When Palm and AT&T are touting the coolness of YPmobile on the new AT&T Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, we’ve came to realize that it’s the exact same app you can already find in the App Catalog. In fact, we’re disappointed in ourselves for skipping over the app so many times, simply because of the name that conjured up images of super-thick books full of phone numbers and really bad ads on thin yellow paper. The free YPmobile app for webOS couldn’t be further from the yellow-paged days of yore, and that’s a good thing.

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Found under: BlackBerry, Software, Deals, Utilities, System, Management,

MeterBerry is as the developers say the ultimate system information utility you can have on your BlackBerry phone. It Replaces multiple applications with one and does it better and today it is on half price in our software store.Features Auto-refreshing status screen displays battery memory and device info and statistics. Calculates average battery discharge rate over time. Discharge rate is resettable allowing you to detect a failing battery or to determine h

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Staff members for Senator Richard Shelby, ranking Republican on the Senate finance committee, have said he will support an independent consumer finance protection agency — but with limitations, including an outside commission that could override CFPA rules. There are not many more details in the Washington Post article that breaks the story this morning.

It’s surprising to hear a Republican advocating for an independent consumer agency, but it’s worth evaluating the meaning of the word independent in this case. After all, Sen. Shelby is the guy who just three weeks ago told a gathering of the American Banking Association that “safety and soundness trumps everything. It trumps the consumer finance whatever.” In a more sober moment with PBS’ Judy Woodruff, he said “I think you have got to have a balance between sound banking
regulations and sound banks, banks that are going to be here for the
consumer, and what a freestanding or an independent agency would put on
them. I think you have got to have a balance.”

To understand what Shelby means by “balance,” it’s important to back up and remember that one central conflict in the debate over consumer protection is the trade-off between banks’ safety and soundness (profitability) and consumer protection against practices that are seedy, but profitable. In the current consumer protection smorgasbord, the safety and soundness concern has the clear upper hand for at least two reasons. First, a plethora of regulators at the federal and state level encourages arbitrage among regulators jostling
for bank charters by softening their rules. Second, consumer protection is divided among a
number of alphabet soup agencies most of whose first order of business
is looking after the “safety and soundness” of banks.

That’s why consumer protection advocates say that a strong agency would both be independent and have full rule-making authority over banks and and non-bank entities, like payday and auto lenders. Shelby’s deal would give the agency nominal independence without true independence to write rules that offer simple disclosure to consumers of financial products like student loans and credit cards.

The most important questions are to come, as my colleague Dan Indiviglio pointed out to me. First, will Dodd agree to a CFPA that fudges the meaning of the word independent and essentially recasts Shelby’s previous counter-offers to give the CFPA glorified recommendation status? Second, will the White House — which has gone from lukewarm to crusading on the consumer protection issue — respond to Shelby’s offer with clear approval or disapproval?

U.S. equity index futures are lower this morning. S&P 500 futures are down 3 points in pre-opening trade. Traders are waiting for a comment by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at 1:30 PM EDT on economic challenges.

Traders also are focusing on today’s $21 billion auction of 10 year U.S. Treasuries. Recent auctions with maturities in the 5 to 30 year range have been less successful than previous. 

The Canadian Dollar once again moved briefly above $1.00 U.S. ‘Tis the season for the Canadian Dollar to move higher! Following is a 20 year seasonality chart on the Canadian Dollar from www.equityclock.com 

Monsanto slipped 1% after releasing fiscal second quarter earnings in line with consensus. However, the company also offered lower than consensus earnings estimates for 2010. Yesterday, its stock broke support in anticipation of the earnings report.

Keycorp added 6% after Goldman Sachs raised its ratings to Buy. The stock broke above resistance late yesterday on higher than average volume.

Family Dollar gained 5% after reporting higher than consensus fiscal second quarter earnings. The company also raised its guidance for fiscal 2010.

TransAlta was downgraded by Macquarie from Outperform to Neutral

Canadian Tire announced a five year growth plan. The companies projected annual earnings growth at an 8%-10% rate.

