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Nick Reilly will unveil today Opel’s new management team that will be in charge of the revival of the German group. At least, this is what European government and unions are expecting as Reilly promised several times that his new team will see daylight in mid-January.

"I expect that on Friday a management team will finally be presented," one Opel board member told Reuters in a statement. "In the organizational structure there was always a (perpendicular) direct line and a so-ca… (read more)

Filed under: Advice, Fitness, Ask a Fitness Expert

Dear Sarah,

Dear Serena,

Training intensity can have a significant impact on the success of your exercise program. One of the best ways to detect exercise intensity is by monitoring your heart rate. This acts as good marker for the exercise intensity during cardiovascular training.

Cardio machines calculate your heart rate based on the information you provide. This calculation is based on your Heart Rate Max (HR max). The machine’s calculation can vary in accuracy from machine to machine and person to person. In order to be sure that you are exercising at the appropriate intensity, I recommend ditching the machine calculations and formulating your own. No machine knows your body like you do.

Continue reading Want to Check Your Workout? Check Your Heart Rate

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Yo Intel, when your 2008 fourth quarter was one of the worst you ever recorded, it’s slightly, just slightly, facetious to go trumpeting an 875 percent improvement in your 2009 fortunes. The self-appointed chipmaking rock star has clocked up $10.6 billion in revenues for the last quarter, which filters down to $2.3 billion in pure, unadulterated, mother-loving profit. That’s good and indeed technically nearly nine times what the company achieved in the same period the previous year — we’d just appreciate this to be represented as the recovery it is, rather than some major leap forward in the face of a global financial meltdown. Either way, the Santa Clara checkbook is now well and truly balanced, even if it would’ve looked fatter still but for the small matter of a $1.25 billion settlement reflected in last quarter’s results.

Intel profits recover to $2.3 billion in Q4 2009, company describes it as 875 percent jump originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a little bit of color for you. The gang at Retro Thing have brought our attention to a republished 1983 Stereophile review of the Sony CDP-101, the first-ever CD player. The results were that the audio quality was promising but not stellar, and the $1,000 (!) cost of entry for the device made it even less alluring. Knowing how history unfolded, we can’t help but chuckle a bit at the worry that CDs would in the near-term become obsolete by another physical disc medium, but hey, we can’t blame them for not being psychic. Just think, one day our own reviews will be discovered for the future to laugh about — paying over $500 for a device that doesn’t do multitouch on its native apps? What’s up with that? Find yourself 15 to 30 minutes of quiet time and hit up the source link for a blast from the past.

1983 review of Sony’s first-ever CD player unearthed: hindsight’s a beautiful thing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 01:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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American manufacturer Ford posted yesterday its sales results for Europe and announced it has consolidated its number 2 position in 2009, with a market share for its 19 main European markets now standing at 9.1 percent, 0.5 percent more than in 2008 and the best market share it had since 1998.

"This is a great performance in a very difficult year for the European auto industry," John Fleming, Ford of Europe CEO said in a release. "Our achievement in growing our market share – … (read more)

Eco Factor: Low-emission vehicle powered by a hybrid engine.

Hyundai has showcased its first ever plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Blue-Will, at the Detroit Auto Show. The four-seat sedan concept will offer an electric-only driving range of up to 40 miles on a single charge and its fuel economy will be more than 100mpg.

(more…)

Do you use Trader Joe’s Almond Meal?  It seems that people either love it or they haven’t noticed it yet! Almond meal is simply finely ground almonds with the skin on.  It’s perfect for making this firm but moist almond bread that is low carb, high protein, and gluten-free!  I love the nutty taste of it and find the texture pretty appealing – the kind of bread to be enjoyed with some cream cheese, jam, honey, or just plain.  The bonus is that almonds are packed with nutritional value, including plenty of protein, vitamin E, monounsaturated (good) fats, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, calcium, folic acid, and fiber.  Most other breads can’t really compare.

My husband is gluten-free and I often bake and experiment with alternative flours.  I was curious about making a bread out of almond meal since it’s so conveniently available at TJ’s.  I stumbled upon a recipe at Elana’s Pantry, an inspiring gluten-free recipe blog.  Elana’s bread recipe uses almond flour, which is pretty similar to almond meal, except that almond flour uses almonds that have been blanched (skin removed).  In Elana’s recipe, she made a mini loaf in a 4×6.5-inch pan.  I played around with the recipe, adjusting so I could use nearly the whole bag of TJ’s almond meal and make a larger standard-size loaf.  The recipe is really simple – just a quick mix of a small number of ingredients.  In fact, I was done measuring, mixing, and loading the pan in the few minutes it took my oven to preheat!

