Category: News

We are well aware of the gun attachments that are available in the market for Wii, for the upcoming PlayStation Move motion controller and few more paid or free war games. Now, it is also being discussed about the shooter game Modern Warfare 2.

The company is on the way of offering to gamers a gun controller that is juat a replica of the functionality of the regular DualShock PS3 controller.

Well, it is of course a neat way to play Modern Warfare 2, but without any real aiming and shooting in fact in it beyond the use of the thumbsticks.

Not to forget that plastic guitars can take off for music games so why not the same can happen with plastic automatic weapons.

The attachment will cost $65 and it runs on two AA batteries, making shooting noises.

The data released for the week ending July 22 reveals that video of Modern Warfare 2 has topped YouTube in the video games category.

Modern Warfare 2 secret old lady WTF!!! has been viewed 1,545,649 times on YouTube. Below is the video:

Surprisingly, it was also discovered that another video of Modern Warfare 2 ranks 4th in the top ten most viewed on YouTube from the gaming industry for the week ending July 22. It was Modern Warfare 2: OpTic Nation’s Top 5 kills.

It was viewd 311,398 times. Here is the video of it:

Below is the complete list for the week ending July 22:

1) Modern Warfare 2 secret old lady WTF!!! – 1,545,649 total views
2) Skydiving Out My Front Door- 428,484 total views
3) HD Starcraft 2 IdrA v Masq – 371,636 total views
4) Modern Warfare 2: OpTic Nation’s Top 5 Kills – 311,398 total views
5) Duck Hunt Behind-the-Scenes – 472,736 total views
6) TheLittleOne vs WhiteRa – 289,413 total views
7) HD Starcraft 2 Dimaga v Painuser – 300,427 total views
Crazy Craft Walkthrough – Levels 1-13 – 298,533 total views
9) Alien Swarm – 281,861 total views
10) Bleep Bloop: Hotel Room – 246,785 total views

On the PlayStation Network it was another busy week. It was mainly due to the prominent digital release of $15 Resurgence map pack of Modern Warfare 2. This map pack was released on the Xbox Live a month ago. It features 5 maps. Three of the maps are brand new and the remaining two are the recycled one from the original Modern Warfare.

The maps are Fuel, Trailer Park, Carnival, Strike and Vacant. The details of each are as given below:

Fuel
It is an oil refinery site and also the largest in Modern Warfare 2 till date.

Trailer Park
It is just like the Fuel map, located around a variety of motor homes and picnic tables.

Carnival
It is on abandoned fairgrounds. In it the rides and attractions are left to rust. Gamers will see here themed areas that range from futuristic to medieval. One can use castles and rocket ships type of landmarks to coordinate their efforts.

Strike
It features Mideast setting and contains some of the reasonably frantic urban combat.

Vacant
This map is set in an abandoned Russian office complex. The popularity of this map peaked in the original Modern Warfare.

Conor Friedersdorf has a great post at True/Slant on one example of how the right (wrongly) vilifies the ACLU. That’s one thing I’ve always found very, very strange. The ACLU and the Cato Institute walk in virtual lockstep on practically every civil liberties issue. Since civil liberties are the sole focus of the ACLU and Cato is a decidedly right-leaning (actually libertarian) think tank, it seems a bit strange to try and label the ACLU as so anti-right wing. Personally I’m a pretty big fan of both organizations (you can find evidence of that in my blogroll).

From the link:

It’s almost as if the conservative media complex is systematically misleading its audience about the nature of the ACLU, so much so that right-of-center commentators across the Internet spontaneously mocked the organization for failing to intervene on the right side of this case, despite it being precisely the kind of case where the ACLU reliably does exactly what the critics themselves would want.

Perhaps the confusion comes from listening to talk radio hosts and reading blogs that cast all of American politics as a grand struggle between the left and the right, liberals and conservatives, tyranny and liberty. The rank and file, rightly judging that the ACLU operates on the left, automatically concludes that they are the enemy in any case worth caring about.

