Category: News

Good news for all the expectant fanboys at the local VFW: the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe has finally made its first appearance. Scheduled to officially debut next week at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, the high performance (though slightly chunky) coupe promises to pose a serious threat to the high-output warhorses currently thundering out of Germany. While the Caddy of legends told might have enjoyed limited popularity outside of bingo halls and Def Jam, the CTS-V coupe is a beast unlike any other. Despite the fact that GM’s corporate philosophy as a whole may leave a lot to be desired, even we – the consummate, caustic professionals – here at RideLust can’t deny a superbly engineered vehicle when we see one.

The press release assures us that the interior is stocked with enough luxury amenities to appease even the most discerning elderly playboy, but with no studio photos to validate that assertion you’ll just have to take their word for it. Fortunately, the CTS-V’s biggest selling point has little to do with the new optional Saffron interior but rather the massive LSA 6.2L supercharged V-8 engine beneath the hood. Surprisingly enough, although many (including us) would have pegged the CTS-V’s immediate competition as the likes of such track-bred monsters like the M3, but the CTS-V’s 556-horsepower makes the M3’s 414-hp look like a Kozy Koupe. Thus, it is with great remorse that RideLust offers a sincere “I’m sorry” to Detroit and a heartfelt “Seriously?” to Munich.

Filed under: By the Numbers

Industry finishes year strong with Ford up 33% and GM down 6%

It appears that all your Toyotathons, Nissan A-Z Year End Events and Ford Year-End Sales Events worked their magic in the month of December, as the final 31 days of 2009 saw positive sales for most brands and automakers in the U.S. The biggest story is perhaps the Ford brand, which saw its sales rise 37 percent in December to 159,169 units, just 126 units shy of beating Toyota and its 159,295 units sold. The Ford Fusion and Escape had particularly good months to end a great year, with monthly sales rising 86 and 75 percent respectively. In the battle of the big brands, Chevrolet came in last with sales falling 1.5 percent on 135,622 units sold.

As they have been for the entire year, Kia, Hyundai and Subaru ended the year on high notes with sales rising 44 and 41 percent respectively for the Korean brands and 33 percent for the Japanese brand.

In terms of multi-brand companies, every one had something to smile about except Chrysler and General Motors. The Pentastar people will be glad to put behind a month that saw their sales fall about four percent overall, with only Dodge managing an small rise in sales last month. General Motors, meanwhile, can’t wait to get its four non-core brands off the books, as Saab, Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn managed to weigh down the company’s sales performance to the tune of a six percent slide.

Stay tuned, as we’ll be publishing our By The Numbers evaluation of 2009 as a whole later on today.

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 28 selling days in December 2009 and 26 selling days in December 2008, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in the average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

By the Numbers – December 2009: Strong Finish Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leading up to the New Year, I was inundated with submissions about the supposed “battle” between Time Warner Cable and Fox over fees. The quick background is that Fox wanted to get a cut ($1/subscriber) from Time Warner Cable and TWC claimed it wanted to fight it. Neither side was being particularly honest about what was going on, with TWC launching a hilarious website asking consumers to “vote” on whether it should “roll over” or “get tough” and if you voted for it to roll over, it told you that you were wrong, and asked you if you wanted to change your vote. I didn’t write about the whole thing because it was an exact replica of what happened a year ago in a similar dispute — and, just like in that dispute, the parties settled up just in time to keep Fox from being deleted from TWC’s lineup. Of course, at the same moment, TWC also raised its rates. Of course, this was exactly what everyone expected all along, and TWC knew exactly what it was doing. Now it can blame the rate increase on News Corp., even though it had planned to do that all along. Other similar disputes will likely be settled in short order as well.

Of course, I find it amusing that the at the same time that content providers are arguing for service providers to pay them to carry their content on TV, those same service providers are suggesting that content providers should pay in the other direction on the internet. All the “net neutrality” battles are about the very same TV providers using their broadband divisions to claim that content providers should pay the broadband providers more to “carry” their services to users. It’s just two sides of the same coin.

Still, the more interesting battle may be shaping up elsewhere. Some consumer groups are asking the Justice Department to investigate cable companies for their “TV Everywhere” effort, which they claim is almost certainly an antitrust violation of collusion to keep certain content from going on the internet. Not surprisingly, the cable industry and their lobbyists have hit back hard, claiming that the whole thing is ridiculous.

