Category: News

 

Morgan Stanley's recent UK Economics and Fixed Income Strategy piece shows just how quickly and dramatically the U.K.'s government deficit just exploded. It shows how quickly a crisis can get much, much worse as tax receipts fall due to a weakening economy, yet expenditures rise due to stimulus efforts from governments and higher entitlement pay-outs to struggling citizens.

 

Morgan Stanley: The Treasury’s projection for Public Sector Net Borrowing (PSNB, effectively the UK’s measure of its fiscal deficit) is likely to be similar to the number in the April Budget (£175 billion). ... According to Budget 2009, each 1pp [percentage point] lower growth in a year typically increases the PSNB by 0.5pp of GDP in that year (and 0.2pp the year after).

(Via Morgan Stanley, UK Economics and Fixed Income Strategy, Melanie Baker CFA, 4 December 2009)

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• RBS And HBOS Got Secret £62 Billion Loan From The Bank Of England During The Crisis
• Bank Of England Prepares To Blow Bubble Of Unprecedented Proportions
• At Least We're Not England

Eco Factor: Traveling 3775km on a solar-powered trike.

Year 8 to Year 12 students from Ballarat’s Damascus College are attempting to ride their way into the record books by riding a distance of 3775 km in about two weeks’ time on a solar-powered three-wheeled bike. The expedition, called the RodeRAGE, aims to spread the word about climate change.

(more…)

Gaussin company was proud to launch, through the exhibition SITL in Dubai, 2 weeks ago his news brand product : the ATT – Automotive Terminal Trailer.

It’s a totally new solution to increase the safety, productivity, and comfort in one hand and reduce the cost of ownership in other hands during the handling process in the terminal environment.

Thanks to its new design, the ATT is a great alternative to the tractor plus the terminal trailer .

ARCHITECTURE : ALL IN ONE

Unique architecture combining tractor and trailer functions in a single vehicle with a central engine.

POWER PACK : Hybrid

The engine module replaceable in less than 20 minutes, is powering a hydraulic transmission, located directly in the wheels.
Original layout to improve cooling and power supply.
Anticipates the new environment standards.
Low maintenance, whilst offering greater availability and reliability.

SYSTEM STOP & START

Electro-hydraulic unit allowing fuel consumption to be reduce by 30%

CHASSIS : NO DEFLECTION

Innovative modular chassis offering the best static and dynamic strength on the market.
Adapts to any type of 20′, 40′ or 45′ container, with a perfectly horizontal loading sill.
CAB
Optimum ergonomics.
High level of comfort and safety.
Large glazed surface for maximum visibility.

CERTIFICATION

Design that meets the strictest standards (CE, TUV, TIER III A, etc… )

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

Innovations protected by 9 international patents, designs and trademarks.

Follow this link to see the video : www.attbygaussin.com

Google has been building towards this for months now and it looks like the way may finally be over, Google Chrome is about to get extensions. Well, to be more precise, Google Chrome Beta is about to get extensions and everyone else will get to enjoy the upcoming Extensions Gallery which is set to launch by the week’s end, according to TechCrunch.

Google does things a little different when it comes to software. Most likely a trait of its web-app background, Google has shunned the usual release cycle of traditional desktop software for its Chrome web browser and opted for frequent releases and small updates. This means that big new features and announcements are rare and don’t pack the same punch when they been around in one form or another for months.

This is why frequent Chrome users may not be too excited by the launch, extensions have been around for a while now. But the fact is that, while extensions support has been built into the browser actual extensions are a little harder to come by, which is why the Gallery is very important, developers have finally realized it’s time to build for Chrome as well so. Not only will there be a centralized, officially-sanctioned place to find extensions, but there will finally be choice.

The Gallery is expected to be launched this week ahead… (read more)

China's top economic planners emerged from an annual closed-door economic meeting to declare that they will continue their stimulative policies.

This comes despite fears that the economy is overheating.

Xinhua: China would continue to adopt the proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy next year and endeavor to improve the quality of economic growth, participants at the Central Economic Work Conference agreed Monday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the meeting, which is held once a year to set the tone for economic development during the next year, said a statement from the conference.

China Daily: The emphasis, however, is shifting to promoting consumer spending and private investment, rather than the state-led investment of this year's recovery program, which has focused heavily on construction of railways, roads and other public works, newspaper China Business News and other reports said.

