BMW i3 sheds its skin, shows off carbon skeleton

Want to know how the BMW i3 electric car can be so light (2,800 pounds) despite hauling around a massively heavy battery pack? A lot of it has to do with its carbon chassis. BMW uses something called CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) to create a material that is light, strong and, crucially, cheap enough to actually be used in production. The car is still on track for its 2013 release, where it will be sold out of posh i Stores like the one recently opened in London.

Gallery: BMW i3 cutaway and car

Steve Dent contributed to this post.

Filed under: Transportation

BMW i3 sheds its skin, shows off carbon skeleton originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/27/bmw-i3-sheds-its-skin-shows-off-carbon-skeleton/

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O's blast Jays to keep pace in playoff chase

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:31 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2012

BALTIMORE (AP) - After losing two straight games to Toronto, the Baltimore Orioles broke out the big bats.

The Orioles tied a team record by with seven home runs to rout the Blue Jays 12-2 and stay within 1 1/2 games of the AL East lead.

Chris Davis and Manny Machado each connected twice and the Orioles remained close to the division-leading New York Yankees, who won 8-2 in Minnesota.

Nate McLouth hit a leadoff shot in the first inning and Jim Thome and Mark Reynolds also homered. Baltimore has hit seven home runs three times, most recently on Aug. 26, 1985.

"Home runs are very unique, and when you do what we did tonight, it's something to be proud of. It's something that doesn't happen a whole lot in the game," Thome said.

Thome's home run was the 612th of his career and the first he's hit at home for the Orioles.

"Up and down the lineup, everyone swung the bat well. It's been fun," Thome said.

Davis finished with a career-high five RBIs to help the Orioles split a four-game series with the last-place Blue Jays.

"This was a tough series. It was one of those ones that you don't want to see at the end of the season coming in off a long road trip," Davis said.

"I think if you'd have told us a few months ago that we'd be a game-and-a-half out with six games left, I think you'd be pretty happy with that."

Beginning Friday, the Orioles have three games with Boston at home and three at Tampa Bay.

"We just got through playing Boston and we played them well. Obviously, the three in Tampa are going to be tough, but we're at a point where we still have a chance, so that's all you can ask for," Davis said.

The Orioles trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth before hitting three home runs.

Thome led off with his third homer since joining the Orioles. With two outs, Machado hit his fifth of the year for a 3-2 Baltimore lead. All of Machado's home runs have come at home, and his drive was the Orioles' 200th homer of the year.

Davis' three-run drive gave the Orioles a five-run inning and finished Carlos Villanueva (7-7).

Villanueva equaled a career high by giving up four home runs.

"Those mistakes I made, they hit them with authority. They put the power stroke on them and made me pay for them," Villanueva said.

Machado and Thome are the first AL teammates to hit home runs in the same inning with an age difference of more than 20 years, according to home run historian David Vincent.

Thome is 42 and Machado is 20 - Thome's major league career began 10 months before Machado was born.

"That's crazy," Machado said. "It's a pretty good stat. I remember when I used to watch (Thome) play when I was a little kid. Now to hit a home run in the same inning he did, just feels great."

Davis hit his second home run in the seventh. On Aug. 24, he hit three home runs against the Blue Jays, also in a game started by Villanueva. He has 28 home runs.

Reynolds hit his 23rd homer in the sixth and Machado added a two-run shot in the eighth.

Miguel Gonzalez (8-4) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. He allowed Edwin Encarnacion's 42nd home run with two outs in the top of the first.

With one out in the fifth, J.P. Arencibia, who went 7 for 9 in the four-game series, doubled and scored on Anthony Gose's single.

