Author: Serkadis

Amazon sure knows how to start our week right. If you head over to their page right now, you’ll see that they have Battlefield: Bad Company 2 up on sale. And you better head over there right

Riding on the popularity of their groundbreaking social data visualization service Many Eyes, data-hungry IBM just released the online visualization website Many Bills [ibm.com]. The so-called “Visual Bill Explorer” is a sophisticated social visualization of the U.S. congressional legislation in 2009. The website presents all bills from both the U.S. House and Senate, which are organized into collections and split into meaningful sections. All sections are color-coded and labelled to indicate what topic each section is about.

A bill is a piece of legislation that is presented in Congress for discussion. It is not yet law. A bill is rendered as a series of colorful blocks, each representing a section in the bill itself. The height of the block corresponds to the actual length of that particular section in relation to the entire bill. Each block is assigned a color in accordance with our classification of that section’s text. The actual subject to each section is shown as a little badge to the left of the section. At the top of each bill, a few pieces of information are displayed, including the top subject of the bill (as assigned by the Congressional Research Service), the bill’s number in congress and its short or official title (depending on availability).

Users can collect bills into personalized “trays”, which can be saved as collections, shared or even embedded into blogs and websites (see example below).

User collections can be explored, all bills can be queried for specific keywords (e.g. “military” (375 bills) or “education” (2826 bills)), and individual bills can be investigated, such the recent healthcare bill or the initiative to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress to Tiger Woods.

See also All Words Spoken in Congress, Capital Word Frequency, Parsing the State of the Union, History of the 2-Party Senate and Political Chart Wars.

There has been no one piece of technological kit that has become more synonymous with the world of business than the BlackBerry. Sometimes nicknamed the CrackBerry for the addictive effect it has on its users, the BlackBerry has come to symbolize the working world of business to such a degree that in a famous court case against the device’s manufacturers, the U.S. Department of Defence issued a statement saying that if BlackBerry was to be shut down, national security would be crippled due to the sheer number of government users.

The BlackBerry is very simple. It is a computer phone. To begin, it has the normal features of a phone and you can buy them through any normal phone provider. Vodafone for example, currently has a whole section on its website – and indeed a significant chunk of its marketing power – devoted solely to the BlackBerry, and other providers are offering similar packages. Visit the Vodafone website for their full BlackBerry range.

However, while including the standard PDA applications (address book, calendar, to-do lists, etc.) as well as phone capabilities, the BlackBerry is best known for its ability to send and receive e-mail wherever it can access a wireless network of certain cellular phone carriers. Most current BlackBerry models have a built-in QWERTY keyboard, optimized for “thumbing”, and there are also several models that include a standard cell phone keypad for typing, and one model that is a full touch-screen device with no physical keyboard.

Indeed, so ubiquitous is the BlackBerry that the company who makes it has made itself the fastest growing business in the world; pretty much off the back of one product According to business magazine Fortune, the Canadian-based RIM has come top of the magazine’s latest annual guide to the 100 fastest-growing businesses. Even in the current financial situation of doom and gloom the company has still managed growth, something that without the BlackBerry would have been totally impossible.

It is hard to see any form of competitor even beginning to approach the massive market domination that the BlackBerry has achieved, and until then there is absolutely no shame in jumping on the bandwagon.

© 2007 Freakitude dot Com.

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If you’ll remember, Koei announced back in February the delay of a couple of their games, one being Quantum Theory. There’s a semi-good news regarding this title today, as Koei has given out yet another statement announcing

News Flow [newsflow.cartagen.org] is a real-time map of news reporting, which displays both the latest top stories as well as the news organizations which covered them. All featured articles, gathered from over 200 news organizations as well as Google or Yahoo are retrieved during the last few minutes.

Arcs link the location of the news organizations’ headquarters to the places mentioned in a given article. Viewing news in this way reveals how the choice of ‘top stories’ by news bureaus is geographically unequal, or rather, what areas of the world are neglected by various national news sources.

See also News Attention Map, Vanishing Point, Google Newsmap, WSJ Timespace, NewsGlobe, What’s Up and Life24.

