The Motorcycle of the Future Motoczysz-E1pc . It is electric,

This is the MotoCzysz E1PC. It is electric. It is almost certainly the most advanced motorcycle on the planet. And it is the future.We told you moto-genius Michael Czysz  pronounced sizz  was building another contender for the TT Zero electric motorcycle race on the Isle of Man. But we caught up with him early in the build and he wasn’t providing details or pics. Now that the bike’s hit the track, Wes Siler of Hell For Leather has all the details on the MotoCzysz E1PC in a piece posted over at Popular Science.

This bike is bad-ass, no two ways about it. It has a custom-built 12.5-kilowatt-hour lithium polymer battery that can be swapped in seconds. The custom-built, oil-cooled motor generates 100 horsepower (continuous) and 250 pound-feet of torque. It all hangs from a custom frame. Of course, it’s got the usual top-shelf hardware. Ohlins. Brembo. You know the drill.

Czyzs and his crew in Portland, Oregon, were literally buttoning the bike up before the first practice session on the Isle of Man, having just gotten the body panels through customs. No one had tested the bike before, but rider Mark Miller smoked the field during practice, finishing more than three minutes ahead of the competition. The bike hit a top speed of 140 mph and lapped the 37.7-mile course at an average speed of 94.66 mph.

For all the high-tech componentry, the E1PC is designed first and foremost as a motorcycle, so it’s meant to be hammered. Many bikes racing in the TTXGP series suffer ground-clearance issues when leaning into a turn, but the E1PC has no such trouble. Siler says riders accustomed to a conventional sportbike will feel right at home on the E1PC.
Take a close look at the pics. You’re looking at the future of motorcycling.

(wired)

Laguna Beach home in the private community of Irvine Cove

Laguna Beach home in the private community of Irvine Cove.A heavily detailed three-quarter-inch layer of French limestone encloses the steel-framed structure, creating the illusion that it’s one, monolithic column of limestone.On both sides of the main entry, curved glass panels are accented with rivets. A bridge leading from the entrance to the great room crosses over the atrium.Inside the gallery-styled great room, an art wall features a sculptured circular black brick fireplace with stainless steel trim.

“Every element of the house is done very artfully,” says Newport Beach architect Christian Light. “My clients were interested in making sure it wasn’t going to be just another rectilinear home.”

Adjacent to the kitchen and morning room, a Lolli e Memmoli crystal chandelier hanging over the dining table is another example of a fixture that doubles as a piece of art.Five columns were strategically placed to support the 9-foot ceiling that vaults to 12 feet for unobstructed panoramic ocean views.Honed limestone flooring — nearly 5,000 square feet — stretches to the edge of the saltwater pool, which is trimmed in black granite.

The great room and pool patio area are separated by mahogany-framed doors that open to create an indoor-outdoor living space.The ceiling of the main floor is a 1,500-square-foot skylight that covers the entry, great room, art wall and atrium. It links the front of the house to the back master bedroom and entertainment spaces.The subterranean level has a large open media room, office/studio, guest suite, spa area and wine cellar.

airlines that leave passengers stranded on a tarmac in a delayed plane for three hours or more can face a hefty fine under new rules adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation

airlines that leave passengers stranded on a tarmac in a delayed plane for three hours or more can face a hefty fine under new rules adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.If carriers don’t let passengers out of the plane before the three-hour mark, the agency can fine them up to $27,500 per customer.

At least three domestic airlines have announced plans to avoid the penalties. But that won’t necessarily cut down on delays.US Airways and Continental Airlines have both unveiled procedures to return the plane to the gate if it can’t take off before the three-hour limit.American Airlines Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said his carrier the nation’s second-largest has modified a previous plan to unload passengers stranded four hours or longer.

US Airways, the sixth-largest domestic carrier, announced its plans in an employee newsletter last week.For example, if a US Airways flight is delayed 90 minutes, the crew offers drinks and snacks to avoid a fine that applies if fliers are delayed for two hours without food and water.

