Category: News

For Japan, this Thursday is the big day. December 17th is the day when Final Fantasy XIII comes out in Japan, and the rest of the world looks on with envy (and more in-game footage). For that

Filed under: Hybrid, Technology

Ex-Chrysler CEO and co-president Tom LaSorda (above) and ex-VP of North American sales Steven Landry have joined a small Detroit startup called ALTe. Focused on the fleet industry, ALTe aims to retrofit light trucks and vans, limos and taxis, and police cars with its flexible and proprietary plug-in hybrid drivetrains.

ALTe is headed by other former car industry alumna from Ford and Tesla. They formed the seed of technical know-how, and speculation is that they are looking to Lasorda and Landry to help them lure three groups: institutional investors, fleet operators and dealers.

At the moment ALTe is focused on acquiring the funds it needs in order to be approved for a DoE loan (it has to get money to make money). Eventually, based on global industry regulations alone the company stands to make a fortune… if it can just stay in business long enough to make that fortune.

[Source: Forbes | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

REPORT: Ex-execs from Chrysler join startup green company originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No deflation here.

The PPI rose 1.8% compared to .6%, though core inflation of .5% was more subdued

Here’s the full release from the BLS.

—-

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods rose 1.8 percent in November, seasonally adjusted,
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This increase followed a 0.3-percent advance
in October and a 0.6-percent decrease in September. In November, at the earlier stages of
processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods climbed 1.4 percent, and the
crude goods index rose 5.7 percent. On an unadjusted basis, prices for finished goods moved up
2.4 percent for the 12 months ended November 2009, their first 12-month increase since
November 2008. (See table A.)

Finished goods

About three-fourths of the November advance in the finished goods index can be traced to
higher prices for energy goods, which jumped 6.9 percent. The indexes for finished goods less
foods and energy and for finished consumer foods also contributed to the finished goods
increase, both rising 0.5 percent.

Finished energy:  The index for finished energy goods climbed 6.9 percent in November after
advancing 1.6 percent a month earlier. About sixty percent of the broad-based November rise can
be attributed to a 14.2-percent surge in gasoline prices. Increases in the indexes for liquefied
petroleum gas and home heating oil also were major factors in the finished energy goods
advance. (See table 2.)

Finished core:  The index for finished goods less foods and energy moved up 0.5 percent in
November, its largest increase since a 0.5-percent gain in October 2008. Leading the November
advance, the index for light motor trucks jumped 4.2 percent. Higher cigarette prices also
contributed to the rise in the finished core index.

Finished foods:  The index for finished consumer foods advanced 0.5 percent in November, its
second consecutive monthly increase. Over sixty percent of the November rise can be traced to
higher prices for fresh and dry vegetables, which climbed 8.7 percent.

Intermediate goods

The Producer Price Index for Intermediate Materials, Supplies, and Components rose 1.4 percent
in November, its fourth straight monthly advance. Accounting for about three-fourths of the
broad-based November increase, prices for intermediate energy goods climbed 5.4 percent. The
indexes for both intermediate goods less foods and energy and for intermediate foods and feeds
also contributed to this advance, rising 0.3 and 0.7 percent, respectively. On a 12-month basis,
prices for intermediate goods fell 1.6 percent in November. This is the fourth consecutive month
of slowing year-over-year declines following a record 15.2-percent drop for the 12 months ended
July 2009. (See table B.) 

Intermediate energy:  The index for intermediate energy goods rose 5.4 percent in November,
its second consecutive monthly increase. A major factor in the November advance was an 18.8-
percent surge in jet fuel prices. The indexes for gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas also
contributed significantly to higher intermediate energy goods prices. (See table 2).

Intermediate core:  Prices for intermediate materials less foods and energy increased 0.3 percent
in November, their fifth increase in the last six months. The index for basic organic chemicals led
the November advance, rising 4.3 percent. Higher prices for medicinal and botanical chemicals
also were a factor in the intermediate core increase.

Intermediate foods:  The index for intermediate foods and feeds moved up 0.7 percent in
November following two consecutive monthly declines. About forty percent of this advance can
be attributed to prices for pork, which climbed 6.4 percent.

Crude goods

The Producer Price Index for Crude Materials for Further Processing increased 5.7 percent in
November. For the 3-month period ending in November, crude material prices rose 9.1 percent
after advancing 4.4 percent in the 3 months ending in August. In November, monthly increases
of 12.2 percent in the index for crude energy materials and 2.6 percent for prices of crude
foodstuffs and feedstuffs outweighed a 0.8-percent decrease in the index for crude nonfood
materials less energy. (See table B.)

