Monthly Archives: January 2012


It's a sad sign of continuing tough economic times that Peugeot is shuttering…

It's a sad sign of continuing tough economic times that Peugeot is shuttering its Le Mans race program.

Over the past five years, the ongoing battle between the diesel powered Peugeot 908s and Audi R10s, R15s and R18s has provided some of the best competition anywhere. Seeing these prototypes running flat-out for 10, 12 and 24 hours warms the heart of any race fan.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment is that we won't get to see the hybrid version of the 908 run in competition. Hopefully Peugeot will at least keep some of the engineering team together so that they are ready to comeback when things pick up.

#peugeot #lemans #alms #enduranceracing

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Peugeot brings down the curtain on its endurance programme so as to ensure the success of its numerous launches in 2012
After 14 victories in the last 16 races, including a double at the Le Mans 24 Hours 2009 as part of the ILMC championship won by Peugeot two years running, in 2010 and 2011, the Brand has decided to c…

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From the sounds of this review, the Scion iQ isn't going to be converted any… 5

From the sounds of this review, the Scion iQ isn't going to be converted any more Americans to microcars than the Smart ForTwo did. At least the iQ has more cargo space.

#cars

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2012 Scion iQ
The 2012 Scion iQ is slow and tiny—but also surprisingly expensive. Read the review and see photos of Scion's little runabout at Car and Driver.

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Read this article, it's worth your time

The author actually read through the proposed legislation and just one of the many dangerous passages goes like this:

Let’s cut straight to the nasty bits.

An `Internet site is dedicated to theft of U.S. property’ if [a portion of the site is US-directed] and is used by users within the United States and is primarily designed or operated for the purpose of offering services in a manner that enables or facilitates [copyright violation or circumvention of copyright protection measures].

Still doesn’t sound that bad, but consider this: Any site that allows users to post content is “primarily designed for the purpose of offering services in a manner that enables copyright violation.” The site doesn’t have to be clearly designed for the purpose of copyright violation; it only has to provide functionality that can be used to enable copyright violation.

Reshared post from +Pete Cashmore

Mashable's Chief Architect, +Chris Heald , dissected the SOPA bill section by section to help us understand why it's bad for the web.

Well worth a read if you haven't read SOPA in full or don't fully understand it.

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Why SOPA Is Dangerous
One writer discusses why we need to understand and oppose SOPA — immediately.

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I'm sure it's a complete coincidence that the last three CEO's (Jack… 4

I'm sure it's a complete coincidence that the last three CEO's (Jack Valenti, Dan Glickman and now Chris Dodd) of the MPAA all went directly from government to the Hollywood lobbying group that has done so much to destroy the concept of the public domain.

#sopa #sopablackout #pipa

Reshared post from +Alexander Howard

I am not a "corporate pawn" nor do I twist words.

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Movie Studio Association Chief Blasts Proposed Web Blackout | TechPresident
“Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some techno…

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By the end of 2011, the average age of the U.S 12

vehicle fleet had hit 10.8 years, the oldest ever. That's bad news for plug-in vehicles.

The fleet has been getting steadily older for a number of reasons. First vehicles today are more durable than ever so they just plain last longer. Bodies are less susceptible to rust and with proper maintenance, it's not hard for engines to run 200,000 miles or more. That's means there is no need to dispose of a perfectly useful car or truck.

The second and more insidious reason is the economy. For the past two decades, real incomes for all but the very wealthy have been either stagnant or declining. That means it's harder for most middle and lower income people to actually buy a new car. Up until 2008, automakers got around this by using subsidized lease programs. The increased durability and reliability of cars meant their value at the end of a lease was higher and they brought in more dollars when re-sold.

Following the financial collapse, increased unemployment, tighter credit, more expensive gas, higher prices on new vehicles and other factors have made it nearly impossible for sales to climb back toward their peak of just a few years ago. Thankfully, that same improved durability and reliability has made it easier for many people to keep their existing cars on the road longer, especially after their loans are paid off.

An aging fleet is actually a multi-edged sword. For consumers it means that buying a new car is something that can more easily be put off for a time. For automakers, it means it's harder to grow sales and employ more workers. For the environment and fuel efficiency, it means older less efficient vehicles stay on the road longer before being retired while at the same time avoiding the life-cycle energy costs of manufacturing, delivering and disposal.

All of this also means that it it going to be extremely difficult for plug-in vehicles to gain any traction in the market place soon. The cost of batteries remains stubbornly high while energy capacity remains low. With less need to replace vehicles and less financial wherewithal to do so, I don't see electric vehicles getting beyond a small niche in the market any time soon.

#cars #automobile #EVs #electricvehicles

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Average age of U.S. light vehicles reaches record high, Polk says
DETROIT — The average age of light vehicles on U.S. roads keeps rising, reaching a record high of 10.8 years in 2011, according to an analysis released today by automotive research firm Polk. Polk&#3…

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I'm perusing some google analytics for a project that just launched and as always… 2

I'm perusing some google analytics for a project that just launched and as always it's fascinating to read some of the available data. For example, a week after launch, 41% of 23,000 visitors were using internet explorer with Safari coming in second followed by Chrome and Firefox. Of the IE users, 221 were still on IE6.

At the other end of the browser scale, 12 visitors were using Rockmelt, 14 were using various Blackberries, 2 were using Netfront (an old feature phone browser) and 1 used something called Terra (an alternative iOS browser).

On the OS front, only 62% were using Windows, 16.6% were coming from Macs, 15.5% from various iOS devices (with iPhones edging out iPads), 4.3% from Android and 41 visitors from Windows Phones. Google TV, OS/2 and Unix each provided one visitor.

My question is where are all the Blackberry Playbook users?

#browsers #operatingsystems

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The British have always created some of the best educational TV programming and Look…

The British have always created some of the best educational TV programming and Look Around You is easily one of the most informative. This particular episode investigates a new phenomenon known as computer games. I'm going to have to check this out.

#lookaroundyou #laughs

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This was very cool!

This was very cool!

Reshared post from +Adam Pash

Really, really cool way to securely log into your Google account on a computer you don't trust.

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Sign Into Your Google Account on Public Computers Without Typing Anything
If you ever want to log into your Google account when you're at a public computer, where you're unsure whether or not there's a keylogger installed, there's now a simple solution.

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