Author: Serkadis

  • Google Buzz Is a Privacy Nightmare

    People are definitely buzzing about Google Buzz though it’s probably not what Google had in mind when it introduced its latest social product. Even as the service gets more and more users, driven by curiosity and likely by the fact that it shows up in their Gmail accounts, its flaws are becoming increasingly apparent and Google is having trouble keeping up. On… (read more)

  • Buying a 4 channel amp from US

    Planning to change my JBL 75.4 and getting a new amp from US next month-end when i am there.

    I am getting inclined to Alpine PDX 4.150 as my Budget is $400 upper limit. Any suggestions?

    Amp would be used to power rear polk audio MMC690 and front Focal Access series components.

    Thanks

  • OPEN LETTER: UK Minister Hilary Benn challenged to Apply Solar-based weather forecasts to cut misery & save lives by Piers Corbyn from WeatherAction.com

    Article Tags: Headline Story, Open Letter/Fax, Piers Corbyn

    Dear Hilary,

    Reduce suffering & save & lives: Long range warnings of continuing dangerous winter weather for UK Feb 2010 Further to our letter of 8 Jan, you may have noticed all WeatherAction’s long range warnings issued 6 months ago and detailed warnings issued mid-December for January of extreme snow and ice conditions in the UK (& Europe & USA) and detailed warnings of when short range TV-Met Office forecasts would underestimate snow/ice deluges have been confirmed. As we warned would happen the UK ran out of road salt for all practical purposes.

    Consequent to you and your agencies not using our long range forecasts and instead relying on misleading long range prognoses from the Met Office there has been much unnecessary suffering and economic damage and lives have been lost. This was also the case for the floody non-barbecue summers of 2007, 08 and 09 and winter 08/09 which also saw road salt run out.

    We are writing now to remind you and your Highways & other agencies (copied in) of our warnings of further extreme winter weather coming in February as we predicted last July and further detailed in mid January. As you now see our Red Warning that 11/12th Feb (pdf of Feb forecast attached, and see link to WA2010NewsNo9) would have extra snow compared with expectations of standard meteorology** was confirmed by 6inches of snow in parts of Kent – more than double TV forecasts. The danger periods 15-16/17th & 18-19th & 20-21st** Feb are also predicted to bring notably severe and dangerous winter weather which will exceed in severity the expectations of standard meteorology from even a
    day or so ahead.

    If you and the BBC want provenly reliable long range forecasts months ahead of weather and weather extremes you only need ask. Do you want to know if the UK will have floods again this summer? It is surely against the public interest for the Government – and indeed all the major parties – to continue to ignore our proven advances in forecasting science and succumb to disingenuous argument and spurious defences of incompetence from interest groups tied to preventing advances beyond standard meteorology and to the ideology of CO2 driven Climate Change for which there is no evidence (NB see footnotes (i), (ii) & (iii) and links).

    If you or your agencies wish to use the best available advances and innovation – as the Prime Minister and Lord Mandelson have so rightly said the UK must – and use the forecast and advice attached and apply the warnings and receive further advice of these and other extra dangers please do not hesitate to get in touch.

    Thank you
    Piers Corbyn,
    MSc (astrophysics), ARCS FRAS FRMetS, WeatherAction Long Range weather & climate forecasters

    Click source to read FULL article & letter by Piers Corbyn

    Source: weatheraction.com

    Read in full with comments »   


  • Has global warming got you snowed in? by Leonard Evans (doctorate in physics from Oxford University), Washington Times

    Article Tags: World Temperatures

    The scientific community has abandoned science.

    Not even 30 inches of snow falling on Washington has discredited claims of “global warming,” the belief that human activity is appreciably warming our planet. Of course, a single snowstorm does not disprove global warming. Weather is not the same as climate. But even after a decade of unexpectedly cool temperatures, global-warming alarmists still show no skepticism. Skepticism is a core value of science.

    In “1984,” George Orwell wrote about Big Brother (government) being so powerful that it can persuade people to believe things contrary to their senses. It even can convince them that two plus two is not equal to four.

    Eventually the truth will out. When global warming finally is recognized as the world’s greatest political hoax, those discredited will not be the perpetrators.

    The perpetrators are politicians and traditional media. After the credibility bubble bursts, the same politicians and media will continue to influence what the public is told. They will effectively claim that they never misled anyone. The fall guy will be science.

