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Earlier this week we saw spy shots of what was said to be an M version of the BMW 1-Series circling the Nurburgring. As we’ve reported many times before, BMW has repeatedly denied any plans of doing an M1 so take all these shots with a grain of salt.

Even if BMW doesn’t do an M version of the 1-Series, you can definitely expect something like the 135is like the 335is we saw at the 2010 New York Auto Show.

BMW M1 spotted again:

Spy Shots: BMW M1 (M version of 1-Series):

– By: Kap Shah

Source: PistonSpy (via BMWBlog)

For the small population that runs on Sense 2.1, an XDA member has made it possible to give your slider a truly personalized look. The member goes by the name brent372, and he has put together an application that allows you to choose a personal icon for each Sense 2.1 section.

The application comes with 180 Icon a little similar to the one seen to the right. The icons are specific to each category and you select the one you like the best and from there when your done, you just compile it, install and presto. You have your own custom Sense look, Exclusive.

Instructions:

• Review the sections below and mentally chose the icon you want for each section. There are a total of 12 sections.
• Download the icons you want. You should end up with a total of 12 CAB files.
• Install all the cabs you just downloaded (the order you install them does not matter)
• After all CAB files are installed, Soft Reset (reboot) your phone and enjoy !!!

Notes:

If you already have a slider you like and want to change only certain icons on it, just download and install those icons!

If you have an icon or icons you would like to be made into slider icons, just send me a PM on the forum you came here from (my name is Brent372)and I will do the leg work and add them to the matrix below.

If you have a transparent slider tab, please install THIS CAB file. You must install this file LAST!!! If you make any changes to your slider you will have to re-install this.

If you have already installed some of these custom icons, and wish to change, you can just install the new one on top of the existing one. Your device should notify you that the old version will be removed.

Want to give your Sense 2.1 device a new look? Headover to XDA for the files

In what will surely have many Buckeye fans looking for ledges to jump off of, the Ohio State football squadron gave up 78 points at home on Saturday.

Those fans, however, would be missing something special come August, as the team is just starting to warm up.

Hampered by injuries and absences during the spring practice season, the Buckeye offense only amassed 24 points in the modified scrimmage format used since Coach Tressel’s arrival in Columbus. Of this, the only true (non-wacky scoring system) points came from the kickers on two field goals.

According to Fox Sports Ohio’s Jeff Seeman, the scrimmage could have been more even if it weren’t for two factors. First, Terrelle Pryor is not (per the rules) allowed to scramble. Second, the center/QB exchange, usually a reliable factor between Pryor and Mike Brewster, was less than stellar today. Coach Tressel himself pointed to this being a huge factor in the score:

“I think offensively, it started when we had some issues with the quarterback-center exchange,” said Head Coach Jim Tressel.  “When you have turnovers in our (scrimmage) scoring system that range anywhere from 3 to 12 points, you’re going to have a tough time catching up.”

On the other side of the coin, a defense which lost the most starters from last season seems to not be missing a beat.  John Simon and Melvin Fellows both are showing the possibility of having a break out season, and the secondary has a swagger about it which will be beneficial in the fall.

Injuries to report: Jamaal Berry and Justin Boren both suffered foot/ankle injuries; these are not believed to be significant.

Continue to check in with tBBC and Spring Fever for your Spring practice news. The Ohio State spring game is next Saturday; the Buckeyes return to practice on Tuesday

Posted by John Byrne at 2:35 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley today brushed off attempts by police union leaders to blame his administration for officers not getting better raises in a new five-year contract.

And the mayor also said the city can handle the $160 million in back pay now owed to police under terms of the deal.

"Better than 16 percent or twenty," Daley said of the 10 percent raise over five years that the city owes rank-and-file officers following an arbitrator’s decision Friday. The mayor insists police could have had a 16 percent raise, but Fraternal Order of Police officials didn’t accept the offer he made in 2008. An independent arbitrator awarded the lower amount.
 

"We’re going to bond it out, and we knew we had to do that, and that’s what we’ll do," Daley said, promising the cash-strapped city is ready to find the money to pay police officers.

