henlay.com

Nissan and PlayStation GT Academy: virtual-to-reality racing competition

administrator — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:00:17 +0000

Nissan and PlayStation have once again joined forces to run a fourth instalment of the innovative GT Academy virtual-to-reality racing competition. While the four previous GT Academy graduates line up in top-level race series in 2012, the programme that set … Continue reading →

Ashlee Simpson Wentz

Indy 500: Winners, Losers, and Some In-Betweeners

administrator — Sun, 20 May 2012 08:00:10 +0000

It all started with 33 cars polished and fueled, gleaming on a grid with the highest of hopes in the air along with with news helicopters, high-wire cameras and balloons. When it ended four hours later, some of the cars were still gleaming, while others had to be pulled from the back of a tow hook. The 2010 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race was high in spectacle and finished with a dramatic Hollywood flourish. Yet, it was still unmistakably the Indy 500.As long as the buildup to Indy, the reality is the teams still have to pack up the haulers and head to Texas Wednesday. In between, there is the analysis of what went right and what went wrong. Here is our own synopsis of the 33 car field by finishing position after sorting through the maelstrom of 500 miles in four hours.1. Dario Franchitti – First turn outside pass for lead proved to be the key; running out front and stretching a lead made every other team react to what he was doing. Driver + crew both ran a perfect race. Did he have enough fuel to finish? We’ll never know for sure. Chip Ganassi said yes, others said no. Best all-around driver in the IRL right now? Probably. His only hiccups during the race were a few run-ins with Graham Rahal and swigging from the milk bottle at the end. Dario v.2010 was older, wiser and at the top of his game.2. Dan Wheldon – Panther knows Indy, Wheldon drove a strong race although he never led, he stayed out of trouble in some high traffic areas and was in position to win if Dario ran out. Fast enough to stay in the front pack. Moved up +2 in the season points standings to ninth with Texas, another strong Wheldon/Panther track, coming up next week. “I was hungry to win, but the team were getting on my butt about saving fuel those last three laps. Maybe if I was young like Rahal and Marco Andretti, myself back in the day, I would have totally ignored them, tried to run Dario down when I saw him slowing down. I knew it was close. Just one of those things.” 3. Marco Andretti – Was charging at the end of the race, another where the heck did he come from suddenly from pack to podium, and very happy the race finished under yellow. “If I would have raced Dan, we weren’t finishing the race. Like I said, it was very easy to ends up where Tony did.” 4. Alex Lloyd – In my eyes, really the story of the race. Started 26th and finished fourth giving his career a big boost. “About 20 laps to go, maybe 15, when we started making some moves, we were coming through pretty quickly, I tell you, I started shouting in my helmet a little bit, C’mon. I was getting excited. I was really pumped up, ready to go. Not the best thing to do when you’re trying to save fuel. The guys don’t want that. I felt like I figured something out that I could save the fuel, make positions. I was pumped.” So was his owner Dale Coyne.5. Scott Dixon – Even before his pit road incident in which he lost a tire Dixon was seemingly never a threat to win. Lap times were solid, but unspectacular. Did the veteran decide the car wasn’t perfect early and shoot for points?6. Danica Patrick – Her finish seemed to be more a sigh of relief than a sign of a major turnaround. Patience worked, fuel strategy worked and moved up when a few cars in front of her needed more ethanol. 7. Justin Wilson – Solidly in the Top-10 for most of the race and led laps after his teammate Mike Conway pitted for fuel. Led laps 179 to 190 before a splash and go.8. Will Power – Probably the Penske driver who looked best in the race conditions. Led five laps. A stop-and-go penalty after a pit stop refuelling incident derailed his run to the front, which was compounded when he missed his pit box later. Maintained his IZOD IndyCar Series points lead.9. Helio Castroneves – Despite entering the race as the consensus favorite after a dominant pole position, Helio never led a lap in the race. Stalled the car on a late pit stop.10. Alex Tagliani – The surprise of the qualifying session. Looked to have been caught out on the setup and hot track conditions, as he started fourth and went backwards from there. Still a very successful month and finish from an upstart team and driver.11. Tony Kanaan – The de facto hard charger of the race. Passed eight cars on the first lap and worked up as high as second before a splash-and-go. Despite starting dead last, salvaged a solid finish out of a difficult month. 12. Graham Rahal – Certainly didn’t make any friends with other drivers or race officials and was black flagged for blocking. Was in the middle of the action all day and still posted a solid finish. 