Calipornication- Details on the new California from Ferrari

Pulled out of its secret workshop and displayed on the grounds of the Ferrari factory just for us, the 2009 Ferrari California stops us all in our tracks. We all just stand there. Mouths open. Like high-schoolers in the presence of bare breasts for the first time.

This is a gorgeous car. With Pininfarina bodywork created under the direction of Donato Coco, Ferrari's new design chief, the California is a real stunner, particularly with the roof up. Roof down it loses a trifle of that extraordinary well-balanced beauty, but only a trifle. Unlike other cars with a retractable hardtop, the proportions remain intact when the passengers expose themselves to the sun.

For instance, the fender vents are a welcome homage to the car from which the California takes its inspiration, the powerfully evocative Ferrari 250GT SWB Spyder California introduced at the 1960 Geneva auto show. And the long, hollow grooves in the sills have a function, as they direct air to ducts that cool the rear transaxle.

No question about it, the newest Ferrari is a looker. Full-figured, but a looker still the same.

Hard and Light
At 179.5 inches long, the 2009 Ferrari California is 2 inches longer than a Ferrari F430, and its 106.3-inch wheelbase is 4 inches longer. This makes the California larger on the inside than an F430 even though the front-engine car is an inch narrower than its midengine brother. The factory hasn't yet confirmed the new car's overall weight, but we expect it to be more than the 3,533-pound F430 Spider.

Ferrari's composers are also still working hard on the soundtrack for this car. We can hear a difference in exhaust sounds among various California test cars, as they drive by us regularly, still in camouflage. The car's volume control is set by butterfly valves in the exhausts, so the bark of the car's V8 engine at idle is explosively loud, beastly and titillating. But as soon as the wheels roll, it dies down in order to stay within legal limits.

The trunk has a capacity of 12.7 cubic feet when you drive the California with the hardtop roof in place and then shrinks only slightly to 9.2 cubic feet when the roof has been retracted into the trunk. This means the California should be an extraordinary practical sports car in which you can bring along more than in a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti — more than in a VW Golf, even. Quite an achievement, for the gang in Maranello had to find room in the rear of the car for not just a decent trunk and the folding hardtop but also the rear-mounted transaxle.

There's even a pair of simple backseats for a couple of extra bags. Yes, just bags. There's no way adults could sit there; there's simply not enough room. Behind the seats are two protective rollover bars that pop up into place if things go horribly wrong for you out there on the road.

Leather Tuscadero
The interior is magnificent, and the suspended bridge in the middle console and the superbly comfortable seats are a feast to the eye. These seats (built from carbon fiber and magnesium) sit you very low in the car, with just enough view over the rear deck to descry following vehicles. To park the Ferrari, you definitely need to have a good feeling for the dimensions of the car, or perhaps clairvoyance.

Just like the Ferrari F430, the California's steering wheel is graced with a distinctive manettino so you can calibrate the chassis stability control. There are three positions: Sport, Wet and DST Off. That's all you need in a carefree GT, or so they must be thinking at Ferrari.

Not a Maserati
The Ferrari executives emphasize that the California is a completely new car that doesn't share any main parts with other models. Though the first prototype mules appeared on the street disguised by Maserati bodywork, the California's all-aluminium frame apparently shares nothing with the 2009 Maserati GTS or Alfa Romeo 8C.

The Ferrari California's retractable hardtop certainly is unique. It weighs just 11 pounds; yes, that's even less than the fabric roof of the F430 Spider. The small hardtop retracts into the trunk in 14 seconds — a record in this segment, Ferrari claims.

Such a lightweight roof and operating mechanism means the car's weight distribution remains well balanced even when the top goes down, as only 51 percent of the car's weight rests on the rear wheels — ideal as far as Ferrari is concerned.

Ferrari applies a five-link rear suspension for the first time instead of its customary double-wishbone design. This design permits plenty of room for springs and plenty of wheel travel, ensuring ride comfort while making sure the suspension geometry stays exactly as it should be. Predictably the Pirelli P Zero Rosso tires are massive: 245/40R19s in front and 285/40R20s in the rear.

In Maranello they consider the California the technically most efficient Ferrari in a long time. The 0.32 Cd of the California's bodywork is a point of pride, representing the lowest coefficient of drag ever achieved by a Ferrari. Even so, the car still produces a useful 154 pounds of aerodynamic downforce at 124 mph.

Down to Business
Once you open the hood, you'll find that the V8 has been mounted completely behind the front axle. This 4.3-liter V8 is Ferrari's first direct-injection engine, which asked for some specific victories from the engineering department. Ferrari worked intensively with Bosch in order to get a throttle response quick enough to be worthy of a Ferrari. Also, some effort went into reducing the engine vibration that's a by-product of the taller compression ratio that direct injection permits.

The power peaks at 460 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and the California's rev counter won't turn red until 8,000 rpm. Thanks to direct injection, the engine only emits 310 grams of CO2 per kilometer, performance of which Ferrari is especially proud, since the 599 GTB produces 500 grams per kilometer in comparison.

The California will be available with a conventional six-speed manual transmission, but Ferrari expects most buyers to go for the brand-new, seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual that has been developed in cooperation with Getrag. As with every dual-clutch design, it combines the seamless acceleration of an automatic with the versatility of manual gear selection from paddles on the steering wheel, plus the Getrag design also incorporates launch control. Ferrari promises a sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 4 seconds, which is quicker than the F430 Spider's 4.1-second capability.

