RcSuperhero, Remote Controlled Flying People

Ever fancied having your very own superhero you could fly through the skys? Well a company called RcSuperheros has created two remote control air vehicles in the shape of humans in two sizes you can now purchase to take to the skies. Measuring either 78 or 58 inches long and weighing around 3.3 lbs each.

In the video after the break you can see three of these human shaped RC vehicles being flown around New York City to create the illusion of people flying. Enjoy! The makers of RcSuperhero explains a little about its construction:

“Flight characteristics: Stable yet aerobatic. This is due to the low weight to surface area and that it has a high wing like a Piper cub with a low center of gravity. In addition, he has plenty of vertical tail surfaces due to the double side bodies. Also, the RcSuperhero has oversized control surfaces and likes to fly upright. He takes off by being thrown or by standing upright in a stand and lands on his belly skids.”

The RcSuperhero kits are available to purchase for $345 directly from rcsuperhero.com, who recommend that you have a little model building experience to attempt to construct the vehicles. Not quite as much great as being the superhero yourself but still a huge amount of fun.

The home made from shredded notes worth 1.4 billion Euros

Expensive as it may sound, sculpting art from dollar bills isn’t all that new. We’ve come across art exhibits made from hard cash before, and this isn’t where the extraordinary uses of dollars end. Sheets of bills have been used to wrap gifts too, and this time, we’ve stumbled across an entire home built from shredded money! By Irish artist Frank Buckley, this home was built from 1.4 billion Euros worth of shredded notes, making it a one-of-a-kind money-drenched abode. With permission from the Central Bank of Ireland, Buckley transformed the bills 6 inch by 2 inch bricks, each containing roughly about 40,000 Euros.

Honda, Japan's No.3 car maker and the world's biggest manufacturer of motorcycles and engines, is in the final stages of getting its $4.5 million HondaJet certified. It aims to ramp up the pace of production to 80 a year in the first half of 2013.

Honda received more than 100 orders for the seven-seater jet in three days when it began taking orders in 2006, promising a quieter engine, 20 percent better fuel economy over competing models and operational costs of two-thirds or less.

It has not disclosed an updated number of orders, but Michimasa Fujino, a Honda executive and CEO of its North Carolina-based subsidiary, Honda Aircraft Company, said it held a backlog of about three years from orders taken through its nine dealerships in North America and Europe.

"I'm very optimistic about our prospects," Fujino, who initiated Honda's foray into aviation research in 1986, told a small group of reporters at the automaker's Tokyo headquarters on Monday.

"We're doing with HondaJet what the Civic did to American cars from the 1960s. Our competitors are still producing with technology from the 1990s," he said, referring to Textron Inc's (TXT.N) Cessna and Brazil's Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA), which now dominate the 200-a-year small business jet market.

The Civic, known for its reliability, durability and mileage, has consistently been among the United States' best-selling cars since its launch in 1973, forcing industry giants such as General Motors Co (GM.N) to follow suit with cars to meet the country's tighter emissions regulations.

Honda's ambition of making jets traces back to its iconic founder, Soichiro Honda. The HondaJet will make Honda the only car maker in the world to build its own aircraft.

Its engine is made by a joint venture between Honda and General Electric Co (GE.N).

Honda Aircraft is aiming to turn a profit by 2018, Fujino said.

BRAZIL, CHINA CLAMOURING FOR JETS

The business jet industry is expecting a rebound in sales this year after the global economic crisis hammered sales over the past three years.

While the small business jet market has traditionally been limited to North America and Europe so far, Fujino said he was fielding about a call a week from China, both from prospective buyers and eager dealers, while interest was also greater than he anticipated in Brazil, India and the Middle East.

"Right now we want to focus on delivering on the orders that we have, but I'd like to enter Brazil and China earlier than we'd initially planned," he said, declining to specify a timeframe. New demand from emerging markets could expand the global small-jet market to about 300 a year, he said.