Crude energy:  The index for crude energy materials increased 12.2 percent in November. From
August to November, this index rose 15.0 percent compared with a 12.6-percent rise in the 3
months ending in August. Accounting for about two-thirds of the monthly November increase,
the index for natural gas jumped 25.5 percent. Higher prices for both crude petroleum and coal
also contributed to the advance in the crude energy materials index. (See table 2.)

Crude foods:  Prices for crude foodstuffs and feedstuffs rose 2.6 percent in November. This
index moved up 5.8 percent in the most recent 3-month period compared with a 7.1-percent
decline in the previous 3-month period. In November, over sixty percent of the monthly increase
in the crude foods index can be attributed to a 25.6-percent surge in prices for slaughter hogs. An
advance in the fluid milk index also was a significant factor in the rise for crude foodstuffs and
feedstuffs.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Get Ready For A Couple Of Hot Inflation Numbers
• DEFLATION: Oil Now On Its Longest Losing Streak In Eight Years
• China Just Broke Russia’s Monopoly On Central-Asian Natural Gas

The Kenya Music Week (KMW) marked its 6th annual event this year with the theme ‘Embracing Digital’.

Music Piracy has affected Kenya’s music industry, hence, the need to embrace digital technology in order to fight piracy and increase sales. It brought together stakeholders in the industry to mingle, market and sell their merchandise.  Click below to listen to interviews on the event.

KENYA MUSIC WEEK 2009

Current info about HP Pavilion Entertainment Processor and HD cards is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest HP Pavilion Entertainment Processor and HD cards info available.

It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of HP Pavilion Entertainment Processor and HD cards is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about HP Pavilion Entertainment Processor and HD cards.

A leaked document from HP has confirmed some roadmap details for both Intel and AMD. As part of a plan to update its all-in-one PCs with a new Pavilion model in April, the company says it expects to use dual-core Core i3 and i5 desktop processors and reiterates their key features. The Core i5 will have Turbo Boost to shut down some cores and overclock others and will also have hardware acceleration of AES encryption; Core i3 goes without but is based on the same architecture.

Future TouchSmart 600 PCs, and likely Pavilion notebooks, should get Intel’s dual-core mobile Core i5 and i7 processors. These are already known to consume about 35W of power and clock lower than desktop equivalents, but will almost always use Hyperthreading and Turbo Boost and are separated primarily by the amount of L2 cache (peaking at 4MB on i7 parts).

The Engadget tip also has HP’s Pavilion and Pavilion Elite towers getting new AMD budget ATI Radeon HD cards. The Radeon HD 5350 is likely one of AMD’s least expensive models but will have 1GB of video memory as well as DVI, HDMI and VGA output; it’s likely to surface at CES as it has an “MR” date of January 7th. The 5570 wouldn’t be unveiled until February 20th but would drop VGA entirely in favor of DisplayPort and carry a very large 2GB of video memory. Its naming scheme also puts it above the 5300 series in overall performance but below the already shipping 5700 series.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of HP Pavilion Entertainment Processor and HD cards. Share your new information about the upcoming HP Pavilion Entertainment Processor and HD cards with others. They’ll thank you for it. Share your thoughts on the comments.

Source

Google rules the search market worldwide and clearly dominates in most countries. In a few markets though, it has failed to make too much inroad, especially where the country is being served by a powerful local brand. This is the case in China, where Google is getting trumped by Baidu and has just managed to get to a 30 percent share of the market. Things are even worse in Russia, where Google manages to get just 23 percent. Things are about to change there though, as Mail.ru has announced that Google will be powering its search engine at least for the coming year.

“Mail.Ru and Google signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of search and advertising technologies. Search engine portal Mail.Ru, a member of the three leaders in the Russian market will use Google search technology, from January 2010, as well as displaying search results relevant ads using AdSense. This Mail.Ru plans to actively develop its own search technology,” Mail.ru said in a statement in Russian via Google Translate.

This deal enables Google to secure a better foothold in the Russian market which is dominated by local player Yandex with a 58 percent stake in the search market. Mail.ru, which operates the most popular social network in the country, as well as the most popular web portal, also has about 10 percen… (read more)

By Lois Lee, MD, MPH, from Children’s Hospital Boston’s Emergency Department Injury Prevention Program

Many parents know that kids like to put things in their mouth, nose and ears—even if they know those things don’t belong there. Holiday decorations are no exception. Every year in the Emergency Department (ED), we see children who get injuries from holiday decorations—usually from trying to eat them. But children can sustain other injuries as well—and usually in ways that an adult would never think about.

