Author: Serkadis

Scott Huber will have to find a new protest site.

A DuPage County judge Wednesday ordered the downtown Naperville squatter to stay 500 feet away from Benton House medical offices at 4 N. Washington St. and to have no contact with a doctor working there.

Huber, 59, is in the midst of a court hearing on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct at the office, stemming from a Feb. 1 incident.

He has been living on Naperville streets for more than eight years. He says he is not homeless but is a protester denouncing injustices by city government.

After the city passed a ban last fall on camping in the downtown area, he moved his protest site to the corner of Washington Street and Benton Avenue outside the medical office.

On Feb. 1, a doctor there asked him to leave but he refused. Prosecutor John Botti on Wednesday told Associate Judge Karen M. Wilson that Huber followed the doctor into the office shouting her name and banging on a glass door.

He was arrested Feb. 11 and spent less than an hour in jail before paying 10 percent of his $2,000 bond. Last week, prosecutors asked that as a condition of his bond he keep away from the office and the doctor.

Botti said Wednesday Huber has been glaring at the doctor and she is “in fear for her safety,” now using a police escort when entering and exiting the building.

Botti also took issue with Huber making Internet posts about the doctor and sitting outside her office with a sign calling on people to boycott her. He said Huber’s actions constitute harassment of a witness, a Class 3 felony.

Huber has denied the allegations in the Feb. 1 incident and says he has not had any verbal or eye contact with the doctor since that time.

Dana Fortunato, the public defender representing Huber, told the judge Wednesday that Huber’s actions have been passive and he has a right to express his opinions.

Wilson ultimately granted Botti’s request. She ordered Huber to stay 500 feet away from Benton House and to have no contact with the doctor.

“The allegations, if true, are aggravating,” Wilson said.

She told Huber if he violates the order she will revoke or increase his bond. If Botti feels there is witness harassment, she said, he can file charges accordingly.

Huber told the judge he understood her orders but objects. She told him she will hear his arguments as the case proceeds.

Following the hearing, he called Wilson’s ruling “unfair and totally excessive.”

Huber is due back in court in April to answer to the trespassing and disorderly conduct charges.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Prosecutors filed a pair of misdemeanor charges against former Island Lake mayor Thomas Hyde, claiming that during a Christmas party, he grabbed and insulted a man who had been subpoenaed in the investigation of his activities.

Hyde’s attorney, Charles Smith of Waukegan, protested the filings Wednesday and said the incident was blown out of proportion.

The charges – battery and attempted unlawful communication with a witness – are the latest in a series of legal woes for Hyde. He was acquitted of forgery and official misconduct last summer, and is accused along with his wife in a ghost payrolling scheme.

Assistant State’s Attorney Christen Bishop said Hyde was at a Dec. 11 Christmas party for village employees at Sideouts, 4108 Roberts Road. Bishop said Hyde walked up behind a 46-year-old village contractor who was subpoenaed during the Hyde investigation but did not testify in the first trial.

Hyde put his arm around the man’s neck and got the man into a headlock, Bishop said, and said derogatory things to him as he held the man’s head against his chest.

Bishop said the man pushed away, recognized it was Hyde who had been holding him and reported it to police Dec. 15.

Smith said his client, who is awaiting trial on charges he voted as mayor and village trustee to pay his wife for hours she did not work as director of the village-run preschool, did nothing illegal in the encounter.

“He put his arm around somebody at a Christmas party and said unkind things to him,” Smith said. “There was no violence and there were about 50 witnesses.”

Smith also challenged the timing of the charges, telling Circuit Judge Fred Foreman the event “Was so serious it took four days to report,” and happened more than two months ago.

Bishop said the incident had been turned over to the Lake County sheriff’s office for “a thorough, independent investigation,” that was fully reviewed by her office.

She told Foreman she had considered filing “certain felony charges,” against Hyde, but declined to elaborate after the court hearing.

She said both new charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine upon conviction.

Also on Wednesday, Foreman denied a motion to dismiss the theft of government property, making of false statements and official misconduct charges against Sharon Hyde.

Smith had argued the state waited too long to charge her with falsifying her pay records over a 10-year period and collecting $114,000 she did not earn between 1999 and 2009.

Smith also said Sharon Hyde was a salaried employee of the village and the hours she worked were irrelevant to the amount she was paid.