The problem is that many of China's stimulative policies are preventing the above economic transformation from actually happening. Yet in the end, they really don't have any choice but to declare that the same level of stimulus will continue, even if in reality they start to cut it back.

Regardless, Shanghai's CSI 300 index seems to happy with today's assurance.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• China: Don't Panic, We'll Keep Buying Tons Of Dollars
• Surprise: Now Even China Thinks Gold Is In Bubble Territory
• iPhone Keeps Bombing In China -- Weak Online Sales (AAPL)

KENNEWICK, Washington – December 4, 2009 – Bruker Elemental announces the winner of our S1 Sorter giveaway contest.

Andre Jordaan of Shosaliza PMI in South Africa was the winner of the recent S1 Sorter giveaway contest. Congratulations Andre!

The S1 Sorter is a handheld XRF analyzer; ideal for Positive Material Identification (PMI) applications involving stainless steel, carbon steel, low allow steel, etc.

This test method covers the determination of the peel resistance of adhesive bonds between: a sandwich of two layers of aluminum and polyethylene. The goal is to measure the average torque required to peel the two material.

How it wroks:
The fixture consists of a drum assembly, flexible loading straps mounted at the bottom of the stand, an upper self closing clamp to grip the specimen and a drum clamp to hold the outer skin against the face of the drum.
During a test the loading straps pull on the drum assembly, forcing it to rotate and climb along the length of the aluminum panel. This motion peels the outer skin away from the core structure. The peel force is monitored by the load measurement system providing a measure of bond strength.

Conax Technologies retractable Sample Probe Assemblies are used to hot tap or inject into basically any type of liquid or gas stream. Typical applications of a sample probe are gas sampling, oil sampling, oxygen sampling, potable water sampling, waste water sampling, water quality sampling, and water or chemical injection.

Optional materials
Optional materials for the Sample Probe and the Conax Technologies Packing Gland body (wetted components) are available. Refer to the Conax Pressure and Vacuum Sealing Assemblies Catalog #5001C or our website for available options such as:

316L SST
316 NACE SST
316L CRN (gland body only)
Monel 405
Hastelloy C276
Inconel 600

Temperature and Pressure Ratings
Refer to the Conax Technologies Pressure and Vacuum Sealing Assemblies Catalog #5001C for temperature and pressure ratings for static conditions. Pressure ratings are reduced when the sealing gland cap is loosened to allow for the insertion or extraction of the Sample Probe.

I was having some performance issues on my Dell Mini 9 recently and decided to start doing some optimization. One of the things I was going to do was change the Page file settings from system managed, like they are by default, to a static size.

Well, I had filled up my drive, and didn’t have enough room to do that, so I decided to re-build my Dell Mini. Why not? It’s the weekend, and I didn’t have anything important save on it anyway. So like normal, I pull out my external DVD drive that I purchased with my netbook, and began trying to re-install. That is when I started having problems.

This actually happens every time I try to install anything via CD or DVD on the Dell Mini. The external drive that came with it is hit or miss. I looked online, and it appears to be a common issue with the Dell Mini. Let me tell you it is frustrating as hell!

The good news is that I can boot off of a USB stick no problem. In fact, that is how I install my Bauer-Puntu partition on the Dell Mini. What about the Windows half though? Well it turns out it is fairly easy to make a bootable USB Windows 7 install stick!

All you need is a Windows 7 install DVD, and a 4GB USB Flash drive. Don’t have one? You can get a Bauer-Power one here: Bauer-Power 4GB USB

Better yet, you get one for only $10.99 from Amazon here: 4GB USB

Once you have your materials, just do the following:

• On another computer, open a command prompt as administrator
• Plug in your 4GB USB thumb drive
• Run DiskPart
• Type List Disk and hit enter (Note the number of your drive, e.g. Disk 1)
• Type Select Disk 1and hit enter (Where 1 is the number of your disk)
• Type Clean and hit enter
• Type Create Partition Primary and hit enter
• Type Select Partition 1 and hit enter
• Type Active and hit enter
• Type Format FS=NTFS and hit enter (This will take a while)
• Type Assign and hit enter
• Type Exit to quit DiskPart

Once that part is complete, keep your command prompt open and pop in your Windows 7 DVD, then do the following from command line:

• Type in F: and hit enter (Where F: is the drive letter of your DVD Drive)
• Type CD Boot and hit enter
• Type Bootsect /NT60 M: (Where M: is the drive letter of your USB Flash drive)

• Now copy the contents of your Windows 7 DVD to your thumb drive and you are ready to install from USB!

