Source: www.core77.com --- Tuesday, July 30, 2013 Ford research engineer Zach Nelson hacked up an Xbox 360 controller, and used an out-of-date MakerBot Thing-O-Matic, to make a rather interesting mod to a Shelby GT500: A haptic shift knob. When the RPMs hit a mere 3,000?god that car must have some awesome low-end torque?Nelson's 3D-printed custom knob vibrates, telling you it's time to shift (rather than informing you that you just ate a grenade in Call of Duty ). It might sound gimmicky, but Nelson's experiment provides a glimpse of the future. OpenXC is Ford's program to make vehicle data available to the user in realtime, with the diagnostic system beaming it to a tablet or smartphone over Bluetooth. By tapping that info, installing an Arduino controller, and programming in some simple values, Nelson was able to go from concept to execution in a matter of weeks. While some tech blogs have breathlessly been reporting that Nelson's device "will teach people how to drive a stick," that's obviously incorrect, and not the real point of the experiment; nor is the LED indicator going to be a gamechanger, as few of us who drive stick have ever been driving around going "Gee, what gear am I in?" Rather, Nelson is demonstrating that by simply opening the floodgates of a vehicle's information, Ford is enabling you customize your driving experience in a manner of your choosing. And it points towards the future: Open-source vehicle telematics, combined with digital manufacturing devices a ...
In an effort to lift itself from the dysfunction and ineffectiveness of the Billy Hunter-Derek Fisher regime, the NBA players association has spent the past month identifying four candidates to succeed Hunter as executive director.
Led by 18-year veteran Jerry Stackhouse, the NBPA has narrowed its options to former NBA coach and league executive Stu Jackson, Pistons legend and former NBA coach Isiah Thomas, former Madison Square Garden executive Steve Mills and Charlotte Bobcats president Fred Whitfield, FOXSports.com has learned. Sports attorney David Cornwell is said to be a longshot candidate.
?I?m totally denying we are down to those four prospects,? Stackhouse told me Sunday afternoon. ?Those are just four well-known guys, guys who know our business, guys who have ideas we wanted to hear from. They are not the only guys we want the search firm to vet. I haven?t even had a chance to talk with Fred Whitfield yet. I was planning to do that on Monday.?
Stackhouse said the timetable for the union to name an executive director is between Christmas and NBA All-Star Weekend. He said the union needed to first clean up its bylaws and structure.
?Our long-term deadline is to have our guy in place around the same time as when Adam (Silver) replaces David Stern,? Stackhouse said. ?We want our guy in place to begin the process of forging a relationship with Adam.?
Mills, who runs a financial planning company for athletes and entertainers, has been considered the front-runner ever since Hunter was ousted in February. Like Stu Jackson, Mills has a strong rapport with deputy commissioner Adam Silver, who will replace David Stern as commissioner midway through the upcoming season.
Regardless of who gets the job, it?s clear the NBA and the NBPA want to usher in a spirit of cooperation and shared goals that were missing during the Stern-Hunter era. Stern and Hunter feuded. Hunter fell into the media-laid trap of believing his only job was to engage Stern in a racially tinged war over the collective bargaining agreement.
Silver and the new executive director will likely embrace the Gene Upshaw-Paul Tagliabue-NFL model. Upshaw, a Hall of Fame player, was ridiculed by misguided members of the media because he worked with Tagliabue and Pete Rozelle on growing the league rather than focusing solely on the players? percentage of revenue. A smaller percentage of a bigger pie can be significantly more profitable than a bigger percentage of a smaller pie.
My point in bringing all this up is there is a terrific opportunity for the NBPA?s next executive director. He will be provided the chance to influence the direction of basketball in a way Hunter was not.
In fact, the new executive director should seek the position with the clear goal of being a transformative figure in the world of sports. As I have argued in previous columns, the NBA should set its sights on catching the NFL in terms of relevancy and popularity.
Basketball is the sports world?s No. 1 underachiever. Everyone ? male and female, short and tall, fat and skinny ? plays and understands the game. The temptation to use performance-enhancing drugs isn?t as pervasive (baseball) and it's not as rife with injury risks (football). And the game is blessed with sports? most charismatic and interesting stars.
What basketball ? not just the NBA ? has lacked is leadership and synergy. The new executive director will be assuming power at the perfect time. All signs point to the NCAA instituting radical change. The commissioners of the power conferences are demanding change. The public is demanding change. Sports Illustrated?s Pete Thamel wrote a story last week suggesting ?seismic? change within the NCAA.
Football and men?s basketball are driving this movement. The NBA and NFL players? unions should play large roles in how young football and basketball players are governed and developed before they reach the professional ranks.
Billy Hunter?s lack of vision always frustrated me. He never recognized the power of his position or he never had the energy to galvanize the necessary support to wield the power that was within his reach.
It?s my hope that the next NBPA executive director seizes that power and uses it to improve basketball and the entire system that shepherds a 13-year-old prospect into the professional ranks. If he does that, the new executive director could be an important figure beyond the world of sports.
In the aftermath of the George Zimmerman verdict, there is a debate raging around racial profiling, black criminality and who bears responsibility for addressing these issues. The topic is being exploited by the talk-show crowd on both sides of the political aisle.
Throughout this country?s history, sports have played a crucial role in bringing us all together, helping us understand each other and find common ground. Keep in mind, Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey were nearly two decades ahead of the civil-rights movement. Robinson?s success with the Brooklyn Dodgers inspired the civil-rights movement.
The NBPA, with its black leadership and primarily black membership, can inspire a new movement. As black people, we don?t do enough to control our own destiny. For a multitude of reasons, including mass incarceration, we don?t do a good enough job taking responsibility for molding and leading our young people along the right path.
Football and basketball, sports reliant on the talent of young black men, are driving the collegiate power structure ? the commissioners of the five power conferences ? to reshape the way the NCAA conducts business. Decisions are being made about young football and basketball players and there will be no significant black voices influencing those decisions.
I don?t blame white people for that. I blame us. I blame Billy Hunter and DeMaurice Smith. I blame LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Ray Lewis, Charles Woodson, Kevin Durant, Adrian Peterson, Ndamukong Suh and all the other professional black athletes who don?t think it?s their responsibility to play an active role in how their games are governed.
