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Filed under: Europe, Crossover, Nissan

The Nissan Qashqai has a silly name. Though not as silly as the Qashqai+2, the seven-seat version of the British built small CUV. But silly name not withstanding, the slightly smaller than a Nissan Rogue compact crossover has been something of a sales phenom for Nissan, selling more than 500,000 copies around the world since 2007 despite not being offered in the North American market.

For the 2010 model year, some things are changing, and some aren’t. The biggest and most obvious difference is the front end, which is all-new and quite handsome looking. We especially like the sculpted lower fascia and intake. And while it is slightly smaller than the Rogue we do have in America, the Qashqai (named after a nomadic Iranian tribe) looks tougher. In the rear, the song remains largely the same, though the taillights have been slightly revised. The colors you see here are both new — Magnetic Red and Mineral Gray.

Inside, functionality is up with a new dash computer, gauges, lighting and “oddments” storage. Refinement is also up, with more baffling in place to reduce NVH, along with a revised windscreen and A-pillars to cut wind noise. The suspension has also been redesigned to improve both ride comfort and handling. All in all, the Qashqai looks to be a pretty tasty package. But you can almost set your watch to the fact that Nissan will not be bringing it to our red, white and blue shores, and while we like the Rogue just fine, we’d just assume that Nissan give us this one instead. What do you think? Check out the ress release after the jump and the high-res gallery below, and then let us know which one you’d prefer to see on sale in America.

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan updates Qashqai crossover – and no, we’re still not gonna get it

Nissan updates Qashqai crossover – and no, we’re still not gonna get it originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s that time of year again! We’re now moving into the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel in Salt Lake City for our annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour. Most of the folks fly in on Sunday – and out the following Sunday – spending the entire week researching and attending classes at the Family History Library – or next door at the Plaza Hotel. This year we have 67 attendees, and 10 professional genealogists hired to work with the group – besides myself, Patty, Bill Balter, and Donna Potter Phillips.

We’ll have the Family Roots Publishing Store set up all week long at the Plaza. The public is welcome to come by and shop. FRPC orders will continue to be taken on the Internet during the week – and shipped with 24 hours, as normal.

Where is your Social Security card? What about your car title and your child’s birth certificate? The fact that your diploma is awaiting framing in a desk drawer or the only photo of great great grandma that is in existence is sitting in the unscrapped photo box until you figure out what to do with it doesn’t seem to be a problem. And, hopefully, it won’t be a problem. However, if the worst happens and there is a house fire, it will be a problem. A big problem. Protecting important documents is an essential part of home safety.

Some people scan their important documents into their computers and save a copy in a zip drive or other portable device that they can give to a trusted family member to keep or that they can store in a bank. This is a nice backup for originals, but it isn’t a substitute for protecting the real thing. The DMV and many other places require original documents.

One of the simplest ways to protect documents from fire is to put them in a fireproof box. The majority of people shove their boxes under the bed, but, in a one story house in a flood zone, you may want to look for a higher location so the box doesn’t float away if a few feet of water rushes through the house.

Photo: Chris Eyles/SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Home Safety – Protecting Important Documents

Microsoft has been a big believer in patents lately, even though Bill Gates once classically noted that the computer industry would have been at a “standstill” if people had aggressively patented ideas back in the early days of personal computing. Since then, however, Microsoft has massively ramped up its patenting machine. But, of course, if you live by the patent, you should expect to get sued by the patent as well. Brian writes in to let us know that a patent holding firm, with a long history of suing a bunch of big name tech firms is now suing Microsoft as well, claiming that every copy of Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 violate its patent 6629163 on “Demultiplexing a First Sequence of Packet Components to Identify Specific Components Wherein Subsequent Components are Processed without Re-Identifying Components.” I have no idea if the patent is valid or not, but I always find it amusing when big patent system supporters find themselves sued for patent infringement as well.

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If your kitty is experiencing weight loss even with a big appetite, it’s time to visit the veterinarian. Your cat may have hyperthyroidism, a common hormonal imbalance in older cats.

Most cats are diagnosed with hyperthyroidism via a blood panel around age 13. Besides weight loss, affected cats may also experience chronic vomiting and diarrhea, plus muscle deterioration.

