Author: Serkadis

Just as pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training this week, many HIV specialists are gearing up for the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), which starts this Tuesday in San Francisco.

(I don’t suppose many people see the link between those two events.  Oh well.)

And since the “pocket program” to the Conference has been available since last week, below is a highly-subjective (admittedly developed-world centric) list of potentially important presentations, in a somewhat random order.  Apologies ahead of time for leaving off something of great importance, most likely buried somewhere deep in the poster presentations.

• 28 Immunodeficiency, HIV RNA Levels, and Risk of Non-AIDS-defining Cancers
• 30 HIV Infection Is an Independent Risk Factor for Lung Cancer
• 33 Decreases in Community Viral Load Are Associated with a Reduction in New HIV Diagnoses in San Francisco
• 34 Monitoring the Impact of Expanded HIV Testing in the District of Columbia Using Population-based HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data
• 53 Safety and Efficacy of TBR 652, a CCR5 Antagonist, in HIV-1-infected, ART-experienced, CCR5 Antagonist–Naïve Patients
• 54LB Phase 3 Trials of Vicriviroc in Treatment-experienced Subjects Demonstrate Safety but Not Significantly Superior Efficacy over Potent Background Regimens Alone
• 57 Efficacy and Safety at 48 Weeks of Once-daily vs Twice-daily DRV/r in Treatment-experienced HIV-1+ Patients with No DRV Resistance-associated Mutations: The ODIN Trial
• 58LB Single-tablet, Fixed-dose Regimen of Elvitegravir/Emtricitabine/Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate/GS-9350 Achieves a High Rate of Virologic Suppression and GS-9350 Is an Effective Booster
• 59LB ACTG 5202: Final Results of ABC/3TC or TDF/FTC with either EFV or ATV/r in Treatment-naïve HIVinfected Patients*
• 74 RV 144 Update: Vaccination with ALVAC and AIDSVAX to Prevent HIV-1 Infection in Thai Adults
• 87LB PRO2000 Vaginal Gel is Ineffective in Preventing HIV Infection: Results of the MDP301 Phase III Microbicide Trial
• 88LB Association of Expanded HAART Coverage with a Decrease in New HIV Diagnoses, Particularly among Injection Drug Users in British Columbia, Canada
• 101LB Raltegravir Intensification in Antiretroviral-treated Patients Exhibiting a Suboptimal CD4+ T Cell Response
• 106LB Bone and Limb Fat Outcomes of ACTG A5224s, a Substudy of ACTG A5202: A Prospective, Randomized, Partially Blinded Phase III Trial of ABC/3TC or TDF/FTC with EFV or ATV/r for Initial Treatment of HIV-1 Infection*
• 107LB Chronic Kidney Disease and Exposure to ART in a Large Cohort with Long-term Follow-up: TheEuroSIDA Study
• 125 Rapid Progression of Atherosclerosis at the Carotid Bifurcation Is Linked to Inflammation in HIV-infected Patients
• 128 Higher and Increasing Rates of Fracture among HIV-infected Persons in the HIV Outpatient Study Compared to the General US Population, 1994 to 2008
• 129 HIV Infection and Fragility Fracture Risk among Male Veterans
• 134 A Finite Course of ART during Early HIV-1 Infection Modestly Delays Need for Subsequent ART Initiation:ACTG A5217, the SETPOINT Study
• 135LB Profound Depletion of HIV-1 Transcriptionally Active PBMC by Early cART during Primary HIV-1 Infection but Not by Treatment during Chronic Infection: Results of the Zurich Primary HIV Infection Study
• 136 ART and Risk of Heterosexual HIV-1 Transmission in HIV-1 Serodiscordant African Couples: A Multinational Prospective Study
• 153LB Efficacy of ART with NVP+TDF/FTC vs LPV/r+TDF/FTC among Antiretroviral-naïve Women in Africa: OCTANE Trial 2/ACTG A5208
• 263  Longer Phase I Viral Decay in Treatment-naïve Patients Receiving Raltegravir-based ART: Preliminary Results from ACTG 5248
• 285 Maraviroc Intensification for Suboptimal CD4+ Cell ResponseDespite Sustained Virologic Suppression: ACTG 5256
• 476 Strong Effect of Early ART during Primary HIV-1 Infection in Preventing further Spread of HIV in Sexually Active Men Having Sex with Men
• 510 A One-pill, Once-daily Fixed-dose Combination of Efavirenz, Emcitrabine, and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Regimen Is Associated with Higher Unannounced Pill Count Adherence than Non-one-pill, Once-daily Regimens