    Lost in the confusion will be the distinction between science and the scientific community.

    Source: washingtontimes.com

    Read in full with comments »   


  • Even Private Banks Without Sovereign Bond Exposure Would Be Crushed By Funding Costs In A Sovereign Crisis

    Buiding Collapse

    Some banks are exposed to the risk of a sovereign debt crisis directly through bond investments, such as by owning, say, Greek bonds.

    Yet even banks without any direct exposure to troubled government bonds could be slammed by a sovereign crisis as well.

    That’s because in a sovereign debt crisis, underlying benchmark interest rates would likely skyrocket for troubled nations.

    This would sharply increase funding costs for many banks, which is bad news for financial businesses who borrow short term and lend long term, earning a spread.

    At best this would reduce their profits substantially, at worst it could lead to substantial losses if suddenly higher funding costs meant that banks were earning negative spreads on certain lines of business:

    The Economist:

    The bigger concern, however, is not banks’ direct exposure to government bonds, which average just 5% of euro-zone banks’ assets, but the impact on their financing. The costs of funding for banks on Europe’s periphery are rising in tandem with the allegedly “risk-free” benchmark rates on the bonds of troubled European governments. Steep downgrades of the sovereign-debt ratings of countries such as Portugal, Greece and Ireland would probably translate into immediate rating cuts for their banks, as well as higher capital charges on banks’ debt holdings and bigger haircuts when using this debt as collateral. Regulators are busy designing rules forcing banks to hold more government bonds on the assumption that they are the most liquid assets in a crisis. That premise may not hold for every country’s debt.

    A second concern is that the premium that investors demand for holding bank debt may also widen above the benchmark “risk-free” rate. “If governments are either less willing, because of competing pressures on budgets, or are unable to provide support then that could have a material impact on bank ratings,” says Johannes Wassenberg of Moody’s, a rating agency. The consequences of even small changes in a bank’s borrowing costs can be extreme. JPMorgan, an investment bank, reckons that an increase of just 0.2 percentage points in the borrowing costs of British banks such as Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland would trim their earnings by 8-11% next year, assuming they could not immediately pass these costs on to customers.

    Read more here >

    (Via Abnormal Returns)

    Join the conversation about this story »

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  • Pune Tbhp Drive – 14th Feb 2010

    Hi guys,
    I was thinking whether we Pune guys could go for a drive this weekend too.
    Same plan, leave early in the morning, have breakfast and return by noon. Destination could be Lavasa,Lonavla etc.

    Tomorrow being Valentine’s Day, not sure how many would turn up but still posting so that anyone interested could join.

    Meeting place – Chandni Chowk Overbridge.
    Time – 7.30-8.00AM

    For now,
    Amey – Confirmed (Swift)
    Moralfibre – Confirmed ( Palio or co passenger with me)

    So who all is coming ?

  • Snow on the ground in 49 of 50 states

    Forget red and blue — color America white. There was snow on the ground in 49 states Friday. Hawaii was the holdout.

    It was the United States of Snow, thanks to an unusual combination of weather patterns that dusted the U.S., including the skyscrapers of Dallas, the peach trees of Atlanta and the Florida Panhandle, where hurricanes are more common than snowflakes.

    More than two-thirds of the nation’s land mass had snow on the ground when the day dawned, and then it snowed ever so slightly in Florida to make it 49 states out of 50.

    At the same time, those weird weather forces are turning Canada’s Winter Olympics into the bring-your-own-snow games.

    Who’s the Great White North now?

    “I’m calling it the upside-down winter,” said David Robinson, head of the Global Snow Lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

    Snow paralyzed and fascinated the Deep South on Friday. Snowball fights broke out at Southern Mississippi University, snow delayed flights at the busy Atlanta airport, and Louisiana hardware stores ran out of snow supplies. Andalusia, Ala., shut down its streets because of snow. And yet, Portland, Maine, where snow is usually a given, had to cancel its winter festival for lack of the stuff.

    Weather geeks turned their eyes to Hawaii. In that tropical paradise, where a ski club strangely exists, observers were looking closely at the islands’ mountain peaks to see if they could find a trace of white to make it a rare 50-for-50 states with snow.

    The idea of 50 states with snow is so strange that the federal office that collects weather statistics doesn’t keep track of that number and can’t say whether it has ever happened. The office can’t even say whether 49 out of 50 has ever taken place before.

