Halil Yüksel from Mobilelayers.com was tired with all the iPhone-specific applications major websites were getting, and started to fight back by making great-looking Windows Mobile applications for major websites and services in the Netherlands.
So far he has made an application for the train service in the Netherlands, website Nu.nl and also to Tweakers.net, one of the largest gadget sites in the country.
Promising Marketplace will be crawling with his applications, he intends to release dozens of applications over the next few months.
My cat is on the pudgy side, but she is nothing like our titans of finance. Let's stop maligning our feline friends by comparing them to greedy, evil Wall Street execs.
Bad eating habits are learned young. If you really want to protect your kids, implement the following changes.
Can Atheists Learn From Christianity? Exhausted by capitalism and endless jingoistic violence, a few non-believing philosophers are turning to God. Sort of.
Exhausted by capitalism and endless jingoistic violence, a few non-believing philosophers are turning to God. Sort of.
Neos Krauthammer, Kristol Start Year With Anti-Obama Screeds Always remember, when you find the stomach to read Charles Krauthammer, that he views every issue through the lens of “is it good to help Israel withstand American pressure?” He’s a Canadian who came down here because some ambitious Canadians…
Peterson-Pew Commission Uses Jingoism to Advance Budget Agenda We need to cut the budget deficit because the foreigners are taking over. That is the word according to a new report, “Red Ink Rising,” from a commission financed by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and the Pew Foundation. The…
Post all your strange, esoteric, useful and indeed utterly useless facts here. 🙂
I’ll ‘kick off’ with this one:
American Jazz poet (most famous for his classic 1970 song "The Revolution will not be Televised") and black radical Gil Scott-Heron’s Dad Giles "Gil" Heron played as a centre forward for Celtic in the early 1950s.
He was Celtic’s 1st ever black player and was nicknamed the "Black Arrow" or the "Black Flash" – he scored on his debut.
He played for Celtic for two seasons before moving to Third Lanark, Kidderminster Harriers and finally back to America to the Detroit Corinthians.
Matthews: Politico Serves As The Drudge-Like ?News Conduit? For Dick Cheney Last month, Politico conducted an “interview” with former Vice President Dick Cheney. As ThinkProgress noted at the time, the paper’s top reporters — Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen — transcribed Cheney’s attacks on Obama without challenge, criticism, or rebuttal. Indeed, Cheney has been using Politico as his print version of Fox News. In May, Politico’s Allen […]
Last month, Politico conducted an “interview” with former Vice President Dick Cheney. As ThinkProgress noted at the time, the paper’s top reporters — Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen — transcribed Cheney’s attacks on Obama without challenge, criticism, or rebuttal.
Indeed, Cheney has been using Politico as his print version of Fox News. In May, Politico’s Allen was leaked an “exclusive” preview of Cheney’s attacks on Obama’s decision to close Guantanamo. Again in October, Allen “broke news” that Cheney was attacking Obama’s Afghanistan policy. And just last week, Allen again reported a Cheney attack on Obama’s handling of the Christmas Day terrorist incident that was released “in a statement to Politico.”
Does Cheney “have a thing with Politico?” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews asked Politico’s Jonathan Martin today on Hardball. “He uses you like he’d use Drudge or somebody,” Matthews charged. A stunned Martin had no response for why Cheney has been so willing to give Politico “exclusives.” “You’d have to ask the Vice President, Chris,” Martin responded, “I’m not sure.” Matthews kept pressing the issue:
MATTHEWS: I mean, he’s got his own news conduit.
MARTIN: You know, we aggressively report on both sides.
MATTHEWS: It’s not reporting. He feeds you this stuff. … I do like Politico. He’s feeding you guys this crap. […]
What’s he call up and say? “I got a hot one for you, Jon. Can you take — what’s your email address?” Is that what he does?
Watch it:
Secret Service investigating effigy of President Obama hanged in Georgia. Over the weekend, an effigy of President Obama was found hanging off a building in Plains, GA, the hometown of former President Jimmy Carter. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told the AP that the agency is investigating the hanging of the doll. A witness told WALB-TV that the doll had a sign with Obama’s name […]
Over the weekend, an effigy of President Obama was found hanging off a building in Plains, GA, the hometown of former President Jimmy Carter. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told the AP that the agency is investigating the hanging of the doll. A witness told WALB-TV that the doll had a sign with Obama’s name on it. Watch WALB-TV’s report:
In November 2008, effigies of Obama were displayed in Ohio and Kentucky.