Awhile back, Jonah Goldberg doubted whether or not there were actually compelling examples of epistemic closure on the right. Well, there you go: an information loop so faulty in explaining the ACLU to its audience that even a blog called Stop the ACLU doesn’t understand what’s going on.

(Hat tip: the Daily Dish)

“Technology proposes itself an architect of our intimacies,” explained Massachusetts of Technology Professor Sherry Turkle to an engrossed audience at the Harvard University Extension School. The event, “The Tethered Life: Technology Reshapes Intimacy and Solitude,” was the concluding public event of the School’s yearlong centennial celebration.

“As we instant message, e-mail, text, and Twitter, technology redraws the boundaries between intimacy and solitude,” she said. “Teenagers avoid the telephone, fearful that it reveals too much. Besides, it takes too long; they would rather text than talk. Adults, too, choose keyboards over the human voice.”

Tethered to technology, we are shaken when the unplugged world does not signify or satisfy. “After an evening of avatar-to-avatar talk in a networked game, we feel — at one moment — in possession of a full social life, and in the next, curiously isolated in tenuous complicity with strangers.”

In this thought-provoking lecture, Turkle, who is founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, shared her observations on the significant impact technology has had on our personal lives — on our children, our families, and our notions of privacy, and how it has offered us less than positive substitutes for direct face-to-face connection with people in a world of machine-mediated relationships on networked devices.

The May 14 lecture was based on Turkle’s new book, “Alone Together: Technology and the Reinvention of Intimacy and Solitude,” due for release by Basic Books in January 2011.

Is this Barbie dressed inappropriately?

Along with Cabbage Dolls and G.I. Joe action figures, Barbie owns a place in the record books as one of the most treasured toys in American history. After all, she’s a quintessential icon of modern femininity. But she’s no stranger to controversy, and the plastic dynamo — who masquerades as everything from a doctor to and entrepreneur — is in hot water once again: this time over her wardrobe.

The outfit featured on a new adult collector’s edition Barbie doll has some parents questioning whether the item should be displayed on the toy aisle.

Each doll in the new “Barbie Basic Collection” is dressed in that essential must-have for all fashionistas, the little black dress. The toy creating the controversy is Doll No. 10 in the Basic Collection. One of four African-American dolls in the series, Desiree — who sports a long-flowing weave, a clevage-baring top, and stilettos — has been nicknamed “Busty Barbie” by some critics. The New York Daily News even calls the doll’s dress has “a deep, plunging neckline – revealing bowling-ball cleavage that would make one of Tiger Woods’ mistresses jealous.”

Ouch!

Mattel’s website has a different take on things; the toy manufacturer describes the doll like this: “Model No. 10 features the Desiree face sculpt, African American skin tone, a striking black dress with plunging neckline, and long sleek hair.”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The site states the the doll is for the adult collector; a fact that hasn’t done much to curb the cries of angry mothers, who complain that the Barbie Basic Collection is available for sale on the toy aisle — where impressionable children are treated to a plastic peep show.

“I don’t want (my daughter) to think she has to be this, you know, busty Barbie who’s constantly wearing heels and these low-cut shirts,” Minnesota mom Andie Whitaker told NBC this week. “And that’s really the image I think a doll that you’re going to buy for a child is portraying.”

For now, the doll remains on store shelves. National chains are selling the doll for around $19.99. Target, for one, has said it will continue to carry the line. Mattel has refused to comment.

We’re somewhat skeptical of the various “cyberharassment” laws out there, as they leave themselves wide open to interpretation (often in dangerous ways). In April, we wrote about one case involving a son who sued his mother for harassment after she used his Facebook account (she went to the computer and he had not logged out) to post angry messages on his wall, pretending to be him, and then changed his password and locked him out of the account. (As a quick aside: I just checked, and as with most online services, Facebook appears to require you to type in your old password before you can enter a new one — so I’m wondering how she had access to his existing password…).