13. Mario Romancini – Highest finishing rookie. Showed patience and aggressiveness in equal measure and probably a great boost for his own self-confidence. “The momentum was just taking me throughout the race. I didn’t feel that I ran 500 miles. It was quite easy at this point.”14. Simona De Silvestro – The new darling of the female driving contingent. Rookie didn’t put a wheel wrong for the whole month, and was spectacular at times in her second career oval race. Another confidence-boosting finish for driver and team.15. Tomas Scheckter – In the thick of the action from start to finish. Led five laps. Probably off Davey Hamilton’s Xmas card list though. 16. Townsend Bell – Ran in the Top-10 for much of the race, but a blocking penalty derailed his one-off Indy 500 effort. 17. Ed Carpenter – Showed speed and consistency, spent time in the Top-5 and deserving of a better finish. Wheldon wants him as a full-time teammate, we’ll have to see if Panther puts him back in a car again.18. Ryan Hunter-Reay – Made the highlight reel after running out of gas and getting vaulted by Mike Conway. Ran in the Top-10 for much of the afternoon, and is still Top-5 in points while meshing well with his Andretti Autosport teammates. Will IZOD really let their poster boy get the hook after Texas? Nobody seems to be saying anything about his status for the rest of the year, which probably isn’t a good sign.19. Mike Conway – Really opened eyes during the race with his driving and led 15 laps, unfortunately it’s his spectacular crash at the end that most will remember. Probably out of the season with compound fracture in his left leg, and as bad as that sounds, he’s still probably the luckiest driver in the field because he’s still alive. The crash was probably the worst in an IndyCar race since Ryan Briscoe’s airborne accident in Chicago 2005.20. Takuma Sato – Struggled and finished two laps down, but still finished with the car in one piece, so the day’s driving on the oval will go a long way in building experience. It will be interesting to see what he does in Texas, another track that can bite down hard on impatient drivers.21. Ana Beatriz – Never really punched through the into Top-20 but drove well and brought the car home in one piece. Consistent through the month and probably merits a full-time ride. 22. Bertrand Baguette – Lost a mirror and spent considerable time in the pits, but brought the car home and had a good experience in his second oval race.23. Sebastian Saavedra – Didn’t make friends with the turn one wall during the month, ending two runs there. Indy can turn one week’s fortune into misfortune in a hurry. At 19, he still has plenty of room to grow as a driver, but may have tried the 500 a year too early.24. Ryan Briscoe – Never seemed to get on track during the month, and was consistently third amongst the Penske drivers, but still managed to lead five laps before ending the race in the wall.25. E.J. Viso – Out of the race on lap 140 with suspension damage from kissing the wall. Also probably missed on the setup, as the car seemed like a handful.26. Sarah Fisher – Was a few laps down before retiring with a broken suspension. All the credit in the world for trying but is her team trying to do too much with too little?27. Vitor Meira – Disappointing end in the wall. Spent some time in the Top-20 early in the race after charging forward with Kanaan, but A.J. Foyt Racing never seemingly came to terms with their cars during the month.28. Hideki Mutoh – Eye-opening speed during the qualifying sessions, but fell straight back once the race started and pulled out after 72 laps.29. Raphael Matos – Impressive speed during the race, ran as high as third, but ended up in the wall hard. At some point he’s going to have to start posting consistent finishes even with DeFerran in his corner.30. John Andretti – Never was a factor, race in ended in wall. More ride buyer than Andretti these days, as much as that hurts to say. Will this be his last 500?31. Mario Moraes – At some point he’s going to have to stop crashing. Extremely fast when he’s in the car, but suspension damage from a wall brush ended the day very early.32. Bruno Junqueira – Big hit in turn two wall was second caution of the day. FAZZT team will have to find a way to balance qualifying speed with race setup, but they weren’t the only team caught by the 96 degree temperature.33. Davey Hamilton – First caution of the day as he ran out of real estate in turn two before he looped and ended up in the inside Safer barrier. Called Tomas Scheckter an idiot on national broadcast. Will his car be back together for Texas?

jimmy fallon

Do you guys know of a tool that helps developers manage all the Android Marketplaces?

administrator — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:00:15 +0000

There are many Android marketplaces for developers to post apps in addition to Google Play, such as the Amazon one (second tablet in sales on the market after the iPad), the Nook, all the local carriers marketplaces (Orange in France, Telefonica in Spain etc?). It’s a huge pain for us as Android developer with three [...]