NOTES: Orioles LHP Randy Wolf was put on the 60-day disabled list with a torn ligament in his left elbow. Baltimore purchased the contract of INF-OF Bill Hall from Triple-A Norfolk. Hall will provide outfield help while Lew Ford is out with a groin injury. ... Deion Sanders, in town for Thursday's NFL Network game between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens, took batting practice with the Orioles before the game. Sanders, who played nine years in the majors, was an outfielder for Baltimore manager Buck Showalter in the minors while in the Yankees' organization. ... The Orioles are off Thursday and begin a three-game series with Boston on Friday. Baltimore RHP Chris Tillman (8-2, 3.08 ERA) faces Red Sox RHP Aaron Cook (4-10, 5.13). ... On Thursday, Toronto hosts New York to begin a four-game series. Blue Jays RHP Brandon Morrow (8-7, 3.28) faces Yankees RHP Ivan Nova (12-7, 4.94).

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Mailbag: Save Cy Young votes for Kimbrel

MLB mailbag: Braves closer Craig Kimbrel has had the kind of utterly dominant season that should earn him some attention in the NL Cy Young race. But winning the award figures to be a difficult proposition for him.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49188577/ns/sports-baseball/

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In Home Senior Care: Vial of Life | ElderAuthority.com

Vial of Life

I consider myself pretty savvy and informed about aging and senior health issues.? So, last weekend? when I attended the Alzheimer?s Association 2012 Walk to End Alzheimer?s in Dallas, TX. I was surprised to learn about a simple, practical, in home health idea that has been out for at least three years.? I don?t know how I missed it.

Before the walk began I strolled amongst the tables of sponsors who had helped to make the walk such a success.?? Professional Caretakers, Inc., a professional home health care agency in Texas, was distributing a pretty blue bottle labeled the Vial of Life.

The Vial of Life is a way to make your medical and health records available to family and emergency professionals should you have a medical emergency.? I have done this for me and my husband by maintaining up-to-date records of our contact information, medical histories, prescriptions, allergies, and insurance information in a spreadsheet on my computer. I keep a printout in a folder by the front door.

The Vial of Life takes it a couple of steps further.? It is a community-based program that provides lifesaving Information for Emergencies.?? The Vial contains a page that you can fill out with Primary Medical Conditions, Health Information, Current Medications, Previous Medical Conditions, and Emergency Contacts.? In addition the Vial contains a refrigerator magnet. ? The paper work is placed inside the pretty blue bottle, which is then placed visibly in the refrigerator.? Emergency workers are trained to look for a Vial of Life sticker or magnet either by the front door or on the refrigerator.

Providing your medical information to emergency personnel could save your life or the life of a family member.

I took two Vials? home with me, placed my records in one and my husbands records in the other.? The magnet is now on the refrigerator door and we have yet one more safety net in place.? Some times the best things in life really are free.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 at 9:31 pm and is filed under ElderCare, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.elderauthority.com/in-home-senior-care-vial-of-life

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Apple ditched Google Maps over turn-by-turn navigation spat

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Custom Energy Efficiency: Hotels | CleanTechies Blog ...

I don?t think I have ever appreciated a hotel as much as I did during a trip to Houston for a cleantech tradeshow. The humidity was off the charts and it felt like I was slowly melting into the sidewalk going to and from the show each day. But the second I stepped into that hotel, everything was perfect.

The temperature was just right- not frigid, but certainly cool enough to be a fantastic antidote for the sweaty, sticky heat outside. My room was lit softly, a welcome relief from the glaring sun, but still bright enough to read and work comfortably. And best of all, I had full control over everything in my small empire- dimmers for the lights, temperature control and timers for the air conditioning.

These much-appreciated conveniences come at a steep price for hotels who spend an average of 6 to 10% of all operating costs on energy. Up to 75% of that is eaten up by space conditioning, with an average of 30% just for air conditioning. For hotels in hotter climates (like steamy Houston), air conditioning energy consumption is closer to 50% and represents a major burden on a hotel?s bottom line.

Here are just a few ideas for hotels looking to save energy?

