Sunday, December 30, 2012
Fiat Premio (1985-1995)
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Chevrolet Captiva 2013
Friday, December 28, 2012
Volkswagen Fox 1.0 2013
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Fiat Palio e Uno Interlagos
Como já se comentou no texto do próprio Linea Sublime, investir em mudanças profundas demais não é válido porque a intenção destes modelos não é apresentar toda uma nova versão, mas sim um pacote diferenciado com base em uma das que já se vendem normalmente. No caso dos hatchbacks deste artigo, o ponto de partida não poderia deixar de ser a versão Sporting. O primeiro destaque é o exclusivo amarelo Interlagos, que vem como única opção para a série (não confundir com a cor das versões Sporting comuns, o amarelo Indianápolis). O esquema de cores se faz combinando-o com o preto brilhante de detalhes como as capas dos retrovisores e o spoiler traseiro, além das rodas de liga leve com pintura exclusiva. Já o interior traz costuras amarelas em bancos e volante. Outra excelente notícia é que o pacote de itens é completo para ambos, sem opcionais. Isso significa ar-condicionado, conexão Bluetooth, pedaleiras esportivas, vidros e travas elétricos, sistema de som multimídia e todo o pacote visual interno e externo para o Uno por R$ 36.830. Já o Palio agrega comandos satélite do som, retrovisores elétricos e o teto solar Sky Window, ficando em R$ 43.860. Quanto aos motores, o primeiro continua apenas com o 1.4 Fire Evo e o segundo apenas com o 1.6 16v e.TorQ.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Ford Fiesta Van
Monday, December 24, 2012
Volkswagen Golf R Cabrio
It’s interesting to observe that although Golf is a very traditional car, the families it generates on each generation never are. The sedan, for example, has followed it since the beginning but always with exclusive designs and different timing. The station wagon came only at the third phase and the fifth even had the Plus minivan variation, but the less common history surely is the convertible’s: adapting a conventional car to become roofless demands structural reinforcements and the entire removable roof system, which always raises the car’s cost. Therefore. in order to never have this cabrio too expensive, VW has used some special strategies. The second generation simply skipped this version, receving once again at the third. The fourth, in turn, was a very crafty facelift to give the new car’s front and rear styling to the older convertible. The fifth generation skipped the convertible again, and the sixth one receives it at the exact time when the seventh arrives. This doesn’t look like bad timing, though: since the new car uses an entirely different project, it seems like VW is trying to compensate the convertible’s higher costs by producing it on an already proven base. Anyway, the fact is this convertible only begins to describe a very nice example of what this article begins to comment.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Qoros GQ3
This blog has already mentioned the Chinese automakers’ current attempt to follow the Japanese and Korean’s path of expanding their sales into the Western countries, using JAC Heyue A30’s article. The basic idea consists not only of taking cars which are really capable of pleasing these customers but also of bringing something extra, an exclusive appeal that could make people abandon the traditional brands in order to give those Chinese newcomers a try. They’ve already started to sell specially in America and Europe, but their vehicles always use the low-cost appeal. They came in several categories, but most of them are suitable only for the customers whose only concern is precisely the cheaper price, even though it’s tied up to questionable quality standards. However, these brands must’ve started to dislike this deal because, as a matter of fact, not every brand would like to see their products indirectly tagged as worse than their competitors. Today it would be very hard to only “erase” this reputation among the Western customers, so the Chinese decided to follow the opposite path: in order to mingle better and expand its sales, Chery is creating a luxury division. Yes, exactly like Honda did with Acura, Nissan with Infiniti and Toyota with Lexus around thirty years ago. And also as all of them there’s a Latin-like name: Qoros.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Teach Google-search about your blog with the Data Validator
This quick-tip is about the Webmaster Tools Tool Data Validator tool - which is an easier way to "teach" Google about the way things are described on your blog or website.
Recently, Google announced a new feature in Webmaster Tools called the Data Validator.
