Caribou Coffee: Ending My Boycott

In the past, I have been boycotting Caribou Coffee because they were bought out and majority owned by Arcapita (formerly First Islamic Bank of Bahrain). As part of their ownership, Arcapita required Caribou Coffee to have an official policy of adhering to Sharia (Islamic law) with regards to their business, whicn included bans on interest and pork.

Even though Caribou was certified to not be supporting overseas groups involved in terrorism, I did not want to support Arcapita's middle-eastern Muslim investors, so I refused to patronize them.

However, I am changing my position. According to this article, Arcapita has sold a large portion of its shares in Caribou, and now only owns about 25% of the company. Arcapita may be the largest single shareholder, however, the public now owns most of the company.

By the way, you still can't get pork at Caribou, in case you were wondering.

New Products - iAuto Bikes and iLister Pets Released

A significant event has happened for WorksForWeb Company and their clients. Two new awesome products were released – iLister Pet Classified Script and iAuto Bike Classified Script.

These products are actually unique as it takes little effort and time to set up

• an awesome pets classified website featuring pets of different species, animal care products and related professional services or
• a wonderful bikes classified website positioned to handle the growing motorcycle, scooter, and bicycle market niches.

Try the new products on the online demo:

• Live iLister Pet Classified Script Demo
• Live iAuto Bike Classified Script Demo

You are welcome to contact, email or chat with our Sales Team. Please send your requests to our Sales Team. We'll be happy to address your inquiries.

Research in software engineering

Researching software engineering is to study the artificial. Other engineering disciplines have "truths" that exist even if no humans are involved. The laws of physics that determine what is possible in mechanical and civil engineering are there regardless if applied when constructing a particular building.
Because of this I strongly believe that research in software engineering must be based on what practitioners do. I started to write professionals, but realised that a lot of important stuff in the world of software are actually made by amateurs (in the sense they are not getting paid to do it). And I also think research methods from the social sciences can provide great insights into software engineering.

A colleague of mine said that a good researcher in software engineering should have three base pillars to stand on:

1. A good knowledge of real problems that practitioners have
2. An interest in developing solutions to these problems
3. Knowledge and experience in evaluating the solutions in practical (real) settings

I have previously written about why I don't like formal methods. I think this is an example of where researchers tend to focus on the appealing solutions without a strong foundation in practitioner's problems or a thorough evaluation in practical settings. The most interesting solutions to investigate from a researcher's perspective are not always related to the most critical problems.

A short litmus test to discern if a researcher has enough experience of practical problems:
Describe the difference between a software process and a software project.

The Second Classified Media Innovation Award

The second Classified Media Innovation Award will be organized by ICMA. The winner will be selected from the proposals received. All classified media companies are allowed to participate, whether ICMA members or not.

The 2011 Award will be announced at the ICMA Conference Awards Ceremony on Friday 29 April, in Nice, France. The winners will be decided by the ICMA Committee and the Top 5 shortlisted companies may be invited to present their innovation in the conference. More about 2011 ICMA Classified Media Innovation Award.

Genetic Car Design Demo

This is making the rounds, and it is really neat. This is a demo of using a genetic algorithm to design as simple 2D car.  I find that it goes a little better if you keep the mutation rate lower, so that you don't waste a lot of chances on DOA designs.

Link

Cop Tactics Fail?

Take a look at this still from a video posted on Jalopnik.  After a sloppy PIT maneuver, which causes the policeman on the right to be jammed into the retaining wall, both policeman jump out and draw their pistols.  But since they are approaching from oppposite sides, they are pointing their weapons roughly at one another.

Shouldn't the guy on the right have stayed in front of the vehicle, so the fields of fire would have crossed like an X?  Am I missing something?

Nine Ways to Secure Your Installation of iAuto Classified Software

Almost any Web-based software can endanger your server. Hackers can seize your administrator account details to access Admin Panel and wreck chaos to your website.

If you are starting a new script installation, you should take several steps to increase security of your website and server from the very beginning.

