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Ya podemos decir de forma abierta que BMW se encuentra preparando una versión Coupé de su BMW Serie 1. Esta versión será mucho más deportiva y potente, además, contará con más prestaciones.

El modelo fotografiado es un prototipo que ha sido visto saliendo de la sede oficial de BMW. Lamentablemente, la unidad de las imágenes cuenta con demasiado camuflaje para comenzar a sacar algunas conclusiones.

Por el momento, el nombre oficial de este nuevo modelo no ha sido filtrado aunque ya algunos medios barajan algunas posibilidades como “BMW 135is“. Se espera que haga uso de un motor de gasolina 3.0 biturbo con seis cilindros y 300CV de potencia.

Tampoco conocemos el precio que tendrá esta variante.

Related posts:

1. Fotos espía del BMW Serie 3 Coupé y Cabrio
2. Nuevas fotos espía BMW Serie 1 2011
3. BMW Serie 1 Híbrido, fotos espía

As shorts like Jim Chanos gear up for China to implode under the weight of itself, others are taking a more mixed approach to investing in a country that has seen explosive economic growth.

Enter RBS’ Ben Simpfendorfer, who is a self-described short-term bull, medium-term bear when it comes to China.

Among his concerns creeping inflation and the imminent revaluation of the yuan.

Here’s his point on that, which is interesting:

The PBOC meanwhile appointed three new academics to its monetary policy
committee in late March. The existing member, Fan Gang, stood down, so the
total number of academic members has grown from one to three. It might be that
the PBOC genuinely wants more impartial advice, or it believes that their
arguments for policy changes will carry more weight with the State Council (it is
the State Council that decides monetary policy).

It is thus worth noting that Xia Bin, one of the new appointments, works with
the Development Research Centre, the research body of the State Council. He
also said in an interview on April 1 that the CNY should be returned as quickly as
possible to a managed float. Li Daokui, another appointment, was quoted on
April 7 as saying that interest rates may rise once CPI rises above 3%. Both
appear happy speaking freely to the media.

His note also includes some useful, timely charts that you should keep handy.

Check them out here >

Now see what RBS’ Andy Chaytor thinks of China!

RBS Analyst Andy Chaytor: 2010 Will See A Risk Crash, More Stimulus, And A Huge M&A Boom ->

Join the conversation about this story »

Wall Street is attempting to create a new exchange that would allow investors to trade future contracts based on how well upcoming films do at the box office. While this might excite movie buffs who hope to finally monetize their overabundance of film knowledge, Hollywood is not amused. In fact, the Motion Picture Association of America is trying to prevent the creation of the new exchange. It has some legitimate reasons for doing so, but the film industry could benefit significantly from the new futures market.

The New York Times explains several of Hollywood’s complaints. Some are sensible, others are not.

Legitimate Worries

Conflicts of Interest

The movie industry worries that studio employees could be tempted by the possibility of making money through this new futures market. If so, then that could affect their work. Think about a sports player or coach betting on a game. If a football quarterback bets against his team, then he could a purposely mess up so that he profits. The same could happen with a movie if its fate could be bet on.

Insider Trading Concerns

This also leads to a broader concern: insider trading. This potential problem was also brought up here. Anyone who knows nonpublic information about an upcoming film has an advantage on betting for or against it. One problematic example, in particular, is movie screenings. These early viewers have seen the product ahead of time and can capitalize on their experience. Will movie studios really be expected to submit lists of those who have viewed the film to the SEC to control insider trading? Anyone obtaining an illegal bootleg could also benefit. The last thing Hollywood wants is more incentive for hackers to acquire movies before release.

Irrational Fears

Market Manipulation

But not all Hollywood’s worries are so serious. One reported fear is that people could manipulate the market by creating rumors about a film. If there’s anything that the entertainment industry already has plenty of, it’s rumors. There are entire magazines devoted to celebrity gossip. More rumors might be annoying, but if a film is legitimately good, then rumors shouldn’t ultimately have much effect on its box office receipts.

