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James2

Science

Econophysicist Claims Rogue Waves Could Account for Volatility in Financial Markets

By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.30.2009 3 Comments
The current financial crisis is often described in terms evocative of Poseidon's wrath: a wave of foreclosures, a perfect storm of market conditions, a tsunami of debt. It turns out those descriptions may be more accurate, and more useful, than other metaphors. If financial markets behave less like the stochastic, Brownian systems they are often compared to and more like nonlinear wave systems, then rogue waves can account for spikes and plunges in financial markets.

11.30.2009 at 03:18pm - Comment by James2

BS. Until you consider the effects of: 1. "greed" 2. "playing games" with other people's money (AIG FP) 3. pure "incompetence" and/or "ignorance" on the part of the regulators (see SEC) and 4. "stupidity" (on the part of the legislators, see Barney Frank) there cannot be any X factors responsible for system volatility, much less major upheavals. Strong regulations and vigilant regulators will easily outpunch any theoretical physics.
Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max Tires

By Posted on 11.2.2009 2 Comments
Promising a significant 4 percent gain in fuel economy, the Fuel Max tire will be standard equipment on the Chevrolet Volt when it goes into production late next year. A new tread compound reduces rolling resistance, meaning less energy lost to friction, with no reduction in dry- or wet-weather traction. In August, an Australian couple set a new world mileage record on the Fuel Max Tires, managing 67.9 mpg over a 9,000-mile, three-week trip through the U.S. in a stock Volkswagen Jetta TDI diesel, whipping the 58.82-mpg record they had set the previous year in the same car over the same route.

11.18.2009 at 04:57pm - Comment by James2

Saving gas is nice and important, but since the tire is your only contact with the road I place far greater priority on the performance and handling qualities of a tire. If it costs me a few percent in fuel economy, I would rather have the tire that stops shorter, for example, especially in the wet.
Cars

Test Drive: 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid X6

By Posted on 11.9.2009 5 Comments
Two years ago, when BMW first unveiled the X6, its high-performance, high-end crossover SUV, it announced a hybrid version as well. Now that hybrid has arrived, and if turning a 5,688-lb luxury SUV with a twin-turbo V-8 into a hybrid seems like a bit of a contradiction, well, the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid X6 certainly is.

11.10.2009 at 03:52pm - Comment by James2

I wonder if all the time, money and engineering expended on the hybrid technology would not have been better served trying to shed 1,000 pounds (at least) from that grotesque beast. But, then again, these are German engineers, so the most obvious solution is often the least satisfying.
Technology

UK Calls For a Transforming, Laser-Toting Stealth UAV

By Stuart Fox Posted on 11.10.2009 17 Comments
In February, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in Great Britain unveiled its plans for modernizing its military. Curiously similar to the US Army's recently killed Future Combat System, the British program looks to bring a new generation of unmanned vehicles, advanced sensors and energy weapons to the battlefield. However, unlike its American counterpart, it looks like this project is a go.

11.10.2009 at 03:45pm - Comment by James2

The UK can barely afford to buy a new aircraft carrier and they think this will be affordable???
Cars

Lexus LFA Debuts in Tokyo: A Big-Bucks Toyota Supercar

By Posted on 10.23.2009 2 Comments
This year's Tokyo Auto Show was sadly deficient in high-future-concept cars, so a bombshell from Lexus wound up stealing the show. That is, the LFA, a long-awaited sports car with a price tag rivaling those of traditional exotics from Ferrari and Lamborghini. When it hits US shores, the LFA will cost a neck-wrenching $375,000. So what is Lexus bringing to the performance table for the money?

10.24.2009 at 01:01am - Comment by James2

1998 called. It wants its Supra back. Halo cars are nice and all, but didn't Toyota just report a big loss last year? The LFA (stupid name, BTW) will not help change that. If this uber-Supra, like the FT-86, is supposed to rescue Toyota from appliance-mobile hell, no, this won't work either because... can anyone see "the LFA DNA" in your average Camry or Corolla? Those 500 LFAs are surrounded and outgunned by the near-400,000 Camrys produced annually --and the Ultimate Bland Mobile is what people automatically think about when anyone mentions "Toyota", not Ferrari-wannabes.
Gadgets

Our Favorite Top-of-the-Food-Chain Tech

By Alan Henry Posted on 10.15.2009 5 Comments
Almost every day, we see so-called "upgrades" to technologies that really don't need the extra attention. Plenty of everyday gadgets haven't changed much since they were introduced or invented, because, well, they work just fine the way they are. And trying to improve on something that's already at the top of the food chain is a) a waste of time and b) likely to just make it worse for the wear. Companies need to face facts: there are technologies (like these five) that are practically perfect just as they are.