Don Vialoux, chartered market technician, is the author of a free
daily report on equity markets, sectors, commodities, equities and
Exchange-Traded Funds. For more visit Don Vialoux's Web site   

This is Gina. Well I guess this is time from one of those public service announcement and Black culture encyclopedia entries that I occasionally do on this blog.

One of the reasons why First Lady Michelle Obama totally rocks is that no matter how idiotic and unhinged her critic become, she keeps going with dignity and grace and class. The image she’s cultivated since entering the White House is a glaring indictment of he most vitriolic critics. After all, who can quarrel with someone who hugs every child in sight, plays soccer with them, and reads (entirely too long) children’s stories. Furthermore, her children appear to be well adjusted, happy, and sane. Which is more than I can say for the folks grabbing hold of the latest “Barack Obama was born in Kenya” meme.

Apparently when First lady Obama was speaking at the 2008 Democratic National Convention she discussed the fact that she and the president underwent HIV testing to help destroy stigmas related to the disease. During such she referred to Kenya as the President’s “Home Country.” Now someone with too much time on their hands has taken that clip out of context and offered it as evidence that President Obama was not born in the United States of America.

Rush Limbaugh repeated this audio on his show recently, just as he “mentioned” the Whitey Tape Rumors:

Audio of Michelle Obama has surfaced.  Audio from 2008, August of that year in Denver at a luncheon for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender delegates to the Democrat National Convention.  There are others?  Anyway, here is a portion of what she said, and this is causing quite a sir out there.

MICHELLE:  Barack has led by example.  When we took our trip to Africa and visited his home country in Kenya, we took a public HIV test for the very point of showing folks in Kenya that there is nothing to be embarrassed about in getting tested, and we did it as a couple. Rush Limbaugh

First of all, MANY people who can trace their family’s heritage to other countries like to feel as if they have a connection to that country. If you are a Black person you are EXTREMELY lucky if you can trace your heritage back across the Atlantic. Due to the slave trade many people have been denied that opportunity. In my experience as a Black person, Black people love to view Africa as “the motherland,” although they tend to over simplify the geography and think of the continent as one big monolithic country. Some also like to say where “our people” are from. I’m sure ethnic White people who have connections to their relatives in Europe had some similar phenomenon, but I can only speak of my experience. I routinely say “my people are from Louisiana.” Though both my parents were born and raised in Texas. But every summer we went back to see “our people” across the state line.

So a sane person might conclude that when Michelle Obama said “home country” she was referring to the fact that President Obama has a LEGITIMATE connection to Kenya. His Father, and all of this Father’s relatives are there. His half siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, its “a home” to him. Where his roots are and that has NOTHING to do with what jurisdiction he was born in.

At some point we have to decide that an election is over. There have been lawsuits and court challenges and document inquiries. Once again, the Judicial Branch has basically indicated that it will not take up the charge that the President is not a natural born citizen. So the only reason for this continued “birther” meme is to undermine the legitimacy of the Obama Presidency its self as a political strategy.  The problem is that an attack on the presidency does far more damage than attacks on whatever administration is in control of it.  Its like jack hammering the foundation of a house because you don’t like the paint… you can change the paint in 4 years, if you jack up the foundation, you’re stuck with the damage to the structure of the house forever.

I’m sick of Both Sides
Let me also add that if John McCain had won the presidency, I have no doubt that elements on the left would have made and issue out of the fact that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone and not the continental US. Both political extremes are absurd and get on my dayum nerves. We had an election. Just like we’ll have an election in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. The “mainstream media” if such a thing exists anymore needs to seriously consider the health of our republic if the political opposition is CONSTANTLY attempting to undermine the legitimacy of election outcomes.

You can brush it off as a joke, but ever since Bill Clinton won by a plurality in 1992 the opposition party’s supporters have sought to countermand the decisions of the people of the 50 states. First they said a plurality wasn’t’ a mandate. Then after his reelection, we spent millions of taxpayers dollars impeaching him for having sex with an intern and LYING ABOUT IT- as if disbarment and civil lawsuits, and the release of the embarrassing GRAPHIC details of his escapades becoming public weren’t enough.