Fujino said he was also seeing more interest in the smallest end of the market as medium-sized jet users look to downsize to get more for their fuel, much like the trend in the car industry.

"Most of our customers are owners of small- and medium-sized businesses, and many are looking to get the most out of the jets that they need," he said.

With operational costs of about $1,000-$1,200 an hour, HondaJet could make travelling in a group of five or six cheaper and more efficient than flying commercially between small cities, he said. Competitors offer at best $1,800 by comparison, he added.

Honda Aircraft will add 300-350 factory staff to bring its total workforce to around 1,000 in the first half of 2013, Fujino said.

Facebook Readies IPO Filing

Facebook Inc. could file papers for its initial public offering as early as this coming week, people familiar with the matter said, as anticipation mounts for what is likely to be one of the biggest debuts for a U.S. company.

The deal, seen as defining moment for the latest Web investing boom, could raise as much as $10 billion and value the social network between $75 billion and $100 billion, said people familiar with the matter. A valuation of $75 billion would be below earlier expectations.

The website, which in less than eight years has attracted more than 800 million members, has changed the way people across the globe communicate, from organizing political protests to sharing baby pictures.

The Internet giant is close to picking Morgan Stanley to lead the deal, these people said. Wall Street banks, many of them struggling amid a crimp in trading profits, have been jostling for a leading role in the deal, which could yield them tens of millions of dollars in banker fees, potential new business and bragging rights.

A nod for Morgan Stanley would mark a disappointment for rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which a year ago was viewed as having an edge to lead the deal. One person familiar with the matter said that while Morgan Stanley would likely land the coveted "lead-left" spot on an IPO financial filing, Goldman would also likely play a significant role.

Spokespeople for Facebook, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Facebook could file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission as early as this coming Wednesday, said one person familiar with the matter. But that timing is just one scenario Facebook executives are considering, the person said. Executives are also considering filing a few weeks later, the person said.

World's most expensive car Gold Lamborghini

Gold cars have always found their way up here on Luxurylaunches. Be it a gold BMW , a Mercedes, a Dartz or a Inifinity , these blingastic cars have always grabbed our attention. The latest beast to join this fleet of Midas-cars is the gold Lamborghini Murcielago. This dazzling bull was parked at Liberty Walk booth at 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon. Do you think that this life-size gold Lamborghini Murcielago overshadows the Gold Lamborghini Aventador which is also the world’s most expensive car model.

$2.06 million Bugatti waiting for you

Bugatti sure knows how to bid adieu to its popular luxury car in style. As the brand retires the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport after bringing out 300 units, the European manufacturer has put a uniquely hued vehicle for the Qatar Motor Show. In its second year at the event, the car sports a "horizontal color split with a bright yellow body framed in visible black carbon, including black-tinted wheels". The yellow and black color palette continues into the interiors with yellow leather seats featuring black stitching. The middle console is crafted in black carbon, and the dashboard, steering wheel and gearshift are set in black leather with yellow stitching. This model sports a €1.58 million ($2.06 million) price tag.

Samsung Posts Q4 Record Profits Of $4.7 Billion On $42 Billion Revenue

Samsung has released its earnings figures for the fourth quarter of 2012, and the company has posted a record profit of 5.3 trillion Won, which works out at around $4.72 billion USD, on gross revenue of 47 trillion Won, which is around $42 billion USD.

This is Samsung’s highest ever quarter, and the profits and high revenue have been driven by sales of Samsung’s smartphones which made up around forty percent of Samsung’s overall revenue.

Microsoft paid us $250m in Q4 to use Windows Phone

Microsoft paid Nokia $250m in Q4 2011 for adopting Windows Phone, the Finnish company’s financial results today have revealed, the first of a “platform support payments” scheme expected to eventually account for billions of dollars. The two companies have always declined to put an exact figure on the “significant investments” Nokia would receive, though this new stat lends weight to earlier talk of over a billion in Microsoft subsidies.

