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2010 Honda Insight

There is no hiding the hybrid wars between Honda and Toyota and their hybrid models, the Insight and Prius. In hopes, to overtake the Prius for once and for all, Honda President Takanobu Ito challenged his engineers to speed up the launch of the next-generation Honda Insight hybrid, which has been a major sales disappointment.

He said he wants the next-generation Insight to beat the Prius in terms of fuel economy.

Honda, which has not capitalized on Toyota’s recall issues and lost U.S. market share, has grown “complacent” and needs to refocus on better products and stronger marketing, Ito said.

Click here for prices on the 2010 Honda Insight.

“I’m not satisfied,” he said of American Honda Motor Co.’s slide to a 10.1 percent share of the U.S. market in the first quarter, from 10.5 percent a year earlier.

Ito says he is also working on rolling out a new hybrid strategy for larger vehicles as well.

Click here to read our review of the 2010 Honda Insight.

Review: 2010 Honda Insight:

All Photos Copyright © 2009 Omar Rana – egmCarTech.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Talk about bad business moves! Coldplay turned up their noses at the chance to have their signature hits showcased on the hit TV musical comedy Glee — and its a decision the “Clocks” hitmakers sorely regret.

Before unveiling Glee’s ratings-winning all-Madonna-themed episode, which aired last week, series creator Ryan Murphy approached Coldplay with an offer to feature the band’s music on a special episode of the FOX show but was disappointed when the musicians turned him down flat.

Now that Glee’s become a pop phenomenon, the bandmates have big regrets about not allowing Murphy access to their back catalogue.

“We were wrong,” Murphy smirks, recalling his last conservation with Chris Martin and his bandmates.

As many men approach 30, they suffer from bachelor party fatigue. There’s only so many times you can go to Vegas in a year and the agenda is pretty much set in stone:

-Pool
-Expensive Group Dinner
-Gamble
-Club
-Strip Club

Far be it from me to knock any of those activities, but they tend to bleed together from one trip to another. Is getting a table at Tao really that different from getting one at Light? Is gambling at the Bellagio any more or less fun than at the Encore? Not in my experience. The sum of my Vegas bachelor party trips have been a beautiful, hedonistic haze.

So how do you create a memorable bachelor party?

Machine guns are a step in the right direction.

At the Las Vegas Gun Range and Firearm Center, you can shoot the shit out of most anything and take home an experience that is (God willing) unlike any other you have had in Vegas.

If they were able to package this place with a steakhouse, bar, and strip club I think we would be on the verge of the first-ever all-inclusive bachelor party resort. Write your congressman.

Here’s an overview of what you’re in for (sweet guitar soundtrack courtesy of 1987):

Related posts:

1. The Best Las Vegas Hotels for Bachelor Parties
2. Help in Creating a Sexy Bachelor Pad
3. The Boob Ice Luge Will Spice Up Any Party

European stock markets are rebounding slightly today after they, along with the US and Asian markets, took a big hit overnight following new fears about the Greek economic situation.   

Standard & Poor’s graded Greek debt as “junk” Tuesday, as German officials spoke of the possibility of Greek debt holders not receiving full re-payment.

“We are looking very clearly at the chance of Greece defaulting,” Howard Wheeldon of BGC Partners stock firm told Fox News Wednesday.

And the chance of other European countries like Portugal following Greece down is becoming more real.  “The contagion factor is enormous,” John Sitilides of Trilogy Advisors told Fox.  “Portugal is very much in public play.”

While the IMF has agreed to a bail-out package for Greece, the European Union is still weighing its portion of the deal.  “The EU is showing its huge exposure and weakness,” BGS’s Wheeldon told Fox.

Experts tell Fox News banks with exposure to Greek debt even in better-off countries like France and Germany could also be threatened.

And our own stock markets could see further effects.

New BMW 3-serie Coupé & Cabriolet Review

The BMW 3 Series is a compact executive car manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different body styles.

It is BMW’s best selling automobile, accounting for nearly 40% of the company’s auto sales in 2005.

The first quarter of 2009 has seen 10 new car models launched in the Romanian market, the majority being rolled out in March. Some of the launches of Q1 are available at prices lower than their previous generations.

The new BMW 3 series Coupe and Cabrio made way to Romanian showrooms in March.

The line-up’s performance leaders are TwinPower Turbo 306 HP, High Precision Injection and Valvetronic variable intake technology.

The Coupe 306HP version accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in just 5.5 seconds and the cabriolet version in 5.8 seconds.

