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Felix Salmon points to someone who asks, Is the European crisis good for America? A piece at Politico suggests that Midterm fury might leave Nancy Pelosi safe. Journalism of this sort would get very boring, very soon, if the journalists actually had to place any money on their musings, either directly by changing their investment portfolio, or getting involved in betting markets like Intrade.

The very instant it was announced that HP had purchased Palm, one idea set the hearts and minds of geeks everywhere aflame: webOS-powered tablets. webOS is a wonderfully glorious OS, hindered only by half-baked hardware – strap that thing onto a big ol’ slab of glass, and you’ve got my money.

Aaaaand sure enough, that’s one of the things that HP’s got lined up. At the tail-end of their quarterly earnings call today, HP CEO Mark Hurd proudly proclaimed that they’re planning on making use of webOS “beyond smart phones into form factors such as slates and…” — wait for it — “web-connected printers”

Well, that’s one product idea we hadn’t thought of. It’s a bizarre idea at first, but with a bit of brainstorming, it makes sense: plenty of printers already have basic applications for stuff like printing Flickr photos and movie tickets from online services. The apps just tend to suck, and the operating systems are almost always completely locked down. webOS, at least in theory, fixes that. Hurray!

Now, someone go make a webOS app that generates ink.

[Thanks J.!]

SEAT ha actualizado las motorizaciones y los equipamientos de muchos de sus modelos, en concreto el SEAT Ibiza y el León. Además se incluyen como opcionales dos colores nuevos, el Blanco y el Amarillo Crono, éste último en exclusiva para estos dos modelos.

El SEAT Ibiza introduce el motor 1.2 TDI CR de 75 CV en el acabado Reference en sustitución del motor 1.4 TDI de 80 CV. Este tres cilindros reduce de 4,3 a 3,8 el consumo a los 100 kilómetros y de 114 gr a sólo 99 gramos a los cien kilómetros recorridos de emisiones de CO2 a la atmósfera. Su precio será de es de 15.240 € para la versión 5P y de 14.900 € para la versión SC. Además antes del verano llegará también la versión Ecomotive, con sólo 89 gr 100 y se introduce el SEAT Good Stuff, en colaboración con Shakira.

El Seat León tb introduce un nuevo motor para ahorrar combustible, añadiendo el motor 1.2 TSI de 105 CV con cambio de 6 velocidades en el acabado Reference. Las emisiones y los consumos de este cuatro cilindros se reducen en un 20%, pasando a arrojar unas cifras de 5,7 litros a los 100 y 132 gramos cada cien kilómetros. Se introduce el sistema de ayuda de arranque en pendiente de serie en toda la gama salvo en el emoción, teniendo este modelo un precio de 17.200 €.

Seat se ha puesto las pilas en cuanto a consumos y emisiones, reduciendo ostensiblemente ambas para apuntar a un público cada vez más preocupado por la propaganda que se hace de la ecología en el mundo del motor.

Fuente | SEAT

The Land Rover LRX concept has been a subject of much speculation and critique over the past few years. For a company such as Land Rover, the LRX represents a huge departure from what they’ve been associated with for decades — an attempt to appeal to a younger, broader crowd and meet the ever increasingly strict global fuel economy standards.

Now Land Rover — who still hasn’t officially dubbed the production model the ‘LRX’ — says that both 2WD and 4WD versions of the vehicle will be on sale in 2011… followed in 2013 by a diesel hybrid.

(more…)

Thierry Legault is a gift to astronomy bloggers. He just sent me this:

Holy.

Hale.

Akala.

The big yellow thing is the Sun. But look at the upper right section. See those two dark blips? The one on the left is the Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis and on the right is the International Space Station! Incredibly, Thierry caught them as they passed directly in front of the Sun! To give you an idea of how talented Thierry is, the entire transit lasted just over half a second.

Click to embiggen. I mean it, click it. The full-scale image is drop-dead incredible. Mind you, Atlantis had just started its pitch maneuver, designed to show its belly to the crew on the ISS so they can inspect it for heat tile damage. That means this image was taken shortly before the Orbiter docked with the station, on May 16th. Thierry was in Madrid specifically to get this shot.

Un frakkin’ believable.

Get a good look. This is the last mission of Atlantis (unless it’s needed as a rescue mission later this year), so we won’t get too many more views like this.

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Related posts:

Extremely cool 3D Space Station video taken from the ground

Check. This. Out. Amazing photo of the Sun

Image used with permission by Thierry Legault.