10.16.2009 at 11:58pm - Comment by James2

@oakspar77777 The wristwatch is hardly dead. There is, I predict, far more variety of watches available than cel phones. I myself own 6, and I know a number of other watch 'aficionados'. Unlike a cel phone a good watch will NOT kill brain cells, which is exactly what's happening with all of these cel phone addicts I see, such as those morons who just have to check their phones every five minutes while at the movie theater. Or the dimwits who talk LOUDER when entering an elevator, 'thinking' that will solve the reception problems.
Science

General Electric Chooses Hawaiian Resort as Test Site for Smart Grid

By Posted on 10.13.2009 5 Comments
A Maui resort community is slated for a new smart grid, courtesy of General Electric. The power grid will cut back energy costs by automatically turning off household appliances when electricity prices soar, and aims for the 2012 goal of reducing peak electricity consumption by 15 percent. The community of Wailea will see new power meters in homes that help monitor electricity usage among different appliances, according to AP. Part of the project also involves upgrading utility computers so that they can better integrate renewable energy from more unpredictable sources such as solar and wind.

10.13.2009 at 11:06pm - Comment by James2

Ever been to Wailea? You have to have deep pockets to reside there. Every home there is a McMansion. I suppose a self-contained community like this is an ideal test subject, but a truly smart(er) grid would be one that can handle the town of Kihei just down the road, where there's a mix of new and old, big and small, hotels and hovels, and strip malls galore.
Cars

Test Drive: 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI

By Mike Spinelli Posted on 10.12.2009 5 Comments
With not quite 50 horsepower at the wheels, the original Volkswagen Rabbit diesel couldn't hit 125 miles per hour from the barrel of a circus cannon. Yet here we are in the 2010 Golf TDI, outgunning the locals (at least some of them) on a stretch of autobahn near the company's Wolfsburg headquarters. Not since I found my stash of Kiss solo albums in the attic has 1978 felt so long ago. Volkswagen's on-again-off-again production of diesels for the US in the ensuing three decades entered a new "on" phase in 2008 with the reintroduction of the Jetta TDI. This year, the company is returning the diesel Golf TDI (formerly Rabbit, formerly Golf, formerly...) to the US after a four-year absence.

10.12.2009 at 01:59pm - Comment by James2

I'm just glad VW is moving away from the BIG grille fad. (Take note, Mazda!)
Cars

At the Tokyo Motor Show: Toyota's FT-86 Concept Car

By Posted on 10.6.2009 3 Comments
When was the last time Toyota produced a car enthusiasts could get excited about? Keep thinking, it's been a while. The company that once challenged US muscle cars with its 300-horsepower Supra could be back in relatively sporty trim by 2011. Toyota released images this week of a show car called the FT-86 concept, a rear-wheel-drive coupe recalling the Toyota AE86 of the 1980s, best known in the US as the Corolla. Yes, that was back when the Corolla was a kind of poor-man's sports car.

10.7.2009 at 02:22am - Comment by James2

Even if this car shows up in the showrooms unadulterated by the soul-sucking Toyota Production System, Toyota needs more than one car to prove it can build exciting cars. They keep trying, give 'em credit, throwing cubic dollars at NASCRAP and Formula One, building non sequitors like the Lexus IS-F, but at the end of the day the quintessential Toyota is a dead pigeon gray Corolla or Camry that is blessed (!) with numb steering and sluggish reflexes, cursed by Toyota's relentless pursuit of isolation. There's a reason Toyota systematically purged cars like the MR2, Supra and Celica from its lineup: they went full-bore after the bland middle of the market, the large demographic that values appliance-grade qualities above all else. Just look at how the Corolla evolved from that AE86 car over the past 20-odd years... that's Toyota in a nutshell.
Cars

Report: Tesla Model S Designed for Battery Swapping

By Mike Spinelli Posted on 9.28.2009 16 Comments
Imagine pulling into a service station, but instead of filling the tank with unleaded, you slide out your drained battery and -- for a fee -- slide in a fully charged one. It's a similar model to that many stores use for propane tanks, and it could one envisioned for Tesla's new Model S sedan. Edmunds Green Car Advisor reports the new model was designed with swappable batteries in mind, according to Tesla's outgoing director of vehicle engineering and manufacturing.

9.28.2009 at 07:46pm - Comment by James2

Hollycow's math might be off, but the underlying criticism is sound. Each gas station will have to store anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred batteries. (Or will they be receiving deliveries of fresh batteries daily?) All things considered, I think they spent SIX minutes thinking about the logistics... the bottom line being that **the gas stations*** would have to figure it out and bear the burden. Whatever. The fundamental drawback of the pure electric car remains the batteries and the recharging thereof. Nice-looking car, though, even if the name is stupid.