Either way, Rose M. Welch alerts us to the news that the mother has been found guilty, told to pay $435, given a 30-day suspended jail sentence, and ordered to take both anger management and parenting classes. Clearly, what she did was wrong, though I do wonder if it really reaches the level of harassment. Some of the judge’s reasoning also is a bit suspect. Part of the reasoning for the guilty ruling was that the mother had left messages on her son’s voicemail that included curse words. The son is 17, so it’s not like he hasn’t heard those words before — and the mother insisted that this was part of their normal joking banter. The judge, however, declared it “totally, completely inappropriate.” Now, I’m not going to say that leaving voicemail messages to your children with curse words is a good parenting technique, but it still seems a bit extreme to use that as evidence of harassment.

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Green Right Now Reports

Got a rabidly green roommate who times your showers, follows you around turning off lights and has lined all the window sills with edible plants?

Turn this difficult experience into a winning proposition: Nominate him or her for Environmental Roommate of the Year. They might just win grand prize of $10,000, which should at least allow you to mooching rights to their solar charger.

Or, if you’re the geekiest green roommate you know nominate yourself and buy offsets with that 10K (maybe). The winner also gets free rent for a year.

The contest is a promotion by Apartments.com. The green award is one of several offered in their 2nd annual Roommate of the Year Contest.

You’ll have to put together a video about yourself or your roommatet, and make the deadline of June 14, 2010 at midnight EDT. See the website for details.

Augmented Reality may not be super practical yet. But it sure is cool, and a lot of fun. And a new Android game looks to make it even more fun.

Space InvadAR is a new Android game by Zenitum. It’s the world’s first “vision-based” AR game, according to the team. And it looks awesome — watch the video below.

iPhone users know the pain of dropping their device and ruining the screen or LCD and not having insurance on the device to get it replaced.  Worry no more, iPhone fans, as Boy Genius Report has received a tip from an AT&T employee saying that iPhone users will soon be able to get insurance for their device.  Previously, one could only buy AppleCare for an iPhone directly from Apple, which cost $69 and only covered technical problems with the screen, battery, or headphones.  The new insurance plans from AT&T will be titled “MobileProtect” and will be run through Asurion. The plans will be available for purchase through Apple’s App store for $13.99 a month, charged to the credit card that Apple has on file.  Deductibles range from $99 for the 8 GB 3G all the way up to $199 for the 32 GB 3GS.  Also, the insurance plan must be purchased within 30 days of buying your new iPhone.  The whole thing sounds kind of pricey, but it may be worth it to have that sort of protection for your precious iPhone.  Would any of you buy this service or will you be a rebel, risking your iPhone’s life daily without any sort of insurnace plan?

Via Boy Genius Report

Robert Reich has a good column on”why deficit hawks are killing the recovery.”

Consumer spending is 70 percent of the American economy, so if consumers can’t or won’t spend we’re back in the soup. Yet the government just reported that consumer spending stalled in April – the first month consumers didn’t up their spending since last September. Instead, consumers boosted their savings, probably because they’re worried about the slow pace of job growth (next Friday’s report will likely show gains, but the number will continue to be tiny compared to the overall ranks of the jobless), as well as a lackluster “recovery.” They’re also still carrying enormous debt burdens. One in four home owners is still underwater. And median wages are going nowhere.

So what’s Congress doing to stoke the economy as consumers pull back? In a word, nothing. Democratic House leaders yesterday shrank their jobs bill to a droplet. They jettisoned proposed subsidies to help the unemployed buy health insurance, as well as higher matching funds for state-run health programs such as Medicaid. And they trimmed extended unemployment insurance. “Members who are from low unemployment areas are very concerned about the deficit,” Nancy Pelosi explained.

It is worth noting explicitly that unemployment benefits are stimulus, and a highly effective form of it. When the government cuts an unemployed person a check, that person is necessarily jobless. He tends to have close to nothing in savings; Harvard’s Raj Chetty has calculated that the median person currently unemployed had only $250 in liquid savings at the time of job loss. He tends to have no other source of income. And so he generally goes out and spends his unemployment check — raising consumption, that all-important 70 percent of the economy — rather than saving it. That means that if Congress trims $40 billion in unemployment benefits, it trims $40 billion in stimulus and somewhere close to $40 billion in consumer spending as well.