After 2 1/2 hours, the airline’s operations center makes a decision: Either return the plane to the gate or, if a takeoff is imminent, keep it in line on the tarmac.In 2009, US Airways alone had 193 flights that were delayed more than three hours. If each had an average of 200 passengers, under the new rules the fines could add up to more than $1 billion.It is unclear what happens to a flight after it returns to the gate, but American’s Arpey predicted bad news for passengers: “Most certainly, it will result in more cancellations.”

Costliest city is still New York

If you can afford to stay in New York, you can afford to stay anywhere.The 2010 rankings for the most expensive cities for business travelers put New York at the top again, with the average daily cost for food, hotel and a car rental totaling $622.The results came from the annual survey of hotel, restaurant and car rental costs by the Business Travel News, a publication for business travel managers, of 100 U.S. travel destinations. New York topped the list last year and in 2008 as well.

White Plains, N.Y., and Detroit inched up in the list, with hotel and car rental prices rising in both cities.Las Vegas, on the other hand, dropped on the list.Last year, Sin City ranked as the nation’s 30th most expensive city to visit. It fell to 45th this year, below such cities as Oakland, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.Honolulu ranked ninth in the 2009 survey but dropped to 20th this year, below Minneapolis, Austin and Detroit.

Most hospitality experts blame what they call the “AIG affect” for the drop in hotel and restaurant prices at cities with a reputation for luxury and frivolity.After the insurance giant American International Group Inc.took a federal bailout in 2008, it hosted a junket for senior executives at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort and was then stung by public outrage. Since then, image-conscious executives have avoided holding corporate meetings in places known for fun and opulence.

“There is still a huge residual from the AIG affect,” said Carl Winston, the director of the hospitality and tourism management program at San Diego State University.Los Angeles dropped to 16th on the list this year from 13th in 2009, based on cheaper car rental rates.Prank tells guests to break windowYou are asleep in a hotel room, and a frantic caller warns you that the building is on fire, instructing you to pull the fire alarm and break the window.

The American Hotel & Lodging Assn. has issued a warning, telling hotel guests to think twice before following such instructions. Prank callers have been victimizing hotel guests in California, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Nebraska, the trade group warned.The group advises hotel guests who get such a call to phone the front desk to see if the emergency is legitimate.In Orlando, Fla., the victim of such a prank busted a hotel window with part of a toilet after his wife took the call. “When I broke the window, I got suspicious,” the hotel guest told the Orlando Sentinel. “It didn’t seem right, but she was panicking, so I continued.”