“Our broad strategic agreement with Microsoft includes platform support payments from Microsoft to us as well as software royalty payments from us to Microsoft” Nokia said in its results today. ”We have a competitive software royalty structure, which includes minimum software royalty commitments.”

The deal suggests Nokia could well be paying Microsoft significantly less to use Windows Phone on each of its handsets than other licensees, such as HTC and Samsung, are. Comments from ZTE earlier this month indicated the company pays Microsoft around $27 per Windows Phone it produces.

“Over the life of the agreement” Nokia says, “both the platform support payments and the minimum software royalty commitments are expected to measure in the billions of US Dollars.”

iphone will take your unborn baby's picture

This design truly pushes the iPhone’s capability to the next level! The Home Ultrasound Device aims to enhance the pregnancy experience directly from your phone. Connected to the iPhone, the device can capture ultrasound images of an unborn baby and allows rapid sharing with doctors, family members and friends within seconds over wifi or its built in printer. On top of all that, the device also doubles as a baby monitor after the little one comes home!

Europe's Driverless Car

Europe's Driverless Car (Driver Still Required)
European automakers pursue an evolutionary answer to Google's experimental self-driving car.

Easy ride: A semi-autonomous BMW car being demonstrated on a German autobahn. It can accelerate, brake, and overtake slower vehicles on its own.

Special edition Year of the Dragon Piaget watch worth $1.72 million

A special edition Year of the Dragon Piaget watch called "Exceptional Piece"worth $1.72 million at a Piaget boutique in Hong Kong on Wednesday. [Photo /Agence France-Press]

The Dragon became a main design element in Western luxury brands at the start of 2012, as their wealthy Chinese customers prepare to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.
The Chinese New Year will start on Jan 23, and the Year of the Dragon usually sees a wave of marriages and births, because the dragon is a traditional Chinese symbol of royalty, fortune and power.
Western manufacturers of luxury goods, ranging from cars and mobile phones to handbags and watches, are also hoping the Chinese New Year will bring an upsurge in their sales to help offset weak demand in the West.
Vertu, a British-based luxury mobile-phone manufacturer that is a division of Nokia OYJ, has launched three phones for the Year of Dragon, complete with hand-engraved dragons - a process that takes around 36 hours for each unit. The handsets cost about 100,000 yuan ($15,831).
Versace SpA, the Italian luxury brand, launched a jeweled handbag with hand-painted golden dragons on the side panels, hand-embroidered dragons on the handles and treadplates illuminated with the words "Year of the Dragon 2012".
The bag, costing 31,800 yuan and especially designed for the Chinese New Year, is a limited edition of 210 and is only on sale in Asia.
Meanwhile, the Swiss luxury watchmaker Piaget SA launched 24 Dragon watch models in Beijing at the end of 2011 with prices ranging from HK$193,000 ($25,000) to HK$16 million.
"The response to the collection has been very good. We are seeing important sales in Asia and also in our key boutiques in Europe and the US," Dimitri Gouten, president of Piaget Asia Pacific, told the news agency AFP.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, owned by the German automaker BMW AG, launched a line of limited edition "Dragon" Phantoms in August 2011, but the cars were sold out within eight weeks of the launch. The company has said that it is now considering extending production.
"The dragon means good fortune, power and success," Torsten Muller-Otvos, chief executive at Rolls-Royce, told AFP.
China overtook the US to become the company's largest market in 2011 and the Chinese market accounts for about one-third of the record 3,538 cars it sold worldwide in 2011.
The Western brands' focus on dragons and Chinese culture is a result of the rapidly growing market for luxury goods in China, especially as consumption in the West declines, according to experts.
Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, predicts that China will overtake Japan as the world's top consumer of luxury goods in the Year of the Dragon.
Statistics from the World Luxury Association's China office show that - excluding private planes, yachts and limos - total sales in the nation's luxury market totaled $12.6 billion by the end of 2011.

Year of the dragon 2012 may bring prosperity and happiness

This amazing year of the dragon will bring prosperity to all our readers have a happy new chines year 2012.