But Foreman ruled the statute of limitations on filing charges does not begin to run until the final act in a series of alleged acts is committed, and the issue of Sharon Hyde’s pay status with the village was for a jury to decide.

Both Hydes are due in court April 7. A tentative trial date in Sharon Hyde’s case is set for July 26. She faces a mandatory prison sentence of six to 30 years if convicted of all the charges against her. Thomas Hyde could face up to five years if convicted of official misconduct and having a prohibited interest in contracts.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

We’ve covered some of the better comments to the USTR over the Special 301 report, such as the submission from the CCIA. But, of course, there were some ridiculous submissions as well — and at the top of the list has to be the submission from the IIPA — the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a trade association/lobbying group of trade associations/lobbying groups (including the RIAA, MPAA, BSA, ESA and NMPA) that proudly highlights how it has filed comments for the Special 301 report since such things began in 1988. But what’s stunning is what the report effectively admits. Even though it claims to want to focus on ways to cut down on copyright infringement, the details show it wants the exact opposite. That’s because in reports on a variety of countries, the IIPA seems to suggest that policies encouraging or mandating the use of open source software is somehow a bad thing.

But if your goal is to actually reduce infringement, then wouldn’t you want to encourage the use of legal software? And by encouraging the use of open source software, you are making it that much less likely that infringement will be a problem, since the software will be cheaper. Basically, the IIPA is flat out admitting that it’s not actually interested in reduced copyright infringement. It’s abusing the USTR’s Special 301 process to set up protectionist policies for the companies and organizations it represents — and trying to use that process to deny efforts to actually reduce infringement.

This is really incredible when you think about it. Even though the USTR 301 report is supposed to be about figuring out ways to reduce infringement in countries around the world, the IIPA is trying to shoehorn open source software into the mix, claiming that it’s somehow worse than infringing. While many of the IIPA’s complaints have to do with mandates for open source software, it even goes after Indonesia, which is just recommending gov’t agencies consider open source software — and here, the IIPA basically exposes its agenda even further:

It encourages a mindset that does not give due consideration to the value to intellectual creations. As such, it fails to build respect for intellectual property rights…

Yes, you read that right. The IIPA is claiming that telling people to consider open source technologies — which are not at all “anti-intellectual property rights” — “fails to build respect for intellectual property rights” and doesn’t properly value intellectual creations. In other words, in the eyes of the IIPA, properly licensed software that happens to be under an open source license is worse than infringing because of its price.

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Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Tata

Back in November, it was first reported that former Opel CEO Carl-Peter Forster would join Tata Motors to run its British operations at Jaguar–Land Rover. While nothing came of that rumor, last week Forster was named as the new CEO of the parent company Tata Motors with responsibility for all of its automotive operations including JLR.

Forster left Opel last fall following the collapse of the deal to sell a majority to stake to Magna International, and he was reportedly very angry at the way the U.S. management handled the whole deal.

Forster had been with Opel for eight years following a 13-year stint at BMW. You can read more in the official Tata press release after the jump.

[Source: Tata Motors]

Continue reading Ex-Opel boss Carl-Peter Forster takes over as CEO at Tata Motors

Ex-Opel boss Carl-Peter Forster takes over as CEO at Tata Motors originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After taking a breather, Australia is set to resume tightening rates next week:

The Herald Sun:

THE Reserve Bank will almost certainly lift the official interest rate by 25 points next Tuesday.

 Both the governor Glenn Stevens and his deputy Ric Battellino have ‘told us so.’

Not, obviously, in specific words. Indeed they haven’t even yet ‘told’ their fellow board members. The management’s recommendation will be finalised and sent to board members today.

Further, any prediction of what might emerge from Tuesday’s meeting has to carry one big and one small asterisk.

Read more >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Tightening Cycle Is About To Begin Again, And It Will Start In Australia
• Gold Powers Higher After Australia’s Decision To Keep The Money Spigot Open
• Australia Stuns The World By Announcing Un-Official End To The Rate-Hike Cycle

The Illinois House voted overwhelmingly today to scale back the free-rides-for-seniors program on public transit systems that ex-Gov. Blagojevich put in place.

The House voted 83-27, with three other representatives voting present, to move legislation pushed by Rep. Suzanne Bassi (R-Palatine) on to the Illinois Senate.

Under Bassis plan, low-income seniors still could ride public buses and trains for free, but more-affluent seniors would pay half-fare.