Chief test driver Dario Benuzzi and his men haven't set a lap time on the Fiorano test track yet, simply because the total setup of the car has not been finalized. Unknown as yet are also top speed and braking distances. Since the speedometer reads up all the way to 340 km/h (200 mph) and huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors are available, we suspect impressive numbers will be in order.

Comfort and Speed
"When we got the opportunity to add a new model, we had a good look at how our customers use our cars and what their new wishes might be," says Massimo Fumarola, Ferrari's director of product marketing in his hypermodern office behind Ferrari's wind tunnel.

"On the one hand, we have customers who love motorsports and who buy a Ferrari especially to drive fast, on road or track. These people are Formula 1 fans, they visit track days and they want a car focused on these needs. It is for these people that we manufacture the 599 GTB Fiorano and the F430, with the 430 Scuderia being the most extreme model.

"On the other hand, we have a large group of customers with quite a different lifestyle. They do not drive to Grand Prix races, but instead to the best restaurants they can find. They greatly value a comfortable and easy-to-drive car, for they will, literally, go to great lengths to get where they are going. Typically, they don't want to attract attention in the streets and they want some room — for their golf bags, for instance.

"They don't want a focused Ferrari, as the first group does, but instead a versatile one."

Coming Soon
The 2009 Ferrari California has been made for people who highly value the combination of driving comfort and speed. Its mission is to attract new clientele, the people who have been finding their way to Aston Martin, Bentley, Mercedes AMG or even Porsche.

Moreover, the Ferrari California has been designed to generate such a high degree of customer satisfaction that Ferrari's brand loyalty will improve. Right now, 50 percent of Ferrari buyers have previously owned a Ferrari, but in Maranello they think an increase in loyalty is feasible.

The exact price of the Ferrari California is unknown as yet, but it is clear that it will be nearer to the F430 than to the 599 GTB and 612 Scaglietti. Fumarola says, "Establishing the price is simple. The California has to cost less than the F430 Spider because the Spider has 490 horsepower and the California has 460. So count on a price very close to that of the F430 coupe."

Tested: 2009 Maxima Sport- Get the summer tires!

Call us suckers for the word "sport." You could slap a "sport" badge on a pair of roller skates and our eyes would light up at the implied promise of higher cornering speeds around the Things Remembered kiosk at the local mall.

No sooner had we completed a test of the 2009 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV than we learned of another 2009 Nissan Maxima equipped with a Sport Package lurking in Nissan's garage.

There was that word again. How could we not test it?

Life Begins at SV
To recap, the 2009 Nissan Maxima is available in two trim levels: S and SV. The S is, relatively speaking, a stripped-down model that exists so that Nissan can say that the Maxima starts at under $30K — $29,950 with destination, to be exact.

Really, life begins with the uplevel Maxima SV, which starts at $32,650 and adds leather, a better sound system and a few doodads. The SV trim also grants you access to your choice of a Sport Package or a Premium Package, which share a slew of features and are separated by only a few key differences that are presumably intended to separate the sybarites from the enthusiasts.

Opt for the Sport Package and you trade away several of the frills found in the Premium for a metallic interior trim, sport-tuned suspension, 19-inch wheels with 245/40R19 Goodyear RS-A all-season tires, and a spoiler on the deck lid.

Oh, and by choosing the $2,300 Sport Package you save more than a grand compared to the Premium Package. More go for less dough is the kind of value proposition that's right up our alley.

But does the Sport Package really provide more go? To find out, we fired up our RaceLogic VBOX logging equipment and took the Maxima to task.

Our test car was equipped with the Sport and Technology Packages and assorted mats, bringing the total to $37,380 with destination. The first 2009 Nissan Maxima we tested had been equipped with the Premium Package among other items. (Hereafter, we'll simply refer to said first Maxima as "Premium" and the subject of this test as "Sport.")

Get the Summer Tires
Before we get into the numbers, let it be said that the Sport is communicative and eager when it comes to handling the road. The impression is now of robust confidence, and if it is not the quite the spry Four-Door Sports Car that it was 20 years ago, it is far more engaging than more recent iterations of the model. Midcorner bumps do little to skew the Maxima's path away from the ideal arc, while the friction-free steering provides a level of precision not typically found in powerful, heavy front-wheel-drive cars. This 3,609-pounder moves with Germanic authority.

Unfortunately, we found that the Sport's all-season tires wave the white flag well before the fortified suspension underpinnings are ready to call it quits. Our first clue to this came at 128 feet, the braking distance from 60 mph, which is no better than the Premium. Tires are truly what deliver a short stop for a car (more so than brake hardware, really), and the ones on the Sport don't appear to stick to the pavement any better than the entry-level 18-inchers.

The Sport didn't show any improvement in our slalom and in the skid pad tests, either. The Sport's best slalom attempt was 65.2 mph, which trails the Premium we tested by 1.2 mph. The Sport likewise generated 0.80g of grip on the skid pad compared to the Premium's 0.83g result. Neither of these are bad results, but hey — this is the Sport Package, right?

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A summer-type performance tires are a no-cost option on Sport Package-equipped Maximae. We'll bet both of the dollars in our bank account that these are the tires for which the tauter Sport underpinnings have been tailored.