Two big stories recently were Google’s decision to effectively leave China and the NY Times’ agreement to pay Singapore’s leaders for daring to refer to the fact that a father and son pair had both been prime minister as a “dynasty.” The Times’ public editor is now comparing the two situations — and while he notes that Singapore is an important market for many media publications, and from a business perspective, the decision makes sense, he seems to suggest that Google got this right, while the Times got it wrong:

Google faced a similar painful dilemma in China. With potentially billions of dollars at risk, it stuck to its principles, and The Times applauded editorially. I think Google set an example for everyone who believes in the free flow of information.

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Quantic Dream’s boss David Cage is a bit skeptical of the upcoming motion-sensing peripheral from Microsoft, claiming that the company lied on it’s Natal presentation at last year’s E3 conference.
 
 

Fresh Fed minutes are coming out tomorrow, and for the first time in a while, Bernanke may not simply cut & paste what he wrote last time.

BTIG’s Mike O’Rourke warns you:

Tomorrow the FOMC minutes from the March 16^th meeting will be released.  At the time of that meeting, we noted we expected now to be an appropriate time for the Fed to begin to lay the groundwork to change the “exceptionally and extended” language.  In doing so, it will put the FOMC in a position to make a formal language change at this month’s meeting on April 28^th.  In altering the language, the FOMC will still not be expected to tighten monetary policy until October or November at the earliest.  As economic data improves, if the members want to leave themselves the room to move in 2010 if necessary, the language will need to change soon.  A very first gradual shift may have already occurred.  Last Thursday, New York Fed President and FOMC Vice Chair Bill Dudley invoked the “exceptionally and extended” language in reference to the March minutes, but more importantly, he referred to the recovery as sustainable.  “We have been very aggressive in providing support to the economy, and it now appears that a sustainable recovery is underway.”  Dudley is squarely in the dove camp, and is quick to rattle off the litany of headwinds to the recovery.  Therefore, such a notable statement could signal this early transition is occurring.  We will be looking to tomorrow’s release for additional signs.

If this happens, there’s a good chance the dollar will go nuts.

Another reason to think Bernanke will get in the raising mood soon: All those industrial commodities going nuts >

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This week we look at two brief essays for your Outside the Box. The first is my friend Barry Habib talking to us about where mortgage rates are headed. Barry gives us a very simple, but logical analysis on why rates are headed up. Then we jump to Spencer Jakab writing in the Financial Times about the problems in the municipal markets. Seems we may be under funded on our public pensions by about $3.5 trillion. As a tease to his column:

“Taking a page out of Greece’s playbook, the peeved treasurer of America’s largest state fired off letters this week to the chiefs of Goldman Sachs and other banks questioning their marketing of credit default swaps on California’s debt . The instruments, he complained, “wrongly brand our bonds as a greater risk than those issued by such nations as Kazakhstan.”

“Insulting indeed, but who exactly should be insulted?”

It helps if you have seen Borat, or at least a trailer, but the message is the same.

I am off to Phoenix and San Diego, the NYC next week, so I will be writing on the road. Have a great week.

John Mauldin, Editor
Outside the Box
(Sign up to receive Outside The Box each week by email here >)

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Where Are Rates Headed And Why?
By Barry Habib, Chairman, Mortgage Success Source

So the Fed stopped buying Mortgage Backed Securities, and people are wondering if this will affect mortgage rates. There’s been plenty of whistling past the graveyard, guesswork and denial, where so-called experts have been trying to tell us that there will be minimal – if any – change to rates.

That pipe dream is just nonsense.

Let’s look at what we can expect for mortgage rates and the overall Bond market in the months ahead. During the past fifteen months, the Fed purchased $1.25 Trillion in MBS, which represented 80% of the mortgage market. Prior to this program, mortgage rates were above 6%. Now that the Fed program has ended, it’s reasonable to assume that mortgage rates will rise back towards those levels.

Just How Much Money is $1.25 Trillion?

In today’s financial headlines – the word Trillion is often casually thrown around. So much so, that it’s easy to lose perspective on how much money this really represents. Picture a stack of $100 bills. It might surprise you to know that it only takes a stack four inches high to be worth $100,000. So $1,000,000 would be a stack of $100 bills 40 inches tall. How about a Billion? Well, you would have to stack $100 bills up to the top of the Empire State Building…twice…in order to reach a Billion. So to picture $1.25 Trillion represented by a stack of $100 bills – that stack would be 850 miles high. If you could turn that stack on its side and were able to drive alongside it, it would take you longer than 14 hours to reach the end. If you laid those $100 bills down side by side, they would travel around the world 50 times. We’re talking about a lot of money here.  

