Our play from horse racing for Thursday will come from the 5th race at Santa Anita. It is a 6 furlong event for maiden fillies and mares three year olds and upward and they will be racing on the Santa Anita main synthetic surface. With our free pick we will play on #5 Stormy Slew to win. The 5th at Santa Anita is scheduled for a 6:05PM Eastern Time post and you can watch it on TVG.
Stormy Slew returns to the race track with Joel Rosario in the saddle and will be trained by James Lloyd. This four year old filly makes here fourth career start and first after along layoff. This Kentucky bred by Hennessy shortens for the first time and is coming off two good works in preparation for this race.
Play #5 Stormy Slew to win race 5 at Santa Anita 9-2 on the Morning Line.
We’ve talked in the past about the differences between open and closed platforms in driving innovation and adoption. Unlike some, I’m not against inherently closed platforms. I just don’t think that they will survive long-term. In fact, I think that closed platforms often do a very good job of defining initial markets, and convincing people to leap into those markets. However, in the long term, it usually seems that the open platforms, which may start out a lot less polished and useful, not only catch up, but surpass the closed platforms. It’s not difficult to understand why this happens. When you have a closed platform, the company putting it out has to account for everything — and thus, initially, it’s a lot more advanced and well thought out. However, with an open platform, the initial offering is often chaotic and messy and difficult for new users to understand and adopt. But over time, with many more people able to work on that platform and to innovate on that platform, it gets better and better and better. And it becomes more difficult for the closed platforms to catch up.
Does this always happen? No. But it’s happened enough that you have to have a good reason for why it won’t happen in any particular market. Of course, one of the examples that people have used for where this has not happened is in the video game market. There, it’s the closed platforms — PS3, Xbox and the Wii — that have continued to dominate, while the more open PC platform has languished in comparison. There could be a variety of reasons for this — including the fact that there is a fair bit of competition between the three platforms and the fact that no one has really built a credible open competitor (the PC may be too general purpose). But, apparently, some still think the era of the closed video gaming console is unlikely to last much longer — and at least one prognosticator is certainly someone who knows the business quite well.
Hideo Kojima, the creator of Metal Gear Solid surprised a lot of people by saying that the video game console is dying, and the future is a much more open solution, that involves games that you can play on any device: computer, mobile, TV, etc.
“In the near future, we’ll have games that don’t depend on any platform,” Kojima said at a news conference announcing the latest installment in a game saga that began in 1987.
“Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel — wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience,” he said.
Who knows if this is true or not, but it would certainly fit the pattern we’ve seen elsewhere…
When pondering the idea of any near-$100,000 hybrid luxury sedan, one has to wonder, “What’s the point?” The only hybrids that sell in any significant numbers are the Toyota Prius and Ford Fusion, and for good reason. Both allow drivers – and particularly hyper-milers – to squeeze every last mile out of each gallon of fuel.
Obviously, anyone with the financial wherewithal to purchase a 2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid is unlikely to be motivated by the technology’s fuel savings. Similarly, if someone wants to make a social statement by driving a “green” vehicle, they will likely want their ride to be instantly recognizable as a hybrid.
So the cost-no-object camp is divided. They can either drop their coin on an all-electric Tesla Roadster or, in spite of their bank balance, go with a lowly Toyota. Which begs the question: Is there something in between? We tested Mercedes’ newest hybrid to find out.
Ya podemos decir de forma abierta que BMW se encuentra preparando una versión Coupé de su BMW Serie 1. Esta versión será mucho más deportiva y potente, además, contará con más prestaciones.
El modelo fotografiado es un prototipo que ha sido visto saliendo de la sede oficial de BMW. Lamentablemente, la unidad de las imágenes cuenta con demasiado camuflaje para comenzar a sacar algunas conclusiones.
Por el momento, el nombre oficial de este nuevo modelo no ha sido filtrado aunque ya algunos medios barajan algunas posibilidades como “BMW 135is“. Se espera que haga uso de un motor de gasolina3.0 biturbo con seis cilindros y 300CV de potencia.