The consumption, according to the EU testing cycle, came in at 8.4 litres/ 100 km or 196g CO2 per km for Coupe, and 8.8 litres/ 100 km or 205g for Cabriolet respectively.

The two models feature two diesel power units 325d 204 HP and 320d.

The next full revision of the 3 Series is expected in for the 2011/2012 model year, and will feature improved aerodynamics, lightweight materials and the option of smaller displacement engines. A hybrid version is still under consideration.

WASHINGTON–All Illinois House members–not being loony in an election year–did not support Congress getting a cost of living raise in fiscal year 2011 in a Tuesday vote. The pay raise measure failed on a 402-15 vote.

Click below for the names of the 15….

—- NAYS 15 —

Clyburn
Conyers
Edwards (MD)
Ellison
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson, E. B.
Kilpatrick (MI)
Lee (CA)
Meeks (NY)
Moran (VA)
Payne
Thompson (MS)
Towns
Watt
Woolsey

China’s latest 1-year bond auction failed to attract sufficient bids, reports the website Chinabond via Bloomberg.

While government intended to sell 28 billion yuan in bonds, it was only able to raise 26.67 billion yuan in bids.

The average yield was 1.49% with the highest winning bid at 1.6%. The bid to offer was just 1.22x, down from 2.12x last month according to Bloomberg.

It’s unclear why investors weren’t willing to buy the bonds, perhaps the yields in the auction were far below what investors want given expectations for interest rate hikes in China.

Thing is, these are just one-year bonds, thus if you buy the bonds, you aren’t locking in your money for very long. If interest rates are increased at any point after a year, you can take part in receiving higher yields.

Thus to us this failed auction suggests that Chinese investors very much expect a substantial hike, not just a minor hike, for Chinese interest rates within a 1-year period.

Join the conversation about this story »

Futures are now heading up, but here’s a little more perspective on yesterday’s big move.

The VIX from StockCharts.com:

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Microsoft issued a news release late late night, announcing it signed a patent agreement with HTC over its entire line of smartphones running the Android operating system.

Specific terms of the deal, including how many patents or what they cover, were not immediately released. Microsoft’s statement did say the agreement "provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for HTC ‘s mobile phones running the Android mobile platform."

“HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property,” Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft, said in the official statement. “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC.”

The announcement comes as HTC is facing a lawsuit from Apple Inc., which alleges that HTC infringes on a number of its patents with many of its Android phones, and a few Windows Mobile devices, too. It is unknown for which patents HTC is paying royalties to Microsoft, and whether they overlap any of Apple’s claims.

CNET’s Ina Fried reports that the disputed patents range from the user interface to the operating system itself, and that this is the first time Microsoft has publicly said that HTC was violating patents. Microsoft for years has alleged that Linux infringes on a number of its patents and has sought licensing deals with manufacturers who use the open-source OS, which also is the framework for Android. This, however, is Microsoft’s first licensing deal with the mobile OS.

Full text of Microsoft’s press release after the break. [Ed. note: Cross-posted at WMExperts.com]

read more

For many of us, it is easy to create our to-do lists of all the things we’d like to accomplish, but it is much more difficult to actually take those lists and stick to them until the goal is reached. With such busy day-to-day lives, it is easy to push aside our long-term goals in order to deal with our current situations.

However, there are a few easy steps to follow that can help you make your goals a higher priority in your daily life. By sticking with these steps, you’ll finally be able to start checking some of those items off your goals list:

1. First of all, you need to set a specific goal. The more specific, the better. If you keep it vague, for example “I want to get rid of my neck pain,” it is difficult to keep track of progress or even know when the goal has been met. However, stating “I want to work on improving my neck pain by improving my neck posture over the next six months” is much easier to plan for and achieve.

2. Secondly, you must be realistic with yourself when setting goals. Setting a goal to lose twenty pounds in two weeks is neither realistic nor safe. If you set a goal too high, or set too many for yourself at one time, it can be overwhelming and discouraging. By setting attainable goals, it will be easier to reach and you’ll get a great feeling of accomplishment when you do.

3. Next, you need to plan for your goal. Setting an attainable goal is a great first step, but the next thing you must do is break it down further so you know each smaller step needed in order to reach that higher goal. Start off with small enough steps that you can begin today. Another great idea is to make a timeline; without dates to keep you on track it is much less likely that your goal will be accomplished.