The Fed’s purchasing influence has been significant. And now in the absence of this safety net, Bond prices and mortgage rates will experience greater volatility and a gradual worsening. Adding to this is the fact that the Fed will, albeit gradually, begin to sell some of their mortgage holdings, as they reverse their quantitative easing measures. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this will pressure Bond prices…but read on, because there are additional factors at play, which will influence Bond prices lower and mortgage rates higher.

What Moves Mortgage Rates?

Mortgage Rates are not pegged to the 10-year Treasury Note, as some have reported in the media. Those in the know do understand that mortgage rates are based on the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS)…and these Mortgage Bonds are influenced by many different factors.

They respond quite well to technical signals as well as Stock market volatility, as money can be drawn from or parked into Mortgage Bonds. Certainly, the news and inflation implications also play a heavy role in influencing Mortgage Backed Securities.

And just like the aforementioned influential factors, Treasuries can also play a role in the price direction of Mortgage Bonds. Last year, the 10-year Treasury Note was at approximately 2.2% and has since moved towards 4%. During this time, mortgage rates have been virtually unchanged.  But now, Treasuries are offering yields that are close to the current Mortgage Backed Security rates, which are offered to investors.

Let’s take a moment to understand the difference between the mortgage rate a borrower pays and the coupon yield on a Mortgage Backed Security that an investor receives. If a borrower pays 5.25% on their loan, only 4.5% of that is passed on as a coupon yield to the investor. This is because the mortgage loan servicer (that’s who you make your payment to) takes a piece of the action. Additionally – the aggregators of these loans, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac take a piece as well. And let’s not forget the folks on Wall Street, who need to get paid for underwriting, securitizing and selling this paper.

We know that Treasuries are backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government and are free from state income tax. And the 10-Year Treasury Note, while clearly not pegged to Mortgage Backed Securities, does offer investors a competitive alternative with a similar maturity period to Mortgage Backed Securities. But because of greater safety and tax advantages, the 10-Year Note will always trade at a lower yield than Mortgage Backed Securities, and therefore put a floor beneath how low Mortgage Backed Security coupon yields and corresponding home loan rates for borrowers can go.

The US is spending at an unprecedented rate – and its spending money it doesn’t have. This means that more and more Treasuries will continuously need to be auctioned off. And in order to entice buyers to keep absorbing this supply, yields will very likely need to continue higher, just as they have for over the past year.

Additionally – sovereign debt has come into question.  Downgrades in the sovereign debt of both Greece and Portugal are a warning to the US that the same can happen here, which would drive the cost of borrowing much higher. Our government currently spends $1.49 for each $1.00 it brings in.  Our debt is now 57% of GDP…and rising. Does anyone really believe that Treasury yields are headed lower? As Treasury yields move higher from their current levels, mortgage backed security coupon yields will also need to move higher in order for investors to want to purchase them.    

The Ever-Important Carry Trade

While the Fed’s end of the MBS purchase program and eventual selling of MBS – along with an almost certain move higher in Treasury yields – all tell us that mortgage rates are headed higher, there is another important element that could have an even greater influence in moving yields higher and prices lower throughout the Bond market. It’s called an unwinding of the “carry trade.” The low interest rate environment in the US has provided fertile ground for the carry trade, where large investors can borrow at very low rates, and leverage into higher yields, resulting in huge returns.

Let’s take an example: An investor wishes to purchase $1M in Mortgage Bonds yielding 4.5%. This would provide $45,000 as an annual return. In order to make the purchase, the investor puts up only 10% of $1M, or $100,000 in cash – and borrows the other $900,000 at the Fed Funds Rate + 2%, for example – which would be a borrowing cost of 2.25% or $20,250. This investor receives a $45,000 return, but subtracts a $20,250 cost to borrow $900,000 – leaving them with a net return of $24,750. Remember, the investor needed only to invest 10% of the $1M purchase – or $100,000 in cash. This gives the investor a whopping 24.75% return on their investment in a boring little old Mortgage Bond. And of course, this “carry trade” can be used in other securities as well.  