By dangling the possibility of returning 19-, 20- and 21-year-olds to college basketball, the NBPA could dictate the terms of NCAA reform, and those reforms could very well include compensation for those athletes and year-round academies for teenage prospects.
After winning his second NBA title, LeBron James answered his critics by explaining that the deck was stacked against him at birth and statistics showed that someone from his background should be dead, in jail or trapped in poverty.
In my opinion, it?s LeBron?s responsibility to do what he can to make it easier for other kids ? particularly athletes ? born into a similar situation to find the path to a better life. One of the best things he could do is force the NBA and the NCAA to involve themselves with the development of promising athletes at age 12 or 13.
Kids are pledging allegiance to gangs at that age. Why not bait them into pledging allegiance to an academic-based athletic culture/academy at that age? Only a handful of them may make it to the NBA, but they will all benefit from the experience and the overall game of basketball will benefit, too.
The new executive director of the NBPA will be staring at a historic opportunity. I hope he?s not just another puppet looking to collect a fat paycheck.
While Hillary Clinton has not announced whether she will run for president again in 2016, there is a whole galaxy of donors, political professionals who are making pretty major life and career choices on the assumption that she will. Take the super PAC Ready for Hillary: it has raised more than a million dollars since this spring, The New York Times' Nicholas Confessore reports, with a ?goal of creating "a grass-roots network that would give her a prohibitive edge in any Democratic primary and a significant advantage over potential Republican rivals." (It will also gather a massive list of supporters' names and addresses that the group can then sell to the Clinton campaign, if it ever forms.) Until then, donors are also proving their love for the Clintons by donating to other candidates. Huma Abedin ? Clinton's longtime aide and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner's wife ? has reportedly implied that a donation to Weiner will keep one close with the Clintons. But The?Times reports that a donation to Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia and the chairman of Clinton's 2008 campaign, is another way to prove one's devotion to the Hillary cause. The breadth of the pro-Hillary galaxy shows the frenzy among some Democrats to get as close as possible to Clinton by any means possible.
RELATED: 'If You Wanted to Stay in Hillary's Good Graces, You Answer the Call from Huma'
Ready for Hillary was founded by a former junior staffer for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and now has five full-time staffers. It's run by Adam Parkhomenko, who started his first "Vote Hillary" group in 2003 and was a junior staffer on her 2008 campaign, and Allida Black, a Clinton supporter who told Slate she was talking about a Hillary PAC the night Obama was reelected. The group has hired Jeremy Bird, field director for Obama's 2012 campaign, and Mitch Stewart, who led the Obama campaign's operations in swing states, USA Today reports. Former Clinton White House political director Craig Smith is a senior adviser to the group. Former Rep. Ellen Tauscher, who worked under Clinton at the State Department, is a strategic adviser, the Times reports.
RELATED: Huma Abedin Had an Incredibly Sweet Deal at the State Department
Major Democratic donors have been recruited by Ready for Hillary, though donations?are limited to a paltry $25,000 right now. (It's focusing on small donors, the Times reports, having brought in 3,625 donations of $20.16.) Big donors include:
Winthrop McCormack, an Oregon publishing executive; Agnes Gund, the New York arts philanthropist; and Irwin Jacobs, a?
telecommunications executive who gave more than $2 million to a pro-Obama super PAC last year.
But other Clinton causes need attention, too. Donors have to consider whether to express their support for Clinton through different financial contributions. There's the Clinton Foundation, recently renamed to be the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.?
RELATED: The Unanswered Questions of Weinergate
There's?Hillary Clinton's transition team, run by, you guessed it, Huma Abedin. The office has half a dozen aides,?Politico's Maggie Haberman?reports, and not all are full-time. The Weiner scandal "is proving to be another stress-test of the Clinton infrastructure in a year that was supposed to be relatively quiet for them," she reports. The team is working to create a Hillary office within the Clinton foundation.
RELATED: Anthony Weiner May Think He's Closer Friends with the Clintons Than They Do
Some Clinton donors think giving to Anthony Weiner shows their support for Hillary. Prominent Democratic donors are frustrated Abedin contacted them, ABC News reports, because "The clear implication... was that supporting Weiner was akin to supporting the Clintons, given Abedin?s longstanding and close relationship with the former secretary of state."?An anonymous Clinton source told the?New York Post last week, "If you look at the contributors to Anthony around the country, they weren?t giving for Anthony ? they were giving for Huma...?For many people, Huma is the gateway to Hillary. She?s one of the closest aides; she?s an adopted daughter. You think [power agent] Bob Barnett would give to Anthony? [Billionaire] Haim Saban wouldn?t give Anthony a second chance." But the biggest bundlers, the?Post reported, were ignoring Weiner, because "They already have strong enough ties to Hillary."
RELATED: Anthony Weiner, Bill Clinton & Twitter: The Awkward Marriage of Insecurity
Even the Weiner?interns think backing Weiner gets them closer to Hillary.?Weiner intern Olivia Nuzzi writes in the New York Daily News, "Their hope was to make a connection with Weiner?s wife, Huma Abedin, and thus forge a potential connection to her longtime boss, Hillary Clinton, to get an inside track for a campaign position if she ran for president in 2016." Junior staffer Clay Adam Wade told her, "I thought if I could only ride this out to the very end, perhaps I could network with Ms. Abedin and, in a few years, secure myself a spot in Secretary Clinton?s all-but-certain bid for the presidency. It was a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
But there are other candidates that perhaps better communicate Clinton love. In the next three months, Hillary Clinton will "hit the campaign trail in some form" for Terry McAuliffe, a noted "Friend of Bill" and Virginia gubernatorial candidate, Politico reports. Some "in the Clinton orbit say they have been encouraged to support Terry McAuliffe?s campaign," the Times reports.?Donors must feel relieved they have a lot of options out there.
Then there are the Hillary movies. Objective news networks won't donate to the Clinton campaign, but they can certainly profit from the Hillary buzz. There are already?three?movies about Hillary Clinton planned this year ??a CNN documentary that will air both on TV and in theaters, an NBC mini-series starring Diane Lane as Clinton, and a major motion picture whose cast has not been picked. The entertainment industry knows you have to spend Hillary money to make Hillary money.
