Author: Serkadis

Bien es sabido que esta temporada no ha empezado como lo deseaban en la escudería Mercedes Grand Prix. Durante la pretemporada, este equipo partía como uno de los cuatro favoritos a ganar el campeonato pero tras tres grandes premios, ha quedado confirmado que están un paso por detrás.

Tanto es así, que Mercedes Grand Prix presentará novedades en su monoplaza (MGP W01) para el GP de España. Además, debemos decir que el primer piloto en recibir dichas mejoras será Nico Rosberg, algo impensable al inicio de la temporada cuando Michael Schumacher era claro favorito a superar a su joven compañero de escudería.

Related posts:

1. Petronas, el nuevo patrocinador de Mercedes Grand Prix
2. Michael Schumacher ya habría cerrado un acuerdo con Mercedes Grand Prix
3. Nick Heidfeld tercer piloto de Mercedes Grand Prix

Iconeye magazine wrote about Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza’s plant robot, a roving art installation. Called “Nomadic Plants,” the robot is part of an exhibition organized by LABoral Gallery in Asturias, Spain. Iconeye says the project is inspired by ”natural processes whereby plants adapt to hostile environments and colonise new territories.” The nomadic plant is autonomous, and leads an ”unthreatening existence,” living off industrial waste.

Esparza told Iconeye: ”Nowadays robots are a waste of energy: they dance and they move all the time.” To make his plant robot self-sufficient but also productive, he designed it so it runs on bacteria found in waste. “When these microorganisms need nourishment the machine seeks out dirty water, which is then decomposed to create energy; any surplus is used to emit a noise and sustain plants carried on its back. The machine and plants becomes co-dependent.”

Iconeye says Esparza has long explored the relationship between organisms and systems. “In a previous project, Urban Parasites, creatures made from recycled electronic goods infested urban environments, feeding of a city’s electricity and telephone wires.”  

The installation is open from March 25 to June 7 at LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial.

Read the article and see more images.

Image credit: Gilberto Esparza / Iconeye Magazine

La marca nipona Hyundai acaba de presentar una nueva serie de ofertas para todos sus modelos. Dicho movimiento es debido a sus objetivos de conseguir aumentar las ventas en España en un 87% ni más ni menos.

Cabe mencionar, que durante el pasado mes de Marzo gracias a sus promociones, Hyundai consiguió un aumento del 200%, una cifra muy a destacar. También debemos destacar que la marca ha comunicado que para aquellos compradores que decidan adquirir uno de sus modelos de segunda mano tendrán un descuento adicional de 700€.

A continuación os detallo las ofertas.

• Hyundai i10, 1.800€.
• Hyundai Accent, 4.200€.
• Hyundai i20, entre 2.000 y 2.500€.
• Hyundai i30, entre 1.500 y 3.500€.
• Hyundai Sonata, entre 1.500 y 5.000€.
• Hyundai Coupé, 4.000€.
• Hyundai Matrix, entre 4.800 y 5.000€.
• Hyundai i800, entre 3.550 y 4.000€.
• Hyundai Tucson, entre 3.000 y 8.500€.
• Hyundai ix35, entre 1.000 y 1.207€.
• Hyundai Santa Fe, entre 4.000 y 5.000€.

Related posts:

1. Hyundai Genesis, nuevas fotos espía
2. Hyundai H800
3. Fotos espía del Hyundai Sonata 2010

Rachel Coudriet, pictured above, is the latest name to pop up in the endless Tiger Woods sex scandals.

Coudriet, just 22 years old, is apparently the daughter of Tiger Woods’ neighbor. Just when you thought Tiger couldn’t top some of his other trashy mistresses it turns out he was also banging the neighbor. The entire saga long ago left surreal and turned into full blown crazy town.

Hopefully Woods can avoid banging anybody as he walks the fairways tomorrow at the Masters, you never really know with him.

Rachel Coudriet has few pictures online, a Facebook profile and Twitter were deleted when this news broke, the pictures above and below were taken from the Google cache.

More Rachel Coudriet pictures after the jump:

This is what it looks like when the market has lost all confidence in your rescue plan.

Behold: Greek vs. German 10-year yields.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Performance, BMW

The oft-speculated M version of the BMW 1 Series appears to be getting closer to production reality if our latest batch of spy pics is anything to go on. Exactly what badge it will were remains unknown at this point. It seems improbable that it will actually be called M1 since BMW likely wants to preserve the badge for its original M supercar. However, it is possible that the hotted up 1 could follow the pattern of the X5/X6 and be called the 1 M – and it might not even get an M badge altogether. Perhaps it will just be dubbed 135is like the new-for-2011 335is that we recently reviewed – or even a 135 tii like a previous concept shown by BMW.