• 526 Life Expectancy of Recently Diagnosed Asymptomatic HIV-infected Patients Approaches that of Uninfected Individuals
• 527 Time with CD4 Cell Count above 500 cells/mm3 Allows HIV-infected Men, but Not Women, to Reach Similar Mortality Rates to Those of the General Population: A 7-year Analysis
• 983 CD4 at HAART Initiation Predicts Long-term CD4 Responses and Mortality from AIDS and Non-AIDS Causes in the HIV Outpatient Study
• 503 Episodes of HIV Viremia and the Risk of Non-AIDS Events among Successfully Treated Patients
• 504 Persistent Low-level Viremia Is Associated with Increased Risk of Virologic Failure and Mortality
• 505 Association between Low-level Viremia below 50 Copies/mL and Risk of Virologic Rebound in HIV-infected Patients Receiving HAART
• 508 Relative Effectiveness of Preferred Initial Antiretroviral Regimens in the CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems Cohort
• 509 Early ART Compared to Deferred ART during Acute Opportunistic Infection Leads to a Reduction in the Systemic Inflammatory Response Resulting in Improved Immunologic Outcomes
• 707 Earlier Initiation of ART in HIV-infected Individuals Is Associated with Reduced Arterial Stiffness
• 708 Inflammation Is Associated with Endothelial Dysfunction among Individuals with Treated and Suppressed HIV Infection
• 714 Incomplete Immune Recovery on HAART Is Associated with Significantly More Cardiovascular Events and a Trend Towards More Non-AIDS-related Malignancies in Dutch ATHENA Cohort
• 716 Abacavir Induces Human Leukocyte Endothelial Cell Interactions
• 717 Abacavir, a Competitive Inhibitor of Soluble Guanylyl Cyclase, Increases Platelet Reactivity
• 718 Changes in Cardiovascular Biomarkers with Abacavir: A Randomized, 96-week Trial
• 720 Metabolic Profiles and Body Composition Changes in Treatment-naïve HIV-infected Patients Treated with Raltegravir 400 mg Twice-daily vs Efavirenz 600 mg Each Bedtime Combination Therapy: 96-week Follow-up
• 427 Does cART with Greater CNS Penetration Prevent the Development of CNS Opportunistic Diseases?
• 429 Higher CD4 Nadir Is Associated with Reduced Rates of HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorders in the CHARTER Study: Potential Implications for Early Treatment Initiation
• 734 Low CD4 Cell Count and Impaired Renal Function Are Independent Risk Factors for ARF in HIV-infected Patients
• 735 HAART Is Associated with Improved Kidney Function in Patients with Impaired Kidney Function at Baseline but Was Associated with Slight Worsening of Kidney Function in Patients with Normal Baseline Kidney Function
• 723 A 48-week Randomized Study of Uridine Supplementation vs Switch to TDF on Limb Fat, Mitochondrial Function, Inflammation, and Bone Mineral Density in HIV Lipoatrophy
• 725 Inflammation and Mortality in HIV-infected Adults: Analysis of the FRAM Study Cohort
• 740 Predictors for Change in Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate in HIV-infected Individuals with or without cART: The Swiss HIV Cohort Study
• 742 Genetic Variants of ABCC10 Are Associated with Kidney Tubular Dysfunction in Patients Treated with Tenofovircontaining Regimens
• 746 Longitudinal Analysis of Bone Mineral Density in Aging Men with or at Risk for HIV Infection
• 748 Bone Turnover, and in Particular Osteoclast Activity, Is Increased in Patients with Confirmed Proximal Renal Tubulopathy within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study
• 750 Assessment of Vitamin D Levels among HIV-infected Personsin the Study to Understand the Natural History of HIV/AIDS in the Era of Effective Therapy: SUN Study
• 752 High Prevalence of Severe Vitamin D Deficiency in cARTnaïve and Successfully Treated Swiss HIV Patients
• 554 Resistance-associated Mutations to Integrase Inhibitor S/GSK1349572 in HIV-1 Integrase Inhibitor-naïve and Raltegravir-experienced Patients
• 580 Prevalence of Transmitted Antiretroviral Drug Resistance among Newly-diagnosed HIV-1-infected Persons, US, 2007
• 581 Prevalence of Mutations Associated with Transmitted Drug Resistant HIV among BED Recent Versus Long-term Infections, US, 2006
• 585 Decreasing Prevalence of Drug Resistance Mutations over a 7 Year Period in the CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems
• 594 Early Switch Based on Virological Failure Reduces Complexity of HIV-1 Drug Resistance