Big spenders ? Chinese tourists carrying boutique shopping bags are easy prey for thieves, especially in the suburban hotels where they tend to stay. Photograph: Julien Chatelin/Rex Features
In China the words "Paris" or "France" are synonymous with "romantic" and the French capital is a honeymoon destination of choice. But a growing number of Chinese tourists are being robbed in Paris and France's image is taking a battering as a result.
Gan Di, a medical student, took his wife there after their June wedding. Aged 27, he belongs to the balinghou, or "post-1980" generation, those who benefited from the economic reforms of the past 20 years and now travel around the world ? as 83?million Chinese did in 2012. But his Parisian honeymoon turned sour after a ride on the Metro. "It was very crowded and they took advantage of us being pressed together," he said. The pickpockets made off with his phone and wallet.
Thefts targeting Chinese and Asian tourists have grown hugely over the past two years. The French police don't register the nationality of victims of crime, but there is no shortage of eyewitness accounts. In April, staff at the Louvre Museum went on strike because of the pickpocket invasion.
One explanation is that Chinese tourists often carry large amounts of cash. Chinese and Japanese tourists are also known to spend freely, with an average of between ?800-?1,200 ($1,000-$1,500), mostly in luxury Champs Elys?es boutiques. With expensive brand names on their shopping bags, they are an easy prey for thieves, especially in the suburban hotels where many stay.
The most audacious thefts can occur even before Chinese visitors set foot in the city, on the A1 motorway from the airport, which is notorious for traffic jams. On at least two occasions, organised gangs attacked tourist minibuses. They wait for the bus to reach a standstill, break the windows and snatch bags from terrified occupants.
The French police have been on alert since this wave of muggings started. In April they strengthened their presence at tourist sites and the number of thefts fell by 12% within a few weeks, compared with 2012 figures. However, they are helpless when faced with the professional gangs that work areas such as the Eiffel Tower.
In central Paris the pickpockets are mainly young eastern Europeans controlled by criminal networks that are hard to dismantle, especially since the thieves are teenagers and don't carry IDs. Being under age, they are released very quickly.
Furthermore, Asian tourists such as Gan Di rarely file complaints. The police station by the Eiffel Tower only gets between 60 and 80 per month. "The tourists are usually with tour operators and simply don't have two hours to spend in a police station," said Serge Leduc, head of security at the Louvre.
Tales flourish on the popular Chinese microblogging sites. Chinese-born Cai Situ, who runs an independent press agency in Paris, opened an account on the most popular one, Weibo, called "Public security news from Paris" and collects accounts of theft and muggings. On the same site, the head of an advertising agency is offering T?shirts for prospective travellers to Paris, with the French for "I only have a credit card" on them.
The increase in incidents has led to diplomatic tensions between the two countries. In June, a violent attack on six Chinese students attending a prestigious oenology school near Bordeaux further exacerbated anti-French sentiment in China, leading to criticisms of the lure of the French wine industry, so prized by Chinese investors. When 40 major Chinese business leaders visited Paris the same month, they raised the issue of security with president Fran?ois Hollande and received the special protection usually reserved for heads of state.
In 2010, the Chinese diaspora in the Belleville district of Paris demonstrated against the attacks, especially those during weddings when people traditionally offer cash gifts. Now complaint forms are available in Chinese.
The regional tourist office says that the figures show no drop in Asian visitors but the chairman, Jean-Pierre Blat, has long-term concerns: "With the growth of emerging countries, we could see between 10-15 million more tourists by 2020, and we just don't have the capacity to deal with them."
One problem is the lack of security in suburban hotels. In central Paris, hotel capacity is at saturation point and new ones can only be built outside the ring road, in precisely the areas now avoided by the Chinese tour operators. Jean-Fran?ois Zhou, the founder of Ansel Travel, says that the Chinese blacklist hotels whose clients have been the victims of theft. He now tries to get his clients into central hotels, even if it raises the cost of his services.
On 11 June the Paris police announced 26 measures to promote the safety of tourists, with a greater police presence in areas popular with Asian visitors. The long-term aim is to change their cash habits by promoting awareness and working with the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean embassies. The plan also entails more police patrols in the hotel areas of Seine-Saint-Denis outside the city proper.
The Louvre has gone one step further by setting up an international telephone line and a computer to help tourists report thefts. It is in a prominent location, under the glass pyramid.
This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) ? The Baltimore Ravens signed tight end Visanthe Shiancoe to a one-year contract Sunday, one day after Dennis Pitta dislocated his hip during practice.
Pitta had surgery Saturday and could miss the entire season.
Sciancoe, a 33-year-old free agent, played in only four games last season with New England. But he played in all 16 games in each of the previous nine seasons ? the first four with the New York Giants and the next five with Minnesota.
He has 243 career catches for 2,677 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Pitta was hurt on the third day of training camp when he collided with safety James Ihedigbo in the back of the end zone while going for a pass from Joe Flacco.
Pitta was a key figure last year in the Ravens' run to a Super Bowl championship last season. He was expected to take on a bigger role this year after Baltimore traded wide receiver Anquan Boldin during the spring.
SALT LAKE CITY -- A group of Republicans behind an initiative petition to overhaul how Utah selects its candidates for office has reported raising $70,000 so far in their effort to get it on the 2014 ballot.
Leaders of the Count My Vote drive say they've received donations of $25,000 each from venture capitalist Dinesh Patel and life sciences investor Gary Crocker.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports the group also garnered donations of $10,000 each from Omar Kader, who owns a Middle East consulting firm, and Bruce Bastian, a founder of Word Perfect.
Bastian has given heavily to Democratic candidates and gay rights causes, while Kader has donated thousands to Democrats. The bulk of donations from Crocker and Patel have gone to Republicans.
The group, organized by former Gov. Mike Leavitt, seeks to increase voter participation by moving away from Utah's current caucus system, which allows delegates selected at neighborhood meetings to nominate most candidates at a state convention.
Supporters have expressed concern that delegates represent the fringes of both parties and candidates tend to cater to the extremes as a result.
Dixon Fire Department's new state-of-the-art engine hit the streets at the beginning of July. (Joel Rosenbaum/jrosenbaum@thereporter.com)
A quick turn of the key, and the engine roared to life.