My colleagues and I have just published a study in the journal Pediatric Emergency Care about holiday-ornament related injuries in children. We saw an average of five children a year who came to the ED for injuries from a holiday ornament. Most of the injuries were from glass ornaments, but some were related to the light bulb part of the decoration. Almost half of the children came to the ED because they tried to eat the ornament. Twelve of these children had bleeding from their mouth or gastrointestinal tract (stomach and intestines). Others had cuts on their skin by glass in the ornament or light bulb. Two children suffered minor electrocution when they put the ornament in the electrical socket. Another child placed part of an ornament fragment in his ear canal.

The majority of these children had an X-ray as part of their evaluation. Two children had to go to the operating room (OR) for further exploration of the ornament foreign bodies in the mouth or airway. Six children were admitted to the hospital for observation.

In addition to holiday ornament injuries, there are other types of injuries that we see around the holidays. The Christmas tree can fall on children if they pull on an ornament and the tree is not well secured. Stocking holders, which can be placed on a mantle, are very popular, but can cause head injury if the child pulls on the stocking and pulls the holder (which is often heavy) onto their heads. Candles can cause burns to children or fires in the home if not well monitored.

So here are a few tips to keep your children safe this holiday season:

• Consider placing ornaments on higher branches of the Christmas tree to keep them out of reach of curious toddlers.
• Cover electrical outlets so children can not put an ornament or wire in them.
• Candles should only be lit in rooms where people are present.
• Take care in using stocking holders if the stockings hang low enough for children to reach.
• Take care in placing garlands that hang from windows or other surfaces, as they can be a strangulation hazard if a small child gets caught in them.
• Make sure the Christmas tree has a secure base to prevent it from falling on a child.

And as always, close supervision of young children is the best way to keep them safe this holiday season—and all year round.

Read this LA Times article highlighting Children’s research on the perils posed by holiday ornaments.

Related posts:

1. Get rid of those old glass thermometers
2. Glass-table injuries to children prompts industry changes
3. This week on Thrive: Oct. 5 – 9

We recently posted a chart comparing rail activity with the PMI — which has recently spiked — and wondered if its’ the chart Warren Buffett keeps under his pillow.

The question was a little facetious, since obviously Warren Buffett didn’t make a gigantic, company-defining bet on one chart. But it’s still interesting and some fodder for rail bulls.

ZeroHedge has another interesting chart — and he makes the same allusion to Buffett — though we’re not quite sure which way it goes.

This one looks at railcar loadings at spot WTI oil, which ahve been in pretty tight correlation for nearly two decades. If you think oil is heading higher, you might bet on rail as well.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: This Is The Chart Warren Buffett Keeps Under His Pillow
• DEFLATION: Oil Now On Its Longest Losing Streak In Eight Years
• Oil Drops Below $70. End Demand Remains Very Weak

Infrastructure Summit reports on major legal, investment and standards challenges from Climate Change.
————
As Kevin Rudd prepares to fly to Copenhagen this week for the last two days of negotiations, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Climate Risk Ltd, Evans & Peck, Malleson Stephen Jacques and Zurich Insurance released today a report of the proceedings of their Climate Change and Infrastructure Summit.

The report says that there needs to be a recognition that climate change is real and already impacting on Australia’s infrastructure. The report finds that without a new approach to specifying standards for construction and design, there is an increased chance of outages and asset failures – such as those seen during Australia’s extreme weather last summer, leaving widespread economic impacts.  There is also risk of legal actions.

Climate Risk CEO Dr Mallon said: “The science is moving too fast for standards to keep up, which leaves the infrastructure sector in a very difficult space. We need some new, more dynamic approaches to folding climate change into the infrastructure development process.”

“The summit also revealed that sticking to standards that do not include climate change risks may provide no protection from future litigation. Climate change has to be considered from now on.”

“With Melbourne predicted to have another scorching summer, the prospect of rail lines buckling again causing massive economic disruption shows that we can’t assume the future will be like the past. “

“These fast-emerging climate change risks to infrastructure were the trigger for this Rapid-Response Summit by the private sector, for the private sector.”

The Summit was convened by Climate Risk ltd in conjunction with the nation’s peak body Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, infrastructure advisory firm Evans & Peck, law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques and hosted by Zurich Insurance Australia – 34 private and public sector infrastructure organisations participated.

Dr Mallon says that Australia is experiencing conflicting pressures, with a massive increase in infrastructure investment at the same time that climate change policy is undergoing rapid change. Government and academic research is increasingly pointing to major changes in sea levels and extreme weather events like heatwaves, bushfires and floods, meaning that much greater consideration of the vulnerability of existing and new infrastructure is badly needed.

“The standards for infrastructure development are not keeping up with climate change science.” he said. “Because the science is changing so fast,we have to build in flexibility to our infrastructure, and to the standards that guide us, so we can move with that science.”

