2012 Volkswagen Beetle: 2011 New York

By Viknesh Vijayenthiran
From: http://www.motorauthority.com/

After more than a decade a replacement for the ‘New Beetle’ has finally arrived, making its world debut initially at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show and then again at the 2011 New York Auto Show just a couple of days later. The latest car drops its New tag and is just called the Beetle, or 2012 Volkswagen Beetle if you want the complete name.

Sharper handling, refined styling and a much more premium interior are the main improvements. The car keeps its trademark rounded fenders but a flatter roofline and a C-pillar reminiscent of the one on the original Beetle also features. A direct benefit is more headroom for rear-seat passengers.

The car is also 3.3 inches wider and sits 0.5 of an inch lower than the one it replaces, adding a stronger stance and more premium look. Other upmarket touches include bi-xenon headlights, 19-inch wheels and sporty dual exhaust tips.

Under the hood of the range-topping model is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder TSI gasoline mill delivering 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels. A six-speed manual comes as standard but customers can opt for a sweet six-speed dual clutch DSG and XDS electronic differential.

A 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque TDI turbodiesel 2.0-liter mill is also offered, returning up to 29/40 mpg city/highway fuel economy.

Rounding out the range is an entry-level 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque model with the same 2.5-liter five-cylinder from the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, available with a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic.

Stay tuned for more details and watch out for live shots of the car direct from the 2011 New York Auto Show floor.

SJC: Odor of marijuana not enough to order suspect out of car

Posted by Martin Finucane 

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The odor of burnt marijuana is no longer enough for police officers to order a person from their car, now that possession of less than an ounce of marijuana has been decriminalized in Massachusetts, the state's highest court ruled today.

"Without at least some other additional fact to bolster a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the odor of burnt marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity to justify an exit order," the court ruled in a decision written by Chief Justice Roderick Ireland.

The court said the people's intent in passing the ballot question decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana was "clear: possession of one ounce or less of marijuana should not be considered a serious infraction worthy of criminal sanction."

"Ferreting out decriminalized conduct with the same fervor associated with the pursuit of serious criminal conduct is neither desired by the public nor in accord with the plain language of the statute," the court said.

Justice Judith Cowin, who has since retired, penned a dissent.

She wrote that up until today, state law has allowed police to perform a warrantless search if they smelled burnt marijuana in a car.

"Even though possession of a small amount of marijuana is now no longer criminal, it may serve as the basis for a reasonable suspicion that activities involving marijuana, that are indeed criminal, are underway," she wrote.

"Our case law is clear that 'the odor of marijuana is sufficiently distinctive that it alone can supply probable cause to believe that marijuana is nearby.' The advent of decriminalization certainly has had no effect on the distinctiveness of marijuana's ordor. Nor has decriminalization affected the criminal status of numerous other activities involving marijuana," Cowin wrote.

Voters in November 2008 overwhelmingly approved Question 2, which decriminalized marijuana, with baackers calling for a "more sensible approach" to marijuana policy and focus by law enforcement on more serious and violent crimes. Opponents argued that the law would promote unsafe drug use.

Scenes of mall madness - Circa 1989

Don't pretend you didn't spend every weekend at the mall in your younger years! After all, what's more of a hallmark of youth culture than shopping-center adventures? Photographer and filmmaker Michael Galinsky was 20 years old in 1989 when he and a friend decided to spend six weeks driving across the country, capturing images of mall life. They started in New York and ended in North Carolina.

“At the time, the mall was the new public space, the new community center where people would interact,” Galinsky told TODAY.com. He had no idea what those pictures would mean two decades later. “This was pre-Internet, pre-cellphone, there was smoking in malls, it was before the Gulf War. It was this weird moment in time where things were getting ready to change,” he said. “Sometimes when you’re taking pictures, you don’t know what is or is not going to be there 20 years later.”

Galinsky is now raising money to try to turn his “Malls Across America" multimedia project into a book. Click through to see some totally radical images.

CLICK HERE for the Full GALLERY: Malls Across America - Circa 1989

Three largest online poker sites indicted and shut down by FBI

 Photo: A man plays poker on his computer connected to an Internet gaming site from his home in Manassas, Va. Credit: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

The founders of the three largest online poker sites were indicted by the FBI on Friday in what could serve as a death blow to the thriving industry.


Eleven executives at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were charged with bank fraud and money laundering in an indictment unsealed in a Manhattan court. Two of the executives were arrested on Friday morning in Utah and Nevada. Federal agents are searching for the others.

Prosecutors are seeking to immediately shut down the sites and to eventually send the executives to jail and to recover $3 billion from the companies. By Friday afternoon Full Tilt Poker’s site displayed a message explaining that “this domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant.”
The online gambling industry has taken off over the last decade, drawing an estimated 15 million Americans to bet online.