    Snow experts at the Global Snow Lab were combing their records but said it may be days before they find out if there has ever been a 50-for-50 snow day. Their best suspect — Jan. 19, 1977 — had snow in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, but then Robinson looked for snow in South Carolina and couldn’t find any.

    As of early Friday morning, 67.1 percent of the U.S. had snow on the ground, with the average depth a healthy 8 inches. Normally, about 40 or 50 percent of the U.S. has snow cover this time of year, Robinson said.

    It snowed for only 10 minutes in Century, Fla., just north of Pensacola, barely enough to scrape a few snowballs from the hood of a truck. But that was enough for 6-year-old Kaleb Pace.

    “I’ve only ever seen snow on TV till now,” Kaleb said, smiling.

    This is after a month that saw the most snow cover for any December in North America in the 43 years that records have been kept. And then came January 2010, which ranked No. 8 among all months for North American snow cover, with more than 7.03 million square miles of white.

    The all-time record is February 1978, with 7.31 million square miles. There is a chance this February could break that. There is also a chance that this could go down as the week with the most snow cover on record, Robinson said.

    Stay tuned. The weather pattern is in a snow rut.

    At least in Washington, where snow is now measured by the yardstick, more snow may be coming soon. It looks like a little more snow on Monday and maybe a lot more about a week or so after that.

    Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

    Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services


  • CTA blue, red line weekend maintenance

    Maintenance work will affect overnight Blue and Red Line passengers this weekend Downtown and on the Near North Side.

    Extra travel time is recommended.

    Blue Line trains in both directions will operate on the same track between the Grand and LaSalle stations from 10 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday and again late-Saturday into early-Sunday, according to the CTA’s Web site.

    The change is because of track maintenance work.

    As a result, passengers must board and exit all trains on the O’Hare-bound side of the platform at the Clark/Lake, Washington, Monroe and Jackson stations, the CTA said.

    On the Red Line, trains in both directions will operate on the same track between the Lake and North/Clybourn stations from 11 p.m. Sunday until 4 a.m. Monday, the CTA said.

    Passengers must board and exit all trains on the 95 Street-bound platform at the Grand, Chicago and Clark/Division stations.

    Minor delays are expected and passengers should allow extra travel time.

    Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

    Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services


  • Southwest Side teen shot in face

    A teenage boy was shot in the face Friday night in the Southwest Side Brighton Park neighborhood.

    Police responded at 7:24 p.m. to a reported shooting in the 4400 block of South Whipple Street and found a teenage boy with a gunshot wound to the face, said police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala, who was citing preliminary information.

    The boy, whose age was unavailable, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in an unidentified condition.

    Circumstances surrounding the shooting were not immediately known.

    Wentworth Area detectives are investigating.

    Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

    Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services


  • The Not-Quite Incorruptible St. Bernadette of Lourdes

    France, Europe | Relics and Reliquaries

    The undeniably beautiful 130-year-old body of Bernadette Soubirous is displayed in a purpose-built crystal coffin, housed in a chapel at the abbey where she served as a nun. Her uncannily lifelike visage, clad in nun’s robes, is one of the most commonly used illustrations of incorruptible saints whose bodies never decay. After her death, she was exhumed no less than three times and found to be perfectly intact at each, which makes it seem strange that the lovely face and hands that are so famous are actually made of wax.

    Saint Bernadette began her life relatively recently, by saintly standards, growing up in Victorian-era France. The eldest daughter in a poor family, she struggled with ill health her whole life.

    Her fame began at age 14 in Lourdes, with a series of sightings of a young woman taken to be Virgin Mary, now known as Our Lady of Lourdes. The apparition appeared eighteen separate times, occasionally giving the girl small bits of encouragement, and most famously, pointing her to the source of the healing spring waters there. Bernadette reported her sightings, and her appearance as a piously innocent, somewhat simple – not to mention exceptionally pretty – young woman may have helped to fuel her reputation and spur on the repetition of her stories.

    The Lourdes apparition ask for the shrine that was built at the site of the grotto, which is now one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage spots. It’s also a place of miraculous healings, receiving between four and six million visitors annually. The miraculous healings began in Bernadette’s lifetime and were credited to the spring water. Although several miracles turned out to be short-term recoveries or outright hoaxes, many others were confirmed at the time, and claims continue to this day.

