Category: News

Today, I made good on my promise to take my wife to the Twilight / New Moon Saga. I’d put the first 25 or 30 minutes of the movie up there with the most boring of any I’ve seen. At least it picked up from there almost edging into being an average movie in my opinion. In fact, it’s not up with other Kristen Stewart movies. The very underrated Adventureland, for example, blew it out of the water, in my opinion.

Here’s a couple mostly spoil-less thoughts. Those who have seen the movie (or I’m told read the books) will know what I’m going with these.

• The highlight for me was this Alice quote, “Leave it to you, Bella. Anyone else would be better off when the vampires left town.” The real quote is longer, but gives a little more of the story away.
• The whole concept of the movie – seemed somewhat lifted from The Real Ghostbusters – Episode 38 – No One Comes to Lupusville. Click through for some subtle hints there.

Also in the previews we saw Letters to Juliet – really the whole movie – in about 3 or 4 minutes. After it, my wife and I turned to each other and said, in unison “And that was a good movie.” The screen then flashed to show “Coming Soon”, and three other people in the theater commented how it was already out and they just saw it.

And now the personal finance links:
Money Writers:

• Are you too busy for vacation? Brip Blap explores the answer.
• Digerati Life explains why lottery winners go broke: prospect theory at work.
• Frugal Dad shares how you can end 87 percent of problems at work in 72 hours.
• Generation X Finance gives 5 reasons why you will retire broke and unhappy. Are you guilty of number 5?
• Million Dollar Journey says a little food planning goes a long way.
• Here’s a guide with holiday shopping tips to avoid debt by Money Smart Life.
• Check out My Dollar Plan for additional frugal ways to celebrate the holidays.
• The Sun’s Financial Diary asks why throw money away?

Other Top Personal Finance Posts:

• Free Money Finance talks about mindless spending: frequency matters more than height.
• All Financial Matters takes a moment to address a Dave Ramsey fan’s comment from an older post.
• Get Rich Slowly shares a reader story: budgeting for a lifestyle change.
• Moolanomy gives some tips for buying a new computer.
• The Smarter Wallet asks unemployment benefits set to expire soon?
• The Money Ning provides tips on how to save money on cruises.
• Bill Eater blogs on car buying: the secrets to negotiating.
• Don’t Mess With Taxes writes 2,074 pages + $849 billion = Senate health care bill.
• Not Made of Money teaches readers how to negotiate spending differences with your spouse.
• Joe Taxpayer posts on the housing boom and bust.
• Rich Credit Debt Loan asks why is it bad to cancel a credit card?

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Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Lexus

The Lexus LFA supercar might not be in dealerships for another year or more, but the two prototypes are getting quite a workout. After driving the car in Miami, we heard the white one was shipped off to Europe while the black one took up residence in its new home: a trailer. The car has made a few appearances around the country, most recently at SEMA and a private showing in the Los Angeles area. Next stop on the LFA tour appears to be the LA Auto Show, but apparently it couldn’t stand to be cooped up too long.

Along with a handful of other Lexus show cars, it showed up at our favorite Saturday morning car meet. The handler fired it up several times so the crowd could marvel at that V10 shriek. Reactions were mixed, mainly where price was concerned. We heard more than one person say that if it had a Supra badge and sub-$100K pricetag, it would be a killer. At four times that price, the Lexus badge just doesn’t seem to win as many people over. One thing almost everyone loved was that changeable display with the sliding center gauge.

Cars & Coffee: Lexus LFA shows up ahead of LA Auto Show originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Sixth Sense,” my interview with NPR’s On the Media, talking about augmented reality, went live this weekend. Here’s the audio:

(MP3 download also available.)

Filed under: Motorsports

The principle of Occam’s Razor states that, all things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. So it stands to reason that the driver who wins the championship must be the best, right? Well, that’s assuming all things are equal, and of course in reality they seldom are.

After a hard-fought season, Autosport magazine asked each of the team principals in Formula One to anonymously rank who they thought was the best driver, awarding race points to their top ten choices. The result? Sebastian Vettel came out on top, nine points ahead of world champion Jenson Button. In other words, if all things actually were equal, those in the know would have placed Vettel as champion in Button’s stead.

For his part, Vettel – who came second in this year’s standings and, it should be noted, secured the Nations’ Cup at the Race of Champions alongside Michael Schumacher – was pleased with the vote of confidence. But he’s determined to take the fight back to the track for next season, which is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting yet.

So do you think the bosses are right? We’ve placed a little poll of our own after the jump, and invite you to place your own vote.

[Source: Autosport]

Continue reading POLL POSITION: Who was the Best F1 Driver of 2009? Team Principals say Vettel

POLL POSITION: Who was the Best F1 Driver of 2009? Team Principals say Vettel originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The HD2 has quite a lot of social networking things built in, with Facebook integration in the contacts, Twitter.

Not only can you upload photos direct to Facebook (that has been present in some older devices such as the HTC Touch HD), you can also download the photos and browse them without having to suffer the less than perfect Microsoft Facebook application.

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Filed under: Etc., Technology

It’s certainly good to see some other wheeled vehicles doing their part for the environment, even if it is an airplane — especially if it’s an airplane. Actually this news isn’t about the plane itself, but a “pilot-controlled towing vehicle” for an airplane called a “TaxiBot.”

Ricardo — the same folks that make car components — have engineered the TaxiBot to allow a plane to turn off its main engines when taxiing to the gate and around the concourse. The trick is an automated clamper placed within a standard tug; once the pilot guides the nosewheel into the clamp, the pilot steers, turns, and brakes the tug with the airplane controls. Instead of motive force coming from giant Pratt & Whitneys, the tug’s two 500-hp V8s can pull planes up to 747s and A340s.