Even if cats aren’t exhibiting symptoms, it’s important to treat the condition to prevent heart failure or sudden blindness or death.

A cat with hyperthyroidism is producing too much T4, and the feline probably has a growth the thyroid gland. These growths are usually benign, but cancer may rarely be present.

Benign thyroid growths are a form of goiter instead of cancer. Radiotherapy, a way to cure hyperthyroidism, may be used to distinguish between goiters and cancer.

Treatment Options for Cats with Hyperthyroidism

• Oral drug – methimazole (brand names: Tapazole or Felimazole)
• Surgery – to remove abnormal thyroid tissue
• Radiotherapy – usually just a one-time procedure. View a list of facilities offering radiotherapy.

To learn more about hyperthyroidism in cats, visit the online Hyperthyroidism Center for Cats at Veterinary Partner.

(Source: VeterinaryPartner.com; Image via stock.xchng)

Post from: Blisstree

Most Common Hormone Imbalance in Cats

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Performance, Celebrities

It’s not like we need another reason to be sickeningly jealous of Jay Leno, but along comes this video. In it Jay drives perhaps our favorite car from the 2009 LA Auto Show, the hugely lovely and impressive Allard J2X MkII. Only unlike the 500-ish horsepower 5.7-liter Hemi powered J2X MkII we got to look at, Jay blasts around the streets of Burbank, CA in a 600-hp 6.1-liter Hemi version. Grrr. Still, the Allard is such a desirable beast – and to see it in motion such a treat – that we’ll tuck our Jay-based jealously back into its hole. This time… Watch the video, after the jump.

Continue reading VIDEO: Jay Leno drives the Allard J2X MkII

VIDEO: Jay Leno drives the Allard J2X MkII originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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John Mellencamp’s 14-year-old son recently started a campaign on Facebook to help his rocker dad quit smoking. Mellencamp promised his son he would quit if he gets 1 million people to join the Facebook group, 1,000,000 to join, my dad john mellencamp will quit smoking. For tobacco users in Louisiana looking for inspiration to quit, www.QuitWithUsLa.org offers resources to help people quit on their own and other resources including free counseling assistance provided through 1-800-QUIT-NOW. It’s clear that being smoke-free rocks. So, if you’re a musician or music lover in Louisiana, who supports smoke-free bar and club policies, check out www.LetsBeTotallyClear.org.

BPI and IFPI, lobbying groups that represent record labels, have been major supporters of Peter Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill, that will grant him powers to change copyright law at will, and to kick people off the internet based on accusations (not convictions) of file sharing. However, it appears that at least some record labels are realizing what an incredibly bad idea this is. EFF points us to the news that the boss of indie label Pure Mint Recordings has resigned from both the BPI and IFPI committee’s he was a part of, citing his opposition to the Digital Economy Bill, and both organizations support of the bill:

Hall believes the proposed legislation has been rushed in a bid to get it through parliament before the next General Election, that it is in danger of disregarding some sacred legal principles (regarding process, presumption of innocence and burden of proof) and that it won’t solve the record industry’s piracy problems anyway.

In his resignation letter to the BPI, Hall writes: “I have enjoyed contributing to both [the BPI’s] Rights [Committee] and the [IFPI’s] ILC, but increasingly feel that my contributions are falling on deaf ears as an agenda has already been reached that I now consider is unmovable. As you know, I do not think the Digital Economy Bill is a sensible or well thought out piece of legislation. In my view it is being rushed through the last months of a parliament of an unpopular government and it is not legislation that I support”.

Referencing clause 17 – the one that gives senior ministers the right to change copyright laws on whim – he continued: “I am particularly surprised that the record industry has chosen to endorse s.17 of the DEB, which I consider is wholly undemocratic and contrary to centuries of good practice regarding the forming of our copyright legislation. I also believe it may set a dangerous precedent going forwards (and could come back to haunt the industry)”.