To be honest, I think it’s a bit early to worry about collusion here. From everything we’ve seen so far, the cable industry is doing a pretty good job screwing up TV Everywhere on their own, so it’s not like it’s a huge problem yet. They’re trying to turn the internet into cable TV with extra ads. Like the recording industry’s many attempts to create their own online efforts, it looks like they’re hamstrung by their own legacy view of the world. That isn’t to say that there may not be an issue eventually, but it does seem a bit early to be ringing the alarm bells.

There’s no doubt at all that the cable companies view “TV Everywhere” as an attempt to keep people from ditching their cable TV accounts and going internet-only. But if those efforts are stymied by terrible execution and implementation it won’t do much good. People are already learning how they can watch TV over the internet (without a cable or satellite subscription) and if the cable companies really succeed in blocking TV content from going online in other ways, people will simply route around those blocks and get the content in an unauthorized manner. We’ve seen this game before, and it doesn’t end well for the companies pretending to be gatekeepers. But that doesn’t mean the Justice Department should be wasting money investigating them just yet.

Either way, both of these stories suggest a prime battleground for the next year: as the old TV businesses come to grips with the internet (finally). Just like other parts of the entertainment industry, it will be messy and annoying — and incumbent players are going to make a lot of really stupid mistakes. But, in the end, we should start to get some pretty cool stuff out of it — though, most likely not directly from the incumbent players, but from the upstarts and innovators on the margins.

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Filed under: Healthy Eating

Doing a post-holiday cleanse? You’re not the only one — the online dating site BeatifulPeople.com is doing some new-year cleaning too, by ridding themselves of thousands of members who they feel have gained too much weight over the Christmas season. In all, 5,000 members have been banned — including 533 Canadians — for letting themselves go.

The mass exodus came after members registered complaints about photos not being an accurate representation of the person’s real size. “We were getting a lot of complaints from members who were meeting with people who gained a lot of weight, or who gained weight in their photo albums,” said managing director Greg Hodge. And anyway, the self-proclaimed “largest network of attractive people in the world” has a reputation to uphold: “Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded,” site founder Robert Hintze told the BBC.

BeautifulPeople.com boasts about 500,000 members from around the world and potential members are subject to a strict and rigorous evaluation process based, of course, on looks. They’re only allowed access to the site if fellow members vote them in.

But it’s not all bad news — former members are welcome to re-apply for the site once they’ve worked off those extra pounds. But whether they’ll want to re-join a dating site that kicked them off for too much eggnog is another story altogether…

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrid, Hatchback, Suzuki, Misc. Auto Shows, India

In addition to the cool R3 MPV, Suzuki is also showing off a new SX4 Hybrid concept vehicle at the New Delhi Motor Show. Interestingly, this SX4 uses a previously unseen hybrid system developed by Maruti Suzuki with assistance from India’s National Hybrid Propulsion Program and the (deep breath) Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources’ High Energy Density Battery Development Program.

This new hybrid drivetrain is a full parallel system – meaning it can run on electricity alone for short distances – utilizing a 1.2-liter gasoline-burning engine with a 50 kW electric motor. Unlike many hybrids that use a CVT transmission, the SX4 is equipped with a five-speed automated manual unit. A lithium ion battery pack of unknown capacity stores the electrons.

Suzuki will be demonstrating its SX4 Hybrid during India’s Common Wealth Games in October and plans to have the technology in full production as early as 2015.

[Source: Suzuki | Live Images: Shrawan Raja]

Auto Expo 2010: Suzuki unveils SX4 Hybrid Concept, plans for 2015 production originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Hottest Women of 2009 is easily one of (if not the most) popular post of all time on Pop Crunch, so it was obvious that we would have to make this a yearly tradition. With this list we aim to be slightly unconventional. Men’s magazines have been churning these out for years, and we have always thought they were a bit too formulaic. While you’ll certainly see some overlap between our list and theirs we hope to have some surprises along the way, because we think it’s a lot more fun that way. Check back to our original hot 100 for more of the philosophy behind our rankings.

Now we hope you enjoy, as we get 2010 kicked off right, the Pop Crunch 100 Hottest Women of 2010.