Then there was 2000’s “hanging chad” election of George W. Bush. We’re a democracy with three branches of government, the judicial branch made a decision that impacted the outcome of the Presidential Election.At the end of the day, the election shouldn’t have been that close in the first dad gum place and Al Gore shouldn’t have placed himself in the position of having the Supreme Court do a judicial coin flip. If people truly felt that the decision was illegitimate, then they should have rioted in the streets. If people truly hated the Electoral College system then they should have amended Article II of the Constitution. I still remember the day that the Congressional Black Caucus Sought to Challenge the results of the 2000 election and all they needed to continue fighting was a single US Senator to join them. NONE, including Al Gore would do so. He rolled and went off to make his millions- ignoring serious allegations of the suppression of African American votes in Ohio and Florida. Yet that didn’t stop the Democratic fringe from trying to push the illegitimacy of the first Bush term.

At the end of the day, we have to have “A” President. We can’t keep going in this political death spiral where no election result is valid. Its one thing to vigorously fight an Administration’s agenda on every front, but questioning the legitimacy of the presidency itself might make you feel good, but you’re still subject to the decisions that the Administration makes while further eroding the legitimacy of the office and looking like fools.

This pattern has also spread down to lower offices where the meme of “Vote Stealing” has taken hold I has to make you wonder what will happen when these individuals from both sides get what they want. . . the ability of the judicial branch to reverse the decision of the electorate.

And what happens if either of these sides ever gets what it wants and the Supreme Court removes a sitting President? I predict total and complete anarchy. And don’t mention Nixon, he got out before it came to that.

Barack Obama is the President of the United States. If you don’t like that,  there will be an election on the second Tuesday of November in the year 2012.

PPS. Michelle Obama Totally Rocks!

The executives in China love long-wheelbases of many luxury sedans but one long-wheelbase sedan that remains truly exclusive and popular in the Chinese market is the BMW 5-Series, which has been upgraded for the 2011 model year.

Besides looking every little bit like the new 2011 5-Series, the Chinese long-wheelbase model adds an extra 5.5 inches for the rear passengers.

As BMW puts it:

Supreme grand touring comfort is ensured, among other things, by options such as four-zone automatic air conditioning, rear-seat entertainment, a cooling box as well as electrically adjustable sunblinds on the rear side windows and a folding table integrated in the backrest of the front passenger’s seat, unique features unparalleled by the competition.

Click here for more news on the BMW 5-Series.

Click through for the press release.

2011 BMW 5-Series Long-Wheelbase:

Press Release:

The New Long-Wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan.

Munich. World premiere of the new long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan: Developed and built exclusively for the Chinese car market, this truly exclusive sedan sets new standards in aesthetics, driving pleasure and comfort in the premium business sedan segment. Through its sporting but elegant design, the new long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan is truly impressive from every angle, pampering particularly the passengers at the rear with luxury class space and innovative features also typical of the luxury class.

New straight-six power units and a wide range of BMW EfficientDynamics technologies ensure superior sportiness combined with trendsetting efficiency. Sophisticated suspension technology ensures significant progress both in driving comfort and dynamic handling. The new long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan is built at BMW’s plant in Shenyang in cooperation with a large number of regional partners.

Design: sporting elegance in individual style.

The highly expressive front end, the elegantly stretched silhouette and the powerfully chiselled rear end give the new long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan a truly unmistakable look. Individual design features along the roofline and the side view of the car ensure that the long-wheelbase version with its wheelbase up by 14 centimetres or 5.5″ again offers the right balance of proportions. The long side windows, for example, give the C-pillar a particularly slender and dynamic appearance, the coupé-like, flowing roofline comes out even more convincingly through the sheer length of the car. The characteristic daytime driving lights generated by LED light rings in conjunction with the optional xenon headlights, as well as the L-shaped rear lights with their homogeneous rows of lights, again contribute to that very special look so characteristic of BMW.

Interior: clear orientation towards the driver at the front, luxurious grand touring comfort at the rear.
The interior of the new long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan combines the driver-oriented cockpit and the high-tech instrument cluster in Black Panel technology with a truly luxurious ambience, lots of space at the rear, and exclusive model features. The new long-wheelbase sedan comes with a high-comfort rear seat bench developed specifically for this model. Supreme grand touring comfort is ensured, among other things, by options such as four-zone automatic air conditioning, rear-seat entertainment, a cooling box as well as electrically adjustable sunblinds on the rear side windows and a folding table integrated in the backrest of the front passenger’s seat, unique features unparalleled by the competition.