Eliminate Left Turns?

Over at Car Gurus, there is a post about a traffic flow design concept which eliminates left turns at intersections. Called a "superstreet", the design prevents cars from crossing a major street, and instead do what is known around here as a "Michigan Left".

From the NCSU study on the subject:

“The study shows a 20 percent overall reduction in travel time compared to similar intersections that use conventional traffic designs,” says Dr. Joe Hummer, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at NC State and one of the researchers who conducted the study. “We also found that superstreet intersections experience an average of 46 percent fewer reported automobile collisions – and 63 percent fewer collisions that result in personal injury.”

I like it.

Development tools

I think you should select the tool that supports the way you are working, not the other way around. This is one of the reasons I think tool discussions usually focus on the wrong thing. They tend to get very long-winded and troublesome since the underlying process is not clear or decided.
However if you are a small team, I think the following tools are of use to you regardless of what process you are using (the version control software are useful for any project size). Many of my students seem to use them when they are doing project work.

• Version One Team edition - A free tool that supports managing agile software development.
• Trac - An enhanced wiki and issue tracking system for software development projects.
• GIT - A free & open source, distributed version control system. I think it is a major upgrade compared to SVN, even if the initial learning curve is steep.
  If you run Windows I suggest you use TortoiseGIT as GIT client.
• Mercurial - A modern, open source, distributed version control system (sounds very similar to GIT?). I think the learning curve is not as steep as for GIT, and a transition from SVN is probably easier. TortoieseHG is a good client for Windows users and what I use myself.
  In this user-friendly, six-part tutorial, Joel Spolsky teaches you the key concepts.

If someone can comment with suggestions of free simple tools that supports testing/verification or integration I would be very grateful.

A Few Thoughts About 2011 COTY/TOTY

For 2011, as I am sure you have heard, the North American Car Of The Year award went to the Volt, and the Truck Of The Year went to the Explorer.

I thought both of these were worthy contenders, but I would only have voted for one of them.

The Volt is a solid piece of technology, but it isn't revolutionary--under the skin, its architecture is not all that unique from a Prius or a Fusion Hybrid. Despite what GM says, the Volt is in fact a plug-in hybrid, and it can even (under some conditions) send gasoline torque to the wheels. Like the other hybrids, it has a gasoline engine connected to a generator and traction motor through a planetary gear set. It has been tuned in software not to behave like a gasoline/electric hybrid. As neat as the Volt is, it is not quite the revolution that an all-electric car would be.

For the COTY I would have voted for the Hyundai Sonata. Here is a company which came from a legacy of pushing boring, cheapy cars using a long warranty and low prices. All of a sudden, they are building world class cars, with high quality and handsome design. And unlike the Leaf and Volt, the Sonata will sell in high volumes. Considering its market impact, the Sonata should have won.

For TOTY, I agree with the panel, and I would also have picked the Explorer. A uni-body, front wheel drive mid-size SUV is the way of the future. Most SUV owners don't need to go offroading, and don't tow anything either. Most of them really just want to sit high and look stylish.

The Chrysler trucks were strong contenders, and I actually thought one of them would win, as a pat on the back to Chrysler for not dying. The Grand Cherokee appears to be a solid product and much improved compared to the junky stuff Chrysler was selling previously.

Video: Car vs Bike Drift Battle

I'm not sure why you would want to have a drift contest between a motorcycle and a car on the same track simultaneously, in fact I'm not totally sure what the point is, other than perhaps to die in style. But the video is wicked.

Conference "Classifieds: RECIPES FOR SUCCESS"

Classifieds Conference "Classifieds: RECIPES FOR SUCCESS" will take place 27-30 April 2011 at Nice, France.

The conference programme will cover the four main "recipes" for success - money, content, technology and content.

ICMA members and delegates benefit from the sharing of invaluable information with the worldwide community of classified media professionals. Read more about the Conference.

Confused by Simulink

The most common modelling tool in the automotive domain is Simulink. It started as a Matlab-based tool to graphically model and simulate differential equations needed in control design. Now it has expanded way beyond that to enable generation of production code for embedded controllers.