100. Kate Winslet

Who is she?: Kate is best known for her lead roles in films such as ‘Titanic’ and ‘The Reader’.
Why Kate made the list: Kate Winslet is one of Hollywood’s most demanded actresses. She also happens to be one of the hottest. Not only does Kate have a tremendous acting career, but she is also a successful singer. Kate has honors in film that we could go on and on about, so instead, let’s just take a look at her gorgeous pictures!

99. Jennifer Connelly

Who is she? You probably know her for roles in such films as ‘A Beautiful Mind’ and ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’.

Why Jennifer made the list: This gorgeous actress has been appearing in films for nearly twenty years now, but that doesn’t take away from your very natural, and very appealing beauty.

98. Alicia Keys

Who is she? You know Alicia for her hit Pop/R&B songs ‘No One’ and ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’.

Why Alicia made the list: Alicia is the perfect example of the American dream. Born to a single mother in Hell’s Kitchen, Alicia eventually got into a performing arts school, where she graduated as Valedictorian. She then went on to Columbia University. Her NYC pride was displayed on the Jay-Z smash hit “Empire State of Mind”.

97. Kat Dennings

Who is she? Kat is most well-known for her roles in ‘Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist’ and ‘The House Bunny’.

Why Kat made the list: Kat is the kind of lady that girls want to be and guys want to be with. She is gorgeous and funny, which is getting to be a rarity these days. And if she wasn’t already hot enough, she will be starring in the upcoming comic book film ‘Thor’.

96. Olivia Munn

Who is she? Supermodel and co-host on the gaming network G4

Why Olivia made the list: Why wouldn’t Olivia Munn make this list? She’s beautiful, sexy, intelligent, and knows all there is to know about games. If that isn’t the recipe for one of the hottest women of 2010, then I don’t know what would be.

95. Eliza Dushku

Who is she? Eliza is best known for her work on ‘Dollhouse’.

Why Eliza made the list: 2009 might not have been a good year for Eliza, with her show getting cancelled, but 2010 is sure to be better. But Eliza didn’t make this list because she was starring on a television show. She made it because of her smoking hot body.

94. Michelle Trachtenberg

Who is she? Michelle Trachtenberg stars on the hit show ‘Gossip Girl’, as well as ‘Mercy’.

Why Michelle made the list: Michelle is one the of the most beautiful young women to grace the screens these days in Hollywood. 2009 showed Trachtenberg a good year, but 2010 is sure to be better. You can expect to see her in the upcoming flick ‘Young Americans’ alongside the who’s who of Hollywood’s up and comers.

93. Julie Benz

Who is she? Julie stars on the hit show ‘Dexter’.

Why Julie made the list: When you star in films like ‘Rambo’ and ‘Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day’, you are sure to have a large male fan population. But is there anyone who deserves it more than Julie Benz? Whether she is a blonde or a brunette, Julie brings a witty sex appeal to every role. Making her valuable to Hollywood, and to this countdown.

92. Colbie Caillat

Who is she?: Colbie is famous for her pop hits like ‘Bubbly’ and ‘Lucky’ ft. Jason Mraz.

Why Colbie made the list: This California girl is one of the most talented young people to break onto the scene. After auditioning and getting rejected from ‘American Idol’, Colbie knew she had to make it in the music industry on her own. And that is exactly what she has done. We can only hope 2010 will show Miss Caillet even more success.

91. Jenna Fischer

Who is she? Writer and Actress on the hit comedy show ‘The Office’.

Why Jenna made the list: With her comedic charm and easy-going personality who wouldn’t put Jenna on their hot list? We’ve all let her into our homes and hearts as Pam Beesly Halpart, and Jenna never fails to impress.

90. Julianne Hough

Who is she? She’s a country music diva, two time winner of Dancing With The Stars, and professional ballroom dancer.

Why Julianne made our list: She certainly knows how to dance her way around our hearts and can belt out some killer tunes, so she was a sure pick for our list. Julianne is certainly a jack of all trades, and one of those trades just happens to be being hot.

89. Lauren Conrad

Who is she? Reality tv goddess, fashion designer, and now author.

Why LC made the list: Ever since we got our first glimpse of Lauren Conrad on Laguna Beach, we knew she’d be on the “it” scene for a while. When she moved to LA and got her own show, millions of people watched Lauren every Monday night, experiencing the trials of being a young lady in LA. We laughed and cried with her, and now we read her books and we buy her clothing line. Anyone who can command all that attention and still look hot is worthy enough for our list.