Year of the dragon 2012

True meaning, expectation  and philosophy of dragon year.

10 Things you might know or maight not know

1. Andorra declared war on Imperial Germany during World War I, but did not actually take part in the fighting. It remained in an official state of belligerency until 1957 as it was not included in the Versailles Peace Treaty.

2. Only two people signed the Declaration independence on 4 July 1776 – John Hancock and Charles Thomson. The majority of the other members of Congress signed on 2 August, although the final signature wasn’t added for another five years.

3. As a restorative medicine in ancient Rome, people would drink a mixture of wine and the dung of wild boars.

4. During the Western Schism (1378 to 1417), three men simultaneously claimed to be the legitimate Pope. When the cardinals didn’t like the Pope they originally elected, they elected a second (invalidly). This caused great troubles in the Church which lead to the election of a third Pope by the council of Pisa (also invalidly). Thus there were three claimants to the throne: Pope Gregory XII, Antipope Benedict XIII, and Antipope John XXIII. It was finally ended when the original election was considered the only valid one of the lot.

5. Sir William Paterson (pictured above), founder of the Bank of England, is suspected to have been a pirate in his years before founding the bank.

6. In 1904, tea bags were invented accidentally. The inventor, Thomas Sullivan (a tea merchant) decided that it was cheaper to send small samples to prospective customers in silk bags – rather than boxes. The recipients mistakenly believed they were meant to be dunked and soon Sullivan was inundated with orders for his “tea bags”.

7. The oldest parachute design appears in an anonymous manuscript from 1470s Renaissance Italy (over 400 years before the airplane), showing a free-hanging man clutching a cross bar frame attached to a conical canopy. As a safety measure, four straps run from the ends of the rods to a waist belt.

8. In the late 1700s, a tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient’s rectum for various medical purposes, primarily the resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke towards the rectum (machine pictured above).

9. Income tax, along with many other taxes imposed during the Civil War, was repealed after 1865 because the government simply had no need for the extra revenue. The majority of federal income came from taxes on tobacco and alcohol, which were hot commodities at war’s end.

10. In Rome, there were people who specialized in armpit plucking. Somewhere around 1 AD, Roman aristocrats interested in fashion, removed all of their body hair. Requirements for the profession were tweezers, a strong arm and the ability to deal with their customer’s pain.

Oil prices fell on

Friday, pressured by economic uncertainty ahead of a possible debt deal in Greece, concerns about China's sluggish manufacturing sector and weak U.S. petroleum demand.

China's manufacturers had a sluggish start to the year, a survey of purchasing managers showed, weighing on oil and also on copper prices.

News that major powers seeking to negotiate an end to Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons are soon to lay out what Tehran would need to do return to talks added to pressure on oil prices, analysts and broker said.

"There are questions about Europe as far as (oil) demand and yesterday's weak U.S. gasoline demand numbers indicate the economy may not be doing as well as thought," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.

"Signs of slowing in Chinese manufacturing didn't help and there are signs that there are efforts to take some of the tension out of the air on Iran," Flynn added.

In London, ICE Brent March crude settled at $109.86 a barrel, sliding $1.69, or 1.52 percent, having fallen intraday to $109.42, below front-month Brent's 100-day moving average at $109.62. For the week, front-month Brent fell 58 cents, or 0.53 percent.

U.S. February crude settled at $98.46, dropping $1.93, having fallen intraday to $97.91, pushing below the 50-day moving average at $99.07. For the week, front-month U.S. crude dipped 24 cents.

U.S. crude's deficit to Brent widened to $11.53 at the close, from $11.01 on Thursday.

Total Brent trading volume slipped 12 percent from its 30-day average, according to Reuters data. Total U.S. crude dealings were up 22 percent from the 30-day average.

A planned reversal of the Seaway crude oil pipeline in the United States is being delayed two months to June 1, pushing back near-term expectations that the U.S. Midwest crude oil glut will be eased.