Una tarde de estas vacaciones de Navidad la dediqué a dar una pequeña vuelta por la zona más comercial de Vigo, las calles Príncipe y Urzáiz, y por el ensanche de Vigo. Me encontré una ciudad vibrante en plena vorágine comercial navideña, calles llenas de gente, alumbrado navideño, mimos y espectáculos callejeros y demás características propias de una ciudad de un buen tamaño. Además al ser Vigo una ciudad densa (como la mayoría de ciudades gallegas en su casco urbano) da la impresión de ser más vibrante y más urbana aun.
Las imágenes no son de mucha calidad pero he hecho lo que he podido con mi actual cámara.
Para quien no lo sepa Vigo es la ciudad más poblada de Galicia con cerca de 300.000 habitantes en el municipio de Vigo y unos 500.000 en su área metropolitana. Una de las ciudades que más se desarrollaron gracias a la industria y al éxodo rural durante los siglos XIX y sobretodo durante el siglo XX en España.
Vigo. Ensanche y zona comercial – Ensanche e área comercial 52 Imágenes
Criteria expanded for foreign travelers to get more scrutiny U.S. intelligence and Department of Homeland Security officials said they have temporarily broadened the criteria used to identify people from certain countries for further scrutiny and decide whether they should be added to lists of those who can be barred from entering the United States.
The Fix: Republican retirements mount in House The decision by South Carolina Rep. Henry Brown to retire brings Republican retirements to 14, a number that, if it continues to rise in the coming months, could curtail the expected GOP gains in the House in November.
GOP retirements in House may affect party’s gains in November While the recent political chatter in Washington has focused on Democrats retiring from Congress, Republicans are leaving the House in greater numbers, a trend that could blunt the party’s momentum heading into the November midterm elections.
Before the housing bust, Americans tended to think their homes were their best and most important investments - a view promoted by Washington policy makers who made home ownership a top priority. Karen Pence, who runs the Federal Reserves household and real estate finance research group, argues at the American Economic Associations meetings this week that homes are actually a terrible investment.
Putting aside the fact that home prices have fallen dramatically, she says several factors make homes a lousy investments:
It is an indivisible asset. If you own stocks and bonds and suddenly need a little cash, you can sell some of your stocks or bonds but not all. With a home, on the other hand, you cant just slice off your bathroom and sell it on the market.
It is undiversified. You can buy stocks or bonds in industries or countries all over the world. A home is a bet on one single neighborhood.
Transaction costs are very high when you buy or sell a home because of real estate agent fees, mortgage fees and moving costs.
It is asymmetrically liquid, meaning it’s easy to get money out when home prices are going up. (You just take out a bigger mortgage.) But it’s hard to take money out when prices are going down because refinancing becomes more difficult. Put another way, the leverage that you have in your house with a large mortgage means your investment does well in good times but could be lousy in bad times.
It is highly correlated to the job market, meaning that home prices in a neighborhood tend to rise when the job market is improving in the area and fall when the job market is worsening. This means that your main financial asset provides the smallest cushion to you when you might need it most.
Maybe Washington policy makers shouldn’t work so hard to promote ownership with mortgage interest deductions and other federal subsidies to homeowners. Ms. Pence has been a Washington renter for many years. Ironically, though, she says shes considering buying a house herself. The reason: Her husband wants a dog and wants to start gardening. That means moving out of the apartment.
Ms. Pence emphasized that she was speaking on her own behalf, and not for the Fed.
In January almost every food publication on the face of the earth focuses on eating light. Get back into healthy habits and routines after the splurge of the holidays! Clean the caramel off your stove, and restock the fridge with cruciferous vegetables, they advise. We here at The Kitchn will follow along gamely, as we do want to eat a little lighter this month and get our kitchens in shape for winter cooking. But it’s also dark and cold outside, so eating light needs to lead to one thing: refreshment.
Later this week, the egmCarTech team will be driving down to Detroit for the 2010 North American International Auto Show. One of the production vehicles to debut in Detroit will be the new 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, the latest addition to the CTS lineup.
Let’s get right to it. Power will come from the same supercharged 6.2L V8 that powers the CTS-V sedan. That is good for 556-hp and a peak torque of 551 lb-ft. Mated to either a Tremec TR6060 6-speed manual with a dual-disc clutch or a Hydra-Matic 6L90 6-speed automatic with paddle-shift control, the CTS-V Coupe can sprint from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Stopping power comes from Brembo brakes, 6-piston calipers in the front and 4-piston calipers in the rear.
The 2011 CTS-V Coupe also gets Cadillac’s Magnetic Ride Control as standard. The system uses shocks controlled by magneto-rheological technology, rather than mechanical valves, to enhance response and assisting in maintaining luxury car driving conditions.
Sales of the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe will start early in the summer. Pricing and other details will be announced closer to launch.