    Bernadette herself moved away from Lourdes and joined a nunnery in Nevers, where she lived the rest of her life. She died in 1879 of tuberculosis.

    As part of the canonization process, her body was exhumed three separate times, in 1909, 1919, and finally in 1925, when she was moved to the crystal casket. Her body was pronounced by the church as officially “incorrupt,” but it seems the qualifications for that term may have been somewhat lax. In the words of the attending doctor in 1919: “The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts, which appear to be calcium salts… The skin has disappeared in some places, but it is still present on most parts of the body.”

    After a few ribs were removed to be sent to Rome as relics, it was decided that the “blackish color” of her face might be off-putting to pilgrims, and so a “light wax mask” was in order. Her new face and hands were designed by Pierre Imans, a designer of fashion mannequins in Paris.

    The body is on display at the Chapel of Saint Gidard at the Sisters of Charity in Nevers. Visitors should remember that this is an active chapel, and a holy place for many.

  • Google Music Blog Mess Highlights Why Three Strikes Will Not Work

    We already wrote about how the big mess with Google taking down some music blogs showed many of the serious problems with the DMCA, but it also highlights some other important points. It’s also a perfect example of why asking third parties to stop infringement, or setting up a three strikes policy, makes no sense at all. Why? Because much of the furor over this was that the takedown notices were sent to music bloggers who had been given the tracks and given authorization by the very same labels that were issuing the takedowns. It was a case of the legal left hand not knowing what the marketing right hand was doing.

    And this is a major, major problem with anyone who claims that some third party can “just know” when something is infringing. It’s why we saw that Viacom sent takedowns to YouTube on around 100 videos that it had uploaded itself. As the judge properly pointed out in the iiNet case down in Australia, copyright infringement isn’t something that you can just know when you see it:


    copyright infringement is not a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question. The Court has had to examine a very significant quantity of technical and legal detail over dozens of pages in this judgment in order to determine whether iiNet users, and how often iiNet users, infringe copyright

    In effect, Google’s takedown system for music blogs is very much like a three strikes policy (though, it’s not clear how many strikes there really were). But even when people were posting legitimate music, sent to them directly by the label itself for the purpose of being posted to blogs, after enough strikes were made, the sites were taken down. That would be happening all the time in a world with mandated three strikes policies — and it’s the exact reason why such policies make no sense. They’re based on the false belief that copyright infringement is an easy “yes” or “no” decision that can be determined upon seeing it. But what we’re discovering in both this situation and in the Viacom situation is that even the copyright holders are really bad at figuring out if something is infringing or not. So why should anyone expect third parties to be able to do a better job?

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  • Autoblog Weekender: Full-of-Questions Edition

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    The Autoblog Weekender – Click above to check out what you missed

    This slightly belated Weekender is extra full of the week’s car news, starting off with a union of cars and alcohol that only Aussies would think of putting together. In the opposite hemisphere but the same corner, reporters with China’s Caixing news site take an uncharacteristically critical look at BYD and find suspect claims and institutionalized corporate cloning that has made its CEO and Warren Buffet even richer. Back on this side, Smart hasn’t lost its relevance, just its place in people’s minds, so it’s using hot dogs to try and get its mojo back while Citroën uses John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe. And when is a model car not a model car, when does an AMG float, and where in the world do you use an H2 to tow a snowplow out of the snow? The answers are right after the jump

    Continue reading Autoblog Weekender: Full-of-Questions Edition

    Autoblog Weekender: Full-of-Questions Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Teen Remixes The Works Of Others Into Best Selling Novel… And Critics Love It

    Here’s a story that will get traditionalists up in arms about “stealing” and “laziness,” but they’ll all be missing the point. We’ve see for decades how remix culture works in music. The ability to take the works of someone else, mix them up with others, change them around and create something new and powerful, is a wonderful expression of culture, that shows how artistic culture is often about shared experiences and sharing works of art. But what about in the literary world?

