As we have expected and reported earlier this week, the FIA plans to fight back on the crashgate scandal and uphold sanctions, at least regarding Formula One participation, for Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds.
We remind you that Briatore’s appeal with the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance allowed him to reverse the World Motor Sport Council trial and sanctions, but did not clear him nor Pat Symonds of the race fixing allegations.
With this new development of the cr… (read more)
Ion’s Toasty is truly the bastard child of a snuggy and an electric heating pad. This is the world’s first electric blanket with sleeves. With ION TOASTY, you can read a book, answer the phone, or type on your computer, all while staying toasty warm. Regular electric blankets are made for the bed, but ION TOASTY is specifically made for you to enjoy on the couch, in a chair, or anywhere else!
Tata brought out the big guns at the New Delhi Auto Show, as the Indian producer had a display of 37 models, including the Tata brand, Land Rover and Jaguar. One of the cars on display is the Tata Indica Vista Sport Concept.
According to the Indians, the Tata Indica Vista Sport, a concept, reiterates the versatility of the Vista platform. The car has black "petal-shaped" headlights, a hexagonal grille, side inlets, and large air intake to make it look sporty.
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Now that 3D is in, like, everything—say 152-inch giant plasmas and little tiny OLED screens—it’s a good time to revisit how the hell 3D actually works. Surprisingly, no gnomes involved: [Giz Explains 3D Tech]
For most people on the prowl for employment, job fairs are something of a mixed blessing. Yes, they can sometimes lead to job opportunities. But it’s often very difficult to separate yourself from the dozens (or hundreds) of other prospective applicants in attendance — at the end of the day, you’re probably just another resume in the stack. The Hacker Dojo, a community center that caters to developers in the Mountain View area, is looking to turn that model on its head with The Hacker Fair. Where developers actually get to show off their coding talents to the employers in attendance.
Here’s how they describe it:
At the Hacker Fair, the job seekers are the ones giving demonstrations, and the recruiters are the ones walking around.
Think of it as a “science fair” where the “science projects” are the developers’ personal and side projects, the “judges” are recruiters, and the “prizes” are interviews and hopefully job offers!
The event will be taking place on January 16th from 10am – 1pm, in Mountain View CA (you can find more details on signing up here). It will be attended by some of Silicon Valley’s most well known companies, including Yahoo, Microsoft, Mozilla, Yelp, and plenty more. Microsoft is even sponsoring breakfast.
For those who attend, feel free to let us know how it goes in the comments. I’m guessing a few of the hackers may get creative with their projects, and employers won’t know what to expect, which should make things even more interesting.
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Here’s the new Samsung Projector Phone showing off the newest Texas Instrument DLP Pico WVGA Chipset, which has a 845 x 480 resolution and a 2000:1 contrast ratio for projection sizes greater than 50 inches, depending on the ambient light.
The cellphone is just your usual 5-megapixel, AMOLED touchscreen device, but it’s the integrated projector what really gets my fluids going. These things are getting better and betterer so fast, that I can’t wait for the day I can project a THX-compliant 3D Indiana Jones remaster over the ass of this dude I have in front of me.
Une exposition virtuelle qui vous emmène à la découverte de l’architecture des années ’50 et ’60 à Bruxelles, un patrimoine d’une richesse insoupçonnée.
American manufacturer Ford debuted yesterday at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas a new driver connect technology called MyFord Touch.
The technology, a blend between SYNC and other applications, is, according to Ford, an "intuitive connected driver experience" which will replace many of the traditional vehicle buttons, knobs and gauges.
MyFord features more voice commands, LCD screens that can be customized and five-way … (read more)
Eye-Fi Inc. has chosen the 2010 CES show to unveil the latest in its already impressive range of Wi-fi enabled SD cards, the Eye-Fi Pro X2. As well as featuring an enhanced capacity of 8GB and Class 6 read and write speeds, the Pro X2 comes to the party with “Endless Memory Mode”, enabling the user to free up space by automatically deleting images from the card once they have been successfully uploaded. ..
Tags: CES 2010,
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Memory,
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SD,
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PARO is an animatronic baby seal companion robot designed by some very clever people with one simple purpose in mind – to make you love him. From everything we’ve seen, he’s exceptionally talented at his job, melting the hardest hearts and bringing a big silly smile to everyone who meets him. But although he might be a wonderful toy, PARO’s real purpose is to address a serious problem that’s affecting Japan right now, and will soon spread across much of the Western world…
Tags: Animals,
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Article Tags: Gerald Warner
Wow! That Copenhagen package really worked. Global warming has been dramatically reversed. In fact, if Al Gore could see his way to turning the heat back up just a little, most of us would be deeply appreciative…
“Climate science” is the oxymoron of the century. There is not a city, town or hamlet in the country that has had its weather conditions correctly forecast, over periods as short as 12 hours, during the past week. This is the “exceptionally mild winter” that the climate change buffoons warned us would occur as a consequence of global warming. Their credibility is 20 degrees below zero.