Despite talk of an exclusive agreement with Verizon, the folks at Skype are now saying that a Skype app will hit the Android Marketplace later this year and be available to everyone regardless of carrier. [SkatterTech via Android Central] More »










Android – AndroidMarket – Handhelds – Verizon – AndroidMarketplace

Earlier this month Navistar announced it had begun production of the first Class 2c-3, 2-ton, medium-duty commercial electric truck in the U.S. — the eStar. It’s also the same vehicle that FedEx has announced it will be testing for fleet use in LA this year.

Now Navistar says that the first market the eStar will be commercially available is in “one of the nation’s most environmentally sustainable cities and a leading advocate for energy-efficient transportation,” Portland, Oregon.

(more…)

The arrival of the Palm Pre Plus in the UK (Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus Available Soon for O2 Customers in the UK ), buzz about HP’s first webOS tablet and the possibility of a HP webOS printer,  and more reviews of the Palm Pre Plus were the main topics talked about this week. There was also quite a bit of interest in the SIM unlock now being available for AT&T Palm Pre Plus.  And speaking of AT&T, we mentioned last week how the Pixi Plus will be available on June 6.  The big question is whether the next day, Steve Jobs will be unveiling the next generation iPhone at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference AND if AT&T will remain the exclusive carrier.

Let’s talk Palm…

read more

Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson feel nostalgic as they are down to the last two weeks of shooting the final Harry Potter film. Radcliffe, 20, said at the National Movie Awards in London, “I will be devastated (when it’s over). There is nothing I watch without it triggering a series of memories. Everything (about the films) is so linked to my life. At the same time, it is exciting. It is the end.” Producer David Herman said, “We will finish in two weeks’ time. It is a very strange feeling. We have been 10 years together.”

The Harry Potter series that started their careers began ten years ago and the last scenes of the second installment of the final film, Deathly Hallows, are being shot in London this week. “I feel like someone’s dying, I know that sounds like an exaggeration but I really do,” said Watson who plays Hemoine Granger in the Harry Potter series. “I’m not planning to do anything this summer – I’m going to need time to collect myself and get myself back together a bit. So I’ll take a bit of a break.” She added “This kind of love and recognition is just incredible. It is also really emotional for me. I am proud.”

Deathly Hallows is split into two movies where the first half will be shown this November and the second in July 2011.

Related posts:

1. Watch Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows HQ Movie Online Trailer
2. Popular Harry Potter Quotes
3. Twilight Top’s National Movie Awards @ Royal Festival Hall

[JURIST] An Indian court on Friday charged Sajjan Kumar [official profile], a former member of the Parliament of India in the ruling Congress Party [official websites], in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots [TOI backgrounder]. Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta of the Northeast District of Delhi [official website] charged [TOI report] Kumar and five others with conspiracy, murder, dacoity, and promoting enmity between communities under the Indian Penal Code [text]. The court found sufficient evidence to presume that a conspiracy and speeches made by Kumar incited the riots. The court is scheduled to begin hearing witnesses July 1. Kumar and his co-defendants pleaded not guilty, and, if convicted, they could face the death penalty.

The case was transferred [PTI report] from a special judge in the Central Bureau of Investigation [official website] to the Delhi court in April. The riots were precipitated by the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for Operation Blue Star [BBC backgrounders], a military campaign against Sikh militants. The riots spanned three days in October and November 1984, mostly affecting communities in Delhi, and leaving thousands of Sikhs dead.

Double Overtime!

It appears that the General Assembly may be trying to take a page out of the Chicago Blackhawks playbook. While the Hawks were able to claim victory in overtime in a critical game last week, it’s unclear whether the Illinois General Assembly will be as fortunate.

