Stoked Big Air Edition-RELOADED

Stoked Big Air Edition-RELOADED

RELEASE.DATE: 20/03/2011
PROTECTION: Solidshield
DISC(S): 1
GAME.TYPE: Sport

Developed in conjunction with world-renowned snowboarding movie creator Absinthe Films, Stoked captures the pioneering spirit of professional back country riders. Exhilarating snowboarding experiences are born from dynamic backcountry conditions. The riders who brave and master these conditions are the stuff of legend in Absinthe videos and on the pages of snowboarding magazines. The look and style of these riders are emulated across the world. In Stoked, it’s your turn to become a legendary rider and wow the world on the Xbox Live online entertainment network by becoming an absolute snowboarding phenomenon.

Upgraded with enhanced graphics and features, the Big Air Edition of Stoked features marked trails that make it easy to find great runs, lots of park objects to use for tricks, two new mountains, better visuals, and faster and smoother riding.

Minimum Specifications:

* OS: Windows: /Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3/ Seven
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
* Memory: 1.5GB,
* 8GB Free Hard Drive Space
* Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900 (Direct X 9c compatible) [not compatible with ATI 2400 Series]
* Keyboard or X360 wired controller.
* One time Internet connexion needed for the first launch.

Recommended System Requirements:

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
* Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)
* 8 GB Free Hard Drive Space
* Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870 (Direct X 10 compatible)

Install Notes

1. Unrar.
2. Burn or mount the image.
3. Install the game.
4. Copy the content from the /Crack dir on the DVD to your \bin dir.
5. Play the game.
6. Support the software developers. If you like this game, BUY IT!

Watch Trailer

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STCC The Game 2

STCC The Game 2-SKIDROW

Release Date -; 18-04-2011
Protection: Steam
Game Type – Racing
Disk(s).. 1 DVD

Game info:
“STCC The Game 2″ is the official game of the STCC – Swedish Touring Car Championship 2010 season. The most intense and prestigious motorsport championship in Scandinavia.

Drive 18 Unique cars in two classes with over 45 unique car liveries. “STCC The Game 2″ refines the thrill of racing elite touring cars and brawly Camaro’s. There is a car type for every taste and level of skill.

Enjoy 6 high detail tracks. From the Danish tarmac at Jyllandsringen over Swedish classics like Falkenberg and to the tight rollercoaster ride at Knutstorp; STCC 2 has it all, closely modeled after the real-life tracks.

Features:

* Combined with the included game RACE 07, the content features:
* 29 unique car models in 11 different classes and 25 racing tracks.
* Multiplayer, up to 25 players online or using AI.
* Ghost racing against own or others lap times.
* Real regulations from STCC and WTCC; as real as you want it to be.
* Contains the best of STCC 2010 and other known classes such as Camaro
* Cup, WTCC, Formula 3000 and much much more…

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows XP/Vista
* Processor: Intel Pentium 4 @ 1.7 GHz / AMD Athlon XP 1800+
* Memory: 512 Mb
* Hard Drive: 2.5 Gb free
* Video Memory: 128 Mb
* Video Card: nVidia GeForce FX 5600 / ATI Radeon 9600
* Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
* Network: Broadband Internet Connection for Online Multiplayer
* DirectX: 9.0c
* Keyboard
* Mouse

INSTALL NOTES

1. Unpack the release
2. Mount or burn image
3. Install
4. Copy all files from the SKIDROW folder to the game installation
5. Play the game
6. Support the companies, which software you actually enjoy!

ADDITIONAL NOTES
STCC The Game 2 is an expansion to the game Race’07. SimBin have since updated the main game a lot, and since nobody never released any scene updates for this cool racer, we decided to make it standalone.

Watch Trailer

Screenshot

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SBK: Superbike World Championship (2011)

SBK Superbike World Championship 2011-RELOADED
Release Date: 04/2011 | Publisher: Black Bean Games | Developer: Milestone S.r.l
Genre: Motorcycle Racing | Platform: PC | Size: 2.03 GB

SBK 2011 will feature a brand new artistic direction, an up-to-datedriving model to meet the gamers expectations following the most accuratefeedback collected so far on the web, as well as a more appealing presentationand side effects, due to an overall enhancement of the whole visual impact(menus, environments, 3D objects, lighting effects and much, much more)A simple side-by-side comparison with SBK X will allow the majorimprovements to stand out

Install Notes:

1. Unrar
2. Burn or mount the image
3. Install the game
4. Play the game
5. Support the software developers. If you like this game, BUY IT!

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Slipknot promise to play 'biggest and most emotional'

The 'Spit It Out' group will return to performing for the first time since bassist Paul Grey died of a drugs overdose last May, and although they admit it will be hard without him, they will put their all into their shows.