Lighting

This is the go-to area that most people think of first for energy savings. While energy efficient ways of lighting up a hotel should be employed, these measures are really a small part of a larger set of changes needed. On average, lighting only makes up 12-18% of overall hotel energy use, so energy efficiency gains will have a relatively small impact on the overall energy profile of the hotel. Fortunately, making lighting more energy efficient is relatively easy:

Energy efficient bulbs make the most out of the existing lighting system. Not only do CFL bulbs and LED lights (appropriate for things like exit signs) use less energy, but they also have a longer lifespan which cuts down on replacement costs.

Occupancy sensors can make a substantial difference to the energy usage of lighting. Most hotel rooms are only occupied for a fraction of the day, and it is estimated that over 75% of guest room lighting energy consumption happens when the room is empty!

Having smart sensors like these ones, that turn off lights when a guest leaves their room can result in huge efficiency gains. Significant savings can also be made by installing occupancy sensors in public areas like meeting rooms, restrooms, hallways, etc.

Space Conditioning

As mentioned above, space conditioning eats up the majority of a hotel?s energy. It offers the single largest opportunity for energy savings and the related cost reductions.

Insulation can make a big difference in the energy efficiency of any building, and hotels are no exception. If your hotel is poorly insulated, all the improvements in the world for your heating and cooling system will be secondary to the gains you can make by upgrading your insulation.

Air conditioning is a huge energy pig in hotels. It gobbles up a massive amount of energy, and often hoteliers feel at a loss for how to change this. Guests demand constant cooling when it is hot out- I?m embarrassed to say that I honestly would have pitched a fit if my hotel room was not air conditioned in Houston! So hoteliers cannot simply turn off the A/C to save energy.

Stay tuned for details in a feature article on Smartcool?s results for hotels like JW Marriott, Hilton and Radisson, which will be published later this week in the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers (CiBSE) Journal Hotel & Leisure Supplement.

Source: http://blog.cleantechies.com/2012/09/25/custom-energy-efficiency-hotels/

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Consumer Confidence Rises To Highest Level In 7 Months On Job ...

WASHINGTON -- Americans are more confident in the economy than they have been in seven months, an encouraging sign for President Barack Obama with six weeks left in the presidential race.

A new survey of consumer confidence rose Tuesday to its highest level since February on expectations that hiring will soon pick up. And a separate report showed home values rising steadily, signaling sustained improvement in housing.

"This is like an opinion poll on the economy without the political parties attached," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics, a consulting firm. The confidence survey "says people are feeling better. If so, they are less likely to vote for change."

The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence shot up in September. The jump surprised many economists because the most recent hiring and retail sales figures have been sluggish.

The increased confidence could help explain recent polls that show Obama with a widening lead over Mitt Romney in some battleground states.

The consumer confidence index is closely watched because consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic activity. The index jumped from 61.3 for August to 70.3 for September. It remains well below 90, the level that is thought to signify a healthy economy.

Among those feeling more optimistic about the economy is Darlene Johnson of Silver Spring, Md., who works for the National Institutes of Health. The value of Johnson's 401(k) account has risen. Home sales in her neighborhood have ticked up, too, and are commanding higher prices.

"I feel like things are stabilizing," she said. "I don't feel as uneasy as I did a few months ago."

But Johnson, who voted for Obama in 2008, remains undecided on which candidate to back. And she's still a bit nervous about the future.

"It will depend on how my pockets are looking," she says. "Everyday circumstances will drive my decision on how I am going to vote."

Economists point to some key reasons why consumers have grown more confident.

Stocks are up: The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index has surged nearly 15 percent this year. Gas prices have leveled off after rising for several months. And the broad increase in home prices is likely giving would-be buyers more confidence. When prices rise, buyers don't worry so much that a home might lose value after they bought it.

National home prices rose 1.2 percent in July compared with a year ago, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday. That was the second straight month in which year-over-year home prices have increased.

Some economists question whether the higher level of confidence is sustainable. They've seen the index spike briefly before since the Great Recession ended more than three years ago. Some say confidence could be affected by negative campaign ads that focus on the economy.

But others note that even a weak economy doesn't feel so bad to many consumers once it begins to make steady improvement.