    There has been some exploration of this concept in the past, such as when author Jonathan Lethem wrote a very eloquent defense of plagiarism that was entirely plagiarized. Separately, we’ve discussed how many (especially younger people) who have grown up on things like Wikipedia often point out that they don’t view it as plagiarism so much as collaborative writing. And they have a point (even if there’s one patent lawyer in particular who links back to that article every few weeks to mock Techdirt). There will always be those who don’t recognize how this is, in fact, collaboration and does create new and unique pieces of artwork and culture — but they’re the same sorts of people who have decried every new artform from the Waltz (“The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced… we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion”) to romance novels and plays (“The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge”) to comic books (“All child drug addicts, and all children drawn into the narcotics traffic as messengers, with whom we have had contact, were inveterate comic-book readers This kind of thing is not good mental nourishment for children!”).

    But the good news is that this form of collaborative creation is gaining a bit of acceptance. Duane alerts us to the story of a 17-year-old German woman whose critically acclaimed book has been found to have large chunks plagiarized from other sources. A few years back, when a similar situation arose in the US, the author Kaavya Viswanathan, was shunned — even if some of us thought that was ridiculous and unfair. In this case, however, the author, Helene Hegemann, readily admits that she was “remixing” other works into her book — and the critics still love it. Her book was nominated for the $20,000 prize of the Leipzig Book Fair even though the judges already knew about the plagiarism.

    And, really, what’s the problem here? Some might claim that it’s unfair to the original authors whose work she used — but the author of the largest segments, named Airen, is getting a ton of attention for Airen’s own book, which received little actual attention when originally published. In fact, Amazon now notes that “customers who bought” Hegemann’s book also ended up buying Airen’s book. In the same way that remixes and mashups often drive people to buy the original music, it seems like remixed/mashedup books can do the same. It may be a big cultural leap for those who think there is “a way things must be done,” but it seems that the younger generation has other ideas.

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  • Difference Engine #2

    London, U.K. | Instruments of Science

    “I wish to God these calculations had been executed by steam.”

    Cambridge mathematician Charles Babbage was a true child of the early machine age, fascinated from an early age on by the automata on display in London’s famous Mechanical Museum. In his memoirs he wrote that even as a child, “my invariable question on receiving a new toy, was Mamma, what is inside of it?”

    As an adult, Babbage was inspired to design what has become regarded as the first example of a computer, in 1822, out of frustration at finding constant errors in human-calculated math tables. But, though he was wealthy and influential, and his designs were exacting, he was never able to complete a calculating machine in his lifetime. Fortunately, he did leave behind reams of notes, diagrams, and partial machines which have allowed modern machinists to take on the task, producing two modern-Victorian calculating machines.

    His first design, known as Difference Engine #1 was a massive thing, requiring some 25,000 parts in an era of non-standard tools and hardware.

    Babbage was a mathematician and inventor, and a member or the prestigious Royal Society, but he was not a machinist. He therefore had to rely on the skills of others to make his machines a reality. This may have been the ultimate problem, as the limitations in technology for precision toolmaking of the era were an issue; his problems seem to have had as much to do with his irascible personality as with any other factor.

    The only physical engine Babbage saw in his lifetime was a small portion of this first engine, a proof-on-concept built for him in 1832 by Joseph Clement, a master machinist. Arguments over payment and personality conflicts ended their relationship. Built at an extraordinary cost of £17,500 in government money, this amounted to a monumental failure.

    Although not the machine he intended to see built, Babbage successfully used this small device to demonstrate the soundness of his overall concepts. This small engine-portion is still in existence, on display at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia.

    In 1833 Babbage met the young Ada Lovelace, daughter of the poet Lord Byron, who was a brilliant young mathematician at the age of 17. She would be the first to conceive of the machine’s potential to manipulate things other than numbers.

    His second design was his most advanced concept. Designed to execute complex calculations – and run on steam – the Analytical Engine was truly a predecessor to the modern computer. Unfortunately, it was never built. A small portion of that machine, completed by his son Henry in 1910, is on display at the London Science Museum.

    The machine he is most famous for is his Difference Engine #2, still a simple calculating machine, but greatly improved by requiring far fewer parts. But Babbage died in 1871, never having seen his dreams come to fruition. He is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.

    Although working prototypes were attempted during and after Babbage’s lifetime, it was not until 1991 that a fully functional Difference Engine #2 was constructed by the London Science Museum to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Babbage’s birth. The construction was overseen by curator Doron Swade, who wrote the book The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Built the World’s First Computer about the seventeen-year project to build the engine. The museum team worked from the their collection of Babbage’s documents and a twenty-page blueprint of the machine, correcting only a few minor errors in the original design.

