Today Amazon.com announced the release of the Amazon Kindle 2, which will be available for purchase starting February 24, 2009 at a price of $359US. This next generation wireless reading device have a new slim design with longer battery life, faster page turns, over seven times more storage, sharper images, and a new read-to-me feature. Kindle 2 is purpose-built for reading with a high-resolution 6-inch electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, which lets users read for hours without the eyestrain caused by reading on a backlit display. More than 230,000 books are now available in the Kindle Store, including 103 of 110 current New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases, which typically cost about $9.99 per copy. Top U.S. and international magazines and newspapers plus more than 1,200 different blogs are also available. Kindle 2 is available for pre-order starting TODAY!

This is a great innovative device  for all readers all around the world. I’ll bet you must love to have one NOW! “Kindle 2 is everything customers tell us they love about the original Kindle, only thinner, faster, crisper, with longer battery life, and capable of holding hundreds more books. If you want, Kindle 2 will even read to you–something new we added that a book could never do,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “While we’re excited about Kindle 2, we know that great hardware is useless without vast selection. That’s why the Kindle Store offers customers over 230,000 books.” For anyone who is interested in knowing more about this AWESOME gadget  below is the detail specification from Amazon.com.

…continue reading the post Amazon: Say Hello To The New Kindle 2

On Sunday, January 25th 2009 the Northern Gateway Toll Road was opened in New Zealand. The toll road took about 4 years to build, at a cost of $365 million NZ dollars! The toll fee is $2 for cars and light commercial vehicles and $4 for heavy vehicles. There is no additional charges for trailers or caravans. Good news for motorcycle drivers because there will be no toll fee for motorcycles since there are no toll booths on the road and the sensor system is not be able to detect the small licence plate.

This will be New Zealand’s first fully electronic toll road. The tolls will be calculated electronically using an image of your vehicle’s licence plate number, which is captured as you drive under a tolling point. As you approach the toll point sensors will detect your vehicle, then triggers the system to measure your vehicle’s dimensions. The vehicle dimensions are used to differentiate between a motorcycle, car, truck or bus and therefore assign the correct toll tariff. The system then compile all the information relating to your vehicle’s toll record, including the time and date you passed under the toll point, the licence plate image, vehicle dimensions, and toll tariff. It then transmits the data to their processing system to be linked to a toll account or a one-time payment. The processing system will hold toll records for up to 3 days (72 hours) to enable matching with payments. If no payment is received after 3 days, the system will automatically search for the address of the registered owner of the vehicle and sends the owner a Notice of Unpaid Toll.

To ease the frustration and help drivers  save some money, Burger King has launched a new promotion. Here is what they are offering: “Love the road but hate the $2 toll? Spend ten bucks or more at Burger King in Dairy Flat on SH1 ( last food stop before you hit the new Northern Gateway ) and we’ll take $2 off your purchase. Just show them this ad. See, we let nothing get in the way of a great trip North”. Wait a minute…is it rude to give someone the middle finger? Not so nice Burger King!

…continue reading the post Burger King: Let Nothing Get In Your Way

Does everyone notice our winters are getting warmer every year? I don’t know about what people in other countries have to say about global warming contributing to warmer weather around the world and eventually our Earth will be flooded with water due the rapid melting  from Antarctica. Our winter in Canada this year is still COLD with most of the provinces experiencing numbing -40 degree Celsius weather or worse.  So what exactly is going on with our precious Earth? Frankly, I don’t have the answer.

Computer simulations suggest that by the end of this century, the global average temperature could be as much as 3.4°C higher than it is now says David J. Erickson III, a climate modeler at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It is predicted that for the coming decades there may be a decrease in heating bills in some parts of the United States. Ironically, the extra electricity needed for air conditioning could result in an increased emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide. From the computer simulations, the model suggests that between 2003 and 2025, energy use in northeastern states will drop because of warmer winters but increase in the South and West with increased air conditioning. Ah it’s logical! If the winter gets warmer in the north hemisphere then the south hemisphere must be burning like hell… right?  The boost in the greenhouse gas is the result from air conditioners running on electricity primarily from coal-fired power plants, a power source that’s less efficient than sources used to heat most buildings.

Columbia Sportswear wants us to know that they are taking environmental responsibility into their own hands with the sponsorship of the ‘Stop Global Warming” ad campaign below. Aside from the effective message, I wonder if this campaign will help increase brand recognition for Columbia.

…continue reading the post Stop Global Warming

National Geographic Channel have always interested me with their documentaries involving nature, science, culture, and history. They are now on the streets in Norway trying to attract passengers at the train and bus stations with their advertising board… full of ants! The blue substance inside the board is a special type of gel. The gel serves as both habitat and nutrition for ants, allowing you to watch in awe as the blue gel inside the board turn into a fascinating colony of tunnels. It is also transparent so that people can watch from both sides of the board. The gel was developed by NASA and is now sold in ant aquariums known as AntWorks.

I think the board should be placed under shadow or inside a building where people can comfortably study the ants and how they dig tunnels over a period of time. And what’s amazing is that these ants can live within this habitat for up to 5-6 months!

…continue reading the post National Geographic Channel: Ant Farm

I’m sure most of us have seen all kinds of exotic cars at car shows or on the internet… from a just-ok-looking wooden Supercar to a OMG-I-want-it-now golden Porsche. But have you ever  seen a car covered in Sharpie drawings, especially on a Lamborghini Gallardo? Well I’m pretty sure all of us have used a Sharpie permanent marker at one point in our life for something…of course not for sketching on a luxury car! Sharpie markers are known for their ability to write a clear, well-defined, non-smudging, durable line on glossy surfaces. That’s probably why Jona Cerwinske, the creative street artist, chose the marker to create his art work on the white painted Lamborghini Gallardo then finished it off with a clear coat to seal the deal. Like it or not, I would still be more than happy to have this jewel in my garage!

As nicely summarized by VOD Cars on Flickr: “Every time someone sees a picture of this car they don’t know what to say and end up asking to see more pictures. So here they are for everyone to enjoy! The car was actually done in Sharpie markers on the paint and then finished with a clear coat for protection. It took about 2 weeks total. Prestige (Lamborghini Miami) definitely shocked a lot of people when this car was first seen in California during the Concorso Italiano/Pebble Beach week. It attracted good attention and unfortunately bad everywhere it went.”

…continue reading the post Lamborghini Gallardo: Inspired By Sharpie