| BizBits: sQuba
OK, so the Swiss have invented a car that runs on land and underwater. But did they really have to make it a convertible? It’s called the “sQuba,” and conjures up memories of James Bond’s amphibious Lotus Esprit from “The Spy Who Loved Me.” That fictional vehicle traveled on land and, when chased by bad guys in a helicopter, plunged into the water and became an airtight submarine — complete with “torpedoes” and “depth charges.” But “Q” isn’t responsible for this one. The concept car — which unlike Bond’s is not armed — was developed by Swiss designer Rinspeed Inc. and is set to make a splash at the Geneva Auto Show next month. Company CEO Frank Rinderknecht, a self-professed Bond fan, said he has been waiting 30 years to recreate the car he saw Roger Moore use to drive off of a dock.
Meditating on shifting sands
But the Mandala sculpture, slowly taking shape in Brisbane's Judith Wright Centre, will be much more impressive than it might look at first glance. Four Tibetan monks are spending this week building the Mandala, the Buddhist version of a sandcastle, grain by grain. Despite putting in hefty 10-hour days on the project it will still only reach a height of 1cm. And then, as soon as it is completed, they will destroy it beside the Brisbane River to symbolise the impermanent nature of the universe. Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal, who organised the monks' Australian tour, said the ritual taught people of all ages "'non-attachment" to material things. "When little kids see the Mandala the first thing they want to do is kick it," he said. "Then they gasp when we destroy it." The crushed marble Mandala, which depicts an intricate design of Buddha and a lotus, is being constructed as part of a week-long festival of concerts, meditations and workshops to celebrate the first week of the Tibetan New Year.
Brooklyn Company Recalls Sweetened Lotus Root Seed and Sweetened ...
The recalled Zebra brand sweetened lotus root seed and Zebra brand sweetened coconut are sold in 6 oz. un-coded plastic bags and are a product of China, packed by Hong Kong Ever Time Food & Grocery Co. Ltd. The products were sold nationwide.
The recalls were initiated after routine sampling by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspectors and subsequent analysis by food laboratory personnel revealed the presence of undeclared sulfites. The consumption of 10 milligrams of sulfites per serving has been reported to cause severe reactions in some asthmatics. Anaphylactic shock could occur in certain sulfite sensitive individuals upon ingesting 10 milligrams or more of sulfites.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with these products.
Extremely Cool Lotus Cortina
Ford's 1960s profile-raising competition program included recruiting Lotus boss Colin Chapman to give the new Cortina a sporting makeover. Chapman's brief was to develop a Group 2 competition version; Lotus would then build the 1,000 cars required for homologation. Launched in 1963, the Lotus Cortina featured the Elan's Ford-based, DOHC, 1.6-liter engine in the two-door bodyshell. Lotus Cortinas dominated saloon racing's 2-liter class, often challenging for outright honors. Works cars were driven by Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Peter Arundell, and Jackie Ickx, while Sir John Whitmore, driving an Alan Mann-entered Lotus Cortina, was European Touring Car champion in 1965. The Lotus Cortina offered here is one of the original Works racing saloons campaigned during the mid-1960s by legendary Formula One World Champion Jim Clark, while touring car champions Sir John Whitmore and Jack Sears also competed in this same car.
Can Redmond rivals storm the Office stronghold?
After years of watching Microsoft rake in billions of dollars from its desktop software franchise, its competitors are pouncing. IBM has announced the release of Lotus Symphony, a suite of free desktop applications based on the OpenOffice.org open-source product. The computing giant, which has been challenging Microsoft's desktop dominance for years, said Lotus Symphony is a standards-based alternative to Microsoft's proprietary Office. Separately, Yahoo! said it paid $350m to acquire Zimbra, a start-up that developed a web-based email and collaboration package comparable with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook. Meanwhile, Google has introduced Google Presentations, an online version of Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation application that complements Google's web-hosted document editor and spreadsheet.
Tesla to raise $250m for electric cars
Tesla Motors, which this month launched a battery-powered roadster based on the Lotus Elise, plans to raise $250m in equity and debt to fund a push into production of electric sedans. The California-based niche carmaker plans to build an electric four-door, five-passenger luxury sports sedan, comparable to a midrange BMW or Mercedes, that will sell for about half the price of the roadster, which retails in the US for $98,000. .
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