May 31st, 2009 at 04:55pm Under Computers
Bevy has been specifically designed for those who like to use the mouse. You may wonder why an app like Bevy is even necessary – after all, you have the Dock as your perfect application launcher, right? Wrong.
While the Dock indeed does the job of launching your apps, it provides limited functionality for organizing your icons. The more applications you add to it, t… (read more)
By Moris Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 04:55pm Under Cars
Filed under: Aftermarket, Etc.
Have you ever wanted your car to sound turbocharged without having any of the functional benefits? Yeah, neither have we, but apparently someone thought it was a good idea to make such a product. Knowing some of the things people put on their cars, we have no doubt it will find a few buyers too. Named the Turbo Whistler, this aluminum device clamps onto your tailpipe (no welding or drilling necessary!) and emits a sound similar (a term used very loosely in this case) to the whistle of a turbocharger under throttle. The company’s web site claims that it will trick all of your friends into thinking your vehicle is benefiting from forced induction. Our guess is that if they don’t know the difference, they will also believe you when you tell them your Honda Accord is also a “10-second car.” Watch the Turbo Whistler in action in the video after the jump.
[Source: TurboWhistler.net]
Continue reading Want to make your car sound turbocharged? Get the Turbo Whistler!
Want to make your car sound turbocharged? Get the Turbo Whistler! originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 30 May 2009 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 04:55pm Under Racing
Here’s a round-up of F1 news and other interesting links I’ve found today.
If you’ve spotted a hot news story, interesting new website or just something funny from the world of F1, please share your links in the comments below.
"The request to make the 2009 regulations the starting point, means there will be no budget cap."
Ferrari Le Mans car prototype… built out of Lego. (Thanks to Sam Prest for the tip!)
'Speaking after the first Formula Two race for 25 years, Mosley said: "I think the championship fits precisely with the cost cutting measures that are being adopted in Formula One. The barriers to entry have just been too big and too expensive in the past. With the top three all qualifying for an FIA Superlicence this championship is a means for people to get into Formula One without spending a fortune. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some drivers from this year's Formula Two championship progress into Formula One.'
Is Formula 2 slower than Formula 3?
"Could it be that Formula 2 is actually slower than Formula 3? We won't know for sure until we have more data, but the 128% time from this weekend appears damningly slow for a series that is supposed to be one step below Formula 1."
These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.
By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 04:00pm Under Racing
No-one can rival Jenson Button’s tyre management this year
F1 Fanatic guest writer Doctorvee of F1 blog Vee8 shares an opinion on how the tyre rules are affecting the championship.
In a year of big changes to the technical regulations, one of the most controversial talking points has been the decision taken jointly by Bridgestone and the FIA to widen the gap between the prime and option tyres.
Instead of taking the two best-suited compounds to each circuit, Bridgestone now takes one good set and one sub-standard set of tyres.
This was a bid to spice up the action during the races. But has it also boosted Jenson Button’s chances of winning the championship?
Given the present rules where every driver has to use both sets of tyres in dry conditions, the decision to widen the gap between the compounds was right. After the mandatory tyre change was introduced in 2007, the difference between the prime and option were usually too small to make any meaningful difference to the race.
People rightly argue that deliberately putting drivers on inferior tyres is an artificial way to contrive excitement. Fernando Alonso was especially scathing, saying it would be better to put drivers on wet tyres in dry conditions.
The reasons for the rule can be traced back to the end of the tyre war. Following the exit of Michelin from Formula 1, Bridgestone were worried that no-one would talk about them as the sole tyre supplier. So to keep the focus on tyres, they concocted this rule, borrowed from America’s now-defunct Champ Car World Series. (The Indy Racing League has adopted a similar rule this year).
But to keep the focus on tyres was wrong in my view. Back in 2006, I waved good riddance to the tyre war. At the time I said:
In reality, we no longer [have] a drivers’ championship or a constructors’ championship. All we had left was a glorified tyre championship in all but name. It’s not as heroic as a driver standing up on his seat to win a race. It’s not as sexy as a constructor pushing the boundaries of technology to make their car better. Formula 1 had come down to four — literally — black boxes. Elements that are peripheral to the cars became central to the championship.
I was perturbed that tyres should come to dominate the picture in F1 so much. I have since come to the view that the primacy of the role of these “black boxes” is inevitable. But it is a matter of striking the right balance. Bridgestone’s effort to get people talking about tyres is the exact opposite of what I want to see. Ideally, they should be as irrelevant as possible. That means taking the best sets of tyres, letting the teams decide how they should run them, and leave it be.
Instead, teams are hamstrung by Bridgestone’s selfish commercial interests. Now we have this mickey mouse situation where tyres once again appear to be playing too large a role in the championship.