1 Series enthusiasts’ forum 1Addicts.com has an FAQ of unknown provenance that indicates the car will be launched late this year and on sale in the first half of 2011. Power is expected to come from a twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline six which perhaps indicates that the 135is branding is the most likely scenario. A convertible may also be part of the plan.

Our spy shooter notes that this car is clearly further developed from the previous prototypes with tacked-on black fenders. The front spoiler, widened fenders, and big alloys shrouding oversized drilled discs appear to be near-production items too. Given that the current 135i puts offers 300 horsepower, and going speculation has the hotter model delivering 350-370 horsepower.

All of which begs the question: What do you want the new top-rung 1 Series to be called? Take our survey below and let us know what you think.

View Poll

[Sources: CarPix, 1Addicts]

Spy Shots: Best look yet BMW’s forthcoming hi-po 1 Series [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, we published an article about how the IMF wouldn’t sell investor Eric Sprott any of the remaining 191.3 tonnes of gold it had left.

We spoke with Alistair Thomson of the IMF and he clearly explained his reasonings behind not being able to sell Mr. Sprott gold.

Among them:

• The IFM only goes through a specific broker.
• It only sells gold to sovereigns.
• Thus, Sprott’s desire to purchase IMF gold did not comply with ‘protocol’.

Of course we want to hear all sides of the story, so today we spoke with Mr. Eric Sprott himself on the matter.

Sprott says that around six weeks ago while in the process of selling the gold trust ETF, he approached the IMF about buying some of the gold they were selling. And why not? If there’s a buyer and seller, it’s a market. Sprott originally wanted to buy only a portion of the available gold for sale but later decided it’d be interesting to see what the IMF would do or say if he tried to buy the whole lot of it.

Says Sprott, “I was prepared to get the bazooka.”

But ultimately, there was no way the IMF was going to deal with Mr. Sprott’s interests. If the IMF wants to sell gold, then it should clearly explain on what terms without making vague references like “phasing out” sales over time. Phase out could mean anything to 2 tonnes per month to 50 tonnes per year. It’s unclear and that creates distortion in the investment world.

On the state of the gold market, Sprott says the following:

“I’m a 100% believer that central banks have suppressed the price of gold. I find it hilarious today that they have these programs to sell gold – it’s of no use. It’s one of the dumbest decisions in the last decade.”

He wonders why the IMF is even selling gold. Gold is tangible and will always have value whereas money is just paper and at this point, digits on a screen. The IMF is going to spend the next few years bailing out nation after nation (PIIGS, anyone?), so why is it even selling gold?

Turning attention to Sprott’s gold trust ETF (PHYS), he tells us that unlike State Street’s SPDR gold ETF (GLD), the gold in his trust is readily available for physical settlement*. As for insurance:  “All physical gold is held at the Royal Canadian Mint which has its own insurance procedures.” Sounds good to us, unless of course another Die Hard With A Vengeance scenario goes down.

On a lark, we asked Sprott his views on the so-called “Plunge-Protection Team” or the Working Group On Financial Markets.

His response was quite intriguing:

“The Fed bought $1.7 trillion in bonds in the bond market. Who knows how much they’ve put into equities? Look at March 9th. The PPT came into the market in the 1987 crash. When things are unstable, the PPT steps in.”

And there you have it.

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Filed under: Government/Legal, Canada

According to the CBC, the Canadian province of Quebec is saying “No way, Jose” to importing right-hand drive cars for six months. Even though there are 3,000 RHD cars on the roads and none of them have been faulted for anything, the province’s insurance board wants to investigate the safety of such vehicles. The official line is that “they don’t always meet Transport Canada safety standards.” Perhaps the genuine reason will be known soon, but we’re guessing that safety nannies will point to their comparative danger when passing vehicles on single-lane roads.

For now, the board is going to consult accident reports and ask around before lifting the ban. No more Japanese gray imports for you Quebecois in the meantime.

[Source: CBC]

Quebec reportedly bans importation of RHD cars for six months to evaluate safety concerns originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Recentemente, o presidente da Ford, Alan Mulally, visitou a filial brasileira da Ford e concedeu uma intrevista para a imprensa nesta última terça-feira. O engraçado é que não foram dados muitos detalhes sobre o futuro da operação brasileira da empresa.

O CEO da Ford comentou outras coisas, como lembrar da importância do mercado brasileiro para eles, já que somos o “3º mais importante da empresa“, embora não tenha falado uma palavra a respeito dos planos para manter os seus clientes brasileiros, que são cada vez mais seduzidos por novas marcas concorrentes.

Durante a entrevista, Mullay disse muitas frases “clichês”, tais como: “Manteremos uma linha completa de veículos em todos os mercados em que atuamos“, e também “Estou entusiasmado com o mercado brasileiro“. O estratégia “One Ford”, adotada pela companhia, e que visa padronizar modelos para venda global, como a 3ª geração do novo Focus, também foi lembrada.