2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe:
Press Release:
Art And Science: Cadillac Premieres 2011 CTS-V Coupe
– New CTS Coupe design combines with V-Series performance
– 556-hp (415-kW) supercharged 6.2L V-8
– Six-speed manual or six-speed automatic with paddle shift control – Magnetic Ride Control and Brembo brakes
– New Saffron interior trim accent color
– On sale in early summer
DETROIT – Cadillac today announced the 2011 CTS-V Coupe, which debuts at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It combines the new CTS Coupe’s dramatic design with the 556-horsepower (415-kW) supercharged V-8 engine from the CTS-V sedan. The result is a luxury sports coupe aimed at driving enthusiasts.
“The CTS-V Coupe marries our most potent and sophisticated technology with our most dramatic production design,” said Bryan Nesbitt, Cadillac general manager. “This combination of visual and technical attributes is designed to create a very compelling choice for luxury sports car consumers.”
The CTS-V Coupe begins production this summer. Its suite of technical and performance elements includes Magnetic Ride Control, racing-bred Brembo brakes and an available automatic transmission with paddle-shift control.
The V-Series Coupe includes a unique grille that doubles the car’s air intake volume, an important enabler for its high-performance capabilities. It is also visually identified by a raised center section of the hood that provides clearance for the supercharger, as well as specific front and rear fascias. Like the CTS Coupe, its exhaust is centered inside the rear fascia, but with unique twin outlets. The car rolls on 19-inch cast aluminum wheels, available in either painted or polished finishes, and Michelin Pilot Sport 2 performance tires.
The CTS-V Coupe’s rear track is nearly an inch wider than the CTS-V Sport Sedan, adding to the car’s aggressive stance and enabling an extra measure of handling capability. The current CTS-V Sport Sedan has quickly established itself among the world’s highest performing luxury sedans, becoming the first production four-door on street tires to break the legendary 8-minute barrier at Germany’s famed Nürburgring. The new V-Series Coupe’s sleeker shape and slightly lower mass ensure a similarly high level of performance.
Inside, the 2+2 cabin combines performance and luxury. A new Saffron interior trim color is offered, with contrasting microfiber seat inserts and stitching on the upper trim areas.
Form follows function
The CTS-V Coupe’s design is a clear visual statement of the technical precision and performance intent of the car.
The Coupe has the same wheelbase as the CTS-V Sport Sedan, but its overall height is about two inches (51 mm) lower and its overall length is two inches (51 mm) shorter. The two models share only the instrument panel, console, headlamps, front fenders and grille.
Key design features include:
* Classic hardtop styling, with no conventional B-pillar
* Touch-pad operation for the doors removes the need for conventional door handles * Faster windshield angle (62.3 degrees) and a nearly horizontal backglass enable an aerodynamic profile
* Signature vertical lighting, highlighted with LED light pipes
* Signature center high-mounted stop lamp functions as a rear spoiler * Aerodynamic roof-mounted antenna for OnStar and XM Satellite Radio
Supercharged powertrain
The CTS-V Coupe employs the LSA 6.2L supercharged V-8 engine also found on the CTS-V Sport Sedan. Rated at 556 horsepower (415 kW) and 551 lb.-ft. of torque (747 Nm), it is the most powerful engine offered in Cadillac’s history and propels the CTS-V Coupe from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds.
The LSA engine features an intercooled Eaton supercharger system, premium aluminum-alloy cylinder heads and numerous details designed to ensure it makes its power as quietly and smoothly as possible. The supercharger, for example, has a unique, four-lobe rotor design that enhances quietness while also optimizing the performance parameters of the engine.
A pair of six-speed transmissions is offered in the CTS-V Coupe: a Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual with a dual-disc clutch and a Hydra-Matic 6L90 six-speed automatic with paddle-shift control. Performance Algorithm Shifting is part of the 6L90’s programming and provides a performance-oriented shift pattern during sustained high-performance driving. As with many Cadillac models, the driver needs only to slide the shifter into the manual “gate” to put the transmission into that more aggressive mode.
The paddle shift control requires no shift lever movement. Steering wheel thumb controls allow immediate and quick tap up/tap down gear selection.
Magnetic Ride Control
The V-Series reaches elite levels of road-holding performance, but also maintains the poise of a luxury car in “regular” driving conditions. The technical enabler of that dual-mode driving character is Cadillac’s landmark Magnetic Ride Control. It is standard on the CTS-V Coupe and is the world’s fastest-reacting suspension technology. It uses shocks controlled by advanced magneto-rheological technology, rather than mechanical valves, to greatly accelerate response time and precision.
