Filed under: Tuners, Coupes, Supercars, Porsche

Click above for a high resolution gallery of the GT9

There are only a handful of cars that can strike fear into the Bugatti Veyron. The Koenigsegg CCX comes close with a top speed of 242.42 mph, and the SSC Aero Twin-Turbo is even faster, hitting a two-way average speed of 255.83 mph and officially taking the crown of world's fastest car back in September. These über-fast supercars will now be looking over their shoulders with the new kid on the block, the 9ff GT9. Based on the Porsche 911 GT3, 9ff stretches the chassis about a foot and chops the roofline for improved aerodynamics. A carbon-kevlar subframe houses a twin-turbo 4.2-liter flat-6 pushing out 987 bhp. Our German is a bit rough, but we can translate enough of Autobild's recent story on the 9ff GT9 to know they achieved ridiculous speeds in the super Porsche at the Papenburg high speed oval in Germany. 409 km/h to be exact, which roughly translates to 253 mph. We're not sure if there is more speed left in the GT9 to top the Bugatti or the SSC, but it's impressive nonetheless.

Gallery: 9ff GT9

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Here is a vehicle that oozes with class, style and splendor that are befitting to the brand Mclaren Mercedes-Benz. The new Brabus, which is a modification of the original Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster, virtually blows you off your feet with its sheer looks and once you go in and take a deeper look at it, it portrays both quality and luxury that are almost unmatched. Every dollar spent on this immaculate beauty is more than worth its value and it is sure to draw more than a few eyeballs as you drive it on the road. Hell, it would have people’s eyeballs pop out of their sockets, with the kind of magnificence it offers.

The first and the most unique aspect of this Mclaren, which makes it so alluring is the fact that the Mclaren boss’s seem to have added some much needed color to the vehicle. The sporty red interiors, with solid black exterior offer a visual delight. While it might not be a classic design for cars, the Brabus surely loses out no dignity, despite its very bright look. In fact, it looks as if it is made for royalty. To match the magnetic looks, we have the hair rising speed that comes with this marvel of engineering. From start to 100kph in a mere 3.6 seconds! That is shorter than the time I took to type this sentence. It is an incredible pace on wheels and the acceleration is surely designed to get your heart beat up and the adrenaline pumping. Brabus also modified the aerodynamics of the car, especially the nose allowing it to stick better to the road and that is a very essential change as it needs some control with the whooping pace that it possesses.

The front spoiler for the bumper has been perfectly designed to minimize drag & achieve stability as it provides the car not only with a great look but also precision control. It offers aero dynamical balance, achieved with rigorous wind tunnel testing. BRABUS Monoblock VI 20-inch wheels are a perfect fit to the car & add some metallic shine & of course great quality to the product.

The Brabus sports of a V8 compressor engine producing a 6500 rpm. The entire engine & exhaust are custom made to take all the power & to deliver the maximum output. The cooling systems & the engine interior are custom made to quench the thirst for power of this super car.

The interior of the car looks both catchy and striking. Yet at no point has elegance and comfort been overlooked. The car has carbon fiber applications for dashboard, center console and door trim transfer the racing look of the BRABUS body components into the interior. The exposed carbon-fiber trim can be color-coordinated with the leather color of the interior. The steering wheel is also ergonomically shaped to give more seating space and offers integrated buttons for data transmission.

The Brabus Mercedes McLaren SLR Roadster is an awesome car to hit the road and driving it would be nothing short of taking a F1 car across the track. It looks great for a two-seater and it has all one can ask for. It comes with the quality of a Benz, but thankfully has moved on with the style of the generation.

Sybarites

Filed under: Garage, Coupes, Supercars, Nissan

Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Continue reading First Drive: 2009 Nissan GT-R

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Nokia already announced the Nokia N95 8GB NAM on January 7th, 2007, but the FCC approval was nowhere to be found. Today it appeared on the FCC pages. It is called the Nokia N95-4, supporting networks using 850/1900 MHz HSDPA (high speed data packet access) in the Americas. I took some screenshots of the information that mattered and the link to the documents.

It looks exactly like the current Nokia N95 8GB (Model Nokia N95-2), and we won’t be sure if there will be any unique features other than that 3G will work with AT&T’s 3G internet.

Screenshots below:

Nokia N95 8GB NAM Label

Looks like the Nokia N95 8GB

Looks like the Nokia N95 8GB

HSDPA/UMTS support

Link to the FCC documents of the Nokia N95 8GB NAM.

After two weeks with the Nokia E71, I have prepared the first part of the review for this phone. I’ll talk about the physical aspects of the Nokia E71. A lot of people will be considering this phone because of the QWERTY keypad, slick shape and 3G compatibility in North America, but interested buyers need to consider if they can do with the multimedia features not up to par with Nseries phones.