Summer sunlight glinted off its fresh coat of lime green paint, matching the color scheme of the other apparatus in the Dixon Fire Department's three engine fleet.
This engine, however, was different.
Christened Engine 81, the 2013 Pierce Velocity marked its official start with the single-station department on July 4th -- a day that department members say they won't soon forget. The new addition is not only larger, sleeker and more storage-oriented, but its arrival enabled the fire department to rotate out a 1993 engine that, by all accounts, has seen better days and move its second newest engine, now five years old and with more than 70,000 hard miles on it, to second-out
Division Chief Ron Karlen talks about the Dixon Fire Department's new state-of-the-art fire engine. (Joel Rosenbaum/jrosenbaum@thereporter.com)
status, Division Chief Ron Karlen explained Thursday.
"We basically bought a striped-down version of a fire truck, and we chose the option to mount all the equipment on it ourselves to save money," Karlen said.
"When the engine came, it was just empty -- empty compartments, and we had to go buy all the pieces of equipment and mount them and install everything on the engine," he said. "But in doing that, we probably saved about $30,000 just in the mounting component of fire apparatus."
The city-funded state of the art engine was budgeted at $580,000 -- a goal that Karlen said they managed to come in under.
With a raised cab that allows firefighters in and out easily, even while wearing helmets, the engine also moved away
from the typical positioning of ladders on the outside in favor of interior compartments. With the equipment stowed inside the engine, it not only makes for a cleaner appearance, but there are fewer things for firefighters to hit or knock off, Karlen said.
"Also, the other thing is, putting ladders in here," Karlen said, indicating a compartment at the back of the engine, "lowers the height of it, so it's more firefighter friendly," which, he noted will hopefully help prevent back injuries.
"They put more equipment on this engine than we've carried in the past, which gives us more tools in the toolbox," he said.
Most notably, however, even more than the capabilities provided by the new addition, is the ability to replace the outdated apparatus and the "extreme amount of mileage" it has wracked up, Karlen said.
"It's important for us to keep up with the pace of wear and tear and mileage for our fleet of engines," he said.
With a service area measuring approximately 320 square miles, the department often finds itself responding to crashes on the freeway.
"And we do a lot of auto-aid, mutual aid with Winters, Davis, Vacaville and within our county," Karlen added.
"Because we're just one station, this engine has to handle the brunt of the calls, verses having multiple station where it's all spread out equally," he said.
Taking a page out Vacaville Fire Department's book with its new engine, Karlen said they are hoping to provide some consistency within the county.
"It makes it a lot easier when you go to neighboring agencies and the engines look alike, so the guys are familiar with operations of how they work," he said.
A new engine with the same specs has also been ordered for Winters Fire, with whom Dixon has a contractual agreement.
Fitted for foam and technical rescues, Karlen compared the engine's LED lighting capabilities to a "football stadium."
According to Karlen, the City Council agreed to "surplus" the department's oldest engine, and will likely attempt to sell it to another department in need.
"It handles a lot better," said firefighter/paramedic and acting engineer Matt Fields -- especially in terms of its suspension. "These are a lot tighter unit to drive."
And after tackling an estimated 55 calls in its first month of service, the engine is already making a positive impact.
"It just helps us be a little safer, a little more efficient a little more effective in our operations. We're a fairly busy department, so for these guys to have good tools and equipment is very important for our mission," Karlen added.
Follow Staff Writer Catherine Bowen Mijs at Twitter.com/cmijs.
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain --?Spain's interior minister announced Saturday that the driver whose speeding train crashed, killing 78 people, is now being held on suspicion of negligent homicide.
Lavandeira Jr / EPA
Scores are killed and injured in a train derailment in NW Spain.
Minister of Interior Jorge Fernandez Diaz announced the step against Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, who previously had been detained on suspicion of recklessness.
The minister also said Garzon, 52, has been discharged from the hospital and taken to a police station.
Blame has increasingly fallen on the driver, with the country's railway agency saying it was his responsibility to brake before going into the high-risk curve where the train tumbled off the rails and smashed into a wall. But it's still not clear whether the brakes failed or were never used, and the driver has remained silent so far.
A blood-soaked Garzon was photographed Wednesday being escorted away from the wreckage, at first by civilians who had hurried to the scene of the accident and then by police, but it is not clear just what his medical status is.
Unconfirmed media reports said that Garzon had injured ribs.
He had been expected to give a preliminary statement to judicial police as early as Thursday, but that process was delayed, reportedly due to health reasons. Earlier Saturday, the justice department said Garzon's first appearance before a judge had been postponed until Sunday.
In Wednesday's crash, the train's eight carriages packed with 218 passengers blazed far over the speed limit into a curve and violently tipped over. Diesel fuel sent flames coursing through some cabins.
The president of Adif, the Spanish rail agency, said that the driver should have started slowing the train 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) before the dangerous bend. He said signs clearly marked this point when the driver must begin to slow.
Normally, police take a first statement that is then examined by an investigating judge who must then take testimony within 72 hours of the arrest. That deadline is Sunday.
Although that initial court hearing would be closed, it would give hints about the status of the investigation. The judge would decide whether to jail the driver as an official suspect, release him on bail, or release him without charges. If a judge finds sufficient evidence for a criminal trial, the suspect will be charged and a trial date set.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Skip Schumaker's first career home run at Dodger Stadium couldn't have come at a more opportune time, especially now that he's playing for the home team.
Schumaker hit a tiebreaking two-run shot off longtime NL West rival Bronson Arroyo while filling in for the ailing Carl Crawford, Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up two hits over seven innings and retired his last 13 batters, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 Saturday night.
"I grew up in L.A. going to Dodger games, so I've always thought about hitting a home run in Dodger Stadium ? and actually doing it is pretty incredible," Schumaker said. "It's kind of a surreal feeling. I get lucky every now and then. Every 200 at-bats or so, I run into one."
Ryu (9-3) had nine strikeouts, all in a span of 13 batters. The first came against Joey Votto, who took a called third strike after Chris Heisey hit his first triple of the season with two out in the third. Cincinnati's run came on a homer by Jay Bruce in the second.
The Dodgers increased their NL West lead to 1 1/2 games over Arizona.
