Category: News

Filed under: Etc., Europe, UK

When Automobile magazine put together a list of potential all-star cars, 39 new models made the initial cut from the Audi A3 and (Euro-edition) Honda Civic to the Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano and Tesla Roadster. From that selection, only ten cars ascended to the winner’s circle.

Each of the 39 finalists makes a solid case for being included, although a few did raise an eyebrow — we really enjoy the Malibu and love the G-Class, for instance, but didn’t expect to see them here. The ten that took honors are all worthy to a wheel, but again, an eyebrow or two did take note — neither the aforementioned Ferrari nor the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG made it, but the Camaro and BMW Z4 did.

Don’t let that take anything away though; these things are subjective, and every winner deserved it. Even the Dodge Ram 1500. Click here for the full list of winners and reasons.

[Source: Automobile]

Automobile announces 2010 All-Stars originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A look ahead to Week 9 of the fantasy basketball season.

Schedule Breakdown

Four-game teams: CLE, HOU, IND, LAC, PHO, SAS

Three-game teams: ATL, BOS, CHI, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, LAL, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, ORL, POR, SAC, UTH, WAS

Two-game teams: CHA, MEM, NJN, NOR, PHI, TOR

Also see: Basketball Monster’s ease rankings and Rotowire’s value meter

Pickups/Plug-ins – players owned in less than 40% of Yahoo! leagues

• Omri Casspi – Casspi has averaged 18 points, 1.3 threes, 86-percent
foul shooting, 3.7 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal in 34 minutes in three
games since joining the Kings’ starting lineup. The move should stick,
giving Casspi some long-term potential – looking ahead, I’d anticipate
Andres Nocioni hitting the bench once Kevin Martin makes his eventual
return. Week 9: @CHI, CLE, LAL

• Marreese Speights – Speights has picked up right where he left off,
and then some. In three games since returning from a partially torn
MCL, he’s averaged 19.7 points on 47-percent shooting and 7.7 boards in
27 minutes. While it’s hard to envision consistency for any of Eddie
Jordan’s bigs, Speights’ numbers should continue to be solid overall. Week 9: @WAS, @UTH

• Joel Przybilla – need a center? Przybilla has double-digit rebounds in five straight games and has averages of 5.7 points on 57-percent shooting, 9.8 boards, and 2.2 blocks over the past six games. Week 9: @DAL, @SAS, DEN

• C.J. Watson – Watson continues to play plenty for the short-handed
Warriors, and he’s produced averages of 12.5 points on 51-percent
shooting, 1.1 threes, 4 boards, 3.1 assists, 1.3 turnovers, and 2
steals over the past 11 games. Week 9: @MEM, @NOR, PHO

• Jarrett Jack – Jack has been up and down as the starter but solid overall (12 points, 51% FG, 0.6 threes, 3.9 boards, 5.7 assists, 3 turnovers, 1.3 steals) and Jose Calderon remains out. The downside here is that the Raptors only play twice in Week 9 (@DET, DET).

• DeJuan Blair – Matt Bonner’s broken hand will keep him out for at least a month,
meaning an expanded role for Blair in the interim, who saw 20 minutes
of playing time himself for just the second time in a month Saturday (8
boards, 1 steal). Blair’s per-25 minute averages on the season include
10.7 points, 9.3 boards, 0.6 steals, and 1.6 steals-plus-blocks. Week 9: LAC, POR, @MIL, @NYK

• Jerryd Bayless – Bayless has been earning more playing time for the short-handed Blazers, setting season-highs in minutes in three consecutive games. His production is almost completely limited to offense, but the offense should be there as long as the minutes are. In the five games where he’s seen at least 20 minutes of playing time, he’s averaged 16 points on 47-percent shooting, 0.4 threes, and 8.6 free throw attempts. Week 9: @DAL, @SAS, DEN

• Dorell Wright – Quentin Richardson’s injury gave Wright an opportunity to rejoin the Heat rotation, and he’s played well enough in recent games to keep a solid role now that Richardson has returned. Over the past five games, Wright has averaged 13.2 points on 58-percent shooting, 1 three, 5 boards, 2.2 assists, 0.4 turnovers, and 1.4 steals-plus-blocks, and Q-Rich’s availability is always tenuous at best. Week 9: UTH, @NYK, IND

Status Updates

• Leandro Barbosa – Barbosa will step up his practice activities Sunday with the hopes of fully practicing with the team Wednesday and then returning to the active roster Friday.