I haven’t experimented yet with additions to this recipe, but I think it would yield great banana bread or blueberry muffins. 

What else can you do with almond meal?  You can use it to coat chicken or fish before baking or pan-frying.  In “Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s” we feature a unique and tasty almond pudding recipe – simple with a lot more nutritional value and flavor than your typical pudding.  And the world of almond-based cookies, cakes, and breads seems endless.  My kids and I recently made some light crunchy almond cookies using just the almond meal and no other flour – they loved the cookies and named them “marzipan cookies.”  Do you have any favorites uses or recipes?

Almond Bread

4 1/2 cups almond meal
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
5 eggs
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1.) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2.) In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
3.) In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and add the remaining wet ingredients.
4.) Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix thoroughly.
5.) Transfer the mixture to a 5×9-inch standard loaf pan, lightly oiled (a spray oil makes it easy).
6.) Bake for 60+ minutes or until a skewer/knife inserted in the bread comes out clean. 
7.) Cool and slice.

Makes one loaf (if you want to try a mini loaf, just follow Elana’s original recipe, substituting almond meal for almond flour)

Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This

Sick of feeling sick? Dr. Janine Bowring, ND, offers five steps to help prevent and treat colds and flu.

Q: We always talk about treating a cold or flu, but are there ways to prevent one in the first place?

A: Prevention is key in keeping a healthy immune system. As naturopathic doctors, we don’t like to use the word “strengthening” as an immune system that is too efficient causes a whole host of auto-immune disorders.

There are five key steps in both preventing and treating the cold and flu:

1. Antioxidants are the key to healthy cells and a healthy immune system. Whole food antioxidants contained in superfoods, such as pomegranates, goji berries, blueberries, blackberries, acai berries, and cranberries, help to fight the free radicals that are toxic to our systems and deplete our immunity.

There is a list of fruits and vegetables that are highest on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale. This means that these fruits and vegetables are rated highest in their ability to naturally quench free radicals. The above named fruits rank as some of the highest. In the vegetable category, kale ranks highest. Spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and carrots are also great choices and have a high ORAC value.

Continue reading 5 Steps to Prevent a Cold or Flu: What to Eat, What to Avoid

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Call us cheesy, but the video below is just adorable.

Hallmark, manufacturers of fine greeting cards and pointlessly sentimental holdiays, have launched augmented reality greeting cards. Like some of the prototypes we’ve played around with, the whole affair involves a little real-world hardware (in this case a webcam and a Hallmark card) and a little AR magic. The cards come to life with animation and sound, and the recipient is presumably swept off his or her geeky little feet.

Sponsor

Called “webcam greetings” so as not to alarm the less technically savvy, these cards will appear as an initial batch of ten for the saccharine love-fest on February 14. Additional greetings will be rolled out throughout the year.

The lucky recipients of these AR greeting cards will have to go to Hallmark’s website and follow a few directions using their webcam to view their animated song-and-dance. Project manager Monic Muldrew stated, “As Hallmark embarks upon our next 100 years in business, it’s important to continually identify new ways to help amplify the emotions our consumers feel when experiencing and sharing our products. With the experience available through these cards that come to life with a webcam, we hope consumers will fully explore and interact with this fun new way to connect.”

If Hallmark can demonstrate and market these cards correctly, they could help bring AR to the masses – all while turning a decent profit, as well. Most of the AR cards will retail for $2.99. Some will include a sound clip that plays when the recipient opens the card without going online. These deluxe bells-and-whistles editions will sell for $5.99. The entire line of AR cards will be available wherever Hallmark cards are sold.

What do you think: Are augmented reality greeting cards simply a gimmick, destined to be Hallmark’s equivalent of Crystal Pepsi? Or do you think the traditional company’s forward-looking direction will help it adapt and financially prosper in changing – and increasingly digital – times? Let us know your opinions in the comments.

Discuss

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Daily Random Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 1/2 t enrG egg replacer + 6 T water
  
• 3/4 cup sugar in the raw
  
• 1/2 cup melted margarine
  
• 1 scant teaspoon anise extract
  
• 1 cup unbleached flour
  
• 1 t vital wheat gluten
  
• 1 t caraway seeds
  

METHOD:

Plug in pizzelle maker to allow it to heat up.

Beat egg replacer and water until smooth. Then gradually add the sugar and beat for a while (The crystals take a while – i left mine somewhat grainy and they turned out fine.)

Add margarine and anise and beat. Then add flour and gluten and beat some more. Sprinkle and hand mix in the caraway seeds. If the dough gets too thick from the gluten, add a bit more water til you get it about the consistancy of waffle batter.

