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Although not even our sources are not sure about these photos, what you see here might the real thing, the Ferrari 458 Italia Challenge.

The car is lowered comparing it to the standard version, has plastic windows, a new set of 9-spoke racing wheels wrapped in high-performance tires and a slightly reworked bodykit. Also a new roll cage was installed in this car convincing us that we are looking at the 458 Italia Challenge. More details to be revealed! See more photos after the jump!

[source autoblog via axis of oversteer]

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

Do you know 17 year old car insurance is higher than others? But no worries, we tell you how to get cheap car insurance for 17 year old driver. These methods have been proven works and successfully get a great discount from most of the car insurance companies. Before you can get a big discount from insurance companies, you will have to understand the reason why is car insurance so high for teenagers. It will then very easy to get cheap car insurance as long as you catch some of the tips here.

17 year old car insurance

17 year old, a wonderful age in our life. There are a lot of people wish to be “17 again” once they have passed their teenager age. It is a year to start learning to drive and get a cool car after get the driving license. However, things don’t seem to be so smooth when the chances to get cheap car insurance for teenager are extremely low especially in UK.

There will be a little bit more requirement when a 17 year-old teenager ask for car insurance quotes. These details that usually will be used to create car insurance quote are:

The driver age. Age play an important part in getting insurance quotes. Younger = expensive, older = cheaper.

Driver’s gender. Male or female does matter. Male drivers are tending to have higher risk as male driver usually drive faster.

Car model. The model of the car you purchase will affect the insurance price. Car with more safety features like ABS brakes, air bags, alarm system, theft system will be able to get cheaper car insurance.

Car model year. It is different with driver’s age. Older car = cheaper insurance, younger car = expensive insurance.

Area code and Zip code. Car insurance companies usually will ask you to key in zip code of where you stay. This is to check on the accident statistic base on the area you stay.

See also 17 year old car insurance related: Why is car insurance so high for teenagers, Car insurance UK young drivers.

How to get cheap 17 year old car insurance

Alright, do not get upset after read through all the negative point of how hard to get cheap car insurance for teenager. There are always exists for that. Here are some of pretty good tips to get cheap car insurance for teenager under 20 year old. Now you feel 17 Again?

17 year old student grades

Most of the youngster will have student grades while this may no longer applicable for old people who had graduated years ago. Show the insurance company good student grades in your school. Car insurance company will consider cheaper price for student who have good grade.

The safety of the car

Provide some of this information when you apply for car insurance. Places where you park the car and how you travel, from your house to school, the car park either in your house garage or your school car park. Tell the insurance company you did not park the car at backstreet.

Buy the car insurance on your parents’ policy

Another great way of saving some money is to go on your parents’ policy if they are driving. The only disadvantage is the no-claim bonus will not build up but this could help you save some money in short term.

In conclusion, the legal driving in most of the countries is 17. It is too risky to get on the road without any car insurance. The best way is to get the tips and run to any car insurance companies around you to get cheap 17 year old car insurance.

Source: Cars, Fast Cars, Cool Cars, Sports Cars

Found under: Motorola, Android, Shadow, Google, Verizon, Eclair, Froyo,

Is this the Motorola DROID 2 aka Shadow Some people seem to think so as this unknown Motorola device got its specs leaked over at Howard Forums. Judging from the specs the Shadow will be one hell of a beast but for reasons only known to Motorola Android 2.1 clair is preferred over Froyo.Hit the more link for the specsTablet form-factor4.1 TFT FWVGA screenTexas Instruments OMAP 3630 Processor2GB built in memoryAndroid 2.1 with soon-to-follow upgrade to 2.2Moto BLUR wi

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For the new Porsche Cayenne models TECHART offers Formula and Formula II light alloy wheels as well as Formula III forged light alloy wheels in dimensions of 20- to 23-inch. Besides attractive standard color variants, all TECHART wheels are available in individually matched custom colors.

High quality full leather interior in new color options and a unique design as well as the TECHART Rear-Seat-Entertainment options are just two highlights for the new Cayenne generation. A maximum of driving pleasure plus quick shifting and perfect handling enable the TECHART 3-spoke sport steering wheels with the paddle shifters. The TECHART paddle shifters have unlimited individualization options and are available for all Porsche sport steering wheels and multifunction steering wheels with PDK gearshift switches as well as all TECHART sport steering wheels.

The TECHART engine styling package with carbon cover as well as the TECHART sport tailpipes in polished stainless steel, which are available in a few weeks, complete the first TECHART Individualization options for the new Cayenne.