While the investor understands that there are always market risks at play – the juicy 24.75% yield cushion gives them much added comfort to stay in the trade. But the biggest risk for the investor is if their borrowing costs – which are based on the Fed Funds Rate – were to rise.

When the Fed starts to hike rates, it will signal the beginning of a tightening cycle. A few Fed hikes can cause the yield cushion to quickly evaporate…and the decline in Bond values from overall higher yields could turn the trade from highly profitable to highly costly in a very short period of time. So why do these carry trade investors have such a care free attitude and confident air? It’s because Ben Bernanke and the Fed have assured them that there is nothing to fear. How did the Fed do that?

Via “Fed Speak,” these carry trade investors hear that “conditions warrant exceptionally low rates for an extended period of time.” Translation: your biggest fear – that a hike in the Fed Funds Rate, which increases your borrowing costs and wipes out your gains – won’t happen anytime soon. It’s this “extended period” verbiage that is keeping the carry trade in place. When the Fed removes the “extended period” language, this will signal that hikes will begin in the near future, and that risk will prompt investors to begin to “unwind” their carry trade holdings. This will include the selling of Mortgage Backed Securities, which will assuredly push yields higher still.

When will the Fed remove the “extended period” language? It may happen sooner than you think. Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig has officially dissented to the “extended period” language at the last two Fed meetings. And recently, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, while yet to officially dissent, has stated that he feels “extended period” is inappropriate language and should be replaced by “data dependent.” And there have been grumblings from other Fed members, who are growing more concerned that leaving rates too low for too long can spawn asset bubbles or inflation down the road.

What It All Comes Down To

When all the factors are considered – the chances of higher interest rates are a virtual lock. And anyone in the market to borrow should consider acting sooner rather than later. With such low rates still in our hands…and all these various factors pointing at the inevitable fact of rates moving higher…you have to wonder what people sitting on the sidelines are waiting for?

It brings to mind the closing scene of the movie “Dumb and Dumber,” where two good-hearted but incredibly stupid heroes Lloyd and Harry are hitch-hiking, when along pulls up a bus full of beautiful Hawaiian Tropic models in bikinis. The models tell Lloyd and Harry that they are looking for two “oil boys” to lube them up before each of their photo shoots on the tour.  Lloyd and Harry explain that there is a town down the road, where they should be able to find two lucky guys to help them out. As the bus pulls away, Lloyd and Harry look at each other and declare that one day their opportunity will come – they just have to keep their eyes open.

Here’s hoping you have your eyes wide open to take advantage of this fleeting opportunity…before it’s gone.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• "Foreclosure Wave About To Hit With Thunderous Roar"
• U.K. Housing Heading For A Double Dip
• The 12 Markets Already In A Housing Double Dip

In the past when discussing different ways to potentially improve the patent system, I’ve pointed out that one of the key points in determining whether or not something is patent worthy is supposedly whether or not the invention would be “non-obvious” to a “person having ordinary skill in the art.” And, yet, at no point in the patent review process does the average examiner — who quite often does not have ordinary skill in the art — ever go out and ask those who do. That always troubled me. So, I thought one (of quite a few) useful improvements to the system would be to let patent examiners call on certain folks who work in various fields. Now, this wouldn’t be to have that person give a total thumbs up or thumbs down on the patent. That would still be reserved for the examiner. But, at least hear some knowledgeable people out on whether or not the idea is obvious.

Stephen Burch has sent over a blog post he did with possible ways to improve the quality and utility of software patents, which has a similar, but slightly different take, that could conceivably be more effective. It would involve seeing if skilled programmers, given the general problem, could explain a similar method of solving the problem:

The patent office should create a pool of programmers and keep a database of their related skills. When a software patent is submitted, the patent office searches the database for programmers with skills in those related areas, then selects three to five programmers to perform the blind study. The study would involve giving the selected programmers the problem that the patent seeks to solve and some amount of time (24-48 hours or varying based on complexity) to outline or pseudo-code a solution. If none of the selected programmers are able to determine the solution described in the patent, then the non-obvious prong of the patent would be met. This would prevent patents that do obvious things with new technologies from being granted.