Tampoco conocemos el precio que tendrá esta variante.
As shorts like Jim Chanos gear up for China to implode under the weight of itself, others are taking a more mixed approach to investing in a country that has seen explosive economic growth.
Enter RBS’ Ben Simpfendorfer, who is a self-described short-term bull, medium-term bear when it comes to China.
Among his concerns creeping inflation and the imminent revaluation of the yuan.
Here’s his point on that, which is interesting:
The PBOC meanwhile appointed three new academics to its monetary policy committee in late March. The existing member, Fan Gang, stood down, so the total number of academic members has grown from one to three. It might be that the PBOC genuinely wants more impartial advice, or it believes that their arguments for policy changes will carry more weight with the State Council (it is the State Council that decides monetary policy).
It is thus worth noting that Xia Bin, one of the new appointments, works with the Development Research Centre, the research body of the State Council. He also said in an interview on April 1 that the CNY should be returned as quickly as possible to a managed float. Li Daokui, another appointment, was quoted on April 7 as saying that interest rates may rise once CPI rises above 3%. Both appear happy speaking freely to the media.
His note also includes some useful, timely charts that you should keep handy.
As it turns out, here’s the big reveal PSM3 teased about earlier. Warner Bros. Interactive dropped by the presswire to let us all know that F.E.A.R. 3 is on its way to the PS3, Xbox 360, and
As promised, Ferrari has unveiled that fastest ever road-going Ferrari at the 2010 Beijing Motor Show.
“The 599 GTO is, in fact, the company’s fastest ever road car,” Ferrari says in its press release. “It is an exclusive limited edition special which, in true Ferrari tradition, is a completely new concept, albeit inspired by a production car. In fact the 599 GTO is based on the 599XX, the advanced experimental track car, and can be considered almost a road-going version.”
Power comes from a 6.0L V12 engine making 661-hp with a maximum torque of 457 lb-ft. Mated to a F1 6–speed gearbox, the Ferrari 599 GTO goes from 0-62 mph in 3.5 seconds with a top speed of more than 208 mph. Ferrari says that the 599 GTO set a record lap at Fiorano in 1 minute and 24 seconds.
Ferrari will make only 599 units of the 599 GTO with prices reaching close to $500,000.
Ferrari 599 GTO:
Press Release:
The new 599 GTO – The fastest ever road-going Ferrari will be unveiled to the public at the Beijing Motor Show
Maranello, 8 April – Now available on www.ferrari.com are the first photos and information on the new 599 GTO, an extreme V12 berlinetta developed to a specific performance-oriented brief. The 599 GTO is, in fact, the company’s fastest ever road car. It is an exclusive limited edition special which, in true Ferrari tradition, is a completely new concept, albeit inspired by a production car. In fact the 599 GTO is based on the 599XX, the advanced experimental track car, and can be considered almost a road-going version.
The 599 GTO is reserved for just 599 clients who seek the maximum expression of high-performance driving. The 599 GTO benefits directly from the technological transfer from racing and set a record lap time at Fiorano in 1′24″.
The Fiorano lap time provides just one indication of the potential of this car. Just as significant are the technical specifications – 670 hp in a 1495kg car represents a weight-to-power ratio of just 2.23 kg/hp, and ensures a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of just 3.35″ as well as a top speed of over 335 km/h.
Fundamental to the GTO’s performance is the innovative approach to chassis development which, for the first time on a production car, saw the integration between a handling set-up tuned for a level of responsiveness that is close to the limit and highly sophisticated electronic controls. The result is the almost complete absence of understeer and a truly communicative chassis.
As is Ferrari’s policy, every new Ferrari features new solutions for a road car. Thus the 599 GTO is equipped with the latest, second-generation carbon-ceramic brakes which are lighter and offer better performance, new aerodynamic innovations, such as the wheel doughnuts which increase aerodynamic efficiency as well as improve brake cooling, and the Supersport tyres developed by Michelin include a wider front tyre for greater roadholding. The driver-car interface is also new with the adoption of the Virtual Race Engineer (VRE) which provides the driver with instantaneous information on performance.