"The economy is perceived in relative rather than absolute terms," noted St. Louis University political scientist and pollster Ken Warren.

Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo, suggests that former President Bill Clinton might have helped boost confidence with his rousing speech on Obama's behalf at the Democratic National Convention in early September. The Conference Board's consumer confidence survey was conducted Sept. 1-13.

Clinton "rekindled memories of better economic times" and assured voters that the U.S. economy was on the right track, Vitner said.

The consumer confidence survey polled 500 people. The part of the survey that gauges consumers' confidence in the economy now and the part that gauges their outlook for the next six months both rose. Consumers were much more optimistic about the short-term outlook for business conditions, employment and their financial situation.

The rising home prices could also help Obama's prospects. Prices are rising in many large cities in swing states such as Florida, Colorado, Michigan and North Carolina. Prices have risen 3.6 percent in Tampa, Fla., in the past year, for example. And they're up 5.4 percent in Denver, 6.2 percent in Detroit and 2.2 percent in Charlotte, N.C.

A Washington Post poll out Tuesday showed Obama leading Romney among likely voters in Ohio, 52 to 44 percent. The president also had a slight edge in Florida, 51 to 47 percent among those most likely to vote.

Obama is also gaining the upper hand on which candidate is better able to handle the economy. Registered voters in Ohio preferred Obama on the economy by 50 percent to 43 percent, and in Florida by 49 percent to 45 percent.

___

D'Innocenzio contributed from New York. Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/consumer-confidence-september-2012_n_1915598.html

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Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form Factor

• Pros Tools not required to open chassis and swap components. Solid multimedia performance.
• Cons Cramped interior. USB 3.0 ports aren't color-coded.
• Bottom Line With an easily accessible, IT-friendly chassis that can pop open without any tools, the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form-Factor is a solid choice for businesses looking to save space without necessarily compromising performance, though more nimble systems in the same price range are readily available.

By Ahmer Kazi As its name suggests, the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form Factor (9010 SFF) ($1,618 direct) falls toward the smaller side of Dell's OptiPlex 9010 commercial desktop lineup, landing between the Ultra Small Form-Factor and the full-tower desktop models. Despite its compact size, though, it packs solid hardware into an IT-friendly system that doesn't require any tools to open the chassis or swap components. For businesses looking to preserve space without necessarily compromising performance, it's a good option. That said, it's fairly pricey, and both similarly sized systems and better performers are readily available.

Design and Features
The 9010 SFF is housed in a compact chassis that measures 11.4 by 3.7 by 12.3 inches (HWD). Overall, it's not nearly as small as either the Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T or the Alienware X51 , but those systems are arguably too small, as neither can accommodate any internal expansion whatsoever. The 9010 SFF can be positioned vertically or horizontally, as demonstrated by the four rubber feet on its right side. The left side of the chassis, meanwhile, can easily be removed by pulling on the built-in handle?a convenient feature that lets your IT staff open the system up and swap out components without any tools.

The front panel is primarily covered by a gray plastic grille and features a slot-loading DVD burner, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and headphone and microphone jacks. The rear sports even more USB ports, with a pair of USB 3.0 ports alongside four USB 2.0 ports. Additionally, there's an RJ-45 port, a VGA port, three DisplayPorts, and two PS/2 ports. It's a healthy serving of ports, though it's worth nothing that two of the USB ports will be occupied by the included wired mouse and keyboard. On a related note, the 9010 SFF's USB 3.0 ports don't sport the familiar blue that's typically used to distinguish speedier USB 3.0 ports from their slower USB 2.0 counterparts. Instead, Dell has opted to place a barely noticeable "SS" (Super Speed) insignia above the USB 3.0 ports; it's not a major design flaw by any measure, but it will require your IT staff to do an extra bit of squinting when plugging in USB 3.0 peripherals.