• Andris Biedrins – Biedrins has begun light workouts and may fully practice with the team in advance of their back-to-backs on Tuesday/Wednesday. The San Francisco Chronicle’s beat reporter goes as far as to speculate that Biedrins "could return" for the two-game road trip, but that may be overly-optimistic.

• Chauncey Billups –  Billups is not expected to be in the lineup Sunday, instead giving his injured groin a few extra days to heal before returning on Wednesday.

• Jose Calderon – The Raptors have yet to provide any official update on Calderon’s hip flexor, so the best I can offer is speculation from the Toronto Star‘s Raptors beat reporter:

"No one’s got a timetable but if I had to guess, I’d say the 30th here would be when we see him back. Just a guess though."

• Chris Douglas-Roberts – CDR suffered a grade 1 ankle sprain Saturday and his status for Wednesday’s game is up in the air at this point.

• Rudy Fernandez – Rudy underwent a microdiscectomy on December 8 and is expected to be sidelined until at least mid-January.

• Ryan Gomes
– Gomes has yet to return to practice and is probably a week or more away from playing because of a high ankle sprain.

• Ben Gordon – Gordon’s sprained ankle has progressed to the point that he will be a game-time decision Sunday.

• Danny Granger – Granger’s torn right plantar fascia is expected to keep him sidelined until sometime in mid-January.

• Blake Griffin – Griffin remains sidelined by a stress fracture on his left kneecap and isn’t expected to return until sometime after January 1. He’ll undergo a series of tests sometime in the coming days, and a more exact timeline should emerge after they take place.

• Richard Hamilton – Hamilton will miss his third straight game Sunday due to a strained right hamstring, and is considered day-to-day.

• Allen Iverson
– AI has missed the past two games because of a collection of issues (left knee arthritis, right leg stress reaction, left shoulder bruise), and he’s also scheduled to sit out Philly’s game on Tuesday. According to Eddie Jordan, he "might" be back in the lineup on Saturday.

• Yi Jianlian – barring another unforeseen circumstance, Yi is set to rejoin the Nets at practice Monday and is likely to be on the team’s active roster Wednesday.

• Carl Landry – Landry underwent nearly five hours of dental procedures Saturday to repair damage to five teeth, suffered when he collided with Dirk Nowitzki during Friday’s game. Rick Adelman said that doctors thought "by next week he should be fine," but go on the assumption that he’ll be a game-time decision Tuesday.

• Kevin Martin – Martin had surgery on his broken left wrist on November 9 and is expected to return sometime in mid-January. 

• Mike Miller
– Miller is progressing and expected to resume running this week.

• Jameer Nelson – Nelson is set to go through his first full practice Sunday, and the team’s medical staff has designated Wednesday’s game as the earliest possible return to the active roster.

• Dirk Nowitzki – Dirkdid not practice Saturday and is questionable for Sunday’s game in the wake of his elbow-to-mouth collision with Carl Landry.

• Tayshaun Prince – Prince remains, in a word, out, and there continues to be a lack of substantive updates in terms of his specific level of readiness.

• Tyrus Thomas
– Thomas will participate in a full-contact practice Sunday and, if he has no setbacks, the team is targeting Saturday’s matchup with the Hornets as a possible return date.

• Dwyane Wade – Add back spasms to Wade’s list of recent ailments, but he’s not expected to miss any game action due to the injury, just like with the others.

—

Photos via Getty Images

There are just a few days left to submit your holiday cupcake photos to the Holiday Cupcake Contest Flickr pool and enter for a chance to win a great baking gift basket! Baking pans, chocolate and other goodies are going into two prize packages for one Grand Prize winner and one Runner-Up!

If you haven’t posted your entry for the contest, you still have time. Simply take a photo of a holiday cupcake – one you made or one that you saw/ate/bought somewhere else – and upload it to the Flickr photo pool. Entries are due by December 23rd at midnight to maximize your chances of encountering a great holiday cupcake. Check out the current entries for some baking inspiration, and try one of these cupcake recipes if you want to bake your own:

• Maple Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream
• Candy Cane Cupcakes
• Gingersnap Cupcakes
• Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

HTC’s new generation of upcoming Windows Mobile handsets, the HTC Trophy, HTC Tera and HTC Photon are all powered by the 600 Mhz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor. Disappointingly these are not part of Qualcomm’s next generation Snapdragon family, but rather just the next in the MSM72xx series.