Short-Selling

Movie studios are also apparently falling victim to the fallacy that short sellers can wreck a movie’s profits. Let’s think about different futures — those for corn. Imagine that investors overwhelmingly believe that something is going to hurt the corn market and prices will plummet. They short corn futures. How does that affect how well the corn grows? It doesn’t. Does it affect how many people ultimately by the corn? Nope. The same goes for movies. If a film is good, then short sellers will have precisely zero impact on its box office receipts. Moviegoers aren’t going to start checking the futures market before they go to the theater — they’re going to rely on previews, advertising, reviews and word-of-mouth, as always.

One Huge Advantage

It’s a little surprising that the movie industry is fighting this exchange, because it could ultimately benefit them in a very big way: it will encourage investment in films. If someone is worried about the risk inherent in funding a new motion picture, that person can now hedge the investment through a futures exchange. The ability to hedge allows for a smoother, less risky and more predictable revenue stream — something the movie business currently lacks. This serves as the legitimate business purpose for trading film futures, according to Cantor Fitzgerald and Veriana Networks, the firms trying to create the new market.

In case you have been comatose since Thanksgiving, Tiger Woods has been in the news a lot because the Masters will be broadcast in 3D or something. In advance of that golf tournament, Tiger Woods has returned to the world of being a human billboard with this new ad from Nike, which resurrects the golfer’s dead dad.

In the ad, Woodsy stares into the camera — Is he trying to seduce me? Because it’s working! — as the voice of his late pop Earl Woods lectures his Casanova son about personal responsibility.

“Did you learn anything?” Earl asks Tiger.

Yeah, he learned that he can still cash in on the biggest personal embarrassment in sports history. Hole-in-one, Tiger!

And then there’s this version (thanks JayCutler!) replacing Early’s voice with Morgan Freeman from Shawshank Redemption:

Content: Kasumi – Stolen Memory
Price: 560 Points
Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions
Dash Text: Cerberus has procured the service of Kasumi Goto, the galaxy’s most enigmatic master thief. In return for her help, Kasumi has asked Shepard’s help on a dangerous heist to infiltrate the vault of a deadly master criminal named Donovan Hock. Gain Kasumi’s loyalty on the planet Bekenstein, where Hock is throwing a party for the galaxy’s richest and most deranged criminal minds to recover data of great importance to Kasumi… and to the galaxy at large. New squad member, weapon, research, and achievement. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.

 

Add Kasumi – Stolen Memory to your Xbox 360 download queue

 

Note: You will need Mass Effect 2 to play this game add-on

 

 

Today, an Economist/YouGov poll making the rounds shows that Americans would vastly prefer budget cuts to new taxes — by 62 percent to 5 percent. The poll goes on to ask Americans which government spending programs they would choose to cut: “If government spending is reduced in order to balance the budget, which of the following government programs should receive lower federal funding than they currently do?” (Respondents could pick more than one thing to axe.)

Here is how they responded:

The most expendable programs, according to poll takers, were mass transit, housing, agriculture, environment and foreign aid, the runaway winner at 71 percent. The problem? These programs together barely comprise 3 percent of the federal budget. Even if the programs were entirely eliminated, the cuts would do nothing to solve the United States’ long-term entitlement program.  Indeed, the responses had no obvious correlation with spending size.

The red bars in this graph indicate expenditures in the various areas:

The poll highlights the conundrum: Americans want to solve the long-term deficit program and want the federal government to run a balanced budget. They are willing to make budget cuts. But the government cannot cut enough from discretionary programs to bring the budget into check and ultimately to reduce the deficit. (Half of Americans still believe the government can.) Entitlement programs — Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security — are at the heart of the problem, with spending growth in health care programs the single biggest culprit. The lone solution — save for politically improbable radical spending cuts to defense, health care programs and social security — is tax hikes. Most economists agree on the point, reiterated strongly by Fed Chair Ben Bernanke in a speech yesterday. But the promise of tax increases is hardly a savvy campaign platform, and it will be up to members of Congress to sell the necessity and prudence of tax hikes to an economically distressed citizenry.