4. Now you’ll need to make sure you keep record of your progress. If your goal involves losing weight, write down everything you eat and drink for a week. If your goal is to improve your neck posture, write down every time your posture slumps and things that bring on forward head posture for a week. By writing things down, you become more aware of your habits. By becoming aware, it is easier to take control and change those habits. Recording your overall progress is also a great way to stay motivated as you see all the things you have accomplished so far.

5. Finally, you’ll want to take a look at your progress with a critical eye. If you’re trying to lose weight by running every day, but you hate to run, it’s likely your goal will not stick for the long-term. However, if you love to swim, then that would be a better fit for you to help you stick to your goal.

It’s great to have goals to strive towards, but it can quickly become overwhelming if you are not prepared. By setting a specific and attainable goal, planning, making timelines, and keeping records of your progress, suddenly that seemingly impossible goal is under your control and you’re on your way to achieving it!

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Google Street View is an interesting tool and a very useful one on some occasions. But, for the most part, the majority of people just use it to browse through familiar places or far-away cities. A latest addition to the product brings a bit more practicality to Street View. Local businesses are now marked in Street View imagery and users can … (read more)

Standard and Poor’s decision to cut its credit ratings on Greece and Portugal demonstrates that there will surely be plenty more turbulence in global financial markets as Greece’s situation and that of the other PIIGs plays out.

Amid the uncertainty, there are two significant dates we can be sure of and one unknown date – all of which will cause volatility and uncertainty surrounding the Euro.

All three will likely occur in the next three weeks, according to Andrew Busch, global currency and public policy strategist at BMO Capital Markets.

On May 9, elections will be held in Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. This mandates that German Prime Minister Angela Merkel drag her feet on a bailout of Greece, Mr. Busch said in a note. “A bailout is very unpopular and Merkel will lose important seats in the Bundestag if she strongly supports the bailout.”

May 16 is the date when €8.5 billion of Greek debt needs to be rolled over. With Greek 2-year notes yielding 14.5% on Tuesday, Greece can’t afford to refinance at these yields.

“They will need to get access to cheaper funding supplied by either the European Union or by the IMF,” Mr. Busch said. “While the situation looks dire at this point, it is likely they will get the funding and it’s likely the IMF will supply it. This is the simplest and cleanest solution.”

As experts from the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission comb through budgets at the Finance Ministry in Athens, balancing receivables against outstanding obligations and appraising the effects of the austerity program on the Greek government, some feel the tip of the mountain of debt has yet to be discovered. German magazine Der Spiegel says it is considered highly likely that they will encounter the occasional surprise.

Mr. Busch said that with the Euro continuing to trade around US$1.33 since the end of March, this situation must be resolved by either an IMF led bailout or by Greece defaulting/restructuring within three weeks time. He suggested that this means a large move of 5% to 10% is also likely up or down as the two outcomes mandate a large move. “Given the large dichotomy of outcomes, the Euro can not remain at these levels.”

Jonathan Ratner

Luke Timmerman wrote:

Lycera has taken an important early step in its journey of developing new treatments for autoimmune diseases. The startup, with operations in Plymouth, MI, and Cambridge, MA, has nailed down an $11 million cash infusion, which represents the second installment of a three-part, $36 million financing originally announced a year ago.

The company secured the new money from Clarus Ventures, InterWest Partners, and Arch Venture Partners, about 12 months after that crew provided $10 million and some ambitious goals to hit if the company wanted any more. Clarus’s Jeff Leiden, the former president of Abbott Laboratories, is taking on the additional role of chairman at Lycera, and the company said it has hired Robin Goldstein, a veteran of ArQule and Novartis, as part of its push through the next critical phase of preclinical testing.

Lycera, which we profiled back in January, was founded in 2006 based on research from Gary Glick’s lab at the University of Michigan. The vision is to treat autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system goes awry and attacks healthy tissue like a virus, in a new way. Rheumatoid arthritis, just one of many autoimmune conditions, already makes up an estimated $13 billion worldwide annual market for companies like Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, and Abbott. While those companies’ treatments have been a godsend for many patients, they are injectable, and they disable part of the immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to infections. Lycera hopes to improve upon this standard with oral pills that are more convenient, and by hitting novel targets on cells that can tamp down the autoimmune activity without weakening people’s natural defenses.

Over the past year, Lycera’s small team of about 15 people have shown they can create orally-delivered small-molecule compounds that were shown to be safe and effective in animal experiments involving rodents, dogs, and other species, Glick says. The company is now gearing up to do the experiments it will need to get the green light from the FDA to start clinical trials, which it expects to begin in 2011.