Take Apple for example. Apple creates some new technology, say a touch-screen smart phone, that is rightfully protected by patents. Then it goes on to patent the software that interfaces with this technology. The problem with these second patents is that they are obvious. Apple has basically patented doing something with a finger on a touch-screen that people have been doing for years with a mouse on standard computers. I don’t believe that just because the technology is patentable, various ways of interfacing with that technology are de facto patentable. A proposed blind study approach, using programmers willing to work for free just to ensure the quality of software patents, would prevent such obvious patents from being granted.

This might be worth an experiment, but I wonder how well it would work in practice. It would seem like a big commitment on the part of participating software developers who (one assumes) already have jobs. In some sense, it goes back to the problem of software patents simply not scaling. Still, it seemed like an idea worth tossing out there for discussion.

By the way, that post is actually the fourth in a series of posts that Stephen wrote on software patents. The first three seemed more like background posts, but if you want to see them, there’s an introductory post followed by a post on the effect of software patents on innovation and another post on that same subject, all leading up to his suggestions for potentially saving some forms of software patents. It’s also worth noting that the suggestion above is not his only suggestion. He also combines it with a shorter duration for software patents. As I said, I’m not convinced it would work, but it’s a different sort of idea that seemed worth discussing.

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Over the weekend at WonderCon 2010, Sony Pictures debuted the trailer of Resident Evil: Afterlife, the latest film adaptation of the highly successful horror game franchise from Capcom. Check out the trailer after the jump.
 

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Europe, Mini

It wasn’t long after the Mini Coupe and Roadster debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show that word began to spread Mini was looking to put both models into production as early as next year. Thanks to our sources across the pond, we’ve secured the first images of the production variants before they arrive at the European patent office.

Neither model appears to have changed much in the transition from concept to production, and depending on your opinion of their respective rears, that could be a blessing or a curse.

The front fascias, fenders, windshields and side skirts have only been slightly toned down before hitting retailers, but their awkward rear ends still leave much to be desired. Unfortunately, there are no images of the interior yet, so we don’t have a clear idea of how Mini plans to manage the rear seat accommodations, but like previous iterations of the Cooper, style may take precedence over substance.

If all goes according to plan, expect to see both the Roadster and Coupe to arrive in production guise early in 2011 packing Mini’s entire range of naturally aspirated and turbocharged 1.6-liter four-pots.

Patent drawings reveal production Mini Speedster and Coupe originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 4.5.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of our biggest complaints about the way intellectual property policy is handled around the world is how little of it is evidence-based. It almost appears entirely based on the idea that patents and copyrights must be “good” and thus “more” must be “better.” Yet there is, at this point, overwhelming evidence of the harm caused by these policies, and there is almost never any attempt to actually address that and reconcile this with the fact that the Constitution is clear that copyrights and patents are only there to help “promote the progress.”

Given all this, it’s interesting to hear, via Jamie Love, that the USPTO has hired economist Stuart Graham to the newly created position of “chief economist.” Love notes that Graham’s appointment comes with the mandate to compile economic data while doing a true economic analysis of patents for the USPTO. This seems like a good thing. I did a quick search on Graham’s previous research and came up with a a listing of some of his research — and at a first pass, it bodes well. He’s done work on how post-grant opposition to patents can improve quality of patents (pdf) and also has done research on patents in the pharmaceutical world, noting that there is a disconnect between patents and actual product development. In fact, that same study found that increased R&D doesn’t appear to be an indicator of greater product development at all. This is an important finding — because plenty of studies have shown that patents may increase R&D in an area, but there’s is little evidence (if any) that patents actually increase innovation in any area. A while back, he also looked into the economic evidence on software patents (pdf) and appears to be at least skeptical of the need for software patents — though, he also admits that a lot more evidence is needed there (and worries that there could be harm in just getting rid of software patents too).