With the April 15 tax deadline around the corner, a defense official today offered guidance on how troops can file their returns, and reminded servicemembers to submit their forms on time…

With the help of the Army National Guard, the Joint Readiness Training Center hosted an air assault course here for the first time in eight years March 15-26…

Four Alaska Air National Guard members with the 249th Airlift Squadron made history as the first all female aircrew to fly an Alaska Air National Guard aircraft April 2…

North Dakota National Guard members from Camp Bondsteel have been studying in a unique classroom this term: the hospital in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Kosovo…

Almost every morning, Soldiers with the 1073rd Maintenance Company of the Michigan National Guard escort local nationals working with the Department of Public Works from the entry gate at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, onto the base…

In an indication of the full-spectrum pressure that the Obama administration is facing on its plan to close Guantanamo Bay, today a coalition of major civil liberties groups — the very groups that have led the charge to close the island detention facility since its 2002 inception — sent a pained letter to Congress urging members to oppose the planned closure unless President Obama drastically modifies his approach.

The Pentagon is seeking about $350 million in its Afghanistan funding authorization to buy the Thomson Correction Center in Illinois. According to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the plan to close Guantanamo in December, the facility will house detainees either convicted by military commissions or held in some form of indefinite detention without charge. To civil libertarians, that would entrench some of the most intolerable legal abuses of Guantanamo Bay in the name of ending it, rendering the shutdown of the facility Pyrrhic at best and misleading at worst. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate GOP leader, no fan of closing Guantanamo, has questioned the value of exporting Guantanamo practices to Illinois instead of ending them outright.

In the new and delicately worded letter, eight civil libertarian organizations come to the same reluctant conclusion, and urge legislators to vote against the Thomson purchase unless they also pass a “permanent, statutory ban on using the Thomson facility for indefinite detention without charge or trial or for military commission-related detention.” That would earn the blessing of a coalition that “strongly support[s] the responsible closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility” and takes pains to praise “many of the steps the Obama Administration has taken” to close Guantanamo “the right way,” either through “repatriation and resettling” of detainees or trying them federal civilian court.

“Bringing the practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial to any location within the United States will further harm the rule of law and adherence to the Constitution,” reads a letter signed by the Alliance for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, Center for Constitutional Rights, Japanese American Citizens League, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Physicians for Human Rights, and the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church and Society. “The current statutory ban on transferring detainees to the United States for purposes of indefinite detention without charge or trial expires at the end of the current fiscal year. Congress should not move forward with the Thomson purchase until and unless it permanently prohibits indefinite detention and military commission-related detention at the Thomson facility.”

The letter is the first concerted forceful statement of position to Congress from civil libertarians who have expressed months’ worth of discomfort with the contours of the Thomson-based Guantanamo closure plan — or what detractors call “Gitmo North.” But it evidently did not win the support of other prominent civil liberties groups like the Constitution Project, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First.

Here’s the full text:

TO: Members of the U.S. Senate
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

FROM: Alliance for Justice
American Civil Liberties Union
Amnesty International USA
Center for Constitutional Rights
Japanese American Citizens League
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Physicians for Human Rights
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society

DATE: April 8, 2010

RE: Opposition to the Purchase of the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson,
Illinois—Unless Congress Also Enacts a Permanent, Statutory Ban on Using the Thomson Prison for Indefinitely Detaining Persons Without Charge or Trial, or for Holding Persons During Military Commission Trials or for Serving Sentences Imposed by Military Commissions

We urge you to oppose legislation authorizing, or appropriating federal funds for, the purchase of the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois, unless Congress, at the same time, also enacts a permanent, statutory ban on using the Thomson prison for indefinitely detaining persons without charge or trial, or for holding persons during military commission trials or for serving sentences imposed by military commissions. All of our organizations strongly support the responsible closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, and we would support using the Thomson facility for holding any detainees now at Guantanamo who may be charged, tried, or sentenced in federal criminal court. However, we strongly oppose transporting the worst of Guantanamo policies—indefinite detention without charge or trial and military commissions—to a prison within the United States itself. If used for one or both of these purposes, the purchase of the Thomson prison could result in institutionalizing and perpetuating policies that should instead end.