Anyone making under $27,610 a year or a couple making $36,635 would continue to be able to ride for free.

Bassi said the move would save the cash-strapped Regional Transportation Authority $37 million a year. The transit agency is running a roughly $90 million annual deficit.

Its going to take the whole system down if we dont correct it now, Bassi said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the CTA board formally met today with the leader of the CTAs bus drivers union for the first time since staffing and service cuts were imposed more than two weeks ago, but they didnt agree on much, and no further meetings are planned, a spokeswoman for the transit agency said.

Darrell Jefferson, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, told CTA chairman Terry Peterson that the union wont agree to any salary cuts or other concessions sought by the agency to bring back workers and restore service cuts, CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said.

The union, unfortunately, made it clear they wont make concessions necessary to bring back employees and restore service, Gaffney said.

Jefferson has said he might call a strike vote Monday. The head of the L workers union, though, has said he wont seek a strike vote in the wake of the Feb. 7 service cuts and 1,057 layoffs.

The bus drivers, meanwhile, said it plans to file a series of major lawsuits against the CTA, accusing the agency of contract violations.

One thing the two sides did agree on today: to work together to lobby Springfield and Washington, D.C., for more transit money.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

CHICAGO (AP)  — Health officials say swine flu is on its last legs in Illinois, but the virus is still circulating and is still deadly.

Three new deaths reported last week pushed the state’s swine flu death toll above 100 for the first time. Most who died from the virus were between the ages of 25 and 64, and most had other health problems.

The Illinois Department of Public Health says 44 of the deaths were in Cook County. Nineteen deaths were in counties surrounding Chicago, 15 were in northwest Illinois, 12 were in central Illinois and 11 were in the southern part of the state. One death was recorded with no information about region.

Fifty-two of the fatalities were whites, 21 were Latinos, 19 were blacks and one was Asian. The others were unknown or there was no information.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

CHICAGO (STMW)  — The Illinois House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to scale back the free-rides-for-seniors program on public transit systems that ex-Gov. Blagojevich put in place.

The House voted 83-27, with three other representatives voting “present,” to move legislation pushed by Rep. Suzanne Bassi (R-Palatine) on to the Illinois Senate.

Under Bassi’s plan, low-income seniors still could ride public buses and trains for free, but more-affluent seniors would pay half-fare. Anyone making under $27,610 a year or a couple making $36,635 would continue to be able to ride for free.

Bassi said the move would save the cash-strapped Regional Transportation Authority $37 million a year. The transit agency is running a roughly $90 million annual deficit.

“It’s going to take the whole system down if we don’t correct it now,” Bassi said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the CTA board formally met today with the leader of the CTA’s bus drivers union for the first time since staffing and service cuts were imposed more than two weeks ago, but they didn’t agree on much and no further meetings are planned, a spokeswoman for the transit agency said.

Darrell Jefferson, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, told CTA chairman Terry Peterson that the union won’t agree to any salary cuts or other concessions sought by the agency to bring back workers and restore service cuts, CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said.

“The union, unfortunately, made it clear they won’t make concessions necessary to bring back employees and restore service,” Gaffney said.

Jefferson has said he might call a strike vote Monday. The head of the L workers union, though, has said he won’t seek a strike vote in the wake of the Feb. 7 service cuts and 1,057 layoffs.

The bus drivers, meanwhile, said it plans to file a “series of major lawsuits against the CTA,” accusing the agency of contract violations.

One thing the two sides did agree on today: to work together to lobby Springfield and Washington, D.C., for more transit money.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

CHICAGO (WBBM)  — A former teacher at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago has been accused of sexual abuse in a civil lawsuit. The alleged victim: a 22-year-old suburban woman who says she was abused when she was a teenager.

With her face shielded from the cameras, the young woman told reporters why she is filing a lawsuit against the man she says is twice her age – the former teacher at a Chicago Roman Catholic high school who she says abused her when she was a minor.

“Because it’s slowly ruined my life. I’ve lost my self-worth and everything. And I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. I want to stop it from happening to anyone else.”

The lawsuit accuses Mother McAuley High School of being aware of an inappropriate relationship between the teacher and student – and trying to separate them – but never notifying the student’s parents.

The young woman, who is now 22, is filing the lawsuit as a Jane Doe. As she spoke to reporters, her parents and boyfriend stood with her – all with their backs to the cameras, all anonymous.

Likewise, Newsradio 780 is not naming the accused.