Source: Lincah.Com – New Car and Used Car Pictures

Found under: BlackBerry, RIM, 9800, Bold, Slider, Palm, Pre, Pictures,

The BlackBerry Bold 9800 is one sexy looking handset if I didnt know better I would totally get one when its out but alas I am not a BlackBerry fan so Ill have to pass. Anyway this beautiful looking handset with BlackBerry 6 OS installed is just too beautiful not to drool over unlike the original Bold we hope this one lives up to the hype.I noticed how RIM added two ways of navigating around the 9800 this is what the BlackBerry Storm devices should have been because in my opin

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Bret Michaels cheated death itself to grasp victory on the third season finale of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday night. The rocker and reality star was hired by money-grubbing mogul Donald Trump itle after creating a fun Snapple ad campaign in the season’s final challenge, besting actress Holly Robinson Peete (Can’t stand her!) and winning $250,000 for his charity of choice, The American Diabetes Association.

Peete’s charity — benefitting autism research — will receive the same cash prize, thanks to Apprentice sponsor Snapple.

The victory comes at the end of a tough month for Bret. Michaels’ future in the competition had been in doubt since the Poison star suffered a brain hemorrhage last month. Then just last week, he began feeling numbness on the left side of his body and his face. Testing showed that Bret had suffered what doctors call a warning stroke. After the stroke added to the rocker’s laundry list of medical misfortunes, further testing also showed that Michaels has a hole in his heart, which will require surgery.

Linking Up with the 1^st LAR

Friday, May 21, 2010

6:30am Camp Bastion, Afghanistan

We were packed like sardines on the C-130 flights from Kabul through Kandahar to the British base in Helmand Province, Camp Bastion, last night.  In full body armor, we sat on canvas benches alongside civilian contractors and NATO troops from various countries.  Space is so tight, you have to interlock knees with the people sitting across from you, forming a zigzag zipper formation with your legs.

I sat next to a Danish soldier who was returning to Afghanistan after a couple weeks of R&R in Denmark.  This is his tenth tour. Two of those tours were back to back and his decision to stay in theater destroyed his marriage.  His now ex-wife, who works in finance, wanted him to come home and get a desk job.  But he couldn’t, saying “that just isn’t me”.  He said “THIS is me.”  For many troops, serving in the Middle East for months on end during these ongoing conflicts are driving a wedge between their careers and their personal lives… another casualty of war.

We arrived at Camp Bastion, which is attached to the Marine base Camp Leatherneck, at 1:30am.  We were greeted by a couple of guys from the public affairs officer’s office who told us we had an early flight and it would be best to just catch a few Z’s along side the flight line for a few hours, instead of wasting time driving to Leatherneck.  So much for midnight chow! (I’d heard Leatherneck has one of the best mess halls, and I was looking forward to it.)

We were taken to a building made of plywood where various troops were sprawled out asleep on all the cots.  So we spent the night sleeping outside on wooden benches made of widely spaced 2 x 4s. Planes, choppers and Ospreys took off and landed all around us all night.

Nervous that I mis-set my iPhone alarm, I woke up early. Unable to get comfortable on the 2x4s again, I looked to the ground to put on my ink stained boots.  Yesterday, our London based photographer Mal James wrote to remind me to put my blood type and penicillin allergy on my boots, just in case something happens and I’m unable to speak with a medic. Because I don’t have dog tags, my name and blood type is also on my flak jacket and helmet.

It’s now 8:30am. Rick, Keith and I just split a breakfast of champions: a peanut butter granola bar and a coconut and chocolate candy bar.  Today’s the day we link up with the 1^st LAR. We met many of them in March during their training at Twenty-nine Palms in California.  I’m excited to see them again.

Volkswagen will announce Tuesday that it will take a 90 percent stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A, people familiar with the matter told Automotive News Europe.

The Giugiaro family will retain 10 percent in the Italian design house that is famous for styling cars such as the first-generation VW Golf.

VW plans to acquire control of Italdesign to help reach its goal of becoming the world’s largest automaker by 2018 with sales of 10 million vehicles a year. To reach that goal, VW’s 10-brand group, including Porsche, will need more designers and engineers. In 2010 alone, VW group plans to add 60 models, including upgrades.

Italdesign, co-founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1968, currently has 975 employees and 800 computer aided design workstations.

Giorgetto Giugiaro, 71, who is Italdesign chairman, and his son, Fabrizio, 45, who heads the design and model division, are expected to continue working at the company following the VW takeover.