On December 15, 2009, President Obama signed a memorandum directing the Attorney General and Secretary of Defense to acquire and activate the Thomson prison for use by the Department of Defense in holding detainees currently at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons as a federal penitentiary for holding prisoners in high security, maximum security conditions. According to a study by the Council of Economic Advisers last year, the Defense Department would control 400 of the 1600 cells at the Thomson prison. The Bureau of Prisons would control the remaining cells.

On December 15, a number of government officials provided further details on who would be, and who would not be, held in the portion of the Thomson prison designated for use by the Defense Department. In a letter and accompanying questions and answers from the Deputy Secretary of Defense to Congressman Mark Kirk, the Defense Department stated that the Thomson prison would be used to imprison Guantanamo detainees whom the government is indefinitely detaining without charge or trial under a claim of detention authority based on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, and also Guantanamo detainees tried before military commissions or serving sentences imposed by military commissions. However, the Deputy Secretary’s answer to Congressman Kirk’s questions stated that Guantanamo detainees charged and tried before federal criminal courts would not be housed at the Thomson prison. Further, in a briefing by a “senior administration official” on December 15, the official stated that Guantanamo detainees cleared for release would remain at Guantanamo until transferred to other countries, and would not go to Thomson.

There is a right way and a wrong way to close Guantanamo. To date, many of the steps the Obama Administration has taken—with the support of many members of Congress, including prominent congressional supporters of the Thomson purchase–have been in the direction of closing Guantanamo the right way. The Obama Administration has worked hard to make charging decisions for detainees whom the government believes should be prosecuted in federal criminal courts in the United States, has closely collaborated with important allies of the United States in repatriating and resettling detainees cleared for release, and has continued the process of clearing detainees for release or transfer. The Obama Administration should continue all of these steps until the population at Guantanamo reaches zero.

However, there are two developments over the past year that constitute closing Guantanamo the wrong way. First, the government has reinstituted the discredited military commissions. The military commissions have now gone through eight years, two statutes, four sets of rules, but have only resulted in three convictions, with two of those convicted detainees now released. By contrast, more than 400 defendants have been convicted of terrorism-related offense in federal criminal courts. The military commissions still do not have any rules based on the new statute, continue to have fundamental problems that could result in their proceedings being held illegal under the Constitution and international law, and deservedly lack credibility both at home and abroad. Second, the government continues to claim authority to indefinitely detain without charge or trial some of the Guantanamo detainees. Even if there is legal authority to continue to indefinitely detain these men, which many of our groups dispute, the government should make the policy decision that the interests of the United States are better served by either charging a detainee in federal criminal court or repatriating or resettling the detainee.

Based on the government’s own statements, it appears that the Defense Department-run portion of the Thomson prison would house only those Guantanamo detainees being held pursuant to Guantanamo policies that should end—namely, military commissions and indefinite detention without charge or trial. Congress should not authorize, or appropriate money for the acquisition of the Thomson prison unless it also enacts a permanent statutory provision that would ensure that the Thomson prison will not become a U.S.-based prison dedicated to perpetuating Guantanamo policies that should end.

Bringing the practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial to any location within the United States will further harm the rule of law and adherence to the Constitution. Shortly after President Obama took office, the government charged, tried, and convicted the only person then-held on U.S. soil indefinitely without charge or trial. At present, the number of people held within the U.S. itself indefinitely without charge or trial is zero. However, if the Thomson prison is acquired and the current statutory prohibition on transferring Guantanamo detainees for purposes other than prosecution is allowed to expire, the number of persons held on U.S. soil without charge or trial could reportedly rise to 50 or more.

Moreover, Thomson could eventually become the place to send other persons held indefinitely without charge or trial—with the prospect of detainees being transferred there from Bagram, Afghanistan or new captures brought from other locations around the globe. The unfortunate reality that we would face if Thomson opens is that it is easier to go from 50 to 51 indefinite detention prisoners than it is to go from 0 to 1. Once the indefinite detention policy is institutionalized at Thomson, it will be difficult to hold the line at former Guantanamo detainees.