U.S. gasoline and heating oil both weakened after Thursday's weekly oil data from the Energy Information Administration showed rising gasoline and total distillate stockpiles and weak demand.
source (Reuters) -

Warren Buffett Pumps £480m More Into Tesco

Billionaire US investor Warren Buffett has ploughed more cash into Tesco, giving the supermarket a welcome boost after its shock profits warning.

Mr Buffett has bought £480m of Tesco shares, upping his stake in the Britain's largest retailer from 3.21% to 5.08%.
Regulatory records show he made the investment - through his Berkshire Hathaway firm - on January 13, the day after Tesco revealed poor Christmas sales and warned that trading profits for its 2012/13 financial year would be flat.

Tesco Share Price 1-Month Chart


Tesco had its worst Christmas sales performance in the UK for decades.
The announcement on January 12 sent Tesco shares tumbling by 19%, wiping more than £5bn off its value.
The American tycoon's move signals a vote of confidence in new Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke, who took over from the highly-acclaimed Sir Terry Leahy in March last year.
Mr Buffett is ranked number three on the Forbes 2011 list of the world's wealthiest people and his share dealings are watched closely by the financial markets.
After originally buying into Tesco in 2006, he has gradually increased his holding.
Last year he caused a stir by saying Tesco should "look hard" at its loss-making Fresh & Easy chain in the US, although he also said he remained supportive of the business.

Facebook Open Graph Actions To Be Officially Announced Tomorrow?

Facebook has already officially rolled out its new Timeline and Ticker as part of its Open Graph revamp. Now it looks possible that Facebook may be unveiling its new Open Graph Actions feature, that it will be adding to its new re-design according to the AllThingsD website.

The announcement by Facebook may be made as early as tomorrow, with Facebook unveiling their new service which enables apps made by outside developers, to “frictionlessly” and continuously share Facebook users’ actions. Once a user has given permission to the application to do so.

Wikipedia, Reddit, Craigslist And More Protest Against SOPA

Wikipedia and many other sites, which include Reddit, Boing Boing and many other sites around the web are today protesting against the controversial proposed SOPA and PIPA anit-piracy bills, which if passed could basically ruin the Internet.

Wikipedia has blacked out its English language site today and will continue to do so for 24 hours, Reddit will black out their site for 12 hours and many more website are also following throughout the day, a full list of sites can be found at SOPAstrike.

LifeBook Concept Combines Camera, Smartphone, Tablet and Notebook

Steve Jobs once said that people don’t know what they until you show it to them. This is probably why we have independent gadgets now vying for integration with features of mainstream products. Can your tablet take good pictures; is your cellphone smart like a computer; can your MP3 player shoot videos? Not only are we duplicating applications, we are also diluting the individuality of a device. I’m not going to judge on the technology wastage here, instead I’ll update you on concepts like the Lifebook. An idea that integrates a tablet, camera, phone and music player to collectively form the hardware for a laptop! They all work independently to support their unique identity and yet unify to create a magical device.

The proposed Lifebook is a laptop computer concept based on the principle of “shared hardware”. Currently a lot of hardware is wasted when we use separate devices, as there is often a lot of “repeat” of data stored and features. For example if I have my songs on my music player, why do I have to block the same amount of storage on my laptop? Similarly, if I have a processor sitting in my tablet, why can it not also run/assist my laptop? If I have a fully functional camera with its own memory and image processing power, why do I need to have it repeated in my laptop?

Google, LG Are Said to Be in Negotiations to Collaborate on New Television

Google Inc. (GOOG) is considering giving LG Electronics Inc. (066570)first access to the next version of its Google TV software so the Korean company can build a compatible set, according to two people with knowledge of the project.

The partnership would be similar to the arrangement Google has had with Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) and HTC Corp. to create Nexus handsets for the Android operating system, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks aren’t public.