Gary Glick

“These weren’t softball milestones,” Glick says. “These were significant scientific achievements. Our people worked extremely hard and really know what they are doing.”

Most of the “action” at Lycera is happening at the company’s laboratories in Plymouth, MI, near Glick’s lab at the University of Michigan, according to CEO Bill Sibold. The company has a drug discovery team there, many of whom used to work together at Pfizer before the company closed its research center there. But the company is setting up key business functions, like clinical development, regulatory affairs, business development, and executive leadership in Cambridge, to take advantage of the Boston region’s deep biotech talent pool, Sibold said when he joined the company in January.

Managing a small company in Michigan and Massachusetts hasn’t been a problem, Sibold says. It’s about a 90-minute flight, and Lycera’s office is 20 minutes from the Detroit airport. Between multiple phone calls a day, and e-mail, “we stay in touch,” Sibold says.

Lycera’s lead drug candidate is designed …Next Page »

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UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

Volvo C30, C30 tuned by Heico

In cooperation with Volvo Cars North America, Heico Sportiv has created a versatile version of Volvo’s new compact C30 model before the model hits the streets in North America.

The Volvo C30 by Heico Sportiv was designed to appeal to urban driving enthusiasts who are just as passionate about their cars as they are about their time outdoors.

With project partner Burton Snowboards in mind, Heico created a C30 concept that is at home in the city, as well as the switchbacks on the backcountry roads to the slopes.

Photo Gallery

Learn more about Heico C30 tunning

Red Dead Redemption’s getting some pre-order freebies thanks to GameStop. The retail chain’s even released a video showing off the exclusive deadly assassin outfit those who pre-order are getting. Check it out after the jump.

Luxor News Blog (Jane Akshar)

With lots of photos.

Readers will remember Ray Johnson speaking about this in his lecture so today I went and visited.

Firstly you have to get an idea of this blockyard, it is huge, big and then big. This is a view taken from the mosque and you can see how much there is there. It is all arranged on mastabas (local name for brick benches).

When you get to the end of the temple exit on the north side and there is a walkway with a chain link fence. Just follow it.

Everything is well labeled and stretches from Middle Kingdom to Islam.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

Tesla Model S

We’ve heard about it before and Tesla Motors Chairman Elon Musk is reiterated it again yesterday. Musk said that Tesla will offer more models besides the Roadster and the Model S sedan in its ambitious plans for growth.

The Tesla Model S sedan is due out in 2012 and will sell for less than half the price of the Roadster at about $50,000, including a federal tax credit. Musk said that around the same time that Tesla launches the Model S, it will stop producing the Roadster and will come out with a successor in late 2013.

Click here to get prices on the Tesla Roadster.

He also said that more Tesla products are to follow including a crossover. Four-wheel-drive will also be offered on future Tesla vehicles. We’ve previously heard plans for a BMW 3-Series sized electric sedan by 2015 that is expected lift total annual production for Tesla to around 200,000 units a year.

Musk said that affordability of Tesla vehicles will increase with each new product and that by the time the third model arrives, the company’s vehicles are expected to be attainable for mainstream customers.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: AutoWeek

2010 Cadillac vs Downhill Skater (Video)

Tendencias21

This is too long to translate. Google Translate somewhat mangles it but may give the gist.

En Deir el-Bahari, a los pies del Dyeser-Dyeseru (el templo funerario o templo de millones de años mandado construir por la reina Hatshepsut), se encuentra la capilla subterránea que excavó el arquitecto Sen-en-Mut, valido y amante de la soberana. El mayordomo de Amón pertenecía a una familia media egipcia. Formó parte de las tropas de Tutmosis I que lucharon contra Nubia. Luego fue nombrado gobernador de la Casa de la hija del faraón, es decir, se convirtió en el maestro y preceptor de la princesa. Él tenía 35 años y ella 14. Llegó a poseer cerca de un centenar de títulos. No tuvo ni esposa ni hijos. Fue en todo fiel a Hatshepsut. Murió probablemente antes que ella. A partir de ese momento, la reina comenzó a perder todo su poder en favor de Tutmosis III, su sobrino. La reina gobernó Egipto durante 21 años (desde 1478 hasta 1458 antes de Cristo). La labor destructora de su memoria por parte del sucesor fue terrible. Incluso la hizo desaparecer de la lista de los faraones. ¿Asesinada? Probablemente no, pero sí apartada, relegada.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

Attention Whole Foods Shoppers – By Robert Paarlberg | Foreign Policy