We urge that you oppose the purchase of the Thomson prison unless Congress, at the same time that it authorizes or funds the purchase, also enacts a permanent, statutory ban on using the Thomson facility for indefinite detention without charge or trial or for military commission-related detention. The current statutory ban on transferring detainees to the United States for purposes of indefinite detention without charge or trial expires at the end of the current fiscal year. Congress should not move forward with the Thomson purchase until and unless it permanently prohibits indefinite detention and military commission-related detention at the Thomson facility.

We would be very interested in meeting with you or your staff to discuss this issue further.

Update, 1:06 p.m.: The Government Accountability Project is a last-minute signatory, bringing the total number of groups signing the letter to nine.

Three plaintiffs with Zimmer Durom Cup lawsuits pending in federal court, are asking that dozens of other similar claims involving injuries from the allegedly defective hip implant be consolidated and centralized before one judge for pretrial proceedings as a part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL.

A motion was filed last month with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation asking that at least 51 product liability lawsuits currently pending in ten different states involving the Zimmer Durom Cup be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. All of the cases involve similar allegations of injuries caused by a defective Durom Cup implainted as part of a hip replacement surgery.

Consolidating the federal Zimmer Durom Cup litigation before one judge would eliminate duplicative discovery, avoid contradictory rulings and serve the convenience of the court, witnesses and parties, according the motion. While the pretrial management of the cases in an MDL is often similar to how a Zimmer Durom Cup class action suit would be handled, each claim would still remain an individual lawsuit that would be returned back to the jurisdiction where it was originally filed for trial if it does not settle or otherwise resolve during pretrial litigation.

The Zimmer Durom Cup was first introduced in the United States in 2006, as a more advanced form of an artificial hip. The hip resurfacing system is designed out of a single piece of material and is designed to avoid problems associated with traditional hip replacement components, such as instability, limited range of motion and wear of the bearing.

However, after it was introduced in the United States, concerns emerged about a high number of hip replacement failures involving the Durom Cup, where the component loosened and required revision surgery. A temporary Zimmer Durom Cup recall was issued in July 2008, so that revisions could be made to the product’s warnings and instructions to ensure that doctors were properly trained on the surgical techniques needed to implant the artificial hip correctly.

Approximately 12,000 individuals had the Zimmer Durom Cup system implanted in their hip between 2006 and 2008. While Zimmer’s own estimates in July 2008 suggested that some doctors have experienced failure rates as high as 5.7%, the petition says that 14% of those who have had the Durom Cup hip replacement implanted have required hip revision surgery. As of the end of last year, more than 500 adverse event reports have been filed with the FDA regarding problems with the Zimmer Durom Cup and many experts anticipate that the rate of hip cup loosenings could increase as time passes after the surgery.

If the Judicial Panel decides to form an MDL for the pretrial proceedings, all pending cases would be transferred to the judge assigned to preside over the litigation. In addition, as Zimmer Durom Cup lawyers investigate and file new federal cases in the future, they will also be transferred to the MDL for coordinated handling.

In recent months, concerns have emerged about similar problems associated with a different type of implant, known as metal-on-metal hip implants. Last month, DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, announced that it was removing its DePuy ASR hip replacement system from the market. While the company initially claimed the removal was due to low sales, on March 6 they sent a letter warning doctors that many patients have experienced hip failures soon after the devices were implanted.

School nurses are asking for help fighting a bill they fear could reduce safety for all school children, especially those with diabetes.

They are urging their fellow IEA members to contact their legislators to fight against HB 6065/SB 3822.

House Bill 6065, which passed the Illinois House in March, and its companion Senate Bill 3822, would allow unlicensed individuals with no educational requirements to serve as “delegated care aides” to diabetic children.

These individuals would be responsible for delivering care to the diabetic child without liability including administering insulin, checking a student’s blood sugar and responding to emergency situations within the school.

If necessary, the “aide” would be authorized to contact healthcare providers to modify the diabetic plan of care for the child. These are all the essential functions of a school nurse.

To contact your legislator: Go to our “Contact Your Legislators” page, then scroll down to the “My Elected Official” section and fill in your address. Your lawmakers’ names will appear. Click on your lawmakers and you can see information about them, including how to contact them.
 