Brendan Lyon, Executive Director of IPA states, “Climate change is a reality and that demands a new approach in the way we plan and procure our next generation of infrastructure.  A key consideration should be designing infrastructure that has options for adaptation, allowing major projects to be upgraded at least cost as the climate changes.

“The infrastructure sector is acutely aware of the risks and challenges posed by climate change and adaptation needs to be part of major projects. What is also required is greater certainty around the price and structure of carbon abatement, allowing industry to deliver fit for purpose
infrastructure for the long-term.

Warren Buffett won the financial crisis, making several spectacular bets–and, just as important, passing on several deals that looked great to some other suckers.

And to think that for a few minutes some folks thought he had lost it.

(via Barry Ritholtz)

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Truth About Warren Buffett: He’s "Almost Like A Kid"
• How Warren Buffett Really Makes His Investment Decisions
• Warren Buffett’s Secrets To Success

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs

There’s only so many chairs one man can sit in at once. But Luca di Montezemolo has made an art out of pushing the limits. In addition to serving as chairman of both Ferrari and the Fiat group, the hereditary nobleman was, until recently at least, also chairing the Italian Confindustria employers’ federation and the FIEG editorial organization. But something’s got to give, and at the end of this year he’s stepping down from his role as the founding chairman of the Formula One Teams Association.

In his place, according to the latest reports, will serve one Martin Whitmarsh, recently promoted to team principal of the McLaren team after Ron Dennis went off to concentrate on the emerging road car division. Meanwhile, Red Bull chief Christian Horner was reportedly elected to chair the Sporting Working Group while Ross Brawn stays on as head of the Technical Working Group within FOTA. The meeting of the team principals took place in Monaco on the heels of the F1 Business Forum and the Formula 1 Commission meeting.

[Source: Autosport | Image: Clive Mason/Getty]

McLaren’s Whitmarsh reportedly elected to replace Montezemolo as FOTA chairman originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This cool little moderncat is Watson the Cat. He’s the mascot over at Medium Control Design. Watson is very smart and stylish. In fact he even has his own design blog, The Watsonian. Watson is also a very good helper, as you can see in this video:

Watson is available on a variety of products including some hip bags, clothing, and even as a vinyl decal that you can put anywhere. All of the Watson products can be purchased at Medium Control’s Etsy shop.

BONUS GIVEAWAY! FOUR WINNERS!

This is your chance to win one of four Watson t-shirts! Each winner will receive an organic cotton short-sleeve cinder colored t-shirt with the psychedelic Watson graphic shown above. Winners get to pick the size (sm, med, lg, or x-lg).

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment on this post. Winners will be chosen in a random drawing on December 22. One entry per person. This giveaway is open to addresses in the US and Canada.

Dubai has a ridiculously weak bargaining position against Abu Dhabi right now, given that Dubai is essentially dead in the water without Abu Dhabi’s liquidity.

This might not just be money between friends.

Expect Abu Dhabi to get their money’s worth, given that they can extract pretty much whatever concession they want in the end — even perhaps stealing Dubai’s financial hub status.

Starting at 1:00.

• “They wanted Dubai to sweat…”
• “I think they are going to get their pound of flesh… it might be ownership of Emirates Airlines, inheriting the mantle of regional financial services, Abu Dhabi I think is going to be the big winner here.”
• “They’re playing their cards pretty well to take what they want.”
• “Will Abu Dhabi take over [Dubai’s] role?”
• “I think they well… it’s something they’ve been aspiring to do…”

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Dubai’s Overbuilt Hotels Make Vegas Look Healthy
• The Terrifying Lack Of Transparency In The Dubai Bailout
• Dubai Sheikh: Our Best Days Are Yet To Come!

Harry Reid caved to Joe Lieberman last night night, and dropped from healthcare reform a scheme that would allow private individuals the opportunity to buy into Medicare.

Barack Obama told Reid to cut a deal with the former, but estranged, democratic Veep candidate at all costs.