Feel the Burn
After the Maxima Sport's fifth run through our slalom testing, the transmission decided it couldn't take the heat and defaulted into failsafe mode. The car assumed command of the manual shift gate and refused to serve up revs higher than 4,100 rpm.

All functions returned to normal once the Max had a time out and things cooled off. Given a cool transmission and a few more attempts, it's possible that the Sport's slalom speed might have edged closer to the Premium's result.

With the same 290-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 under the hood of every Maxima, the acceleration runs promised to be interesting. The Sport found more traction than the Premium, hitting 60 mpg in 6.3 seconds (6 seconds with 1 foot of rollout as at a drag strip) and clicking off the quarter-mile in 14.5 seconds at 95.9 mph. For those keeping score at home, these results better those the Premium turned out by a few tenths of a second. Torque steer is remarkably absent, even though the 261 pound-feet of torque from the V6 is substantial.

Part of the Maxima's confident personality is due to its pairing of the powerful yet tractable V6 with a brilliant continuously variable transmission (CVT), with which Nissan has proven that it is possible to merge the benefits of both a manual and an automatic with only a few of the downsides of either. Whether you're snapping off "downshifts" for engine braking, plodding through traffic or making a quick getaway, the CVT makes everything so effortless that you wonder why other automakers bother with traditional automatics anymore.

We love the multiple personalities a vehicle can adopt thanks to a CVT, though this particular one's tendency to wilt in the heat suggests that the boys in the lab coats need to whip up a tranny cooler, stat.

4get About 4DSC
The 2009 Nissan Maxima SV is a sports tourer par excellence. The cabin itself doesn't put a patch of leather wrong, and its seats are sinfully cosseting while still providing the reassuring "don't worry, I've got you" support required for enthusiastic driving. And though its list of features is staggeringly long, the Maxima remains user-friendly and honest.

Some of the styling details are fussy, as if the designer's chair was kicked while they were being penned, though the sharp 19-inch wheels of the Sport Package give the 2009 Nissan Maxima a shot of presence.

Maybe that's the reason to tick the box for the Sport Package, then.

Who owns what on TV

All those hundreds of TV channels may lead you that there’s a true diversity and variety in today’s television … but you’d be wrong. A handful of large companies control what you see, hear, and read every day.

Let’s take a look at who owns what on television - here are the TV channels owned by 6 of the largest companies in media, as depicted by their logos:

General Electric

General Electric is a true behemoth: the conglomerate is the world’s third largest company with market capitalization of nearly $370 billion and annual revenue of $173 billion (2007). The company produces practically everything - from aircraft engine to locomotives to medical devices.

GE’s media holding includes television networks NBC and Telemundo, 27 television stations in the United States and many cable TV networks, including the History Channel, A&E, and Sci Fi Channel. It also owns the popular web-based TV website Hulu.

Update 7/8/08: A&E is co-owned by The Hearst Corporation and ABC, which in turn is owned by Disney.

Time Warner

Time Warner is the world’s largest media and entertainment company - it owns major operations in film, TV, print, Internet, and telecommunications. Time Warner has an annual revenue of $50.5 billion (2008) - the equivalent of the entire GDP of Luxembourg.

Like cartoons? Time Warner’s got you covered with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Classic movies? Check (Turner Classic Movies). And who can forget CNN and Headline News? Both are Time Warner properties. (Note: CW is co-owned by Time Warner and CBS).

The Walt Disney Company

You may associate it with amusement parks, but The Walt Disney Company has grown to be one of the world’s largest media and entertainment corporation since its founding as an animation studio by brothers Walt and Roy Disney in 1923.

The Walt Disney Company owns the ABC television network, with more 200 affiliated stations reaching nearly 100% of all U.S. television market, as well as dozens of niche cable networks. True to its cartoon animation origin, Disney captures its viewers early - it counts millions of young children as its audience with kids channels like the Disney Channel.

News Corporation

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is a behemoth: it is the largest media company in the world by market capitalization ($38 billion). For most people, the conservative news channel Fox comes foremost to mind when asked what they think of Murdoch’s media empire - but the company’s holding is far larger: it includes Asia’s Star TV Network, the National Geographic Channel and even the iconic TV Guide network.

Don’t watch TV? Even if you prefer to browse the Internet, most likely you’ve visited News Corp’s property, which include Hulu (owned in partnership with GE through its subsidiary NBC Universal) and the social networking giant MySpace.

CBS

CBS (which used to stand for the Columbia Broadcasting System) is not sometimes called the Tiffany Network for nothing: the company is known for its high programming quality. It is currently the most watched television network in the United States, and reached more than 103 million homes in the country.

Both CBS and Viacom (see below) are owned by multi-billionaire Sumner "content is king" Redstone, through his holding company National Amusements.

Viacom

Viacom stands for "Video and Audio Communication" - and true to that name, the company owns a large number of cable and satellite television networks (the company was split from CBS Corporation in 2005, though both have the same majority owner).

In 2007, Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google and YouTube for copyright infringement and recently a federal judge granted Viacom’s request for data of all YouTube users. The blogosphere has since called for a boycott of all Viacom properties - so that means no MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon or - gasp - Comedy Central for you!