(*Disclosure:  I’m a co-author on these presentations.)

There’s a bug in the circle of Greed, and the Dante’s Inferno team is definitely on it. You can bet on that patch to arrive some time soon, this according to their official tweet.
 
 
 

 

Fannie and Freddie to Buy More Delinquent Home Loans – By NICK TIMIRAOS -  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said they will ramp up their purchases of some $200 billion in delinquent home loans that the two government-controlled mortgage-finance companies have guaranteed.  Those loans were packaged into mortgage-backed securities … But now they are planning to buy more loans that are 120 days or more past due. The moves stem from an accounting change that makes it more cost-effective for Fannie and Freddie to accelerate purchases of delinquent loans. – WSJ Markets

————

GSE loan buyback effects: Are You SITTING DOWN Folks? – You better be, when the implications of this one ripple through: McLean, VA – … What this means is that all the defaulted loans in these packages that Freddie bought up, bundled up and then puked out into the marketplace are coming home.  To Freddie.  Well, at least initially.  But now, every one of these loan files is going to get the fine-tooth-comb treatment.  … This is going to be a problem folks, because those loans in which reps and warranties … were breached due to a material falsehood of some sort will be, as a matter of fiduciary responsibility, puked back onto the bank involved. – The Market Ticker

————

this is excellent – VIEWPOINT: The GSE Buyouts are Here – by LINDA LOWELL – … Since HW ace reporters have already covered the press releases, I won’t belabor the details. Instead, let’s consider why it matters, and why investors should like Freddie’s plan of attack better.  First the Basics … – HousingWire

————

Must Read:  How A Centralized Loan Exchange Can Aid Secondary Market Stabilization – BY DAVE PARKER – …. In August 2009, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Council on Ensuring Mortgage Liquidity presented "Recommendations for the Future Government Role in the Core Secondary Market." This particular report recommends a new framework for government involvement in the single-family and multifamily secondary mortgage markets, with a focus on the roles currently played by the agencies. … – MortgageOrb

————

   + 

Citi lets distressed homeowners stay 6 mos. free – By Mary Ellen Podmolik – CitiMortgage will announce Thursday a deed-in-lieu program in Illinois and five other states that could allow troubled homeowners to avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes six months for free. – Chicago Tribune

and
Mortgage officials try exits softer than foreclosures – By Renae Merle – mentions Citicorp and other plans – Washington Post 

————

Foreclosures Plummet In January, But Another Surge Could Be Right Around The Corner – “January foreclosure numbers are exhibiting a pattern very similar to a  year ago: a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity  followed by a 10 percent drop in January,” said James J. Saccacio, chief  executive officer of RealtyTrac  “If  history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few  months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan  modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure  alternatives works.” … – Joe Weisenthal – Money Game at Business Insider

 

 

The 10-yr Treasury signal – Scott Grannis – This chart should not be interpreted scientifically. It is my interpretation of what the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds reveals about the market’s outlook for U.S. economic growth.  – Calafia Beach Pundit

————

Bullish take: The Stars Align for Long Bonds – Jesse Felder – My Back Pages

————

I Think Bernanke Just Indicated a Tightening – Posted by Larry Doyle – Sense on Cents