the world's biggest ferris wheel at london

Tony Blair officially opened the London Eye on 31 December 1999. But it was only after a number of technical glitches had been sorted out that the public was finally allowed aboard in March 2000 – 10 years ago this week. Since then, well over 30 million people have taken the vertiginous but breathtaking half-hour journey, in air-conditioned capsules, up and around what was, until two years ago, the world’s biggest ferris wheel. That honour now belongs to the Singapore Flyer; with a height of 165 metres, it outranks the London Eye by a full 30 metres. But, while the Flyer looks like a gigantic version of a 19th-century original (the first of the breed, designed by George Washington Ferris, began revolving at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago), the London Eye is a fighter jet to the Malaysian city’s biplane. The Eye has since become as much a part of tourist London as Westminster Abbey, the Tower and Big Ben; a friendly curiosity, an urban eye-catcher, and an engineering wonder to compare with the Eiffel Tower.When it was first announced, though, it was hard not to think that the London Eye was going to be some sort of Victorian throwback, an enormous music hall-era fun-fair ride among London’s new wave of challenging millennium monuments– Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge and the Millennium Dome itself. At the time of its opening, the joke went that the Eye was a perfect symbol of contemporary British political culture, going around and around uselessly and getting nowhere in the process.When, however, the design by the architects Marks Barfield was unveiled, most doubts were cast aside. The husband-and-wife team had come up with a striking and rather beautiful hi-tech big wheel. It wasn’t just the high-spec design that drew attention, it was the bravura manner in which the Eye’s prefabricated components were brought up the Thames on river barges to Jubilee Gardens, and the week-long drama during which, inch by inch, the giant wheel was raised from the river and up into place alongside County Hall. Now, every view in and through Westminster, and along the Thames, was changed. Suddenly, this spidery and beautifully resolved ferris wheel crowned Victorian terraces, filled unexpected views along avenues of plane trees and sat like a tiara atop government offices.Perhaps its best aspect is that it also offers awe-inspiring and uninterrupted views over London. From up top on a clear day, the entire city can be peered down upon and encompassed. The patterns of London’s growth can be seen spreading into subtopia and the green belt like rings marking the age of venerable trees. Rides on the Eye in rain, snow or at night offer their own haunting attractions.Of London’s deafeningly trumpeted rival millennium projects, the Eye has been, perhaps, the most endearing. The Dome was undermined by the unforgivably crass and soulless Millennium Experience exhibition of 2000; it was many years before it redeemed itself as today’s O2 music venue. The Millennium Bridge linking Tate Modern and St Paul’s Cathedral wobbled, and it was some while before its virtues could be discerned. Tate Modern became almost too popular for its own good, a heaving cultural souk – acutely in need of its planned extension – where art can occasionally be seen between massed heads and shoulders. Other millennium projects, such as the refurbishment of the Royal Opera House, were fine things, yet tame in terms of fresh design.The London Eye was always a brave and daring adventure, a throwback to 1951’s Festival of Britain, held on the same site – an era when Britain could still claim to lead the world (just) in supersonic-era design and engineering. It looks to the past as well as the future.

ASHLEY COLE faces a severe grilling by the Chelsea board over his latest sex scandal

Stamford Bridge owner Roman Abramovich will fine the love-rat left-back £200,000 for twice smuggling a girl into the team’s hotel on the eve of matches.Now fresh revelations have emerged – that the England star romped with American girl Ann Corbitt in Seattle during a pre-season trip to the States last summer.Cole, 29, is also said to have convinced Chelsea head of communications Steve Atkins that this latest story was not true.And now the club hierachy are mortified to have discovered that he may have lied to the senior club official, who was then implicated in a cover-up aimed at stopping details appearing in the papers.Cole is now set to be hauled before Blues chiefs to explain and could face further punishment.

KIM Kardashian and her sisters decided to create their own fashion line “using material that can stretch”

KIM Kardashian says she and her sisters decided to create their own fashion line “using material that can stretch” so their garments will easily fit women of all shapes and sizes.The reality TV star has teamed up with her siblings Khloe and Kourtney for the launch of their own label, Bebe.And Kim is quick to point out that while her clothes are figure-hugging they are for the full-figured girls like her and her sisters.

“Some of the designs are tight-fitting but we made a point of using material that can stretch and is comfortable for curvy girls like me,” said Kim.“My sisters and I have all different body shapes so it’s important that our clothes are for anybody and not just skinny models.”Kardashian, 29, recently revealed that she’s starting a “low-carb” diet after piling on the pounds while working in New York.“OK, now that I’m home, I got up early and worked out!” she Twittered Wednesday. “Feels good!“Also starting a low carb diet!”Still, getting back into shape won’t come easy!

Google launches translation service menu for easy ordering foreign tourists

BARCELONA Google launches translation service menu for easy ordering foreign tourists. In everyday life, often occurs a tourist who only speak English to order the wrong food when visiting a restaurant in Germany. For example, it could have forced tourists to face the heart of a bowl of hot soup that tastes sour beef. To overcome this, Google provides the solution. In the event Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010, Google’s new exhibit translator technology. That translates menus foreign foods instantly through an application on smart phones. Reported by the Telegraph, Friday (19/2/2010) early prototype created by Google is currently only able to translate German into English. Google plans to expand this service in order to support 52 languages. “Imagine you are a traveler who enters a restaurant, where there is only menus that do not understand. You must be confused ordering food,” said Google Product Marketing Manager, Andrew Gomez.