Of course the advantage to HTC of these processors are that they are the same size as the older generation, near pin compatible, and software compatible with the older MSM7225 processor, meaning time to market was faster.

The processor is also a real upgrade to the older generation, with an integrated Floating Point Unit (whether the OS will make use of it is another question) and a Level 2 cache, which should again significantly increase speed.  The processor also uses less power than the MSM7225, meaning either longer battery life, or more likely for the next-gen of Windows Mobile handsets, smaller form factors.

I have collated the information available about the 3 tiers of chipsets below.  There are some gaps obviously, but I believe our very intelligent readers will not mind helping to fill these in, and possibly suggest a few more rows.

The conclusion however is that while the MS7227 processor is not ground breaking, it should not be as much of a slouch as the original MSM 7200 HTC Tilt was.

The highly anticipated Nexus One and Apple iPhone made an appearance on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, with a bit of humor attached.  Happy Holidays, everyone.

Via: Engadget Mobile

Eagle-eyed Street Fighter fans who tuned in to Capcom and Famitsu’s live stream demo of Super Street Fighter IV late this week have unearthed an interesting rumor nugget from the game’s character select menu: there will be ten

Filed under: Concept Cars, Etc., Jaguar, Land Rover, Design/Style

For the past couple of years, Car magazine has gathered renderings from designers envisioning Kris Kringle’s sleigh. Last year it was Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Ford, and Nissan. This year, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Audi, Land Rover, and Jaguar submitted their Santa-ships, and the results are predictably outrageous.

The Jag and Land Rover cruisers might make you think they got their sexy back. Jag’s design features the unlikely addition of twin, rear-mounted propellers (which might make rooftop landings a little difficult — and noisy) and a painted mascot on its forward flanks that is definitely not Mrs. Claus. The Land Rover snowspeeder-thingy has particle accelerators, and those are always sexy, and we dig Santa’s pose with that cigar, looking straight out of a Hugh Hefner photo shoot. We have a feeling that Hef, however, wouldn’t have a reindeer in that front seat…

Speaking of which, we’d be interested in finding out why some car designers think Santa wants to tackle his annual delivery route with one single reindeer riding shotgun. You can have a look at the JLR sleighs below, and click here to check out the rest at Car.

[Source: CAR]

Jaguar and Land Rover design sleighs for Santa part of Car‘s annual design entries originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Option’s markets could be expecting a major rally in stocks going forward, according to Trader’s Narrative.

Trader’s Narrative: …measures of mood in the options market, like the CBOE (equity only) put call ratio as well as the ROBO put/call ratio are showing an eye popping amount of speculative call buying. There is no question that right now, option traders are throwing caution to the wind and positioning themselves for a major rally. History as a guide tells us they will be sorely disappointed.

Still, this other measure of options sentiment, also highlighted by Trader’s Narrative, remains far from extreme levels.

Also, if we then build our own Put/Call Ratio chart, we don’t quite see what Trader’s Narrative is worrying about in the first excerpt above. In fact it seems that Put volume has spiked relative to Call volume. One would argue that investors are increasingly buying hedges. If speculative buying has popped in any direction, it’s more in regards to bearish bets rather than bullish ones.

The data is very volatile in the short-term, thus Trader’s Narrative may not have seen the most recent CBOE data point. At the very least, from a broader perspective the chart below doesn’t show any kind of extreme when compared to the last past year. So sentiment actually still appears pretty tame by this measure, though feel free to prove us wrong.

Regardless, there’s a lot more detail on other sentiment indicators over at Trader’s Narrative. It’s worth a look.

(Tip via Abnormal Returns)

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• German Manufacturing Sentiment Soars, Signals V-Shaped Recovery
• Citi: Sentiment Slips Into Panic Mode
• CHART OF THE DAY: Investor Sentiment Rebound Could Be A Bearish Sign

ok, so this is going to sound totallllllly stupid!

But, yeah, I totally saved my patient last night….hahah not.
Anyway, she had major abdominal surgery; was completely necrosed inside/ major sepsis from a perforated bowel from extreme IBS and narcotic use for the pain. So, yesterday she had some serious blood pressure issues. They couldn’t keep her MAP about 65, etc. and received like four 250ml bolus’. When I came on, she was holding steady, but then at like 1 in the morning, her pressure started to drop. 99/50 to 88 to 78.. I’m like…c’mon dude! So I bolus her once. I know it sounds insignificant and I will laugh about this later in life, but I felt proud that I just went ahead and did something rather than ask someone; mostly because this was only my second night off orientation and usually I have someone looking over my shoulder and when something goes wrong, they know about it, ask me what I would do, or tell me what to do.
Also, I am still getting used to the extreme autonomy I have as a nurse in the unit. I would never be able to just give someone fluids without talking to the MD first on the floor. Granted, we have standing orders/early goal direct therapy, but still…

So the point…I’m bolusing her, blablabla, still not coming up. And then I woke her up while fiddling with her lines (effing DUH) and her pressure went right back to 120-140!!!