Newsradio 780 has asked Mother McAuley High School for reaction.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

WINFIELD (STMW)  — A 28-year-old west suburban man was killed when he was struck by a freight train in west suburban Winfield on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident happened about 11 a.m. on the Union Pacific West Line tracks near Winfield Road. The victim, described as a pedestrian, was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the DuPage County Coroner’s office.

He was identified as Brandon Gibbons, 28, of Carol Stream, according to Winfield police.

The incident delayed multiple Metra West Line trains, which share the tracks in the area, according to Metra’s Web site.

An autopsy was scheduled to be performed Wednesday but results were not available as of about 1:45 p.m., according to the coroner’s office.

Winfield police are investigating and no additional details were being released as of Wednesday afternoon.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Authorities have closed part of Dundee Road in Palatine while crews work to shut off a natural gas leak.

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the westbound lanes were closed between Rand and Baldwin roads, but Palatine Deputy Fire Chief Randy Freise said he expects them to be reopened within the hour.

The incident occurred around 1 p.m. when construction crews working on the north side of Dundee Road struck a natural gas line. Firefighters initially thought damage was done to a major line, but downgraded the call when they discovered the leak affected only a smaller line serving a business.

No buildings had to be evacuated and authorities determined there are no safety hazards, though residents did contact authorities complaining about the smell.

Nicor crews are at the scene working to repair the leak.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

(NSF, February 19, 2010) Today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Board (NSB) released the policy-oriented companion piece to its biennial publication, Science and Engineering Indicators (SEI). SEI 2010 was delivered to the President and to Congress and disseminated broadly on Jan. 15.  Carrying out its congressional mandate to oversee the collection of a very broad set of quantitative information about the U.S. science, engineering and technology enterprise, the NSB publishes the data and trends every two years in the SEI. When the data reveal trends that raise important policy concerns the NSB believes should be brought to the attention of the President, Congress and the public, it develops and shares a “companion” policy statement to the SEI.  Click here to read more…

By Britt Liggett

(Inhabitat, February 22, 2010) You may already know this, but our power grid system has been largely left alone for half a century. We’re using inefficient grid technology to try to thread power across our country and in the process are losing precious energy and a lot of cash. As part of the infamous American Reinvestment and Recovery Act–or Stimulus–Obama smartly set aside 3.4 billion dollars to invest in smart grid technology in 2010 and beyond. That block of funding was matched by industry money and private investment to total over $8 billion in funding for everything from installation of smart meters to funding for manufacturing processes.  Click here to read more…

The National Building Museum hosted a tour of the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, a $600 million-plus, 580,000-square foot exhibition hall, learning center, and events space designed by architecture firm RTKL. The high costs were caused by the expanded scope of the project (there were more than 3,000 changes to the initial project) and heavy security requirements needed after 9/11 and the shooting of two Capitol Hill police officers. Of the more than 580,000 square feet of space, only a third is open to the public. The other two-thirds includes new space for storage, infrastructure, and security, and offices only available to Capitol Hill representatives and their staffers.

The Visitor Center required digging 70-feet into the earth. Excavating the 5-acre site involved moving 53,000 truckloads of Potomac clay soil. Due to the local clay soil, which doesn’t absorb water well, lakes formed where digging had occured, attracting migrating geese and other birds. Tom Fontana, director of communications for the Visitor Center, said “we were afraid the dig site would be declared a wetland.”  

Much of the original Capitol was built with slave labor, and, as a result, the central hall is called “Emancipation Hall.” Heavy security almost meant the removal of the skylights that bring natural light into Emancipation Hall and give visitors unique views of the Capitol dome. “After 9/11, there was a move towards removing the skylights from the plan — they were viewed as a security breach. After several re-designs, they discovered they needed to preserve views of the Capitol if they were going to avoid creating a bunker feeling,” said Fontana. Additionally, the dense, multi-layered glass was specially re-designed to withstand pedestrian bombs or the weight of an SUV. “The glass will shatter not scatter” if there is an attack.

The interior of the new building definitely feels like Fort Knox in places. There is more than 200,000 square feet of sandstone from a quarry in Western Pennsylvania, which helps create the extra-solid feel. “We used stone that has inconsistencies, imperfections, stone that would have been rejected by many buildings.” This is because the stone used in the original Capitol buldings also include flaws.