This is like a simpler way for website-owners (which is what bloggers really are) to tell Blogger about structured information that they put onto their sites - by point-and-clicking at the information on screen, rather than by learning the intricacies of Rich Snippets and the snippet testing tool.
What they've released so far is just an English-language tool for events - "such as concerts, sporting events, exhibitions, shows, and festivals".
To use it you need to
And obviously you need to have verified the blog in Webmaster Tools before you start, and to do the "learning" with the same account. NB Some blogs will be automatically verified, but some won't: if yours isn't, then the best way to do this is to choose Alternate Methods and choose HTML Tag - then add the meta-tag to your blog.
The bottom line is that for this to work, you need to put the information into your blog the same way every time (aka in a "consistent format"). What will be interesting to see is exactly how "consistent" it needs to be - I suspect that the tool will probably get smarter over time.
I haven't had a chance to try it yest, /But I am using a Blogger to manage the website for a small choir which has a concert in January. So I think I'll start by structuring the announcement of the last concert in June 2012, and then see how well it applies the learning to the next one.
Read more > Teach Google-search about your blog with the Data Validator
This is like a simpler way for website-owners (which is what bloggers really are) to tell Blogger about structured information that they put onto their sites - by point-and-clicking at the information on screen, rather than by learning the intricacies of Rich Snippets and the snippet testing tool.
What they've released so far is just an English-language tool for events - "such as concerts, sporting events, exhibitions, shows, and festivals".
To use it you need to
visit Webmaster Tools, select your site, click the "Optimization" link in the left sidebar, and click "Data Highlighter".
And obviously you need to have verified the blog in Webmaster Tools before you start, and to do the "learning" with the same account. NB Some blogs will be automatically verified, but some won't: if yours isn't, then the best way to do this is to choose Alternate Methods and choose HTML Tag - then add the meta-tag to your blog.
The bottom line is that for this to work, you need to put the information into your blog the same way every time (aka in a "consistent format"). What will be interesting to see is exactly how "consistent" it needs to be - I suspect that the tool will probably get smarter over time.
I haven't had a chance to try it yest, /But I am using a Blogger to manage the website for a small choir which has a concert in January. So I think I'll start by structuring the announcement of the last concert in June 2012, and then see how well it applies the learning to the next one.
BMW Z4 2013
Z4’s current generation has arrived in 2009, but it really doesn’t look old. Maybe also because BMW is still using the same design identity, but the fact is this roadster was very well designed. There was a big evolution from the previous generation, because the same controversial straight lines and very strong creases received a whole new interpretation. The car became more opulent without losing the initial concept. The volumes became more aggressive, with a change of size and proportions which did nothing but increase the pure, crude sportiness impression this line has transmitted for more than thirty years, since Z1. Since Z4 is one of the few BMW who aren’t part of an entire family (another one is 7-Series, for example), the designers had s freedom while working on it and really used it – it’s easy to observe that looking at this roadster reminds of all the BMWs in general, but not too much of any particular one. Besides that, since this generation is still young, there’s no need of performing big updates: the car received new LEDs daytime lights and new wheels designs, in 17” or 18”. In other words, it’s probable that only the biggest fans will manage to recognize a 2013 Z4 while in movement, but it still isn’t a reason to complaint: it would be so hard and expensive to perform partial changes to this design without losing the balance that it’s really better to only touch it when it’s time to give a whole new generation.
Friday, December 21, 2012
NVIDIA Tegra 4 Processor
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| Image from ChipHell |
The codename of the Tegra 4 platform is Wayne, just like Tegra 3 carries the name of Kal-El, like a certain Kryptonian. As odd as it sounds, Kal-El is severely outmatched, or will be. Wayne will be six times more powerful than its predecessor. A roadmap slide depicting the core layout of the SoC (system-on-chip) made its way to Chinese website Chip Hell, somehow.
After the necessary translations, a promising picture took form. Tegra 4 keeps the 4-PLUS-1 architecture of Tegra 3, where there are four main ARM cores and a fifth one that takes over for all the others when nothing strenuous is running. It is a very efficient method of cutting power consumption. No need to keep everything on full throttle when just looking at a web page after all.