Italdesign does not disclose its financial results. The most recent data available shows that in 2008 the company increased its revenues 6.2 percent to 136 million euros ($166 million) and reported an operating breakeven.

Sources told ANE that the VW takover will be announced at Italdesign’s headquarters in Moncalieri, 15km south of Turin on Tuesday morning.

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Source: Car news, reviews and auto show stories

Found under: Flash, Lite, Android, Google, Nexus Onr, HTC, Desire,

Theres a video out on Engadget that pits Flash Lite 4.0 against Flash 10.1 Beta obviously the winner is Flash 10.1 running on a Nexus One with Android 2.2 Froyo installed. While you could tell which version was doing better Flash Lite 4.0 really stood in there and gave 10.1 Beta a run for its money the performance differences were not that huge really.Flash Lite 4.0 was shown off on the HTC Desire and while it stuttered a little bit it was still quite watchable thought I wouldnt

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Sunday morning was cool and foggy, and so we were not surprised to discover the garden full of craters and trenches. A snapping turtle the size of a manhole cover was busy laying her eggs.

This is an annual ritual in this part of New England. The first time I encountered a snapping turtle here, not long after we had moved into our house, I was terrified. Our children were toddlers, old enough to run but not old enough to know they should stay away from animals that can snap off your finger. Somehow I had to get the turtle out of my yard and back into the creek that runs behind our house. With no experience in turtle-wrangling, I decided to get a broomstick. I tapped the turtle on its shell, to signal that I wanted it to leave. It looked up at me with supreme indifference.

My helplessness made me hallucinate. I feared the turtle was going to break into the house somehow and eat our cats. I called our town’s animal control line, and ended up talking to a policeman. He gave me a suprisingly detailed lecture on the natural history of the snapping turtle. On cool, foggy mornings in late spring, he explaned, females emerge from streams and wetlands to bury their eggs in the soft earth. They take care of their business in about an hour, and then they leave. He would not be coming to my house to rescue us.

He was right. The turtle picked a lush bed of mulch and mud, near a rose bush, and laid her eggs. I stared at from the front door with my children until we got bored. When I checked back a few minutes later, it was gone. I never realized that a snapping turtle can disappear when it wants to. After a few weeks the eggs hatched. In the summer we discovred adorably vicious baby snapping turtles trying to find their way back to the water. Every spring since, the snapping turtles have returned, and we’ve gotten more comfortable with them. I don’t bother the police. Instead, we get reasonably close to the turtle to observe.

We usually get one snapping turtle visiting us each year. We’re grateful, but we also know these visits are a shadow of a former glory. One of our neighbors, who grew up in our town, remembers armies of snapping turtles swarming up out of the creek in the spring. We live in biologically impoverished times, with constipated streams, filled-in marshes, and other assaults on the habitat of turtles in New England. Snapping turtles have been wandering out of marshes for millions of years. The oldest turtle fossils are about 220 million years old, but snapping turtles evolved much later. They belong to a 90-million-year-old lineage that also gave rise to species that span the extremes of turtle biology, from tiny mud turtles to leatherback turtles, the biggest reptiles on Earth, which swim across oceans.

This morning’s visitation was particularly mesmerizing, because the snapping turtle angled her body in such a way that we could see her eggs drop into the hole she had dug. They were the size and shape of eyeballs. As the eggs eased out of her cloaca, she tapped them with her right back foot into the hole, like a soccer player giving a ball the extra kick it needed to reach the goal. One after another, the eggs tumbled out. We counted a dozen, but snapping turtles can lay dozens more at a time. They pick these nests carefully. They chose these spots for their temperatures. Like many other turtle species, snapping turtles end up male or female depending on the temperature. At low and high temperatures, they produce females; at intermediate temperatures, they make males. Snapping turtles don’t have thermometers, but they have evolved a simple rule of thumb (or claw). They seek out soft, sandy soil, which tends to be the right temperature to produce a mix of males and females.

Unfortunately, we may be setting ecological traps for the turtles. They sometimes lay eggs in yards underneath planted trees or near houses. The shadows cool the temperatures compared to sites they pick in natural habitats. On the other hand, global warming may send them in the other direction. In either case, we may cause them to make too few males. And because they live so long (they can live 40 years), they will be slow to evolve new preferences. I hope that my grandchildren will be able to come see snapping turtles rip up our garden, but I cannot be sure.

Via UFO Casebook News Feed

UFO Spiral in the Sky across Western Canada – Photos and Video

Can’t get enough of the lovely Jill Valentine? Here’s your chance at getting her in your room. Capcom is releasing a 1/6 scale figure of Jill from Resident Evil 5.
 
