-92.

If statistics will translate the lead, Boston is to fill in one of the slots in the championship. NBA track has seen 22 out 25 series of 7 won by the team that snatches the first 2.

With that calculation plus the Boston home court advantage, Magic might have to get ready in breaking scientific spells like moving mountains.

Coach Stan Van Gundy sees Magic’s performance last Tuesday as “not enough for a good defensive team”.

There hasn’t been much movement from Jameer Nelson as Rajon Rondo scores 25 points with 8 assists that his team translated to some more points.

Magic has a steady scoreboard although never going past that of Celtics especially on the last quarter. It must have been a 1-1 if only Dwight Howard was able to get some teammates pulling-off defense more than looking for a way to hit a hard basket.

Related posts:

1. Steve Nash Leads the Suns Despine Eye Injury
2. Game 5: Cavaliers’ Worst Ever Home Play-off Loss, Made the Team Owner Unhappy
3. James Lebron’s Hard Court Tantrums

Looks like Facebook wants to redeem itself. It can now be accessed through mobile phone, thanks to the wireless operators who have partnered with the site in coming up with O.facebook.com – a text only version of the social network.It is simple, fast, and free.Operators include Reliance and Videocon in India, T-Mobile in Hungary, and Vodafone in Greece. The new application will be available in 40 countries including Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Turkey. Users can view posts and send messages for free excluding photos and videos which require a standard charge. Facebook targets users who have limited experience on mobile internet as well as those who do not have the latest Apple’s iPhone for instance.Facebook have no financial deals with the operators in providing the service.

It is quite timely this development shoots up when Facebook is being criticized for its privacy settings. Users may have second thoughts in deleting their accounts since at the moment it is the only social networking site who have gone this far.

Related posts:

1. Facebook Is Growing By Leaps And Bounds
2. Facebook: Privacy Setting, 2010
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It appears that Toyota has problem again as the Japanese manufacturer is preparing to recall 11,500 Lexus vehicles worldwide for problems related to steering.

The recall includes 3,800 in the U.S., 4,500 in Japan and 7,000 vehicles overseas, according to Mieko Iwasaki, a Lexus spokeswoman. The recalling includes four models from Lexus: the LS 460, LS 460 L, LS 600h, and LS 600h L. It appears that in Japan the customers already reported the fact the their wheels are not returning to original positions fast enough after making turns. Spokesman admitted the fact that their problem is mechanical and software- related. For those who don’t know, Lexus already had some problems last month when Consumer Reports magazine labeled their GX 460 SUV as a ‘safety risk’ because the car could roll over in certain driving conditions.

[via autonews – sub. required]

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

Polyimide is a thin, lightweight organic polymer film that provides excellent tensile strength, tear resistance and dimensional stability. Polyimide heaters are best suited for medical device applications and clinical diagnostic instrumentation requiring low-mass heaters. Polyimide has the additional attributes of low outgassing for and is resistant to radiation, solvents and many other chemicals.

Watlow’s enhanced precision registration cutting provides tight tolerance to fit customer’s application needs. New product features allows Watlow to custom design a heater to meet power supply needs.

Watlow can assist in development of polyimide heaters to meet the exact application requirements through precise temperature distribution By properly bonding or attaching the heater to a customers Watlow creates a subassemblies that reduces installation costs for customers.

Applications include IV heaters, respirators, eye surgery endoscope warmers and sleep apnea. The heater operates in environments as low as -319°F (-195°C).

About Watlow
Since the company’s founding in 1922, Watlow has brought its thermal expertise to numerous applications, including power generation, semiconductor, plastics processing, foodservice equipment, life sciences, aerospace and others. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Watlow is the largest custom designer and manufacturer of industrial heaters, sensors, controllers and software with offices and manufacturing facilities around the world.

For additional information or the name of the nearest Watlow representative:
Watlow
Phone: 1+ (800) WATLOW-2, 1+ (314) 878-4600
Fax: 1+ (877) 893-1005, 1+ (314) 878-6814
Internet: www.watlow.com
E-mail: [email protected]

Watlow®, a designer and manufacturer of electric heaters, controllers and temperature sensors, has released its new “Simply the Best Heating Solutions” product catalog. With more than 85 years of experience in developing and manufacturing heaters, Watlow provides the industry’s most complete selection of products to serve diverse customer needs.

The catalog includes descriptions and specifications for the full line of Watlow’s electric industrial heaters to fit a wide scope of applications and needs. Opening the catalog, a heater selection matrix describes eight heater types and their applications. A new extended capabilities category, available for higher volume orders, presents unique heaters or heater configurations that exceed traditional catalog product capabilities.

“Watlow’s heater catalog provides the most complete line of industrial heater products available to serve the largest variety of customer needs. Our unparalleled product offerings enable us to craft a catalog that addresses the needs of all of our customers regardless of their size or the uniqueness of their requirements” said Ray Derler, Watlow’s Director of Marketing.

An easy-to-read table of contents featuring bold section headings for each heater type is followed by individual Watlow catalog product listings organized sequentially by most used applications, making it simple for customers to find the information needed as quickly as possible. Product images, CAD drawings, specifications, application descriptions and features and benefits are accessible from individual product pages for customers to easily configure a product to fit a specific application.

The entire 624-page catalog or specific product sections can be viewed, downloaded and printed from the Watlow web site at www.watlow.com. Printed copies of the catalog can also be ordered from the web site.