Naturally, besides the ARM cores, a graphics processing unit is used. As seen in the picture, it takes up a fourth of the whole die, with its 72 CUDA cores. NVIDIA promises very good performance at a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, as well as Full HD (1080p), where the screen refresh rate can be of 120 Hz. Perhaps we'll actually see 3D-capable tablets up for sale before long.
Other than that, the Tegra 4 Wayne includes support for USB 3.0, dual-channel DDR3L memory and, unless our eyes deceive us, 4K support as well.
NVIDIA may or may not launch Wayne at CES 2013 (Consumer Electronics Show), between January 8 and 11. A “delay” until MWC 2013 (Mobile World Congress) in February could happen too. We've heard of PC companies diverting budget away from CES in order to have enough for the latter, so it wouldn't be too much of a shock for NVIDIA to schedule its move for later.
[VIA]
If you think that any of these information contains wrong information and need an upgrade or change, please kindly inform via comment box below. Your valuable comments will definitely make this blog rich and informative also.
**Disclaimer:Information and images collected mainly from manufacturer's website, manuals, user guides and some other online resources. Only some editorial touch given for better understanding and viewing experience. Author of this blog will not bear any liabilities on this regards.
Chevrolet Montana Combo
Thursday, December 20, 2012
GMC Sierra 1500
Badge engineering is a very tricky concept, and you must’ve heard this a lot of times – even without leaving this blog. There are many variables to consider, so using the set A or the set B is the biggest responsible for the car’s success or failure. When it comes to these two pick-ups, this new generation turned Sierra fancier than its sister, not only because of what differences were applied but also for how. GMC’s truck also received the aluminum hood, improved chassis with hydroformed front section, doors which now don’t reach the roof and other items to reduce the weight and obtain better aerodynamics, but the style changes manage to produce great effects without being too extensive. The intention seems to be creating conceptual differences, rather than more explicit ones. The bumper, for instance, is as chrome as Silverado’s, but received a more complex design. The grille must have the same size, but received big frames in order to reduce the size impression. Besides that, there’s a bigger external-color-painted contour around the elements, which helps to visually disconnect the items and gives a solidness impression. But nothing says “this is GM’s fancier truck” better than the headlights: can you notice that they’re shared with Silverado? Well, if at Chevrolet they come in pairs, Sierra avoids the extravagance by bringing only two, and wraps them in elegance with LED daytime illumination.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Chevrolet Silverado 3
These trucks’ sales are so big and stable that they don’t really need to perform big visual changes, since they seem to already have found what their public wants. That’s why, like its competitors, Silverado didn’t make a design revolution from its previous phase. It’s nice to see that it managed to become more modern along with becoming more imponent: the increased fenders are just the right addition to the cleanly-shaped sides, while the rear directs the attention only to the big tail lights and the brand’s logo. But the front is what surely deserves the bigger compliments: not only became tougher with the big grille and the chrome details, as also features a very stylish interpretation of the brand’s classical trucks design: the headlights are also divided in two, just like the 1998 model. But pick-up trucks doesn’t attract clients only with good looks. Silverado’s aerodynamics became much better not only because of the softened design but also because of the new doors, which were improved at fixation and size in order to reduce the internal noise. Besides that, the redesigned chassis uses hydroformed front section and lots of high-resistance steel at the cabin, resulting at a much bigger collision resistance. All of that is offered in Crew Cab and Extended Cab, whose box options go from 5’8” feet to 8’, depending on the cab option.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
How to find free pictures for your blog, using Creative-Commons search
This article describes the Creative Commons search tool, which you can use to look for pictures, videos, music etc that are available for other people to use under a Creative Commons license.
Previously I've described how copyright applies to bloggers, how you can protect your blog-content from copyright theives, and what you can do if they take you work anyway.
The focus in that series was looking after your own rights.
But rights always come with responsibilities. The details vary by country, but in general you cannot just copy other people's recent work without their permission - in the same way that they cannot copy yours.