Yet nothing shames them, nothing persuades them to come out of the bunker with their hands high and “fess up”. Patronisingly fobbing off the public with fabricated excuses has become second nature to them. Latterly they have been concocting alibis about the Gulf Stream to explain Britain’s Arctic conditions. Uh-huh? Is it the Gulf Stream that has frozen the Vistula and given Poland a temperature of –25C? Is it the Gulf Stream that has caused the worst blizzards in Beijing since 1951?
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
Whether it was the free Chipotle for the 6th Man section, the prospect of seeing Lil’ Romeo or merely the excitement of a Pac-10 home opener, Stanford men’s basketball played to a full house at Maples Pavilion last night with 6,520 fans in attendance. Romeo didn’t show for the Trojans’ 54-53 loss, but the Cardinal combo of sophomore Jeremy Green and senior Landry Fields did – and they put on a better show than most expected after Stanford went 1-4 during winter break.
While the win, which pushed the Cardinal to 1-1 in conference play (7-7 overall), was by no means a runaway full of glitz and glamour, Stanford finally earned a victory in a meeting that came down to the final possessions – a much needed statement after the team lost two games this year by two points or fewer.
Coach Johnny Dawkins said the ball just bounced in Stanford’s favor during this trip down the stretch, while Fields offered a different explanation: sheer resolve.
When asked what was going through his mind as Stanford’s seven-point lead evaporated in the final minute, Fields simply said, “We’re not losing this game. Not this time.”
The Trojans were expected to be formidable opponents at 2-0 in the Pac-10 (10-4 overall), but this proved only partially true. USC came out flat offensively in the first half – falling to an early 11-3 deficit and shooting 42.3 percent to Stanford’s 48.1 – and hung back on defense, leading to what head coach Kevin O’Neill called “a complete lack of effort.” Still, with only two major producers for each team (guard Dwight Lewis and forward Alex Stephenson for USC, with 13 and nine points, respectively, and Fields and Green for Stanford with 12 and seven), the margin was only 31-28 at the break.
USC pulled things together defensively after halftime and was able to keep Fields without a field goal in the second half. But the Trojans couldn’t contain Green, who eventually led Stanford with 17 points.
With 3:48 to go, Green hit a three from deep in the corner, putting Stanford back up by seven. USC senior Mike Gerrity responded with a long ball of his own to make it 52-46 before Green hit another jumper 20 seconds later at 2:01.
In the end, though, it wasn’t Green’s or Fields’ scoring that put the nails in USC’s coffin, as their combined 31 was outdone by Stephenson’s and Lewis’ 35. Instead, it was contributions from sophomore big men Andrew Zimmerman and Jack Trotter – with 10 and six, respectively – that gave the Cardinal the edge.
“In a game where the final score is 54-53, 10 points is a heck of a lot of points,” Dawkins said.
Dawkins was pleased with the balance of the team, especially among the young players.
“I think some guys did some growing up tonight on our team by being put in that position,” Dawkins said. “For sophomores that never really played a lot of minutes, playing at this level is an adjustment. But they’re adjusting to the level of competition… They compete, they work hard for us and they come out every game and they give us what they have.”
As sophomore Jarrett Mann stepped up to have the final chance, he was, in fact, adjusting. With 10 seconds to go, after classmate Zimmerman had failed to convert either free throw at the 32-second mark, Mann took his own spot on the line on a reaching foul by Trojan forward Leonard Washington. Mann, who had missed back-to-back free throws at the same mark on Nov. 25 to send the game with then-No. 5 Kentucky to overtime – in which Stanford eventually fell 73-65 – missed the front end. However, his second fell and USC missed a jumper and its put-back at the other end, leaving Stanford on top.
In a season when a single conference win sometimes seemed like a stretch for the Card, this victory over USC will be a big momentum booster, especially going into Saturday’s 3 p.m. matchup against UCLA.
Dawkins said he was proud of the team and of the win, but that it hardly came as a surprise: “I think we can be as competitive as any team in the conference, and we have to believe that.”
Smoking is known to raise the risk of type-two diabetes
Giving up smoking sharply increases the risk of developing type-two diabetes, a US study suggests.