88. Uma Thurman

Who is she?: Best known for her roles in ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Batman and Robin’.

Why Uma made the list: She’s honest, intelligent, good looking and can kick some serious ass! Uma has taken a lot onto her plate for 2010, including 4 different films, but knowing her, it will only add to her already amazing success.

87. Anna Faris

Who is she? Anna is best known for her roles in ‘House Bunny’ and ‘Scary Movie’.

Why Anna made our list: She’s cute, has a great smile and is down right hilarious! Anna has come a long way in her acting career, and she’s just now starting to get the recognition she deserves as a comedic actress. And although she is funny, she didn’t make our list for her great comedic timing. She made it because she’s sexy.

86. Amy Adams

Who is she? Amy is best known for her work in ‘Enchanted’ and ‘Julie and Julia’.

Why Amy made the list: Amy is hard working, dedicated, and very talented. She stunned crowds with her beautiful singing voice when she appeared in ‘Enchanted’, but such talents only add to her considerable handful of abilities. With a few films coming up in 2010, we are sure to see more of Amy’s bright smile and beautiful face.

85. Leighton Meester

Who is she?: Leighton is a singer and the star of ‘Gossip Girl’.

Why Leighton made the list: She’s somewhat of a “good girl gone bad” appearing in many different movies in her career, from Christian to horror. This wild party girl also sings and models. Let’s just say Leighton’s raunchy antics make ‘Gossip Girl’ a little more bearable for boyfriends forced to watch the show each week.

84. Giada De Laurentiis

Who is she? Chef, writer, and host of various Food Network shows.

Why Giada made the list: She’s sweet, sexy, and knows her way around the kitchen! This Italian born beauty is one of the most desired ladies in the media today. Giada is the kind of girl you take home to mom, and that girl next door quality scored her a place on our list.

83. Tina Fey

Who is she? Star of 30 Rock and former writer/actress for SNL.

Why Tina made the list? She’s a comedic powerhouse! She writes, she acts and she can sing! Tina has an unexplainable sexiness, a sort of funny girl meets librarian look, and if there is someone out there that can make you laugh harder, please let us know.

82. Cali Lewis

Who is she? Cali is the face of GeekBrief.TV

Why Cali made the list: This super smart and semi “dorky” cutie made our list for her abundance of brains and beauty. Cali is an American podcaster, known for her rational and informed opinions. However, Cali recently made some controversial comments calling global warming “a hoax”. If you’re looking for a cause of raising the heat Cali, look in the mirror!

81. Jennifer Aniston

Who is she? Jen is best known for her roles on ‘Friends’ and in ‘Marley and Me’.

Why Jen made the list: She is beautiful, single, talented, and funny. Doesn’t this sound like a girl you’d take out for the night? After a split from Brad Pitt, many people weren’t sure what would happen to Jen Aniston. But lucky for us, she came back hotter than ever. With acting, directing and producing credits to her name, Jen is not only one of the most powerful ladies in Hollywood, she’s also one of the most beautiful.

Click here for The Hottest Women of 2010: 80-61!

Sean Penn has rejoined the upcoming film adaptation of The Three Stooges just months after dropping out movie.

The Oscar-winning star had been slated to star in a movie based on 1930s comedy icons Moe Howard, Curly Howard, and Larry Fine. In fact, Sean was lined up to play Larry opposite Benicio Del Toro as Moe, and Jim Carey, who was reportedly in talks to play Curly in the The Farrelly Brothers feature.

Sean withdrew from the project in June after reconciling with wife Robin Wright Penn, vowing to take a break from movies to repair his marriage. Robin filed for divorce in August and Bobby Farrelly has confirmed Penn is back on board for the project. The Farrellys are still looking to fill the role of Curly.

“We got him (Penn) back. He always said he wanted to do it after, you know, taking care of his family,” Bobby tells The Boston Herald.

At the 2010 International CES show today in Las Vegas, Kia unveiled its new in-car communications and entertainment system developed in partnership with Microsoft. Known as UVO, the system will be available in select Kia vehicles starting this summer.

UVO is very similar to Ford and Microsoft’s SYNC system in that it provides a simple and quick access to multimedia and connectivity devices and functions. The interface will feature a 4.3-inch, full-color display that provides detailed information on media content, phonebook data and vehicle information. The screen also doubles as a rear-view camera when the shifter is put in reverse.