NHRA shortens drag racing to 1000 feet from 1/4 mile

Following the accident in Englishtown, NJ that took the life of driver Scott Kalitta, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) announced on Wednesday that beginning with the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, July 11, both Top Fuel and Funny Car classes will race to 1000 feet, rather than the traditional 1,320 feet (one-quarter mile).

Kalitta, 46, died after his Toyota Solara Funny Car burst into flames near the end of a qualifying run and his parachutes failed to fully deploy. The car, traveling at more than 300 mph, went off the end of the track into a catch net pole and then into a camera boom.

The NHRA has issued the change in collaboration with professional race teams on the circuit. “The board members of the Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) wholeheartedly and unanimously support this decision,” said its president Kenny Bernstein. “We want to thank NHRA for listening to our input and suggestions to incorporate these changes. It is not lost on any of us that this constitutes a change in our history of running a quarter-mile, but it’s the most immediate adjustment we can make in the interest of safety, which is foremost on everyone’s mind. This may be a temporary change and we recognize it is not the total answer. We will continue to work hand in hand with NHRA to evaluate other methods of making Top Fuel and Funny Car competition safer so that we might return to our quarter-mile racing standard.

The NHRA feels that the change will help in a dual manner—to allow time to analyze and implement changes in safety procedures, while still allowing fans to see the nitro-fueled cars race at near 300mph speeds.

The Business Of Hot Dogs On Coney Island (Pics + Video)

One brave soul takes a close look at this year's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and what the hot dog business means for the United States.

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90% of Israeli Homes Solar Hot Water Equipped

Last week I reported on a story that saw a new bill passed in Hawaii making it mandatory for every new home to have their hot water powered by solar panels. Signed in to law by Governor Linda Lingle, the bill will require all single-family homes built starting 2010 to have a solar panel powering the hot water system.

However Hawaii isn’t the trend setters we may have first thought them to be.

Over at MetaEfficient.com, they have an article pointing to the fact that 90% of Israeli homes already have solar water heaters. It began in the early 1950’s when the Israeli government encountered a fuel supply shortage, and restricted the times when water could be heated. In response, the people decided that they would start heating their own water using solar panels.

By 1983, 60% of the populated were using solar panels, and a law was eventually passed making what was already a common practice a law, regulating that all new houses be installed with a solar water heater.

Following in Israel’s step though, is Spain, who towards the end of 2004 saw their Industry Minister Jose Montilla, announce that starting the following year anyone who intended to build a new home would have to include solar panels in their plans.

Already Spain is the fourth largest manufacturer of solar power technology, exporting 80% of this to Germany. A country with more sunshine available than any other European country (try and work out how they figured that one), the Spanish government is committed to ensuring 12% of their primary energy is from renewable energy sources like solar by 2010.

For those wanting to see this in action, but don’t have the money to travel to Spain or Israel or even Hawaii, there are some simple tools to use from your own computer. A jump on to Google Earth will reveal a multitude of blurry out of focus shining squares on the tops of Jerusalem’s houses. And a visit to Flickr and searching for Jerusalem or Spain plus solar power, will reveal a veritable mass of photos showing solar panels atop houses.

In this way, from the smaller states and countries, let’s hope that in time, larger countries will follow.

credit: maryatexitzero at Flickr under a Creative Commons license

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Massachusetts Decriminalization Bill - Nov 4 Ballot

Marijuana Policy Project

Dear MPP Supporter:

The Massachusetts government has announced that it has certified a landmark marijuana decriminalization initiative for the November 4 ballot — which is the first time in history that an initiative to decriminalize marijuana possession will appear on any statewide ballot.*

When MPP polled Massachusetts voters in February 2007 on this question, we found that the initiative was supported by a 60% to 30% margin (with 10% undecided).

The initiative would reduce the penalties in Massachusetts so that the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana will be punishable only by a ticket and a $100 fine — similar to a speeding ticket — with no arrest, no jail or other penalties, no lawyer's fees, and no court appearances. Please visit http://www.sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/ to learn more about the initiative.

MPP has been working closely with the Massachusetts campaign operation, the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP), to ensure the initiative's placement on the ballot. CSMP turned in more than 100,000 signatures last November and another 20,000 last month to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

Your help is now needed to wage a strong campaign between now and Election Day to ensure that this groundbreaking initiative passes. Would you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org/donate.html to donate $10 or more today?

CSMP — led by campaign manager and long-time Massachusetts activist Whitney A. Taylor — is well-positioned to make history this November: In addition to completing both parts of the intensive signature drive, the campaign successfully lobbied the Massachusetts Legislature not to take any action that would harm the campaign, in addition to building a statewide coalition of opinion leaders who support the initiative and volunteers who will be working to pass the initiative.

Would you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org/donate.html to make your most generous donation to the campaign today? I want to thank you in advance for anything you can do to help.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

* Seven out of seven statewide initiatives to end various aspects of marijuana prohibition have failed over the course of our nation's history — in California (1972), Oregon (1986), Alaska (2000 and 2004), Nevada (2002 and 2006), and Colorado (2006). At a minimum, all seven initiatives would have removed all penalties for marijuana possession. The Massachusetts initiative is polling much better than any of these seven initiatives because it seeks a more modest change — to treat marijuana possession like a speeding ticket, rather than imposing no penalty at all.

