McLaren 12C: Hunting the Italians McLaren's first road car in decades has a tough job to do - it's got to take on Ferrari, Lamborghini and co. Does it have what it takes?

McLaren 12C: Hunting the Italians

McLaren's first road car in decades has a tough job to do - it's got to take on Ferrari, Lamborghini and co. Does it have what it takes?

Laren is a name steeped in history. Racing successes and world-record-smashing cars make up its past, but the 12C is an indication of its future. And it's looking pretty rosy.

Fresh off the back of a collaboration with Mercedes on the SLR hypercar, McLaren decided it wanted to build a world-beating supercar. Something to make Ferrari and its ilk run for the hills in fear. It would have to be light, fast, comfortable, and good-looking. It would have to be absolutely perfect.

Thankfully, using techniques refined over years of road and race car practice, the 12C is an utterly stunning piece of machinery.

A fusion of style and substance is something that many try for, but rarely manage -- the 12C appears to have nailed it. Its carbon-fibre tub, which takes only a few hours to manufacture, is a thing of beauty. Its exposed weave greets you as you enter the car and gives you a hint as to the 12C's true capability.nside you sit low and to the centre of the car. The vertical dash stack takes a bit of getting used to, but the car's ICE hub almost winks at you and gives you the impression that what you're about to experience is nothing short of brilliance.

Prod the starter button and 3.8 litres of V8 makes itself known not only to you, but to whoever happens to be within a 5-mile radius. It's not subtle, this thing. Its turn of pace is unbelievable, and mostly unusable outside of a track/Germany. No matter; McLaren's engineers have made a car that's comfy pootling about town (while making all manner of noise) or haring along some twisty bits of Wales.

It steers incredibly, giving you all manner of feedback that most mortals (me included) will probably never be able to decipher. It's been precision engineered to be the best car you'll ever drive.

And this, with the arrival of the P1 Hypercar and no doubt many more in the coming years, is just the start for McLaren Automotive.

The 12C's job is to make people's "must-drive" lists. It's got to be the car that people want to drive, want to love. It's got to be the car that some would die to own, or even drive for a second or two. No, McLaren doesn't have the heritage of some of its competitors, but what it has got is expertise.

Bring it.

Specs
Engine	3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power	616 bhp
Torque	443 lb. ft.
0-60 mph	3.1 seconds
Top speed	207 mph

Read More [...]

The more you use Facebook, the more miserable you get -- study

A disturbing piece of research from the University of Michigan intimates that increasing use of Facebook among young adults creates an increased lack of well-being. Oh.I have always found people from the University of Michigan to be rather full of themselves and devoid of wit and dress sense.

I don't pretend for a moment that this discovery holds any universal truth. I might have encountered only two or three of these people at the most.

However, I wonder how you will respond to a piece of research from that same university that suggests Facebook and happiness may be virtual opposites.

I am miserably indebted to CBS Philadelphia for noticing this study and its implications.

The study has a portentous title: "Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults."

It offers some even more portentous sentences. For example: "The more people used Facebook at one time point, the worse they felt the next time we text-messaged them; the more they used Facebook over two weeks, the more their life satisfaction levels declined over time."

This study was performed among 82 young adults, whose emotions are, surely, as consistent as the British weather.

Still, these researchers believe that their methods offered a disturbing indicator.Here's another sentence that strikes fiercely into the caring world of sharing: "On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection. Rather than enhancing well-being, however, these findings suggest that Facebook may undermine it."

Amateur psychologists -- I believe they're called life coaches these days -- will say that those who used Facebook for long periods are seeking some sort of relief from misery in the first place.

When they see that everyone else is having far more fun than they are, they get even more miserable.

The researchers resisted this hypothesis. They saw no evidence that people turned to Facebook as a pick-me-up. (Young adults normally turn to beer or drugs, don't they?)

As with so much (all) research, it would take a much larger sample to see if these results could be replicated and, ultimately, understood.

One hypothesis, though, immediately comes to mind: Somewhere deep inside, people on Facebook wish they were doing something more enjoyable. Yes, even with someone else.

Indeed, one observation here was that those who had regularly seen people during the study -- you know, in real life -- experienced greater misery from prolonged Facebook use.

Kids, your parents will always tell you that money doesn't make you happy. It seems that Facebook won't make you happy either.

The Smiths should immediately get back in the studio to record this:

I just spent 10 hours on Facebook.

Heaven knows I'm miserable now.

Read More [...]

Posted in Info, News

NAruto Shuppide Eppisode 325 watch online

NAruto Shuppide Eppisode 325 watch online

naruto , anime , cartoon , pakistan , japan , shuppiden , army , fight , story
Release Date: Every Thursday @ 4:30am (Pacific Standard Time)
- Please enjoy the preview for the next episode.

Click on Double marked link

WAtch online

watch online

watch online

Try this link

Read More [...]

Posted in Naruto Shippuden

Former Microsoft VP thought dead after his plane crashes into Connecticut homes

Bill Henningsgaard, a former sales VP at the computing giant, is presumed dead, along with his 17-year-old son and two younger children, after his plane crashes into two homes while approaching an airport.A former Microsoft executive, along with his 17-year-old son and two younger children, are presumed dead after the man's small plane crashed into two Connecticut homes Friday.

Bill Henningsgaard, 54, held various marketing and sales positions at the computing giant -- including vice president of sales for the western United States, Australia, and New Zealand -- before leaving in the early 2000s to focus on philanthropy. He was on a trip to explore college options with his son when his plane went down while approaching Connecticut's Tweed New Haven airport. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

An East Haven Fire Department official told the Associated Press that four bodies -- two from the plane and two from one of the houses -- had been recovered. The bodies have yet to be identified by the medical examiner, but two children -- a 1-year-old and a 13-year-old -- have been missing since the plane crash.

Henningsgaard's brother told CNN there was no reason to think anyone other than Henningsgaard and his son were aboard the plane, and Social Venture Partners, a philanthropic organization that Henningsgaard worked with as a board member, posted an item on its blog Friday evening lamenting over Henningsgaard's death.

"Many of you know first-hand how the extraordinary and visionary leadership of Bill Henningsgaard was visible all over this community," reads the item from SVP, a group of partners who pool their money to have greater charitable impact on local nonprofits. "He worked tirelessly to build partnerships and facilitate efforts that put us on the path of engaging the community to actively support every child, step by step, from cradle to career. Bill walked the talk to make our community stronger."

Read More [...]

Posted in Info, News