Some people, though, are happy to give other people permission to use their work, often with certain conditions (eg you must including an attribution link to the creator).
Creative Commons is an easy, legal way for creators to give permission for things they create to be used by other people. It is a framework which offers "licenses" that creators (writers, artists, composers, poets, etc) can apply to their work to say that other people can make copies, and what conditions apply (eg non-commercial use, only if you attribute me, etc)
To use it, authors, artists, etc don't need to register their work. Instead, they go to the Creative Commons website and get code / text to put with their published work to show what rules apply.
Then they can publish or upload their pictures, writing etc anywhere they want, and by linking to the licence the work is as protected as anything on the internet can be.
Creative Commons have a very useful search tool, found at http://search.creativecommons.org
This is not a search engine. Instead it is a front-end-tool that lets you choose:
Once you have entered the search options, click on the source that you want to look in, and you are taken to that site and shown the results of the search-query and options you entered.
For example, when I entered:
and clicked on Fotopedia, I was shown:
From here I could use the search tools in Fotopedia to refine my image-search and find just the right picture that I could use to represent a Christmas carol worksheet on my blog.
It wouldn't surprise me if this list grow/shrinks, as sites become more or less useful as sources of public-domain or creative-commons-licensed materials.
Also, some sites may allow you to link directly to the copy of the image on their site. this can be a lot quicker than making your own copy, uploading it and included it in your blog. But doing this means that the image will not be used as the thumbnail-image for your post. And if the picture is ever removed from the original site - or its web-site address there changes - then the link in your blog will not work any more.
Bloggers and Copyright - an overview
Protecting your blog-contents from copyright theft
Taking action when someone has used your copyright materials
Thumbnail images - a picture to summarise each post
Adding a picture to Blogger
Read more > How to find free pictures for your blog, using Creative-Commons search
What is Creative Commons
The focus in that series was looking after your own rights.
But rights always come with responsibilities. The details vary by country, but in general you cannot just copy other people's recent work without their permission - in the same way that they cannot copy yours.
Some people, though, are happy to give other people permission to use their work, often with certain conditions (eg you must including an attribution link to the creator).
Creative Commons is an easy, legal way for creators to give permission for things they create to be used by other people. It is a framework which offers "licenses" that creators (writers, artists, composers, poets, etc) can apply to their work to say that other people can make copies, and what conditions apply (eg non-commercial use, only if you attribute me, etc)
To use it, authors, artists, etc don't need to register their work. Instead, they go to the Creative Commons website and get code / text to put with their published work to show what rules apply.
Then they can publish or upload their pictures, writing etc anywhere they want, and by linking to the licence the work is as protected as anything on the internet can be.
How to find pictures & music that are Creative Commons licensed
Creative Commons have a very useful search tool, found at http://search.creativecommons.org
This is not a search engine. Instead it is a front-end-tool that lets you choose:
- The keywords you want to search for (the search words)
- The type of license that you need (use for commercial purposes - yes or no, modify, adapt, build upon - yes/no)
- Which of the file host/search services to use (eg flickr, Google, Open clip art library - etc)
Once you have entered the search options, click on the source that you want to look in, and you are taken to that site and shown the results of the search-query and options you entered.
For example, when I entered:
- "Christmas"
- Commercial allowed (because I wanted to make a picture to use in Blogger-HAT, where I have advertising)
- Changes allowed (because I wanted an image that I could use as the basis for another one, rather than exactly as it is now)
and clicked on Fotopedia, I was shown:
From here I could use the search tools in Fotopedia to refine my image-search and find just the right picture that I could use to represent a Christmas carol worksheet on my blog.
What sources are included
Today, the sources that are linked to from Creative Commons search are:- Eurpoeana - media
- Flickr - pictures
- Fotopedia - pictures
- Google web - web search results
- Google images - pictures
- Jamenda - music
- Open Clip Art Library - images
- SpinXpress - media
- Wikimedia Commons - media
- YouTube - video
- Pixabay - images
- ccMixter - music
- SoundCloud - music
It wouldn't surprise me if this list grow/shrinks, as sites become more or less useful as sources of public-domain or creative-commons-licensed materials.