Lady Gaga

The difference between a champion and a leader ? reflections on the #F1 season so far

administrator — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:00:11 +0000

There is no question that Sebastian Vettel is a worthy driver?s champion for 2011. He had the best car, but he rarely put a wheel wrong, and so his title is undoubtedly well deserved. I do feel that Sebastian, like Lewis before him, is very much a champion who, although a worthy champion, is still [...]

Britney Spears

The Flying Lap Webcast: Mugello Test Review

administrator — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:00:13 +0000

I joined Peter windsor via phone to review the changes to the cars at the end of the second day of testing. My section commences at 49 minutes, although I suggest you enjoy watching the entire episode. Summary As Formula … Continue reading →

Khloe Kardashian

Predict the Chinese Grand Prix in our 2012 Championship

administrator — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:00:12 +0000

You can now predict the Chinese Grand Prix in our 2012 Predictions Championship. The predictions form below will be open until qualifying begins on Saturday.

Justin Timberlake

Nissan and PlayStation GT Academy: virtual-to-reality racing competition

administrator — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:00:16 +0000

ashton kutcher

100% of the members of my team in Bucharest found a job in 3 weeks

administrator — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:00:12 +0000

Late March, I had to let go many great people in my Seesmic team, unfortunately after having tried for months to find a home for the whole team as a whole and did not succeed. What I decided to do was to publish on my blog the list of the employees and a [...]