In 2006 Congress passed a law prohibiting online gambling. Most of the leading sites found ways to work around the law using foreign banks, but prosecutors allege that in doing so they broke the law.
“These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement.

Poker fans took to Twitter in droves, worried about the money in their online gaming accounts, fretting that online poker's days were at an end.

"Well the good news is I think I only had about $300 left on the online poker sites overall," tweeted Jimi Schindler of Madison, Wis. "Maybe I'll see that money?!!?"

-- Nathaniel Popper

Click here to read the FULL INDICTMENT : http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/April11/scheinbergetalindictmentpr.pdf

Lucasfilm Animation’s New Building is a Sandcrawler

From: http://furiousfanboys.com/

Lucasfilm Animation, who produces The Clone Wars, is located in Singapore and they’re receiving a brand new building designed to look like a Sandcrawler. Lucasfilm broke ground on the eight story building this week that will include Star Wars decor, a 100-seat theater, and state of the art production facilities.

The Most Epic of All Photobombs… EVER!

article written by: Andy Green

 

So there are photobombs and there are MOTHERFORKING PHOTOBOMBS! This one falls into that second category. It makes you want to ask so many questions. Why did they want to kiss in 8 feet of ocean water while risking the lives of 2 horses and some kind of ocean guide? That is super hardcore. What is the photobomber thinkin’ right there. Did they tip well? This leaves us with so many unanswered questions. We may never know the true story… but making one up can sometimes be better.

This kid is swaggerific - got to love the APPLE STORE

 

youtube.com — The Apple store will never be the same and neither will the girl behind him.

Amazing Japanese Commercial: Android phone, Touch Wood CH-08C

youtube.com — To advertise its latest Android phone, the Touch Wood CH-08C, which has a wooden back, Japanese telco NTT DoCoMo built a giant xylophone in a forest to play a tune.

Uploaded by sakura4250 on Mar 10, 2011

ドコモのサイトでステキな映像発見。

TOUCHWOOD SH-08C
http://answer.nttdocomo.co.jp/touchwood/

Be amazed by the drumstick-juggling Adam Gray (Video)

by Jerod
from: http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/

Yesterday, I showed you this video of a dad outsmarting his son the “old fashioned way” as part of our Sports Are Kind of Slow This Week So Let’s Find Fun Non-Sports Stuff to Amuse Ourselves With initiative. You all seemed to enjoy that video, which is cool.

I have a feeling you will greatly enjoy the video below as well. It features a drummer named Adam Gray (Facebook him here) who has achieved moderate Internet fame for, I’m assuming, his ability to perform impressive tricks like what you’re about to see.

Let’s just say that Adam Gray can juggle three drumsticks while maintaining a beat about as well as I can do just about anything. And I’m probably underselling it.

Just watch.

Hopefully you find that as cool as I did. One thing I love about the Internet is its ability to unearth and expose random but impressive talent like this. Well done Adam Gray. MSF salutes you.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes Trailer Conquers Earth

Author: Eric Eisenberg

At the end of the live broadcast from WETA Studios in New Zealand this afternoon, a promise was made that the first trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, due out this August, would arrive online tomorrow. Well, with the turn of the clock from 11:59 pm to 12:00 am, here in Los Angeles, CA, it's now April 14th and we have the first trailer for the Rupert Wyatt-directed film.

Starring James Franco, Tom Felton, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox and John Lithgow, the story is a prequel to the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes, that tells the story of a chimpanzee named Caesar (Serkis) that, as the result of genetic engineering, possesses intelligence far superior to any of his kind. Soon, the scientists lose control of Caesar and the ultimate battle for supremacy begins in the war of apes vs. humans.

Apple has the trailer in glorious HD, but the trailer is also available for your viewing pleasure below. Check it out.






I must admit that this trailer moves a lot slower than I thought it would. The trailer is mostly just a mix of James Franco talking about a new drug and then watching apes run around for a few seconds. The one moment that's kind of cool is when the gorilla is jumping towards the helicopter, but the lack of sound effects and ineffective music seems to suck all of the energy out. It really says something when the climax of your trailer is a chimpanzee sitting in a cage looking around. I will say that the effects made by WETA are phenomenal. I just hope that there's a bit more action in the final movie than this trailer suggests.

For more info on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, be sure to head over to our Blend Film Database.

13 Cool Knife Tricks You Wish You Could Do

From: http://www.usaknifeshop.com/

Here is a collection of some very cool knife tricks performed by people all over the world. If after watching you feel inspired to learn some a knife trick or two of your own, check out our vast collection of Benchmade
Knives which are truly some of the best knives ever made.

1. Benchmade Knife Skills

This guy’s freehand knife work with his Benchmade Knife is unbelievable. Not only is it clean, but the length of the video shows how well he can handle a knife, and how comfortable he is with his Benchmade.