Things to watch out for
Creative Commons cannot guarantee that the results of searches that start in their tools will always be available for re-use: source systems may change their approach, items may be mis-tagged, content owners may change their mind, etc. So they recommend that you should always click-through to the original image in the source site, and double-check the license and attribution requirements there.Also, some sites may allow you to link directly to the copy of the image on their site. this can be a lot quicker than making your own copy, uploading it and included it in your blog. But doing this means that the image will not be used as the thumbnail-image for your post. And if the picture is ever removed from the original site - or its web-site address there changes - then the link in your blog will not work any more.
Related Articles:
Bloggers and Copyright - an overview
Protecting your blog-contents from copyright theft
Taking action when someone has used your copyright materials
Thumbnail images - a picture to summarise each post
Adding a picture to Blogger
Google product cancellations for December 2012
This quick-tip is about Google's winter 2012 product cancellations, which
appear to have less impact on most Blogger users than their recent seasonal purges.
Today, Google have announced their next round of discontinued products - they used to call it "spring cleaning", but this time around have at least acknowledged that it's winter for half the world, and summer for the other half!
Some Google Calendar features are to be discontinued, specifically:
My guess is that this may affect some Blogger users, who have integrated a calendar with a blog. It's a fairly specialist area, so likely to be a small number.
There are a few other discontinued features, but I suspect they won't affect bloggers to much extent:
Read more > Google product cancellations for December 2012
appear to have less impact on most Blogger users than their recent seasonal purges.
Some Google Calendar features are to be discontinued, specifically:
- Creating new reservable times on a Calendar using Appointments Smart Rescheduler
- Add gadget by URL.
- Check your calendar via SMS/text message
- Create event via SMS/text message (GVENT).
My guess is that this may affect some Blogger users, who have integrated a calendar with a blog. It's a fairly specialist area, so likely to be a small number.
There are a few other discontinued features, but I suspect they won't affect bloggers to much extent:
- Google Sync a tool giving access to Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts via Microsoft Exchange's ActiveSync protocol - discontinued, except for Google Apps for Business, Government and Education.
- Google Calendar Sync
- Google Sync for Nokia S60
- SyncML, a contacts sync service used by some older mobile devices.
- Issue Tracker Data API: a tool that lets client applications view and update issues on Project Hosting on Google Code via API feeds.
- Punchd an app that keeps loyalty cards on smartphones
Next Android OS - KOLACHE
A lot of rumors out there for naming of Android’s next OS. Manu Cornet, one of Google employee ignited the rumor through GooglePlus. He added another android robot with a “pie” like food in hand in one of his post to visualize the evolution of android versions. Thus the rumor hiped so much to guess a name of their next OS version.
As everybody determining there would be another dessert food item to be included as the successor of “Jelly Bean”. And from the past experience and continuity, people guessing there could be “Key Lime Pie” or “KLP”. Previous versions ware Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean, so this time they would continue with the letter “K” and here comes the key lime pie. But, Manu Cornet disagreed to confirm anyhow about this naming process.
This is by no means a confirmation of any kind :-) I have no insider knowledge whatsoever about Android, this was purely based on public information/rumors. (Longer story: at first I hadn't drawn the rightmost robot at all, but then I thought the drawing would be outdated as soon as a new version/dessert would come out, so I thought I'd take one extra step, using the best guesses for the name currently out there, so that the drawing wouldn't be outdated so soon.
In India a big campaign started known as “KajuKatli forAndroid” to influence the naming of android’s next version as “KAJUKATLI”, a delicious dessert made of cashew nuts, sugar and ghee. The campeigners also sent some sweet Kaju Katli to Google masterminds if they could possibly understand the flavor of this sweety. It’s started with “K” also, mind it. And 2K is better than 1K… (If you want the recipe of Kaju Katli you can find a very good and quick recipe from Indian Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and Raks Kitchen.
