Monaco analysis - Red Bull charge gathering momentum

 

Congratulations for winning the Monaco Grand Prix with a flawless drive.  Often underrated Mark is now equal second on the Formula Drivers Championship.  Could it be his year?  He is entering the latter part of his career and there have been rumours of him moving to Ferrari next year.  I think from memory that would make him the first Australian to drive for Ferrari in Formula 1.  Now wouldn’t that be something

From Formula 1:  Mark Webber's Monaco victory was Red Bull's third successive triumph in the Principality. It also made them the first team to win two races in 2012, as they extended their lead in the constructors' standings. Christian Horner has said that consistency will likely win this year's championships, and after a tough start to the season, consistency is now exactly what Webber, Sebastian Vettel and the RB8 are delivering

Monaco analysis - Red Bull charge gathering momentum
Mon, 28 May 2012 09:38:00 GMT

Warsi: I need to be thick-skinned

 

Baroness Warsi thinks she needs to be thick skinned.  Most of us think she needs to be honest.

From the BBC The co-chair of the Conservative Party, Baroness Warsi, says she has to accept a "few bruises along the way" if "you are going to be outspoken" in politics.

Warsi: I need to be thick-skinned
Mon, 28 May 2012 09:49:44 GMT

'Extinct' bumblebee returns to UK

 

This project, supported by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust aims to restore the Short Haired Bumblebee to residency in the UK.  The short-haired bumblebee, which vanished from the UK in 1988, is being reintroduced to the Kent countryside.   Previous attempts to re-establish the Short Haired Bumblebee have failed but this one looks good so far.  If it can be permanently re-established then it will be a major conservation coup.

'Extinct' bumblebee returns to UK
Mon, 28 May 2012 04:53:15 GMT

Bumblebees are so important to man, not only because they are the sound of Summer but because of their major role in pollenating food crops.  You can find out more about bumblebees here

Abu Qatada bids for bail release

 

From the BBC

Lawyers for radical Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada will return to court later to argue he should be released from prison on bail.

Abu Qatada bids for bail release
Mon, 28 May 2012 01:54:35 GMT

Why on Earth don’t we simply put Abu Qatada in the back of a Hercules, fly him to Amman, lower the ramp and throw him out?   What damage would that do to the National Interest?  Very little I hazard, it might even raise our prestige and deter similar crazies.  Perhaps we are too obsessed with the so-called rights of the guilty rather than natural justice.

 

Official: BMW reveals stunning Zagato Coupe at Villa d'Este

At last the elves from Bavaria have managed to produce something that is different from the rest and actually looks good!  Albeit with just a little help from Zagato.

The style is completely up to date and reflects the European take on the 2010s. 

I’ve been a trenchant critic of BMW styling for a long time,noting its boring sameness, so its with some humility I say well down BMW.

Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, BMW, Misc. Auto Shows

It could be said that no auto show is as glamorous as the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. Held on the picturesque shores of Lake Como in northern Italy, the annual concours is sponsored by BMW. So it only stands to reason that the Bavarian automaker wouldn't let the show come and go without making a splash on its own.
Previous years saw BMW roll into Cernobbio with such show-stopping concepts as the M1 Hommage and the 328 Hommage, but this year it's not looking back on its history to draw its inspiration. Instead it's teamed up with celebrated Italian coachbuilder Zagato to dream up the concept you see here.
A rare instance of Munich reaching beyond its own design department, the BMW Zagato Coupé is a one-off concept, but is far from a fragile show car. The shape is aerodynamically optimized and the car is fully road registered in Germany, and has already undergone high-speed testing at BMW's own test facility. The Bavarian automaker remains tight-lipped on its underpinnings and running gear, but the obvious conclusion - whether ultimately correct or not - is that it's based on the Z4 roadster.
Whatever lies beneath the hand-crafted aluminum shape, however, is of less consequence than its design. Reinvigorating a tradition of collaboration that goes back to the 1959 BMW 3200 Michelotti Vignale through to the Giugiaro-designed M1 of 1978, the Zagato Coupé concept aptly embodies design cues attributable to both BMW and Zagato - from the twin-kidney grille (whose mesh is made up of little Zs), over the double-bubble roof (a hallmark of Zagato styling originally intended to accommodate a racing helmet in early designs) to the Kamm tail that BMW and Zagato both claim as common heritage.
The greenhouse is set way back and the hood is longer than it took us to put together the immense gallery of high-resolution images BMW has released of the show-stopping concept, which you'll want to check out in detail along with the full press release below.