2. Ninja Chef Knife Play – Close Up

A brief but impressive video of this Ninja Chef’s abilities with a blade. The chef here is using a kitchen knife, but any knife with proper weight could be used in it’s place. Notice the finger work used and the obvious experience behind the movements.



3. Ninja Chef Knife Play

A longer version with Ninja Chef, displaying his impressive throwing and juggling ability. Also a pretty cool ‘holster’ for his knives, clearly he takes his knife tricks very seriously!



4. Traditional Finger Knife Trick

We’ve all tried this nifty little trick with a pencil at some point in our educational career, and likely quickly learned that a pencil is as sharp as we want to get! This guy takes things to the next level, his speed and accuracy compliment each other perfectly.



5. Traditional Finger Knife Trick – With Proof

This guy takes the traditional finger trick a few steps farther – not only does he prove the timing with his clock, but he also proves the knife’s sharpness. Oh, and based on the number of beer bottles, he also proves that he’s as good with a few in him as he is sober!



6. The Girl Can Handle a Blade..or Two

As if the one handed tricks weren’t enough, this chef has to go above and beyond with her skills and uses both hands to show that all other hibachi chefs are amateurs!



7. Balisong (Butterfly Knife) Trick -- The Blender

One of many advanced tricks with a butterfly knife, this video and trick are unique because of the skill level involved, and the high quality fast and slow motion looks at the trick.



8. Balisong (Butterfly Knife) -- Advanced Tricks

This guy demonstrates quite a few advanced knife tricks, including ‘Behind the 8 Ball’, ‘Helix’, ‘Aerials’, and ‘Y2K’. Although his form isn’t always perfect, his arsenal of tricks more than makes up for it.



9. Balisong (Butterfly Knife) Tricks -- Cute Girl is Not to Be Messed With

This girl’s impeccable form and talent are apparent in her confidence and determined expression. Her work is clean and obviously well practiced. Not a girl to poke fun at!



10. Double Balison (Butterfly) Knives

This guy takes things a step above by demonstrating ability with not just one, but two butterfly knives. Impressively, he is doing different tricks with the knives at the same time. Talk about right brain/left brain ability!



11. Quick Open Trick

This guy uses an interesting hack to ‘quick open’ a blade. As he disclaims, he cut himself a LOT mastering this trick, this one is better to be watched than tried… A very impressive showing, even at 5% speed.



12. Filipino Knife Demonstration

Although the video appears to be a threat against... well, it appears everyone, the guy’s butterfly knife skills are without parallel. Filipino knife fighting is traditionally using the ‘Balisong’, also known as the butterfly knife. So, their skill is apparent, since they created this type of blade!



13. Filipino Knife Fighting

Not to worry, these are not real blades. But as you can see, the talent possessed by the guys fighting shows that if they were, things would quickly get ugly. Truly and impressive demonstration of skill and fighting tricks.

Train Ride Through Norway: from Finse where the scenes from Hoth in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back were filmed.

Slipstream Part XI: Travel by (non)Linear Observation from Nilz on Vimeo.

Slipstream Part XI: Travel by (non)Linear Observation

*This video is a loop, if you like right click the video to enable looping*

Slipstream Series: vimeo.com/​groups/​slipstream


This footage is used under a creative commons licence ( creativecommons.org/​licenses/​by-sa/​3.0/​ )

Source:
“Bergensbanen” – NRK
Click here for info on the film: nrkbeta.no/​2009/​12/​18/​bergensbanen-eng/​

The Door

Click to Enlarge

Art with Salt - Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) True blood portrait drawing - Theportraitart

Uploaded by ThePortraitArt on Sep 11, 2010

feel free to check out my site: www.theportraitart.com

Another video on playing with your food.

check out my chocolate lion video for the previous playing with food.

Amazing Sunsets

The coolest technology you've never seen

A new visual recognition technology by Autonomy maps video and other content into real-life smartphone video images in real time

By Eric Knorr | InfoWorld

Here's one you have to see to believe. Autonomy, the largest British software company -- best known for its enterprise search and compliance technology -- has applied its intellectual horsepower in meaning-based computing to visual recognition for smartphones. Soon you'll be able to download its Aurasma iPhone/iPad app, which enables you to point your camera at static real-world objects that, once recognized, magically come to life on the smartphone screen, similar to the way pictures in the Daily Prophet newspaper animated themselves in Harry Potter.

Check the video demo. The amazing thing is that the video mapped into the real-world scene stays within the bounds of the recognized object, even as you pan the camera around. One example shows a movie poster coming to life; another demonstrates a video inserted into a static newspaper photo; the last is a cereal box with a TV commercial mapped in. The advertising and publishing opportunities are pretty obvious, but the company says anyone will be able to tag reality with messages or images or even interactive games of their own that pop up. Just capture the real-world image, load it into the database, and attach what you want to overlay.