The 599 GTO’s more aggressive character is also apparent in a number of styling elements that recall the 599XX and from the powerful sound of the V12.
The GTO (Gran Turismo Omologata) moniker instantly calls to mind two Ferraris that have entered the collective imagination as symbols of performance. After the 1962 250 GTO, which swept the boards in GT racing categories in the 1960s and is now a highly prized collector’s car, came the iconic 1984 GTO, which basically invented the entire modern supercar genre.
The web special includes photos, videos and interviews on the new car, while an exclusive preview for a small number of Ferrari clients will be held on April 14th at the Military Academy in Modena. The public debut of the 599 GTO will instead be at the Beijing International Motor Show at the end of April.
599 GTO TECHNICAL CONTENTS
ENGINE AND GEARBOX
The 599 GTO’s engine is directly derived from the 599XX unit implementing, however, the necessary modifications for road-going homologation. It thus complies with Euro 5 and LEV 2 standards. The 5999 cc 65-degree V12 engine punches out 670 CV at 8250 rpm with maximum torque of 620 Nm at 6500 rpm and there is a smooth, constant rush of power all the way to the redline with no loss of flexibility even at medium and low revs. This result was obtained by working on the fluid-dynamics and components to reduce internal friction and by adopting, amongst other things, the 599XX’s redesigned crankshaft. The car also has a racing-type intake system with a new manifold with diffuser-type intake geometry and short inlet tracts designed to improve power delivery at high revs and reduce losses. To maximise volumetric efficiency per cylinder, a connection between the two plenums at the front compensates for variations in the volume. This is how the engineers managed to achieve maximum performance at high engine speeds. The engine sound inside the car is carefully controlled to balance the intake sound with the exhaust, which features a 599XX-derived 6-into-1 manifold.
The 599 GTO features the same, lower 60 ms shift times and the possibility to make multiple downshifts as on the 599XX.
VEHICLE DYNAMICS
One of the most significant innovations on the 599 GTO is the close correlation between the chassis set-up, which is close to the handling limit, and the input from the electronic controls which are developed to increase overall levels of performance.
Since the very earliest states of the two cars’ development, Maranello’s engineers worked to ensure that these two areas of the car would be seamlessly integrated thus pushing responsiveness to the limit. The result is, of course, superlative driving involvement as well as faster lap times. Apart from new springs and a stiffer rear anti-roll bar, the car also features a second generation magnetorheological suspension control system (SCM2). The suspension works in tandem with the VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) and latest-generation F1-Trac traction control. This makes the car extremely responsive to driver inputs – thanks in part to the adoption of a very direct steering ratio – but also very stable under braking, sharper on turn-in, more precise in cornering and quicker out of corners.
WEIGHT REDUCTION
The 599 GTO inherits much of the development work – using the same principles as employed in F1 – that went into making the 599XX such an extreme performance car. Reducing weight was a vital objective and the result was the widespread use of composites and components manufactured with technologies more akin to racing specifications. The areas involved include the bodywork and greenhouse (with thinner gauge aluminium and thinner glass), the brakes, transmission and exhaust system. The result is a dry weight of 1495 kg and a weight-to-power ratio of just 2.23 kg/hp, a very significant figure that underlines the GTO’s performance potential.
AERODYNAMICS
The 599 GTO’s aerodynamics have benefited significantly from Ferrari engineers’ experience in F1 and with the 599XX which allowed downforce to be greatly increased without impacting on drag. Thanks to solutions transferred from the track car to the road-going version, the GTO generates downforce of 144 kg at 200 km/h. The entire car was honed, including the front, the sides, the flat underbody and cooling flows. In the latter instance, the GTO can count on improved ducting to the brake discs and pads, and the adoption of wheel doughnuts – a disc positioned outside the brake disc that ensure that hot air exiting the wheelarch stays as close to the body of the car as possible to reduce drag.