I always show off the phones I have to my friends and family. The Nokia E71 looks really good according to whoever I show it to. The main keywords that get mentioned are, “shiny” and “thin.” On the Boy Genius Report’s Nokia E71 review, they wrote that the Nokia E71 could be one of the sexiest damn phones they’ve seen in a very long time.

Build Quality. The Nokia E71 feels good to hold. It does not look or feel cheap at all. The battery cover takes up most of the space on the back and is made of stainless steel instead of plasticky material we are all used to. The front surface is smooth with rounded corners, while that shiny material is striking to the eyes.

To get nit-picky, I notice a space between the screen and keyboard, leaking light out that is noticeable in the dark.

Light leaking between display and keypad on Nokia E71.

Color. I am playing with the grey steel version of the Nokia E71. A white version is available, but I have not had a chance to see one in person. I love how the black keypad flow with the shiny steel color on the front, and then seamlessly flush with some sort of a hard see-through plastic or glass on top of the display. Yes, the Nokia E71 is sexy-shiny! take a look at All About Symbian’s Nokia E71 review with the white version.

The Nokia E71’s screen is 2.36 inches compared to 2.8 on the Nokia N95 8GB and 2.4 on the Nokia N82 although having the same 320×240 resolution. You can check my Nokia E71 vs Nokia N95 8GB vs Nokia N82 Screen Size Comparison for a closer look.

Nokia N95 8GB vs Nokia E71 vs Nokia N82.

Even with the smaller screen, web browsing is actually more convenient on the Nokia E71 than on the Nokia N95 8GB because the display is already in landscape mode having a wider view. With the Nokia N95 8GB, you have tilt to the side or open the slider, and then have to put it back to portrait mode to login or search websites.

It’s barely noticeable but the screen on the Nokia E71 is not as bright as the Nokia N95 8GB. However, the images are sharp and I have no complaints in this area.

I’ve been a long time numeric keypad user on my phones, but now I see what I’ve been missing. Qwerty on the Nokia E71 makes it so much easier and faster to write emails, text messages, or fill out forms on websites. Common characters like the question mark (?) and the @ sign are accessible to one press instead of pressing the shift button first on our regular pc keyboards.

Great keypads. They keypads are great, but not perfect. People with bigger fingers might accidentally press the wrong buttons, but I did not have any problems with it. The buttons are raised so that if you run a finger from side to side, you can easily distinguish buttons. For the phone’s size and weight, I think Nokia did an excellent job on the qwerty keypad. Cnet UK agrees on their Nokia E71 review by saying, “E71’s keypad is one of the best Qwerty keypads we’ve ever laid fingers on.”

Side buttons. On the side, there are three buttons: dedicated record button, and the volume control. If you press and hold the record button on the main display, voice dialing gets activated and you can say a contact to to dial. On the Nseries phones without the dedicated button, you need to press and hold the right soft key.

Power. The power is the only button on top of the Nokia E71. There’s nothing special worth mentioning here. You use to turn on/off the phone, as well as change profiles to silent, normal, outdoor,etc.

I’m impressed with the loudspeaker on the Nokia E71. Try playing a movie on maximum volume on the Nokia E71 and you’ll find it too loud! That is actually a good thing! The handset speaker is normal during phone calls (yes it can make calls). Increasing the max volume a little bit would be better, but it’s not a big deal. The Nokia E71 review by My-Symbian agrees that the speaker is “very loud and clear.”

The Nokia E71’s speaker is loud and clear.

There are two rubber flap doors on the left side of the Nokia E71 covering the micro USB and microSD ports. They seem to do a great job locking and staying in place. There’s also an infrared port for those who want to use it to transfer files with other compatible devices.

Micro-USB. The Nokia E71 connects to your computer through a micro-usb port. It’s not as common as the mini USB, but expect to see more phones use these types of ports. Unfortunately, the USB connection does not allow charging.

MicroSD and MicroSDHC. The Nokia E71 comes with 2GB microSD card. I’m glad Nokia is getting generous about this, since I remembered digital camera companies only provided 256mb or 512mb cards leaving the customers to spend extra for bigger storage. The Nokia E71 should also be able able to support microSDHC cards to expand your storage. Currently, the maximum capacity of cards available is 8GB.

2.5mm jack. You can’t insert your standard earphones on the Nokia E71 so you either have to stick to what Noki gives you with the phone, or get an adapter. Not a dealbreaker, but thumbs down.

Standard 3.5mm earphones will not fit on the Nokia E71

Protection. The Nokia E71 does not have a camera lens cover and is raised above the rest of the back surface. I wondered why it was designed like this since I thought it will attract scratches to the camera. After a closer look, the raised hump actually protects the camera on flat surfaces. The angle created by the hump slightly raises the camera lens away from the surface.