Put a big spoonful in the middle of the pizzelle maker and bake for 20-30 seconds, until they start to turn golden brown. Turn out onto a cookie rack and let cool completely so they are nice and crispy.

NOTES:

They are also yummy warm topped with fresh fruit!

This makes 8-10 pizzelles, depending on how large and thick they are. enjoy!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of LG Chocolate Touch. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don’t think of the LG Chocolate Touch as a phone with a killer music player, I think of it as a killer music player with a phone. The Original LG Chocolate was also media center oriented, but wow, was I surprised with the quality of the audio this phone was able to play. Who knew my mp3s sounded so good? Let’s be honest. God didn’t create all mp3s the same. Nor did he create all headphones and auditory perceptions the same. The Chocolate Touch coupled with the patented Dolby Mobile Technology gave me the power to make any mp3 sound exactly as I wished it could sound. This phone also restored the little faith I had left in my 3 year old ear buds. A few of my songs even convinced me I was listening to music in surround sound. Now I am an avid iPhone user, and swear by the phone, but for a company that started off making music players and progressed to the phone, I want to know why they can’t make MP3s sound as good as Chocolate. It certainly offers an extremely rich listening experience with “potent bass and sparkling clarity.”

One feature that should be a universal standard for all phones and MP3 players is enabling the device as removable storage for your computer and allowing you to drag all your music on as if it were a flash drive. It just makes life easy [end point]. Obviously, the first thing I wanted to do upon receiving the LG Chocolate Touch loaner was to get my music on there and see what all the fuss was about Dolby Mobile. It was a good sign that the box came with no CD, which meant probably no required drivers, which hopefully means no required software installations? Yes! I was able to plug the phone into right in to my computer, see the drive as an external storage device (like a flash drive), navigate to “My_Music” and bam, I was transferring songs in seconds. Love it! I didn’t have to install any software, perform any conversions, or get through a lengthy syncing process. Even better, I was also able to retrieve the test shots and vids I took with the camera from the storage device. Adding photos was just as breezy, no wait, breezier*. I didn’t have to specify photo albums to share or optimize. Just dragged and dropped all the pics I wanted to add. With Windows this was all extremely easy, when I wanted to add more music from my Mac I ran into an issue–lack of support. I couldn’t access my Chocolate Touch via its microUSB cable. Fortunately, I figured out a work around and hat didn’t turn out to be too big of an issue. I was able to just remove the MicroSD card from the phone, pop it in an adapter and then in to my computer. Once again I had easy access to the files on my phone including pictures, videos, and music. Just make sure you set the phone to store these files on the external memory, rather than internal, in the settings.

 

If that seems like more work than you’re willing to go through, you can connect your Mac with your LG Chocolate via Bluetooth. Similarly all of your phone’s folders and files will pop up enabling you to add pictures, videos, and music, or pull files directly from your phone, wirelessly! There were a lot of bluetooth features on the LG Chocolate Touch, which seem to still be rare for cell phones (ahem ahem iPhone). In addition to sending and receiving files (from phone or from computer), I was able to easily to print directly from my phone to my little wireless Polaroid PoGo printer. I will say I was a bit disappointed that LG Chocolate was unable to pair to my Sony MW600 A2DP Bluetooth headset. It does has A2DP bluetooth stereo streaming support. I guess it just didn’t like my Sony (or vice versa).

Navigating music was easy on the LG Chocolate Touch. Everything is very simple. It doesn’t have the fit and finish of, lets say, the iPhone, but music and media is well organized in a minimalistic fashion still organized by song, genre, artist, album. All of the music on Chocolate, which I had originally organized in iTunes, preserved its meta information i.e. artist, track name, and even the album art. There’s a search button too allowing you to find any song you’re looking for. Another feature I liked was the ability to make playlists on the fly. Notice I said playlists and not playlist. If you’re not in the mood for your own music then tune into the built in FM Radio. FM Radio requires headphones, which it uses as an antenna. You can still play the music over speakerphone, as you can with any of the music on the phone. The FM tuner interface is nice, allowing you to set 12 presets. It also pulls song information (RBDS support) from many of the stations.