Driving experience: superior sportiness, supreme comfort.

Benefiting from the most advanced drivetrain and suspension technology, the new model offers significantly greater sportiness and comfort over its predecessor. The range of engines comprises three straight-six power units developing between 150 kW/204 hp and 225 kW/306 hp maximum output. A unique feature in this segment is the combination of a double wishbone front axle and the integral rear axle tailored to each individual model. And on the top-of-the-range BMW 535Li, Dynamic Drive Control allows an individual set-up of the car.

BMW EfficientDynamics for outstanding fuel economy and emission management.

All versions of the new long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan come as standard with eight-speed automatic transmission making an additional contribution to the car’s efficiency just like EPS Electric Power Steering. The highlights of BMW EfficientDynamics on board the car include Brake Energy Regeneration, on-demand control of ancillary units, and active air flap control. Fuel consumption and CO2 are down versus the previous models by up to 18 per cent.

Innovative driver assistance systems from BMW ConnectedDrive.

BMW ConnectedDrive offers features such as BMW Night Vision able to detect individual persons, the BMW Parking Assistant and Lane Departure Warning, that is driver assistance technologies of the highest standard. Another option exclusive to BMW in this segment is the Head-Up Display.

Developed exclusively for China, built at BMW Plant Shenyang.

The new long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series Sedan has been developed exclusively for the Chinese automobile market. In its features and qualities, it specifically follows the requirements made of a truly outstanding business sedan in the premium segment. Production at BMW Plant Shenyang, on the other hand, follows the high, worldwide standards of the BMW Group in terms of quality, safety, and sustainability. Significant investments were made for production of the new model in the expansion and modernisation of production facilities, and additional, specially trained employees have been hired to build the car. Close and intense cooperation with local production partners and suppliers, finally, convinces BMW that Plant Shenyang offers significant input for the intelligent creation of values.

– By: Kap Shah

Ok, this is just getting mean: On NBC’s Late Night Tuesday, host Jimmy Fallon dusted off his best blonde wig and turned in a parody of Kate Gosselin’s critically-panned paso doble.

Earlier this week, the mother of eight and pro partner Tony Dovolani did a startling-bad two step to Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi,” a song that the reality star said speaks directly to her. She channeled that experience and let loose some frustrations in a dance that the judges called “strange.”

Women can lower their stroke risk by lacing up their sneakers and walking, a new study suggests…

‘This certainly speaks to walking for a certain amount of time and walking briskly as well,” said Jacob Sattelmair, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston…

Read more here

Yesterday’s Zits:

Then there was the whole Facebook wall rape episode, and…

(Alas, most academic social scientists are sleeping right through the opportunities for in silico ethnography, virtual conversational analysis, psychodynamic data mining, etc.)

Para retomar os caminhos da vitória na disputada e famosa corrida de carro 24 Horas de Le Mans (França) no qual a companhia alemã esta bastante acostumada, a Audi apresentou a sua mais nova arma para essa batalha, o seu protótipo totalmente revisado e agora chamado de R15 PlusTDi.

Apesar de não divulgada, a potencia de seu motor V10 Tdi de 5.5L movido a diesel deverá ficar entre 600 cavalos, com um torque aproximado de excelentes 107 kgfm. Sua aerodinâmica também foi melhorada, possibilitando ao Audi R15 Plus um melhor arrasto aerodinâmico e velocidade em curvas em relação a seu antecessor. Tudo isso graças a varias mudanças em sua carroceria e a adoção de novos materiais e elementos em sua construção.

O bólido de competição foi desenvolvido pela Audi Design Team, que através de Markus Auerbach e Tobias Drew, mostraram sua satisfação em participar do projeto, dizendo: “Nós estamos felizes de sermos autorizados a dar ao carro um olhar progressista. Queríamos adicionar uma pitada de surpresa quando a Audi sair dos boxes em Le Mans”.