Image Quality. At the current firmware version, I am disappointed with the 3 megapixel camera on the Nokia E71. Expect to see your object covered with a purple tint. The autofocus is works fine by pressing the ‘T’ button before snapping the picture, but the end result is a letdown considering I had this problem with the original Nokia N95 when it was released more than a year ago. I would have thought that after a year, Nokia can fix the problem. Take a look at a color comparison with the Nokia E71 vs Nokia N95 8GB vs iPhone photos.

The slim design and full QWERTY keypad on the Nokia E71 makes it optimal for messaging on the go. Its great looks puts the icing on the cake. I’m not happy with the camera quality, but many will say they are not buying this phone for the camera.

On the next part of my Nokia E71 review, I’ll cover some of the features and actual user experiences. Make sure to stay up to date by subscribing to the Nokia blog’s feed.

Sponsored By: FoneGrabber Check the lowest prices on the latest phones.

One of the most popular sentiments expressed by readers on our blog is "be a smart consumer." Now two privacy advocacy organizations are calling for the creation of a "do-not-track" list that would protect registered users from online data collection. They argue that a list is needed because too many consumers won't or can't understand the methods behind online tracking. To illustrate, one of the organizations "pointed to a 2005 University of Pennsylvania survey in which only 25 percent of respondents knew that a Web site having a privacy policy doesn't guarantee that the site refrains from sharing customers' information with companies." But a do-not-track list is overkill, and a fearful reaction against emerging technologies.

If such a list became popular, would it reduce the ad model of the web to the blind shotgun blasts of TV advertising? That would suck—personally, if I'm going to see an ad, I want it to be about something that interests me. I don't like the idea of a third-party harvesting my data and packaging it with other users' data to profit from it, but I do think targeted advertising is an improvement over traditional advertising. Besides, how would such a list work with the rapidly evolving technologies used for data tracking? NebuAd's deep-packet-sniffing collects lots of detailed info but doesn't connect it directly to an ISP customer's account—would that be permissible?

Being a smart consumer is deeply relevant to this issue. Ultimately, the individual consumer has to understand the basics of online advertising before choosing to engage in any online behavior. Telemarketing, and to a lesser extent junk mail, take public info that by necessity has to be public (telephone numbers and addresses, for example), then exploits that info to contact you without your permission. When you're online, however, you're leaving a data trail behind you like heat exhaust, and anyone who knows how to read it can gain information on you. But you can also learn to reduce that data trail, or cloak it, or even disguise it as a different data trail. It's an arms race, but then everything in the information age is.

When companies try to take control of your data trail from you—like what Facebook did with its Beacon program—then we have a real problem; suddenly your self-protection schemes no longer work and you're left open to privacy loss. So far the public has reacted swiftly and decisively against such overreaching stunts.

My hope is that the public side of the market remains a more efficient way of dealing with company misbehavior—and that Average Web User X gets over his technophobia (or more likely plain disinterest) and learns the basics of online privacy if he values his part in the demographic data pool so much.

"Privacy Advocates: Consumer Education Isn't Enough" [PC World]

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"UK advertising-tech fight shows complexity of privacy battle" [Associated Press]
(Photo: Getty)

Filed under: Motorcycles, Celebrities

Where did Vinnie go? Ever since the American Chopper episode where it was revealed that Vincent DiMartino was leaving for greener pastures and new opportunities, fans of the show have wondered what he was up to. The answer is that he's still building custom motorcycles, just for his own company: V-Force Customs. Not only that, but Cody Connelly, also from Orange County fame, has joined forces with Vinnie in the creation of their own custom bike operation. The company is currently working on its shop in New York, but plans to introduce its first bike at Daytona Beach for Bike Week 2008. February 29th is coming up pretty quickly, so we should be getting some more information soon enough. After touring for a year, the dynamic duo will be giving the bike to one lucky customer.

If you're interested in knowing more, the company has set up a web forum, and it appears that both Vinnie and Cody occasionally make it there to communicate with fans directly. Considering that Vinnie was one of the best things about OCC, we are pretty sure he'll do alright for himself and look forward to seeing his first solo effort in Daytona. For a very grainy and low-quality preview of what they are working on, check out our gallery below.

[Source: V-Force Customs]

Gallery: V-Force Customs

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Tennis legend Pete Sampras and superstar Bridgette Wilson (wife) may have millions of fan following, but how often do they (followers) get a chance to pay homage to their role models. If you also were a staunch supporter of one of the greatest tennis ace and Bridgette Wilson’s onscreen performance mesmerizes you and wanna cherish their memories forever, the celebrity couple has put their Beverly Hills home for sale for $25 million.

Oops…, only millionaires are eligible for the grand bid of the luxurious rather precious assets.