The arbitrarily scheduled legislative adjournment date of May 7 came and went.  We anticipated the GA when it returned this week, would resolve the key issues; what funding for public education would look like, what new revenue might be adopted and how the pension payments to the systems might be resolved.  To date, we have little or no resolution on these issues.  Now, lawmakers have recessed, with plans to come back at some uncertain date to address the state budget and pension payments to the systems.

The question is ”Will they come back prepared to address the needs of the state or just come back and create more uncertainty?”

The Budget

The House and Senate concurred on a budget, a budget implementation bill and an emergency budget powers bill for fiscal year 2011.  This is the money we expect to go to schools as grants from the various agencies (Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board).

For K-12 schools, the appropriation for FY10, for all grants, according to the ISBE, was $7.2 billion.  The combination of bills this year gives us flat funding for GSA ($4.615 billion) and for mandated categorical funding ($1 billion).  An additional $371 million is appropriated to ISBE for grants to schools in SB 1215.  That comes to a total of $6.9 billion for FY11, $367 million less than the total grant money for FY10, or about the approximate $300 million we’ve been expecting the cut to be for FY11.

For higher education the appropriation (for operations) is the same for FY11 as it was for FY10, $1 billion.

Much is still uncertain, given that Gov. Quinn can withhold money from various state agencies to manage the state’s cash flow.  The governor can hold back approximately 20% of the total appropriations.  We don’t yet know how this will play out for education.

Budget Legislation

HB 859 (Currie, D-Chicago/Trotter, D-Chicago) contains the state budget. It has passed both Houses and will now go to the Governor’s Desk.

SB 3660 (Cullerton, D-Chicago/Currie, D-Chicago) contains the Emergency Budget Act, which gives the Governor broad authority on how to implement the budget, allows the Governor the use of interfund transfers, except for funds that have a continuing appropriation, and includes the tobacco securitization. The tobacco securitization provision will allow the state to borrow $1.2 billion against future tobacco settlement money.  In essence, the state forgoes those contributions/payments for a lump sum payment of an estimated $1.3 billion that will be used today to fund the state budget. This is a one-time payment and will make next year’s budget even more difficult to create unless new revenue is found. The bill has passed both houses and will now go to the Governor’s desk.

SB 3662 (Trotter, D-Chicago/Currie, D-Chicago) is the Budget Implementation Act.  IEA opposed Amendment #3 of this bill because, if the appropriation is insufficient, the Illinois State Board of Education can short the GSA grant and make the full poverty payments.  While this provision may benefit some districts with high concentrations of poverty, it would hurt ALL school districts, as everybody else would get shorted. The bill has passed both houses and now goes to the Governor’s desk. 

SB 44 (Schoenberg, D-Evanston/Yarbrough, D-Maywood) is an additional $1 per-pack tax on cigarettes. The revenue from this new tax would be used to fund mandated categorical aid payments to school districts. The bill is expected to generate an additional $175 million in revenue for Fiscal Year 2010 and an additional $175 million in revenue for Fiscal Year 2011, for a total two-year gain in cigarette excise and use tax of $350 million.  The legislation has run into resistance in the House and it is uncertain whether it will be acted upon to assist with the education budget.  IEA supports this legislation.

Pension Payments

SB 3514 (Schoenberg, D-Evanston/Currie, D-Chicago) is the pension bond legislation that would make it easier for the state to make its payment to the state retirement systems (TRS and SURS included) this year by allowing the State to borrow an estimated $4.1 billion at a low interest rate (4.1%-4.5%). The alternative, legislating a pension payment holiday (delayed payment), would cost the taxpayers $58 billion according the bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA).

The IEA supports this legislation.  The House passed this bill, but the Senate did not act on this legislation before adjourning on Thursday night.

Pension Continuing Appropriation

If SB 3514 never makes it to the governor’s desk, the state retirement systems (TRS, SURS, SERS, JRS and GARS) may still receive their required pension payment. This is due to a law called the State Pensions Continuing Appropriations Act (SPCAA). The threat is that the legislature may still decide to change this section of the law and appropriate a lower amount than the current law requires.  There may simply not be enough money in the state’s coffers to make a payment to the retirement systems without creating tremendous hardships for education funding. The required pension payment for this new fiscal year is an estimated $4.5 billion, which is an increase of $500 million from last year’s payment of $4.0 billion.