Miley Cyrus

LiveBlog: Kansas 2010

administrator — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:00:12 +0000

Welcome to Kansas where your humble host is glad to not be. Not because I’d rather be at home than at a track – oh, heavens no – but because Kansas seems to be always be place where Mother Nature has her huge hissy fits or meteorological fury.Last year there were tornadoes all around the track, and this week there’s been lots of rain. Might even be a little on the chilly side according to the braintrust at TrackSide Online. Hopefully the track will stay dry for today’s race, as the qualifications (Meanwhile, here in Arizona it’s Chamber of Commerce weather. Sunny, clear, high in the 70s. If anyone wants to have an IndyCar race here instead…I know, I’m beating dead horse here.)But the weather right now looks clear in Kansas, and if qualifications are any indication we might have a fun race, since cars from Panther, Newman-Haas-no Lanigan, and FAZZT (yes, FAZZT) were all qualifying in the front rows. Wheldon however was penalized for going below the white line in quals so he gets to start in the back fully enraged.But Briscoe is on the pole, Milka is starting in the back, and somewhere Nicole Manske is getting her “#parkmilka” ready for today today. And with that, it’s time to start.0: Marty Reid just said “It is the Month of May”. Technically, yes, but “The Month of May” proper doesn’t start until Donald Davidson’s “Talk of Gasoline Alley” is back on the airwaves. I’m calling today April 31st.0: Ryan Hunter-Reay is being interviewed. He has some issues about something (contract? car?) but I can’t focus because the ubiquitous IZOD Girl is standing behind him smiling encouragingly at me. Yes, me. And I’m suddenly feeling very calm.0: I miss Jack Arute on these ESPN/ABC broadcasts. Rick DeBruhl just doesn’t have the same level of passion or the probability for unintentional comedy. Might was well have a robot out there.0: Marty Reid just said he was going to introduce us to “Silvester de Simona”. Oh, COLOSSAL FAIL!0: Obligatory Danica interview. ESPN loves the Danicker. However, the interview serves as a transition to a package on…Simona. Har!0: Vintage Indy 500 footage breaks out. Unsers, Andretti, Wheldon. This is even more re-assuring than the IZOD Girl.0: Some anonymous woman (to me) commands “Drivers! Start Your Engines!” Nice job, except for the shoulder shrug afterwards.0: Dan Wheldon is the “in-car commentator”. Dan starts talking about the great car and…he stalls it. Note: “in-car commentator” is rarely a good idea.0: First oval in an IndyCar for Sato, Simona, Baguette and Romancini, although Mario Romancini has race in the Indy Lights. Then again, he also put the car in the wall in practice.0: John Andretti, sporting classic Petty colors, gets air. Meanwhile Briscoe and Dixon lead them to the line.1: And we are GREEN! And cars are moving around going three-wide and life is worth living again.2: Marco Andretti, who started in 26th, ais already up to 19th. Must be that Venom Energy Drink sponsor.4: Conway and Mutoh are shown battling for 6th. On ESPN. There’s nothing real in the world anymore.5: It’s Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Helio, Vitor. Meira is already winless in 101 races8: Hyphen-Reay started near the back but he’s already up to 13th. Marco is up to 15th. It’s a festival of overtaking!12: Just noticed KVRT teammates Moraes and Viso are 8th and 9th respectively. Wonder if ESPN will mention them.13: Dixon gets a little lose and loses 2nd to Dario. Franchitti has the Suave sponsorship this week to celebrate his glorious locks.18: Danica is in 14th with Rafa Matos and John Andretti chasing her for position. How do I say that without making it sound like a double entendre?21: Dixon gets back around Dario. Meanwhile that Top 5 of Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Vitor, and Helio have about a two second lead on everyone else. Vitor, hanging with the big boys!24: Ryan Hunter-Reay is up to 10th. Marco up to 11th. Kanaan in 7th. Andretti Autosport brigade is blaring trumpets and are on the charge.28: Dixon is trying to go two-wide for the lead while trying to lap Romancini. Racing excitement engaged.34: Back from commercial and Scott Dixon is now leading. Pass for the lead has to be shown on tape delay. Not quite as exciting. 40: Leaders are lapping plenty of drivers. Wilson, Milka, Simona, Lloyd and Romancini are all a lap down. Next up is Wheldon, who clearly doesn’t have the same car he had yesterday.42: And there goes Dixon by Wheldon.43: Dixon is starting to make this less than interesting. He leads Briscoe and Dario by over 4 seconds. Helio 8 seconds back. Vitor 9 seconds back.49: Pit stops for Briscoe, Kanaan, Helio, Dixon. Without incident.50: Now Dario comes in. Must be saving a wee bit more fuel than the other leaders.50: Will Power comes in and has an extended stay pit stop. Too far from the middle of the pit stall to get the fuel hose in completely. Crikey!55: After all the stops it’s Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Vitor. Kanaan 6th. Hunter-Reay 7th.58: Penalty of some sort for Viso on the pit stop. Now he’s back to 18th. Dammit. So much for that interesting run.65: Good news – Vitor is getting airtime in 5th. Bad news – he’s 14 seconds back of the lead.68: Mutoh and Sato battling for 11th. And here I am caught without any Godzilla references at the ready.69: Danica, in 14th, about to be lapped by Dixon.71: Down goes Danica. Next up is Marco.72: Scott Dixon is the opposite of racing excitement. There, I said it.73: YELLOW! Viso, clearly desperate for TV