            Nurses are the qualified healthcare professional taught to care for children with complex chronic illnesses in a school setting. Only nurses have the requisite education in assessment, planning and intervention to assess a child, administer insulin, communicate with providers, and respond in emergency situations for all children within the school.

The Coalition for Safe Health Care Management of School Children, which includes IEA members, urges everyone who is concerned about the safety of students in our schools to contact your state senator today and request they vote “no” to HB 6065/ SB 3822.

To further the safety of school children, urge your legislators to support school nurses in all youth educational settings across Illinois. Every child deserves a school nurse.

The Coalition for Safe Health Care Management of School Children include: The Illinois Nurses Association, Illinois Association of School Nurses, Illinois Chapter- American Academy of Pediatrics, Illinois Education Association, Illinois Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Illinois AFL-CIO, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, Chicago Teachers Union and Campaign for Better Healthcare have come together as a coalition to oppose the language of HB 6065/SB 3822 and the implications it bears concerning the public safety for all school children, especially diabetic children.

Earlier this week we reported that Sprint had begun internal testing of Android 2.1 for the Samsung Moment and now the new firmware has leaked out. Android Police spotted the leaked ROM over at sdx-developers and it appears to be fully working. The leak actually contained two different test versions of the ROM with the latest build being compiled April 3, 2010.

If you have already hacked your Samsung Moment, head over to sdx-developers and read the thread to see if you want to flash this build. (I’ve never hacked a Moment, but the instructions look fairly simple.) Normal users should just sit tight because we expect the official release to happen later this month.

The build information for the leaked ROM is:

• Firmware version: 2.1-update1
• Baseband version: s:m900.8.os.dd03
• Kernel version: 2.6.29
• Build number: elcair.dd03

Related Posts

• Sprint begins internal testing of Android 2.1 update for Samsung Moment
• Sprint to Employees: No 2.1 in March, more details in April
• Sprint offers Samsung Moment update via PC-based install
• Sprint working with manufacturers to deliver Android 2.1 updates by early Q2 2010
• Sprint: “Ok let’s just jump to Android 2.1″

We’re not even halfway through the all-new 10th season, but Hollywood’s self-appointed “Fat Actress” is already geared up to waltz her way onto the next installment of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars.

Hollywood biggum Kirstie Alley is currently chronicling the sad story of how she gained weight, lost weight, and gained it all back on the A&E docu-series Kirstie Alley’s Big Life (airing Sundays @ 10 PM) — and Alley’s hoping the show will grow to be successful enough to attract the attention of DWTS producers, The National Enquirer spills in its April 19 edition.

It’s a sad day when your primary career objective becomes getting cast on a show that should be called Dancing With The Z-Listers….

An Alley insider says: “Kirstie wants to lose weight for her health and well-being, but her big plan is to shed the pounds and then be named the headlining performer on Dancing with the Stars next year…She’s been a huge fan of the show, and she been bragging for ages that as soon as she drops most of her excess weight, she’s going to launch a full-court press to be named a contestant.”

As it turns out, here’s the big reveal PSM3 teased about earlier. Warner Bros. Interactive dropped by the presswire to let us all know that F.E.A.R. 3 is on its way to the PS3, Xbox 360, and

Art is a very subjective thing, it makes you look and question what someone else has envisioned as pleasing to the eye. It evokes reaction and emotion and in some cases creates controversy. Me personally, I see art in the form of automobiles. Some may disagree with me but the fact of the matter is every car that has ever been designed started with someones internal vision and a clean sheet of paper. They are the creative thoughts of a designers imagination carefully crafted into usable and functional transportation devices. The majority of us see these four wheel beauties everyday and most of us, myself included have a tendency to take them for granted. There are however places where these masterpieces of technology and motion are on display for everyone to see. They’re called museums (just so you know) and we’ve managed to round up 10 great ones for you.

1. Mercedes Benz Museum: Stuttgart, Germany.

With 16,500 sq. ft. of space, the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany is an architectural masterpiece located directly outside of the Dailmer factories main gate. The structure houses over 160 vehicles that span Mercedes vast automotive history.