 

FOP President Mark Donahue labeled Daley’s perspective "a lie." Donahue said at a Friday news conference that the city pulled the 16 percent proposal off the table before the two sides had a chance to discuss it during the protracted negotiations that began in 2007. The city yanked the offer in March 2009 after it had been on the table for more than a year.

 

It’s no surprise the union is trying to make him the scapegoat, Daley said.

 

"No kidding," Daley said while speaking to reporters at a neighborhood clean-up event in the East Chatham neighborhood. "They’re gonna say ‘Mayor Daley’s a bad guy,’ this and that."

 

Donahue also said he was "perplexed" by a contract provision for random alcohol testing of on-duty officers, saying the city had failed to prove there is a problem with officers drinking on the job. But the mayor said it’s important to hold officers accountable for their actions on duty.

 

"If a police officer’s driving a car and runs into that pillar there that says ‘Keep Right,’ don’t you think we should legally test for alcohol?" he asked.

Who knew George Washington was as bad as the rest of us at returning books? Seems President Numero Uno has racked up quite a debt — to the tune of an inflation-adjusted $300,000 — owing the New York Society Library for not returning two books back in 1789. Shame on you, G Dubs!

On Oct. 5, Washington took out “Law of Nations” and Vol. 12 of the “Commons Debates,” reports the New York Daily News. The loan was carefully noted on a ledger, but the return was never marked. Both tomes were due to be returned by Nov. 2, 1789.

After the library, now located on E. 79th street in Manhattan but at the time on Broad and Wall Streets, noted that they had all but Vol. 12 of the “Common Debates,” librarians surmised that Washington had absconded with the literature.

“We’re not actively pursuing the overdue fines,” head librarian Mark Bartlett joked to the NYDN. “But we would be very happy if we were able to get the books back.”

“It’s hard to know what could have happened,” Bartlett added. “There are as many questions for us as there are answers.”

Hey, at least they’re not putting out an arrest warrant… this time, at least. Pays to be the president, eh?

President George Washington racks up $300,000 late fee for two Manhattan library books [New York Daily News]

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are on to a simple, low cost solution to the complicated problem of keeping antibiotics out of water supplies.  In a study of vetiver grass grown in antibiotic-laden water, they found that 95.5% of the drugs were removed from the water and taken into the plant tissue.

Vetiver grass is sturdy, spiky grass native to India that is well known for its use in erosion control.  Vetiver grass is also used in perfumes and in handicrafts for local economic development projects.  In a somewhat ironic twist given its aromatic properties, vetiver grass is also an up-and-comer in the growing field of phytoremediation, in which plants and wetlands are used to remove contaminants from wastewater and stormwater.

(more…)

Daimler AG and Renault-Nissan last week announced a strategic alliance where both will cooperate on building electric-vehicles. The two groups also announced an equity exchange that will give the Renault-Nissan Alliance a 3.1% stake in Daimler and Daimler a 3.1% stake in Renault and a 3.1% stake in Nissan.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche says that the Stuttgart automaker will become the leading manufacturer for electric-car batteries – the only problem is, the company’s new business partner CEO Carlos Ghosn has the same idea.

Both have promised to produce the best battery power pack as they kick of plans to jointly produce electric-cars.

“Daimler has been a company that has traditionally been reluctant to give up its own technology path,” said Anil Valsan, the London-based director of automotive research at Frost & Sullivan. “While Daimler’s battery may have a technical edge, Renault-Nissan’s solution may end up being more cost competitive.”

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Bloomberg

Below, from the White House…..

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 17, 2010

Statement by the President on Travel to Poland

“I spoke with acting President Komorowski and told him that I regret that I will
not be able to make it to Poland due to the volcanic ash that is disrupting air
travel over Europe. Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our
thoughts and prayers, and will support them in any way I can as they recover
from this terrible tragedy. President Kaczynski was a patriot and close friend
and ally of the United States, as were those who died alongside him, and the
American people will never forget the lives they led.”