Work on the nose of the car was aimed at reducing the width of the wake generated by the front and thus reduce drag. The front spoiler incorporates a separate lower wing that increases downforce at the front of the car and increases the flow of cooling air to the oil radiator. On the flanks there’s a new sill design with a more pronounced leading edge that improves the efficiency of the central section of the underbody. The underbody itself incorporates a new, lower front section with diffusers ahead of the front wheels to optimise downforce, and a new double-curve rear diffuser.
WHEEL RIMS AND TYRES
Here the difference in size between the front and rear tyres has been changed. The GTO’s front tyres are now 285/30 on a 9.5” channel with 315/35 on an 11.5” channel at the rear. The 599 GTO has 20” rims. Roll rigidity is greater at the rear to minimise understeer. These solutions guarantee improved lateral grip and quicker turn in.
BRAKES
The new CCM2 braking system is lighter and even more consistent in high performance situations. Its consistent coefficient of attrition meant that the ABS could be calibrated to a particularly high performance level, further reducing lap times, thanks to improved deceleration and shorter stopping distances. In fact, the 599 GTO boasts an excellent 100 to 0 km/h braking distance of just 32.5 metres. As well as their role in improving aerodynamics, the Formula 1-derived wheel doughnuts also improve braking efficiency by optimising brake cooling.
CAR-DRIVER INTERFACE
The car-driver interface was designed to maximise car and driver performance with a layout of the main commands that ensures absolute efficiency and minimum distraction. The Racing manettino also puts the emphasis firmly on sporty, track-specific driving settings by offering the driver full choice with regard to the electronic control parameters. The ICE position on the 599 GTB Fiorano has been replaced by CT-Off (traction control off). The GTO is also fitted with bespoke, longer carbon-fibre F1 paddles for easier use in high-speed driving. In addition the GTO also features the Virtual Race Engineer, a system that monitors the status of the car and gives the driver immediate visibility of vehicle performance.
599 GTO technical specifications
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
Length: 4710 mm (185.4 in)
Width: 1962 mm (77.2 in)
Height: 1326 mm (52.2 in)
Wheelbase: 2750 mm (108.3 in)
Front track: 1701 mm (67.0 in)
Rear track: 1618 mm (63.7 in)
Dry weight*: 1495 kg (3296 lbs)
Kerb weight*: 1605 kg (3538 lbs)
Weight distribution: 47% front – 53% rear
Fuel tank capacity: 105 litres (27.7 US gal/23.1 UK/gal)
Boot volume: 320 litres (11.3 cu ft)
ENGINE
Type: V12 – 65°
Bore & stroke : 92 x 75.2 mm (3.62 x 2.96 in)
Unitary displacement: 499.9 cc (30.51 cu in)
Total displacement: 5999 cc (366.08 cu in)
Compression ratio: 11.2:1
Maximum power: 500 kW (670 CV) at 8250 rpm
Maximum torque : 620 Nm (457 lbs/ft) at 6500 rpm
GEARBOX
F1 6–speed + reverse
SUSPENSION
SCM2 – Magnetorheological Supension Control
TYRES
Front: 285/30 ZR20”
Rear: 315/35 ZR20”
CARBON-CERAMIC BRAKES
Front: 398 x 38 mm (15.7 x 1.5 in)
Rear: 360 x 32 mm (14.2 x 1.3 in)
ELECTRONIC CONTROLS
CST with F1-Trac: Traction and stability control
TPTMS: Tyre pressure and temperature monitoring system
Remember Michelle? Griff? Sterling? These are just a few of the Mark’s Daily Apple readers that sent in their inspiring success stories during last year’s Primal Blueprint 30 Day Health Challenge. I think I can say that we were all captivated by their stories. Testament to this fact are the numerous emails I receive from fellow-PBers asking how they are doing. Griff, for example, was just two weeks into going Primal when he originally wrote in. Michelle was nearly a year into her weight loss journey. How has the last 6+ months been for them and others? Read on to read (and see) their progress and check back next week for more success story updates.