Some of the expanded costs can be linked to issues relocating historic trees and fitting members’ parking spaces into the new design. “We spent $30 million clearing the grounds and relocating trees planted by Congressional representatives or Presidents.” These historic trees “couldn’t have just been turned into pencils” but had to uprooted and moved. “We spent $40,000 moving one historic tree one hundred feet.” One key Capitol Hill staffer also almost held up the project because her car, which wouldn’t be moved from its pre-assigned place, was getting dusty from all the construction work.

Updating the air systems to handle anthrax attacks required an additional $40 million. Air systems had to be moved to secure locations deep within the building, and air is now funneled from somewhere on the top of the Capitol dome into the building at a rate of 60 miles per hour. 

In terms of design, some of the more interesting elements in the new spaces were inspired by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed the original Capitol Hill landscape architecture, and his use of natural rock face in some walls. “Olmsted saw nature on the site as a respite from the city’s colossal structures.”

There was controversy about what the new Visitor Center would do to Olmsted’s original vision. Olmsted removed some 400 trees to create the axis on site and leave clear views of the Capitol building, accessible via paths that slow access to the main building. ”Olmsted’s original plan broke the tyranny of the grid, creating arcing paths. You can see similar designs on Yale and Stanford’s campuses.”

To preserve his original designs, Olmsted-related societies and other historic preservation groups got involved, asking the Capitol design team to insert minimal “slits” for escalators that would then gradually bring visitors down into the center. Instead, the new designs cut two deep and relatively wide troughs leading to the center. Olmsted’s “teardrop” ovals remain intact though, making any procession to the Capitol intentionally slow (as was originally designed). Additionally, the pedestrian plaza is now framed by rails, benches and lighting details from the original 1840’s design.

Fontana concluded that if the design alters the original Olmsted plan, it keeps to its intentions by keeping the focus on the Capitol and preserving access. Also, “aspects of the original Olmsted plan were never even realized.”   

Image credit: Krista Sharp

By Marcy L. Velte

(Legislative Gazette, February 22, 2010) Gov. David A. Paterson recently announced that New York is on track with spending the billions of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds it has been awarded to date.  “I am proud to report that all state agencies are on or ahead of schedule in spending stimulus funds,” said Paterson on Feb. 13, which marked the first anniversary of the funding awards.   The recovery act was established to create and retain jobs, urge economic activity and growth, and create new reforms on transparency and accountability throughout the nation. Click here to read more…

Filed under: Videos, Scion

You know those epically cool Ken Block videos where the DC Shoes scion comes up with incredibly creative ways to drift his purpose-built Subaru STI Ford Fiesta? Yeah, we love them too. In fact, we wish there were more clever drift videos out there on the Interwebs, and it looks like we may soon get our wish courtesy of Tanner Foust.

Mr. Autoblog Podcast himself is starting up a new drift series in March and he’s trying to get your interest piqued by releasing a tantalizing 18 second teaser of what’s to come. Hit the jump to watch Tanner and his rear drive, V8-powered Scion tC slide across your computer screen for the briefest of moments. And don’t worry, we’ve used our considerable pull (read: none) to make sure Tanner mixes in some kick ass slow-mo shots when his Mulholland drift project hits the web next month.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Tanner Foust teases Mulholland drift

Video: Tanner Foust teases Mulholland drift originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Erik R. Peterson is being remembered as an athletic man devoted to his church and popular among members at a fitness center where he worked because of his friendly disposition.

Mr. Peterson, 25, of Gurnee, was playing basketball with friends last Saturday at Trinity International University in Bannockburn when he collapsed. He died after paramedics brought him to Highland Park Hospital, authorities said.

“It appeared he had undiagnosed diabetes,” said Lake County Coroner Dr. Richard Keller, whose office performed an autopsy on Mr. Peterson.

One of Mr. Peterson’s jobs was at the Lake Bluff Park District fitness center. His duties included opening the center at 5:15 a.m. weekdays, working the front desk and handling registration.

Andy Thurman, the park district’s facility and wellness services manager, said Mr. Peterson’s friendliness made him popular with early-arriving members trying to get their day started. He said everyone associated with the fitness center has been saddened by Mr. Peterson’s death.

Mr. Peterson received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity in 2008 with a major in sport and wellness management. He was part of Trinity’s choir and remained a member of Libertyville Covenant Church.