After performing the above steps, I recommend creating an image of your install thumb drive so you don’t have to remember all of the above later. To do that just download Roadkil’s Disk Image tool, and save an exact copy of your USB stick to your hard drive some place. If you ever need to use it again, you can re-image your USB stick with the same tool.

Are you a Dell Mini user? Are you having problems with your external DVD drive? Know of an easier tool to create a Windows 7 install USB thumb drive? Hit me up in the comments!

[Via Into Windows]

There's nothing wrong with hoping for charity and good-intentions from people, but in the end profit incentives provide the most effective way to motivate large numbers of people to join together and solve problems.

A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) just made this very clear when presented by an internet contest from the U.S. Department of Defense:

The Guardian: The Darpa Network Challenge, which took place on Saturday, offered a cash prize for the first group to successfully locate 10 large red weather balloons hidden at a string of secret locations across the US.

Competitors were asked to use the internet and social networking sites to discover the whereabouts of the balloons, in what Darpa - the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - said was an experiment to discover how the internet could help with rapid problem solving.

The MIT team completed what was supposed to be a nine-hour challenge in just nine-hours. How? They paid out a portion of their prize money to whomever could help them.

The winning team has not explained precisely how they came to discover the location of all 10 balloons, but the process detailed on the team website explains that they created a viral campaign to encourage people to put forward information they gleaned about the locations.

The team offered the first person to spot a balloon a $2,000 share of the prize money, but smaller awards would also be given to those who referred that player to MIT's website - a scheme of incentives aimed at getting people to urge their friends to take part.

Here's a sense for how they set up the incentive structure: 

MIT Red Balloon: Have all your friends sign up using your personalized invitation. If anyone you invite, or anyone they invite, or anyone they invite (...and so on) win money, then so will you!

We're giving $2000 per balloon to the first person to send us the correct coordinates, but that's not all -- we're also giving $1000 to the person who invited them. Then we're giving $500 whoever invited the inviter, and $250 to whoever invited them, and so on..

Checking out the team's website here.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Put Profits First -- Always
• J. Crew Reports $44.3 Million Q3 Profit (JCG)
• Now The FHA Is Subsidizing Hedge Funds That Flip Mortgages For Easy Profits

On the eve of the Copenhagen conference, a group of scientists has issued an update on the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their conclusions? Ice at both poles is melting faster than predicted, the claims of recent global cooling are wrong, and world leaders must act fast if steep temperature rises are to be avoided. By Elizabeth Kolbert

Christmas, like all holidays, is intrinsically linked with food.  For me, beyond the sugar cookies and gingerbread, I always remember the cheese spreads.  I know.  It seems odd to think of cheese or bacon being intrinsically connected to the holidays. but each year we’d receive boxes of goodies from mail order companies: chocolate tortes, summer sausages, spiced nuts, ruby red grapefruit and, my favorite: potted cheese spreads. I’d steal into the kitchen after the holiday parties and eat the port cheese, Swiss or bacon and cheddar cheese spreads.  I loved them in all their salty, creamy glory.

Of course, I haven’t seen them in years not that I’d purchase them now anyway, but I still crave them.  If you’re a believer in the low-fat mantra, you might want to skip this post – and the rest of Nourished Kitchen, for that matter as this recipe is full of  fat –  nourishing, satisfying and intensely flavorful.

The combination of bacon, artisan raw milk cheese and caramelized shallots blends together beautifully for a satisfying potted cheese spread.  It assembles in just a few minutes, and is perfect for taking to holiday parties or, combined with sprouted grain crackers and a salad of winter greens, a light lunch.

This recipe for potted cheese makes use of fresh, raw cream rich in food enzymes and beneficial, lactic acid bacteria as well as pasture-raised bacon which is a remarkably good source of vitamin D (read more about vitamin D deficiency and disease).  Moreover, tbe combination of artisan, raw milk cheese and fresh cream provides ample conjugated linoleic acid which is proving essential to heart health and weight maintenance.