Since UVO is based on Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Auto platform, it can be updated easily as new consumer devices continue to be introduced to the market.

Hit the jump for the press release for more details.

Press Release:

Kia Motors Unveils Advanced Infotainment System Powered by Microsoft(R)

* Kia UVO, short for ‘Your Voice,’ features a breakthrough user interface that provides simple and quick access to your vehicle’s multimedia and infotainment systems
* UVO is the first in-vehicle solution to integrate full Microsoft(R) intelligent speech engine technology

Kia Motors America (KMA) today unveiled an innovative and intelligent in-car communications and entertainment system, “UVO powered by Microsoft®,” to be available in select Kia vehicles starting this summer. UVO provides consumer friendly voice- and touch-activated experiences for simple management of music files and hands-free mobile phone operation. Co-developed with Microsoft and based on Windows Embedded Auto software, UVO is an easy-to-use, hands-free solution that allows drivers and passengers to answer and place phone calls, receive and respond to SMS text messages, access music from a variety of media sources and create custom music experiences.

Understanding drivers want and need intuitive controls, Kia Motors and Microsoft® designed UVO to enable a new level of voice recognition through Microsoft® speech technology. UVO users will be able to access media content and connect with people through simple, quick voice commands without having to navigate through menus. By supporting complex grammar, UVO needs only short voice commands to connect drivers and passengers with their desired functions. An interactive system, UVO responds to inquiries such as “What’s playing?” and provides audible answers and related functions, helping to keep drivers’ eyes safely focused on the road ahead of them.

UVO also brings advancements to in-car technology through an immersive user experience. The interface features a 4.3-inch, full-color display that provides detailed information on media content, phonebook data and vehicle information, and the screen also doubles as a rear-view camera when the shifter is put in reverse. UVO is an open platform that seamlessly integrates with a wide variety of mobile phones, music players and other devices, making it easy for drivers to quickly pair devices.

“UVO powered by Microsoft® is a breakthrough for in-vehicle infotainment that helps allow drivers and passengers to safely and easily use all of their personal technologies to create personalized in-vehicle communications and entertainment experiences,” says Michael Sprague, vice president, marketing, KMA. “Collaborating with Microsoft, Kia Motors is able to offer drivers an experience that will provide our cars with a clear competitive advantage.”

“We are very excited with the customized approach Kia Motors is bringing to in-car infotainment,” says Kevin Dallas, General Manager of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Business division. “Kia’s UVO system demonstrates how the power of Windows Embedded technology can keep consumers connected to the devices, information and entertainment that matters to them most.”

Based on the award-winning Windows Embedded Auto platform, UVO can be updated easily as new consumer devices continue to be introduced to the market.

UVO will debut this summer in the all-new 2011 Kia Sorento CUV and will be extended to additional Kia vehicles as part of the brand’s technological evolution. Kia Sorento, Soul, Forte and Forte KOUP already come standard and at no extra cost with Bluetooth® wireless technology connectivity, iPod®/MP3/USB connectivity, and a three-month SIRIUS® satellite radio subscription.(1)

UVO will be shown for the first time at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, January 7-10, in both the Kia Motors and Microsoft booths and representatives from both companies will be on-hand for demonstrations.

Key Features of UVO, powered by Microsoft:

* Advanced Speech Recognition: Intelligent Microsoft® speech technology is trained to the system operator’s voice, creating a personal profile and allowing for up to two different voice profiles in various languages. Support for large grammar commands and faster response time means the content is delivered when you ask for it. Kia Motors’ UVO system is the first in-vehicle solution to integrate full Microsoft® speech engine technology.
* Natural Interface Advancements: A full-color, easy-to-use in-dash monitor allows occupants to quickly scroll through media and mobile device content through intuitive voice and touch-screen commands.
* Custom Media Experiences with MyMusic: UVO’s “Jukebox” function features a 1GB hard drive for media storage, allowing users to rip music from CDs or an MP3 player into personal MyMusic folders and store up to 250 songs sorted by title and/or artist – all through voice commands. The system can shuffle through an MP3 player or AM/FM and SIRIUS® radio stations and instantly identify what’s playing all through simple voice commands.
* Rear Backup Camera: When the vehicle is put in reverse, a built-in rear backup camera uses UVO’s in-dash display to provide clearer images of the environment behind the car assisting the driver to identify certain objects that otherwise may be difficult to see.
* Ability to Continuously Update Features and Services: Based on a flexible Windows Embedded Auto platform, updates and services can be delivered in a number of ways (over-the-air, over-the-Web) for Kia to continue to provide a superior user experience after the system enters the market.