Ryu faced South Korean countryman Shin-Soo Choo for the first time in the major leagues. The Reds' center fielder walked, grounded out to first base and struck out.
"I'm sure Choo was on his mind," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "I mean, it's a big deal. Choo is one of his best friends and one of his baseball idols. So with him facing him in America in an atmosphere like this, and also playing in front of a huge TV audience back in Korea, it's pretty neat to know you're a part of that. It was really cool to see those guys match up. You could hear the crowd on every pitch and every swing."
Kenley Jansen got the last three outs for his 14th save.
Crawford, who singled his first three times up in the Dodgers' 2-1 victory Friday night and then made a brief visit to an emergency room on Saturday to get checked on for a high temperature and fever, was held out of the lineup. Manager Don Mattingly replaced him with Schumaker, who came in with more plate appearances (53) and hits (18) against Reds starter Bronson Arroyo than anyone else on Los Angeles' roster.
"It's a good feeling when you have a situation like today where Carl wasn't able to play and Skip can step in and be a more than capable guy," Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. "He's a great veteran who battles every at-bat. That's what this team is built upon ? experience on the bench, experience on the field. And hopefully we'll take that all the way through."
Schumaker came through in the fifth, driving Arroyo's 1-0 pitch to center field for his second home run of the season and a 3-1 Dodgers lead after a leadoff single by Mark Ellis.
"If you look at the numbers, it says I have some hits off him. But a lot of those were bloop hits, lucky hits, and not too many were squared up," said Schumaker, who also doubled in the seventh inning and scored the Dodgers' fourth run on a two-out single by Gonzalez.
It was the 300th home run given up Arroyo (9-8), including a career-high and major league-worst 46 in 2011. The 14-year veteran right-hander was charged with three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, after going 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA in his previous six starts against Los Angeles. He was coming off a complete-game 11-0 victory at San Francisco on Monday.
The Dodgers got a run in the first on a two-out double by Hanley Ramirez after Yasiel Puig walked, advanced on a flyout and stole third without a throw. But the Reds tied it in the second when Bruce drove Ryu's 2-0 pitch into the right field pavilion for his 22nd home run. Since the start of the 2010 season, Bruce leads all left-handed batters with 42 homer against lefty pitchers ? including eight this season.
"I think it's helped him being around Joey Votto, and seeing how Joey hits lefties," manager Dusty Baker said. "Most guys, I think, have trouble with lefties because they don't see them (enough). I mean, it's hard enough to find a right-handed batting practice pitcher that can throw strikes ? and it's almost impossible to find a lefty to do it. But we've got two of them ? Mark Berry and Ronnie Ortegon. And we always travel with one, so I think that helps a lot.
"That's something that Barry Bonds always did in San Francisco," added Baker, who watched Bonds homer 125 times against lefties during the 10 seasons he managed baseball's career home run leader. "We always had a left-hander throwing to Barry in batting practice. So I took a page out of Barry's book, and I'd like to give Barry credit for that."
Bruce, the Reds' right fielder, also threw out Puig at first base in the fifth after the overaggressive rookie made a wide turn on his single toward the line. The play immediately followed Schumaker's homer. It was the hustle by catcher Devin Mesoraco that made it possible, because he ran up the line and took the throw.
In Thursday night's series opener, Puig made a similar wide turn around first on a single to center and ended up at third base after Choo threw the ball past first baseman Votto and the ball ended up in the stands for a two-base error.
NOTES: Ryu is 5-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 10 home starts. The Dodgers have won each of his last six outings, including three no-decisions. ... Arroyo has given up a franchise-record 238 home runs since joining the Reds in a March 2006 trade from Boston for Wily Mo Pena. ... Reds RHP Jonathan Broxton, on the disabled list since June 15 with an elbow strain, threw 20 pitches during early batting practice. Baker was noncommittal when asked about the best-case scenario for the former Dodger closer's return. ... Los Angeles pitching coach Rick Honeycutt rejoined the club after missing four games because of the death of his mother-in-law. ... Votto's consecutive game on-base streak ended at 38 after he went 0 for 3. That left Ramirez with the longest active streak in the majors at 35.
All Critics (159) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (156) | Rotten (3)
Hawke and Delpy remain as charming as ever, and their combined goofiness is more endearing than annoying.
Love is messy here, life cannot be controlled, satisfaction is far from guaranteed. Romance is rocky at best. But romance still is.
Though "Before Midnight" is often uncomfortable to watch, it's never less than mesmerizing - and ultimately, a joy to walk with this prickly but fascinating couple again.
"Before Midnight" is heartbreaking, but not because of Jesse and Celine. It's the filmmakers' passions that seem to have cooled.
Before Midnight is fascinating to watch, and so long as Celine and Jesse are communicating, there's still hope.
How (Jesse and Celine) try to rekindle that flame is what drives Midnight, a film that feels so authentic it's like overhearing a conversation you're not sure you should be hearing.
The reason this film will hold your attention for two hours is because of the natural dialogue between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
Before Midnight is like an old friend who has grown sharper and grumpier and saltier with life; and for students of cinema, the film is a masterclass in the use of the language and tools of this amazing artform to portray human nature
The beauty of this film - like the two before - is its natural flow of conversation and ability to engage and transport us into the moment
The release of each sequel is becoming an event, so it's particularly great to see Before Midnight not only meeting expectations but raising the bar.
It's a brave, challenging and essential installment in what is one of modern cinema's finest trilogies.
The beauty of this film - like the two before - is its natural flow of conversation and ability to engage and transport us into the moment
Before Midnight is no romance. It's a horror movie.
Takes its traditional romantic tale into more insightful territories.
Hawk and Delpy know just how to get under your skin. Their onscreen alter egos fit like a glove, and witnessing their ageing, nagging, toying love is a true privilege.
What lifts Linklater's trilogy above your average dialogue-heavy indie is not just the intelligence of the conversation but its frankness and humor.
There's not a hint of melodrama or falsity in the Before series.
The 'Before' trilogy is a vacation for me. I am taken away, and it is never for long enough. I genuinely feel lucky to have these movies.
I'm not sure this is the end of Richard Linklater's 'Before' trilogy. It's perfection just as it is, but then again, Linklater has nine more years to work on the sequel.