    The result is a 2.6-ton brass machine that is not only beautiful in function, but in form – particularly when its many rotating parts come to life.

    The 1991 Difference Engine #2 is on display at the London Museum of Science along with half of Babbage’s brain. The other half is housed at the Hunterian Museum, London.

    In 2008, a second incarnation of Difference Engine #2, also built by the London Science Museum, was debuted at the Mountain View, California Computer History Museum. Funded by Microsoft millionaire Nathan Myhrvold, the engine is technically on an extended loan to the museum, and may at some point be relocated to a very swanky living room in Silicon Valley.

  • Increasing breast cancer awareness during black history month

    Aired Feb. 11, 2010
    Chirs Holstrom, KNDU TV

    play button

     

     

     

  • Entertainment Industry Get Their Own ‘Piracy Police’ In The Justice Department

    Remember back in December when Vice President Joe Biden hosted a one-sided “piracy summit”, ridiculously declaring that “all of the stakeholders” were present (despite there not being a single representative from the technology industry, nor anyone representing consumer interests or ISPs). The “stakeholders” were entirely the entertainment industry. And, even better, despite promises of openness and transparency, the press was kicked out so top execs from most of the major entertainment industry companies could collude talk directly with many of the top administration officials, including Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and others. You knew that this wasn’t just a random meet and greet and that something would come out of it.

    And, indeed, less than two months later, we have Eric Holder announcing a special “IP task force” within the Justice Department designed to take on “the rise in intellectual property crime.” Given how many former RIAA/MPAA lawyers ended up at the Justice Department, perhaps this is no surprise. But given that it now appears that the entertainment industry was able to create their own private enforcement division within the Justice Department without a single ounce of public discussion or transparency, and no input from those concerned about consumer rights or technology innovation, shouldn’t someone be asking why the Justice Department is now functioning as a private police force to prop up the business models of a group of companies who refuse to adapt, even as plenty of upstarts have figured out how to make new business models work?

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  • Lamborghini celebrates the 4,000th Murcielago with the LP 670-4 SuperVeloce

    Lamborghini today celebrated a historic event with the 4,000th Murcielago rolling off the assembly line. Earlier today, a Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce left Lamborghini’s factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, destined for a Chinese buyer.

    “The enthusiasm our products incite makes us proud and confirms that the company’s product strategy and model range are a winning combination, producing exceptionally desirable super sportscars,” said President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann.

    Lamborghini only made 2,900 models of the previous V12 model, the Diablo, over eleven years of production.

    The lightweight 670-hp Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, carrying series number 4,000, will be delivered to the company’s showroom in Hangzhou.

    – By: Kap Shah


  • Lutz: GM’s market share climbing regardless of Toyota’s recall troubles

    Speaking to Reuters, General Motors’ Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said that the company’s new models are helping the automaker gain U.S. market share regardless of Toyota’s recall problems. Lutz said that GM expects its U.S. market share to be “definitely higher” than the 19.9 percent it achieved in 2009.

    “If the competitor’s weakness at some point results in lower sales for them and better sales for everybody else, that’s something that obviously we’ll accept,” Lutz said. ”But as far as we are concerned, it is not a factor. We’re not planning on that. We were going to gain share anyway.”

    GM’s U.S. sales were up 14 percent in January from the same period a year earlier. GM’s market share rose to 20.9 percent.

    Toyota, which is seeing sales take a major hit due to recall issues, saw its market share fall to 14.1 percent from 17 percent for all of 2009. January sales for the Japanese automaker were down 16 percent.

    – By: Omar Rana

    Source: Reuters


  • Kia picks Michelle Wie as brand ambassador

    It seems like golfers are still in high-demand to be an ambassador for automakers. In another high-profile car and golf player hookups since Tiger Woods represented Buick, Kia announced today that golfer Michelle Wie, 20, will be the brand’s official ambassador and spokeswoman.

    “It is imperative to continue raising Kia brand awareness with high-profile strategic partnerships that fit with our core values,” said Michael Sprague, Kia Motors America vice president of marketing. “Michelle and the youthful, exciting LPGA talent reflect our brand’s and our vehicles’ characteristics.”

    The terms of Wie’s deal were not disclosed. She was ranked on Forbes magazine’s 2008 list of highest-paid female athletes, with $12 million in sponsorships.

    – By: Omar Rana

    Source: Inside Line