time, gets a little high and scrapes the wall. Manages to get the car into the pits though.75: Pit stops for everyone. In and out and the leaders are now Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Vitor. Hunter-Reay now up to 6th in a demonstrable plea for additional sponsorship to run the full season.75: Chaos at the back of the field as Duno and Sato touch and drive each other into the grass. No wall contact though so they might be able to continue.76: Ryan Briscoe is missing a wheel. That ain’t gonna work. Has to come in get a fourth, dropping for 11th.80: Interview with EJ. Poor guy.82: Something must have happened to Vitor. Dixon, Dario, Helio, Kanaan and Hunter-Reay now lead the field.84: Back to GREEN!85: 16 cars on the lead lap. Danica is not one of them. But she’s still getting airtime. Go figure.89: Tagliani in 6th, Vitor right behind him. Hope springs eternal for the underdogs.96: John Andretti is 9th. He’s…not too bad at this IndyCar thing.98: Hunter-Reay keeps looking to get a run on Kanaan but he can’t. So we are lock-steppin’ up at the front.103: Danica, a lap down, throwing a big ‘ol block party for Helio all around the track. Even Scott Goodyear calls that “bad etiquette”.108: Helio still struggling to get around Danica. Goodyear says “When he gets beside her he’s got to hold her down…” Oh my!109: Danica finally lets Helio by. And Kanaan as well for good measure. Must have heard from the Iron Hand of Justice.113: Something must have happened to Hunter-Reay, as he’s dropped back behind Tagliani and Mutoh. What it was, nobody knows.114: And here’s Danica making a pit stop. Really ESPN, this is embarrassing. Let go of the Danicker already.119: YELLOW! Debris on the track. Looks like an endplate on the track so it’s legit. Might have been thrown by Brian Barnhart himself, though. Just to keep things remotely interesting.122: Pit stops for everyone. And on pit exit it’s Dixon, Dario, Kanaan, Mutoh, Helio. Mutoh Mania rises to a near fever pitch.127: So, exactly how long does it take to pick up an endplate on the track? It’s been 8 laps, for crying out loud!128: Finally, back to GREEN!135: Lots of racing but not much passing, if that makes any sense. The Ganassi cars have already pulled away by almost a second from Kanaan. Try to act shocked.143: And now it’s two seconds between the Dixon-Dario combo and Kanaan. Meanwhile Briscoe is on the charge and working on Mutoh for 4th.146: P1 just walked out of the room saying “Yeah for races that are boring”. I would guess many of you watching this feel the same way.151: Takuma Sato, reported “road course specialist”, is up to 7th. Mutoh still in 4th. Japan is well represented this week.155: Dixon-Dario ahead of Kanaan by 3.5 seconds. 45 laps to go and it’s all over but the crying.161: Final round of pit stops starting. Leaders not pitting yet. I know, that’s not terribly helpful. Sorry.165: Mutoh on the Push To Pass but he can’t get around Kanaan. Insert Japanese swearing here.170: Dixon now pulling ahead of Dario by two seconds, or so says Marty Reid. I can’t verify it because Timing & Scoring is frozen at Lap 148 for me. Not very helpful.175: Dixon ahead of Dario by almost 3 seconds now. Ahead of Kanaan by over 10 seconds. *sighs*177: Kanaan and Mutoh both pit. Come out the same way they went in. Not even passing in the pits for those two.178: Dixon pits and…YELLOW! Jay Howard has made contact with the wall. He seems OK, making hand gestures to the safety crew, but the car is missing the rear wing.179: Replay shows Jay was behind teammate/boss Sarah Fisher and got a little too high. Or, based on the result, a lot too high.180: Somehow in all this the leaders are now Dixon, Helio, Dario, Kanaan, Mutoh. Not sure how Helio snuck into second but there he is.184: Finally, back to GREEN! And now YELLOW as Sato and Mutoh collide ending the proud run for Japan.182: Ironically, if we finish under yellow it might actually be a closer margin of victory.188: Still yellow. Big Jamie Little informs us that with 12 laps to go and Dixon has 18 Push To Pass tries left. Feel the anticipation of racing excitement leaving the building.190: Only six cars on the lead lap. Dixon, Helio, Dario, Kanaan, Hunter-Reay, Briscoe. Pfffft.193: And we’re back to GREE…no, strike that. Waved it off.194: And this time we’re back to GREEN! Look at that Scott Dixon gooooooo!196: Dario gets his Push To Pass on and gets around Helio for 2nd.197: Here comes Kanaan up to Helio. Side-by-side (hooray!)198: Kanaan got ‘em.199: White flag as Kanaan pulls up on Dario’s attenuator.200: And checkers for Dixon, as Franchitti holds off Kanaan for 2nd.Congrats to Dixon, not for winning but for having a lovely wife who gleefully shares with us what Scott had for breakfast. Listening to her say “ba-nah-nah” is more exciting than watching him race. But that’s just me.Also, nice runs for Dario, Tony, Helio and the two Ryans. Hunter-Reay in 5th, now hanging in fourth place in the standings. I need to make like Scott Dixon and get moving in a hurry today, so with that I leave you all. Thank you very much, friends, and good night.

Ashley Tisdale

Portuguese Grand Prix, Estoril: Qualifying Results ? Good second row after tumultuous session

administrator — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:00:16 +0000

Álvaro continued his good form at Estoril in the qualifying, again finishing the session in sixth position and with a good consistent pace, starting tomorrow’s race from the second row on the grid. This is one of his best qualifying results in his MotoGP career so far. He’s only started once from second row at [...]

Shakira