Loving words mix with personal attacks, the magic moments with the unintended slights, as we witness the occasional desperation of imperfect people doing the best they can when life moves beyond meet-cute and courtship. That's authentic.
Linklater and his players bring an end to the fantasy and welcome the thrilling ups and bitter downs of reality to this love story.
Like the first two films, it reflects the real world in a way that seems almost preternatural. It's just that, here, the real world is a harsher, more disappointing place.
The duo, clearly so comfortable in their characters' skin, indulge in intelligent banter, sharp humour and emotional truths.
So much better written than contemporary novels, this film is a literary as well as cinematic achievement to cherish. For grown-ups.
As before, it's often very funny, with Jesse and Celine swapping Woody Allen-esque one-liners - nicely snarky, appealingly abrasive.
The acting, the dialogue and direction are superb.
A vexing problem for those on Windows Phone 8 is that of space-filling ?Other Storage? found under Settings > Phone Storage. The problem is after a few days, weeks or months of usage, that mysterious area begins to fill up with ?stuff? and users really have no recourse to getting it back.
While Nokia and other OEMs have introduced apps to delete Temporary Files, which for some does gain back significant space, it does not touch the other Other Storage problem for many.
Now, Microsoft?s Joe Belfiore stated in a Tweet today that at least in GDR2 (OS build 10327), the problem has been addressed. But from our usage of the Lumia 1020, we?re not too sure users will still be satisfied.
Belfiore responds in a Tweet that:
?Don't worry: non-deleted large files (XAPs, eg) that caused 'other' storage issues were fixed in GDR2. on all 1020s.?
That may be true and we?re not going to disagree with the man who ?runs the team doing Windows Phone product definition & design? but the changes do not completely get rid of the ?other storage? problem either.
Case in point, our Nokia Lumia 1020, which we?ve been using only since Tuesday already has 2.6GB of ?other storage? (according to Nokia?s app; if we use the system reading, it?s 3.65GB). That?s about 1GB more than our previous daily driver, the Lumia 920, which we used for months. We should also note we still have 22GB of free space on the 1020, so it?s not because we?re filling it up with a lot of media or apps.
On our Lumia 925, the story is a little better with only 696 MB allocated to ?other?, which is good since the Lumia 925 has half the storage of the Lumia 1020 at 16GB.
Regardless, we can?t quite say to people that the GDR2 update will magically fix the ?other? storage observation. Sure, Microsoft may have improved upon it with the update, but it?s still there.
What is the Other Storage issue?
?Other Storage? on Windows Phone 8 includes cached data this stored on your device. Everything from email, games, videos, game info, app info, documents, images synced to SkyDrive, etc. are all items that can fill it up.
It?s been observed by many users that having auto-upload to SkyDrive is one culprit that can quickly fill the mysterious area up. Heck, even just manually uploading files can contribute to it. Over at WPXbox, they give some tips for trying to regain space back including limited syncing of email accounts, not opening SkyDrive folders with loads of images (thumbnails) and other ?tricks? that have mixed results.
Another method is to try and use the app ?Shrink Storage?, which once again, has varied results (we?ve never gained anything back from using it).
We should note that believe it or not, this is really not a bug but rather seemingly a side-effect of how the OS operates. That?s why it can?t just be patched. It appears to be a low-level OS feature that allows app, game and service data to be stored locally on the device for fast-retrieval (and reduce OTA data consumption). It's more akin to having to re-do your plumbing than fixing a leaky faucet.
The problem of course is there appears to be no way to reset it, besides wiping the device, nor a way to help gain space back or know what is causing it. While we still have 22GB of storage left on our Lumia 1020, ergo we don?t mind the lost-space now, others have lost 5, 10, 14GB and more on their devices.
So in conclusion, while GDR2 may have made it better, make no mistake that your ?other storage? can still fill up with seemingly little usage. How high will ours go? What exactly caused it? We have no idea but we?ll tinker around to try and find out.
Halley VI, a British research station which opened in February this year, is built on skis, making it the first polar research station that can be relocated. It is sited on a floating ice shelf on the Weddell Sea, from where the ozone hole was discovered. This is the research station's sixth incarnation, and it includes hydraulic legs, with good reason: the first four bases were engulfed by ice. Halley III, for example, was 12 metres under the ice when it was abandoned in 1983. The eight modules comprising the new base are built to withstand temperatures of -55??C, and can be towed to a new location ? a wise feature given that the ice shelf it is built on is moving at a rate of 700 metres per year.
Review of Builders Waltham Forest from 26 July 2013
They were flexible as other work being done on my home was running over. The work was completed to my high standards, on time, on budget. I have already recommended this company to others and I will never go anywhere else. Thank you lads!
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? Qype 2013 - Review of Builders Waltham Forest by scottypowe Made with Love in Hamburg, Germany
24 July 2013Last updated at 09:50 ETBy Melissa HogenboomScience reporter, BBC News
Scientists have confirmed one of the rarest phenomena of decay in particle physics, found about three times in every billion collisions at the LHCb.
They observed a rare transformation of one subatomic particle into another for the first time.
The way this unfolds casts doubt on versions of the theory of physics known as Supersymmetry (Susy).
It was hoped Susy could explain gaps in the most established theory of how the Universe works.
The vast LHC machine, housed in a circular tunnel that runs for 27km beneath the French-Swiss border, smashes beams of protons together at close to light speeds.
Detectors positioned at key points around the underground "ring" are then used to scour the wreckage of these collisions for signs of new particles and physical phenomena.
The theory Susy proposes that each particle has a heavier version of itself which could explain the ever mysterious dark matter, believed to make up a quarter of our Universe.
Needle in a haystack
However, the rate of decay found was predicted by the Standard Model - the framework for particle physics devised in the 1960s and 1970s - even though it's now seen as an incomplete description of nature.
It is not yet able to explain gravity, or indeed the dark matter and dark energy which together make up 95% of the Universe.
Some particles naturally decay into others and the types of decay can help physicists refine key theories. Here scientists found a particle called a Bs meson decaying into two muons for the first time.
The findings were announced at the EPS conference in Stockholm and had the 5-sigma level of significance required to reach the level of a formal discovery.
This builds on a previous announcement of the findings which had lesser statistical significance as the team had not yet analysed all the data.
