FORD FIESTA, MAZDA 3 AND MX-5 VIE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN'S AWARD

FORD SAYS: The first ever Women’s World Car of the Year competition will take place this year. A short list of 21 vehicles has been compiled from cars new to the market in at least ten countries, between September 2008 and September 2009.



Both the Ford Fiesta and the Mazda3, soon to be launched in SA, have been announced as finalists in the economy category while the Mazda MX-5 has been shortlisted in the sports car category.



“We are excited to have our cars nominated in the Women’s World Car of the Year competition,” says Jacques Brent, Vice President Sales & Marketing for FMCSA. “Increasingly we are seeing that women are the final decision makers when it comes to new vehicle purchases however women motoring journalists are still very much in the minority. With women’s priorities and needs being very different to those of their male counterparts these awards are probably long over due.”



Ten women motoring journalists from around the globe will be involved in selecting the inaugural winners, set to be announced later in the year.



The South African representative is Durban based, Heléne Griffiths, who has been involved with the motoring industry for the past 31 years. Heléne has been one of the evaluators for Associated Magazines’ Women on Wheels Car of the Year competition since it’s inception two years ago.



Other jury members hail from North America, India, the UK, Australia and Europe. All are established writers or broadcasters.



The women will select cars from the short list to decide on four separate category winners - Family Car of the Year, Sports Car of the Year, Luxury Car of the Year and the Best Economical Car. The supreme award winner will then be chosen and announced at the end of the year.



The adjudicators will look at driveability, examine whether a car is child-friendly, whether it is value for money and what the carbon footprint is like. The focus is firmly on all things women genuinely want to know about before they buy a car.



The international panels of women judges plan to assemble at the head office of the winning car company when the supreme award-winner receives the trophy in November this year.





WOMEN’S WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR SHORT LIST



FAMILY CAR:

Dodge Journey

VW Jetta

Volvo XC

Honda Accord

GM Cruze



ECONOMY:

Ford Fiesta

Mazda3

Toyota Prius

Honda Insight

Hyundai i30

VW Golf diesel



SPORTS CAR:

Audi TTS

BMW M3

Mazda MX-5

Porsche Boxster

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo



LUXURY CAR:

Aston Martin Vantage

Jaguar XF

Saab 9-3

Audi A6

Porsche Cayenne

H. L. Mencken

via Quotes of the Day on 5/28/09
"It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office."

Armin van Buuren feat. Jennifer Rene - Fine Without You

Armin van Buuren feat. Jennifer Rene - Fine Without You

Urme misterioase pe lacul inghetat Baikal din Rusia

via Realitatea .NET - IT & Ştiinţă by Realitatea.NET on 5/27/09

Un cerc aproape perfect a apărut pe un lac îngheţat în Siberia. Oamenii de ştiinţă au exclus OZN-urile, dar nu ştiu cum a apărut misterioasa formaţiune geologică pe lacul Baikal.











Urma măsoară circa 4,2 kilometri în diametru. Cercul s-a format după ce gheaţa s-a topit, lăsând în urmă misterioasa urmă, întâi în sudul lacului, iar apoi în centru.


Astronauţii de pe Staţia Spaţială Internaţională au fotografiat fenomenul pe întreaga lui durată, de când a apărut pe 5 aprilie şi până pe 27 aprilie când gheaţa a început să se rupă.

Gheaţa care acoperă lacul se poate topi şi îngheţa peste noapte, mai ales în această perioadă a anului. Oamenii de ştiinţă cred că o masă de apă cu câteva grade mai caldă s-a ridicat la suprafaţă şi a format urma specifică.

Activictatea termală a fost observată şi în alte părţi ale lacului, dar unul dintre cercuri a apărut în apropiere de graniţa sudică unde apa este foarte adâncă.

Baikal este cel mai mare şi mai adânc lac cu apă dulce din lume şi are o vârstă de aproape 30 de milioane de ani.

9 - Trailer 2

via Latest Movie Trailers

A new era in animated storytelling begins on 9.9.09. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton (The Corpse Bride, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Nightwatch) join forces to produce wunderkind director Shane Acker’s distinctively original and thrilling tale. 9 stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer and Crispin Glover and features the music of Danny Elfman. When 9 (The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them. Directed by: Shane Acker Starring: Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly

Take a Journey Inside Cristophe Claret's Complex DualTow Watch

via Gizmodo by Sean Fallon on 5/27/09




The only way to fully appreciate the beautiful complexity of a watch like the DualTow is to take a look under the hood—and that is just what Christophe Claret is doing with thisInnerspace-esque video.

The most innovative attribute, is its unique single-pusher planetary-gear chronograph with striking system. A single-push piece activates three identically structured planetary gears that control the chrono functions. A patent has been filed for this original interpretation of the chronograph. As if that is not enough, Christophe Claret has chosen to add a striking mechanism signaling when the chronograph is started, stopped and reset.

Even with the video, the intricacy of the design is far too much for my mechanically moronic mind to wrap around—but this is the best look most of us will ever get considering that only 68 pieces will be made. [Christophe Claret via Professional Watches]

Zaha Hadid Architects: The Stone Towers, Cairo

via Designboom - Weblog on 5/28/09

'the stone towers'
image courtesy zaha hadid architects

zaha hadid architects have designed 'the stone towers' - a 525,000sqm office and retail complex for 
the rooya group, which will be built in the stone park district of cairo, egypt. a five-star business hotel 
with serviced apartments, retail with food and beverage facilities and sunken landscaped gardens 
and plaza called the 'delta' is also included in the development.

hisham shokri, CEO of rooya group said 'there is a overwhelming need in egypt for developments of 
the highest international standards required by the serious and growing investment climate of 
the country - ultimately contributing to making it a hub for multinationals in the region. the stone towers 
needed an architect with daring ideas, innovation, international expertise and experience ... 
it needed zaha hadid.'


image courtesy zaha hadid architects

'ancient egyptian stonework incorporates a vast array of patterns and textures that, when illuminated 
by the intense sunlight of the region, creates animated displays of light and shadow. the facades on the 
north and south elevations of each building within stone towers adopts a rich vocabulary of alternating 
protrusions, recesses and voids to enhance the deep reveal shadow lines that accentuate the 
curvatures of each building within the development and animate the project throughout the day'. 

'I am delighted to be working in cairo. I have visited egypt many times and I have always been
fascinated by the mathematics and arts of the arab world. in our office we have always researched 
the formal concepts of geometry - which relates a great deal to the region’s art traditions and sciences 
in terms of algebra, geometry and mathematics. this research has informed the design for stone towers.
with a large-scale project such as this, care must be taken to balance a necessary requirement for 
repetitive elements whilst avoiding an uncompromising repetition of static building masses.
the architecture of stone towers pursues a geometric rhythm of similar, interlocking, yet individually
differentiated building forms that creates a cohesive composition.' zaha hadid



image courtesy zaha hadid architects


image courtesy zaha hadid architects


image courtesy zaha hadid architects

project details:
client: rooya group
architect: zaha hadid architects
structural engineer: adams kara taylor
gross building area: 525,000 m2
site area: 170,000 m2