Poderemos ver uma pitadinha do modelo na sua estreia em competições, que acontecerá já nesse final de semana, dia 11 abril, na 8 Horas de Le Castellet. De acordo com a companhia, o evento servira apenas com um teste no desenvolvimento do Audi R15 PlusTDi: “Mesmo que seja difícil logisticamente, quisemos reunir experiências com o R15 em uma corrida o mais cedo possível. Le Castellet oferece a oportunidade de fazer isso”.

Fonte: AutomobileReviews

Daily Random Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• Couscous
• Veggie broth
• Can of diced tomatoes
• Heaped t curry powder
• Cayenne
  

METHOD:
In any case, cook it in veggie broth and the liquid from a can of diced tomatoes. Toss in a heaping teaspoon of curry powder, some cayenne and the rest of the tomatoes towards the end.

Yesterday it was announced that the latest version of Google’s Gmail for Mobile website has been tweaked to include Buzz status in the inbox.  It’s now possible to see what your friends are up to without opening another page or application.  The Gmail inbox on your Android handset (and iPhone) now gives you the same Buzz experience as you get with the desktop version.  This includes the ability to like posts, comment, and add in-line pictures.  Head to gmail.com from your Android phone today and see what the Buzz is all about.

Might We Suggest…

• Holy Cow! Google Translate for Animals Hits Android Market
  

  See what we did there with the title?  It’s a play on words!  Google has announced their latest Android application, Translate for Animals. Building off other their other translation apps, this on…

by Tom Laskawy

In “Chewing the Scenery,” we round up interesting food-related video from around the Web.

————-

Back in November, Grist’s own Bonnie Powell wrote a piece for the Ethicurean about the plight of Soul Food Farm, a Bay Area farm destroyed by a wildfire:

Around 1:30 a.m. on the night of September 3,
engineer-turned-chicken farmer Eric Koefed awoke thirsty, then saw a
terrifying orange glow through the windows. A couple hundred yards
away, just past the creek behind the house, a wall of fire was
devouring the trees and back pasture of Soul Food Farm.

“The farm is burning!” he screamed. “Wake up!”

…In the end, it took more than 150 fire fighters to subdue the six-alarm
fire on this ridge and valley in Vacaville. (The cause was later
determined to have been arson.) The fire crew stayed to patrol for two
days, and no houses were affected. The Koefoeds, however, lost roughly
1,200 baby chicks (destined to become broiler chickens representing two
weeks’ income the following month); a barn and mature plum trees dating
to the 1880s; and about 30 acres of lush, diverse green pasture (the
salad bar for their chickens).

But instead of giving up, the Koefoeds soldiered on and with the financial and physical help of the community were able to restart operations.

It is an unquestionably inspiring story—and more than enough to catch the attention of CNN’s Anderson Cooper, whose show, AC360, recently featured the farm’s resurrection. Check it out:

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by David Roberts

This weekend, I wrote a somewhat abstract post about how America’s built spaces prevent many Americans from connecting with the supportive social networks essential to health and happiness. Let’s zoom from the lofty down to the concrete. Let’s talk about my neighborhood.

I live in the Bitter Lake area of Seattle. (In the early 20th century, an adjacent sawmill dumped so much tannic acid into the lake that horses wouldn’t drink the water—thus the name.) It’s zoned as an “urban village,” but at least for now that designation is, er, aspirational. Most of it isn’t mixed use, but it’s not quite suburban. I guess it’s one of those “inner-ring suburbs” you hear about. It was developed in the 1950s-‘70s. Here’s my bit (with current public space in green):

68

As you can see it’s a fairly discrete area, bounded on four sides by busy arterials. Inside those arterials, there’s no reason you couldn’t have a thriving community. It already has a decent walkability score. There are a couple of parks; Greenwood boasts several restaurants and cafes; Aurora has an array of big box retailers; there’s a great supermarket just a few blocks north of 145th. There are more people coming in, too, as a series of condos are built along Linden.

But despite all the ingredients … there is no such community. The first and primal cause is that there are no %*#! sidewalks. (You hear me Mayor McGinn? Show me what the new guy can do!) But I think the problems run deeper. Look closely at the map and you’ll note that the development pattern is almost aggressively misanthropic. Everyone is isolated from everyone else! For a simple illustration, consider how my kids and I walk to Bitter Lake park:

Today, we take the route in orange. The shorter blue route would require either a road or a footpath to cut through residential areas. Also, the north end of the lake is private, so the blue path would require opening up at least a stretch of it as public space.