The observations at LHCb and CMS were so rare that Bs mesons only decayed into two muons about three times in every billion collisions.
The LHCb team announced: "Finding particle decays this rare makes hunting for a needle in a haystack seem easy."
This is due to the hundreds of millions of collisions the LHC produced every second, with each one producing hundreds of new particles that leave electrical signals in the giant detectors.
Quantum loop
Val Gibson, leader of the Cambridge particle physics group and member of the LHCb experiment, told BBC News that it was the rarest decay they have observed so far.
"The reason it's so rare is the fact that it doesn't decay easily into the final quark particles we know about. It has to go through a loop process, like a quantum loop. It's not a straight road but it has to go round a roundabout before it can get to the final state particles.
"Because it's got this roundabout in it, it means that other heavy supersymmetric particles [could potentially] enter the roundabout and make a big difference to the decay rate," Prof Gibson added.
But the quarks did not have heavy particles blocking the decay.
Shy physics
"There was no observation of Supersymmetry, you would have to fine-tune the theory to explain the measurements found," Prof Gibson explained.
"The Supersymmetry theorists have not given up, however it is becoming harder and harder for them to explain these findings.
"Measurements of this very rare decay significantly squeeze the places new physics can hide. The UK LHCb team are now looking forward to the LHC returning at even higher energy and to an upgrade to the experiment so that we can investigate why new physics is so shy."
Tara Shears from the University of Liverpool also works with the LHCb, but was not involved with this particular discovery. She said: "Supersymmetry is starting to look less likely to be a good description of the universe."
"The catch is that Supersymmetry is quite a loosely defined theoretical model which means it has many uncertainties in it. It's impossible to rule it out altogether.
"This result has has really put the squeeze on the possibilities of the different ways Supersymmetry could be possible," she told BBC News.
The Standard Model
? The Standard Model is the simplest set of ingredients - elementary particles - needed to make up the world we see in the heavens and in the laboratory
? Quarks combine together to make, for example, the proton and neutron - which make up the nuclei of atoms today - though more exotic combinations were around in the Universe's early days
? Leptons come in charged and uncharged versions; electrons - the most familiar charged lepton - together with quarks make up all the matter we can see; the uncharged leptons are neutrinos, which rarely interact with matter
? The "force carriers" are particles whose movements are observed as familiar forces such as those behind electricity and light (electromagnetism) and radioactive decay (the weak nuclear force)
? The Higgs boson came about because although the Standard Model holds together neatly, nothing requires the particles to have mass; for a fuller theory, the Higgs - or something else - must fill in that gap
Contact: Dr. Dirk F?rger presse@dzne.de 49-228-433-02260 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Substance makes mice live longer, but hardly slows down the aging process
This news release is available in German.
The findings are reported in the current issue of the "Journal of Clinical Investigation" (published online on July 25, 2013).
The body's repair mechanisms begin to fail with increasing age. As a result, signs of wear and tear appear and the risk for many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and cancer, increases. "Current efforts to develop therapies against age-related diseases target these disorders one by one," says Dr. Dan Ehninger, research group leader at the DZNE site in Bonn. "Influencing the aging process itself may be an alternative approach with the potential to yield broadly effective therapeutics against age-related diseases."
In this context, the substance rapamycin is noteworthy. Rapamycin is used in recipients of organ transplants, as it keeps the immune system in check and can consequently prevent rejection of the foreign tissue. In 2009, US scientists discovered another effect: Mice treated with rapamycin lived longer than their untreated counterparts. "Rapamycin was the first drug shown to extend maximal lifespan in a mammalian species. This study has created quite a stir," says Ehninger.
For Ehninger and his team, this finding motivated further studies: "We wanted to address if rapamycin slows down aging in mice or, alternatively, if it has an isolated effect on lifespan - without broadly modulating aging."
Not a youth elixir
Together with scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen and other colleagues, Ehninger's group investigated if rapamycin influences aging in mice. The results are sobering: "Our results indicate that rapamycin extends lifespan, but it has only limited effects on the aging process itself," is Ehninger's summary of the findings. "Most aging traits were not affected by rapamycin treatment. Although we did observe positive effects on some aging traits, such as memory impairments and reduced red blood cell counts, our studies showed that similar drug effects are also seen in young mice, indicating that rapamycin did not influence these measures by slowing aging, but rather via other, aging-independent, mechanisms."
The researchers believe that such aging-independent drug effects also underlie rapamycin's effect on lifespan. "We assume that the lifespan of mice is extended because rapamycin inhibits tumor formation. This is a well-known rapamycin effect, which we were able to confirm. Cancer is the leading cause of death in the relevant mouse strains" says the specialist in molecular medicine. "Rapamycin, therefore, seems to have isolated effects on specific life-limiting pathology, but lacks broad effects on aging in mice."
A comprehensive assessment of aging
The research team assessed more than 150 traits, which typically change during the course of aging. These analyses included an assessment of vision, reflexes, cardiovascular function, learning and behavior, immune functions and the integrity of the arterial wall, to just name a few. "Aging is a complex process, which cannot be captured by assessing a single parameter. This is why we analysed a large number of structural and functional signs of aging," explains Ehninger. "The present study is one of the most comprehensive assessments of a putative anti-aging intervention."
The analysis comprised three different age cohorts, in which rapamycin treatment was either initiated in young adulthood, in midlife or late in life. "At the time, the US study showed that rapamycin extends lifespan irrespective of whether the treatment is given to young or aged animals," says the Bonn-based researcher. "We, therefore, chose a study design, in the context of which we also investigated rapamycin's effects on different age groups. This enabled us to examine whether the possible effects of rapamycin depend on the age at which treatment started."
The animals were genetically identical twin mice. All of the animals received rapamycin regularly over a period of approximately one year. For each age cohort there was also a control group, which did not take the substance.
Need for comprehensive analyses
"Generally speaking, our studies show that a number of different parameters have to be considered when assessing the efficacy of possible anti-aging interventions. The interpretation of the data depends heavily on the overall picture of findings. Lifespan measures alone are not a reliable indicator of anti-aging effects," emphasises Ehninger. "This makes the search for anti-aging medicines tedious, but it is also very promising, because such substances could open up new possibilities for medicine. However, this is still some way off."