When playing music you have options–to keep you entertained and to ensure the greatest possible listening conditions. The most unique is the Join the Band feature. This allows you to join along by playing the keyboard or drums while playing any song of your choosing. The Rhythmical Beat feature is another unique option enabling your handset to vibrate to the beat of the music. I have not yet figured out when this would be necessary, but never the less–cool. For songs lacking cover art you can choose your own image from your picture album. The best feature is the Dolby Customizable EQ settings. As I mentioned earlier, all mp3s are encoded differently and not going to sound optimal on just any headset. These EQ settings give you the control to choose what sounds best. With Dolby presets: flat, bass boost, treble boost, vocal boost, and classical you are sure to find your ideal sound. If you’re feeling daring enough you can use manual EQ and adjust EQ settings across 4 bands. I put music ranging from heavy metal, to indy, to oldies on my Chocolate, so I found myself often changing the EQ for a more pleasant sound. Multi-tasking is great while music or FM is playing. Your listening experience will be uninterrupted. Also on the homescreen is a nice little audio visualizer while music is playing. The speakerphone on the phone, as mentioned, will play your music and FM radio. You can certainly crank it up, but the audio does not live up to the Dolby name. The quality is just subpar (but I remind you, it is loud). Also the speaker is located on the back of the phone, so unless you place your phone screen down on a surface, it will sound muffled.

When your phone is also your camera, it should work like a camera. Hence there should be a physical button to quickly turn it on and a physical button to quickly take a picture. The Chocolate Touch thankfully has this dedicated camera button, allowing you to be taking a picture within seconds of removing the phone from your pocket (not forcing you to go through on screen menus to get to the camera). Also, hold down the camera button for 3 seconds to enter the video camera. You can record 30 second clips to send your friends, or save up to one hour of video. The pictures from the 3.2 megapixel camera come out pretty nice with the default/maximum resolution of 2048×1536. The videos also come out pretty nice, for a phone. Just up the resolution to 320×240 and you should be more or less satisfied. On both Camera and Video Camera there are customizable brightness, white balance, shutter sound, color effects, and self-timer, which certainly come in handy when trying to perfect a picture or video. No camera flash, but that is okay since they usually stink anyway on phones.

Overall I was pretty impressed with the media center aspect of LG’s Chocolate Touch. You can store movies on it too, which is great for those long car and train rides. The only issues I had with this media center of a phone is that there are no hard button audio controls: play/pause skip track…

Specs:

Internal Storage: 1gb
External Storage: MicroSD (not included) up to 16gb
Compatable Audio: MP3, WAM, and unprotected AAC/AAC+ files
Video formats: WMV, MP4, 3GP, and 3G2
Display: 3-inch touchscreen
Camera: 3.2 megapixel
Camera Resolutions: 2048 x 1536 (default), 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 800 x 480, 640 x 480 Pixels
Video Resolutions: 320 x 240, 176 x 144 (default) pixels
Bluetooth: version 2.1 with A2DP
headset jack: standard 3.5mm
Dimensions: 4.3 x 2.2 x .47 inches
Battery: 5.1 hours talk, 470 hours standby

MySpace Records, the indie record label that’s a joint venture between the social network and Interscope Records, is going through some changes. Not to be confused with MySpace’s popular MySpace Music free streaming portal, MySpace Records is a small record label designed to help promising new artists get early exposure. Earlier this evening, LA-based radio station KROQ reported that MySpace Records may have been disbanded. We’re hearing from multiple sources that that isn’t entirely accurate: A handful of people were let go from the label’s small team, and the label’s GM Jay Scavo has returned to Hollywood Records. But all artists currently signed to MySpace Records will remain on the label, and the partnership with Interscope remains.

That’s sure to be good news for the label’s artists, which include Pennywise and Nico Vega. The label has also previously featured a handful of artists who were eventually promoted to the main Interscope label, including Kate Voegele and Mickey Avalon. However, while the current artists are safe, we’re hearing that the direction of the label and its future structure are still up in the air.

When MySpace Records launched, MySpace planned to leverage its then-recent acquisition by News Corp to turn the label into a jumping off point for hot new bands (former CEO Chris DeWolfe was quoted as saying they’d get the bands into Fox movies and TV shows). Obviously it hasn’t performed as well as everyone hoped, but MySpace has still managed to help kickstart the careers of quite a few well known bands. Likewise, its MySpace Music site continues to perform well despite MySpace’s slowdown in other areas.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

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Filed under: Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This

A new study from the Journal of Cancer Research, supported by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), published findings that show promise for the prevention of lung cancer. The study found that folate, multivitamins and green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of lung cancer in current and former smokers.

The consumption of certain micronutrients may lessen a process called methylation, which has an effect on gene signaling. Since many genes in lung tumors, including those responsible for cell division and other significant cell processes, are methylated, researchers speculated that nutrients decreasing methylation may reduce risk of lung cancer.

The nutrients studied included a multivitamin rich in phytochemicals like vitamin C, carotenoids, lutein, folic acid, vitamin A and vitamin K. Researchers also showed that reduced gene methylation occurred with consumption of these micronutrients as components of green leafy vegetables.