360desktop is an Unlimited Scrolling Desktop

Windows only: Freeware application 360desktop turns your Windows desktop into a 360-degree virtual desktop. Using the application's unobtrusive slider, 360desktop scrolls around a cylindrical, widget-enabled desktop until it returns back to the start. As you can see in the video, some of the application's features are a touch frivolous, and unfortunately you can't yet use your own panoramic photos as your 360desktop wallpaper. That said, if you've always been interested in organizing your workspaces with virtual desktops or extending the size of your desktop but haven't found an application that fits your likes, 360desktop might be worth a look. 360desktop is freeware, Windows only.

360desktop

Syd Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) - RIP

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun. Shine on you crazy diamond. Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky. Shine on you crazy diamond.





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The Top 20 most influential Rock Producers

I tried to find a list on the internet of greatest producers, a top-10 or top-100 and found none; top guitarist lists are a dime a dozen. But think of some of rock's most well-known records; Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pet Sounds, "Be My Baby", Nevermind, Remain In Light, Licensed to Ill, Dark Side of the Moon, et. al.

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10 Steps to Becoming Fluent in a Language in 6 Months

Even if you don’t feel linguistically-inclined, it’s possible–with patience, diligence, and a sense of humor—to become fluent in a language in six months or less.

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Lindsay Lohan Confirms Lesbian Lover

The Daily Mail says that Lindsay Lohan has finally told the world she and Samantha Ronson are dating. And that's not really true but whatever. She does say she wants to continue to spend time with the person she cares about, and she’s with Samantha Ronson 205 hours a day, so it's assumed that is who she means, but she still won't come out and say it.

Talking about her special someone Sam, Lindsay said: "I just wanna live a happy, healthy year, continue on the path that I've been on and be with the person that I care about. And my family."
And Sam must feel the same way because she posted a pic of her and Lindsay kissing on her MySpace page.
Sam enjoyed her first public outing with Lindsay's family at Disneyland in LA.
Then the girls partied all night in Teddy's nightclub, where Lindsay joined Sam in the DJ booth and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
A pal said: "Sam and Lindsay are inseparable. Sam has been a really good influence on Lindsay.
"There is no one else special in Lindsay's life apart from Sam but it has taken her a while to feel like she can talk about their relationship.
"Lindsay hasn't dated any men since she started hanging around with Sam, and there has hardly been a day in the last two months when they have been apart.
"They have been shacked up in Lindsay's place and they spend weekends like a married couple going to the supermarket together.
"It's really sweet that Lindsay has found someone she can rely on and trust."

Kiss of love ... the picture of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson on Ronson's MySpace page.

Whatever. Lindsay is doin' this chick, but she's not gay. She's lonely and confused, or more likely she's just up to the R's in the Hollywood phone book.

G-Park iPhone App Lets the Forgetful Bookmark Their Car

Park your car and tap "Park Me" to take a GPS reading; on the way back, hit "Where Did I Park" for turn-by-turn directions back to the whip. It'll work for first-gen and iPod touch users (although not as well, I would imagine) via Wi-Fi and cell-tower positioning but 3G users will get turn-by-turn directions via GPS. Sure, you could just drop a pushpin in Google Maps, but part of the charm of these apps is going to be the simple execution of simple ideas, Xbox Live Arcade style. I recommend just remembering where you've parked. [PosiMotion]

Making a Six Figure Salary as a Superfan

Cameron Hughes earns a six-figure salary for being the crazy, sometimes annoying, superfan in the stands.

Photograph by: Joshua Dalsimer

Job Title: Superfan Employers: Professional sports teams Openings: Booking agents, word of mouth Salary Cap: Low six figures Number of Jobs: 1

Cameron Hughes is his team's biggest fan. Depending on his mood, he might pull off one of the multiple team jerseys he wears and spin it wildly in the air, scream at the top of his lungs, and exhort fellow supporters to do the same. Or he might pull an old lady from her seat and dance her through the arena.

A big, imposing redhead with energy to burn, Hughes is a traveling "superfan," paid by team owners to whip the crowd into a frenzy, create some fun, and generally manufacture team spirit for the locals.

"I'm that guy—the funny, happy, dancing, possibly very drunk guy you've seen at the ballpark at least once," says Hughes, adding that he himself never drinks on the job unless you count the three Red Bulls he downs as a pre-game ritual.

Baseball teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers pay him an average of $2,000 a game to do his thing, as do N.B.A. teams like the L.A. Lakers and New Orleans Hornets and N.H.L. teams like the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. All told, he works about 80 to 90 major- and minor-league games a year, and difficult as it may be to believe, Hughes makes a comfortable six-figure salary just by being a crazy sports fan.

"I basically just play myself," says the 36-year-old Ottawa native. "It's just amazing when you put on a team jersey that people are loyal to, how much they'll cheer you and how much they'll support you."

Needless to say, a career as a traveling sports fan was not something Hughes envisioned when he finished college, even if he had been a mascot for his school team and was an avid supporter of his beloved Ottawa Senators.

A few years after college, Hughes moved to Los Angeles, where he still lives, hoping to make it as an actor. While strutting his superfan skills for fun at a Dodgers game, he was approached by the team about hiring out his services as a fan. Soon acting fell by the wayside and a new career was born.