Anyway, he’s done a lot of research in this area, and definitely does seem to really be focused on evidence-based policy. Hopefully, having him on staff at the USPTO, and continuing to do this kind of work, while introducing a more evidence-based approach to how patents really impact “progress,” the USPTO can start to move away from supporting the faith-based approach of “patents must be good for innovation and progress,” towards focusing on policies that actually do lead to greater innovation.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Performance, Wagon, Europe, Saab, Luxury

As you may have guessed by now, we’re very excited over the prospect of a reinViggenated reinvigorated Saab. Our thinking is, now that Trollhattan is free of General Motors, it will get back to the business of making niche three- and five-door hatches coveted by post-grad Ivy League types with mega-potent turbos blowing into longitudinal, slanty I-4s spinning the front wheels. Even if our entire Saabian wish list isn’t fulfilled, a fully independent Saab can only result in better focused cars. For instance, the 9-7X SUV will stay dead and buried.

Of course, even if the 9-7X was something of an abomination, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t Saabophiles out there that seek the all-weatherness of all-wheel drive combined with a lot of cargo hauling capability. While we suggest those people first seek out a Volvo C303, Saab’s thinking different. Badly translated reports are fluttering that not only is Saab building a 9-5X (Saab chose to brand their AWD vehicles with XWD, or “Cross-Wheel Drive” – a fancy way of saying Haldex version 4.0) that will presumably be a performance variant, but they’re also apparently set to build a XWD-equipped 9-5X SportCombi (station wagon) that will do battle with up-armored station wagons like the Audi Allroad and Volvo XC70.

The 9-5X SportCombi will be separate from the apparently still forthcoming Saab 9-4X, an actual SUV-looking CUV built on the same platform as the Cadillac SRX. It looks as if the 9-4X will be the only new Saab product not built in Sweden. One more little tidbit: As Saab wrestles itself back to its former glory, they might just be dropping the hyphenated names. Meaning that the next 9-3 might actually be billed as the Saab 93, and that this whole time we’ve been talking about the new 95X. Time will tell.

[Source: Autoweek.nl]

Saab planning XWD-equipped 9-5X wagon? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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externsteine

Between Neo-Pagans and Neo-Nazis these strange rock formations have a curious cult following, and a very strange history

Externsteine, translated variously as “stones of the Egge” or, less convincingly, the “Star Stones”, is a series of pillar-like rock formations that jut up from the surrounding German forest. No mere geological curiousity, Externsteine is also reputed to be an ancient and sacred palaeolithic worshiping ground, an astronomical calendar, and the location of a sacred pagan pillar known as an “Irminsul”. Externsteine is a current mecca for Neo-pagans, Neo-Nazis and neo-pagan-Nazis.
In actuality the pre-history of these rocks is largely unknown, and archaeological digs have turned up little to suggest they were of any great meaning to paleolithic peoples. The odd rock formations were probably used as an occasional shelter until the late 700’s when Christian monks settled at Externsteine and carved stairs and reliefs into the great stones. The site would continue to change purpose, serving as a fortress, pleasure palace and prison before becoming something even stranger: a place famed for its history and spiritual significance despite the fact that the “history” is largely a fiction created by Nazi Occultists.
The lack of evidence as to the ancient importance of the Externsteine rocks didn’t stop Heinrich Himmler from declaring otherwise. Himmler was the head of the Nazi’s occult division “Ahnenerbe”, a Nazi think tank that promoted itself as a “study society for Intellectual Ancient History.” In reality it was a psuedo-scientific organization devoted to finding, or fabricating, a glorious Germanic past. One of the sites the society identified as an important location of ancient Teutonic activitwas Externsteine and the “Externsteine Foundation” was set up to “investigate.”
Pulled into the bizarre space where Nazism and Occult pseudo-history overlapped, the actual history of Externsteine was overshadowed by an entirely imagined ancient Teutonic history. Even the carvings of the monks were incorporated by Nazi pseudo-historian Himmler, with one in particular said to depict Christianity crushing a Teutonic pagan God-pillar known as an “Irminsul.” So far invested into this pseudo-history was Nazi Germany that according to author Gary R. Varner the Nazi Youth gathered at Externsteine to sing pagan hymns during the solstice and on Hitler’s birthday.
Today the site remains in much the same historical chaos, with devotees of both Neo-Paganism and Neo-Nazism making pilgrimage to the site. Of course, other folks visit as well, and the site is fascinating even without the fictive history and cultural importance imputed to it. Made of five limestone pillars, the tallest over 100 feet tall, the site does indeed contain a number of astronomical elements (when they were created is still unclear) including a 20 inch window that aligns with the sun on the summer solstice. In addition the stairs and relief carvings made by the monks add a real sense of meaning and awe to the place that have nothing to do with the crazed dreams of Nazi occultists.
There is a Woodstock-like festival at Externsteine every year on the summer solstice.