For someone like me, with a background in software and systems engineering and only the mandatory control engineering course, Simulink is confusing. Not the model elements as such, since it basically is an executable time-discrete data flow model. But the terminology used in the Simulink community is really confusing since they are using terms very common in software development, but with different meanings. I am not even sure the explanations below are valid...

Some examples:

• A layer in Simulink is not what what one usually calls a layer in software. What is called a layer in Simulink I would personally call a view since it adresss a specific concern, see some defintion of the J-MAAB layers here. But I have also seen a layer as something found at a certain level in a functional hierarchy (boxes in boxes...). Maybe these two even are the same in the Simulink world?
  A software layer would rather be called a subsystem in Simulink, but that is a generous interpretation from my side. (See Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture by Buschmann et al. for a definiton of software layer).
• There are classes and objects in Simulink. Data objects are used to "specify values, data types, tunability, value ranges, and other key attributes of block outputs and parameters", where blocks are the basic entities that one build the simulink model from.
  The Simulink software uses objects called data classes to define the properties of specific types of data objects." So in a sense the class is a template for the objects. On the other hand the data object does not specify a behaviour or input-output relationship. But classes seem also to be a special type of objects in thelast quote above. Ouch!
  Contrast this to common OO design where the class is the template for the object, which is the main item encapsulating both a behaviour and associated data. A block in Simulink most closely resembles a function in a procedural language such as C or Pascal.

The Plural Of Prius is Priora

Toyota is asking "What is the plural of Prius?".  

Since Prius is a Latin word, if it is pluralized in Latin, they should probably be called "Prius"  or "Priora".  Apparently "Prii" is not correct.

There is a long explanation here (not mine).

The Ford Focus Electric "Butterfly Effect"

Ford's big unveiling at the CES in Las Vegas was its new Focus Electric, and associated apps and charging stations.

One of the items that caught my attention was the cutesy butterfly graphics that, like the green leaves on the Ford hybrid instrument clusters, give positive feedback about your driving style. Ford said that the butterflies were inspired by "the butterfly effect".

The Butterfly Effect is an illustration of instability in nonlinear systems, (also known as "Chaos theory"). Which I happened to take a class on in college. Basically, if you have a nonlinear system, and you start out at two very similar but not identical starting points, you may wind up in a very different state. That is, small perturbations may case large changes in the final outcome. The old example was the butterfly that flapped its wings, and caused the weather to shift on another continent.

What this has to do with driving a Focus EV I am not sure. Do they mean to say that driving a Focus EV will save enough gasoline to cause the Saudis to go broke? Seems doubtful. Perhaps a Ford P.R. guy can email me and explain it. In the meantime, I propose that there should be a "Punisher Mode" for these displays.

How this would work is when you drive like a bad-ass, you get little skulls. Hard acceleration, high lateral g's, hard braking, etc.

Concept Car: Hyundai HCD-12 Curb

Next week, Hyundai will debut a new compact crossover at the North American International Auto Show.

Named HCD-12 Curb, the concept was designed at Hyundai’s Californian design centre. Although the crossover looks very similar in size to the Nissan Juke, the Curb is in fact longer than the Juke and may preview the next Santa Fe mid-sized SUV.

The concept features Hyundai’s next-generation ‘fluidic sculpture’ exterior design language. A steeply raked front windscreen, narrow glasshouse and C-pillars that slant away all give a coupe-like silhouette from the side.

In typical concept car fashion, small rear doors which look like “suicide” doors improve rear passenger access and over-sized alloy wheels will also feature.

Inside, the ultramodern interior with front bucket seats is confronted by a touch-screen infotainment system and a rotary knob sit on the centre console.

Ferrari working on mind-reading technology

Ferrari is developing technology that will observe a driver’s mental and physical status and regulate the vehicles traction and stability control systems to match.

The mind-reading tech was drawn out in many European and worldwide patent applications. The papers reveal how Ferrari imagines a wide-range of sensors provide data on the driver, to allow set-up adjust appropriately.