 
 
 

Android 2.2 Froyo video walkthrough Top features of Android 2.2 Google announces Google TV The best of Android Central at Google I/O	Sprint BlackBerry Bold 9650 Review New BlackBerry Bold 9800 Slider Photos White BlackBerry Bold 9700 Gets Unboxed and Fondled
Nokia N900 Otterbox Case T-Mobile Nokia N73 Mode	3D Gaming coming to Pixi AT&T Palm Pre Plus unlocked Palm on homebrew
iPhone HD/iPhone 4G to come in white? Massive iPhone Twitter app roundup , including new, official Twitter for iPhone Our brand new iPad live! podcast is now available via RSS and via iTunes. Subscribe (and leave us a review!)	More revealed on Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, gaming and development Where’s the landscape in Windows Phone 7? Hands-on with Microsoft Kin

Article Tags: Public Polls

Only 62% of Britons interested in subject, down from 80% in 2006, according to YouGov survey

Popular concern about climate change has declined significantly, following this year’s harsh winter and rows over statistics on global warming, a survey has found.

The numbers of those interested in where Britain’s electricity comes from have also slipped back, according to a survey commissioned by the energy company EDF, demonstrating what appears to be growing consumer complacency in an era of electric-powered gadgetry.

At the same time resistance to building new nuclear power stations appears to be slackening. The results of the YouGov poll, based on a sample of 4,300 adults questioned during the week after the general election, show that interest in climate change fell from 80% of respondents in 2006, to 71% last year and now stands at only 62%. Only 80% say they are interested in where electrical power is made, down from 82% the previous year.

Other recent polls have recorded a similar drop in public alarm about the imminence of climate-triggered disaster. The number of climate change agnostics – those unsure whether human activity is warming the planet – has risen from 25% in 2007 to 33% now.

Click source to read more from Owen Bowcott

Source: guardian.co.uk

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The Buick that enthusiasts have been clamoring for–the Regal GS show car revealed at the Detroit auto show–will soon be reality.

This turbocharged demon packing 255 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque with a six-speed manual transmission and a host of performance enhancements has been approved, spokeswoman Dayna Hart told AutoWeek on Monday.

There is no time line for the launch, and other details are not available.

“We’re kind of just saying, stay tuned,” Hart said.

GS, or Gran Sport, channels Buick’s heritage of sporting drives going back to the 1960s. The Riviera, the Wildcat, the Skylark and the Regal have all worn the badge.

The car at the Detroit auto show had all-wheel drive, two more vertical front air intakes, forged aluminum 20-inch wheels, a sport steering wheel and Recaro seats.

Though called a show car, the Regal GS was a gussied-up production Regal. Another turbo version of the Regal making 220 hp from the same Ecotec four-cylinder is due this summer.

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Source: Car news, reviews and auto show stories

The new world of Mobile technology was ever changed when the iPhone was released with the greatest Multi-Touch software. Well XDA member l3v5y has brought that and more to the Windows Mobile world. Him and a friend have created an application called LMT launcher, and what makes this application special is the ability to launch anything with the use of two finger gestures. It is a Multi-Touch based application launcher for the Windows Phone device the HTC HD2.

The application is truly amazing and after using it for about one month now on my HD2, I love it, and here is what the creator had to say about it.

Use the controller as a generic gamepad for e.g. FPSEce, morphgear or flash games. The controller is multitouch capable and converts the touches to key events. You can define the keys to be sent via registry value "ControllerKeys": Down, up, left, right, 1, 2, A, B, C, D, X, Y. The button "R" toggles between portrait and landscape mode and partial and full screen lock. The button "X" deactivates the controller mode. The registry value "ControllerVibrate" defines the vibrate status: 0=off, 1=default, >1=time in ms. To quickly install and configure LMTs controller with FPSEce and morphgear I made a fpse.ini file and a registry file for morphgear. The howto:
FPSEce:

• install FPSEce on internal memory
• before first start replace the existing fpse.ini with the attached one
• now start FPSEce
• load a rom, start LMTs controller and have fun!

Morphgear:

• install morphgear and e.g. the generator plugin on internal memory
• start morphgear and close it again
• import the attached registry file
• now restart morphgear again
• load rom, start LMTs controller and have fun!

