AUTOMOTIVE - AUTOS: Subaru BRZ Concept - STI Shown

AUTOS: Subaru BRZ Concept - STI Shown

Performance team's version of the upcoming Toyota sports-car collaboration is readied for the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Subaru is saving the world reveal of its new BRZ sports car for the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, but it won?t be neglecting the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show: the automaker announced today that it would unveil the new BRZ Concept - STI at the LA show.

The striking concept car not only reveals the new look of Subaru?s upcoming rear-wheel drive sports car but the direction that engineers from the brand?s STI performance division could take with it.

Key features of the design are the tightly coiled bodywork, hexagonal front grille and fin-shaped fog lamps. There?s also a new exterior color ? WR Blue Pearl II ? that's essentially a new generation of the iconic World Rally Blue paint scheme that has adorned both racing and production STI cars.

The BRZ concept shows the exterior design deviations from the Toyota FT-86 version of the same car. (Photo: SUbaru) The body is set off with an aero-tuned lower front spoiler and unique rear fascia, a rear wing for added down-force and a carbon-fiber roof to lower its already record-setting center of gravity specification of just 450 millimeters.

The rear design features bold fender flares and a large rear-diffuser giving way to polished stainless-steel quad-tailpipes. Vented rear bumper corners are said to contribute to improved aerodynamics performance. Other aspects include STI-tuned suspension, Brembo brakes and 18-inch wheels and tires.

The Subaru BRZ will essentially be a twin of the upcoming Toyota FT-86/Scion FR-S, although the latest image reveals that Subaru?s version of the car will have a unique tail-lamp design.

Comparing the latest concept with recently leaked images of the Toyota FT-86 as well as previous spy shots, we can also see that the BRZ will feature a set of fender vents and what appear to be more deeply sculpted doors.

Otherwise, the two cars should be much the same, although the Subaru may have a little extra juice under the hood. Both will be powered by a horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine displacing 2 liters and featuring direct-injection technology. The totally new FA engine has been designed with a square bore and stroke of 86 X 86 mm.

Drive will be sent strictly to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual or optional six-speed automatic.

The Subaru BRZ Concept ?STI will be unveiled during the Nov. 16-17 Press Days at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-subaru-brz-concept-sti-shown/

vlad the impaler steven tyler weather houston weather houston michael lohan daylight savings time fiddler on the roof

Hunter hurt in bear attack in the Grand Tetons

CODY, Wyo?? A Wyoming hunter was injured on Sunday in an attack by a bear in Grand Teton National Park, officials said.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Born in the U.S.A.: Websites target birth tourists
   2. Iowa Poll: Cain, Romney top field ahead of caucuses
   3. Bachmann defends stance on kids of illegal immigrants
   4. One woman's story of surviving 20 years of conflict in Uganda
   5. Do science and politics mix?
   6. Facebook says 600,000 account logins compromised every day
   7. Breast cancer causes foot-in-mouth disease in others

National Park Service officials said the 32-year-old Jackson man was hunting elk along the Snake River when he spotted the bear and dropped to the ground, covering his head.

The man, whose name has not been released, did not shoot at the bear and had not yet killed an elk. He was carrying bear repellant spray and followed recommended protocols for hunting in bear country, officials said.

Authorities are investigating the incident, but had not yet determined the bear's species. They have not released details of the hunter's injuries. He was transported to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for treatment.

Though hunting is typically prohibited in national parks, a limited special hunt to reduce elk numbers is underway in Grand Teton.

Story: After attacks, a renewed focus on bear safety

Although attacks by bears are uncommon, and fatalities exceptionally rare, two hikers were killed this summer by grizzly bears in separate incidents in Yellowstone National Park.