###

[JURIST] Former commander of the Bosnian army during the 1992-1994 Bosnian civil war Rasim Delic died Friday of cancer in his home. Delic was awaiting a decision from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on his appeal from his 2008 conviction. Delic was found guilty of cruel treatment for failing to prevent abuses committed by his army detachment to detained Bosnian Serb Army soldiers, although he did not order them. He was sentenced to three years in prison after a majority of the trial chamber judges found Delic “to have had imputed knowledge of these crimes, as opposed to actual knowledge.”
Delic is one of the highest-ranking Bosnian military leaders to stand trial before the tribunal. The ICTY trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic resumed earlier this week after multiple delays. In March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the ICTY will continue to operate beyond its originally planned end of 2010 until 2013 because two high-ranking subjects remain at large. The ICTY has indicted 161 political and military officials since its creation in 1993.

Is the OPC Computer Amplifier a guitar amp with a bonus computer or a computer with a bonus guitar amp? The look suggests the former. The 500GB HDD, GeForce 9300 graphics card, and Windows 7 OS suggest the latter. More »

Filed under: Motorcycle, Celebrities, Humor

Remember when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous? Longtime two-wheel fanatics may recall the stern warnings from our concerned fathers regarding the single most dangerous part on your very first motorcycle. No, not the nut behind the bars – the burning-hot exhaust pipe. Pop-rocking, motorcycle-riding, all-around bad girl Pink apparently didn’t get the memo. The singer suffered the dreaded “pipe burn” during a recent ride aboard hubby and freestyle motocross legend Carey Hart’s bike.

Will the singer allow the mishap to put the brakes on her passion for motorcycles, or the men who ride them? Not likely, as she was in good spirits soon afterward, even poking fun at the accident via Twitter. She was quoted as saying, “burnt my leg on hubby’s pipes,” following that up with a statement that sparked a bit of controversy: “burns are no fun. Hot pipes aren’t either. At least not that kind.”

We’re not going to take a stab at what she’s referencing there. Let’s just hope Pink’s not in too much pain to perform another semi-nude acrobatic routine in time for next year’s Grammy awards, and is ready to tear up the streets on on her favorite Triumph again soon.

[Source:Clutch and Chrome | Image: Trico-AlphaX/X17online.com]

Our favorite bad girl: Pink burns her leg on Hart’s hot pipe originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article Tags: Christopher Booker, ClimateGate

Rajendra Pachauri, right, with Al Gore, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC in 2007

From Macbeth to Watergate, it’s not the act that leads to nemesis, but the attempts to ‘trammel up the consequence’.

If you were faced with by far the biggest bill of your life, would you not want to be confident that there was a very good reason why you should pay it? That is why we need to know just how far we can trust the science behind the official view that the world is threatened with catastrophe by global warming – because the measures proposed by our politicians to avert this supposed disaster threaten to transform our way of life out of recognition and to land us with easily the biggest bill in history. (The Climate Change Act alone, says the Government, will cost us all £18 billion every year until 2050.)

Yet in recent months, as we know, the official science on which all this rests has taken quite a hammering. Confronted with all those scandals surrounding the “Climategate” emails and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the political and academic establishments have responded with a series of inquiries and statements designed to show that the methods used to construct the official scientific case are wholly sound. But as was illustrated last week by two very different reports, these efforts to hold the line are themselves so demonstrably flawed that they are in danger of backfiring, leaving the science more questionable than ever.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Read in full with comments »   

Torque is a measure of rotational force. Given the rotational force exhibited by this ’60 Impala, I think we should stop using “foot pounds” as a standard of measurement and start using Impalas, where one Impala equals a thousand foot pounds of torque.

I have no idea how this car keeps it’s windshield in place ot the doors shut. That motor must be making some serious power to loft the front end and twist the frame like that.

Source: Bangshift

It seems the too-cool-for-school policy at The W in Hollywood of barring its own guests from its swanky rooftop parties has gone the way of other bad ideas in hotel management. After Jason Cochran, blogger for The Gadling, called them out for their super douchey policy, management has done some quality backpedaling.

Jason writes:

The hotel’s general manager, Jim McPartlin, personally wrote me a note apologizing for the policy. “It is inexcusable, and I can assure you that I have taken measures to ensure it does not happen again,” he told me. “Opening a hotel can be a challenge, but developing a strong service culture is something I practice with my team each day.”

Whereas previously, guests paying the $230/night room rate weren’t allowed at the Sunday pool parties, put on by a promotional company, they now can jump the line at the aforementioned super awesome cool people soirees.