Ferrari’s documentation states: “Drivers tend to miscalculate — in particular, overestimate — their driving skill and, more importantly, their psychophysical condition, with the result that driver-selected dynamic vehicle performance simply reflects the driver’s wish, as opposed to the driver’s actual psychophysical condition and proficiency.”

In addition, it adds: “The biometric sensors may comprise a piezoelectric measuring device for measuring the driver’s respiration, a device for measuring the driver’s blood pressure and heart rate, a television camera for monitoring the driver’s eyes (blink rate) to determine the driver’s alertness, a device for monitoring the electric activity of the driver’s brain, a device for recording the driver’s surface temperature and a device for recording the conductivity of the driver’s skin (to determine the degree of perspiration).”

Ferrari says: “The dynamic performance may be modified to enhance driving safety in the case of a tired or unresponsive driver, and also to enhance driving pleasure and/or performance in the case of an alert, responsive driver.”

Via Autocar

Volvo V60 New Car Advanced Stability Control Design 2011

Elegant estate coupe car design technology presented on this official image gallery new 2011 Volvo V60 in metallic paint color exterior design. You simply have to drive this modern city sedan car to appreciate how we have driven chassis development to its pinnacle. Sophisticated luxury car combine with comfort interior design. Volvo’s new sports car wagon is available with an option of two chassis. When cornering, the car’s inner driven wheel is broken, causing more power to be transmitted to the outer driven wheel. The sporty interior of the new Volvo V60 is also the most advanced high-tech environment ever available to a Volvo driver.

 

2011 Volvo V60 come with new innovation features Advanced Stability Control technology. Detail specification reviews, tuning car performance are available on first test drive vehicles report. The car engine’s power is delivered to the wheels using Volvo’s second-generation six-speed automatic Geartronic transmission. The 150 horsepower engine presents 240 Nm of torque. Both turbo diesels are obtainable with a 6 speed automatic car transmission otherwise six-speed manual gearbox. The initial annual target for the new Volvo V60 is 50,000 cars. The new Volvo V60 is built at the Volvo Cars production plant in Torslanda, Sweden. Check the new car 2011 Volvo price list at the market by visit the official Volvo car maker company website.

 

 

 

New electric concept car, Jaguar C-X75 Specifications and Features

New electric concept car, Jaguar C-X75

Tata Motors owned Jaguar has unveiled an electric concept car, named as Jaguar C-X75, and it has been created to celebrate 75 years of the company. This new Jaguar C-X75 concept car had everything a Jaguar should be.

More about this new Jaguar C-X75 is that it possesses remarkable poise and grace yet at the same time has the excitement and potency of a true supercar and it is as close to a pure art form as a concept car and get and is a worthy homage to 75 years of iconic Jaguar design.

This new Jaguar C-X75 concept car, which is a 4WD vehicle is built with lightweight aluminum panels and chassis. Besides being powered by 145kw electric motors at all wheels, it has a pair of micro gas-turbines that provide another 140Kw of charge and extend the range to 900 km. It should also be noted that this new concept car can run 900 kms to a charge with a top speed of 320 kms per hour. Top speed is over 320 km/h and the two-seater can sprint from 0-100 km/h in just over 3.0 seconds.

The super car was first put to public display at the Paris Auto show recently and now at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The makers insist C-X75 was only a concept car and not for commercial sale and it will be brought back to the garage at London for stroing it there.

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Nissan 370Z rebaixado rodas BBS

Nissan 370Z rebaixado rodas BBS

A vocação esportiva e jovial do Nissan 370Z ficou ainda mais pronunciada com algumas alterações no bólido japônes.
Entre as principais alterações no Nissan 370Z, está o leve rebaixamento de sua suspensão aliado ao seu novo jogo de rodas BBS aro 20.

Nissan 370Z rebaixado rodas BBS

Nissan 370Z rebaixado rodas BBS

Nissan 370Z rebaixado rodas BBS