There have been six reported bear attacks in the history of Grand Teton, and none were fatal, according to park officials.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45101937/ns/us_news-environment/

zachary quinto koch brothers ashley judd brewers harbaugh the walking dead season 2 milwaukee brewers

iTunes Nixes Amazon Cloud Music Player for "Legal Issues," gMusic May Be Next [Cloud]

Earlier this month, we posted about how to play the music stored in your Music Beta by Google account on your iPhone using an app called gMusic. Today, we had planned to do the same for aMusic, a $2 app that lets you play music in your Amazon storage locker on iOS as well. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/PUFbxSVOvqc/itunes-nixes-amazon-cloud-music-player-for-legal-issues-gmusic-may-be-next

erin brockovich prius c crocodile dundee crocodile dundee sharjah sharjah observe and report

Boeing brings space taxi jobs to Florida

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Tue Nov 1, 2011 5:13am EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Boeing Co will bring hundreds of jobs to Florida by basing a program to develop passenger spaceships at the Kennedy Space Center, first for NASA and later for commercial use, officials said on Monday.

Boeing's plans will ease some of the pain over thousands of job losses in the so-called Space Coast region of central Florida from the end of NASA's space shuttle program earlier this year.

Boeing will ramp up its workforce to about 550 by 2015 to make, test and operate the seven-passenger spaceships, called CST-100s, said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager of commercial programs for Boeing Space Exploration.

"Florida's selection made sense because of the skilled local workforce, the outstanding facilities and the proximity of our NASA customer," he said at a ceremony at the former space shuttle processing hangar where the new venture will be based.

The company currently employs about 200 people on the CST-100 program nationwide, including 30 in Florida.

Space Florida, a state-backed agency working to expand space-related businesses, is a partner in the project, serving as Boeing's landlord.

"If anyone had any doubts that Kennedy Space Center would remain open for business, this agreement allowing Space Florida to lay the groundwork for a world-class commercial space industry here should put that notion to rest," said NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver.

The Obama administration is requesting $850 million for the fiscal year that began October 1 to invest in commercial passenger spaceships.

With the shuttle fleet's retirement, the United States is dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations that orbits 240 miles above Earth.

"The next era of space exploration won't wait, and so we can't wait for Congress to do its job and give our space program the funding it needs," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

SPACE LEADERSHIP

"That's why my administration will be pressing forward, in partnership with Space Florida and the private sector, to create jobs and make sure America continues to lead the world in exploration and discovery."

Under the agreement, Space Florida will take over maintenance and operations of the Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 from NASA. The shuttle hangars are among dozens of specialized shuttle facilities at the Kennedy Space Center that the U.S. government no longer needs.

Space Florida, which is structured to partner with a wide range of entities including federal and local agencies, research institutes and commercial companies, plans to invest up to about $50 million in the Boeing project, agency President Frank DiBello said.

"There could well be access to financing beyond that, depending on the nature of the work to be done," DiBello told reporters. "We are making these capital investments in return for job creation, which is an economic benefit to the state."

Boeing's project, however, is dependent on congressional support of NASA's Commercial Crew program, which is partly funding the CST-100 work, and on winning an upcoming NASA contract to continue the spaceship's development.

Boeing is one of four firms receiving NASA funds to develop space taxis. The others are:

* Space Exploration Technologies, a privately owned company founded and overseen by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk;

* Sierra Nevada Corp, which is working on a winged space plane that resembles the shuttle;

* Blue Origin, a startup company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Turning over transportation to and from the space station to private firms is designed to free up NASA money for a heavy-lift rocket and deep-space capsule that can travel to asteroids, the moon and other destinations beyond the station.

Russia currently charges NASA about $350 million a year for space flight services.

(Editing by Tom Brown)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/wDCc1-faylE/us-space-boeing-florida-idUSTRE79U58F20111101

miami hurricanes vlad the impaler steven tyler weather houston weather houston michael lohan daylight savings time

Survey Finds a Bright Future for Tablets In Schools (NewsFactor)

Tablets, and especially Apple's iPad, could be poised to become a big part of educational computing. According to a new survey of technology directors for school districts, all of those questioned are in the process of testing or using iPads, and most indicated they expect that tablets could outnumber computers in education within five years.