————

Fed in Talks With Money Market Funds to Help Drain $1 Trillion – By Craig Torres and Christopher Condon – … as policy makers prepare for the first interest-rate increase since June 2006, according to a person familiar with the discussions. … Money-market funds may welcome the opportunity to trade with the Fed after the financial crisis reduced the supply of safe assets in which they can invest … – Bloomberg

————

Fifth Third eyes TARP repayment this year – Repayment "most likely" in second half of 2010 – Reuters

————

Primary Bond Markets Seize Up – Vincent Fernando – Whether or not a Greece bailout is good or bad for fixed income in the long run, one thing is for sure:  High-grade debt issuance this week collapsed 90% from normal levels. – Money Game at Business Insider

————

FIGHTING THE FED: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? – Jeff Miller – A Dash of Insight

Didn’t like much the Yakuza 3 boxart for North America? Yeah, a lot of other people have been critical of it too. But there’s a good reason behind this deviation from the original Japanese boxart. There always

As the final culmination of “millions of dollars” in investment, the much acclaimed Tableau Software recently released Tableau Public [tableaupublic.com], the long awaited answer to Many Eyes, Swivel, and all the other social visualization incarnations that exist today.

Tableau Public is specifically designed for anyone who likes to post content to the web as interactive charts, graphs, maps(!) or dashboards, with data that can be shared online, think bloggers, journalists or sports stats fanatics. Its biggest difference with its many competitors sits in the necessity to download a (~16MB) desktop application first. Tableau Public can connect to Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and multiple text file formats, and is limited to a (probably still generous) 50MB online storage restriction. The desktop program saves all work to the Tableau web servers, so that nothing is saved locally on one’s computer. This also means that all the data saved will be accessible by everyone on the internet, so that authors need to be sure to work only with publicly available data.

As the software unfortunately is not available for Mac or WinXP, I am unable to make any direct statements on its usability (but please feel free to share your impressions in the comments section below!).

According to a published interview elsewhere, Tableau public should be “… as fun and accessible as online video.” I personally feel a big unsure about to this statement and wonder whether they are not missing the right demographic, as the currently available examples seem to be more professional (but aesthetic) looking than its probably biggest competitor Many Eyes, which tend to look aesthetic (but professional).

The book and media industries are going through interesting times, to put it mildly. As physical books prepare for their demise, the confusion around pricing of digital ones grows. Yet, whether physical or digital, to sell books you need marketing. People need to hear about a book before they buy it.

This is where the book review come in. Every publicist and publisher’s dream is to land a positive review with an authoritative source. A good review in The New York Times or the L.A. Times used to be a pass to big figure sales. Sounds like it still should be, but it is not, because most book reviews are poorly formatted and cannot be recognized by Google and other software.

Sponsor

The Book Review That Nobody Saw

Lets take a look at this edgy review of the Manhood, by the L.A. Times. It is a pure joy to read – it is elegant, clever and gets to the heart of the issue. There is only one problem with it – nobody is going to read it, because Google can’t find it.

Try running this very specific Google search – “Manhood” by Mels van Driel review – and you will not find the L.A. Times among the results – at least not within first three pages that humans would care to flip through. How come might you ask? Well the answer is simple – there is nothing whatsoever that tells Google that this post is a book review about this particular book.

And this is not just an isolated problem with this book review from this particular newspaper. The issue is widespread across all major U.S. and international media outlets. Either due to lack of tools or lack of understanding how search engines and other software works, people notoriously don’t make their content discoverable.

A Simple Way to Please Google

So how should be the book reviews tagged?

To start with, the title needs to make it clear, that this is a book review. Of course humans may find a more subtle title more enticing, but for the sake of machine: Book Review: Manhood by Mels has to be present. It would be even better to mark up that this is a book review, and here is the book title and here is the author.

Next, the post needs to be adorned with the right tags and keywords. L.A. Times’ reviews are certainly very clever, but again, Google does not get humor. A better tag would the title of the book, the name of the author and the non-conspicuous phrase “book review”.