Hughes initially got his gigs through a booking agent specializing in minor-league mascots and event sideshow or halftime acts. But word of mouth began to spread, and soon he was getting unsolicited offers from across the country.

"It's not just a job, it's something I live to do, so I get antsy sitting in the dugout," says Hughes.

He now has the field largely to himself. While there are a handful of mascots who freelance for different minor-league franchises, there's no one like Hughes—a fair-weather fan who, underneath all that romping and cheering for the home team, is truly loyal to none.

In the Future You Will Control Machines With Your Mind

When you link the brain to a device, it could allow scaling in force and time—things that, today, your body can’t do. For sci-fi fans, the implications don’t need spelling out: prosthetics that are faster & stronger than normal limbs, with the same level of control as flesh-and-blood. The recent animal-robot trials are just the beginning.

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Toyota Prius to Get Solar Power

Toyota’s next generation Prius, due out as early as next spring, will be outfitted with solar panels to help run the on-board electronics, according to a report from the Nikkei newspaper.

Smaller start-up car companies, such as Th!nk, have plans for solar power augmented cars on the books too, but the incorporation of solar panels on the Prius would mark the first time a major car manufacturer has done such a thing with one of its models.

Currently in its second generation, the third generation Prius has been widely anticipated for some time now. Due for a complete overhaul, the addition of solar panels to the Prius would corroborate the expectation of major changes in both style and function in the next generation model.

According to Marketwatch, the Nikkei reported that the solar panels would provide a portion of the two to five kilowatts needed to power the air conditioning unit. The solar panels would be supplied by Kyocera.

Toyota plans to pump up production of the Prius next year to 450,000 units. This would represent a 60% increase in production over 2007 numbers, Marketwatch also reported.

Although that sounds promising, Toyota has kind of dropped the ball this year by failing to meet demand for the popular hybrid and causing a worldwide Prius shortage. Blaming a lack of battery production capacity, Toyota has promised to open another battery facility soon.

Let’s hope they can actually meet demand for the Prius next year, especially if they plan on including such excellent and logical features as solar powered on-board electronics.

Gillian Anderson So Sexy In Esquire UK

Wow, these pics of Gillian are really hot! Only a couple of more weeks until the release of X-Files in the theater and I’m just as excited as any X-Files fan.

Click to enlarge.

-Phil

The Most Badass Rock 'N' Roll Graves

A photo gallery of the most witty and rebellious celebrity tombstones.

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Cities Near Beijing Close Factories to Improve Air for Olympics

Reuters
Tangshan, a city about 90 miles from Beijing, ordered 267 businesses to suspend operations ahead of the Olympic Games.

By JIM YARDLEY

BEIJING — With Beijing struggling to clear polluted skies before the Olympics in August, the nearby industrial port of Tianjin has ordered 40 factories to suspend some operations for two months as part of a broader effort to improve air quality during the Games, state news media reported.

The planned shutdowns in Tianjin, about 70 miles east of Beijing, are one piece of a regional plan that is expected to result in temporary factory closings or slowdowns across a large swath of northern China during the Games. Few details are known about which factories might close or when, so the announcement in Tianjin offers a window into one piece of the plan.

Beijing’s air quality remains a major concern for the Games as the city continues to struggle with pollution, despite a $20 billion government cleanup campaign. Beijing is also a victim of its neighborhood: pollution blows in from surrounding regions that are dotted with coal mines, coal-fired power plants, steel mills, cement factories and other clusters of heavy industry.

The Olympics’ opening ceremony is Aug. 8, and meteorologists have said officials must begin closing factories a few weeks beforehand to make a difference.

The shutdowns in Tianjin will be from July 25 to Sept. 30, concluding after the end of the Paralympics in Beijing, according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency. Tianjin is a host city for the Olympic soccer competition, and work at 26 construction sites near the city’s Olympic stadium will be suspended.

In addition, the city of Tangshan, one of China’s busiest steel centers, about 90 miles from Beijing, is ordering 267 businesses to suspend operations by Tuesday, according to Reuters. Of those, 66 small steel mills, coking operations, cement factories and small power generators will be closed, Reuters reported. The companies will be able to reopen at an unspecified date after undergoing an environmental review.

In recent days, rainfall in Beijing has been unusually high. When it has not rained, the skies have been clotted with haze. The city will begin alternate-day driving restrictions on July 20 to ease traffic and reduce pollution. By then, experts say, announcements of more temporary factory shutdowns are expected elsewhere in the region.

Sunday also brought good news: the first truly blue skies in Beijing in many days.

Know your road signs

Thomas D. Elias: No good reason for medipot decision counter to voters' wishes

It is almost certain that the 56 percent of California voters who approved Proposition 215 in an attempt to legalize medical use of marijuana did not intend for employers to discriminate against persons who take advantage of the law they passed.

As it has evolved since passage, the 1996 initiative lets cities and counties issue medipot usage cards to users who smoke the weed to ward off pain caused by ailments from migraine headaches to a wide variety of cancers. Where they exist, the cards can only be obtained with a doctor's recommendation.

With that background, the question before the state Supreme Court earlier this year was whether an employer can fire a worker for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

Given that court's longtime background as a bastion of civil liberties, most recently seen in a gay marriage decision very much in line with its tradition of ensuring Californians have even more rights than the U.S. Constitution guarantees, the answer was surprising.