2. Petersen Automobile Museum: Los Angeles, CA

The Petersen Automotive Museum is dedicated to the exploration and presentation of the automobile and its impact on American life and culture using Los Angeles as the prime example. Encompassing more than 300,000 square feet, its exhibits and lifelike dioramas feature more than 150 rare classic cars, trucks and motorcycles.

3. Galleria Ferrari

This is the real and true keeper of the Ferrari myth. The official museum of Ferrari in Maranello, Italy gathers in its halls the cars, the images and the trophies that wrote the Ferrari successes in the world.

4. The Henry Ford Museum: Dearborn, MI

It began as a simple yet bold idea to document the genius of ordinary people by recognizing and preserving the objects they used in the course of their everyday lives. It grew into the ultimate place to explore what Americans past and present have imagined and invented. It is a remarkable destination that brings American ideas and innovations to life. The sweeping, single-floor space with its soaring 40-foot ceilings covers nine acres dedicated to showcasing the finest collection of its kind ever assembled.

5. GM Heritage Center: Sterling Heights, Michigan

The GM Heritage Center serves as a showplace for the vehicles of the GM Heritage Collection, and as the home of the Heritage and Media Archive. Located in an 81,000 square foot facility in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the Center has approximately 200 vehicles on display, while the archive houses 15,000 linear feet of shelving containing significant documents, manuals, brochures, and artifacts documenting GM’s rich history of innovation.

6. The Porsche Museum: Stuttgart, Germany

Porsche is both the smallest independent German automaker and the world’s most profitable automaker. This is based on decades of experience in automotive manufacturing and in motor sports. The history of Porsche sports cars begins in 1948 with the legendary Type 356 “No. 1,” but the conceptual basis of the brand is the result of the lifelong work of Professor Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), which was continued by his son Ferry (1909–1998).

7. The Volo Car Museum

The Volo Car Museum in Volo, IL is not so much about preserving automotive history as it is about showing it off. Think of it as Disneyland, but with automobiles. Show cars, movie cars and TV cars are all on display for the entire family to enjoy.

8. Lamborghini Museum: Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy

So you like Ferrari’s, but you LOVE Lamborghini’s eh… well then, this is the place for you. The museum opened in 2001 as a sign of Automobili Lamborghini’s commitment to celebrate, with the new millennium, a new breed of dream cars.

9. The National Corvette Museum: Bowling Green, KY

Since 1953 the Corvette has been America’s Sports Car. The National Corvette Museum was established as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit foundation with a mission of celebrating the invention of the Corvette and preserving its past, present and future.

10. The BMW Museum: Munich, Germany

The museum brings the BMW heritage to life in an experience encompassing all the senses and invoking the spirit of the innovative, dynamic character of the BMW brand. The museum architecture, and exhibition and media design form an ideal setting to present the rich tapestry of themes in a very special way. The BMW Museum takes new approaches by integrating contemporary architecture with the historic buildings in the same way as the brand is always setting new and innovative benchmarks for engineering and design.

Finalmente, la casa de Maranello ha difundido las primeras imagenes del 599 GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato), definido por los mismos italianos como el Ferrari más rápido que haya salido de las míticas instalaciones ferraristas, sobrepasando incluso al propio Ferrari Enzo; al menos, lleva el motor que hereda del hermano mayor, con la ventaja de pesar 150 kg menos.

La versión de producción está casi enteramente basada en el modelo Laboratorio Technologico 599XX, del cual os mostrábamos las primeras imagenes el año pasado. A partir de allí, el 599 GTO ha ido tomando diversas soluciones ya usadas en la Fórmula 1, como es tradición en Ferrari.

Técnicamente, el 599 GTO vendrá equipado con el V12 de 6 litros llevado a 720 caballos. Todavía no se tienen cifras finales ni oficiales de prestaciones, pero podría acelerar hasta los 100 km/h en 3,3 segundos y lograr una máxima de 332 km/h. El motor ha sido diseñado para poder circular a altos regímenes; estaríamos hablando de que la línea roja estaría ubicada en las 9000 RPM.