James Franco is headed back to Port Charles.

The Spider-Man actor and professional student, who guest-starred on ABC’s General Hospital for two months last fall, will return to the Emmy-winning soap to reprise his role as bad boy performance artist “Franco” in a guest-arc kicking off next month, GH executive producer Jill Farren Phelps teased on Tuesday.

The show promises a tantilizing storyline that will take fans on a “wild ride of mystery, music, murder and mayhem.”

Franco’s first General Hospital episode will air June 30.

From Green Right Now Reports

Here’s one more reason to bemoan the spread of kudzu throughout the southeastern United States: When the ubiquitous “vine that ate the South” isn’t gobbling up landscapes and devastating ecosystems, it also is adding to ozone pollution, a new report says.

In the May 17 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researcher John Hickman and colleagues (who worked together at Stony Brook University) concluded that kudzu is able to fix atmospheric nitrogen at a high rate, potentially altering the nitrogen cycle. Hickman, currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, compared nitrogen cycling and nitrogen oxide fluxes from both invaded and unaffected soils.

“Kudzu had the potential to add a lot of nitrogen to soils, so we expected to see some pretty big impacts on the soils of invaded ecosystems in the United States,” he said. “It turns out that the changes you can’t see in a kudzu invasion are just as dramatic as the ones you can.”

Measurements in Georgia showed that some rates of nitrogen cycling were up to ten times faster in soils where kudzu had invaded. In addition to profound changes in rates of several components of nitrogen cycle, the researchers found that kudzu caused a doubling of emissions of nitric oxide from soils. Along with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitric oxide is the key precursor to ozone pollution in the lower atmosphere.

“Air pollution is a risk that hasn’t been considered much in the conversation about invasive species, but it’s something we may have to pay more attention to,” Hickman said.

Though it wasn’t examined in the study, kudzu also emits isoprene, a VOC produced in large quantities by certain plant species, which is involved in reactions with NOx to form ozone.

“In the case of kudzu, you have a plant that is generating NOx from the soil and emitting VOC’s from its leaves—it’s like a living tailpipe,” Hickman said.

“Maybe they’ll start calling kudzu ‘the vine that choked the South.’”

We’re winging our way out to Google I/O development conference in San Francisco (follow us on Twitter for the inside scoop), where we’ll spend a couple of days deep within the Google development community, hear a couple of keynote addresses — oh, and likely get our first real look at the next major version of Android: Froyo.

We asked your favorite Android Central writers and Smartphone Experts editors about their homes, dreams and fears for Google IO. Check ’em out, after the break.

read more

With work now complete on the firm’s Rapide and One-77 models, Aston Martin has turned its attention to the DB9 grand tourer. The DB9 appears to be in line for a slight revision, with the two-door gaining some styling cues from the DBS.

Judging from the latest spy shots, the DB9 appears to be in line for a new front bumper, DBS-like side skirts and a bigger rear spoiler. New exterior colors and a few new wheels options should round out the DB9’s exterior updates.

Inside, expect a few tweaks, although the DB9’s cabin will remain largely the same. A bump in power is also likely.

The revised DB9 should make its world debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, with sales following shortly after. The DB9 Volante will eventually get the same changes, but expect that model to trail the coupe by several months.

   

Source: Leftlane

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Toyota

Toyota has officially handed over every last cent of its $16.4 million fine for not notifying the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration of potential defects in a timely manner. That figure marks the largest fine possible under the law, though by paying it, the Japanese automaker has somehow managed to skip out on admitting any wrong doing. We’re still having a hard time wrapping our fragile journo minds around that one.

NHTSA came down hard on Toyota for bumbling the recall of accelerator pedals that wouldn’t spring back once depressed. Meanwhile, the automaker claims it did everything it was supposed to in handling the problem and notifying the government of the issue. Even so, Toyota has declined to fight the “civil penalty” or appeal the government’s decision. The cash will be put directly into the U.S. Treasury.

Toyota is also under investigation for all-weather floor mats that could have contributed to the rash or unintended acceleration claims that cropped up in recent months as well as steering linkage issues in older T100 pickups and 4Runner models. The NHTSA has yet to rule on either of those issues.