Potted Cheddar with Bacon and Shallots

This creamy, salty and faintly smoky spread makes an excellent addition to the holiday table.  Makes approximately 1 pint of potted cheese spread.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Ghee or Clarified Butter (see sources)
• 12 oz Raw Milk Cheddar Cheese (see sources)
• 1 lb Pastured Bacon (see sources)
• 2 Shallots, Sliced Thin
• 2 Tablespoons Sherry
• 1 Cup Fresh Cream from Grass-fed Cows (not UHT)

Instructions:

1. Melt ghee in a pan and fry bacon until thoroughly cooked.
2. Drain bacon fat and reserve.
3. Add 2 tablespoons reserved fat to a cast iron skillet, and fry shallots until well-caramelized.
4. Chop cheddar cheese into ½-inch cubes.
5. Combine bacon and cheddar in a food processor and pulse until well-blended.
6. Add fresh cream, sherry and shallots together and continue to pulse until the potted cheese is smooth and spreadable.
7. Spoon into a ramekin or jar and chill until ready to serve.

Like this recipe?  Order a recipe card for your collection: only $1.99.

Full disclosure: the next journalist to use some variation of the word “cracked” to describe the Honda P-NUT’s debut is getting kicked in the shins at the next auto show. I’ll be watching.

Unlike the majority of the unpalatable concepts that have littered Honda’s booth for the better part of 2009, the Personal-Neo Urban Transport (P-NUT) does not immediately offend the senses. As a matter of fact, the angular front fascia and the well-defined, sloping shoulders are actually quite attractive and almost lend Honda’s design department an air of hope. “Almost” being the operative word.

Unfortunately, the P-NUT unveiled live in Los Angeles last week is not a production-ready urban crawler but a purely a conceptual interpretation of the soul-sucking enviro-friendly vehicles Honda promises to roll out in the future. Apparently, the RWD, rear-engined P-NUT’s primary objective is to demonstrate that there is hope for the ultra-compact city car beyond the ugly, underpowered options currently available today, which is basically akin to performing a digital makeover. The immediate reaction is positive…and instantly killed by the harsh smack of reality.

Bottom line: if you want small, fun, cool and only slightly fruity, buy a MINI Cooper. If you want small, marginally faster than a pair of Rollerblades, and guaranteed to score you plenty of dude poon, buy a smart ForTwo. See Honda? Theoretical problem solved. Now get back to work on the CR-Z.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck has had surgery on a hurt right finger and will not start in the Sun Bowl, The Daily learned Sunday. Luck will be replaced by senior Tavita Pritchard, who has made 19 starts in his Cardinal career but has attempted just three passes this season.

The announcement was made at the team’s annual awards banquet, where Luck won sophomore of the year honors and Pritchard was acknowledged for his leadership. Indeed, Pritchard has taken on a mentorship role this year for the younger Luck, who has had a stellar start to his collegiate career. Luck has thrown for 2,575 yards on the season and 13 touchdowns against only four interceptions. Perhaps most impressively, he is fourth in the nation in yards per attempt, arguably the most important and telling passing statistic.

But now, Pritchard will have a chance to ditch the headset and bookend his Stanford career another major win. His first start was against USC in 2007 in a game now known as the “Biggest Upset Ever.” In the Sun Bowl, his last game in a Stanford uniform, will try to lead the Cardinal to its first bowl victory since 1996.

The Athletics Department could not be reached for comment.

Check back at www.stanforddaily.com for more as this story continues to develop.

When I was in high school, one of my good friends was an exceptionally good wrestler. He was also extremely good looking and had a wit about him that wasn’t exactly Showtime-at-the-Apollo-quality but still got the job done. Because of his tenaciously competitive spirit and his ability to charm essentially everyone, no one ever ridiculed him for perfecting what is inarguably one of the gayest professional sports outside of a skating rink. Sure, we thought it, especially those of us that went to the games and observed the painted-on singlets and heavy petting firsthand, but we never said anything. While I can’t speak for my friends, I personally chose to keep my biting sarcasm in check because within in a few months of knowing him, I had deduced that he was currently experiencing his “glory days” and after high school, the most he probably had to look forward to was a modestly successful career as a ladies shoe salesman. I figured, why rain on his parade? Life will take care of that soon enough.