Google, owner of the world’s most-popular search engine, is working to build on momentum for its fledgling efforts in TV as manufacturers led by Samsung introduce Web-connected models. Google has said it plans to introduce the third version of its namesake TV service by the end of this year, with more content and easier functions to find shows.

source Bloomberg 

10 Historical facts

1. The Romans used to use asbestos in their cloths for daily use – such as dish-towels, napkins, and table cloths. Pliny the Elder (a Roman naturalist) said that they could be cleaned whiter than normal cloth by simply throwing them in the fire. He also noted that the slaves who wove the mineral for cloth often suffered from lung disorders.

2. In Ancient Egypt, the heart was considered to be the seat of intelligence – not the brain. Egyptians thought the brain was just a stuffing for the head. For this reason they scraped it out of the head during embalming and discarded it, while treating the heart with special care.

3. During the plague in the Middle Ages, some doctors wore a primitive form of biohazard suit called “plague suits” (pictured above). The mask included red glass eyepieces, which were thought to make the wearer impervious to evil. The beak of the mask was often filled with strongly aromatic herbs and spices to overpower the miasmas or “bad air” which was also thought to carry the plague.

4. During the last 3,500 years, it is estimated that the world has had a grand total of 230 years in which no wars took place. That is enough to make one wonder whether there is any benefit at all to the “peace movement”.

5. In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century; to such an extent that, in 1698, Peter the Great of Russia ordered men to shave off their beards, and in 1705 levied a tax on beards in order to bring Russian society more in line with contemporary Western Europe.



6. The best selling book of the 15th century was an erotic book called The Tale of the Two Lovers – it is even still read today. The author of this book was none other than Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini – otherwise known as Pope Pius II who reigned from 1458 – 1464.

7. In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered sacred. When a family pet cat died, the entire family would shave off their eyebrows and remain in mourning until they had grown back.

8. The model for Uncle Sam on the famous 1917 post “I want you” is the face of the painter, James Montgomery Flagg. For effect he aged his own portrait and added the goatee beard. Flagg used his own picture in order to avoid the need to find a model.

9. There is no such thing as the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1862, Lincoln signed into law a resolution creating a “Medal of Honor” which is the official and only title for what most people think is the “Congressional Medal”.

10. In 200 BC, when the Greek city of Sparta was at the height of its power there were 20 slaves for every citizen. Imagine how tidy their houses must have been!

The Ultimate Descent: Sano Babu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa

The Ultimate Descent: Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa and Sano Babu Sunuwar

Two Nepalis complete a mission to launch a paraglider from Mount Everest’s summit and kayak the Ganges to the Indian Ocean.

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When Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa first saw paragliders arrive in the Himalaya, he dreamed of flying above the massive peaks of his home—the Khumbu region. After his third successful summit guiding trip on Everest, he viewed paragliding as a simpler, faster, and more graceful way of descending through the peak’s perilous slopes.

In October of 2010, Lakpa borrowed a paraglider, got a few pointers, and launched from a hillside above his home. He promptly crashed into a tree. With his paraglider wing badly damaged, Lakpa set out for the town of Pokhara, considered to be the gathering spot for paragliders, to seek repairs and find a mentor. He ran into Sano Babu Sunuwar, whom Lakpa had met years earlier on Island Peak. Babu repaired the glider and the two men hatched the plan for the Ultimate Descent.

They would climb to the world’s highest point, launch a paraglider and fly for as long as possible, bicycle to a point where streams gathered into rivers, kayak across the Nepali border into India, and paddle the Ganges River all the way to the Indian Ocean. It would be an unprecedented first, but it was the overall combination of sports, audacity, and friendship that drew the duo to the idea. Babu, 28, had no climbing experience. Lakpa, 37, had never kayaked and didn’t even know how to swim.

In April of 2011, the duo had borrowed gear, slapped a basic plan together, and began their ascent of Everest. On May 21, they became the third party to launch a paraglider from the summit and set a new world record of 8,865 meters for free flight in the process. On the Kosi River’s Class V rapids, Babu got caught recirculating in a massive whirlpool in their two-man kayak, while Lakpa floated down river. Once they reached the Ganges, they paddled flatwater through unfamiliar country. They were robbed at knifepoint and had to live off fruit trees. After 850 kilometers, Lakpa and Babu reached the Bay of Bengal. On June 27, they became the first people to complete the descent from Everest’s summit to the Indian Ocean.