As mentioned earlier, the real draw of the 9010 SFF is its ability to be upgraded and maintained without the use of any tools. Simply pull the handle on the left side of the chassis and you'll be greeted with an easily accessible?though densely packed?arrangement of hardware accented by easy-to-see light blue handles and grip points. Sliding out the optical drive allows for access to the 3.5-inch 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD that's encased in a metallic bay, which one removes by pulling on a circular blue lever. Removing the HDD reveals four DIMM slots on the 9010 SFF's motherboard, two of which are occupied by 4GB DDR3 SDRAM. Beneath the discrete 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7470 card is an empty half-height PCIe x16 slot, which can be outfitted with something along the lines of a low-powered graphics card or a WLAN 802.11n card after you swing out a plastic hinge that, in turn, allows you to pop out the metallic grille locked into the chassis. Overall, the 9010 SFF is remarkably easy to service and maintain despite its somewhat cramped interior.

Performance

The 9010 SFF performed admirably against other small form-factor desktops, though it was handily outclassed by the larger enterprise-class HP Z220 CMT Workstation nearly across the board. Its PCMark 7 score of 2,980 landed at the bottom of the pack, coming within striking distance of the Alienware X51 (3,055 points) but trailed the rest of its peers, including the Shuttle X6100 (4,514 points). On the other hand, the 9010 SFF led the pack in our multimedia benchmark tests. It completed our Handbrake video encoding test in a brief 1 minute 4 seconds, edging past both the HP Z220 (1:05) and the Poly i1000A-3770T (1:11) by a thin margin. Likewise, it completed our Photoshop CS5 in 2 minutes 48 seconds, breezing past the Shuttle X6100 (3:00) and the Alienware X51 (3:36) without breaking a sweat. And while the 9010 SFF's Cinebench R11.5 score of 7.48 points fell a little short of the HP Z220 (7.55), it nonetheless muscled past the rest of the group, especially the Shuttle X6100 (5.68) as well as the Alienware X51 (4.91).

Despite its discrete 1GB AMD Radeon HP 7470 GPU, the 9010 SFF had difficulty breaching the 30 frames per second (fps) playability barrier in our gaming tests. To nobody's surprise, the X51 dominated the group in this arena, leaving the rest of the group gasping for air. In our Crysis benchmark tests, the 9010 SFF's performance (40 frames per second or fps in medium quality at 1,280-by-720 resolution; 4fps in high quality at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution) fell way below that of other systems, especially the HP Z220 (84fps and 11fps, respectively) and, to a more pronounced extent, the class-leading X51 (88fps and 22fps, respectively). Similarly, the 9010 SFF struggled in our Lost Planet 2 benchmark tests (16fps in middle quality at 1,280-by-720 resolution; 4fps in high quality at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution), missing the Poly i1000A-3770T by a narrow margin (18fps and 5fps, respectively) while, once again, being thoroughly outgunned by the X51 (86fps and 35fps, respectively). As far as 3D rendering goes, the 9010 SFF's 3DMark 11 scores (1,094 in Entry mode, 185 in Extreme mode) came close to that of the Poly i1000A-3770T (1,200 and 201, respectively), but, unsurprisingly, fell below both the HP Z220 (3,097 and 570, respectively) and the Alienware X51 (5,184 and 1,059, respectively).

Overall, the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form-Factor is a good system whose shortcomings are tempered by its remarkable accessibility and expandability despite its compact profile. It doesn't perform with unbridled power like some of its peers, but its IT-friendly design makes it an appealing choice for businesses. Still, its high price tag is difficult to justify in the face of more nimble competitors, and, moreover, businesses that are purely interested in sheer computing power would be better off with our current Editors' Choice for single-processor workstations, the HP Z220 CMT Workstation.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form-Factor with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
??? Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form Factor
??? Toshiba LX835-D3230
??? Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Tiny
??? Vizio 27-inch All-in-One PC (CA27-A1)
??? HP Z220 CMT Workstation
?? more

By Ahmer Kazi

Ahmer Kazi is a junior analyst for the PCMag Hardware team. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Television and Film from St. John's University, where he also minored in English. He additionally holds a Juris...

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