This could be the third consecutive year where the SPCAA is used to enact pension funding.  State Comptroller Dan Hynes made all payments required of TRS last year as directed by the Act.  SURS received smaller payments initially, but did end up receiving all of its contributions for last year.  We are concerned that this year may be more difficult for the comptroller to manage this task.

The IEA has been successful in preventing a change to the State Pensions Continuing Appropriations Act and will continue to vehemently oppose any attempts to legislate a pension payment holiday as contained in HB 543.  Please contact your state representative and voice your opposition to the pension payment holiday contained in HB 543.

Special Education Hold Harmless

HB 2270 (Forby, D-Benton/Bradley, D-Marion) appropriates $17 million to the State Board of Education for school districts who qualify to receive special education–hold harmless funds.  This legislation appropriates funds for the current fiscal year.  This IEA-supported measure passed both houses this week and is now before the Governor.

Vouchers

The Illinois House adjourned Thursday without taking another vote on SB 2494, the voucher bill.  House sponsor Rep. Kevin Joyce (D–Chicago) filed a fourth amendment to the bill which called for a gradual sunset and a provision requiring state testing.

The sunset would allow the voucher program to continue through the 2026-2027 school year.  After the 2019-2020, only the parents of students who had previously received a voucher would continue to be eligible to receive vouchers for those students until they are out of the 8th grade.

All students in a private school which enrolls voucher students would be state-tested if voucher students exceeded 20% of the school’s enrollment. The IEA believes the State would be responsible for the cost of these tests.

The IEA opposes SB 2494 in any form, because of the diversion of public funds to any private school or any other private education institution.  This bill would further erode state support of an already underfunded public education system.

Thank you for your calls to members of the House of Representatives in response to the IEA Calls to Action on the voucher issue.  Since the House could vote on this bill if they reconvene, please take the time over the next few days or next week to call or email your State Representative about this issue.  If your State Representative voted no on the voucher bill the first time it was called, please thank them and reconfirm their no vote. Though the vote was unofficial, click this link to see a video showing how the House members voted.

Principal Preparation Endorsement

IEA supported SB 226 (Demuzio, D-Carlinville/Smith, D-Canton) which provides that individuals wanting to become principals before July 1, 2014, must earn a “principal endorsement” through a program at a university or through a not-for-profit organization in a program approved by ISBE and the Board of Higher Education. The individual also would be required to serve a one-year internship if the principal candidate goes through a not-for-profit organization rather than a university. Current principals holding the general administrative endorsement prior to July 1, 2014, shall have their general administrative endorsements converted to a principal endorsement upon request to ISBE if specified conditions are met.  SB 226 was passed by both houses.

Legislation Sent to Governor

Freedom of Information Act

The IEA has sent a letter to the Governor asking for his signature on HB 5154, which prohibits the disclosure of performance evaluations of ESPs and higher education faculty and staff under the Freedom of Information Act.

Health care management in schools

The IEA has sent a letter to the Governor to encourage him to use his amendatory veto power to make changes to HB 6065, which would require a school employee to administer insulin to a student.

HB 6065 creates the Care of Students with Diabetes Act and allows self-administration of medication by a pupil with diabetes and requires teachers and school personnel to volunteer to administer medication to pupils with diabetes. (Download HB 6065 fact sheet).

IEA issued a “call to action” on this legislation and we encourage you to still take action. All IEA members are urged to:

1. Call the Statehouse at 217/782-2000 and ask to be connected to the governor’s office.
2. Once connected, please state your name and the school where you work.
3. Ask that the following message be given to the governor:

“I would like the governor to use his amendatory veto to remove the section of House Bill 6065 that requires ‘Delegated Care Aides’ to administer insulin to students. Thank you.”