Griff
As you probably know, since I went Primal back in August I have been an active member of MDA’s forums. I’ve established a reputation as the go-to guy for cholesterol questions (and I’m learning more about that every day), and I’m loving the heck out of the people here at MDA.
I’ve made a number of positive changes by going Primal. The first (and most obvious) is that I’ve dropped about 80 pounds since August 13, 2009. The second is that by stopping grains, sugars, and starch-loaded foods, I’ve eliminated my arthritis, my IBS, and my migraines, and I’ve brought my blood sugars down to normal (they’ve been there since mid-November, usually in the mid-80s to mid-90s). My doctor is absolutely flabbergasted by my progress. I’m still losing about 8 to 10 pounds a month, too. And I’m no longer in a wheelchair! I can walk quickly and sometimes even run for short bursts. It’s amazing.
Other changes have been my attitude towards food and my attitude towards exercise. I used to love food and hate exercise. Now I love Primal food, detest CW food, and can tolerate exercise (I’m working up to enjoying it). I still need knee surgery on both knees, due to some damage I did to the kneecaps with a few too many trip-and-fall injuries, but I’m waiting until I’m down to a reasonable weight before I pursue that. Once I’ve done that I’m sure I can start working towards being an athlete as well.
To give you an idea of where I’ve come from and where I’m headed, here’s my bloodwork from the month before I went Primal and the bloodwork that was just performed this past week. Although my HDL is still not where I want it, I’m sure that as I drop more weight it’ll begin to bounce upward. When my doctor saw my test results, he told me that he would have bet me a paycheck that I wouldn’t have these awesome results due to my size – and that I would have won the bet. (I wish I had!)
August 2009
Weight: 397
Total Cholesterol: 195
HDL: 37
LDL: 152 (pattern B)
Triglycerides: 133
Total/HDL: 5.3
Trig/HDL: 3.6
LDL/HDL: 4.1
HbA1c: 8.1
Fasting Glucose: 209
Rheumatoid Factor: 47
March 2010
Weight: 323
Total Cholesterol: 177
HDL: 35
LDL: 137 (pattern A)
Triglycerides: 68
Total/HDL: 5.1
Trig/HDL: 1.9
LDL/HDL: 3.9
HbA1c: 5.4 (non-diabetic)
Fasting Glucose: 98
Rheumatoid Factor: 38
I’m not having the stunning rises in HDL or drops in LDL that most people may have had (yet), but my LDL pattern changed from the “bad” pattern B to the “good” pattern A. My ratios all dropped a little bit, which is good, and my glucose and HbA1c scores tell a whole new story about my insulin levels, as does my Trig/HDL ratio (below 2 is “excellent,” and lower numbers indicate lower free insulin levels).
As far as the non-medical things that I’m preening about: I can move the seat forward in my car and not bump into the steering wheel. I can tilt the steering wheel down. I can sit in a restaurant booth and not feel crammed or cramped in. I have an enormous amount of slack in my seatbelt. I can fit in a student desk at school (and I could never do that before, ever). I can walk both up and down a flight of stairs, alternating feet as I do it. I can walk all the way across campus and not get out of breath. I can sit in a chair and not worry that it’s going to break under me. I can dance! I can hug my tween-aged children and they can clasp their hands together behind my back. I’m stronger, I’m fitter, I’m more energetic, I’m sleeping better – the list goes on and on and on.
Oh, and I went from a size 68 jean (which was getting really, really tight) to a size 52, and it’s loose and has been for a while.
Here’s a couple of pictures for you, too – me at close to my heaviest and me now.
September 2009
March 2010
This is the first time I’ve been brave enough to share them. While I was standing closer to the camera in the picture I took in September, you can still see the obvious weight loss in my belly and my arms. And the September photo was taken after I’d already lost 26 pounds. I don’t have any photos taken of me in June or July, when I was at my absolute heaviest, so imagine another 26 pounds on the September photo. (Also, notice that the jeans in the March photo are loose! It’s time to buy new ones.)