Distance-wise, the orange path isn’t all that much longer than the blue, but it feels like it. It runs along fairly busy streets with only patchy bits of sidewalk (%*#!). Linden is still slightly skeevy; we’d be nervous about letting the kids walk it without us. The blue route would be through a peaceful, heavily wooded residential area, more safely walkable or bikeable.

The seemingly small difference between the blue and orange routes is enough to make a fairly large difference is our daily life: we just don’t go to the park much, and thus don’t interact with the other Bitter Lakers who spend time there.

Making connections

That’s just one example of a pervasive problem. For instance, look at 138th going from Greenwood to Aurora:

WTF? Presumably they wanted to avoid making it into an arterial (which is what happened to 143rd). One way would have been to connect it to the streets above and below it in a grid pattern, narrow it, and install traffic-calming features like traffic circles. Another way would be to … stick a random gap in it. Now the only people who ever see the western chunk of 138th are people who live on it, and they never see anyone else. It’s an impenetrable, neighborhood-dividing peninsula.

The map doesn’t show it well, but see that spur of Dayton Ave N that juts off 138th? The houses on that little cul de sac are within a stone’s throw of my place. There may be all sorts of groovy people living there, but we’ll never know, because to get there we have to go north to 143rd, west to Greenwood, south to 138th, and east to Dayton. Suffice to say: we wouldn’t do that unless we already knew someone there, and we’d never meet anyone there unless we did it. So we don’t.

Consider how the character of the neighborhood might be different if it were more of a grid (additions in blue):

With these new streets (or bike/footpaths), people on 143rd, 141st, 138th, and 137th would actually be part of the same neighborhood. They could have block parties.

I guess in the ‘60s developers were in the grips of some pretty awful ideas about urban development. There was a love affair with cul-de-sacs and an effort to make almost every street in my area into one. Cul-de-sacs may feel safe, but their isolation from the surrounding neighborhood makes crime easier, not harder. They also make it difficult to walk anywhere, pushing people into cars, which prevent rather than facilitate spontaneous social interaction. By and large Seattle has turned against the cul de sac. (See also “The Cul-De-Sac Backlash” from Brad Plumer.) The thorny question is how to retrofit an area that’s already full of them.

Finding a center

One more fantasy-world addition to my neighborhood. Right now, only the very southern tip of Bitter Lake is public space. The west, north, and east sides are lined with private docks and piers, which go mostly unused.

What if a strip around the entire lake were made into a park, along the lines of Green Lake park (about 60 blocks south)? There could be a nice walking/running/biking path,  an area for a farmers market or food stalls, and plenty of greenspace. It could be accessed via Linden on the southeast, Greenwood on the west, or anywhere along the north end for residents of my neighborhood. Something like this, with public areas (including existing parks) in green:

Such a park would actually link the lake to the neighborhood above, offering everyone there a shared public space to walk, ride bikes, and congregate on a day to day basis. The park would also pull in people from outside the neighborhood and increase the property value of the entire area. (Have no fear: Linden is zoned to require a percentage of low-income housing.)

Interestingly, from 1930-1960, the entire south end of Bitter Lake was gathering place—an amusement park called Playland, served by a trolley (the Interurban) from Seattle:

Seattle Times archive

What a shame that the lake went from famous attraction to grubby, forgotten urban pocket.

For me personally, a neighborhood like the one sketched above would mean that once my boys are a little older, I could send them out the front door on a Saturday afternoon and say, “Be back by dinner time.” I’d know there’s a bounded neighborhood for them to explore,  with linked, diverse spaces filled with people they see them regularly, and who can keep an eye on them. It would mean a community.

Here’s the takeaway, for the few hearty souls still reading this logorrheic post: one of the biggest challenges in years ahead, as we attempt to densify and green our communities, will be retrofitting existing neighborhoods to increase walkability, sociability, sustainability, and safety. It’s worth a minute of anyone’s time to ponder how they could make their own surroundings more amenable to spontaneous, non-commercial, human-scale social interaction.