This translation service menu is a further development of the feature ‘Goggles’ Google. This feature allows users to search the web without having to type in the word, but only to show the phone to an object. This software uses optical character recognition technology to scan the written word and turn it into computer text which is then translated into the Google Translate service. “This service is still early stages. We want to introduce the first demo. We want to show how great your phone when connected with this technology,” said Gomez.

Sport Bike Yamaha FZ6R for $7,090

Ever thought “that guy can’t ride” after some kid on a crotch rocket cuts you off on the freeway? There’s a good chance you’re right. Yamaha says one-third of those who purchase sportbikes are first-time motorcycle buyers. That’s the two-wheeled equivalent of getting a pilot’s license and joining the Blue Angels.Turns out most of those Valentino Rossi wannabes aren’t after triple-digit horsepower or eye-compressing acceleration. They only want the aggressive look of a sport bike, so Yamaha wrapped the entry-level FZ6R in slick bodywork that even guys with gelled hair and tribal tats could love.Don’t let the “entry-level” designation leave you thinking the FZ6R offers the thrills of an Antiques roadshow marathon. Yamaha made the bike gentle enough for n00bs who want to build skills but sporty enough to keep experienced riders grinning. It’s also versatile enough for a weekday commute or some tight cornering on a Sunday afternoon.

The torquey 600-cc, 4-cylinder engine is tuned for mid-range oomph and makes wheelies a snap — if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s got nothing below 5,000 rpm, but raise revs above that and the power builds smoothly and predictably to its peak of 78 horsepower at 10,2000 rpm. The FZ6R isn’t as fast as the R6 or other weapons-grade middleweight sportbikes, but if you’re just starting out, you definitely don’t need that much power.

Entry-level bikes often have suspensions with the sophistication of a screen door, but Yamaha didn’t skimp on the FZ6R. The 41mm non-adjustable fork and pre-load adjustable shock keep the bike more stable than a Navy SEAL sniper when you’re cornering, without sacrificing all-day comfort. But as good as the suspension is, the brakes are even better.

Sport bikes are usually about as comfortable as a prostate exam, but the FZ6R offers a relaxed riding position with good wind protection. Easy adjustments let you lower the seat and move the bars back, while the clutch and brake levers need only a light pull and there is absolutely no vibration from the engine. Add a set of luggage and you could do a road trip on this bike. Try doing that on an R6.Yamaha did a great job with the FZ6R. It’s stylish enough to satisfy boy-racers, quick enough to keep you grinning and a fantastic dance partner in tight curves. It’s more than a sweet beginner bike. It’s a sweet bike.

Salt warning to the takeaway generation: Teens risk health by eating one ready-meal a day Teens risk health by eating one ready-meal a day

One in six young people eats a salt-laden ready-meal or takeaway every day, a survey shows.Many have three or more a week, but an astonishing 16 per cent indulge daily.Only half of teenagers realise the high-salt content of such foods, researchers found.Across all ages, nine out of ten people knew that too much salt was bad for their health, but 40 per cent did not know that adults should eat no more than 6g – or a teaspoonful – a day.The survey of 3,000 people was released by Siemens and The Stroke Association to raise awareness of the hazards of ‘ hidden’ salt in processed foods.Eating high levels of salt and taking too little exercise can lead to high blood pressure, which is a major cause of stroke.However, 64 per cent of people told researchers they were unconcerned about their salt intake, while 57 per cent said they had no idea how much they were eating.
Under-18s were the most likely to check the salt content of food (21 per cent read product labels, compared to a national average of 10 per cent).