Continue reading BMW reveals stunning Zagato Coupe at Villa d'Este

BMW reveals stunning Zagato Coupe at Villa d'Este originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 May 2012 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: BMW reveals stunning Zagato Coupe at Villa d'Este
Noah Joseph
Fri, 25 May 2012 19:57:00 GMT

Alenia C-27J Wins Australian Airlift Contest

It’s been a long time coming but at last we know what the incomparable Caribou replacement will be.

And I heartily approve, believing from the word go that the Spartan would be the right choice.

But it still can’t do what the ‘bou ‘bou would do as the first aircrew to try and land it on an unprepared rising strip in the3 New Guinea Highlands will discover!

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) chose the Alenia C-27J Spartan to replace a fleet of 14 DHC-4 Caribou STOL airlifters that have already been retired. The 10-aircraft deal will be conducted via the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system, with L-3 acting as the prime contractor. Alenia and L-3 formed a partnership to sell the C-27J to the U.S. armed forces. The RAAF also evaluated the EADS CN-295 for the Air 8000 requirement.

The contract is worth about $1 billion, including support equipment and several years of training and logistics support. According to the Pentagon’s notice of potential sale, the aircraft will be equipped with a full U.S.-made electronic warfare suite. The notice added that the C-27Js will also help replace 12 C-130H airlifters that the RAAF plans to retire. The first C-27J will be delivered in 2015, with initial operating capability to follow by the end of 2016.

Alenia said that the aircraft will be new-build, thereby safeguarding the workforce in Italy. There had been speculation that the RAAF would be offered C-27Js being built for, or already flying with, the U.S. Air Force. That service decided last January to withdraw its fleet of C-27Js as a budget-cutting measure, having already received 13 of a planned total of 38. The decision has been challenged in Congress, and might be overturned.

May 11, 2012, 2:03 PM

Alenia C-27J Wins Australian Airlift Contest
Chris Pocock
Fri, 11 May 2012 15:10:00 GMT

Ken Block’s Gymkhana Four

Ken Block gets more amazing all the time.  This is his most recent offing: Gymkhana Four.  How does he do it?  Watch it yourself and be amazed!

 

Image of the Day: 11 May 2012

   Now look here…this is your rifle, this is your gun.  One is for fighting, this one’s for……..

Members of the Royal Navy, the Scots Guards, the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Air Force were joined by veterans from the Royal British Legion Scotland in Edinburgh for a parade to mark Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Year. The parade started at Edinburgh Castle and continued down the Royal Mile to Abbey Strand where His Royal Highness The Duke of Rothesay (Prince Charles) took the salute. Pictured here, His Royal Highness inspects members of the Armed Forces, including the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, in the forecourt of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. [Picture: Mark Owens, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]

Image of the Day: 11 May 2012
News Team
Fri, 11 May 2012 10:15:29 GMT

Defence Secretary to re-examine air tankers contract over £100m overspend claims

It looks like the MoD has done it again.  Why should we endure austerity when the MoD is effectively flushing our money down the toilet in huge amounts.

Defence Secretary to re-examine air tankers contract over £100m overspend claims  Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said he would personally re-examine a contract for RAF air-to-air refuelling planes amid claims that the taxpayer is paying three times over the odds.

Telegraph Staff
Fri, 11 May 2012 07:04:05 GMT

FM anger at cap badge speculation

Alex Salmond says any attempt to drop the names of historic Scottish army regiments shows "arrogance".

FM anger at cap badge speculation
Thu, 10 May 2012 13:31:15 GMT

This is a typical piece of Salmond bombastic bluster. The most enduring tradition of the British Army is that since Elizabethan times regiments have been raised, amalgamated and disbanded continuously. I wonder if he or his officials know that, for example, what we know now as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards(Scotland’s senior regiment) is a recent entity, having been formed on 2 July 1971 from two other regiments and at the time of Waterloo were known as the Royal North British Dragoons, the 6th Dragoon Guards (The Carabiniers) or the 3rd or Prince of Wales’s Dragoon Guards depending on which of the forebear regiments you fancy!

So tradition has it that cap badges must go.

