The Mini Cooper Clubman: Fast, Fun, and Hard-to-Find: "BMW's sporty but fuel-efficient Mini Coopers are among the hottest cars on the market right now. The company's plant in Oxford, England, is running 24/7 and still can't keep up with demand. Jim McDowell, vice-president of the Mini Division, recently told Automotive News magazine that U.S. Mini Cooper dealers are out of cars and will be mainly selling pre-ordered units for the rest of the model year. So, unless you get lucky and find an '08 Mini Cooper on a dealer's lot, your best option is to sign up now for an '09 model that won't be delivered until this fall."
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Honda Goes Green and Sporty
Honda Goes Green and Sporty: "One of the big attention grabbers at the 2008 British International Motor Show is Honda's low-emission sportscar dubbed OSM (for Open Study Model). The open top two seater design out of the company's R&D facility in Offenbach, Germany, is being shown alongside the CR-Z sports hybrid which was unveiled at Tokyo last year and the Honda Honda FCX Clarity which is being produced in Japan and available in the US under a lease plan. While a version of the CR-Z has been confirmed for production, there are no plans to bring the OSM online anytime soon."
Google Moves to Reinvent Transportation
Google Moves to Reinvent Transportation: "Google is also betting that the future of transportation will be networked and controlled via software, just like our laptops and gadgets. And not just connected via the Internet, but through the network of the power grid, too. Rolf Schreiber, an engineer with RechargeIT, says that beyond these initial investments, Google is also looking to back companies that build software that can control the rate at which plug-in vehicles charge. And much the way Google has built a business of providing information via the web, the company could add its broadband expertise to the future of connected transportation. Schreiber, for example, recently completed a test of Google's own, in-house plug-in vehicles, using wireless communications and GPS to determine that the cars are getting more than 93 miles per gallon."
Merrills Fire Sale May Burn Other Firms - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times
Merrills Fire Sale May Burn Other Firms - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times: "Will Merrill Lynch’s latest mark-downs spell trouble for other investment banks? That was one big question on Wall Street after Monday’s surprise announcement that Merrill was selling a big pile of risky assets at a deep discount."
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Can America Go Bankrupt? - Capital Commerce (usnews.com)
Can America Go Bankrupt? - Capital Commerce (usnews.com): "Can America Go Bankrupt?
July 29, 2008 12:51 PM ET | James Pethokoukis | Permanent Link
Let's see here: $500 billion budget deficits, the possibility of a $500 billion bank bailout in 2009, and exploding entitlement costs. Surely, this can't be good. My pal Arnold Kling doesn't think so:
Think of the U.S. government as the world's biggest hedge fund. One thing a hedge fund does is engage in credit arbitrage. When you can borrow risk-free, you can make a profit holding risky assets. That is what Congress is hoping will happen with the Freddie-Fannie bailout. We have grown accustomed to the assumption that the risk of default of U.S. government liabilities is zero. That in turn allows Congress to act like the biggest hedge fund on the block. Consider the long-term obligations of the U.S. government: Social Security, Medicare, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, public employee pension plans. Add to those the risks of the securities that the government is effectively choosing to guarantee in the Bear Stearns merger, the Freddie-Fannie prop-up, and other steps that are being taken or will be taken in the mortgage and financial market. It seems to me that in order to achieve short-term stability we are piling on long-term fragility.... If people do not have confidence in the long-"
New IBM tool analyzes code for mistakes as it's written
New IBM tool analyzes code for mistakes as it's written: "IBM's Rational Software unit today unveiled a development tool that can scan and check code as it's written to uncover errors before they make their way further into the development life cycle where fixes are far more costly.
The IBM Rational Software Analyzer automatically scans the new code up to 700 times before an application is complete. Its operation is similar to the grammar check function in Microsoft Word, according to IBM."
Microsoft Calls Forrester's Windows Vista Report 'Schizophrenic' -- Microsoft -- InformationWeek
Invoking a common misnomer for multiple personality disorder, a Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) blogger called IT research group Forrester "schizophrenic" for publishing a report on Windows Vista that Microsoft claims contradicts previous Forrester reports on the beleaguered operating system.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Google In Final Negotiations To Acquire Digg For “Around $200 Million”
Google In Final Negotiations To Acquire Digg For “Around $200 Million”: "Google’s on and off negotiations with Digg have been back on in a big way for the last six weeks, we’ve heard from multiple sources inside and outside of Google. The two companies have reportedly signed a letter of intent and are close to a deal that will bring Digg under the Google News property. The acquisition price is in the $200 million range, says one source."
Official Google Blog: Knol is open to everyone
Official Google Blog: Knol is open to everyone: "A few months ago we announced that we were testing a new product called Knol. Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects. Today, we're making Knol available to everyone.