Electronic sensors at all four wheels literally “read the road” every millisecond, making constant adjustments to damping to create virtually instantaneous and extremely precise control of body motions. This is of particular benefit for a high-performance car because it helps keep the car very composed during hard cornering, acceleration, braking and other dynamic maneuvers.
The Magnetic Ride shocks also enable a broader range of damping control to optimize the ride and handling for all driving conditions. In the CTS-V Coupe, an extra measure of control is offered, with two selectable modes (Tour and Sport), enabling the driver to tailor the suspension for grand touring or more spirited performance driving.
Braking and tire systems
CTS-V includes sophisticated braking and tire systems, in partnership with two companies renowned for high-performance technology: Brembo and Michelin. Brembo brakes are at all four corners and include powerful, six-piston calipers in the front and four-piston calipers in the rear.
Slotted and vented rotors enable strong initial braking force while optimizing heat resistance and eliminating fade. The brake rotors from Brembo employ a “dual-cast” technology that combines cast iron and aluminum, resulting in excellent performance and weight reduction. CTS-V also includes an electric parking brake, enabling more legroom for the driver, key for high-performance driving.
Michelin partnered with Cadillac engineers to develop its acclaimed Pilot Sport PS2 summer tire for CTS-V and its exclusive 19-inch alloy wheels. The tires support high levels of grip in track conditions, while also affording good performance on the road.
Interior amenities
Recaro performance driving seats are optional in the CTS-V Coupe and provide excellent support for spirited driving. These 14-way adjustable performance seats include pneumatic bolster controls in the seat cushions and backrests.
The CTS-V Coupe also includes an exclusive new Saffron color option for the interior, providing a contrasting color accent carried on the seat inserts, as well as the stitching, which highlights the craftsmanship of the instrument panel, center console, door trim and seats.
The steering wheel, seat inserts and shifter are covered in microfiber, providing the luxurious character of suede without suede’s inherent drawbacks of difficult care and moisture sensitivity. These accents are standard, elegant to the touch and help support high-performance driving.
The car’s integrated center stack is trimmed in Obsidian black material that is also applied to the center console and door trim. Just like every CTS, the V-Series includes a hand-stitched instrument panel, door trim and center console. Leading-edge infotainment features extend to the V-Series. They include a 40-gigabyte hard drive, advanced navigation system with a deployable screen and Bose digital surround audio, as well as factory-installed Bluetooth phone integration, all standard features on the V-Series.
The West Is Choked by Fear of Radical Islam Henryk Broder, Der Spiegel Related articles, background features and opinions about this topic.An Editorial by Henryk M. BroderA Somalian man broke into the home of Kurt Westergaard on Friday armed with an ax and a knife. He is accused of the attempted murder of the Danish cartoonist.The attack on illustrator Kurt Westergaard wasn't the first attempt to carry out a deadly fatwa. When Muslims tried to murder Salman Rushdie 20 years ago, the protests among intellectuals were loud. Today, though, Western writers and thinkers would rather take cover than defend basic rights.In 1988, Salman Rushdie's novel…
Iran’s Regime & Opposition Brace for Another Round Robin Wright, Time Mir-Hossein Mousavi speaks to supporters at a campaign event in southern Tehran, May 30, 2009Faced with escalating turmoil, Iran's newly militarized regime now appears to be turning to the Tiananmen model to ensure its survival. The theocracy has signaled over the past week that it will exercise extraordinary military and judicial powers against opposition leaders, dissidents, street protesters and even sympathizers to end the growing turmoil. The regime's most urgent goal is to prevent opposition activists from turning next month's 11-day celebration marking the Shah's…
Decline is Relative Ross Douthat, New York Times Here in the United States, we spent New Year's weekend bidding good riddance to the awful, awful aughties "” a miserable decade of bubbles and busts, rising health care bills and soaring deficits, domestic terror attacks and overseas quagmires. The columnist's blog on politics and culture. Elsewhere, though, the decade's turn was probably flavored by nostalgia. For much of the world, the last 10 years was a period to savor "” an era of impressive economic growth, ever-higher life expectancy, relative peace and steady progress against…
Prolonging the Recession Becker, Davis, & Murphy, Wall Street Journal In terms of U.S. output contractions, the so-called Great Recession was not much more severe than the recessions in 1973-75 and 1981-82. Yet recovery from the latest recession has started out much more slowly. For example, real GDP expanded by 7.7% in 1983 after unemployment peaked at 10.8% in December 1982, whereas GDP grew at an unimpressive annual rate of 2.2% in the third quarter of 2009. Although the fourth quarter is likely to show better numbers"”probably much better"”there are no signs of an explosive take off from the recession. We believe two…
BP had good news for Indonesia recently. It announced that it, along with Italian firm Eni, will start producing coal bed methane (CBM) from the Sanga-Sanga block in East Kalimantan in “a few years”.