If it weren’t for this site, I’d be sucking down my hypoglycemic pills, hating life, and wondering how I’d ever get my sugars out of the 300s again. Mark, I can’t thank you enough for giving me my life back. Check back with me in another six months, and grok on!
Where am I now…? Well since submitting my story last year I’m still Grokking on! I’ve lost another 7 kgs and 6% body fat.
As I get closer to goal it’s definitely getting tougher. I find myself allowing a little more lenience on some non primal foods around celebrations but this does set me back a little from my goal. However I’m still living primal 80% of the time and slowing reaching my goal. I feel like this way of live is so sustainable and it doesn’t ever feel too restrictive, if I ever do have a minor set back from the non primal foods I find myself feeling pretty ill and hanging out to eat my ‘normal primal’ food again. Loving my primal life
Hello, I am still doing the primal blueprint! I made the move back to the US from Sweden this summer and I now live in New York City. It was here that I finally connected with other paleo dieters in real life through a meetup group called Eating Paleo in NYC founded by John Durant. This had always been an internet thing for me and it was great to be able to finally meet, eat, and hang out with similarly minded people. In January our group was featured in both the New York Times and The Colbert Report when John was a guest. We have been growing rapidly ever since! We have done cowpooling, cooking workshops, and farm tours. We had one huge awesome party and potluck that attracted over 30 people who brought delicious foods ranging from wild boar to steak tartare.
My success with a primal-like/Grok-like lifestyle is continuing. I vacillate between 9%-11% body fat depending on the discipline of my diet. Taking the recommendation of MDA readers and fellow Primal Blueprinters after my “More Like Grok” success story, I started a health, fitness, and fat loss blog in late 2009 – sterlingadvice.blogspot.com. I’ve enjoyed helping others who want to change their life and wave goodbye to an unhealthy lifestyle.
Mark continues to be an inspiration as he is one of the most disciplined guys I know and I enjoy the friendship we’ve established.
To those readers that are just starting to eat and move primally: read all you can, enjoy the ride, seek help when you need it, and don’t let your goals of grok-like lifestyle and body cause you unneeded frustration and grief. Just follow a plan, stick to it, and you’ll get there.
That’s a serious question because despite the fact that the Greece situation seems to be deteriorating by the day — not based on what people are saying but based on what the market is actually doing — stock market in the US really doesn’t seem to care. At all.
After being down (modestly) in the morning, stocks are, look at that, in the green again at mid-day (modestly).
Remember, too, that the jobless claims sucked. The retail numbers were strong, but there was a ton of noise, and reasons to discount the headlines.
Grateful for the success of Just Cause 2, Square Enix hands out small trinket to the players in the form of downloadable content. Today, the publisher is releasing the Chevalier Ice Breaker DLC, so you’ll have the
Ubuntu se esta acercando al estreno de su ultima versión con Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, programada para su liberación a finales de este mes. Es una liberación que ofrecerá varias características nuevas en el escritorio y permitirá conocer una nueva imagen de Ubuntu.
La próxima liberación de Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx también podría contribuir a acelerar aún más la adopción de Ubuntu, que ha ido creciendo en los últimos años.
“No tenemos un proceso de registro por teléfono, así que es siempre una conjeturar. Sin embargo, basándome en la misma metodología que hemos llegado al número del 2008, nuestra creencia actual es que en algún momento superamos la barrera de los 12 millones de usuarios” dijo: Chris Kenyon, vicepresidente OEM de Canonical a InternetNews.com
Pressure from Google Chrome and, increasingly, from other main players in the web-browser market is forcing Mozilla to change its ways. Most notably, it’s starting to rethink its update schedule and system for Firefox and favoring small incremental updates, a la Chrome, instead of major releases months or years apart.
Foi anunciado essa semana pela Mitsubishi do Brasil uma chamada de recall para seu modelo mais recente, o Pajero TR4. O utilitário é fabricado na cidade de Catalão (GO) e pode apresentar um defeito na válvula de admissão de ar pelo motor, afetando as unidades fabricadas entre 2009 e 2010.