Sic transit gloria mundi

Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste

Well well! How interesting!  Could this be the real beginning of a Brave New World?

Bending most light is easy; bending it in gamma ray form, however, has often been deemed impossible given how hard it is for electrons to react to the extreme frequencies. University of Munich scientist Dietrich Habs and his Institut Laue-Langevin teammate Michael Jentschel have proven that assumption wrong: an experiment in blasting a silicon prism has shown that gamma rays will refract just slightly through the right material. If a lens is made out of a large-atom substance like gold to bend the rays further, the researchers envision focused beams of energy that could either detect radioactive material or even make it inert by wiping off neutrons and protons. In theory, it could turn a nuclear power plant's waste harmless. A practical use of the technology is still some distance off -- but that it's even within sight at all just feels like a breakthrough.

Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste
Jon Fingas
Thu, 10 May 2012 09:54:00 GMT

Here’s your latest update on the unsinkable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

The JSF woes continue.  The good news (for the RAAF, the RAF and the RN) is that the US is not abandoning the most important fighter programme of the day.  The bad news for the US is that they are not abandoning the most important fighter programme of the day.(probably)

Here’s your latest update on the unsinkable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program’s flight testing from Lockheed Martin — who just yesterday received a $237 million contract from the Pentagon to fix design problems with the jet that were discovered during testing. Among the highlights of this announcement is the fact that the plane just passed [...] Here’s your latest update on the unsinkable F-35 Joint Strike
John Reed
Tue, 08 May 2012 17:51:39 GMT

USAF Re-Opens Light Attack Contest.

 

The USAF dithers on in its quest for a light attack aircraft.  Shades of KC-X.  They’re not quite at the top of their game at the moment.

Well, the Air Force’s effort to buy a fleet of 20 or so light attack turboprops has kicked off once again. Yup, several months after a ‘paperwork error’ caused the service to tear up the $355 million contract that it gave Embraer and Sierra Nevada for 20 Brazilian-made Super Toucans in February, the effort is [...]

USAF Re-Opens Light Attack Contest.
John Reed
Mon, 07 May 2012 17:56:23 GMT

Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE

htc, the maker of high spec smartphones has just announced that their blazingly amazing EVO 4G LTE handset is available for pre-order.  But only if you live in the States and can afford what is bound to be a stiff price.

LTE or long-term evolution is the future standard  for smartphones and will improve quality and capability no end.

And for the UK?  No word yet but you can bet your life that the large networks will charge you dearly.  Maybe even the the first £100 pm tariff! And don’t get too excited ‘cos the UK infrastructure is so poor and ancient that you won’t be able to get a signal, not even in London.  As you can see from the map we don’t yet have it and we now lag well behind the rest of the Western World for coverage.  But fear not; it’s planned.  Like the HS2 rail link to Scotland, the Edinburgh trams and fibre optic to all internet users.

In case you took a pass on that Sprint-branded GNex or the LG Viper 4G in order to wait it out for HTC's EVO 4G LTE, well, now's the time to get your wallet ready and unleash the cash. As promised, The Now Network has the LTE-friendly EVO priced at $199.99 (50 bucks less on Wirefly) with a beloved two-year contract, while those ineligible for an upgrade will have to shell out around $550. That being said, chances are you won't get to surf those Long Term Evolution waves when you get device, but at least you'll be all set once the rollout finally commences. While Sprint's yet to give an official release date, Wirefly (somewhat reliable in the past) does say the ICS / Sense 4 slab will be shipping on May 18th. Hit either of the source links below to get your pre-order on.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading PSA: Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE up for pre-order today, May 18th release date hinted at Wirefly

PSA: Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE up for pre-order today, May 18th release date hinted at Wirefly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 12:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE up for pre-order today, May 18th release date hinted at Wirefly
Edgar Alvarez
Mon, 07 May 2012 16:23:00 GMT

Casey Does It Again

Casey Stoner delivered another consummate performance to see off Horge Lorenzo at Estoril in the Portuguese Moto GP, the first time he has won the race. He now leads the World Championship by a mere point and it is going to be a very close season with Horge and the Yamaha in top form.

Moto GP is far more exciting than F1.  They race, they go fast  200 MPH on a bike!!, they lean over at ridiculous angles, they crash and there are no pit stops

For highlights of the race see the BBC footage