“When we arrived on the beach, we were frightened. We were surrounded by giant red scorpions,” says Babu. Later after showing pictures to friends, he would learn that these “scorpions” were in fact harmless crabs.

The Ultimate Descent team earned recognition from the international paragliding community, and the Nepali press hailed them as national heroes. Western adventurers admired their spunk, simplicity, and bare-bones budget. There were no social media campaigns, corporate sponsors, or expedition websites, just the essential ingredients for adventure—vision, creativity, and friendship.

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Skype For Windows Phone Out Soon, Up Next: Windows 8, Xbox 360

Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype in October pointed to an upcoming app for Windows Phone, not to mention Microsoft executive Joe Belfiore’s statement that a native Skype application will be ready for Windows Phone in Fall of 2011. Fast forward to present day and the Skype app for the platform remains to be seen. This time it’s Skype vice-president of products Rock Osterloh’s turn to comment on the integration of Skype to Windows Phone and he was quick to add the app is “coming out soon” in a CES interview.

Osterloh noted that Skype will not only be integrated to Windows Phone  but also to other products such as Windows 8, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Lync. He refused to give further details on what kind of integration they are working on.

Osterloh’s “coming out soon” comment regarding Skype’s release is open to interpretation of how soon it will be, but with Mobile World Congress scheduled next month, it could be soon enough.

iPad 3 Set For March Release?

The rumour mill for Apple’s next generation iPad continues to make noise, this time it’s Bloomberg quoting sources involved with the production of the so-called iPad 3.

According to Bloomberg’s report, production of Apple’s new tablet will shift to high gear this month and then go into full swing by February. The same source noted that the device is expected to be unveiled as early as March, so start saving up if you’re looking to get Apple’s latest creation.

Echoing some of the expected hardware upgrade of the iPad 3, reports said the new tablet will have a quad-core chip and a higher resolution screen which Apple calls retina display. As expected, Apple refused to give any details nor comment on the report.

Via: Bloomberg

The downgrading of Europe

Europe has received a severe judgement from one ratings agency - Standard and Poor. Nine eurozone countries have been downgraded.

France lost its much valued AAA rating. It risks now seeing its borrowing costs rise. It needs to raise 290bn euros ($370bn; £241bn) just to pay off old debts. Almost certainly they will now have to pay more.

France's downgrade will also weaken the firepower of the eurozone's main bail-out fund which depends on the credibility of the key countries. Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said "we reconfirm the inflexible determination of euro member states to do whatever it takes to overcome the crisis".

The French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said the downgrade was "not a catastrophe" but it could prove damaging to President Sarkozy's election prospects. Already his opponents say the downgrade reflects on the failure of his policies.

The Germans have been supportive to the French. The German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said the "ratings agencies should not be overestimated".

Some European leaders could not contain their resentment towards the ratings agencies. The economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said he "regretted the inconsistent decision" - by taking this decision when the eurozone was taking decisive action on all fronts.

But Standard and Poor say that austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating. For several countries like Portugal, Italy, Spain, the danger is that spending cuts will throw already weak economies into recession. The ratings agency judgement seems based on the fear that some countries risk being drawn into a cycle of decline.


Breakdown of talks
Italy - with debts of 120% of GDP - is now on the same level as Kazakhstan. Portugal has been relegated to junk status.

Eurozone finance ministers responded jointly by saying in a statement they had taken "far-reaching measures" in response to the sovereign debt crisis and were accelerating reforms towards stronger economic union.

It was a bad day for the eurozone made worse by a near breakdown of crucial talks in Greece. The country is negotiating over a second bail-out package. Without it the country will default in March.