Yes, the court said, a worker can be fired for using medipot with a doctor's permission even if that use has zero effect on his or her job performance.



"The Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215) does not eliminate marijuana's potential for abuse or the employer's legitimate interest in whether an employee uses the drug," said the 5-2 majority opinion written by Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar. She somehow thought she was backing up that statement by adding that "Under California law, an employer may require pre-employment drug tests and take illegal drug use into consideration in making employment decisions." What about legal drug use, as defined by California voters?

The case itself was totally new judicial ground. Because California and only a few other states have okayed any form of legal medical marijuana use, no similar case has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the only venue whose decisions form a binding precedent for the top state courts.

It's clear the court majority reacted with a knee-jerk against any kind of pot use.

That's essentially what dissenting Justices Joyce L. Kennard and Carlos Moreno said in their minority opinion. The court ruling "renders illusory the law's promise that responsible use of marijuana" will not be penalized, they said.

In this case, neither employer RagingWire Com-munications of Sacramento nor anyone else ever claimed that computer technician Gary Ross was less than competent during the 11 days he worked there.

Rather, company lawyers said the firm feared it might be subject to federal raids if Ross stayed.

Federal agents have staged hundreds of raids on city- or county-sanctioned medical marijuana clinics and arrested many medipot growers. But never on those who employ users.

Prosecutors maintain federal laws making all uses of pot illegal trump the state initiative and any local ordinance designed to make it work. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in 2005, ruling Proposition 215 does not exempt medical marijuana users from prosecution, no matter how severe their illness.

So when a standard pre-employment test detected Ross' pot use, the state's high court said, RagingWire was free to bounce him even though he had shown his medipot card prior to the drug test.

When Ross sued, the company responded that it would "arguably be complicit in an activity that's illegal under federal law" and might lose federal contracts if it kept Ross.

All this left medipot activists frustrated until the state Assembly in late May passed a bill essentially revoking the court decision. This putative law would let medipot patients work, like anyone else. But they could not smoke on the job.

Yet to be determined is whether the state Senate will go along. If it does, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - an admitted pot smoker with no medical justification during his bodybuilding and movie days - would have to be a complete hypocrite to veto it.

If that law doesn't pass, the message delivered by several medical marijuana backers at a news conference just after the court decision came down will stand. "People are going to endure pain and suffering because Supreme Court justices don't feel marijuana has any medical value. It doesn't matter what citizens and patients say. It doesn't matter what doctors say."

What's more, the dissenting justices were absolutely correct in saying the decision, if it stands, means medipot users can be punished for trying to kill their pain. They would then continue to face what Kennard called a "cruel choice" between losing their jobs or giving up the only medication that provides significant comfort in coping with some illnesses and with cancer chemotherapy.

The ruling also opens up other problems for patients who use legal narcotics like morphine for pain. They, too, could fail a drug test, get fired and have no legal recourse.

For if employees can be dumped for using one drug, who's to say they can't also be fired for using another?

Thomas D. Elias is a syndicated columnist who writes about California issues. Contact him via e-mail at tdelias@aol.com.

6 Absurd Phobias (And The People Who Actually Have Them)

In a relatively safe world, the part of our brain that alerts us to danger just seems to get bored sometimes. Thus, phobias (from the Latin 'phobus' meaning 'Seriously, you're scared of that?'). Some truly ridiculous ones actually do affect people, including some that you've heard of.

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Olympics a 'billion-dollar research lab' for NBC

NBCOlympics.com will offer streaming video and video on demand during the Beijing Games in August. Online viewers were able to watch Michael Phelps qualify during the swimming trials in July.

The Associated Press

updated 3:39 p.m. ET, Sun., July. 6, 2008

NEW YORK - NBC is using the Olympics as a "billion-dollar research lab" to get a sense of how people are using different media platforms to experience the Beijing Games that begin Aug. 8.

Besides giving advertisers a clearer picture of how much consumers are paying attention to the games, NBC hopes its research provides a comprehensive picture of how people are supplementing TV viewership with tools such as video streaming, video on demand and mobile phones, said Alan Wurtzel, the company's research chief. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft.)

"The billion-dollar lab is an extraordinary research opportunity," he said.

NBC has scheduled 3,600 hours of Olympics programming on its main network, along with Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo. That's the equivalent of eight days of programming packed into each day.

In addition, the company is planning to make 2,200 hours of streaming video available on NBCOlympics.com. Consumers may also get video on demand via their computer and Olympics content through their mobile phones.

NBC relies on Nielsen Media Research for a count of how many people are watching the Olympics on their TVs at home, but there is no existing research tool that pulls together all the different types of exposure, Wurtzel said. With the help of outside companies and its own research staff, NBC is using about 10 methods for measuring the audience.

NBC has contracted with Quantcast Corp. to get a sense of who is using NBCOlympics.com. Besides video streaming, computer users are being offered reams of Olympics data, blogging of live events and gaming. NBC wants to know how many people will visit NBCOlympics.com, what pages they are viewing and how much time they are spending on the computer.

The information could be used on the fly to program the Web site. If one sport is doing particularly well with video on demand requests, NBCOlympics.com might feature it on its home page.

Same thing with mobile phone content: Will phone owners be interested in updates on events or in streaming video?

"I have no idea how people are going to use this stuff," Wurtzel said.