Read more about externsteine on Atlas Obscura…

Category: Natural Wonders, Geological Oddities, Strange Science, Hoaxes and Pseudoscience, Lost Tribes, Curious Places of Worship, Incredible Ruins, Outsider Architecture
Location: Horn-Bad Meinberg, Germany
Edited by: ack sed, Karen, Dylan

Filed under: SUV, Truck, Safety, GM

It isn’t a recall at the moment, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reportedly looking into more than six million General Motors pickups and SUVs over brake line corrosion concerns. According to The Detroit News, the models in question date from 1999 to 2003, and they have been noted in 110 complaints and three alleged crashes due to a loss of braking performance. In 37 of those cases, inspecting dealers have confirmed brake line failures.

GM is apparently cooperating with NHTSA’s investigation, and while 110 reported issues is a tiny fraction of 6.2 million, if you have one of the vehicles in question don’t be afraid to have it looked at.

[Source: The Detroit News]

NHTSA reportedly opens probe into 6.2M GM vehicles over corroded brake lines originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedan, China, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury

The Chinese market has always had a penchant for stretched-wheelbase versions of luxury sedans, adding a bit of wheelbase to everything from Buicks and Volvos to BMWs and Audis. The most recent vehicle to go on the rack is the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Apparently the Benz is lagging a bit in the sales department, trailing even Audi, a company it usually bests handily.

For that reason, China Car Times is reporting that Mercedes is planning on giving the E-Class some “Chinese characteristics.” Beijing-Benz is said to be readying a Chinese-built E300L, pictured here. Audi has had a lot of success in China with its recently introduced A4L and A6L, while BMW has already released a lengthened 5 Series and is said to be planning a similarly elongated 3 in the near future. Being chauffeur driven is a sign of wealth in China, so having a mini limo shows status, hence the longer-wheelbase versions of luxury sedans being so popular. But just like the A4L and stretched 5er, there’s no chance that the E-Class L will make it to the States.

[Source: China Car Times]

Spy Shots: Long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz E Class spotted getting ready for China originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back at the beginning of March, we wrote about a study that noted that since the French Hadopi (three strikes) law had technically gone into effect, it appeared that unauthorized file trading had increased — though it had shifted to other means (ones not covered by Hadopi). As we noted in that post, while Hadopi was technically in effect, no enforcement had begun due to data privacy questions. Still, it seemed telling to see the shift in how people were trading files to get around the law. A few days ago, some news sites re-discovered that study and so it got some more attention — leading the IFPI to start trying to play a neat game of misdirection. Ars Technica points us to a statement from the IFPI mocking anyone who takes such a report seriously:

“It is nonsense to suggest that a study conducted before the HADOPI authority has sent a letter to a single infringing user is somehow a definitive judgment on the success or otherwise of France’s digital piracy laws…. We believe the approach will prove successful, but the impact of the law will only be known some time after it goes into effect. In the meantime, surveys like this are pure speculation.”

Now, this is the IFPI we’re talking about, and if ever there were an organization that knows something about studies that are “pure speculation,” it would be the IFPI. Every year the IFPI comes out with one of the more laughable reports on the “impact” of file sharing. The 2010 report is particularly full of baseless speculation, such as claiming that file sharing “harmed” some of the best selling music and movies in the last couple of years.

So, forgive us for asking why we should ignore the baseless speculation from one side, while we’re expect to assume that the IFPI’s own baseless speculation is pure gold?

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From Diana Olick at CNBC: Let the Short Sales Begin

I’m … starting to hear rumblings among the number crunchers that the wave of foreclosures we keep hearing about is about to hit with a thunderous roar.

Servicers are ramping up the mod process and pushing those who don’t qualify out the door more quickly than ever.

Keep reading at Calculated Risk >

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