I’m like…ok, note to self: whenever someone starts dropping their pressure, freakin’ wake them up. Nursing 101 people, i have mastered it. For the rest of the night, whenever she started to look like she might drop her pressure, I just went in there and like slammed something or called her name and her pressure would shoot right back up, ahhahaha. I crack myself up.

I guess I didn’t think to wake her up because she was in such intense pain and everytime she was awake she would moan out. I figured, sleeping and not moaning=no pain=happy patient and happy nurse.

I’m a total hero and genius, I know…hold your applause!

The Prairie Island nuclear plant at Red Wing, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River.  Nuclear power advocates want to repeal the state’s 15-year-old ban on new nuclear plants.

The state that enacted one of the nation’s most farsighted clean energy laws in 2007 may be a battleground over nuclear power in 2010.  A coalition of interest groups wants to repeal Minnesota’s 15-year-old moratorium on new nuclear plants. Like pro-nuke interests elsewhere, the Minnesota coalition is arguing that nuclear power is a clean solution to climate change problems.

The 2007 Next Generation Energy Act mandates that Minnesota generate 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025.  It also sets a state goal to reduce electric demand 1.5% per year through efficiency and conservation programs. The law defines renewable sources as solar, wind, small hydro, hydrogen and biomass.

But nuclear power advocates want to add nuclear energy to the mix. The so-called Sensible Energy Solutions for Minnesota says it includes business, labor and environmental leaders, although no organized environmental groups support the repeal. A board member of SESM says calls nuclear “the most sensible and carbon-free base-load electricity source in existence.”

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Here’s something to pique your curiosity. Sony has gone and filed a US trademark for something called “Qriosity.” In keeping with the strange spellings and pronunciations of the Xross Media Bar and Qore, that’s pronounced “curiosity.” They’ve

Here is a Q&A on some of the most important legal questions surrounding the Copenhagen Accord.

As the dust settles after a decidedly unconventional climate convention, delegates and experts are turning their attention to the outcome, and what it means for the future of international climate change efforts. Previous COPs typically end with a series of “decisions” that are accepted by unanimous consensus of the delegates (majority vote does not apply to the climate convention), which sets a high hurdle for what can be accomplished.

But this time, history didn’t play out in exactly the same way. Here are some early thoughts on what actually happened at COP-15 in Copenhagen, and what it means from a legal perspective:

Is the Copenhagen Accord a binding document?

Not in a legal sense. In fact, the words “legally binding” were conspicuously removed from earlier drafts of the Accord by delegations that aren’t yet ready to enter into a legally binding instrument. But the Accord is “politically binding” on those countries that choose to sign up to it. A number of delegations publically expressed their approval of it during the final Conference of Parties (COP) plenary session. And the Convention Secretariat is setting up a process for governments to associate themselves with the Accord, and the names of their countries will be formally listed alongside the text.

But “politically binding” is not the same as “legally binding.” Politically binding—if anything—means that political consequences will flow from its breach—diplomatic responses, efforts at public shaming, withholding of discretionary funding, etc. In this sense, the Accord can be considered a strong, high level commitment by the countries that have adhered to it, and many groups are choosing to interpret it in this sense.

But didn’t the COP “adopt” the Copenhagen Accord at COP-15?

No. The COP “took note” of the Copenhagen Accord. Decisions by the COP require a consensus (if any Party present formally objects to a decision, it can block its adoption). That level of consensus was not possible in this case, and the COP rules don’t enable voting. While the 25 or so countries that were asked by the COP President to participate in a high level meeting of the “friends of the President” eventually accepted the Accord, at least four Parties spoke out against it (Tuvalu, Sudan, Bolivia, and Venezuela). In any event, COP decisions—even those agreed to by all parties—cannot by themselves legally bind Parties.

What does it mean for the UNFCCC to “take note” of the Copenhagen Accord?