Libertyville Covenant’s senior pastor, the Rev. Dwight Nelson, said church members are rallying around Mr. Peterson’s family. He said news of Mr. Peterson’s death was shocking.

“We all think of Erik as real healthy and active,” Nelson said Wednesday.

He said Mr. Peterson participated in the church’s Easter drama last year and frequented ping-pong nights with his father, Robert. Nelson said Mr. Peterson faithfully attended church services.

One of every four Americans has diabetes and doesn’t know it, according to the American Diabetes Association. Increased thirst, frequent urination and irritability are among the potential symptoms of diabetes.

Keller said it’s easy to brush off the diabetes signals.

“They’re not pains,” he said. “They’re not reasons we typically use to see the doctor.”

A memorial service for Mr. Peterson is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Libertyville Covenant, Route 176 and St. Mary’s Road. A graveside service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Arlington Cemetery in Rockford.

In addition to his father, Mr. Peterson is survived by his mother, Martha, and sister Kirsten, all of Gurnee.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

The Touch Pro world has not be the same since the original release of the WMPoweruser Series ROM, well its time for another dose of what we are cooking. The update to this ROM is brought to you by our GSM Touch Pro cook Captain_throwback. He read up on all the comments in our error post and tried his best to fix those in this new release. The change log is filled with great new features that he included for our aweesome Touch Pro users.

February 23, 2010

• Builds updated to 23540 (6.5.5 COM5) & 21892 (6.5 COM2)
• Updated video drivers & a host of other packages from Topaz S2, Rhodium S2, & Leo 1.5
• Sense 2.5 version updated to 20121225 (most recent VGA port by amarullz) – NOTE: Footprints tab not included in this Sense 2.5 version; Full Screen view for Photos & Videos, Music tabs disabled (until they are fully ported)
• Album 3.2 updated to full ported Topaz S2 version by programatix
• HTC Contact Picker updated to programatix’s partially ported version (letter picker still WVGA, but now able to select last two contacts in list)
• Included ported VGA-add-on XML etc. for HTC supporting packages from aamikam
• amarullz PeopleMessagingClassic Mod included (no HTC Messaging Client)
• CHome Customizations added (ATFavePeople, Titanium Weather w/GPS Weather Radar, & Sleuth’s myLocation built in, Titanium Notifications & showaco’s Opera panel)
• Flip_IT removed from ROM (COM2 218XX versions ONLY) – BsB’s G-Config is now included in "Applications" folder (this will decrease rotation sensitivity)
• Opera 9.7 build updated to 35810
• Windows Live added back in (since it causes an error trying to add a Hotmail account without it)
• Position fix in AMeBa disabled (not needed with newest Sense build)
• RunCC package updated
• Comm Manager updated
• Google Maps updated to version 4.0 (with Buzz)
• No Manila Locker for this build (yet)

Get the new ROM:

6.5 download
6.5.3 download

Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrid, Sedan, Geneva Motor Show, Crossover, Hatchback, Hyundai, Electric, Diesel

Hyundai’s home office in Korea has dropped the first frontal image of a new concept that will be shown next week at the Geneva Motor Show along with some technical details. The i-Flow is a D-segment sedan meant to go up against cars like the Ford Mondeo in Europe. Under the hood, the i-Flow has Hyundai’s first diesel hybrid powertrain including a new 1.7-liter inline-four. The diesel has dual stage turbocharging and is paired up with Hyundai’s Blue-drive system using a new six-speed dual clutch gearbox. Like the upcoming Sonata hybrid, the i-Flow uses a lithium polymer battery pack. With its drag coefficient of 0.25, the i-Flow is claimed to achieve 78.4 miles per gallon (U.S.) and CO2 emissions of just 85 grams/kilometer.

Joining the i-Flow onstage will be a refreshed version of the i30 (badged as the Elantra Touring in North America) and low emissions “blue” versions of the i10, i20, i30 and ix35 (Tucson). These models receive automatic start-stop, low rolling resistance tires and aero tweaks. The four cars all achieve CO2 ratings under 100 g/km while the crossover ix35 gets 135 g/km. Finally, Hyundai will also show a fuel cell version of the new ix35/Tucson for the first time. Hyundai still plans to produce fuel cell vehicles in the thousands annually by 2012.

[Source: Hyundai]

Continue reading Geneva Preview: Hyundai reveals diesel-hybrid i-Flow

Geneva Preview: Hyundai reveals diesel-hybrid i-Flow originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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