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| KOLACHE |
My second choice would be "Android Kifli ", another K starter crescent shaped pastry. We have to wait for Google's announcement next year (2013). Till then ... keep guessing... and go Google, name it KOLACHE.
If you think that any of these information contains wrong information and need an upgrade or change, please kindly inform via comment box below. Your valuable comments will definitely make this blog rich and informative also.
**Disclaimer:Information and images collected mainly from manufacturer's website, manuals, user guides and some other online resources. Only some editorial touch given for better understanding and viewing experience. Author of this blog will not bear any liabilities on this regards.
Mercedes-Benz E-Class 2014
Creating an entire new idea for each generation of a given car allows the brand to adapt it with the current times much easier, such as what Fiat has done with their medium-sized hatchbacks: Tipo’s straight lines were very common at the late 1980s, but when the following decade’s trends became to appear they had to respond. This reaction came with not one, but two cars: using two names enabled Brava and Bravo to give much better interpretations of two-door and four-door hatchbacks separately, but both with very creative designs. Later, if the 2000s brought the straight lines back but with more imponent shapes, creating Stilo was much better than discharacterizing the previous cars. And when the car world associated organic lines to a nostalgic trend, Fiat showed a modern reinterpretation of Bravo. Meanwhile, one of the opposite examples can be given with Golf: straight lines, round lines, bigger shapes, organic shapes… Volkswagen did their best to follow each and every trend along with keeping traditions such as the overall shape and iconic details like the “C column”’s big width. Sometimes they did it better and sometimes worse, but it’s undeniable that those years built a very strong image to its customers. Like BMW, Mercedes-Benz follows the traditional path even more strictly – cars like CLS and B-Class are much more younger than E-Class, for example.
Monday, December 17, 2012
BMW M6 Gran Coupé
This category’s concept is already known: it’s the same luxury and technology wrapped in a much more casual design, in order to please the customers who need a four-door car but would love to distance themselves from that “limousine look” given by most of the luxury automakers’ sedans. That’s what Mercedes-Benz invented with CLS and the VW group repeated with Audi A5 Sportback and A7 and Volkswagen Passat CC. But BMW not only refused to create a four-door of their own at this initial moment, as also seemed to keep being outside it when those two brands presented those cars’ second phases. Considering all of that and remembering that this is the automaker who created X5, X6 and even dared to develop sporty versions for both, it wouldn’t be crazy to expect that those Germans had bigger plans. So they didn’t lose the opportunity to overcome the cars which inspirated this one. Instead of an innovation attempt which could easily be rejected, such as 5-Series Gran Turismo, this new car focused at improving its original concept. There are plenty of sportiness and casuality all over this car, but without relying on a fastback-wannabe rear design. This one looks much more like a casual sedan than a formal coupé, using smoother shapes combined with strong details to give a classy impression – it may become harder to sell M5 from now on.
The M version brought very similar changes to what was seen at coupé and convertible M6. There are the traditional exclusive bumpers, side spoilers and fiber carbon roof. But that mentioned “discreet sportiness” can be found at items such as the four exhaust pipes, the black-painted roof or even at the Motorsport division’s logo, discreetly placed at the gorgeous 20” alloy wheels’ center. This proves that M6 paid a lot of attention to the details, instead of only the overall impression. This idea becomes even stronger when entering the car, because BMW didn’t restrict itself to create only one more interpretation of their current interior design’s rules. There still are the big console and lots of other elements that highlight this car’s big width, but it also received details such as Merino leather seats, roof coating using Alcantara, Motorsport’s special steering wheel and much more – another big difference between these cars and the conventional sedans is that these ones’ customers would never hire particular drivers, because they are very aware of the additional driving pleasure found at them. M6 Gran Coupé, for instance, will use the V8 4.4 twin-turbo, with 560 hp and using the M Double Clutch seven-speed automatic transmission. This car also brings sporty suspension and active differential to achieve 0-60 mph in 4s2 and two top speeds: there’s an optional item package which will bring ceramic brake system, multifunctional seats, GPS navigator, Bang & Olufsen sound system… and will raise the top speed from 155 mph to 189.5 mph.
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