A Better Way to Please Google and Tim Berners-Lee

The tagging system described above is still error prone. A computer might not interpret it correctly and would miss this post in the search results. This is because that kind of description is not structured. Humans enjoy a wonderful ability to deal with fuzzy things; computers simply can’t do it.

For a computer to understand content, it needs to be described using a markup language. This is a broad and complex topic that has been a focus of the so-called Semantic Web and
structured data.

The right way of marking up content so that it can be understood by Google, other search engines and semantic technologies is by using a structured format such as ePub,
hReview Microformat, abmeta or one of the other structured formats. Using a structured format removes the ambiguity and enables computer to “know” what the review is about.

Making the content discoverable by Google in turn makes it discoverable by humans.

Tagging: It’s All About the Money

Could it just be that book reviewers in major newspapers would get more page views if they did a better job tagging content? And then in turn, could it also be that if more people discovered clever and elegant reviews then more books would be sold? Even if you don’t think so, there is way too much risk of getting this one wrong.

Doing appropriate, standard tagging and markup of book reviews is cheap and simple and should be part of the daily publishing routine. Each media company needs to invest in standards and guidelines around content markup. This is not just a matter of being good citizen of the Web, it is a matter of making money.

Photo credit: Ivan Petrov
Discuss

CHICAGO  — An elderly South Side man reported missing Saturday has been located, police say.

Donald Henry, 69, was reported missing from the 4800 block of South Drexel Avenue and had last been seen Thursday, prompting police to issue an alert Saturday.

Henry was located at home at the Drexel address Saturday evening about 6 p.m., and was safe, uninjured and in good health, according to an alert issued Sunday.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Relying on their puerile judgment, the 13 year-olds running the RNC have designed “Valentine’s Day” cards to send your loved ones from various parties from the Obama Administration and Democratic leadership. Har har har. Look at poor Ben Nelson. Nobody wants to be his valentine. Pshaw. Comedy isn’t hard.

Well, neener neener neener. Never let it be said that some of us here at FDL can’t match the Republicans step for step when it comes to juvenile humor. So in honor of this re. . . um, silly Hallmark holiday, we’ve come up with some Valentine’s Day poems from our favorite Republicans. The poems are loosely organized according to subject. Authorship is noted in parentheses.

As always, feel free to contribute your artistry in the comments!

Generic Republican greeting:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Dems want to kill Grandma
And we do too.  (Eli)

From Sarah Palin to her rabid fan base:

Roses are red
Starbursts are whatever
The day I learn grammar
Will be on the never. (Eli)

My patriotic zeal and cutesy winks
Set Republican pants on fire
You’re all too stupid to know the difference
Between blatant lying and satire. (WT)

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Todd sure is a hunk
I hope Piper never writes a book.
Also. (Eli)

Roses are red
Footballs are brown
I get to take the high road
‘Cuz Trig’s sydrome is Down. (Eli)

Roses are Red
Violets are teh Ghey
If you want me to Speak
Ya gotta Pay and Pay (The Voice from the Other Cubicle)

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I just look at my palm
When I need a cue. (Eli)

From Todd Palin to his fellow con artist wife:

You spawned us four good ones
My soul and status you do lift
I’m loving these silk boxers
You keep working the grift! (WT)

From Sarah to Todd:

Energy, Tax Cuts,
Lift American Spirits
Let Trigg inside (attaturk)

Republican Family Values:

Dear Darlene:
I know that I was unfaithful
And our marriage is on the skids
Can I borrow $100K
To pay off my mistress’ kids?
Love, Senator Ensign (WT)

Dear Gail,
Our union is awesome
You sure married a hunk
Now please delete pictures
Of when I showed kids my junk
Love, Scott [Brown] (attaturk)

Dear Calista,
I’m running in 2012,
So you can stop all the cooking.
I no longer need your services
I need someone better-looking.
Love, Newt (WT)

Dearest Lump,
I’m no longer in Crawford,
I’m no longer in power,
Now Beer me Lump,
Or cigs gone in an hour. (attaturk)

Dear Wendy,
Roses are red,
My love for you is hyper.
I’m sorry again about
That incident with the diaper.
Love, David [Vitter] (WT)