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hattip to a friend.  From Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i5FlC1MpkE

Those who’ve been following the Uncharted: Eye of Indra Motion Comic, good news, you’re gonna have something to start your weekend with. Naughty Dog has released episodes 3 and 4, both are now available for download at

The Video Store at the European PSN is new, so it better get those big guns to fire up those archives. Fortunately, this week’s update is very much up to the standard. Whether it’s a zombie apocalypse

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, GM

Back in July, we first told you about a serious driveline issue that was cropping up in Chevrolet’s new-for-2010 Camaro. In specific, output shafts were failing on V8 manual transmission SS models, a malady that was generally tied to hard launches or use of the car’s launch control system. The problem eventually resulted in General Motors conducting some warranty repairs and briefly issuing a factory hold of the SS while it fixed the problem, and as far as we knew, that was that.

That was the last we heard of the issue until AB reader Billie informed us that talks regarding output shaft failure were once again heating up over at the owner discussion forums of Camaro5.com – so much so that GM’s own John Fitzpatrick, the marketing manager of Chevrolet’s performance cars, chimed in with a statement on behalf of the automaker, the text of which you can read after the break.

Basically, Fitzpatrick says that after a review of the issue, GM is confident that failure rates “under normal driving conditions are very low… even in the most extreme driving condition, the probability of failure does not significantly change.” In any case, Fitzpatrick assures that GM will continue to stand behind their five-year/100,000 mile warranty coverage.

For the most part, it seems like Fitzpatrick’s comments have assuaged the concerned parties on Camaro5 (there are definitely still a few disgruntled folks), but if nothing else, it’s nice to see another example of an automaker wading into the internet fray to directly address customer issues.

Photos Copyright (C)2009 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source, Camaro5.com]

Continue reading GM responds to more Camaro transmission failure talk on enthusiast forum

GM responds to more Camaro transmission failure talk on enthusiast forum originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now at WMPoweruser.com we are pretty dedicated to Windows Mobile news, but some of our editors are a bit more wide ranging in their tastes and experience.

MobileOSNews.com is a spin-off created by Wen, who is currently sitting on a pile of Verizon phones, including the Moto Droid, Droid Iris and others, which he is getting ready to review in detail  on his website soon.

If your would like to keep an eye on more than Windows Mobile news, add MobileOSNews.com to your daily trawl through the internet here.

Although it will always be my favorite use for it, maple syrup can be used for so much more than just topping pancakes and waffles. I’ve used it to sweeten cookies and homemade granola before, where it accents the other ingredients with its rich, sweet flavor. But there is no reason to keep maple as a background flavor and here I’ve made it the star flavor of a batch of Maple Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream, where there is real maple syrup in both the cake and the frosting.The cupcake recipe uses some brown sugar and some maple syrup for sweetness. The brown sugar helps give the cupcakes a tender consistency, and it also goes well with the maple syrup. There is no maple extract in here, so all that maple flavor comes from the syrup. I used Grade B maple syrup, which has a slightly stronger flavor than Grade A syrup. You can use either, but I’ll recommend B if you’re going out to buy some syrup. Do not use pancake syrup in these cupcakes.

The frosting also has some maple syrup in it. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature when you mix them together so you get a very smooth frosting. Often, maple syrup is stored in the fridge, so consider this a quick reminder to take it out before you start to bake!

These have a great maple flavor to them, with a buttery undertone. I don’t think that they taste like pancakes, but if that is where you usually use maple syrup, the cupcakes might remind you of them! The cake has a slightly firm, tender crumb and holds up really well to frosting and to traveling, so consider these as an option for winter or holiday get-togethers.

(more…)

Here’s more evidence of carnage in the liquid natural gas market

The Houston Chronicle links to analysis from Waterborne Research:

By the end of March Waterborne predicts 120 bcf of new production will be online, about a 15 percent increase in just a few months. That’s enough to fill 40 LNG tankers per month

“US import patterns prior to 2007 were dictated largely by global excess which tended to cause a spike in US import numbers during the summer months as global demand was at its lowest. We expect to see this pattern re-emerge although on a greater scale. Because of the impending length in the global LNG market the potential for significant spikes in US imports is high. We expect to see the first sign of this in the form of a trickle early in 2010 and anticipate we will see larger volumes move to the US this spring and continue throughout the summer.”