###
Original publication
"Rapamycin extends murine lifespan but has limited effects on aging ", Frauke Neff, Diana Flores-Dominguez etc., Journal of Clinical Investigation (published online on July 25, 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI67674
The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) investigates the causes of diseases of the nervous system and develops strategies for prevention, treatment and care. It is an institution of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres with sites in Berlin, Bonn, Dresden, Gttingen, Magdeburg, Munich, Rostock/Greifswald, Tbingen and Witten. The DZNE cooperates closely with universities, their clinics and other research facilities. Website: http://www.dzne.de/en / Twitter: twitter.com/DZNE_en
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Dr. Dirk F?rger presse@dzne.de 49-228-433-02260 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Substance makes mice live longer, but hardly slows down the aging process
This news release is available in German.
The findings are reported in the current issue of the "Journal of Clinical Investigation" (published online on July 25, 2013).
The body's repair mechanisms begin to fail with increasing age. As a result, signs of wear and tear appear and the risk for many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and cancer, increases. "Current efforts to develop therapies against age-related diseases target these disorders one by one," says Dr. Dan Ehninger, research group leader at the DZNE site in Bonn. "Influencing the aging process itself may be an alternative approach with the potential to yield broadly effective therapeutics against age-related diseases."
In this context, the substance rapamycin is noteworthy. Rapamycin is used in recipients of organ transplants, as it keeps the immune system in check and can consequently prevent rejection of the foreign tissue. In 2009, US scientists discovered another effect: Mice treated with rapamycin lived longer than their untreated counterparts. "Rapamycin was the first drug shown to extend maximal lifespan in a mammalian species. This study has created quite a stir," says Ehninger.
For Ehninger and his team, this finding motivated further studies: "We wanted to address if rapamycin slows down aging in mice or, alternatively, if it has an isolated effect on lifespan - without broadly modulating aging."
Not a youth elixir
Together with scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen and other colleagues, Ehninger's group investigated if rapamycin influences aging in mice. The results are sobering: "Our results indicate that rapamycin extends lifespan, but it has only limited effects on the aging process itself," is Ehninger's summary of the findings. "Most aging traits were not affected by rapamycin treatment. Although we did observe positive effects on some aging traits, such as memory impairments and reduced red blood cell counts, our studies showed that similar drug effects are also seen in young mice, indicating that rapamycin did not influence these measures by slowing aging, but rather via other, aging-independent, mechanisms."
The researchers believe that such aging-independent drug effects also underlie rapamycin's effect on lifespan. "We assume that the lifespan of mice is extended because rapamycin inhibits tumor formation. This is a well-known rapamycin effect, which we were able to confirm. Cancer is the leading cause of death in the relevant mouse strains" says the specialist in molecular medicine. "Rapamycin, therefore, seems to have isolated effects on specific life-limiting pathology, but lacks broad effects on aging in mice."
A comprehensive assessment of aging
The research team assessed more than 150 traits, which typically change during the course of aging. These analyses included an assessment of vision, reflexes, cardiovascular function, learning and behavior, immune functions and the integrity of the arterial wall, to just name a few. "Aging is a complex process, which cannot be captured by assessing a single parameter. This is why we analysed a large number of structural and functional signs of aging," explains Ehninger. "The present study is one of the most comprehensive assessments of a putative anti-aging intervention."
The analysis comprised three different age cohorts, in which rapamycin treatment was either initiated in young adulthood, in midlife or late in life. "At the time, the US study showed that rapamycin extends lifespan irrespective of whether the treatment is given to young or aged animals," says the Bonn-based researcher. "We, therefore, chose a study design, in the context of which we also investigated rapamycin's effects on different age groups. This enabled us to examine whether the possible effects of rapamycin depend on the age at which treatment started."
The animals were genetically identical twin mice. All of the animals received rapamycin regularly over a period of approximately one year. For each age cohort there was also a control group, which did not take the substance.
Need for comprehensive analyses
"Generally speaking, our studies show that a number of different parameters have to be considered when assessing the efficacy of possible anti-aging interventions. The interpretation of the data depends heavily on the overall picture of findings. Lifespan measures alone are not a reliable indicator of anti-aging effects," emphasises Ehninger. "This makes the search for anti-aging medicines tedious, but it is also very promising, because such substances could open up new possibilities for medicine. However, this is still some way off."
###
Original publication
"Rapamycin extends murine lifespan but has limited effects on aging ", Frauke Neff, Diana Flores-Dominguez etc., Journal of Clinical Investigation (published online on July 25, 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI67674
The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) investigates the causes of diseases of the nervous system and develops strategies for prevention, treatment and care. It is an institution of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres with sites in Berlin, Bonn, Dresden, Gttingen, Magdeburg, Munich, Rostock/Greifswald, Tbingen and Witten. The DZNE cooperates closely with universities, their clinics and other research facilities. Website: http://www.dzne.de/en / Twitter: twitter.com/DZNE_en
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Ford research engineer Zach Nelson hacked up an Xbox 360 controller, and used an out-of-date MakerBot Thing-O-Matic, to make a rather interesting mod to a Shelby GT500: A haptic shift knob. When the RPMs hit a mere 3,000?god that car must have some awesome low-end torque?Nelson's 3D-printed custom knob vibrates, telling you it's time to shift (rather than informing you that you just ate a grenade in Call of Duty ). It might sound gimmicky, but Nelson's experiment provides a glimpse of the future. OpenXC is Ford's program to make vehicle data available to the user in realtime, with the diagnostic system beaming it to a tablet or smartphone over Bluetooth. By tapping that info, installing an Arduino controller, and programming in some simple values, Nelson was able to go from concept to execution in a matter of weeks. While some tech blogs have breathlessly been reporting that Nelson's device "will teach people how to drive a stick," that's obviously incorrect, and not the real point of the experiment; nor is the LED indicator going to be a gamechanger, as few of us who drive stick have ever been driving around going "Gee, what gear am I in?" Rather, Nelson is demonstrating that by simply opening the floodgates of a vehicle's information, Ford is enabling you customize your driving experience in a manner of your choosing. And it points towards the future: Open-source vehicle telematics, combined with digital manufacturing devices a ...
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Public release date: 25-Jul-2013
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