Nenhum acidente foi registrado por causa desse defeito, mas a Mitsubishi diz que a utilização do veículo na condição atal pode resultar na manutenção da rotação do motor em níveis acima do normal, e isso pode gerar dificuldade de frenagem do carro.
A montadora não informou o número certo de unidades com o problema, mas se sabe que elas possuem chassi com final entre 40536 e 45405. Para agendar a inspeção e possível troca da válvula de admissão, basta se apresentar na concessionária Mitsubishi mais próxima. Também foi disponibilizado pela montadora o telefone de atendimento, (0800) 702-0404 e o site www.mitsubishimotors.com.br.
Toyota will be extending its 0% interest loans and discount lease incentives for another month on most U.S. models and expanding an offer of two years of free maintenance to hold onto sales after record recalls battered its market share.
The 0% financing is available for as long as five years on the 2010 Camry, Avalon, Corolla and Matrix, Highlander, RAV4 and Tundra. The service plan is available to all customers and not just previous owners.
The incentives will now run through May 3.
“We’re extending the two-year complimentary maintenance program, that proved to be very popular with existing Toyota owners in March, to all buyers in April,” Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager of Toyota brand sales, said in a statement.
Toyota’s recent discount loans and leases helped it boost deliveries by 41% after two monthly declines due to recalls.
La próxima tarjeta gráfica de NVIDIA basada en la Arquitectura Fermi sera lanzada a mitad del año, si bien no será tan poderosa como la GTX 470 promete hacerle las cosas difíciles a la HD 5850 en precio (por debajo de los U$D 300) y rendimiento.-
Las características de la GeForce GTX 460 incluyen una interfaz de memoria de 256 bits, 1GB de memoria GDDR5, DirectX 11 y la frecuencias y el número de shaders esta próximo a confirmarse.-
The pharmaceutical industry is a huge mess, which has little, if anything, to do with making people healthy. The way the system is currently designed, if it’s more profitable for a pharmaceutical company to put you at greater risk, it will do so. And sometimes the US gov’t will help them brush it under the rug. Reader Bill Pickett points us to a recent investigative report concerning the big, high-publicity lawsuit the US gov’t filed against Pfizer, after the company blatantly went against FDA approvals and marketed a drug for all sorts of alternative uses, which the FDA had specifically noted could be dangerous and could put people at greater risk.
The FDA approved Bextra only for arthritis and menstrual cramps. It rejected the drug in higher doses for acute, surgical pain.
Promoting drugs for unapproved uses can put patients at risk by circumventing the FDA’s judgment over which products are safe and effective. For that reason, “off-label” promotion is against the law.
But with billions of dollars of profits at stake, marketing and sales managers across the country nonetheless targeted anesthesiologists, foot surgeons, orthopedic surgeons and oral surgeons. “Anyone that use[d] a scalpel for a living,” one district manager advised in a document prosecutors would later cite.
A manager in Florida e-mailed his sales reps a scripted sales pitch that claimed — falsely — that the FDA had given Bextra “a clean bill of health” all the way up to a 40 mg dose, which is twice what the FDA actually said was safe….
Internal company documents show that Pfizer and Pharmacia (which Pfizer later bought) used a multimillion-dollar medical education budget to pay hundreds of doctors as speakers and consultants to tout Bextra.
Pfizer said in court that “the company’s intent was pure”: to foster a legal exchange of scientific information among doctors…. But an internal marketing plan called for training physicians “to serve as public relations spokespeople.”
Where the story gets scary is in what happened when all this came out. Federal officials announced a criminal case over this, but they didn’t actually sue Pfizer directly. Instead, they sued a (not kidding) subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary of Pfizer, which was basically set up just take the brunt of this lawsuit:
According to court documents, Pfizer Inc. owns (a) Pharmacia Corp., which owns (b) Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, which owns (c) Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. LLC, which in turn owns (d) Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc. It is the great-great-grandson of the parent company.
