Lotus made a true philosophy out of making light cars and they are not stopping now. Following its quest for lightweight, the British car manufacturer has submitted a patent application for a lighter, more compact dual-clutch transmission.
These applications are as vague as possible in order to prevent copying, therefore there’s not much detail we can share with you, as it is hidden in the abstract writing below. Whatever they’re working on, we’re sure it’s going to be good.
… (read more)
A few months back, the Mozilla Labs team launched a Jetpack extension contest for developers to spur interest in the community and also to showcase some of the emerging platform’s advantages, notably its ease of use and simplicity. Mozilla now announced the winner of an Asus Eee PC netbook, developer Davide Ficano for his JetColorTab jetpack, as well as the other notable entries.
“With over 50 entrants to the 50-line challenge, there were more than enough good jetpacks to choose from. Jetpack developers continue to forge ahead in creating new and different jetpacks,” the Mozilla Labs Jetpack team wrote. “This time, Davide’s jetpack mojo pushed him ahead of the pack for the win! Davide will receive a slick ASUS Eee PC netbook for his effort.”
The contest was introduced along with Jetpack 0.5 in September. The scope was to design the most interesting jetpack extension within 50 lines of code or less. Quite a few developers entered their creations, but the Mozilla team managed to work down to just three apps which stood out. The three developers and their jetpacks are:
– Makoto Terada’s JetpackFeatureInstaller
– Davide Ficano’s JetColorTab
– Aurélien Manca’s JetTabs
The winning jetpack isn’t exactly the most useful or the most practical … (read more)
Builder: Modern Congo Construction
Use: Offices
Ground Floor Plan.
First Floor Plan.
Second Floor Plan.
Third Floor Plan.
TreeHugger has a post on a proposal for mitigating climate change using a form of biomimicry from Pax Scientific’s Jay Harman (which I admit makes little sense to me) – A New Spin on Climate Engineering.
Jay Harman’s idea of using spiral dynamics to create spinning, vortex-shaped impellers that serve as heat sinks and buy us time to avert climate changes with a clean energy economy is not new. We’ve chronicled Harman’s biomimicry-inspired inventions before. And geoengineering’s promise has yet to be realized in combating warming temperatures. Yet Pax Scientific, a company Harman helped found, is now proposing to carry out a one-year study, says a special issue of Ode, to figure out exactly how much anthropogenic warming might be offset by Harman’s brand of atmospheric engineering, and at what cost.
Pax Scientific is proposing to carry out a one-year study that would use atmospheric modeling, energy scaling, and modeling of vortices to see if Harman’s theory that a vortex impeller could be used to mix the atmosphere, bringing it back into balance, and providing some cooling will work.
Computer modeling had already confirmed, according to Ode, that a 747 aircraft engine could create a vortex that could redistribute energy in a sky space 6 miles by 31 miles.
Of course, there are some unknowns and dangers, the first being how to keep the vortex under some semblance of control, as if it cut loose from its source, it could wreak havoc. Harman proporses setting up a nearby vortex to cancel out the first.
The city of Cleveland is also consider some less wild uses of biomimicry – Using the natural methods of ‘biomimicry’ to fix Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River.
This is the last in a series of stories printed in The Plain Dealer this year as part of “The Year of the River,” a recognition of the Cuyahoga River’s return to health 40 years after it infamously caught fire. This story looks to new hope for bringing life to the industrial mouth of the river.
Maybe biomimicry can finish saving the Cuyahoga.
The new, nature-inspired engineering could be the source of environmental improvements to the river that runs through Cleveland — especially in the biologically challenged, steel-lined shipping channel.
That someday is already dawning, some key river advocates say.
Biomimicry is the fast-growing field in which engineers, artists and designers are drawing more and more from natural examples of successful adaptations to solve human problems.
So maybe you can give me some directions what I can do. Im mostly interested in going out, sighseeing, seeing some countryside.
Maybe we can also meet up and have a beer or two.
An index that tracks a broad swath of medium-sized companies shows that that business profits are rising with the improving economy.