It will be the first production of CBM in Indonesia. The gas will be supplied to the Bontang LNG plant located in the province and thus enable Indonesia to become the world’s first CBM-to-LNG producer.
CBM or coal seam gas (CSG) is natural gas that is extracted from coal beds. Indonesia is estimated to have a potential CBM resources of 450 trillion cubic feet, about three times as much as the country’s potential and proven natural gas resources, which now stands at around 165 trillion cubic feet.
The discovery of CBM by BP and partner underlines that Indonesia has much gas underground and, given its abundance, gas will become one of the primary energy sources in Indonesia, replacing oil, where reserves have fast declined over the past decade.
Indonesia, formerly a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has been a net oil importer since 2004. The national oil and condensate production has dropped to about 950,000 barrels per day (bpd) at present from 1.4 million bpd in 2000, while the national oil consumption has continued to increase and now reaches around 1.5 million bpd.
Efforts aimed at increasing the national oil production haven’t thus far brought much fruit. Most, if not all, the country’s giant fields have been discovered, exploited and now see their production decline due to natural depletion of reserves. The biggest oil field to be discovered over the past decade is the Cepu block in border areas of Central Java and East Java, which now produces around 13,000 bpd of oil.
USB 3.0 is just around the corner, with us having reported about more and more compatible devices in the last few months. And now Taiwan-based PC accessory maker VIA has readied the so-called VIA VL810 SuperSpeed Hub Controller, the world’s first USB 3.0 hub controller. It supports data transfer speeds of up to 5Gb/s and features one upstream and four downstream ports.
The controller is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, but data transfer rates are up to ten times slower in that case. The five ports support Hi-Speed (480Mbps), Full-Speed (12Mbps) and Low-Speed (1.5Mbps) data traffic. VIA says the controller is ideal for those users who, for example, need to backup HDDs or quickly move HD video files from one device to the other.
The company plans to demo the controller at the CES later this week.
Toyota expects to boost India sales about 20 percent this year from 55,000 vehicles last year, Hiroshi Nakagawa, managing director of the company’s local unit, said today. The carmaker intends to more than triple its market share to more than 10 percent by 2015, he said.
VW, Suzuki
Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, aims to reach about that figure in four years, Jochem Heizman, a member of the company’s management board, reiterated at the show. The company, which is buying a 20 percent stake in Suzuki, will begin selling the Polo in India in March, he said.
Toyota’s low-cost Etios compact will go on sale in India later this year, according to a company statement. The automaker aims to sell 70,000 in the first full-year of production. The model will also be exported, Okamoto said.
Hyundai Motor Co. ranks second in Indian car sales ahead of Tata Motors Ltd., the maker of the Nano, the world’s cheapest car.
Toyota has previously struggled to win market share from Suzuki’s Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. unit, missing a goal announced in 2003 to get 10 percent of the market by this year. Maruti’s nationwide network of dealers may also help it rebuff future challenges, said Jatin Chawla, an analyst at India Infoline Ltd.
“It would be difficult to tackle that factor upfront,” he said. Challengers will likely focus on the 20 biggest cities for the first few years, while Maruti targets rural and semi-urban markets to maintain its market share, he said.
The new compact will be smaller than the Jazz, known as the Fit in Japan, according to the company.
Honda’s passenger car sales in India declined 16 percent to 50,174 units in the year ended March 31, giving the company a 4.1 percent share of the local market. Honda was the fourth- largest carmaker in India, lagging behind Suzuki, Hyundai Motor Co. and Tata Motors Ltd.
Suzuki, which offers seven hatchbacks through its Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. unit, controls 52 percent.
Hey Netgear, did you have a surprise for us at CES? Say the world’s first 4×4 MIMO 802.11n WiFi HD Video bridge? Sorry, but Quantenna just revealed your partnership that promises to deliver Full HD video quality streams across distances of “100 feet or more, regardless of signal interferences and dead zones.” According to the Quantenna press release, anyway. That’s up to 5x the distance of existing wireless HD solutions thanks to Quantenna’s 4×4 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology, adaptive transmit digital beamforming, and wireless channel monitoring and optimizing; a lot of scary sounding jargon that should allow the device to carry up to four streams of full HD video pretty much anywhere in the house with claimed “near-perfect transmission performance.” While we don’t have pics yet you can expect Netgear’s baby to be sporting 4 antennas (like the Quantenna reference design pictured) when it’s announced proper in the next few days.