[Source: Reuters]

Done Deal: Toyota wires $16M fine payment to U.S. Treasury originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 May 2010 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s some good news: the newly-updated MacBooks can now send both video and audio out via Mini DisplayPort, which is good news for people who hook their laptops up to a TV via HDMI. This is something that the current crop of MacBook Pros and iMacs can already do, so it’s all about bringing the cheapest member of the family up to par with the rest of Apple’s computer lines. [MacRumors] More »

Might We Suggest…

• Quick Look: Grade Ticker (Video Demo)
  Grade Ticker is a simple, but incredibly useful app for professors and teachers. Leave it open next to you as you grade an exam and tally the point deductions as you go. Eliminating the need to go bac…

President Obama’s decision not to campaign for Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) ahead of his tough primary tonight has been the subject of media chatter in the last few days. But Specter isn’t the only candidate in tonight’s primaries who has received the hands-off approach from Washington when his polling numbers took a southward turn.

Senate candidate Trey Grayson, Kentucky’s Republican secretary of state, received the early backing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and soon became regarded as the favored GOP candidate to succeed Sen. Jim Bunning (R). The NRSC created a joint fundraising committee with Grayson, Dick Cheney and other GOP figures offered their endorsements, and other lawmakers quickly signed on to support Grayson’s campaign.

But then Grayson began to sink in the polls and GOP anti-Washington candidate Rand Paul, eye doctor and son of Ron Paul, began gaining traction. Sarah Palin, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Bunning all came out with endorsements for Paul, and Focus on the Family chairman James Dobson switched his support from Grayson to Paul.

As we head into tonight’s race, Public Policy Polling has Paul leading Grayson by 18 percentage points.

Back in Pennsylvania, Specter has seen his status go from “major coup” for the Democratic party to candidate for whom the party isn’t willing to trot out the top brass. Vice President Joe Biden was actually in Pennsylvania yesterday, but chose not to make a stop for Specter. Barack Obama last appeared with Specter at a rally in September.

Voters in Pennsylvania did see Obama’s image in a campaign commercial this cycle, but the ad used old footage and was financed by Specter’s campaign. When asked about the White House’s involvement in the race, Specter told The Associated Press: “They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do.”

Specter tonight faces Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak; polls show the race is a toss-up.

In Arkansas, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) is being challenged from the left by Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, and the two appear likely to be forced into a runoff (a candidate must win a majority tonight to avoid a runoff, and there are more than two candidates present in this competitive race.) Though the president did not personally step in to help Lincoln, he did record a robo-call for the senator. Additionally, Lincoln’s party is attempting to protect her legislatively by delaying a vote on her derivatives language.

Polls show Lincoln’s chances of coming out ahead tonight are better than Specter’s and certainly better than Grayson’s, although an outright majority may be out of reach.

Either way, considering the anti-incumbent/anti-Washington mood in the country these days, behind-the-scenes help instead of visible support from Washington may be just what candidates are looking for this cycle.

In other races around the country tonight:

• Pennsylvania 12: The special election to choose a successor to John Murtha will coincide tonight with the state’s regularly scheduled primary. Democrat Mark Critz, a former aide to Murtha, is competing against Republican businessman Tim Burns for the chance both to serve out the remainder of Murtha’s current term and to appear on the November general election ballot to serve out the next full term beginning in January.

• Kentucky Senate (D): State Attorney General Jack Conway and Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo are locked in their own competitive primary for the Democratic nomination. Additional Democrats are running. A competitive general election race is expected for this open seat in November.

• Oregon Governor: Voters are choosing candidates for the open gubernatorial race tonight. On the Democratic side, former Gov. John Kitzhaber is the likely leader over former Oregon secretary of state Bill Bradbury. Chris Dudley, a former professional basketball player, is regarded as the top Republican heading into tonight’s race.

• Arkansas Senate (R): Former Rep. John Boozman is expected to place first in tonight’s GOP primary, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be able to avoid a runoff. Former state Sen. Jim Holt appears likely to come in second in the GOP race.

Nikon’s next generation D4x should be arriving in the next year or so, and it’s always fun to speculate what it will look like. I doubt this is even close, honestly. It is fun to see what industrial designers can come up with when they play though. Keep in mind this is not a actual Nikon design, but rather a speculation on what direction they could go in.

I’m not sure that I’m 100% behind this design, but it’s certainly different from the traditional DSLR look. If anything, it’s closer to the large frame landscape cameras like the Mamiya. At any rate, the design comes from Marc Levinson, who has some other interesting ideas on his site.

[via Nikon Rumors]

by Umbra Fisk

Photo: pfly via FlickrDearests, with yesterday’s
Clorox wipes letter on my mind, I was intrigued to read the following
headline in today’s Wall Street Journal: Can
Dirt Do a Little Good?