Combining conventional look and modern requirements and style, the English Tudor-style house (constructed in 1933) includes 6 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a professional theater, a library servant’s quarters, a separate gym, a master suite with a sitting room and a sundeck spread across 10,376 square feet. Even the vast surrounding area (1.04-acre) of the estate, including magnificently landscaped north/south tennis courts children’s play areas and a lovely oval shaped heated swimming pool is just right for outdoor activities.

Owning the esteemed house would not only be a tribute to the cherished duo, but it’d also prove a reasonable deal for you. Where else would you get a chance to reside in the neighborhood of as esteemed celebrities as producer Irwin Winkler, Kelly Wearstler and her huzband Brad Korzen, Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman.

Latimes via Realestalker

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Each year, humans kill 40 million sharks. Each year, sharks kill 10 humans. If a shark comes across a human, it should get the hell out of there.
Six immigrants were murdered in a single day in Castelvolturno by the camorra. An African Italian was beaten to death in Milan by a father and son pair, amidst shouts of “Dirty nigger”, for having stolen a few biscuits. An Italian pensioner has murdered two Ukranian women. He was jealous. Hundreds of foreigners die in workplace accidents in Italy, swallowed up by a manhole or incinerated in a furnace. Young foreigners, often mere children, are raped in their hundreds by so-called “good Italian folks”. The prices are very reasonable: 20/30 Euro a pop. Foreigners simply go missing in the tomato harvesting fields of Puglia. No trace of even the bones of these people has ever been found.
Italy is the global landing strip for cocaine. All of the cocaine comes through Italy via the Gioia Tauro Harbour. A single dose costs 5/10 Euro, about the same price as an aperitif. There is so much cocaine in Milan that you can sniff it in the air, free of charge.
The army stands guard at the waste disposal dumps run by “Impregilo” and the rubbish bins, while on the street corners the camorra proceeds to kill off all the court witnesses, one by one.
If an honest foreigner comes across an Italian, he should get the hell out of there. Italians have become the great white shark of Europe. What other country has more sharks in Parliament? Dell’Utri and Cuffaro have exceptionally sharp teeth. The psychodwarf has nothing but canines in his mouth, while Topo Gigio Veltroni has false teeth (since he is only a second-class shark). Where else in the world would you find criminal organisations of the calibre of the Mafia, the Ndrangheta and the Camorra? No other country on Earth has tiger sharks quite like ours.
Since the collapse of the Towers, the Muslims have become the enemy. However, since 2001, not a single Italian, not ONE, has been killed in Italy by a Muslim person for religious reasons. The Lega prohibits the establishment of mosques, which are places of prayer, but does nothing about the spread of the mafia and the drugs in the North.
One shark will not attack another …
In Italy, simple survival is already difficult enough for an Italian, however, the foreigner really puts his life on the line. He arrives here and lands up either in a transit camp or in jail. If he refuses to pay protection money he gets murdered, he is obliged to work illegally and, in the case of a female or a minor, they run the risk of being raped.
The only ones that immediately feel entirely at ease are the delinquents. They are not at risk here. In fact, they are better off here than in their country of origin. But then they are, after all, in shark territory.

Filed under: Wireless

Just when you thought Digg cloning was dead, Salesforce has thrown its hat into the ring. The company best known for their SaaS CRM is unleashing their Digg-for-ideas, “Salesforce Ideas”, into the wild. Although announced back in October, they are now releasing the product publicly. Now any enterprise can order their own clone of Salesforce’s IdeaExchange, which lets customers post ideas on how the company can improve their product.

It’s targeted at, and works best for, existing Salesforce customers with a specific community of customers. Unlike the free opensource Pligg, this software may cost you. It’s being release for free to professional, enterprise, and unlimited customers. But anyone off the Salesforce platform using the service has to buy a license, which can cost anywhere from $50-$100 per user per month. I’d recommend (free) Satisfaction’s help and idea board for businesses with larger audiences.

Salesforce is pushing the platform integration because unlike Pligg, Ideas’ will know who your customers are. The system will integrate with your CRM account to let only those users in.

The concept is pretty straight forward and a bit more exciting than a straight idea forum. Yahoo has even launched a similar product for their own use. On Salesforce Ideas Users can post product ideas to a moderated board, which everyone can promote or demote up and down the board. The most popular ideas, based on the frequency of promotions over a period of time, make it to the top of the board. Attached to each idea is a discussion thread, where members can leave comments building on the idea.

Salesforce claims to have used ideas on the board to improve their product, and even drive ideas for some AppExchange startups (AppExtremes, Appirio). After a year, their board has about 13,000 users, 5,000 ideas, and drives 100K pageviews per month. Dell runs an instance of the board on Dell Idea Storm, which it credits with the idea to pre-install the Ubuntu Linux operating system on select consumer desktops and notebooks in the U.S, UK, France and Germany.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Etc., Government/Legal

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