(And then after pondering and making blog posts with pretty pictures, it might even be worthwhile to start engaging with your local neighborhood groups and city council to get the slow, frustrating process of NIMBY-inhibited change underway. Here, for example, is the neighborhood plan for Bitter Lake, waiting around for funding. It looks cool!)

Related Links:

How to improve a Hummer’s mileage and add retro style

Everything you need to know about Obama’s new fuel-economy rules

Do Americans really make the connection between transportation, oil use, and environmental impacts?

What’s in a name, anyway? In this case, pecorino is a very general definition of a style of cheese, but it’s one with an incredible range of flavors.

Here, a guide to some of the most popular pecorinos, and what to be wary of, too. With a better grasp of the differences among all the types, you can stop wondering about which kind to grab when you’re cooking or snacking.

Read Full Post

I can tell you about the SR-71 Blackbird‘s titanium frame, its Pratt&Whitney J58-P4 engines, or its genesis. But that’s not important. What really matters is the thrill of flying it in an extremely dangerous mission, as remembered by this pilot.-JD More »

After all the rumors, talks and Carlos Ghosn’s never-ending hunt for a strategic alliance, we finally have an auto alliance that will make Germany, France and Japan pretty happy campers. Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG announced today that they will strategically cooperate on new tech and product-sharing that will benefit all who are involved. 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% in Renault and a 3.1% stake in Nissan.

Outlined in the somewhat lengthy press release are some key points that the two groups will cooperate on including:

• Cooperation on the next Smart ForTwo and Renault Twingo. We will see electric versions and an expansion of both models.
• Powertrain sharing and co-development on future projects on passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. We’ll see some sharing of new diesel and gasoline engines from Renault-Nissan used in Smarts and future compact Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Daimler will provide Infiniti with gasoline and diesel engines.

The strategic cooperation will be managed by Renault-Nissan B.V. for the Alliance and Daimler through a new cooperation committee giving representation to all parties. The cooperation committee will be co-chaired by Carlos Ghosn and Dieter Zetsche and steered by senior executives of the three companies.

Hit the jump for the press release for more details.

Press Release:

Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG announce wide-ranging strategic cooperation

– Cooperation on the next-generation smart fortwo and Renault Twingo, including electric versions, as well as on expanding the smart and Twingo families

– Widespread powertrain sharing and co-development on future projects with applications across passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, specifically:

– The sharing and co-development of diesel and gasoline engines from the Renault-Nissan Alliance; to be used in the new smart and Renault Twingo and to be adapted and modified with Mercedes-Benz characteristics for its new generation of premium compact cars
– The sharing of gasoline and diesel engines coming from Daimler to Infiniti, the luxury division of Nissan Motor Company, and providing the opportunity for further collaboration
– The sharing of a Renault-Nissan Alliance diesel engine and transmission for the Mercedes-Benz Vito

– Collaboration in the field of light commercial vehicles
– One-time cross-shareholding amounting to 3.1% of each partner’s equity capital
– Additional synergies encompassing selective common purchasing opportunities, exchange of operational benchmarks and best practices to be shared across both groups

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG today announced a broad strategic cooperation that will enable both groups to already realize benefits quickly from a range of concrete projects as well as sharing of best practices. 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% in Renault and a 3.1% stake in Nissan.

According to Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars,“Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance are combining common interests to form a promising foundation for a successful, strategically sound cooperation that is based on a number of very concrete and attractive project cooperations. Our skills complement each other very well.Right away, we are strengthening our competitiveness in the small and compact car segment and are reducing our CO2 footprint – both on a long-term basis.We know that we can make brand-typical products based on shared architectures.The individual brand identities will remain unaffected.”

Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, said: “The Renault-Nissan Alliance knows how to work successfully in collaborative partnerships, and this experience is extremely valuable in today’s and even more tomorrow’s global auto industry. This agreement will extend our strategic collaboration and create lasting value for the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler as we work on broadening and strengthening our product offering, efficiently utilizing all available resources and developing the innovative technologies required in the coming decade.”