“Taking note” of the Accord is a way for UNFCCC parties to formally acknowledge its existence. To quote UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, it “is a way of recognizing that something is there, but not going so far as to associate yourself with it.”

However, the decision to “take note” of the Copenhagen Accord does not change the nature of the Agreement; it does not, for example, give it the significance of a COP decision. However, it may give it greater significance than documents that parties submit during COP proceedings, such as those categorized as “miscellaneous” or “informational” (MISC or INF) documents.

During the Plenary, a number of governments in support of the Accord called upon the COP, under Art 7.2(c) of the Convention to:

Facilitate, at the request of two or more Parties, the coordination of measures adopted by them to address climate change and its effects, taking into account the differing circumstances, responsibilities and capabilities of the Parties and their respective commitments under the Convention.

This should give the COP a mandate to follow up on the implementation of the Accord.

I thought I heard officials say the Copenhagen Accord be made “immediately operational.” How is that possible?

The Accord describes itself as “immediately operational.” Participating countries can, however, only immediately operationalize those parts of the Accord that do not require a COP decision.

For example, the Accord provides that governments will submit more specific country-level commitments and actions in the Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 sections of the Accord. Appendix 1 is intended for “economy-wide emissions targets” for 2020 for Annex-I countries; Appendix 2 for “mitigation actions” by non-Annex I countries. These commitments, which must be submitted by January 31st, 2010, will constitute more specific and significant commitments on the part of the submitting countries. These commitments can become operational immediately.

However, the Accord also “decides” to establish a new “Copenhagen Green Climate Fund” to manage the billions of dollars pledged in Copenhagen. It provides that the Fund will be part of the Convention’s Financial Mechanism. This isn’t possible without a COP decision. Unless the all Parties can agree, at the next COP or later, money raised under the Accord will have to be managed outside the Convention.

A plausible argument could be made that since the Accord was adopted as a package, even those aspects of the Accord that would otherwise be immediately operational (such as the 31 Jan 10 deadline) won’t take effect until the other aspects, such as the establishment of the fund, also take effect.

Host: Larry Hryb, Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson (Xbox LIVE ) (Twitter)  
Co-host : e (Xbox LIVE ) (Twitter)  
Co-host : lollip0p (Xbox LIVE) (Twitter)
Co-Host: Stepto (Xbox LIVE) (Twitter) 

Special Guest: Aaron Greenberg (Xbox LIVE) (Twitter) 

Interview: Geoff Keighley, 2009 Spike TV Videogame Awards ( 38:12 – 56:56)
Interview: Rod Moye, Guitar Hero Van Halen ( 56:57 – 1:05:03)
Interview: Paul Helquist, Borderlands DLC ( 1:05:03  – 1:12:44)
Interview: Patrick Redding, Splinter Cell Conviction ( 1:12:44 – 1:30:28)
Name The Game
Xbox 101
And much more

 
Note: I’ve added the above show notes to the ID3 Lyrics data field. If your device supports displaying lyrics, you’ll find this useful 

Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode:
Guitar Hero Van Halen
Borderlands

Zombie Island for Borderlands
Splinter Cell Conviction
Splinter Cell Conviction on Xbox LIVE Marketplace
Dec. 21-27 Deal of the week: Shadow Complex
http://marketplace.xbox.com/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802434307de
http://marketplace.xbox.com/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802434307df

Bonus: Here is a behind the scenes photo of this recording session 

Show Details:

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Filed under: Etc.

Patrick Schiavone, Ford‘s design director for trucks and crossovers, is leaving The Blue Oval. In his 21 years with the company, Schiavone has penned and helped develop Fords both naughty and nice: the last two F-150s; the Flex; Expedition; Cougar; Focus; Lincoln Navigator and Blackwood; the Mighty F-350 TONKA and Ford F-150 Lightning Rod concept trucks; and the Contour show car.

His inkwell is likewise responsible for the 1994 Ford Mustang, the car that did the phoenix routine on the pony car line. It’s an impressive resume, and is probably why he “received a great job opportunity outside the auto industry.” His last day at the office will be sometime early next year.

[Source: Inside Line]

Pat Schiavone, Ford Flex and F150 designer, resigns originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article Tags: ClimateGate, You could not make it up, YouTube

This is a few days old and some of you may have seen it, how many questions did Al Gore get wrong, ALL, SOME or NONE?

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“Innovation” is one of those buzzwords we hear every now and then in the games industry. Which games or consoles innovated the most? Which ones didn’t? According to BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuck, JRPGs as a whole have