The survey, by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, is relatively small -- only 25 tech directors attending an educational technology conference. But the results may point to the future of tablets in education as well as in business training.

End of Student Backpacks?

Interestingly, none of the 25 were testing or using Android tablets. Munster told news media that the lack of Androids could be due to the limited availability of devices using that platform, compared with the iPad. But, he said, it does point to Apple's "first-mover advantage," and could indicate a trend in education, which is also present in businesses, where students or employees are creating a demand for Apple products because they use them in their personal lives. In fact, schools mean "iPads" when they discuss "tablets."

The interviewed tech directors indicated their expectations that tablets for students will outnumber laptop and desktop computers within five years. But the directors expect tablets will supplement, not replace, computers.

Ron Johnson, the outgoing head of retail operations at Apple, has predicted that the current generation of students could be the last ones with backpacks to carry their textbooks, since the next generation may quickly move to textbooks on tablets. Apple has said that about 1,000 K-12 schools in the U.S. have an ongoing effort to provide one iPad for use by each student during the day.

Avi Greengart, an analyst with research firm Current Analysis, said many institutions and businesses were "still in the evaluation stage" of assessing how tablets could be used.

Pseudo-Laptops

He noted that, because the iPad is a popular platform, it's "not hard to find someone to create software" for the device, if needed for a specific school or business application that is not otherwise available.

Of course, there is also a large supply of existing applications for education and training, many of which take advantage of the appealing graphical and touch-centric advantages of a tablet.

The price for tablets, Greengart noted, is getting "fairly competitive," especially given that businesses using tablets before the iPad, such as for meter readers, would have been paying $1000 or so for a device. The iPad starts at $499, and new Android tablets from Amazon and others are coming out in the $200 range.

But tablets have their limitations, such as handling extensive typing or other productive uses. Greengart pointed out that there are a variety of full, external keyboards available for tablets, as well as dongles to permit display on a large screen -- although, at some point, the addition of peripherals starts turning the easy-to-carry tablet into a pseudo-laptop.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20111101/bs_nf/80825

last of the mohicans last of the mohicans ryan howard meteor shower 2011 meteor shower 2011 home depot center the replacements

PFT: Tracking all the Week 8 inactives

AP

Over the last two years, the NFL has done plenty to improve the procedures that apply after a player has been diagnosed with a concussion.? The next frontier will be improving the procedures for determining that the player has a concussion in the first place.

The league?s various measures, which came promptly after Congress rattled the antitrust exemption sword in Octoer 2009, include the requirement that a player with a concussion be cleared by an independent neurologist before being allowed to practice or to play in a subsequent game.? More recently, the league promulgated the ?Madden Rule,? which provides that any player diagnosed with a concussion ?must leave the field and be immediately escorted to the locker/training room, and a member of the medical staff . . . must remain with the player to observe him if his injury does not require immediate hospitalization.?

But while the league also has generally mandated that if there is ?any suspicion? that a player has suffered a concussion, he must be pulled from the game, the league has yet to implement specific procedures for ensuring that such suspicions will be acknowledged before a given game ends.? There is no independent neurologist available during games ? there isn?t even a requirement that the teams have neurologists present.? Also, the NFL has no system in place for flagging players who may need to be evaluated for the presence of a concussion.

As a result, we?ve heard terms lately like ?dirt on the face? and ?concussion-like symptoms,? and we saw Chargers guard Kris Dielman stumble and bumble and ultimately remain in the game after giving a quick ?I?m good? wave to the sideline.

Improvements also are needed as to the process of evaluating players who may have concussions.? As Dr. Julian Bailes, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the NorthShore University Health System, told PFT via email this morning, ?Making the diagnosis of concussion on the field or sideline has always been difficult.? Lately I?ve come to think that the safest way if an athlete has ?concussion-like symptoms,? is?to remove them to the locker room where you can be away from the noise, cold, and distractions.? If there is any suspicion that a concussion has occurred, then they are not put back in the game.?