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Coal Consumers Switching To Use Natural Gas (UNG)
• Natural Gas Threatened By A Flood Of 2010 Imports (UNG, CHK)

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Mazda, Rumormill

For the last umpteen years (since about 1979, to be exact), Ford has owned a significant share of Japanese automaker Mazda, growing in 1997 to a 33.4-percent controlling stake. As such, the two automakers have historically shared a significant amount of resources and product architectures – a system that has helped both companies remain competitive in the increasingly tough automotive market.

At present, the Ford Fiesta, European Focus and Fusion sedan all borrow unseen bits and pieces from Mazda platforms, and the Japanese automaker offers its own versions of the Ford’s compact and midsize crossovers.

Lately, though, it seems Ford and Mazda have been seeing less and less of each other. About a year ago, Ford sold off 20 percent of its stake in the Japanese company, and while it’s likely the two automakers will continue to enjoy cooperation in some capacity, Bloomberg is reporting that product sharing may very well be diminished moving forward. Drat. And to think, for all these years, we’ve apparently been wasting our time holding out hope for a Ford-badged fixed-head coupe based on Mazda’s ever-delightful MX-5 Miata.

[Source: Bloomberg]

REPORT: Ford and Mazda may develop vehicles separately going forward originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you ever inflated a condom like a balloon until it burst to check its strength? Or how about checking for holes by submerging condoms in saline and zapping them with electricity? ShopSmart hired an outside lab to do all of those things to 500 condoms of 22 different models!

ShopSmart reports that all of the condoms tested passed minimum requirements for holes or reliability, but a few stellar products beat the rest. Their top picks for strongest condoms with no holes or tears are listed below in ascending price per condom.

• Lifestyles Ultra Sensitive (71 cents each)
• Lifestyles Warming Pleasure (75 cents each)
• Trojan Ultra Thin (84 cents each)
• Trojan Magnum (86 cents each)
• Durex Performax (96 cents each)
• Trojan Her Pleasure Ecstasy ($1.10 each)
• Trojan Ultra Ribbed Ecstasy ($1.10 each)

The condom testing was part of a “Sex and the Supermarket” series. Visit ShopSmartMag.org for condom shopping tips and for details about warming agents, female condoms, latex condom alternatives and even the Today sponge that was once featured on Seinfeld when Elaine declared men as “spongeworthy.” It’s on the market again.

Even if you don’t choose one of the seven strongest condoms, ShopSmart warns you to stay away from Night Light Glow-in-the-Dark. It was the weakest condom they tested. It exploded more quickly when filled with air. It held only 25 liters of air before exploding, yet the strongest condoms tested held 45 liters. ShopSmart also noted that many of the Night Light Glow-in-the-Dark condoms had holes.

ShopSmart magazine is part of Consumer Reports. Check out their Tip Sheet blog for more help on purchases that matter to you.

(Image via Trojan)

Post from: Blisstree

The Seven Strongest Condoms

A few times a week, I get an e-mail asking, “What ever happened to MonaVie and their legal multiple threats?” For those who are new to my site, here’s the abridged version of the story. My wife went to a meeting of a young adults group that she belongs to. Someone there told her about this $45 a bottle (25oz.) juice called MonaVie and said that it could be good for her. Noting that juice in stores cost around $4 or $5 for twice as much juice, I figured something was up. So I did a little research and wrote about MonaVie. Somehow it got popular and some consumer advocates contributed a lot of information about how MonaVie was a scam. MonaVie, obviously doesn’t like this negative publicity ranking so prominently in Google. They realized they couldn’t tell Google to remove it, so they went to their lawyers. Their lawyers decided it was better to try bully me into taking the article with potential lawsuits. Unfortunately the lawyers tried to use precedent that was ten years old and ignore the fact it new precedent had been set. It turned into a PR nightmare for them as a pile of bloggers used their considerable strength to support me. The experience led me to work on my MonaVie Scam website with renewed enthusiasm. And that was the last I’ve talked about it publicly.

To this day, MonaVie legal has never responded to my responses as to why their bullying wasn’t going to work. However, I recently did have the beginnings of a fruitful conversation with a member of MonaVie’s blogging team. How did that happen? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) came out with new guidelines concerning testimonials and endorsements. MonaVie, to their credit, was right on the ball with this and put an alert on their blog. Interestingly, one of the guidelines MonaVie warned their distributors of was violated by an employee of MonaVie itself when she called me an annoying douche in the past. I left a comment not expecting MonaVie to publish it since it was a direct attack on them. To MonaVie’s credit, they owned up to that mistake.