Researchers found quitters had a 70% increased risk of developing type-two diabetes in the first six years without cigarettes compared with non-smokers.
This is because they tend to put on weight.
However, the Annals of Internal Medicine study stressed that this should not be used as an excuse to carry on smoking.
On no account should people use the theoretical results of this study as an excuse not to give up smoking
Natasha Marsland
Diabetes UK
The Johns Hopkins team also stress that smoking is a well known risk factor for type-two diabetes – as well as many other health problems, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Researcher Dr Jessica Yeh said: "If you smoke, give it up. That’s the right thing to do.
"But people have to also watch their weight."
The study, based on 10,892 middle aged adults who were followed for up to 17 years, found the risk of developing type-two diabetes was highest in the first three years after giving up smoking.
Around 1.8% of people giving up smoking developed type 2 diabetes each year during that period.
If quitters avoided developing the condition for 10 years, then their long-term risk returned to normal.
People who made no effort to give up smoking had a constant 30% increased risk of type-two diabetes compared with non-smokers.
Blood sugar
Type-two diabetes means the body either fails to make enough of the hormone insulin, or cannot make proper use of it, leading to uncontrolled blood sugar levels.
Untreated this can cause serious disease, and complications such as blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage.
One of the major risk factors for the condition is being overweight, and the rise in obesity across the developed world has been blamed for a big increase in type-two diabetes.
The researchers found those who smoked the most and those who gained the most weight had the highest likelihood for developing diabetes after they quit.
On average, during the first three years of the study, quitters gained about 8.4lb (3.8kg).
The researchers said doctors should keep in mind the importance of weight control when counselling people about giving up smoking.
Quitters tend to put on weight because smoking acts to suppress appetite.
The use of nicotine replacement therapy has been shown to blunt the weight gain associated with giving up smoking.
Martin Dockrell, of the anti-smoking charity Ash, said: "The researchers are clear that smokers should quit but – especially if you are a heavy smoker or are already overweight – you might want to gently increase your exercise when you quit.
"If you are a smoker who is also overweight you should talk to your doctor about how to get the best from quitting.
"A little more exercise could help improve your sense of well being, reduce weight gain and undo some of the harm done by smoking leading to a healthier, happier you."
Natasha Marsland, of the charity Diabetes UK, said: "On no account should people use the theoretical results of this study as an excuse not to give up smoking.
"The health benefits of giving up smoking far outweigh the risk of developing type-two diabetes from modest, short-term weight gain."
Article Tags: World Temperatures
Doubts are being raised about the significance of new figures showing the past decade has been New Zealand’s warmest on record.
Average national temperatures over the past decade were just a few hundredths of a degree Celsius higher than in the 1980s, the previous warmest.
A National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) statement yesterday reaffirmed its statements that the decade was likely to be the hottest recorded.
However, the new statement failed to include figures.
Blue Skies Weather forecaster Tony Trewinnard said it was doubtful a few hundredths of a degree was such a statistically significant amount on which to base such statements.
Source: stuff.co.nz
Tata Motors Group is obviously one of the main stars at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi so every single model displayed by the Indian manufacturer quickly catches everyone’s attention. The company showcases a total of 37 cars at its booth, including Land Rover and Jaguar vehicles, as well as a brand new production model, the so-called Aria MPV.
First released as a concept at the Geneva Motor Show in 2005, Tata Aria will go on sale this year, according to official information provi… (read more)
(photo courtesy of Monoprice.com)
Sometime near the end of November, Josh Bancroft (@jabancroft on
Anyway, I would like to use the Monoprice battery more because I’d 
). I have reservations about using the 
The North American division of Nissan became an official partner of Lance Armstrong’s new Team RadioShack pro cycling team. The team consists of 25 professional riders from around the world, including Armstrong, who is the seven-time winner of the Tour de France and founder of the LIVESTRONG Charitable Foundation.
"There’s a powerful alignment between cycling enthusiasts’ interests and Nissan’s in terms of performance, durability and sustainability – whether their favorite r… (read more)
by Geoffrey Lean
Just about exactly a year ago, patient readers with long memories may remember, I received a sobering New Year’s Day message. “Today,” it began arrestingly, “is arguably the first day of the most important year in human history.”
Once again, the climate clock is ticking…The message—sent to a who’s who of top officials on both sides of the Atlantic, was from Prof. Tom Burke, a close adviser to three successive British Conservative environment secretaries in the 1990s, and one of Europe’s shrewdest observers of green politics.