The index is distributed by Fifth Street Finance Corp., a publicly traded lender, and tracks a collection of 30 or so companies that it either lends to or owns a stake in. Companies include everything from Best Vinyl, a Utah- based vinyl fence installer, to Boot Barn, a California-based boot retailer and Filet of Chicken, a Georgia chicken processor.
Fifths Street index was at 782 in October, the third consecutive monthly increase, and up from 781 and 778 the previous two months. The index showed precipitous decline from it’s July 2008 peak of 1,021 through July of last year, as consumers retrenched and businesses cut back production.
The index tracks the companies Ebitda, a painful acronym that stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Ebitda tracks cash going in and out of a company, and thus can be a useful measure of how the underlying business is performing.
The measure is often misused by companies seeking to put a positive spin on their deteriorating finances, but Fifth Streets index tends to be a stricter measure of Ebitda because it uses the figure to monitor the financial covenants of companies in the index (meaning they can call a companys loan if the Ebitda measure falls below a certain number).
There was carnage in virtually every industry tracked in the index, though health care, which tends to resist recessions, was relatively stable, according to Leonard Tannenbaum, Fifth Streets chief executive.
The recent improvement says to use that small company health has stabilized, says Mr. Tannenbaum.
What would happen if Angelina Jolie and Chalize Theron had a baby with Megan Fox, Monica Belucci, and twelve hot actresses? I don’t know if this would be the result, but I’d like to watch them try. [Thanks David Keyes]
We had a feeling that after Microsoft removed the draconian OEM requirement from Windows 7 Media Center that we’d see more CableCARD tuners and we’re glad to say we were right. The original ATSC/QAM HDHomeRun was love at first sight for us three years ago, so we were very pleased to learn that the crew over at Silicon Dust was working on a network based CableCARD tuner. The dual tuner model in development will require just one CableCARD and one coax input, but will allow you to record two HD shows at once, and all for $249 — less than the single ATI CableCARD tuner sells for today. The nice thing about the networked tuner approach that has made the HDHomeRun so popular, is that even if you have your heart set on a small form factor PC like the Dell Zino HD, you can still have access to premium content even without any empty PCI-E slots. The only bad news is that the press release after the break has no mention of when this little guy might be available.
Continue reading HDHomeRun developing a dual CableCARD network tuner for $249
HDHomeRun developing a dual CableCARD network tuner for $249 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Working to be an even more pocketable pocket camcorder, Sanyo’s shrunk the front of its latest Xacti model to measure just 1.06 inches at its widest point while still recording 1080p video. The VPC-CS1 captures in MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 and is currently undergoing official certification to support iFrame. Images tout 8 megapixels, zoom up to 10x, and storage via SDXC cards. Release date and price? Let’s just say February and a penny under $300.
Sanyo’s Xacti VPC-CS1 HD camcorder vies for ‘world’s smallest’ title originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We have now received an official confirmation from a Sony Ericsson spokesperson that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2, which was meant to be exclusive to Vodafone UK, has now been officially dropped.
The statement reads as follows:
Sony Ericsson can confirm that the X2 will not be released by Vodafone in the UK. The delivery date of the product has slipped due to extended testing and the product, which was exclusive to Vodafone in the UK, no longer fits within their planned portfolio. The handset is available in other Sony Ericsson markets however. Sony Ericsson is disappointed not to make this phone available to consumers in the UK but in 2010 the company will be offering a number of innovative, stand-out products in the market.
While most of our readers will not miss the device, it is of note that at present there is no Windows Mobile phone with an 8 megapixel camera, and that the Xperia X2 corrected most of the deficiencies of the X1, meaning its loss will leave somewhat of a hole in the whole Windows Mobile ecosystem.
Given Sony Ericsson’s history with the X1 and X2, would our readers trust them with another handset? Let us know below.
We already knew that China is a top market for all carmakers out there and sales figures that have been emerging since January 1 come to confirm this. Ford for instance performed at least impressive in China, with the US-based manufacturer recording a 44 percent increase in 2009 as compared to the previous year.