But it was only that last one, Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc., that was sued — and the report also notes that this company just happened to be set up the same day that Pfizer and federal officials worked out a deal for it to plead guilty — even though it, as an entity, hadn’t done anything.
Why did they do this? Well, if Pfizer itself had been found guilty then it would be barred from Medicare and Medicaid, and prosecutors figured it would effectively close down Pfizer — and Pfizer was deemed “too big to fail” like that. Why? I have no idea. If the company really did have to close down, it seems likely that others would have picked up the company’s various products — and perhaps done so without putting people’s lives at risk.
Really, the problem here is the way the entire system is set up. The FDA requires expensive and involved clinical trials. This is very good, because we want to make sure that any drugs actually do what they’re supposed to do, and don’t have serious side effects or cause even worse problems. But, the system is currently set up so that the pharmaceutical company itself is in charge of paying for and running those clinical trials, which creates two very problematic situations. First, it gives the company all sorts of incentives to fudge the results or to pretend the results said something different than they really did (see the example above, or Merck with Vioxx) and second, it contributes to the “expense” that a drugmaker can claim comes from developing a new drug, which is part of why it demands patent rights. But if you break out the costs of the clinical trials, the marketing-hidden-ad-development-costs, and the amount of research that’s actually funded by gov’t grants — you find that pharmaceutical firms really aren’t spending nearly as much as they claim. A big part of the issue is the clinical trials, and that’s leading to all sorts of questionable behavior. In the past, some have suggested that such trials should be conducted by the gov’t, rather than by the pharma companies themselves. While I’m not sure that’s the answer, it’s pretty clear that the existing system is not working, if our end goal is to make people healthier.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has published a set of safety standards for hydrogen refueling stations. Safety standards are important for three reasons.
First, safety of people and property is the number on priority of the public, of automakers and of fueling station owners and manufacturers. Second, with safety standards in place, customer acceptance will be accelerated. Third, if all hydrogen fueling stations / pumps follow the same uniform safety standards nationwide then the first two objectives will be met.
The SAE defines the safety standards in detail for all light duty vehicles and hydrogen fueling pressures between 5,000 psi and 10,000 psi. The safety guidelines do not as of yet include standards for fueling heavy duty vehicles, motorcycles and forklifts. The proposed standards also do not currently apply to residential hydrogen fueling appliances, though safety standards for these are anticipated within the next two years.
Because most hydrogen fueling stations today are prototype demonstration pumps, they lack uniformity in dispensing times and amount of hydrogen each can dispense per hour or day. According to the SAE, “The goal is to achieve ‘customer acceptable’ fueling, which means a full tank of hydrogen within a reasonable amount of time without exceeding the temperature, pressure, and density (state of charge) limits.”
Having uniform H2 safety standards in place will help acceleration the proliferation of hydrogen fueling stations nationwide. This will help ease the minds of consumers and state regulators as the hydrogen highway network grows during the following decades.
In a move that probably shouldn’t surprise anyone, the controversial Digital Economy Bill was passed by the British Parliament Commons chamber with an overwhelming majority. The mock debate was rushed through Parliament, which will be dissolved ahead of the upcoming General Elections in the UK. Most of the bill was written by the r… (read more)
Just a quick warning if you’re planning to get the Metal Sonic DLC for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, make sure that the price is right. By “right”, I mean 560 Microsoft Points. Unfortunately, a pricing
Remember Michelle? Griff? Sterling? These are just a few of the Mark’s Daily Apple readers that sent in their inspiring 
Pressure from Google Chrome and, increasingly, from other main players in the web-browser market is forcing Mozilla to change its ways. Most notably, it’s starting to rethink its update schedule and system for Firefox and favoring small incremental updates, a la Chrome, instead of major releases months or years apart. 
In a move that probably shouldn’t surprise anyone, the controversial Digital Economy Bill was passed by the British Parliament Commons chamber with an overwhelming majority. The mock debate was rushed through Parliament, which will be dissolved ahead of the upcoming General Elections in the UK. Most of the bill was written by the r… (