The web contains vast amounts of information, but not everything worth knowing is on the web. An enormous amount of information resides in people's heads: millions of people know useful things and billions more could benefit from that knowledge. Knol will encourage these people to contribute their knowledge online and make it accessible to everyone."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
'Wall Street got drunk,' Bush says in Houston (w/video) | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
'Wall Street got drunk,' Bush says in Houston (w/video) | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "naware he was being recorded, President Bush at a Houston fundraiser last week compared Wall Street to a drunk with a hangover and cracked jokes about the ailing housing market."
Speculators Aren’t Driving Up Oil Prices, Report Says
Speculators Aren’t Driving Up Oil Prices, Report Says - NYTimes.com: "The preliminary study concluded that the rise in oil prices over the last five years was “largely due” to fundamental factors like rapidly rising consumption and sluggish growth in energy supplies worldwide."
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
New York Times rejects McCain essay
New York Times rejects McCain essay - CNN.com: "The New York Times has rejected an essay that Sen. John McCain wrote defending his Iraq war policy."
Bernanke Reports as Much as $2.5 Million in Financial Assets
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke held low-risk mutual funds and retirement investments last year as he led central bank efforts to calm financial markets amid the subprime mortgage crisis.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Free Preview - WSJ.com
Free Preview - WSJ.com: "UBS AG said some Swiss-based private bankers will stop offering American clients Swiss bank accounts and other services, as the bank tries to repair its reputation amid U.S. investigations into allegations it helped its American clients evade taxes.
The move, which UBS had begun last fall and accelerated recently amid the stepped-up U.S. investigations, will affect some 20,000 U.S. clients with about $20 billion in assets held in Swiss accounts. The accounts affected are those handled by non-U.S.-regulated Swiss private bankers."
Free Preview - WSJ.com
Free Preview - WSJ.com: "The nation's frantic search for crude-oil sources is leading to one of the oldest, richest and most-elusive prizes in the petroleum industry: oil shale.
The U.S. has the largest known reserves of the coal-like rock, 80% of which lie beneath federal lands. By some estimates, U.S. oil-shale reserves could yield 800 billion barrels of oil, triple the current proven reserves of Saudi Arabia.
But tapping that potential requires heating rocks buried deep beneath the earth to hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit. Oil companies are racing to find ways to do so economically, but their solutions are years away from commercial use."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Gmail Privacy Hole Shows User Names -- Google -- InformationWeek
Gmail Privacy Hole Shows User Names -- Google -- InformationWeek: "By sharing a Google Calendar with another Gmail user, the sharer is able to see the first name and last name that the recipient of the shared calendar supplied to set up a Gmail account."
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
PC World - Business Center: New Service Tracks Missing Laptops for Free
PC World - Business Center: New Service Tracks Missing Laptops for Free: "Here's how it works: A user downloads the free client software onto a laptop. That software then starts anonymously sending encrypted notes about the computer's whereabouts to servers on the Internet. If the laptop ever goes missing, the user downloads another program, enters a username and password, and then picks up this information from the servers, specifically a free storage service that has been around for several years, called OpenDHT."
Monday, July 14, 2008
Can’t Find a Parking Spot? Check Smartphone - NYTimes.com
Can’t Find a Parking Spot? Check Smartphone - NYTimes.com: "This fall, San Francisco will test 6,000 of its 24,000 metered parking spaces in the nation’s most ambitious trial of a wireless sensor network that will announce which of the spaces are free at any moment.
Drivers will be alerted to empty parking places either by displays on street signs, or by looking at maps on screens of their smartphones. They may even be able to pay for parking by cellphone, and add to the parking meter from their phones without returning to the car."
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Физики создали нанопамять с использованием троичной логики
Sent to you by galinka via Google Reader:
via Lenta.ru: НОВОСТИ, 10.07.2008 on 7/9/08
Группа исследователей создала из нанопроволоки память высокой емкости, основанную на троичной логике. Нановолокна, состоящие из внутреннего и внешнего цилиндров, позволяют, за счет их одновременного или разновременного перехода в состояние аморфности либо кристаллизации, записывать информацию в троичной форме.Things you can do from here:
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Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Google Releases 'Protocol Buffers' Data Language -- Google Open Source -- InformationWeek
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) on Monday released "Protocol Buffers," an open source data description language that the company developed for internal use. Think of it as XML's cousin, but simpler, smaller, and faster.
"It's the way we encode almost any sort of structured information which needs to be passed across the network or stored on disk," said Chris DiBona, Google's open source programs manager, in a blog post. "We thought Protocol Buffers might be useful to other people, too, so we've decided to release it as open source software."
Monday, July 7, 2008
In Medvedev, Bush Sees ‘a Smart Guy’ - NYTimes.com
In Medvedev, Bush Sees ‘a Smart Guy’ - NYTimes.com: "
“I found him to be a smart guy who understood the issues very well,” Mr. Bush said.
The exchange brought to mind Mr. Bush’s first meeting with Mr. Putin, at Brdo Castle in Slovenia in June 2001, when Mr. Bush famously said he had “looked the man in the eye” and “was able to get a sense of his soul.”