According to Autonomy, the app will be able to recognize up to half a million images. Autonomy's business customers are expected to establish channels loaded with recognition files for the real world. The app will be available at no charge, and even on the back end, in a rough approximation of the Web commercial publishing model, Autonomy will charge businesses only when advertisements are delivered.

The technology has its limitations. As Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch says, the iPhone 4 has "barely enough processing power" to run the Aurasma app. Recognition takes a second or so, so forget about images that, say, flit by as you pass them in a car. Nor can faces be recognized, because that would require the construction of a 3D model currently beyond the technology's capabilities. Aurasma can only recognize images or scenes -- such as a building facade -- that are roughly 2D in character.

But think of the possibilities. You could have a channel for shopping that recognizes thousands of storefronts and links to retailer websites. Computer games could become outdoor affairs that conjure up monsters raging around your neighborhood. My guess is that, like everyone else who has seen the demo, you have your own ideas for applying the technology. This is the beginning of a new medium and the prospects are endless.

The Aurasma app will be available for free download in the App Store next month. Autonomy says it also has an Android version of the app running that will be available in the same timeframe.

Van Damme Friday - There is never enough time!!

"There is never enough time." • www.jcvd-watches.com

JCVD Swiss Chronographs © www.jcvd-watches.com Watches | T-shirts & Caps | Fighting Gear

By: JCVD Swiss Chronographs

Eye-Tracking Trick Brings Glasses-Free 3D to iPad 2

By Chris Brandrick

PCWorld

Why wait for the iPad 3, 4 or even 5? A tablet that can offer glasses free 3D is here now, thanks to a neat iPad 2 tech demo.

OK, so this isn't actually real 3D, but the neat little visual trick, which has been made possible due to the introduction of a front-facing camera on the iPad 2, sees a seemingly live 3D image on the tablets 2D screen. This little bit if visual magic, dubbed Head-Coupled Perspective (HCP), was created by a French-based team of individuals at the Engineering Human-Computer Interaction Research group.

Their clever trick uses a live feed from the iPad 2's front-facing camera--coupled with some custom software--to track your head in real time. The result is pretty neat--the on-screen image seems to dynamically change perspective depending on the position of your head relative to the iPad. Check it out for yourself:


Of course using movement to create visual effects like this isn't anything new. Nintendo achieved a similar visual trick with the Nintendo DSi, and some iOS apps employ a similar trick by using the built-in accelerometer to simulate depth., But this cool little tech demo (which has also been demoed on an iPhone 4) offers a glimpse at what could be achieved if a few clever developers got together.

[Via TUAW]

William Shatner Helps Us Say Goodbye to the Space Shuttle

From: http://furiousfanboys.com/

There are only two Space Shuttle missions left. Endeavor goes up later this month, and Atlantis launches her final mission (and the final Space Shuttle launch ever) on June 28th. As space buffs, it’s pretty sad to be saying goodbye to the shuttle program. But who better to help us say goodbye than Captain Kirk himself? NASA has released a fourteen-minute video narrated by William Shatner that gives a brief history of the shuttle program, and showing what goes into a shuttle launch and it’s described as only Shatner can. Check it out.

iNsane? Auburn, Maine, Is Giving an iPad2 to Every Kindergarten Student

By: Liz Dwyer
From http://www.good.is/

Maine (who would have guessed?) continues to lead the way in education technology. Not only is the state an international leader in tech literacy due to their one-to-one laptop program for middle and high school students, now one small town plans to give an iPad 2 to every kindergarten student.

The school board in Auburn, population 24,000, voted unanimously to provide the tablets to 285 kindergarteners and their teachers. At $475 a pop, the investment will cost around $200,000, but the board hopes the tablets will help boost literacy from 62 percent to 90 percent by 2013. Superintendent Tom Morrill says the investment's worth it, calling the devices "essential" and saying they're "even more important than a book." Morrill hopes to make the investment an annual one, giving iPads to every following class. His plan is to pay for the devices with private donations, but if that falls through, the bill will fall to the city's taxpayers.
Not all taxpayers are thrilled about that possibility. Nicole Fortin told the Bangor Daily News she thinks the idea's "crazy." Taxpayers are already strapped and worries about about kids breaking the devices—the students will get to take the iPads home—are rampant. "This is a lot to put in the hands of a 5-year-old," says Fortin. With student addiction to media now the norm, parents are also concerned about giving so much screen time to such young kids.

But, in the video above, you can see how excited the students are to learn their letters using downloadable apps, and the state's laptop program has boosted student achievement. What do you think? Should kindergarteners stick to "old school" books or is Auburn on the right track?

photo via The Apple Bites