Este modelo contará además con el sistema de suspensión llamado Magnetorheological Supension Control System, en donde no hay componentes electromecánicos ni partes móviles. La amortiguación corre por cuenta de 4 amortiguadores que llevan un tipo especial de líquido que reacciona a un campo magnético. Este sistema ya fue popularizado por Audi en el TT y R8 y por Cadillac desde hace algunos años.

Ferrari va a producir 599 ejemplares del GTO, que se presentará en el salón de Beijing, a un precio que se rumorea en los 430.000 dólares. Solamente quiero dejar la conclusión de que es una máquina espectacular como todas las de Ferrari, aunque tendrá que tener mucho cuidado con uno de sus próximos rivales: El próximo Lamborghini Murcielago (anunciados 360 km/h) del cual nos ocuparemos muy pronto.

Vía | Ferrari

Marian Diamond, UC-Berkeley: “People frequently do the same level of crossword puzzles to stimulate their brains year after year. They do not challenge their brains with more difficult levels of puzzles. In our research, we showed that if we challenged the rats to reach their food cups by having to climb over many obstructions, their brains increased more than those of rats who could walk unhindered to their food cups. Challenge increased brain size.”

Tom Warden, Allstate: “… we see the opportunity that cognitive training provides as just the next evolution of things that we can advocate and get behind that ultimately make for a better driving experience, a safer driving experience for people. Not only for our insureds, but to help the roads be safer for everyone…what we did is to attempt to replicate the results that were observed in the laboratory environment where older drivers who have completed a good amount of training, 10 hours or more of training, had shown that the risk of crash could be reduced by up to about 50%.”

David Whitehouse, OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions: “Managed care has not always been on the forefront of innovation and it has been, for us, a challenge and an excitement to think about how best to incorporate the latest findings in neuroscience. If I was to give you the major areas that we think are important, one is the importance of neuroscience capabilitties to improve triage, the second is the importance that this has on increasing access to much better functional assessments and its relationship to safety. The third is in the area of clinical decision support and the fourth is in brain health. First and foremost, why is it that in every other organ we have objective data of the organ itself doing its work under various loads to help us when we need to make decisions about its health and disease state and how best to support it and intervene.”

William Reichman, Baycrest: “…we must do for brain health in the 21st century what we largely accomplished in cardiovascular health in the past century…that includes an increased focus not only on tertiary prevention, but on primary and secondary prevention…approximately a year and a half ago the Ontario government made a decision to invest $10 million in Canada’s first centre for brain fitness to be housed at Baycrest at the Rotman Research Institute….Here in Canada I think that we’ve been able to make a compelling case maintaining good brain fitness needs to be a national priority for this country and we have been engaged in discussions with the government, both federally and provincially, that brain health programs really need to begin in childhood.”

P Murali Doraiswamy, Duke University: “… you don’t want to walk into a grocery store or into a gas station and see a brain game claiming that they’re a neuroplasticity brain game or a bottle of water that’s claiming it’s a cognitive reserve enhancer because then I think you’re going to destroy the whole field key…So I think it’s essential for academia, for industry, for think tanks, for even the federal government agencies such as perhaps England, US, Canada, to come together and form a set of guidelines that can really guide the proper development of a lot of these products and by products I’m talking about two types of products. One is cognitive screening instruments and the second is intervention products to either improve sort of normal functioning or to increase resilience to stress or three, to prevent disease.”

(answering to audience question, “when do you believe that cognitive screening may become a pretty routine part of standard medical care”) “I think it’s long overdue…the brain is the most important organ.”

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In January of 2010 SharpBrains produced the inaugural virtual, global SharpBrains Summit on Technology for Cognitive Health and Performance (January 18-20th, 2010). The Summit featured a dream team of over 40 speakers who are leaders in industry and research to discuss emerging research, tools and best practices for cognitive health and performance, and gathered over 250 participants in 16 countries.

Are you interested in what over 40 leading scientists, clinicians, executives and technologists have to say about the latest Technology for Cognitive Health and Performance? Want to hear how they responded to more than 200 audience questions? You can Learn more Here (full transcripts are now available). SharpBrains readers can get a 15% discount using discount code: sharptech