One of the traits that emerged very early on about the Brawn car was that is treats its tyres very well indeed. Meanwhile, Brawn’s driver Jenson Button is renowned for being one of the smoothest drivers in the world with excellent tyre management skills. I don’t wish to belittle the importance of tyre management. This is an aspect of Button’s driving which should be celebrated. But I fear that this one aspect of driving is becoming the one dominant influence on the championship.
Take the Bahrain Grand Prix. Toyota managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory because their cars simply did not have the pace on the harder tyres that the team had expected. Perhaps if Toyota had the freedom to run whatever tyres they wanted, they would have won the race. We will of course never know. But it’s difficult to escape the feeling that Brawn were handed that win not because they had the best package, but because they had a package that could cope better with deficient tyres.
The potential for the tyre rule to play this sort of role was evident from the first race of the season at Melbourne. A number of drivers who were having perfectly good races found themselves falling back simply as a result of the fact that they were forced to use suboptimal tyres.
We saw exactly the same phenomenon in Monaco. Most drivers who ran the super-soft tyres in the first stint had their race ruined. Sebastian Vettel - arguably Jenson Button’s strongest rival - struggled particularly badly, at one point losing a massive 4.5s in one lap.
Interestingly, Rubens Barrichello was another driver who struggled on the super-softs in the first stint at Monaco. The Brazilian ended the first stint 12.5s behind his team mate. This helped ease Jenson Button’s path to victory, as it meant that even those drivers who had the harder tyres - which were superior at that point of the race - lost valuable time.
That puts one nail in the coffin of the idea that the tyre rule is a particular advantage to the Brawn car. Barrichello has had more than his fair share of tyre issues this season. Not only did he lose time in Monaco, he also lost the race in Spain because he was struggling on a set of tyres.
This is where Jenson Button’s silky-smooth driving comes into play. Fair enough in one respect. You can argue that if Button’s tyre management is so great that it helps him win the championship, he has earned that right. But it does seem as though he is lucky to get this leg-up.
After all, isn’t F1 supposed to be about giving the best drivers the best equipment? Jenson Button’s skill is in being a good driver with deficient equipment. If the best drivers had the best cars with the best equipment at all times, would Jenson Button have won five races out of six? I have a feeling that he wouldn’t have. Is that really what F1 should be about?
I would never wish to belittle Jenson Button’s excellent form. I have no doubt that his Championship lead is fully deserved. But I just wish he could have demonstrated it in an environment where the best drivers have the best equipment, which is what F1 should be about in my view.
By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 01:55pm Under Computers
Still remember Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) who created the GlobalFoundry Company with AMD? According to the EETimes, ATIC has launched a $2.45 billion bid on Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. to buy Temasek Holding’s near-60 percent stake.
If the bid really goes through, ATIC will own two foundry vendors, which means GlobalFoundry would be more [...]
By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 01:55pm Under Computers
Microsoft has officially shared more details about Windows 7 Starter Edition, and the most refreshing news would be the company has decided to remove the 3 application limit from the Starter.
Windows 7 Starter will be available worldwide for the first time, and the users will be able to “run as many applications simultaneously as they [...]
By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 01:55pm Under Computers
Asus is going to show its new media player O!Play at ComputeX according to Hardware.info.
The HDP-R1 O!Play is based on a new chip (probably made by Realtek), which is said to be more powerful than preceding models. The model also features basic connectors including USB/eSATA port and HDMI interface.
O!Play should be hit stores in about six [...]
By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 01:55pm Under Computers
Earlier this month PhotoFast announced the G-Monster-Promise PCIe SSD delivering up to 1000MB/s read & write speed. This model is already available in Japan as PhotoFast promised, according to AKIBA.
Like we said, G-Monster-Promise SSD features PCIe X8 interface, MCL (multi-level cell) NAND flash memory chips, and 256MB ECC DDR2 & 4*64MB SDRAM cache. It also comes [...]
By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 01:55pm Under Computers
AMD is planning to launch two new dual-core processors during ComputeX 2009, Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition.
Athlon II X2 250 based on Regor core works at 3.0GHz, and features 1MB L2 cache per core. With built-in DDR2/DDR3 memory controller, the TDP is 65W. The best of all is it [...]
By Mikel Add comment
May 31st, 2009 at 01:55pm Under Computers
CPUID has lately claimed that they’re working on the next version of CPU-Z: CPU-Z V1.52, and shared the first screenshot of the program. As we can see, the new version has added Intel’s new logo and new tab “Graphics” which reports some basic information about the graphic devices.
Besides, the validation button is put on the top [...]
By Mikel Add comment