Zero Motorcycles bridges the dirt/street gap with the Zero DS electric motorcycle
July 30, 2009
We love motorcycles, and we love things that help the environment, so it’s no secret that we loved the Zero S electric supermoto when we got to take it for a spin through the urban wasteland. That bike has now been set free from the world of asphalt, given some knobbies, beefier wheels, and brawnier suspension to make it just as good when the pavement ends, as the video below shows. It also has a much brighter light, which may put something of an additional drain on the battery (range is still rated at 50 miles), but will make it easier to find puddles to avoid — or to aim for. This bike fills the void between the company’s street and dirt offerings, and while it might not be quite as good over the yumps as the offroad-only Zero MX, it has the distinct advantage of not requiring a truck or trailer to get there in the first place. The DS costs $9,950, the same as the Zero S, and is available for order now.
Micro(soft)(Ya)Hoo Reach Search Ad Deal
July 29, 2009
REDMOND, Wash.–After months of fits and starts, Microsoft and Yahoo announced a 10-year search deal on Wednesday that will see the two companies join forces to take on Google.
“In simple terms, Microsoft will now power Yahoo!\ search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers,” The companies said in a joint statement.
Though less expansive than the all-out acquisition Microsoft proposed last year–and even than some of the search partnerships once discussed, the deal allows the companies to share resources and combine scale. Even together, the two companies have only about 30 percent of the search market compared to Google, which has more than twice that amount.
“This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement. “Success in search requires both innovation and scale. With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features. This agreement with Yahoo will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness.”
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, meanwhile, said that the move will help Yahoo focus on other areas, also adding that the move has the full support of the company’s board (lest anyone wonder what Carl Icahn thinks about the more limited deal).
“This is a significant opportunity for us,” Bartz said. “Microsoft is an industry innovator in search and it is a great opportunity for us to focus our investments in other areas critical to our future.”
Microsoft will be able to incorporate Yahoo’s search technology, including it’s Panama ad-selling tool, but the companies will use Microsoft’s AdCenter sales tool and Bing search engine to power both sites.
As for the financial terms, there is not the large upfront payment once discussed, however Microsoft will offer both revenue guarantees to Yahoo as well as the lion’s share of the search advertising generated on Yahoo’s site.
Yahoo will get 88 percent of search revenue created by its sites during the first five years, while Microsoft will guarantee a certain level of search revenue for 18 months in each country. The companies expect it will take about two years after the deal is approved to fully get the partnership up and running.
Once fully in place, Yahoo said it expect the deal will boost its annual operating income by abut $500 million, while reducing capital expenditure by $200 million and increasing operating cash flow by about $275 million per year.
Aiming to head off privacy concerns, the two companies noted that “the agreement protects consumer privacy by limiting the data shared between the companies to the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies.”
The deal must still pass regulatory muster and the two companies anticipate it will take several months to finalize. “Microsoft and Yahoo expect the agreement to be closely reviewed by the industry and government regulators, and welcome questions,” the companies said. “The companies are hopeful that closing can occur in early 2010.”
Microsoft and Yahoo are joining forces in search, but, in a line clearly aimed at regulators, the companies take pains to note that their collaboration is limited to that arena.
“The agreement does not cover each company’s Web properties and products, email, instant messaging, display advertising, or any other aspect of the companies’ businesses,” they said. “In those areas, the companies will continue to compete vigorously.”
Wink Glasses fog up if you start dozing, keep you occupied during those graveyard shifts
July 29, 2009
If you’ve never pulled your weight during the wee hours of the morning (like, right now), you simply can’t understand what a godsend these things really are. The so-called Wink Glasses are little more than a USB peripheral that clips onto one’s spectacles when using the computer; if the wearer doesn’t blink every five seconds, the device begins to fog up your shades until you snap back into it. In theory, anyway, this acts to keep you awake and alert while computing for hours on end, but everything goes to waste if you simply detach it or remove your eyeglasses entirely. At any rate, it’ll ship in Japan (where else, right?) early next month for an undisclosed sum, and we’re already betting it’ll have great success in the gag gift market if nothing else.
Most Expensive Potato
July 29, 2009
It’s not just the world’s most expensive potato; it’s one of the world’s five most expensive foods. It’s called La Bonnotte and it grows only on the French Isle of Noirmoutier.
The costly tuber owes its price to the fact that it must be harvested by hand and that its growing season lasts a mere ten days—from May 1st to May 10th. La Bonnotte is so fragile, in fact, that it would’ve gone extinct between World Wars I and II if not for a group of devotees to the pricey potato.
The potato’s flavor is said to be both earthy and salty, owing its complexities at least partially to the presence of algae and seaweed in the soil.
La Bonnotte can be purchased from ritzy restaurants in France and the Netherlands until around May 15th. While normally sold for around €70 per kilo (US $45 per pound), the potato has been sold for up to €500 per kilo (US $322 per pound).
via Fresh Plaza
Most Expensive Cheese
July 29, 2009
Cheese is likely the most popular dairy product in the world, a food that predates written history. In 2004 alone, over 18 million metric tons of cheese were produced worldwide. The world’s most expensive cheese, however, is only produced at one farm and at a very specific time of year.
Unusually, the cheese isn’t made from cow’s milk—the milk comes from moose! Moose House, a 59-acre moose farm located in northern Sweden, is where the cheese is produced from three foundling moose named Gullan, Haelga, and Juna.
The moose are unusually tame, which is the only reason Moose House owners Christopher and Ulla Johannson can collect milk for the cheese. Even then, they can only be milked between May and September and the process takes about 2 hours per animal, hence the outstanding price of the cheese.
The most expensive cheese in the world is 12% fat and 12% protein and about 660 lbs are produced annually. The Johannsons sell it to high end Swedish hotels and restaurants for about $500 per pound.
Most Expensive Lighter
July 29, 2009
French luxury firm S. T. Dupont—no relation to the chemical company—has been dealing in extravagance since 1872, when it was founded by Simon Tissot Dupont. Recently, for instance, they created a line of accessories inspired by the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale. This year, they’ve produced the world’s most expensive lighter.
Part of the company’s Prestige Collection, the Ligne 2 lighter comes in four distinct varieties. While the solid gold, white gold and the “Rose” pink gold and diamond lighters are all exquisite in their own ways, the Ligne 2 Champagne is truly exceptional. Made of 18-karat white gold and decorated with 462 diamonds (5.2 carats) of GVS quality, the Ligne 2 Champagne positively glitters with excess.
The most expensive lighter in the world can be had for $79,000. Its companion piece, a pen with another 502 diamonds, commands a mere $74,000 price tag.
THQ’s CEO joins the fun, says Natal is coming “late next year”
July 29, 2009
So, let’s recap. We’ve got Microsoft’s own Steve Ballmer on record saying that the company’s Project Natal is on track for a 2010 release, a redaction of said statement, and a slimy report from overseas noting that the motion-sensing accessory is slated for a 2H 2010 launch. Just in case you needed one more modicum of evidence that Natal is headed for Christmas trees far and wide next year, THQ CEO Brian Farrell has said as much on the company’s Q1 earnings call. To quote:
“With respect to the cycle itself, if you look at what’s happening in the industry, the fact that we have for example, Natal from Microsoft, a platform addition coming late next year.”
Of course, Mr. Farrell here may just be regurgitating news that he heard through the grapevine rather than inadvertently slipping the world a piece of insider knowledge, but hey, are you seriously going to question the insight of the guy who green-lit Bratz: Super Babyz? Exactly.