About Watlow
Since the company’s founding in 1922, Watlow has brought its thermal expertise to numerous applications, including semiconductor, photovoltaic, analytical, medical, clinical, plastics processing, foodservice equipment, packaging, aerospace and others. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Watlow is the largest custom designer and manufacturer of industrial heaters, sensors, controllers and software with offices and manufacturing facilities around the world.

For additional information call your nearest Watlow representative.

SlipNaxos has developed a new innovative product line, which significantly increases the performance of rough grinding wheels for the foundry industry.

Our new strong bond system, together with the high performance abrasive make a perfect match and give the versatile wheel constant performance throughout it’s life.

In demanding applications, stock removal together with superior edge retention is very important. The new TeroNator wheels are characterized by distinct cutting ability which make increased depth of cut and feed rate possible and lead to shorter machining times and therefore lower costs.

Wheel wear is significantly reduced in comparison to conventional snagging wheels.

Application Guidelines

Applications:
Snagging, fettling and deburring operations in foundries
Machine types:
Manipulators (e.g. Andromat and Clansman machines) (up to 75 kW)
Swing frame grinders (up to 20 kW)
Floor stand grinders (offhand snagging) (up to 25 kW)
Machine requirements:
Rigid machine design
Reliable clamping and workpiece rigidity (small workpieces)
Materials
All types of cast iron and cast steel

Performance benefits:
High material removal rates – reduced grind cycle times
Excellent G-ratios – increased wheel life – reduction of wheel changes
Consistent quality and cutting performance

The various versions of the range permit to propose toolroom grinders as well as machines adapted to large batch production.

Short components can be held in a chuck or centreless system, long workpieces are held in steadyrest.
Manual or automatic loading/unloading.
The turret may be equipped with 4 spindles, allowing internal and external grinding operations to be made. Precise indexing by curvic coupling (HIRTH gear).

Optional axes
U axis, workhead cross slide to increase the O/D grinding capacity.
B axis, workhead swivel for taper grinding.
C axis, workhead spindle rotation control for cam or thread grinding.
D axis, complementary axis for dresser point rotation control.

Control
Siemens 840D with VOUMARD developed software offering the possibility to adapt to your needs for small batch as well as for high volume production.
Its polyvalence allows it to be programmed in MENU and/or ISO language, with the possibility of network connection. Tool management up to 999.
The teleservice makes easy the process of remote dialogue between the user and VOUMARD.

Voumard’s product range includes:

Internal Grinding machines with chuck or centreless workholding systems,
Centres for performing multiple grinding operations – internal, external, and face grinding in a single clamping
Grinding machines specifically designed for machining non-concentric radial profiles (cams).

Each Voumard machine incorporates the latest technological developments, these improvements and innovations directly influence the production programme and range of machines currently available. All existing product lines can be integrated into modular configurations that lend themselves to an ever increasing variety of applications.

In its capacity as a radio expert, ADEUNIS RF brings real added value to the installation, the setting-up and also the updating and real-time management of digital information of these electronic displays.
Here are some examples : Real-time display of the number of parking spaces available at an airport.

Saving time for travellers and orienting them efficiently whilst making traffic flow on the site make up the main aims for this international airport.

For this, the airport installed exterior electronic display units at key areas on the site. The status of each parking area, the number of free spaces or whether it’s full, is displayed on each unit in real-time.

The transmission of the data to the display units is carried out thanks to ARF30 wireless status reports from ADEUNIS RF.

Regardless of whether you use our Bluetooth, RF or Wi-Fi solutions, the wireless technology offers a huge scope of possibilities and opportunities.

Do not hesitate to contact our team who will advise you with pleasure and accompany you through every step of the process.

Only 17 months after the tragic death of Jett, their 16 years old son, and loosing two of their dogs in an airport accident, John Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, announced through their respective websites that they are expecting a baby. As reported by Star magazine, the actress is already three months pregnant.

“It’s impossible to keep a secret… especially one as wonderful as this.””We want to be the first to share this great news that we are expecting a new addition to our family. Love, John, Kelly and Ella,” explains the family.

John Travolta, 56, Kelly Preston, 47, lost their son Jett in January 2009 after he suffered an attack resulting from an autism than his father did not recognize until after the accident, while the family was on a Bahamas vacation. The Church of Scientology, to which belong Travolta, do not recognize autism, or any mental illness as a disease.

The couple stayed away from the public for a year after the death of his firstborn. John Travolta reappeared in January this year to promote his film “From Paris with love,” while Preston decided to return to their participation in the last film of Miley Cyrus.

Related posts:

1. Travolta Couple is having their Newborn for the Third Time!
2. John Travolta’s dogs were killed
3. John Travolta’s Dogs Killed in Accident

2003 Ford Windstar

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a formal investigation of 900,000 Ford Windstar minivans after receiving 234 complaints of rear-axel fracturing. The investigation covers Windstar models from 1999-2003.

The NHTSA website said that while a snapped axle can result in loss of control to the vehicle, there have only been two reports of minor crashes.

The agency said that the vast majority of complaints are from “salt-belt” states, due to possibility that the rear axle beam collects road salt and corrodes until it snaps. A quarter of the complaints said that the axle broke at speeds of at least 40 mph.

A Ford spokesman did not respond to requests for comment by Automotive News.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)