You know, just in case guests are in the mood to mingle with that speedo-wearing hipster guy whose facial hair has been shaved into an intricately lame pattern to offset his deliberately ironic gold chain.

The W Hollywood recants and allows guests to jump the line for its pool [Comedy Central]

I agree with Aristotle!

The goal: Don’t suffer greatly – but with GREATNESS!

Know: We never fail in life. We just produce results. It’s up to us how we interpret our results. We can choose to be miserable – or to stretch our minds by seeking out the best interpretations and most valuable lessons!

For more bounce back tips, check out my Anthony Robbins’ praised book – THE BOUNCE BACK BOOK – by clicking this line, right here, right NOW!

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If spelling is not your strongest suite, then cheer up, as Google is here you lend you a helping hand. Google has beefed up its already impressive spelling tool, which is capable of automatically spotting spelling mistakes and suggesting correct alternatives.

As a result of this update, Google is now capable of offering spelling suggestions even for names by taking into consideration the context. For example if you search for “matthew devin oracle” Google will automatically realize that you are looking for Oracle’s Matthieu Devin. This feature is currently supported only for English spellings in the U.S. However, Google will be rolling out the change to other parts of the world in the near feature.

Google is also rolling out auto-correct for certain terms in 31 languages. For common misspellings, Google will directly offer results for the spell-corrected term instead of displaying the “Did you mean..” prompt. For example, if you search for “aiprt”, Google will automatically pull up results for “airport”.

Another aspect of Google Search that has been improved upon is Google Suggest. Google Suggest will now take into consideration your location and offer appropriate suggestions. So, if you live in New York, you will be getting different suggestions than folks living in Seattle.

Don’t miss these Related Posts:

• Google Chrome 3 Released: Includes Auto Spelling Corrections and Support For Video Tags
• Auto Spell Check Can Really Do Good For Google Docs & Gmail
• Google Suggest Now Available for Google Homepage
• Automatic Spelling Correction and Text Expansion with Texter
• How to Enable/Disable The Google Suggest Feature?

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Michael Giberson

As just noted, the CFTC has approved Media Derivatives request to establish Trend Exchange, a box office futures exchange.  At Midas Oracle, Chris Masse reacts to the news by drawing attention to remarks by CFTC commissioners suggesting that it may be difficult for Trend Exchange to gain the subsequent CFTC approvals needed for it to actually offer box office futures contracts.

From a Bloomberg story on the exchange approval:

The CFTC must still approve the type of contracts to be dealt before Trend Exchange can begin. The company has said its first product will center on opening-weekend box office.

Product approval is “a very different question” from exchange approval and raises “significant concerns,” Chilton said in an e-mailed statement. He said he had “reluctantly” concurred in today’s vote.

“We have serious concerns regarding the trading of media contracts and we support a very thorough review of all of these first-of-a-kind products,” CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia said in an e-mailed statement.

U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat, today added language banning trade in movie futures to a broader derivatives bill she is writing. Lincoln is chairman of the Agriculture Committee that oversees the commodity commission.

More information from the CFTC here, including links to the order and related.

While the CFTC’s inquiry regarding event contracts seems relevant here, I see no reference to that proceeding from 2008 in the CFTC order or concurring statements issued by commissioners.  Perhaps, too, that is a bad sign.

Octopuses, it is generally agreed, are the sneakiest, most awesome animals in existence. They have magical camouflaging abilities and can squeeze through teeny holes. The latest octopus rascality: stealing a scuba diver’s video camera and shooting an undersea home movie. More »

As the country is overtaken by an insatiable desire to eat — or at least talk about — KFC’s latest heart-stopping creation, the breadless sandwich wonder known as the Double Down, Stephen Colbert is jumping on the deep fried train, dubbing it “the warped creation of a syphilitic brain.”

Stephen took a bite of this “breaded insanity” –two pieces of fried chicken surrounding bacon and chees — during a recent episode of The Colbert Report, joining the ranks of testers both unofficial and scientific in the quest to understand this bold new foray into fast food. So what’d he think? Catch the clip below.

The Colbert Report [Comedy Central]