Ford and its joint-ventures in China sold a total of 440,619 units last year, according to official figures. Ford Motor’s passenger car joint-venture in China, Changan For… (read more)
Filed at 4:20 a.m. ET
CHICAGO/LONDON (Reuters) – Members of Cadbury Plc’s
Cadbury is not only seeking a higher price than Kraft’s $16.8 billion (10.5 billion pound) hostile offer, but also a merger partner that would let the British chocolatier have some say in a combined company, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
“As they go through this process, they feel as though they want to have a management say in the organization and I think that they perceive that one of the suitors is better than the other,” one of the sources said.
Hershey has struggled for weeks to decide whether to take the risk of bidding for a company more than twice its size. However, even if it does not make an offer, the specter of a rival adds pressure on Kraft, which has until January 19 to raise its offer.
At this point, the decision “is in Hershey’s court,” according to a second source.
Hershey and Cadbury are already partners. They each hold the licenses to market the other’s products outside their domestic markets. The family-built companies share other similarities, including a history of charitable involvement in their communities.
Kraft has been betting against a rival bid emerging. On Tuesday the company raised the cash component of its offer, without changing the price.
Within hours, it drew a rare public show of opposition from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway
Cadbury shares fell 0.9 percent to 771 pence on Wednesday, all but eliminating the premium between Cadbury’s shares and the value of the Kraft bid, which stood at 769p per share.
CADBURY: NO CHASE FOR WHITE KNIGHT
Cadbury said on Wednesday that the company was not looking for a white knight.
“We are focused on delivering value to our shareholders and unless and until we have a credible offer that adequately reflects the strength of this business, there is nothing to comment upon,” the company said in a statement.
A Hershey spokesman declined to comment.
Hershey and Cadbury had both been viewed as vulnerable since Mars Inc, the maker of M&Ms and Snickers, bought chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr Co in 2008 to create the world’s largest confectioner. A tie-up with Cadbury has been seen as Hershey’s best chance to quickly move its business into faster growing markets outside of the United States.
Kraft said on Wednesday it had a 1.52 percent take-up from Cadbury shareholders for its bid by a first closing deadline of 1300 GMT on January 5.
It said the cash and shares bid, currently worth 769 pence per share, remained open until February 2. Investors are still hoping Kraft will improve the terms to 800 pence or more by January 19.
Kraft did receive some good news on its bid, with the European Commission giving conditional approval to the deal, as long as Kraft would divest Cadbury’s Polish and Romanian chocolate businesses.
Hershey and Italy’s Ferrero, which have both publicly expressed interest in Cadbury, have until January 23 to put in a competing offer.
Cadbury is expected to pre-release its 2009 results on January 12 and has until January 15 to give some further financial details.
(Reporting by Brad Dorfman. Writing by Michele Gershberg. Editing by Robert MacMillan and Tim Dobbyn)
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Off road military vehicles manufacturer Polaris announced today it is ready to unleash onto the public roads their first electric low speed vehicle (EV LSV), to be used by the military, civilians and federal government agencies. Well, "unleash" is a bit of an overstatement, as the Polaris can only reach 25 mph (40 km/h)…
But, in the end, is not the speed that matters. The EV LSV is built as an electric off-roader, with a 1,000-pound payload capacity, 1,250 lbs. of towi… (read more)
This looks like a Chinese viral video for Dell’s new OPhone Android smartphone line, but we’ll bite. In this video a faceless designer cuts up – and then reassembles – a Dell netback into a phone, complete with start-up sounds.
Real? No. Fun? Yes.
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di Paola Pierotti e Giorgio Santilli – Sole24ore.com
Tante inaugurazioni e pochi concorsi per l’architettura italiana del 2010. Si raccoglieranno (spesso in ritardo) i frutti di quanto è stato seminato nell’ultima decina d’anni ma di nuove grandi operazioni, da Nord a Sud, non si vede l’ombra. Effetti della recessione, della mancanza di risorse e dell’incertezza urbanistica delle città italiane che, non a caso, secondo il Rapporto Cresme anticipato dal Sole 24 Ore, fanno registrare un -25% anche nell’avvio di nuove opere pubbliche.