Dr. Bailes, who has been instrumental in the detection of Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy, used that approach during his time as the on-field neurologist at West Virginia University.? And it makes plenty of sense.? It?s loud and it?s hectic and teammates are milling about and coaches are sticking their noses into the situation, hoping that their guys will get back on the field.? The better approach is to get the player into a more calm environment, get his shoulder pads off, let him sit and rest and try to collect his wits, and then engage in an assessment of his condition.

Of course, before it ever gets to that point, the league and its teams need to have a quicker trigger for conducting the review.? But these various steps must be taken by the NFL as soon as possible.? If another Congressional hearing is needed in order to make that happen, then another Congressional hearing should be held.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/30/week-eight-early-inactives/related/

light field camera world series game 1 exotic animals exotic animals college board scott hall lra

Attack near UN office kills 5 in Afghanistan (AP)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan ? Insurgents driving a suicide truck bomb and attacking on foot killed five people, including three United Nations employees, near the offices of the U.N.'s refugee agency in the southern city of Kandahar on Monday, officials said. Afghan forces and the militants exchanged fire for nearly seven hours before the militants were killed.

One insurgent slammed an explosives-rigged pickup truck into a checkpoint near the UNHCR's offices at about 6:10 a.m., and immediately afterward, three insurgents rushed into area, which houses several international aid organizations, the Interior Ministry said.

The insurgents seized control of at least one building, and the ensuing gunbattle with Afghan and NATO forces lasted until 1 p.m., the ministry said.

The UNCHR said three of its staff were killed and two wounded in the combined assault and bombing. It did not say whether they were Afghans or foreigners.

"This is a tragedy for UNHCR and for the families of the dead and wounded," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "It also underscores the great risks for humanitarian workers in Afghanistan."

In recent days, the UNHCR said the number of refugees returning from Pakistan had dropped sharply because of the deteriorating security situation and lack of opportunities in Afghanistan.

The assault was the second major attack in three days to target foreigner workers or NATO troops in the country, spotlighting the insurgents' ability to continue to carry out major attacks, despite a 10-year NATO campaign against them. The U.S.-led coalition is gradually handing over security responsibilities to its Afghan counterparts and plans to withdraw its combat forces by the end of 2014.

"Despite the insurgency's failures this past year, it remains capable and, enabled by safe havens in Pakistan, continues to contest (Afghan and NATO) progress in some parts of the country," German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a coalition spokesman in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul.

Jacobson also said the coalition and its Afghan partners had made significant gains against the Taliban and that incidents like the bombing in Kandahar were not indicative of the insurgents gaining strength.

"It is not to gain a military victory. It is to gain media" attention, he said.

The blast caused extensive damage to the U.N. agency's building. Associated Press video showed large chunks of the building's outer walls and its windows blown out, and the interior was in shambles. The street around the building was strewn with rubble.

The Taliban, for whom Kandahar is a traditional stronghold, claimed responsibility for the attack. Spokesman Qari Yousef said the insurgents were targeting what he claimed was a guest house affiliated with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

The UNAMA does not operate a guest house in the area. The U.N. mission's mandate is to help the Afghan government with security, governance and economic development.

Following the bombing, five people ? four security guards and the district police chief ? were killed during the gunbattle with the insurgents, the Interior Ministry said. Six people, including a policeman, were wounded.

The ministry strongly condemned what it described as "an inhuman and un-Islamic terrorist attack against the Afghans."

UNAMA spokesman Dan McNortan said all of the agency's staff, both Afghan and foreign, was accounted for.

The attack comes two days after the Taliban launched a brazen midday suicide bombing in Kabul, striking a NATO convoy on Saturday and killing 17 people, including five NATO service members, one Canadian soldier and eight civilian contractors.

___

Associated Press writers Tarek El-Tablawy, Deb Riechmann and Amir Shah contributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111031/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

headless horseman headless horseman brandon lloyd brandon lloyd publishers clearing house scare tactics gunsmoke