These aren’t the perfect settings since I only patched the key inputs to work properly with LMTs controller but it’s a good base for further settings. If anyone has better settings, it would be nice if he could post them here…
Settings
There are 3 blacklists available to exclude processes from taskswitching (BlackListSwitch), from the closeApp feature (BlackListClose) and to deactivate LMT when the process is the current foreground app (BlackListAll). Just add the full path to the process to the multistring. There is also 1 whitelist available: WhiteListBack. If Opera 9 is the current foreground app and you activate the internal command “Back”, LMT will send a special key to navigate back in Opera.
With the registry value “SingleTouchGestureSupport” you are able to activate or deactivate the single touch gestures (Square, Diamond and Delete) and with the registry value “TapAndHoldGestureSupport” you can activate a special feature where you can draw all dual touch gestures with one hand: Just tap with one finger somewhere on the screen and draw "one part" of the multitouch gesture with another finger. Then release the tapped finger and the gesture will be recognized.
Changelog 0.8

• Fixed rotation feature
• Controller button "R" now toggles between: Portrait (fg app touchable) -> Landscape (fg app touchable) -> Portrait (full screen lock) -> Landscape (full screen lock)
• Added Mario feature in controller mode: The areas between A and B, C and D and X and Y will lead to both keyevents. When you e.g. run in Mario Bros. with button "C" and jump with button "D" you can run with "C" and then slide your finger right. Then "C" and "D" will be both pressed. Mario will run and jump…
• Fixed rotate and exit button in controller mode (no interference with fg app)
• Added dword reg value "ShowOverlay": 0=overlays deactivated, 1=overlays activated with default time, >1=overlays activated with custom time (ms)
• Optimized square gestures
• Removed arrow gestures
• Added 5 new mt gestures: Double Diamond and Swipe left/right, right/left, up/down, down/up
• Added 1 st gesture: Diamond
• Added \Windows\services.exe to BlackListClose
• Set new defaults for gestures (see registry!)
• LMT is now rotation arware and works also in landscape mode (only 270°)
• Controller supports now real landscape mode (e.g. for flash games)

You can try this out and download it over at XDA

Much thanks to Stephanie for stepping in last week while I was recovering from having my wisdom teeth yanked.

Our third set of molars, nicknamed "wisdom teeth" since they generally surface between ages 17-25, were useful to our Stone Age ancestors who had wider jaws, coarser diets and rougher lives. These teeth helped them chew easier and helped ease the loss of other teeth during the course of their lives.

Flash forward to now and -surprise- these teeth can cause problems for some people. If your wisdom teeth are impacted, they can rub up against other teeth and cause bad breath, your bite to be misaligned, an abscess of the tooth or gums and even gum disease.

I never had any problems with my wisdom teeth, but when I was at the dentist last month, she noticed an abscess forming in the gums of one of the impacted teeth. She was concerned that the abscess could be malignant and I was sold on getting all four of my wisdom teeth removed.

Luckily, the lab results said the abscess was benign, but I did suffer one post-extraction problem—dry sockets. While that has not been fun at all, I’ll recover and I’m happy that I got my wisdom teeth removed so there are no future complications.

Have you had your wisdom teeth removed?

The world of document management is not one that most people associate with fun, laughter and good times. It has been described (by me on occasion) as about as exciting as watching paint dry

The Rally Ends With a Bang
Michael Schlee

The Route 66 Rally wound down on Friday with a blowout awards ceremony at the Big Texan Steak House. To say the 50 teams participating in the event had a good time would be a gross understatement. The organizers of this amazing event deserve a huge shout out. So, here it is; way to go Scott Spielman and Tony Intrieri!

On the 3rd day of rally, Team Autotrader.ca (me) stuck to our plan of touring the historic Route 66 as opposed to racing to the finish line for the quickest time.

This idea was expanding as our original group of two cars had grown to 5 vehicles on the 3rd day. With a Canadian built American car (Camaro), a German car built in the United States (BMW Z4), a Japanese car (WRX), an American truck (F-150 Raptor) and a British car designed by Germans but built in Britain (new Mini) we decided on naming ourselves the fitting “Team United Nations Alliance”. Or TUNA for short.

After getting lost for over an hour in the maze that is Oklahoma City, ‘TUNA’ visited many historic sites on Day 3 including a tour of the National Route 66 museum in Oklahoma. The highlight of the day though actually came the following morning when we visited the world famous Cadillac Ranch. As one of my good friends on the rally said; ‘Visiting the Cadillac Ranch is one more thing I can cross off my bucket list’.

As a footnote, all of this determination to site see at our own pace paid off as we were awarded the ‘Die Hard Rally Award’ (see picture with the space man) for driving every inch of Historic Route 66 we could between Chicago and Amarillo.