Why did Joe Lieberman decided to cause trouble? Probably because he hates his old friends. After all, just three months ago, he favored the Medicare buy-in. And it’s on video. (Via Memeorandum and WhoRunsGov)

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Harry Reid Caves To Lieberman On Healthcare Reform
• It’s Not Just Lieberman: Several Democrats Are Freaked Out About Healthcare Reform Passing
• Desperate White House Tells Harry Reid To Cut Healthcare Deal With Holdout Lieberman

The new RapidRoll® 3000 XXL sets the standards in the area of door logistics Today’s conditions, with positively exploding energy prices and current climate controversy, cause companies with large rooms to long all the more sofor cost stabilising door solutions. With its new product development, Albany Door Systems has impressively met this technically demanding task, thereby imparting its wide selection of logistical door solutions with a new dimension. The new RapidRoll® 3000 from Albany Door Systems (www.albanydoors.com) is a aluminium high speed rolling door developed for use as an outside closing for highly frequented door openings with XXL construction. The RapidRoll® 3000XXL can attest to a door height clearance space of up to 6 meters and a door surface of up to 36m². In spite of such a large size and a door width of up to 8 meters, the door solution displays 3rd class wind resistance according to EN 12424. Further noticeable features like durability and reliability completely fulfill the requirements of high industrial priority. The side panels of the RapidRoll® 3000XXL are serially made from galvanised steel and powder colour coated with RAL colour as desired. The door curtain, exposed to wind and weather, is tried and tested in the daily industry with anodised aluminium profiles. It is service friendly and available as well powder colour coated with RAL colour. The MCC Vector Controls allow for Albany’s door solution to exhibit impressive opening and closing speeds of up to 1.8 m/s and 0.6 m/s in combination with the motor, making the RapidRoll® 3000XXL a true high speed door from Albany Door Systems (www.albanydoors.com). The model sophistication and partiallly patented safety features fulfill all of the applicable regulations. The advanced safety laser detection system secures the work environment at the highest level. The extraordinarily robust combination of outstanding size, speed and safety of the RapidRoll® 3000XXL make the door, in combination with its cost stabilising potential, a colossally convincing door solution from Albany Door Systems.
Company Profile: Albany Door Systems (www. albanydoors.com) is the founder of the world’s first high speed rolling door and also the leading manufacturer of high quality, innovative high speed industrial door systems. Doors and services from Albany Door Systems have 30 years of experience in the development of sophisticated products and trendsetting innovations.

With the HV 20 trough vibrator, OTEC is extending its range of mass finishing machines. Previously, OTEC had specialised in disc finishing machines and drag finishing processes, establishing a world-wide reputation for itself in these areas through its innovative products. With the HV 20 trough vibrator, OTEC is now extending its range of products even further and can therefore offer an even wider range of options for mass finishing, deburring, edge rounding and polishing. The main features of the trough vibrator are as follows:

-Trough capacity approx. 23 litres
-Internal dimensions of trough: 190 x 530 mm
-Power output 1.1 kW
-Speed control via frequency inverter for wet and dry finishing

The applications of this trough vibrator include finishing bone pins, bone plates and even stents. The special design of this machine results in extremely aggressive finishing and therefore gives lower finishing times than conventional trough vibrators.

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Earnings/Financials

The Mercedes-Benz Baltimore vehicle process center has secured a five-year contract to inspect, process, and repair pre-delivery BMW and Mini vehicles arriving in the United States. It’s a deal that makes economic sense for both companies, say that automakers. BMW models currently arrive in Charleston, South Carolina, and are shipped to nearby Spartanburg (home of BMWs assembly plant) for inspection and pre-delivery work. That plant is “no longer appropriate” once the X3 starts production next year, says Jim O’Donnell, president of BMW North America. O’Donnell says BMW has been looking for an outside contractor, and it was the company’s own purchasing department who proposed the deal.

Ernst Lieb, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, called the deal “a win-win situation.” The company has both the manpower and space to service the additional BMW vehicles, and this arrangement may create additional opportunities for the two companies down the road. The Baltimore vehicle process center, on track to process 70,000 vehicles this year, currently handles Mercedes-Benz and Smart vehicles. The arrangement with BMW will not begin until March 1, 2010.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req. | Image: Max Nash/Getty]

REPORT: BMW, Mini to let Mercedes-Benz inspect, prep its vehicles at port originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The following Xbox 360 games are now ready for direct download from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace:

 

Content: Party Animals
Price: Check pricing for your region
Availability: Not available in Japan
Dash Text: (Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB) This game supports English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Korean. Download the manual for this game by locating the game on http://marketplace.xbox.com and selecting “See Game Manual". Play as your favorite character from the Viva Piñata television series. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.

 

 

Add Party Animals to your Xbox 360 download queue

 

 

 

 

Found under: BlackBerry, Freeware, Twitter, Client,

BlackBerry phone with their qwerty keyboard are very useful for Twitter on the go. Among all the great clients for them here comes a new one called BeeTwitt. It has quite lot of features and user friendly interface.BeeTwitt lets you check your Mentions Direct Messages Timeline and newly added GroupsLists. You can also search for trending Topics make favorites and view all of your friends activiry. Customization is very easy with lots of options for font size color schemes and functio

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