A central element in the package is that investors will agree to take losses of up to 50% on their Greek investments. That would reduce Greece's debt mountain by 100bn euros.

But the talks are in difficulty. Once again the eurozone is facing the risk of a Greek default. If that happens the risk is of contagion - that other countries will also default. It remains the case that the eurozone does not have a bail-out fund that could cope with Italy and Spain in difficulty.

Almost certainly there will be now pressure to increase the financial firewalls, to prevent problems in Greece threatening countries like Italy.

That will mean beefing up the permanent bail-out mechanism the European Stability Mechanism that is due to come in later this year.

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Afghan drugs: Opium price rises by 133%

The price of Afghan opium rose dramatically in 2011, the UN has said.

Opium poppy farmers in Afghanistan probably earned more than $1.4bn (£910m) last year - equivalent to 9% of the country's GDP, it estimates.

Prices started to rise in 2010 after the poppy crop was hit by a fungal disease.

The head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime said opium helped fund the Taliban insurgency and fuelled corruption in Afghanistan.

"Opium is a significant part of the Afghan economy," Yury Fedotov said.

Around 90% of the world's opium comes from Afghanistan, according to the office, which carries out an annual survey of production there.

The Afghan Opium Survey for 2011 found that the value of opium in the country had increased by 133%.

Areas of poppy cultivation which had been affected by the fungal disease in 2010 recovered and yields went back up.

Last year's survey had predicted a rise in poppy planting as farmers responded to higher market prices.

Three provinces which had been declared "poppy-free" (estimated to have less than 100 hectares of opium cultivation) are now affected by poppy cultivation once again - Kapisa in the east, and Baghlan and Faryab in the north.

Opium derives from the sap produced by poppy seed heads after flowering. This can be refined into morphine - which can then be further processed to make heroin for the illegal drugs trade.

Lockheed-Martin Teases Sexy 2030 Fighter Concept

Its thought that 45,000 or more login credentials have been stolen from Facebook users by a worm which was recently used to commit financial faux called Ramnit. The Ramnit Worm was first discovered back in April 2010 and has been under surveillance and tracked by the Seculert security company.

Seculert recently set up a sinkhole and discovered that 800,000 machines were infected between September and December and that 45,000 Facebook login has been compromised from users within he UK and France, using a variant of the Ramnit worm.
Judging by the title for this post, it is rather early to let concepts such as this among the public. It’s especially distasteful in light of what a continuous fiasco the super-expensive F35 program has become.

Alas, the so-called ‘Miss February’ (corresponds to the month of the year), is being touted as a replacement for the F22. Such a shame really, because the F22 should be the frontline aerial badass defensidng US airspace. That was its destiny until then Defense Secretary Robert Gates nipped it at just a few hundred aircraft to be augmented by a huge fleet of F35.

Anyway, since it’s a concept there are no specs available though some of its projected capabilities include ‘all-around’ situational awareness and even ‘self-healing’ (!).

sourse flight blogs

super yatch

Eduard Gray’s high-performance 38m yacht concept is so sexy it will leave you drooling for more. Impeccable exterior styling is characterized by dramatic curves met with sharp edges that come together in symmetrical perfection. As if the yacht weren’t enough, it even comes with it’s own matching super sports car that fits snugly within the stern garage (yes, I said garage). You’ve got to see this bad boy, so hit the jump!

What’s under the hood? Just a little twin-turbo V12 that spits out 880hp, launching it to a top speed of 230mph. 

Designer: Eduard Gray

Google Purchases 217 Extra IBM Patents

Google has purchased another batch of patents from IBM, totalling 217, according to the SEO by The Sea website. Including acquisition of 188 granted patents and 29 published pending applications from IBM in its patent assignment database on Dec. 30, 2011

The most recent patent purchase follows on from the previous patent acquisitions bought by Google from IBM during July, August and September totally around 2,100. No details have been disclosed as to the details of the new patent purchase, but its expected that both Google and IBM will remain tight lipped about the proceedings that were sealed late last year.