In questo scenario, la top ten dei progetti di architettura per il 2010 è in gran parte già scritta. Le sorprese saranno difficili e comunque poche. Oltre alle risorse, in questo momento le città mancano anche di coraggio. Niente concorsi, molti nastri tagliati, quindi, per farsi belli di scelte fatte in molti casi da amministrazioni passate.
Roma inaugurerà la stazione Tiburtina, progettata per le Fs dallo studio Abdr di Paolo Desideri: è la prima stazione della generazione Alta velocità a essere conclusa in Italia. Come già per le linee, anche la stazione produrrà innovazioni notevoli come nodo trasportistico e urbanistico.
Sempre nella capitale sarà inaugurato anche il museo comunale di arte contemporanea (Macro), firmato dalla francese Odile Decq.
Nel campo dei poli museali e culturali, quello dell’automobile di Torino del milanese Cino Zucchi con Proger e Recchi Engineering. Esordio ufficiale anche per il discusso auditorium di Ravello firmato dal brasiliano Oscar Niemeyer e sviluppato da Gnosis Architettura.
Prima delle elezioni regionali il presidente Roberto Formigoni inaugurerà la nuova torre della Regione Lombardia firmata dai newyorkesi Pei Cobb Freed & partners. Un complesso di edifici curvilinei con una torre alta 161 metri che resterà la più alta del capoluogo lombardo finché non sarà ultimata la riqualificazione dell’ex fiera con il progetto CityLife.
Sempre a Milano entro il 2010 lo studio 5+1AA ultimerà il nuovo headquarter di Sviluppo Sistema Fiera, poco lontano dalla Vela di Massimiliano Fuksas e dai due hotel di Dominique Perrault.
Tra le nuove architetture del 2010 ci sarà anche la Porta del Parco di Bagnoli nell’area del polo siderurgico ex Ilva. Due lanterne tecnologiche rivestite in acciaio e vetro che salgono da una grande piastra e ospitano un centro benessere di 6mila mq, con un auditorium da 300 posti. Il progetto hi tech, sviluppato da Bagnolifutura, è frutto di una variante firmata dallo studio di Silvio D’ascia, architetto quarantenne italiano con base a Parigi.
Tra le opere concluse negli ultimi mesi del 2009 c’è il nuovo Padiglione delle Fiera di Genova firmato da Jean Nouvel Atelier e aperto in occasione dell’ultimo Salone Nautico, una terrazza sul mare frutto di un concorso internazionale di architettura. Altra opera da poco inaugurata è il recupero dell’ex Arsenale della Maddalena firmato da Stefano Boeri, ideato per ospitare gli eventi del G8 alla Maddalena e realizzato in tempi record (18 mesi). Un prisma di cristallo che racchiude al suo interno un mix di funzioni e una sala conferenze a sbalzo sul mare e ospita un polo ricettivo con centro nautico, un hotel e porticciolo con 700 posti barca.
Per il prossimo futuro città medie e grandi annunciano più operazioni urbanistiche che iniziative legate all’architettura. Torino le idee se le è chiarite: ha sbloccato la torre di Renzo Piano per il grattacielo della banca Intesa San Paolo e procede anche l’iter per la realizzazione della sede regionale del Piemonte disegnata da Fuksas. Altre città come Parma e Salerno hanno già scelto i loro progetti pilota e nel 2010 cercheranno di passare dalla carta al cantiere.
Complessivamente il 2010 sarà però un anno "light" con un conseguente allungamento della crisi nel settore delle costruzioni e con effetti evidenti sulla qualità edilizia del nostro Paese.