Much the same can also be said of the 2011 Saab 9-5.

Although it was officially unveiled months ago at the Frankfurt Auto Show, it’s appearance at the LA Auto Show marks the first time I’ve seen it in the flesh and while I find some aesthetic aspects leave much to be desired, I can’t bring myself to delve further into detail. You may have though Saab’s 20-year dysfunctional marriage to the General was the most damaging to its career but as sad as it may seem, those were just the highlights. Now the entire brand is posed on the edge of extinction while the 9-5 itself faces a fate worse than death with intellectual property rights now under BAIC’s exclusive ownership.

In light of this bleak outlook, it hardly seems fair to ridicule the 2011 9-5 for a confusing design language that looks more bred from Lexus than it does from jets. So rather than criticize it for what it was and what it’s utterly failing to be, lets instead allow the 2011 9-5 a last hurrah before it’s raped of all relevant technology and left to fade into obscurity inside a Beijing office building.

If Dubai World's Nakheel property arm ends up defaulting on its debt, creditors may not much to take possession of.

Turns out that creditors for one $3.5 billion bond may only have a giant piece of barren land, the size of Manhattan, as collateral to their giant loan.

Bloomberg: Investors will be able to seek foreclosure on the property’s mortgages should the Dubai World unit fail to repay the loan, according to the bond’s prospectus. The debt is due on Dec. 14, after which Nakheel has two weeks to remedy a default. The property forms part of the Dubai Waterfront project, where Nakheel plans to build a city twice the size of Hong Kong.

Apparently it's a very valuable piece of land... assuming you have the money to build two Hong Kongs on top of it.

“The project isn’t likely to happen,” said Saud Masud, a Dubai-based real estate analyst at UBS AG. “I’d be very surprised if anything is built in the next five years.”

The land was valued at $4.2 billion by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. three years ago, based on the entire project being ready by 2018, when it would be worth $11.8 billion, the prospectus said.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Times Of London Censored Again In Dubai After Ruling Sheikh Is Called A "Benign Dictator"
• Dubai's Ridiculously Luxurious Real Estate Market
• CHART OF THE DAY: Dubai Shows What A Property Plunge Really Looks Like

Eco Factor: Naturally insulated night shelters generate solar energy.

With over 100,000 homeless people in Delhi, the government sets up night shelters each winter. However, the plans for this winter are different. This year’s shelters will include aesthetically-designed bamboo houses that will not only insulate the occupants but also generate solar energy for nighttime illumination.

(more…)

Eco Factor: Citrus waste recycled into biogas and ethanol.

Researchers in different parts of the world recycle organic waste into alternative fuel that can power our lives in a better way. However, unlike other forms of organic waste, composing citrus waste isn’t possible, as it contains an antibacterial substance which slows its breakdown.

(more…)

Eco Factor: Energy-efficient homes to be built by Velux Group.

Velux Group has unveiled the Model Home 2020 project to develop sustainable housing for people living in European countries. The group is planning to build six full-scale, experimental houses across five European countries.

(more…)

Ever looking for a sweet frozen sweet for your family? Jolly Llama frozen sorbets are made from natural ingredients and come in squeezable containers. This whole fruit sorbets contains no dairy, gluten, or genetically modified corn sweeteners; however I wish they were organic. They do contain “non-GMO soluble corn fiber”, which I am not too sure about.

Because we make our sorbets from sun-ripened whole fruit – never concentrates or juices – each Jolly Llama bursts with the mouth-watering freshness of real fruit and retains the rich store of nutrients that nature intended. Our Acai “superfruit” sorbet is particularly high in antioxidants. All of our sorbets are low in fat and each averages just 75 calories per tube. To make our sorbets even healthier, we fortify them with Vitamins A & C (50% RDI or greater) and naturally healthy fiber (10% RDI or greater).

The reviews in my family of Jolly Llama range from “yum” to “too sweet”. My five-year-old son likes them, but he can’t finish a whole tube, which my daughter does not mind finishing for him. She is the biggest Jolly Llama fan in the family and loves the strawberry flavor. I think the cold sorbet feels good on my sore throat.

Disclosure: I was sent free samples of Jolly Llama’s sorbets in order to taste them for this review. No prior assurances were given as to whether the review would be positive or negative.