Continue reading Cut Risk of Lung Cancer with Leafy Greens and Vitamins

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Eco Factor: Carbon-neutral architecture generates renewable energy.

Designed by E. Kevin Schopfer, AIA, RIBA, the Boston Arcology (BOA) is designed to provide safe and dry living space to over 15,000 people after rising oceans swallow the cities in which we live today. The floating city will provide housing distributed in hotels, offices, retail, museums, condominiums and a city hall.

(more…)

Call us cheesy, but the video below is just adorable.

Hallmark, manufacturers of fine greeting cards and pointlessly sentimental holdiays, have launched augmented reality (AR) greeting cards. Like some of the prototypes we’ve played around with, the whole affair involves a little real-world hardware (in this case a webcam and a Hallmark card) and a little AR magic. The cards come to life with animation and sound, and the recipient is presumably swept off his or her geeky little feet.

Sponsor

Augmented reality is a term to describe the layering of digital content over real-world objects and images. It’s come into vogue over the past year or two with certain advances in image recognition, 3D video rendering and smartphone software.

Hallmark’s cards, called “webcam greetings” so as not to alarm the less technically savvy, will appear as an initial batch of ten for the saccharine love-fest on February 14. Additional greetings will be rolled out throughout the year.

The lucky recipients of these AR greeting cards will have to go to Hallmark’s website and follow a few directions using their webcam to view their animated song-and-dance. Project manager Monic Muldrew stated, “As Hallmark embarks upon our next 100 years in business, it’s important to continually identify new ways to help amplify the emotions our consumers feel when experiencing and sharing our products. With the experience available through these cards that come to life with a webcam, we hope consumers will fully explore and interact with this fun new way to connect.”

If Hallmark can demonstrate and market these cards correctly, they could help bring AR to the masses – all while turning a decent profit, as well. Most of the AR cards will retail for $2.99. Some will include a sound clip that plays when the recipient opens the card without going online. These deluxe bells-and-whistles editions will sell for $5.99. The entire line of AR cards will be available wherever Hallmark cards are sold.

What do you think: Are augmented reality greeting cards simply a gimmick, destined to be Hallmark’s equivalent of Crystal Pepsi? Or do you think the traditional company’s forward-looking direction will help it adapt and financially prosper in changing – and increasingly digital – times? Let us know your opinions in the comments.

We love AR tech at RWW – why not check out some of the goodies in our Augmented Reality Archives?

Discuss

Michael Schumacher concluded the GP2 test in Jerez on Thursday, after finally being able to do some proper driving on the Spanish track in the last day of the session. Scheduled to take the wheel of a development GP2 machinery for three days in a row, Schumacher was unable to complete some decent test days because of poor weather on Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, the clear sky on Thursday – although joined by some strong winds in the afternoon – gave the 41-year old German the opportunity to… (read more)

The iPhone’s application capabilities continue to astound us. We’ve seen on-the-fly multitrack recording already in our a cappella review of Sonoma’s 4Track app, but this one takes it to a whole new level. Voice band is a multitrack recording app that lets you build up the sound of a full band, including guitars, bass, drums, sax, synths and vocals, using only your voice as an input. The demo video after the jump shows just how simple this process is, and how astoundingly good the results are. Amazing stuff…

Tags: iPhone,
iPhone Apps,
Record,
Sound

Related Articles:

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• Why PAL PS3 owners should import Rock Band
• GarageBand ’09 will teach you how to play guitar and piano
• Sony working to make Rock Band, Guitar Hero instruments compatible

Eco Factor: Zero-emission supercar powered by an electric drivetrain.

In addition to some green rides being displayed at the Detroit Auto Show, there’s much more going on in the green transportation world elsewhere in the world as well. Radical Sportscars has launched the SRZero at the Autosport International 2010 being held in Birmingham.

(more…)

Porsche unveiled its 2010 911 GT3 R race car today at the Autosport International show at the Birmingham NEC in the UK. Porsche can claim more than 28,000 race victories in almost every motor sports series worldwide, and while many of these successes have been achieved with immensely powerful specialist race cars like the evocative 917 and 956, the iconic 911 sports coupe is the bedrock on which the racing reputation of the Stuttgart marque has been built. The new GT3 R is the purpose-built racetrack version of the 911 road car, weighs just 1,200 kg, develops 480 bhp, is technologically orgiastic, and costs EUR 279,000 (US$400,000)…

Tags: 911,
GT3,
Porsche

Related Articles:

• Porsche to build new Panamera four-door Sports Coupe for 2009 launch
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• Porsche’s 911 race car for the road – the 911 GT3 RS
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