Poche amministrazioni hanno idee chiare sui concorsi da lanciare nei prossimi mesi mentre lo strumento del concorso annaspa e rischia di scomparire del tutto tra timidezze amministrative e incertezze normative. Rispetto al resto dell’Europa se ne indicono pochi e quando si fanno, si fanno male. Per i professionisti pesa di più la riduzione delle opportunità future che il calo di lavoro attuale.
Le inaugurazioni per il 2010 riguardano anche il tema della casa che in prospettiva diventerà una priorità assoluta. A marzo saranno consegnati i 144 alloggi del quartiere Giustiniano Imperatore a Roma, dove sono stati demoliti gli edifici pericolanti ed è stato ricostruito un insediamento ex novo poco lontano dall’Ostiense, con residenze integrate con un parco urbano e una piscina.
A Milano saranno inaugurati nuovi interventi di social housing frutto dell’operazione "Abitare a Milano" promossa dal Comune, sulla linea di quelli già ultimati in via Gallarate e firmati da Mab arquitectura.
I riflettori sono puntati anche sulle iniziative promosse a Mestre da Immobiliare Veneziana e sempre nel capoluogo lombardo da Cariplo (Fondazione Housing Sociale). "Sul tema del social housing – interviene Cino Zucchi – bisogna pensare a spazi capaci di rispondere ai bisogni dei nuovi soggetti sociali ma anche alle forme di gestione della comunità nel tempo". Altrettanto importante è "studiare modelli innovativi che trovino un equilibrio tra soggetti pubblici e privati, capaci di creare spazi abitati che sappiano incarnare valori che durano nel tempo".
7 gennaio 2009
If you are unfamiliar with robot vacuums then let us fill you in. They are not like Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons, they do not have a personality, and they have not yet mastered the staircase. They are a robotic, saucer shaped motorized vacuum which can hover around the house vacuuming unattended. Neato Robotics has developed a robot vacuum cleaner that will certainly give the Roomba a bang for its buck. The Neato XV-11 all-floor vacuum system is armed with 360 degree laser vision which maps out your entire floor space and identifies and avoids most obstacles (rather than just bumping in to them). Neato Robotics has created a “smarter robot that thoroughly cleans an area in less time.” Neato uses the energy that saves from its more efficient cleaning route to greatly enhance its vacuuming power. Neato is less than four inches high making it ideal for cleaning under beds and couches. Neato’s “D” shape also makes it a more efficient cleaner than Roomba, allowing it to really get in to those corners. It also has a larger dirt bin. After completing its cleaning, Neato will return back to its base to recharge itself. Make use of Neato’s scheduler to have it clean the house every day. The Neato XV-11 all-floor vacuum system will be available in February 2010 from the U.S. Neato Robotics website. Retail price will be $399, and they even offer a 30-day money back guarantee and a one-year limited hardware warranty. We can’t wait to place Neato and Ronnie Roomba head to head!
Indian Oil to grow biodiesel cropsStrategyEye (subscription)Non-edible oilseeds, such as jatropha, will be cultivated on the land and used for biodiesel production. IOC has purchased 32000 hectares of land in the …
Nick Heidfeld has accepted the fact that Michael Schumacher’s unexpected comeback diminished his own chances of driving in Formula 1 for 2010, but holds no grudge against his fellow countryman, on the contrary, the former BMW Sauber F1 driver said he is happy for Schumacher and thinks it will be a great thing for the sport of Formula One.
Despite being implicated in the sport for so long, Heidfeld admitted he was surely taken by surprise by some of the moves and changes that happe… (read more)
By Mercedes Bunz, Media Reporter, Guardian
Don’t be surprised if you find some porn among the sport highlights, children’s cartoons or music videos you are looking for on YouTube today. A web forum, the notorious 4chan, has declared today YouTube Porn Day.
To take vengeance for the apparent removal of the popular YouTube account of Lukeywes1234, 4chan called on its members to upload hidden porn onto the site.
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By Mark Cuban, Blogger, Blog Maverick
I get pitched continuously. Email after email. 99pct get deleted within 10 seconds.
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