Highlights of the Cooperation

Following intensive and productive talks,specific projects have been agreed upon and will be implemented with immediate effect. Specifically:

New common architecture for small vehicles

The successor to the current smart fortwo, a new smart four-seater and the next-generation Renault Twingo will be engineered on the basis of a jointly developed architecture.All vehicles will clearly differ from each other in terms of product design.One main characteristic of the new architecture will be the unique rear wheel drive concept used by current smart vehicles.

The launches of the jointly developed models are planned for 2013 onwards.The smart plant in Hambach, France will be the production location for the two-seater versions, while the Renault plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia will be the production location for the four-seater versions.Right from its market launch, the jointly developed future models will also be available with an electric drive.

Powertrains

The focus of the cooperation in the powertrain area is on the sharing of highly fuel-efficient, diesel and gasoline engines between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance will provide 3 and 4 cylinder gasoline and diesel engines out of its portfolio to Daimler, which will then be adapted and modified to reflect Mercedes’ characteristics. The result is a win-win situation for both sides: Daimler will be able to utilize Renault-Nissan Alliance engines and capture additional sales potential for Mercedes-Benz’ future lineup of premium compact cars, while the Renault-Nissan Alliance will improve its capacity utilization.

Daimler will provide gasoline and diesel engines out of its current portfolio to Infiniti. This includes 4 and 6 cylinder gasoline and diesel engines. The result is a win-win situation for both sides: Infiniti will be able to utilize Daimler engines, while Daimler will improve its capacity utilization.

Daimler, Renault and Nissan will also cooperate on future gasoline and diesel engines. Final production decisions for newly, co-developed engines will be taken at a later time, seeking a production network that is well balanced, thus benefiting all sides.

The area of engine cooperation will be driven by a technical concept that ensures the preservation and clear distinctiveness of the individual respective brand and product identities, while at the same time providing a highly competitive cost structure.First,a high level of standardization of the non-brand-relevant components will provide substantial savings for both partners. Second, the use of separate, brand-specific technology packages will ensure that the requirements of the respective brands are met.

Akey objective is to increase competitiveness of all partners through a substantial increase in volumes, leading to economies of scale and cost sharing in development.

Collaboration on light commercial vehicles

The companies have also agreed on a close cooperation in the light commercial vehicle segment.Mercedes-Benz Vans will expand its portfolio to offer an all-new entry-level, intended for commercial usage, from 2012 onwards. The technical basis of this van will come from Renault and will be produced at the Renault plant in Maubeuge, France. Both partners will benefit from higher unit sales, better capacity utilization, shared investment burden, resulting in a better overall cost basis.

In addition to cooperating on small commercial vehicles, selected powertrain components will also be shared to enlarge mid-size van product offering and sales volumes. This includes a small diesel engine and transmissions which Daimler will procure from Renault-Nissan for its mid-size van, the Mercedes-Benz Vito. This additional entry-level motorization will generate additional unit sales for Mercedes-Benz and optimized capacity utilization at Renault.

Equity Exchanges

This strategic cooperation is underscored through a one-time cross-shareholding structure which enables the three companies to exchange, benchmark and create synergies on the basis of a long-term mutually beneficial relationship. The overall construction of the deal is based on the principle of a 3.1/3.1/3.1 percentage cross-holding between Renault, Nissan and Daimler; it will be transacted through an exchange of shares:

– Daimler will get 3.1% of Renault’s newly issued shares;
– Daimler will get from Renault 3.1% of Nissan existing shares;
– Renault will get 3.1% of Daimler shares
– Renault has independently agreed to exchange 1.55% of Daimler with Nissan for 2% of Nissan shares;
– Renault and Nissan will each hold 1.55 % of Daimler treasury shares.

Further opportunities for collaboration

It is the intention of both groups to create a long-term framework to work closely on future areas of cooperation between Renault, Nissan and Daimler. Each company will pursue future opportunities following the closing of the agreement on the strategic cooperation and the implementation of the first major cooperation projects. These include opportunities to be studied on shared modules and components between Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz vehicles, regional cooperation in the United States, China and Japan between Nissan, Infiniti and Daimler. In addition, opportunities to co-develop technologies relating to electric vehicles and batteries will be explored between Renault, Nissan and Daimler.

– By: Omar Rana

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