Dear Maria,
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Enough about me,
Let’s talk about you.
How can you live without me?
Love, Mark [Sanford] (WT)

Dear Lynn,
I am pleased with my gift
A new rifle I so like
But I’ll never forgive you
For giving birth to a dyke.
Love, Dick (attaturk)

I was robbed of my beauty queen title
For my family values! It was a miscarriage.
I was smeared by the press because I said
I was in favor of opposite marriage.
Whoopsie, nipple shot!
Love, Carrie (WT)

 

Filed under: Technology, Audi

Audi‘s Quattro system is 30 this year, introduced on the Ur-Quattro at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show. To celebrate, Audi has a full year of activities planned, including a special exhibition at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt, a place at the Techno Classica in Essen, and Audi Tradition hauling momentous examples of Quattro to shows around Europe.

It’s interesting to ponder where Audi would have gone without Quattro. In America the tech and halo associations that emanated from the marque’s Group B rally eating monsters helped it go from being perceived as a maker of really nice VWs to a luxury line with a unique, finessed brawn. We do wonder, though, what the original Quattro would say to a TT… Follow the jump for Audi’s press release and a glimpse of where you can find vintage Audis and Auto Unions throughout the year.

[Source: Audi]

Continue reading Audi Quattro celebrates 30 years of gravel spitting performance

Audi Quattro celebrates 30 years of gravel spitting performance originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lindsey Vonn pictured in her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Lindsey Vonn is currently being pushed as the American face of the 2010 Winter Olympics, despite concerns over whether she will be able to ski at all because of injury. That was Vonn on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Olympic preview issue, and she was also photographed for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Lindsey is pretty easy on the eyes, and it doesn’t hurt that she participates in the high in glamour sport of Alpine ski racing so she has a good chance of being one of the most memorable athletes in this year’s games, assuming she is able to overcome her bruised shin.

Check out more Lindsey Vonn pics below:

Hannah Teter Swimsuit Pic

Hannah Teter (pictured above) is an American snowboarder competing at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She’s an accomplished athlete, having won gold in the halfpipe at Torino in 2006, but she’s attracting quite a bit of attention lately for posing in some skimpy bikini’s for Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit edition. Teter is looking to become as famous as an Olympic athlete can be in 2010, and she’s well on her way with her earlier gold medal. Teter even has a Ben & Jerry’s flavor of ice cream named after her: “Hannah Teter’s Maple Blondie”. Cute! Portions of the profits will go to Teter’s charity.

Check out more Hannah Teter pics below:

Filed under: Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, Electric

Swiss design studio Rinspeed has released the details on its annual Geneva Motor Show concept and in keeping with tradition, it’s an electrically-powered vehicle. Unlike the Lotus Elise based amphibious Squba from two years ago, this one is a fresh design mixing elements of the Fiat 500 and the Smart ForTwo. The diminutive battery-powered “urban commuter” dubbed UC? (that’s Rinspeed’s questionable question mark, for the record) is designed to provide drivers with a range of flexible transportation options.

Rinspeed has procured a lithium ion battery pack from LiTec, the German joint venture between Evonik and Daimler AG, which will propel the urban runabout 65 miles before requiring a recharge. The UC? adapts the perpendicular parking concept pioneered by the Smart to help extend its usefulness in congested cities, and while Smarts are sometimes parked bumper to the curb, Rinspeed has developed a train car loading system that allows UC? drivers to roll on and off and then relax as they travel between cities. Since most European trains are electrically powered, even inter-city travel remains zero emissions (at least directly).

Rinspeed has worked with suppliers to address the shortcomings of EVs, specifically with cold weather heating. Eberspacher has developed an innovative high-voltage, high-efficiency heating system that can crank up to 60 degrees celsius (140 degrees fahrenheit) in just 30 seconds. The UC? has been designed with series production in mind and Rinspeed is apparently looking for partners. Make the jump for all the details in the lengthy press release.

[Source: Rinspeed]

Continue reading Geneva Preview: Rinspeed drops pics galore of the UC? electric commuter

Geneva Preview: Rinspeed drops pics galore of the UC? electric commuter originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Porsche will show the new 2010 911 GT3 R Hybrid. Joining the new hybrid Porsche racer will be the 2011 Cayenne SUV, which is being teased through this new image of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid.