Via | Blogauto

Crytek and EA pulled out the big guns for Crysis 2’s hype train, debuting the game’s first trailer right at Times Square in New York, but they’re far from done. They’re also teasing something for this Friday.

Ah, the shifting tech world landscape. For the past few years, the monsters of the tech world were considered to be Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, in that all three seemed to be competing in the same arena. However, with Yahoo stumbling and Microsoft still failing to get much traction in the online world (yes, a bit more than in the past, but not enough to be interesting), everyone’s looking for a new fight. Slashdot points us to a story of some analyst predicting (based on nothing, really) that Apple may start its own search engine. It appears that this is pure guesswork, based on the idea that Apple might not want Google paying close attention to what people are doing on their iPhones… especially as it builds up its own mobile device business.

While plenty of virtual ink has been spilled over the Google/Apple device battles, could they be approaching a bigger online battle as well? It’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility — and given its control over the devices it sells, perhaps it could get a pretty good starting position with a search engine. Still, it does seem like a bit of a reach for Steve Jobs and company. At this point, it seems more like some analyst just looking for a more interest “Google vs.” prediction than anything serious at this point.

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Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Acura, Honda

Last September, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Honda looking for restitution for 750,000 late model Accord and Acura TSX owners. The suit claimed that a design defect in a new braking system led to excessive force on the rear brake pads that reduced the lifespan of the pads from 70,000 miles to under 20,000 miles. The cost to replace those rear pads? The suit claims the average total is about $150, but if the rotors were damaged, the price can spike to $250 or more.

A report in The New York Times shows that the months of legal wrangling has paid off for 750,000 owners of 2008 and 2009 Accords and the 2009 (plus a few 2010 models) Acura TSX. Honda has reportedly agreed to settle the suit without admitting responsibility or any wrongdoing, while also providing cash to customers with the brakes in question. Owners who have already gotten their brakes done will receive one half of the cost of repairs, or a maximum of $125, whichever is less. The owners in question will also receive $150 towards the cost of a set of new rear brake pads that Honda says will last longer than the units being replaced. The law firm handling the case will reportedly receive $2 million for its efforts. In total, Honda could be on the hook for well over $100 million if all affected owners receive new brakes.

With the class-action suit settled, the next step is for Judge Margaret M. Morrow of the United States District Court for the Central District of California to give the agreement an official seal of approval in May.

[Source: The New York Times]

Report: Honda settles class-action lawsuit over premature brake wear originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It turns out that Star Trek Online won’t be boldly going to the console front. Developer Crytic Studios has confirmed that the MMO’s console versions have been scrapped. The problem lies not with the studio’s tech, apparently, but

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the formation of the local, state, tribal, and federal Preparedness Task Force—a council of experts charged with assessing the state of the nation’s disaster preparedness and making recommendations to Secretary Napolitano about ways to build resiliency in communities across America.

“Enhancing preparedness across our nation requires close collaboration between all levels of government,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The recommendations of this Task Force—comprised of emergency management and homeland security experts from states, cities and tribes across the country—will help guide our ongoing efforts to ensure the resilience of communities throughout the nation.”

The Task Force is comprised of 35 members of local, state and tribal governments—many of whom have also served within federal government—offering a diverse cross-section of experience in homeland security and emergency management missions. The Task Force will also engage Congressional partners, as well as the private sector and non-governmental and development organizations through a variety of outreach activities.

The Conference Report accompanying the 2010 DHS Appropriations Act called for a Task Force responsible for “making recommendations for all levels of government regarding: disaster and emergency guidance and policy; federal grants; and federal requirements”—with an emphasis on identifying preparedness policies, guidelines and grant programs that should be updated and recommending paths forward to improve the nation’s collective capabilities for preparing for disasters.

The Task Force will conduct regular meetings and expects to deliver recommendations in September 2010.

Local, State, Tribal, and Federal Preparedness Task Force Members

Charles H. Ada II, Administrator, Guam Office of Civil Defense

Karen Baker, Secretary of Service and Volunteering, State of California

John Cary Bittick, Sheriff, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia

Dave Bunce, Fire Chief, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Fire Department, Arizona

Jeffery C. Cash, Fire Chief and Emergency Manager, City of Cherryville Fire Department, North Carolina

Salvatore Cassano, Commissioner, City of New York Fire Department

Nicholas Crossley, Director, Johnson County, Kansas, Emergency Management and Homeland Security

Edward F. Davis, Commissioner, City of Boston Police Department

Robert DesRosier, Director, Blackfeet Nation Homeland Security Program and Emergency Services Program, Montana

Patricia Dukes, Chief of Emergency Medical Services, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii

Brigadier General Donald P. Dunbar, Adjutant General, State of Wisconsin

Angela English, Executive Director, Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities

Charley English, Director and Homeland Security Advisor, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, State of Georgia

Anthony H. Griffin, County Executive, Fairfax County, Virginia

Dwight E. Henninger, Chief of Police, Town of Vail Police Department, Colorado

James D. Himes, Assistant Director, Metro Nashville and Davidson County Department of Public Works, Tennessee

Hubert Douglas Hoell, Jr., Director, North Carolina Division of Emergency Management, State of North Carolina

Jeffrey D. Johnson, Fire Chief/Administrator, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, Oregon

Hans Kallam, Director, Colorado Division of Emergency Management, State of Colorado

Ron Lane, Director, County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services, California

Joseph Laporte, Public Safety Director, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan

John. W. Ledbetter, Executive Director, Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, State of Mississippi

Pamela L‘Heureux, Director of Emergency Management, Waterboro, Maine

John Madden, Director, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, State of Alaska

Raymond Orozco, Chief of Staff, City of Chicago, Illinois

Jim Page, Executive Director, Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System

Kerry Pettingill, Director, Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security

Mary Selecky, Secretary, Washington State Department of Health

David Taylor, State Chief Information Officer and Executive Director, Agency for Enterprise Information Technology, Florida

Lyda Ann Thomas, Mayor, City of Galveston, Texas

MaryAnn E. Tierney, Deputy Managing Director for Emergency Management, City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Alan Dennis (A.D.) Vickery, Assistant Chief of Risk Management, Seattle Fire Department, Washington

John Wageman, State Hazard Mitigation Officer, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division, State of Iowa

John Wheeler, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, State of New Mexico

Thomas Wyss, State Senator, Indiana State Senate

Filed under: Classics, Etc.

For the past 30 years Motorbooks has been hosting Wheels & Wings, an annual “show-what-ya-brung car/motorcycle/truck/tractor extravaganza.” Sounds like our kind of party, “From AMCs to Zagatos, Ariels to Zundapps, Allis to Zetors (well, maybe not a Zetor) our friends and customers share their rides with our guests.” But what if you and your AMC Matador Brougham can’t make it to Osceola, Wisconsin this September 11? Once you get over the shame, fear not!

Motorbooks is asking for your help in designing a 30th Anniversary Wheels & Wings logo. Should your chicken scratching the fruits of your $160,000 private art school education be selected as the winner, Motorbooks will let you blow $500 on stuff they publish. You might remember that Basem Wasef’s hugely awesome Legendary Race Cars is published by Motorbooks. But did you know that they also sell Cars of the Soviet Union (which gets out highest recommendation)? Want to enter? Just click right here. Don’t want to enter? Check out a couple previous Wheels & Wings logos in the gallery below.

Design a logo, win $500 in Motorbooks originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geohot has released a video demo of his PS3 “custom firmware” (quotation marks are his). The video shows the Other OS feature running on a PS3 with OFW 3.21. If you’ll remember, 3.21 removed the feature from

Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedan, Buick, Beijing Motor Show

What is purported to be a new GT version of the Buick Excelle has been spotted out and about in China. The Excelle, you may recall, is a four door version of the Opel Astra. Buick has already said that the car will be coming to North America at some point, although we don’t know exactly when or what badge it will wear. The current top engine in the Excelle XT is a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four that pumps out 184 horsepower.

The new Excelle GT may be getting the 2.0-liter direct-injected turbo from the mid-sized Regal in 220-hp trim which would make the compact sedan quite the little stormer. Now, if Buick sell this one here and Ford puts the 2.0-liter EcoBoost in the upcoming Mercury compact, we could have quite the battle of lower-premium small cars in America.

The Excelle GT make get a public announcement at the Beijing Motor Show later this month. A tip of the hat to Hanif!

[Source: China Car Times]

Spy Shots: Buick Excelle GT spotted in China, 220 hp 2.0L turbo? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Segundo uma declaração que o presidente da General Motors do Brasil, Jaime Ardila, fez há um tempo atrás para o portal G1, seriam investidos R$5 bilhões de 2008 até 2012 para fazer uma renovação completa no portfólio de produtos da empresa. E por outras vezes a renovação foi comentada pela imprensa.

Mas pelo que parece, a renovação já está acontecendo com a estréia do Classic 2011, assim como alguns leitores temiam. E o que é pior: Não se sabe quais serão os outros modelos a serem lançados, mas com base no início da “renovação”, o que será do restante da linha a ser anunciada? Realmente é algo a se pensar, e a se preocupar.

O novo Classic 2011 sairá com preço de R$ 28.294, um aumento de mais de 6%, já que antes ele custaria R$ 26.623. Vamos agora aguardar as futuras novidades, e mais do que isso, torcer para que sejam realmente “novidades” para o consumidor brasileiro.

Via | Blogauto