Kia Motors is in the midst of a dramatic, design-led transformation, which has been delivering dynamically styled vehicles in several important segments at exactly the right time contributing to the brand’s continued gains in U.S. market share. The launch of the all-new 2011 Sorento CUV, the official vehicle of the NBA and the first vehicle to be built(2) at Kia Motors’ first U.S.-based manufacturing facilities in West Point, Georgia, will further enhance the Kia lineup.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Waltzing black holes, star-destroying black holes; it’s a black hole bonanza as the American Astronomical Society meets this week in Washington DC.

First, the orbiting pairs: Just about every galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its heart that is millions if not billions the size of our sun. Logic would suggest that when two galaxies merge, astronomers would see the two great black holes orbiting each other, but so far they’ve had tough luck, astronomer Julie Comerford says. “We expect the universe to be littered with these waltzing black holes,” Comerford said. “But until recently, only a few had ever been found.” Those missing black hole pairs posed problems for theories of how galaxies merge and grow [Wired.com].

Comerford, however, announced at the meeting that her team has found 33 new pairs of black holes in galactic centers. When the black hole dances toward Earth, its light is blueshifted — meaning it has a shorter wavelength. The team identified waltzing pairs by looking for instances when one black hole was blueshifted and the other redshifted [Wired.com]. Those black holes orbit each other at 200 km per second, but they’re not in a close embrace—several thousand light years separate each pair.

Next, the star destroyers: Astronomers see plenty of supermassive black holes, whether paired or not. And they see lots of black holes close to our sun in mass, like the kind a single star’s supernovae creates. But what about the black holes in between? Black holes measuring in the range of hundreds to thousands of solar masses have only existed in theory up till now and observational evidence of these “medium-sized” singularities has been very hard to come by [Discovery News].

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory, however, just discovered one of these intermediate black holes. Not only did Chandra catch a black hole in the missing size hanging around a globular cluster, it also caught the black hole in the process of ripping apart a star. In this case, that star was probably a white dwarf: The observations suggest oxygen is in abundance, but there is a deficiency in hydrogen, suggesting that the material was being stripped from an old, white dwarf star. (The lack of hydrogen shows that the stellar object has burnt up its fuel) [Discovery News].

For more on the Chandra discovery, check out Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy post. And for more about how black holes could have shaped the early universe, read the DISCOVER story “Are Black Holes the Architects of the Universe?”

Related Content:
80beats: Far-Off Quasar Could Be the Spark That Ignites a Galaxy
80beats: Researchers Spot an Ancient Starburst from the Universe’s Dark Ages
Bad Astronomy: Monster Black Hole Devours Dead Star
DISCOVER: Are Black Holes the Architects of the Universe?

Image: NASA / Chandra

I spent three months in Spain, and let me tell you, I learned a lot.

I mastered enough Spanish to justify the “working fluency” currently listed under the “Skills” section on my resume. I learned enough about olive oil and Spanish cuisine to make tortilla de patata. And I learned probably more than I ever cared to know about how to get your severely dehydrated roommate into a hospital and hooked up to an IV on a Spanish national holiday whilst you both suffer from food poisoning. But oddly enough, one of the most important lessons I learned wasn’t some great domestic, political or cultural phenomenon.

No; the most important lesson I learned came from a 10-minute conversation with a 30-year-old Spanish entrepreneur.

I had the opportunity while studying in Madrid to intern for a technology start-up called Opinno, Open Innovation. Our team in the Madrid office was small but tight-knit, and one of our larger responsibilities this fall was organizing the first annual “Competición de los Emprendedores,” an event aimed at developing relationships between Spanish technology start-ups and Silicon Valley angel investors.

The design of the competition was pretty simple. Forty-eight different Spanish entrepreneurs submitted 90-second elevator pitches to our company, which were then evaluated by a variety of pre-selected American judges. The top ten ideas were then selected to compete in the final round of judging held in Madrid, complete with five new American judges, an investment forum and a ten-minute question-and-answer session. The only catch? Everything had to be in English.