The story talks about the new film Babies, a Focus feature following the
first year of life for four babies living in Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo, and San
Francisco, and the varying standards of hygiene in these kids’ lives. The flick
doesn’t even mention hygiene, per se, but it brings up an interesting question,
as posed by the WSJ piece and seemingly enforced by the reader question about
overcleaning in yesterday’s column: Are we too clean?

On a small family farm in Mongolia,
a rooster struts around little Bayar’s bed, a goat drinks from his bathwater
and livestock serve as babysitters.

By contrast, Mari, growing up in
high-rise, high-tech Tokyo, and Hattie, whose doting parents live a
“green” lifestyle in San Francisco, both have modern conveniences and
sanitation.

Statistically, Mari and Hattie are
healthier. Some 42 out of 1,000 children in Namibia, and 41 out of 1,000 in
Mongolia die before their 5th birthday; compared with only 8 in 1,000 in the
U.S. and only 4 in Japan.

Yet the upscale urban infants are at
higher risk for some health problems—including allergies, asthma and autoimmune
diseases like Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel
disease—than the babies in the rural developing world.

Obviously, we in the developed world
get the way better deal—allergies instead of a far-too-early demise—but is our
obsession with cleanliness (Clorox wipes, hand sanitizers, antibacterial soap,
etc.) what’s causing an increase in allergies and autoimmune diseases? This
article raises some compelling questions.

But during the regular flu season
(or the swine flu craze of ‘09/‘10), you’d be hard pressed to find someone
without hand sanitizer at the ready or sneezing into their elbows like the CDC
taught us. And with good reason, as these illnesses are highly contagious.
However, I think we may have taken our anal-retentive nature too far.

Many
experts advise common sense. “We don’t want to say to children, ‘OK, play
by the dirty river bank and catch whatever you can,’” says Dr. [Joel]
Weinstock, [chief of gastroenterology/heptology at Tufts Medical Center in
Boston]. “But we can say there’s nothing wrong with kids playing in the
dirt. They don’t have to live in total sanitation, and they won’t die from
eating something off the floor. It’s probably more healthy than not.”

Excuse me while I go after the grape I dropped at lunch.

 

Related Links:

Scientists link ADHD in kids to routine pesticide exposure

Ask Umbra on pasta, Clorox wipes, and a satisfied customer

New report from Childhood Obesity Task Force has something for everyone

Thanks to the success of Tim Burton’s hugely successful 3D version of Alice in Wonderland, Disney has greenlit a multimillion dollar 3D live-action remake of one of the greatest love stories ever told. The studio’s 1950 animated classic Cinderella is on its way back to the silver after Disney bosses plopped down seven figures for a new screenplay based on the classic tale of a beautiful peasant who wins the heart of a prince with the help of her fairy godmother.

A live-action version of Cinderella, starring Brandy, Bernadette Peters, and Whoopi Goldberg, was adapted into a two-hour TV movie in 1998. In recent years, Hollywood has borrowed elements of the folk tale for box office efforts like Drew Barrymore’s Ever After and A Cinderella Story, featuring Hilary Duff. More recently, Tinseltown has been scrambling to bring an updated version of The Wizard of Oz to theaters — in 3D, of course.

Moroch is a top 20 independent advertising agency with nearly 40 field offices across the country. We would love to have a sophomore or junior account management student apply to join our 5-person McDonald’s account service team over the summer (and beyond, if the student enjoys the work and adds value to our client/team).

I am attaching our intern job description. Only interns who are receiving college credit for the internship can apply. Paperwork will need to be provided so we can verify college credit hours and corresponding work hours.

Resumes should be sent to my attention at [email protected] or Dionne Kumpe, Moroch, 9020 Stony Point Parkway, Suite 370, Richmond, VA 23235.

Reports to: Tish Bembury, Account Supervisor
Prepared by: Dionne Kumpe, Account Director

JOB SUMMARY STATEMENT

The McDonald’s intern reports to the Account Supervisor and is directed on a daily basis by the Account Coordinator in the support the marketing and public relations team as they ensure flawless execution of all co-op business for McDonald’s restaurants in Richmond, Charlottesville and Tidewater.

CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES

• Fulfill requests for “Be Our Guest” cards
• Compile meeting packets
• Conduct competitive research
• Create competitive presentations
• Write local store marketing plans
• Assist in development and distribution of monthly manager’s guides
• Write weekly promotional update voicemails for clients
• Execute media added value
• Coordinate print ads
• Coordinate college activation
• Assist with activation of sponsorships
• Assist with meeting logistics (rooms, catering, etc.)
• Use the Advantage to process purchase orders
• Provide administrative support

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Take initiative to provide value to the team and to the intern experience
• Responsible for computer skills necessary to succeed in this position
• Responsible for working with team to accomplish any and all tasks to be done in the
execution of client accounts and agency business
• Follow instructions and meet deadlines
• Provide accurate, timely and professional communications
• Anticipate and recognize concerns, issues, problems and/or obstacles and suggest
solutions
• Ensure that appropriate solution documentation is produced
• Foster a positive attitude among fellow agency associates
• Pro-actively provide supervisor with continual feedback
• Adhere to all company policies

MOROCH CORE COMPETENCIES

• Actively listen to gain understanding and clarification
• Build trust through written and spoken communication
• Express ideas effectively
• Recognize and use appropriate channels of communication (face-to-face, e-mail, phone)
• Maintain skills required to perform job role at current level of responsibility
• Pursue opportunities to grow and learn
• Do things before being asked or forced to by events, management or field
• Establish and maintain a focused direction and appropriate priorities
• Manage time, responsibilities and multiple priorities effectively
• Plan, organize and maneuver obstacles to deliver results
• Constantly evaluate what we do and compare it to the best way and right way
• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to change
• Intentionally learn from own and others’ successes and failures
• Consistently deliver positive results, regardless of comfort level
• Seek new opportunities to add value to project, position and team
• Take action and / or switch to alternate strategies in order to achieve goals
• Take responsibility for actions and hold yourself accountable
• Demonstrate integrity by being honest and forthright with team, management and clients

SCIENCE DAILY
Press release May 14th, 2010
Screening Crop Plants for Toxins

John Innes Centre [UK] scientists are working on a way to screen crop plants for a toxic accumulation. The genetic screen will be particularly useful for crops grown in tropical and sub-Saharan Africa.

Many plants, in response to predators or herbivores, release hydrogen cyanide to defend themselves. Cyanide precursors are kept in a compartment in the cell. Tissue damage allows them to break out of the compartment and mix with a degrading enzyme in the cell. This produces toxic, bitter hydrogen cyanide that repels the herbivore.

This mechanism, known as cyanogenesis, is found in two thirds of the main crop species eaten worldwide, including maize, sugar cane and some legumes. The major impacts on human health are seen when it is the edible part of the plant that produces cyanogenic compounds, such as in cassava roots. In fodder crops such as sorghum it can lead to livestock poisoning.

Without correct processing, high levels of hydrogen cyanide in the food can cause neural disease and permanent paralysis, a condition known as konzo. In drought conditions, the cyanide levels increase even higher.

Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world after wheat and rice. The bitter varieties, favoured by farmers because of their better resistance to pests, contain two cyanogenic compounds. Various processing methods are used to remove them, such as by soaking in water for several days.

Finding less toxic strains of these crops is a high priority, and a new genetic screen developed at the John Innes Centre will help in this search. Researchers, working on a collaborative program sponsored by the Danmarks Grundforskningsfonden (Danish National Research Foundation) with colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, developed a high-throughput way of detecting cyanogenesis-deficient mutant plants. Using the model legume Lotus japonicus, they screened more than 40,000 plants in just 10 days, identifying 44 cyanogenesis deficient mutants.

“We are keen to extend this work to crop plants and cassava is the big target. If we could set up a system we could get to a non-cyanogenic variety of cassava quite quickly,” said Professor Cathie Martin of the John Innes Centre. “We’re now looking to identify populations of cassava that we can screen so that we can get non-cyanogenic lines to trial for performance in the field.”

The study also found that some mutants were deficient in cyanogenesis only in certain parts of the plant and not in others, suggesting, for example, it may be possible to find mutants that retain cyanogenesis in leaves but don’t make the dangerous toxins in the edible roots of cassava. This would enable crops to keep their valuable defence mechanisms against pests, and yet reduce the considerable time required for preparation of food using cyanogenic crops and the risk to human health.

Dr Jonathan Clarke, Head of Business Development at the John Innes Centre, an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, (BBSRC), is working with Prof Martin to apply this technology. “The effects of cyanogenic crops impact on the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world. The problem is increased during times of drought when the toxin levels increase and water for soaking is unavailable” said Dr Jonathan Clarke. “We have developed a simple, rapid, and low cost screen. We are now seeking funding to use this to produce non-cyanogenic cassava for Africa.”