We’ve adjusted the picture’s contrast level so you can get a better look. Click on the thumbnail below to check it out.

We’ll have more details for you on the 2011 Cayenne next month. Stay tuned.

Click here for our original post on the 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid.

2011 Porsche Cayenne (Teaser):

– By: Omar Rana

A new friend just introduced me to a new author  -Oriah – who wrote this wonderful poemy essay – which I loved so much – I wanted to share it with all of you! Enjoy!

The Invitation by Oriah
It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon…
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming

Want more ideas and tips for living your happiest life? CHECK OUT my best selling book HOW TO BE HAPPY DAMMIT by clicking this line you’re reading right here, right NOW.

If you enjoy my blog, I’d love it if you post it on FACEBOOK, twitter about it (I’m at @notsalmon), and/or email it to a friend! HAPPY DAY, DAMMIT!

del.icio.us · Slashdot · Digg · Facebook · Technorati · Google · StumbleUpon · Yahoo

If you haven’t been out of the house in a while and seen all the red colors, we thought it’d be kind of us to let you know that today is Valentine’s Day. Either way, if you’re significant other wants you to take them to a “chick flick” you may want to check out “Valentine’s Day,” which features an all-star cast and the Ford Transit Connect as a vehicle used to deliver flowers on one of the busiest days of the year.

“Florists throughout the U.S. are replacing larger cargo vans with the versatile Transit Connect, which offers better fuel economy, greater maneuverability and added height in the cargo area,” Ford said in a statement.

The film follows the intertwining storylines of a diverse group of Los Angelinos as they navigate their way through romance and heartbreak over the course of one Valentine’s Day. One of the main characters is a florist who uses the Transit Connect to deliver flowers on love’s most celebrated holiday.

“The delivery of flowers is one of the threads that ties all of the characters in the movie together,” said Brian Daly, senior vice president, Team Detroit, who is a member of Ford Global Brand Entertainment (FGBE). “This film is heavily character-driven, so this is one of the few opportunities for a vehicle in the film to be showcased.”

“We knew that the character of the florist was going to be a passionate entrepreneur, and since the Transit Connect is smaller than the typical cargo van, it conveys that ‘small business’ message to the viewer,” said Daly. “We took it over to Warner Bros., and the production crew fell in love with it.”

– By: Kap Shah

Filed under: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury

At the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando, FL on Sunday, Ford’s President of the Americas Mark Fields announced the first new product for Mercury in several years. The fate of Ford’s middle brand has been in doubt for over a decade as models like the Tracer, Sable and Cougar have been discontinued. In what’s surely welcome news to Lincoln/Mercury dealers, Fields informed NADA that Mercury would get a new small car based on the new global compact platform that underpins the forthcoming 2012 Focus and Grand C-Max.

The new baby Mercury will be one of 10 different vehicles that come off that platform and it’s expected that a small Lincoln based on the Concept C that debuted at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show will also join it. The Mercury Mountaineer is not expected to be replaced when the new Explorer debuts later this year, leaving Mercury with the Milan, Mariner and the new compact. Fields gave no other details about the new car, but it could be a version of one of the other European Focus models, such as the coupe-convertible or the smaller five-seat C-Max.

[Source: Reuters]

Report: Mark Fields tells dealers new compact Mercury is coming in 2011 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Laid-off workers like CTA bus driver Robert Williams, appearing with union leaders today, to claim that CTA cutbacks have hit people a lot harder than has been reported.

Especially on the south and west sides.

The CTA strongly denies that allegation.

This week the agency laid off a thousand fifty seven workers and cut numerous bus and train routes to cope with a ninety five million dollar budget shortfall.

It says it needs concessions from the unions on pay raises and furlough days before services can be restored.

But now employees who are on the job are threatening to obey speed limits and CTA rules so closely, that service will suffer even more.

Some drivers said continued cuts will endanger public safety.

Union leaders said they hope to meet with CTA officials on Wednesday, and say they won’t settle for a temporary fix.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

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