NBC will also be working with another company, Integrated Media Measurement Inc., that will distribute special cell phones to consumers. They will measure, through a signal included in Olympics audio, how much people are exposed to Olympics programming when they aren't at home.

NBC is conducting an online survey of 500 consumers each day, a total of 8,500 throughout the 17-day games, to ask detailed questions about how much they are using different media platforms. The company is also running different focus groups.

In an old media world, television companies didn't particularly want evidence that consumers were doing anything other than watching their content on television. That's not so anymore, Wurtzel said.

"The whole idea is to get the same person and to touch them across all different sorts of platforms," he said.

The information NBC gleans is not yet currency, meaning it won't be recognized in the advertising community to set prices for commercial time. Wurtzel concedes that some of the research efforts may not work in practice as they are designed.

But he's considering it a step toward producing what NBC calls a TAMI — Total Audience Measurement Index, which takes into account TV, online, video on demand and mobile phone usage. It may eventually be used for all programming going forward.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25555961/

Porn cuts into TV sports programme

By Yvonne Tahana

Sky has apologised for a technical glitch which caused pornography to screen on thousands of televisions yesterday.

Toyota Grassroots Rugby was showcasing its usual fare of premier and senior club rugby on Prime TV yesterday when adult channel Spice:xcess interrupted.

About four minutes of the hour-long sports show was replaced by Spice at about 3pm for digital subscribers in Auckland and Northland.

Spice, one of three Sky adult channels, offers "sexy, exotic women, fetish lifestyle, ethnic and gonzo for those who believe variety is the Spice of life," according to the broadcaster's website.

North Shore Sky subscriber Mike Steenson was watching the rugby show with his 3-year-old son when porn rolled across his screen.

At first he thought it was a prank. "I'm not sure how many people were watching but it's not something you expect to come on, on a Sunday. You can't make mistakes like that."

Sky's director of communications, Tony O'Brien, said a technical fault in the system which manages the distribution of programmes was to blame.

"We apologise for any offence which may have been caused," he said.

The fact that it happened on a Sunday when kids and parents were likely to be at home was "doubly" embarrassing.

Steps had been taken to ensure that it would not happen again, Mr O'Brien said.

The Future Is Back: A Tour of the New DeLorean HQ

Owners of the ultimate geek car, the DeLorean, are no strangers to modifying their McFly rides, including hovercraft and electric conversions of the iconic silver-skinned sports car. Now, thanks to the new DeLorean Motor Company, buyers of new DeLoreans and owners of the classic ones can outfit them with everything but a Mr. Fusion.

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How to Lose Weight Watching TV

We are fast becoming a society of statues. A curious species who seem to have our collective asses permanently attached to a chair. Or preferably, a couch. We discovered that within a few years many of us will have identical movement patterns and daily activity levels to that of the oak tree.

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The BMW Museum's Takes Your Brain to Another Dimension

Ready to have your gray matter softly stroked? Perhaps you should take a trip to BMW's recently opened museum in Munich, where a kinetic sculpture comprising 714 metallic balls suspended in air will soothe your weary mind. It's one of those things that's better seen than described, but if you can imagine a wave of undulating orbs that appear to weightlessly float, you'll start to get the idea. Can't afford the flight? Check out the video -- which features some serious easy listening jams -- after the break and see the installation in action.

[Via BMWCCA]

NBC Universal to buy The Weather Channel for $3.5B

By SETH SUTEL, AP Business WriterSun Jul 6, 5:42 PM ET

NBC Universal and two partners said Sunday they have reached a deal to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications Inc., ending a drawn-out process that had attracted interest from several major media companies.

Financial terms weren't disclosed, but a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity said the purchase price was $3.5 billion in cash. NBC was joined in the deal by the private equity firms The Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC.

In addition to The Weather Channel, which can be seen by 97 percent of U.S. cable subscribers, the deal also includes several related assets such as weather services for newspapers and radio stations and the widely used Web site Weather.com.

NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., became the sole bidder for The Weather Channel last month after Time Warner Inc. dropped out. CBS Corp. and cable industry leader Comcast Corp. had also expressed interest earlier.

NBC already operates a digital weather and news service called NBC Weather Plus that was launched in 2004 and would make a logical fit with The Weather Channel. NBC Weather Plus is owned by NBC and its affiliated TV stations and can be seen on digital cable services and digital subchannels operated by NBC stations.

NBC and Landmark said in a statement that The Weather Channel would be operated as a separate entity out of its base in Atlanta. They said they expected the transaction to close by year-end, pending regulatory approvals.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., GE Commercial Finance, GSO Capital Partners and Sankaty Advisors LLC will provide debt financing for the transaction.

Landmark, a privately held media company based in Norfolk, Va., put The Weather Channel up for sale in January along with its other businesses, which include The Virginian-Pilot and eight other daily newspapers. No announcement has yet been made about the newspaper sales, which are continuing on a separate track.

The Weather Channel was launched in 1982. Its Web site has about 37 million monthly unique visitors, putting it in the top 15 Web sites, according to the company. The Weather Channel has 1,300 employees and estimated annual revenues of $550 million.

Heat Map of US Gas Prices

Now you can see what gas prices are around the country at a glance. Areas are color coded according to their price for the average price for regular unleaded gasoline.

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This has been added to the bottom of our Blog, so useful!!