For most of the competition, each finalist demonstrated a relatively high proficiency in English, and both judges and finalists could understand each other well enough. But when Cesar Marco, the CEO of Rhythmography, a teaching tool geared toward helping the hearing-impaired learn to read music, came to the podium and asked for a translator, we [the Opinno team] all looked at each other frantically. We didn’t HAVE a professional translator.

Eventually, our CFO, Tomás Baylac, stepped up to the plate and began to translate. But because he wasn’t a professional, a large part of Marco’s presentation was (excuse the pun) lost in translation, and the evidence of this confusion was clearly visible on the judges’ faces.

An hour later, I took a seat next to Marco and asked him to explain his product and business model to me, in his native Spanish. Ten minutes into our conversation, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that his product and passion were the most impressive I had seen that day. But because of Marco’s inability to communicate in the “language of the business world,” Rhythmography didn’t even place.

I’m the first to admit that I don’t have an MBA, and the extent of my experience working with entrepreneurs and business models has been exactly three months. But I will say that I understand people, and I understand passion, and Cesar Marco had more belief and conviction in his idea than a great many people have in themselves.

I went home that night with Marco’s burden on my shoulders. What he had finally made clear to me was that there are individuals all over the world with great ideas. Some of them may be as innovative as a way to help the deaf understand music whereas others may be as simple as a new way to take out the garbage. In any case, whether we like it or not, without a connection to resources or adequate means of communication, these great ideas never make it past the theoretical stage.

But I have those resources. I study at one of the greatest research institutions in the world, in the middle of one of the most innovative environments in the United States, and I’m fluent enough in English that some fool on The Daily’s editorial staff lets me publish 800 words every week. But instead of creating great ideas, I’m too focused on the immediate terror of finding a PoliSci adviser.

They say studying abroad changes you, shapes you and makes you never want to come back. I disagree. I learned more than anything from my time abroad that I am an American, through and through, and that my jokes in Spanish, although still pretty terrible, will never be as terrible as my jokes in English [Editor’s Note: True]. But what I have gained is an appreciation and a newfound sense of social responsibility. Cesar Marco’s conviction in his idea and to Spain’s 20-percent unemployment rate demonstrated the need for my maximum contributions to both society and the marketplace. Above all, however, I gained a responsibility to be passionate.

And that is a responsibility I have only to myself.

Jon is currently consuming nutrients to replenish his strength after the monster live blog we just got done with, but he’s blessed us with a ton of unboxing and setup photos of the new Google Nexus One phone that was launched publicly today.

And don’t worry, Jon will be posting his thoughts and impressions of the device later today when he’s had some more face time with the device. Without further delay:

What is a “Brief” post?”

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Stephen Conroy is Australia’s Communications Minister and, in that role, has been instrumental in pushing for ISP-level traffic filters that will block access to illegal content by his nation’s citizens. Conroy has pushed for that plan despite resistance from ISPs, problems during testing, and worrisome vagueness about the limits on what will be filtered. Not surprisingly, his actions have inspired a bit of push-back, from a “Fake Steve Conroy” Twitter feed to the parody site stephen-conroy.com. Over the holiday break, that latter site saw Australian domain registrars pull its DNS entry, essentially silencing the protest. But the site is back, and appears to be here to stay, thanks to some quick thinking by its backers.

The site is not likely to be popular with its target, as the header image shows what appears to be a hybrid Conroy-Colbert, and refers to him as the “Minister for Fascism.” The first entry on the site is a YouTube video showing a Downfall parody that describes recent events. Those events started when the site’s backers found out that Conroy had neglected to register domains based on his own name, allowing them to sweep in and grab them in order to host their protests against his filtering plans.

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I’ve been considering expanding my home to accommodate a studio, and I love the idea of these ready-built pods, but it can’t be an eyesore. And a giant white blob sitting in my backyard is definitely an eyesore.

What it doesn’t have is pretty obvious, but the Blob does feature all of the comforts you would expect in a home—like a bathroom, kitchen, lighting, and ample storage (also doubles as a bedroom). The nose also automatically opens up to serve as a porch…of sorts. As intriguing as that is, I think I will hold out for a more elegant solution. Maybe something like the OfficePod. [Designboom]