Higher Ed Borrowing

SB 642 (Haine, D-Alton)/Bradley, D-Marion) allows all public universities to borrow money to fund operations and improve their cash flow position.  The state is far behind in payments to all public universities and the bill allows them to borrow against future tuition revenue and future payments from the state.  The bill is supported by IEA and needed to help universities make payroll.  The bill is currently before Gov. Quinn for his action.  He has said that he will hold the university borrowing bill until the pension borrowing issue is resolved. The Governor is considering expanding the pension borrowing bill to include university borrowing.

G.A. Glossary

Continuing Appropriation

A continuing appropriation is a provision in Illinois law that guarantees a payment from the state for a specific purpose. For example: the state of Illinois has a continuing appropriation for pension funding (State Pensions Continuing Appropriations Act.) This appropriation can be changed by a simple majority vote during the regular legislative session but would require a three-fifths vote in overtime. If there is no appropriation made for pension funding in the state budget, the continuing appropriation provision kicks in and ensures that the state retirement systems (TRS, SURS, SERS, GARS, and JRS) receive full funding as required by law, regardless if there was an appropriation or not. This could be the third consecutive fiscal year where the continuing appropriation provision is implemented due to either no appropriation for pensions in the budget or an appropriation that is insufficient to make the required pension payment.

Following up on a 2007 world record for the fastest transistor speed, Northrop Grumman announced today that it has shattered the world record for integrated circuit performance, nearing one terahertz. More »










Technology – Terahertz – Physics – Electromagnetism – Terahertz radiation

After falling big on the Spain downgrade announcement, the market avoided an all-out rout. But it was still pretty bad, and after fighting back hard, the bulls ended up blowing it in the final moments of the day.

This is going to leave investors with a sick feeling in their stomach as they contemplate next week

As for the month, the 7.9% decline in the Dow was its worst since February 2009, according to WSJ.

But first, the scoreboard:

Dow: -122.3 (-1.2%)
S&P 500: -14 (-1.2%)
NASDAQ: -20.64 (-0.91%)

And for the top stories of the day:

• SPAIN was the biggie. Not that anyone needed a reminder that it’s in serious trouble, and certainly deserving of being the “S” in PIIGS, but Fitch’s removal of its AAA rating drove the point home. For a full guide to Spanish counterparty exposure, see here >

• Along with the problems of the Spanish government, the banking sector continues its desperate scramble to save itself, with a merger of six more banks.

• BP BP BP. Still an ongoing disaster in the Gulf, despite some signs that for now the oil leak has slowed or stop. Still no hard end in sight. BP gave up nearly all of its gains from yesterday.

• The House has passed the big carried interest tax that private equity managers are worried about it.

• China appears to be changing its stance on North Korea, a sign the dictatorial regime is increasingly isolated.

Join the conversation about this story »

Filed under: Performance, Etc., Design/Style, Luxury

We know what you’re thinking. What business does a yacht – albeit one as ridiculously lustworthy as the Strand Craft 122 promises to be – have gracing the pages of Autoblog? Somewhat surprisingly, the answer is a garage. And also a supercar. That’s right, this ultra-yacht design study comes with an integrated garage in the stern that houses an 880-horsepower V12-powered supercar.

Despite the fact that the designer has shared next to nothing about the supposed supercar (other than the fact that it can theoretically travel at speeds of over 230 miles per hour), we’re going to go ahead and start referring to it as the World’s Coolest Tender. Feel free to check out the high-res rendering of the machine in our image gallery below.

As far as the yacht goes, we guess that’s pretty cool too… what with power coming from twin Rolls-Royce engines along with an optional booster engine sporting over 14,000(!) horsepower and a top speed of 55 knots. Not too shabby, eh? Price? Well, it’s all theoretical at this point, but even so, we’re guessing we could pool the AB staff’s money together and still only come up with enough money for a quick tour of the harbor in one.

[Source: Strand Craft]

Strand Craft 122 super yacht comes with supercar and in-boat garage to hold it originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 May 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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