He was referring, of course, to the recent Copenhagen climate summit, which he told us “would do more to shape human history for longer” than any other meeting in world history. The reason? “Climate change is forever,” its nature such that “the future cannot redeem today’s mistakes.” He added: “We have one chance to reach a political agreement to reduce carbon emissions in time to stay safe. This is the year in which we take that chance.”
Or not, as it turned out.
Burke’s words stuck with me throughout the fiasco that the summit became. Indeed, on its last day I woke up thinking, “If Tom is right, this is the most important day ever.” In a sense, it lived up to that billing, with key world leaders—including President Obama, Britain’s Gordon Brown, Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Mohammed Nasheed of the Maldives—personally negotiating an agreement line by line. But even they accepted that the “accord” that resulted fell far short of what is needed.
So I kept a special eye on my inbox this new year to see if Burke would send another missive. It never came. Meanwhile, I came across an article he recently published in ENDS, perhaps Britain’s most authoritative environmental journal. Its message was just as uncompromising. “It will take a while for the full magnitude of the calamity that has befallen the world to become clear,” he wrote. “But calamity it is.”
He went on: “Not one of the 119 world leaders who attended the Copenhagen summit came intending to shatter a global climate regime so painfully built up over 20 years. But that is what they accomplished”
The “core elements” of a deal that would have kept global warming beneath 2 degrees centigrade “were within view, if not within grasp, before the meeting began,” Burke added. “A little more movement on emissions reductions, a bit more money on the table, and a real foundation could have been laid. By the end, enough had moved on both those central issues for a deal to have been grasped, But so sour had the mood become, and so chaotic the process, that it slipped from the hand.”
I agree with Burke about how close agreement was when the conference opened and that, even though the formal negotiations got nowhere, there was enough movement (not least in the Americans’ unexpected agreement to endorse a $100 billion-a-year fund for the poorest nations) to have made it possible to seal the deal. I agree, too, that the sour atmosphere at Copenhagen—founded on deep mistrust arising from decades of broken promises, enhanced by the poor chairmanship and chaotic organization of the summit, and exploited by a few countries to frustrate progress—was the principle reason for the summit’s failure.
But I am not so gloomy about the outcome. I place some faith in the very readiness of the leaders to work painstakingly throughout an entire day to try to get a worthwhile agreement. Burke dismisses this as itself “a recipe for disaster” with “getting out of town with the right headline” being “the most urgent priority” for the Obamas and Merkels in attendance.
Yet, far from contenting themselves with concocting a face saving press release, the leaders almost pulled something off. Had China not issued a last minute veto of the accord’s most important elements—notably a 50 percent global reduction in emissions by 2050, and a commitment to work on producing legally-binding treaty—there would have been something valuable to build on, an extraordinary achievement in the circumstances.
Many of the leaders, including all those listed above, have demonstrated a personal commitment to tackling climate change that in almost every case goes beyond what either their political parties or their electorates are demanding (the exception is President Nasheed, but only because his people are just as desperate as he to prevent their country’s extinction at the hands of rising sea levels).
All, too, have taken steps to reaffirm that commitment since Copenhagen. And, in another hopeful straw in the wind, China’s vice foreign minister, He Yafei—one of the main figures blocking progress at the summit—has just been pushed out, suggesting at least that his government is embarrassed by the blame it has attracted.
Such experienced observers as David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute, and Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists also take a more optimistic view. Burke dismisses such people as “shell-shocked survivors of a political hurricane, picking over the disaster site for any useful fragments of their past existence.”
But these experienced NGO hands have realistic hopes for the next twelve months, ending in another attempt at finalizing a global climate agreement in Mexico.
So maybe Burke’s message was off by a year, making 2010 is the “most important” year of all.
Related Links:
Thomas Friedman says greed can lead us to a new green economy
Climate Post: Warming apparently takes extra time off for holidays
A conversation with Indian youth activist Ruchi Jain
On Monday we noted four greentech firms that had filed fund-raising documents or had made announcements about new financing rounds. But by golly, I’m counting at least five more in my in-box and on my radar screen on Wednesday. Today solar web firm Clean Power Finance and solar material company Innovalight announced funding, electric car […]
American manufacturer Ford announced yesterday it will introduce an affordable navigation system on all vehicles equipped with MyFord and SYNC, without having to resort to hardware upgrades.
Navigation systems have moved to the realm of automotive features consumers expect to find, Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development said. Harnessing the power of SYNC and the flexibility of our new MyFord system, we’re bringing an affordable, accessible, easy-to-u… (read more)