Given Mr. Medvedev’s extraordinarily close relationship with Mr. Putin, who remains Russia’s prime minister, it was only natural for Mr. Bush to face questions about what he saw when he looked at his new Russian counterpart. (No, he did not say he saw Mr. Putin’s soul.)"
Merrill Lynch aims to sell Bloomberg stake
Merrill Lynch aims to sell Bloomberg stake - Telegraph
Merrill Lynch is in negotiations to sell its $6bn (£3bn) stake in financial data and news company Bloomberg in a bid to strengthen its balance sheet.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Из-за Apple партнеры Samsung останутся без флэш-памяти
Sent to you by galinka via Google Reader:
via Lenta.ru: НОВОСТИ, 03.07.2008 on 7/2/08
Apple заказала у Samsung 50 миллионов восьмигигабитных модулей флэш-памяти. Из-за этого будет пересмотрен график поставок аналогичных модулей другим клиентам южнокорейской компании. О количестве заказанных 16-гигабитных модулей не сообщается. Всего Apple заказала свыше 15 миллионов iPhone 3G.Things you can do from here:
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
15th-Century Sculpture Shatters at Met
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via NYT > NYTimes.com Home on 7/1/08
A relief by the Renaissance sculptor Andrea della Robbia came loose overnight from its perch and crashed to the stone floor below, seriously damaging it.Things you can do from here:
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Fugitive Former Hedge Fund Manager Surrenders
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via NYT > NYTimes.com Home on 7/2/08
Samuel Israel III surrendered in Massachusetts on Wednesday, police said, ending a weeks-long manhunt.Things you can do from here:
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7 привычек неудачника
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via Lifehacker by rushills on 6/27/08
Трудно признавать себя неудачником даже тогда, когда сам громко заявляешь об этом. Заявления такого рода призваны побудить окружающих на похвалы и высокую оценку. Именно потому очень не хочется находить в себе черты неудачника на самом деле: это так неприятно. Но не зная врага, его невозможно победить. Потому давайте изучим семь привычек неудачника, а потом уже будем от них избавляться, если встретим.
1. Видит проблемы в каждой возможности:
Неудачник видит плохое даже в абсолютно хорошем, он ищет и придумывает возможные плохие последствия, лишь бы оправдать своё безделье. Он часто говорит об удачливости других для того, чтобы скрыть своё неумение добиваться чего-то значительного.
2. Он перекладывает ответственность:
Недостаточная уверенность в себе приводит к тому, что неудачник видит себя жертвой жестокого окружения. Он чувствует, что другие виноваты в его неудачах.
3. Он любит враждебные фразы:
Он часто употребляет выражения вроде "Это не моё дело", "Не я за это отвечаю" в ответ на предложения и замечания.
4. Он быстро смиряется с поражением:
Неудачник может часто менять место работы или даже карьеру, отказываясь от мечты во имя новой мечты, но всегда находит способ оправдать ничегонеделание. его уверенность в работе или карьере длится ровно до того момента как он находит другую работу или карьеру.
5. Он подсел на ТВ и лотереи:
Неудачник проводит больше времени за экраном ТВ, чем за полезными занятиями. Кроме того он мечтает разбогатеть в одно мгновение, от того он падок на всевозможные лотереи.
6. Постоянно ищет чужого одобрения:
Неудачник стремится угодить другим, чтобы ему не приходилось делать. Он отказывается действовать от своего собственного лица. Он отдаёт другим право создать себе собственное мнение.
7. Он не знает чего хочет от жизни:
Ища одобрения у окружающих, он видит жизнь сквозь очки немедленного вознаграждения. Его мнения и суждения меняются быстрее, чем у прощелыги-политика. Он искренне не понимает себя до конца для того, чтобы найти цели в жизни.
Такие знакомые - угроза и вам. Выбирайте правильных друзей и отучайте себя от аналогичных привычек.
7 Habits of Losers - Are Your Buddies Keeping You Back? [ Dumb Little Man ]
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Moody's накажет своих сотрудников за завышенные рейтинги
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via Lenta.ru: НОВОСТИ, 02.07.2008 on 7/2/08
Рейтинговое агентство Moody's начало дисциплинарные процедуры против сотрудников, подозреваемых в ошибке, которая привела к завышению рейтинга долговых обязательств на более чем миллиард долларов.По признанию агентства, внутреннее расследование показало нарушение членами ключевого рейтингового комитета правил оценки обязательств.Things you can do from here:
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Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Are Americans Too Racist to Vote for Barack Obama for President?
via U.S. News on 6/24/08
The question of race will be raised a lot between now and the November election.
Microsoft's Plan B for Search
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via BusinessWeek Online -- Most Popular Stories on 7/1/08
Moving past the Yahoo saga, the software giant is eyeing semantic search engine Powerset as a way of closing the gap with Google. Things you can do from here:
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