I decided to also cover what the FTC Guidelines means for MonaVie. If you have three minutes, I highly recommend reading it. For those without the three minutes, here’s another abridged version: MonaVie sounds like they are crapping their pants. No longer can their distributors make any medical claims of any kind… a distributor can’t even say that they believe MonaVie is responsible for any health benefits they received unless it’s a “typical result” for the average use of MonaVie. What distributors say must be truthful as well. A distributor must also say that they are distributor when giving any kind of testimonial or endorsement. MonaVie and the distributors are liable for distributor’s transgressions, which is something I predicted long ago when I compared the relationship of MonaVie and their distributors to Napster and their users. Napster’s users’ actions buried the parent company and MonaVie’s distributors’ actions will do the same. Lastly, MonaVie itself pointed out in their blog post that the FTC has said “repeatedly” (MonaVie’s quote) it is going after acai berry companies that make unreasonable health claims.

At $45 a bottle, MonaVie juice isn’t going sell on taste alone. The only hope MonaVie has here is tell it’s distributors behind closed doors to comment as they normally would, but pretend to not be distributors – thus pretending to have no financial interest in MonaVie. Of course this is a violation of the FTC guidelines itself. I don’t see how MonaVie is going to sustain a business anymore.

On the other hand, perhaps distributors will just ignore the FTC guidelines. The guidelines have been active only four days and I noticed this distributor saying that it helped her with her menstrual cycle and is going to make her rich, two statements against the new guidelines. I think the FTC would also crack down on this distributor who makes the claim of “upto %30 of Active bottle is the freeze dried acai berry” when that’s information that MonaVie says they haven’t and won’t release. While it’s not an entire lie, it’s similar to me saying my net worth is up to 70% of Warren Buffet’s… it just turns out that the number actually far below 1% and not close to the 70%. It’s clearly misleading and the FTC would have no problem going after someone with a statement like that.

That’s pretty much my whole MonaVie update. I would have posted more this week, but this new development has slowed me down. Also I’ve been spending time revamping MonaVie Scam so that homepage helps organize some of the major things that a consumer should consider before buying and drinking MonaVie. I politely ask anyone who agrees with me on this topic to spread the word of this MonaVie Scam. For those people reading this on the website (as opposed to my RSS feed), you’ll note that I also included the RSS feed of the blog there right here in the right-hand column on Lazy Man and Money.

Related posts:

1. MonaVie Scam? [MonaVie has threatened legal action against me twice in an…
2. Interesting MonaVie Story Rather than go with a usual post on Friday, I’m…
3. MonaVie is Trying to Sue Me… … and I couldn’t be happier about it. For those…
4. My Friend is Brainwashed by Get Rich Quick Schemes, Help! I got a very interesting e-mail this morning… almost 1800…
5. Personal Finance Links: Thanks For All the MonaVie Mentions As some of you know, I put a call out…

In the first of a series of white papers on Terms of Service (TOS) issues, EFF today released The Clicks That Bind: Ways Users “Agree” to Online Terms of Service. The paper aims to answer a fundamental question: when do these ubiquitous TOS agreements actually become binding contracts? We discuss how courts have reacted to efforts by service providers to enforce TOS, and suggest best practices for service providers to follow in presenting terms to a user and for seeking his or her agreement to them.

The white paper examines both clickwrap agreements&#8212whereby service providers require the user to click an “I Agree” button next to the terms&#8212and browsewrap agreements&#8212whereby service providers try to characterize one’s continued use of the website as constituting “agreement” to a posted set of terms. While neither method automatically creates enforceable contracts, some presentations may still be upheld even if the user never actually reads and understands the terms. The key is whether the service provider allows the user reasonable notice and opportunity to review the terms before using the website or service.

Of course, just because a TOS creates an enforceable agreement, does not mean that every provision of the TOS will be enforced by a court. In our next white paper, we’ll examine which particular provisions are most unfair to consumers, including provisions that have aroused the skepticism of courts and regulators.