If adopted widely, the TaxiBot could save airports and airlines millions of dollars in gas and debris damage as well as sparing the world tons of CO2 emissions. You can get the details on the taxibot and its implementation in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Ricardo]

Continue reading Ricardo develops airplane taxi bot to reduce emissions, noise

Ricardo develops airplane taxi bot to reduce emissions, noise originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dear rich people: Here’s another burden you’ll be expected to shoulder.

Bloomberg: Higher-income Americans should be taxed to pay for more troops sent to Afghanistan and NATO should provide half of the new soldiers, said Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

An “additional income tax to the upper brackets, folks earning more than $200,000 or $250,000” a year, could fund more troops, Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt,” airing this weekend.

It’s certainly politically expedient to say the rich should be taxed for this and that, though obviously this only goes so far.

Fortunately for Uncle Sam, we suppose, the rich aren’t going to be leaving the country anytime soon, like they have in states (California, NY), that have tried the same strategy.

Really, we should just hope that ABC got it right when it said Obama would cut losses in Afghanistan — a report, that the administration has, so far, denied.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Obama’s First Huge Act Of Courage: Quitting Afghanistan
• You Know We’re Screwed When Afghanis Think We’re Siding With The Taliban
• As Obama Weighs Afghanistan Surge, Presumed-Dead Al-Qaeda Leader Warns Of Trap

Audi TT car review

Stig drives the Audi AS1 and the Audi TT MTM Bimoto around the track. The AS1 is super-light and the Bimoto has two engines so they should both be very fast – but can either of the German cars beat the British Radical in the power lap times

Could it be that the fundamental economic indicator that is gospel not only to Goldman Sachs, but to Ben Bernanke in estimating and determining monetary policy, the output gap, provides a flawed reading of the economy? As a reminder, Ben Bernanke has repeatedly expressed little regard for either commodity inflation or US dollar exchange as having an impact on overall US inflation. As Askari and Hochain state: “according to [Bernanke’s] theory, inflation was related only to the output gap. As long as the output gap was negative, that is, if actual gross domestic product was below potential GDP, the economy was at no risk of inflation. Hence, he argued that the central bank had to adopt an aggressive money policy until the output gap closed.

Read the whole thing at Zero Hedge >>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Fed Governor Slams Krugman’s "Output Gap" Argument
• Can Someone Explain Paul Krugman’s "Output Gap" Chart?
• We’re In The Final Month Before Inflation Hits

Cellphone maker Sony Ericsson is moving its North American headquarters from North Carolina to Atlanta and close a half-dozen sites world-wide as part of a global consolidation that will cut about 2,000 jobs. The joint venture between Ericsson and Sony will consolidate product development operations by closing sites in Research Triangle Park; Seattle; Miami; San Diego; Kista, Sweden; and Chennai, India, spokeswoman Stacy Doster said.

The site closures are new elements of a plan announced in April to cut world-wide staff of 10,000 by 20%. About 400 jobs have been cut since then and about 1,600 remain to meet that goal by the middle of next year, the spokeswoman said.

The company has about 425 workers left in Research Triangle Park after shedding hundreds of jobs in the past year. She said she’s uncertain how many of the employees would be moving to Atlanta.

The company announced last month that its losses worsened to €164 million ($244 million) amid falling sales in the third quarter, up from a €25 million loss in the same period a year ago. Sales during the quarter dropped by more than 40%.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press

Filed under: Budget, Hatchback, Chevrolet

The 2010 Chevy Spark is still said to be an “on-and-off thing” when it comes to the U.S., although now we are in an “on” phase. That’s according to GM’s Jack Keaton, the man in South Korea overseeing GM’s minicar development. The miniature runabout is expected to make do with a 66-hp, 1.0-liter four-cylinder or a 78-hp, 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine that will be good for 47 mpg. Keaton’s team is also investigating peripheral connectivity and, as if that weren’t enough, he says, “We can even package the Spark for Big Gulp cupholders.”

The issue is getting it here and on sale at the right moment. While this is an “on” phase, there are still regulatory issues and the matter of whether U.S. buyers are ready to make a minicar profitable. It will take something compelling to get Americans back into the frugal mindedness of last year, and gas isn’t nearly expensive enough for that yet. The Spark’s appearance in Chevy’s American lineup does look to be an eventuality, though, when Keaton says “We have to start thinking now about how to meet the standards… and people will be looking for minicars and small cars to lead the way.”

Nevertheless, while the Spark looks to be coming to America, it probably won’t be built in America — at least not until GM sees that the market here will be large enough to support it. We’re all right with that for now; just get it here and make sure it doesn’t do anything to remind us of Skid from Transformers.

[Source: Ward’s Auto]

REPORT: Chevrolet Spark still under consideration for U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Democrats just passed a HUGE hurdle in their effort to reform the nation’s healthcare system.

Arkansas Senator Blance Lambert Lincoln confirmed she would vote to bring the measure to debate on the floor. Ostensibly this is a procedurial vote, but it’s actually everything, since one the measure comes for debate, Democrats only need 50 votes, which should be a relatively easy hurdle to come.

Read more at POLITICO >>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• How The Democrats Bought A Key Healthcare Vote For $100 Million
• Saturday Night Healthcare Showdown On Capitol Hill
• Healthcare Bill Passes Committee WITH Support From Sen. Jay Rockefeller (AET)

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