Percussionist Shawn Crahan said:"I'll be in tears before I even hit the first stair. And I need it very much - and we need it. So I'm looking forward to it, but it's gonna be very hard."

Drummer Joey Jordison added: "I've been in rehearsal over the last few weeks with our new bass player, Donnie Steele, and my feeling is that these will probably be the biggest and most emotional shows that we've ever had.

"I'm just speaking for myself and the rest of the band that we can't wait. Everything's on fire right now."

The pair also confirmed they are hoping the group will continue, write more material and release a fifth album after the tour is done.

Shawn said: "Do I want another Slipknot record? Absolutely. I'm not a fortune teller. Do I know if that will happen? I don't know."
Joey added: "As far as I'm concerned, yeah. I personally have, now- I don't know, probably over 17 songs."

Slipknot will headline the Sonisphere festival, which takes place in various countries across Europe, this summer.

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Caption My Freaky Photo Competition #3

It's one of my newest and favourite blog games and I just love all the comments I get when y'all play it. 

It tickles me to no end....

Here's the next one in the "Caption My Freaky Photo" series. 

See #1 and #2 if you missed them.

Enjoy writing for this one and, as usual, you might just win a wee something....

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Panasonic, Yahoo, more admit defeat, sign deal with Klausner

It's easy to mock the little guy when he takes a handful of giant corporations to court. Such litigious overzealousness usually gets tangled up or tossed out altogether -- Klausner Technologies, however, is laughing all the way to the bank, with a stellar track record taking on some of tech's biggest names over the past few years. To date, the company has scored wins in visual voicemail patent battles with Apple, Google, Verizon, LG, and Vonage -- the company also struck a deal with Sprint, though presumably with less teeth-pulling. This week, Klausner added four more big wins to the list, inking deals with Panasonic, Yahoo, Qwest Communications, and Avaya in the wake of suits against the tech firms. The company still has ongoing battles with RIM and Cisco that will hopefully stay civil. We'd hate to see someone send a visual voicemail they'd regret later.

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HBO Go mobile app hands-on (video)

HBO Go has been live on the iTunes App Store and Android Market for just a few short hours, but we've already put it through the paces, poking and prodding on our iPad and iPhone, to see what all the hubbub's about. We're pleased with the hefty amount of video that HBO's offering up here, and the interface is pretty intuitive as well. Still, browsing through the myriad content on the iPad's larger screen is definitely a bit more leisurely than on the iPhone's 3.5-inch counterpart. Both apps sport the same feature set, so searching for content, saving things to watch later, and blasting updates to Facebook and Twitter will work well on whichever device you choose. To make the deal even sweeter, it's free for current subscribers, so there's really no reason to not check it out for yourself -- unless you don't have HBO, in which case we have a video walkthrough embedded after the break.

Update: Sorry Android users, but it looks like the only supported versions for the Android app are 2.1 - 2.3.3. However, we're getting reports that it does function in the browser -- so long as you've got Flash installed, of course. We're also told that the HBO Go site works just fine on the PlayBook as well.

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LCD-equipped Cisco REN301 Residential Gateway stops by FCC, reveals all its dirty secrets

Ah, the all too familiar WiFi troubleshooting dance: the network goes down, you dig through the closet for an Ethernet cable, saunter over to the router, jack yourself in, type in the IP address, and start poking around at your settings. Cisco's REN301 Residential Gateway (a fancy way of saying "router"), which just passed through the FCC, could make things at least a little bit easier thanks to its built-in LCD screen and capacitive touch controls. Wave your hand over the display to bring it to life and you can check the status of your connections, modify some basic settings, and peruse a log of calls that have come in over the SIP VoIP phone jacks. The REN301, which has a single band 802.11b/g/n radio, can also turn USB drives and SD cards into NAS storage -- the company even throws in a 32GB card to get you started. We don't have a price or release date, but since it's been splayed open for federal regulators we probably won't have to wait long. There's a couple of pics of the router's UI after the break.

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Desk Phone Dock review

With every passing day, more people are ditching their landlines in favor of using their cellular phones as a combination device. Smartphones are no doubt excellent means of contacting other humans and managing our lives, but some of us miss the simpler days -- when a phone was just a phone. If you're a proud owner of an iPhone but looking to head down the retro road, Kee Utility would like to point you in the right direction. When we first saw the Desk Phone Dock, we were pretty intrigued by its looks but had questions about its practicality. What you see here is the $150 answer. Keep reading to see how well we got on with it.

Design / overall look

When we first saw the Desk Phone Dock, we thought it looked like something out of Cupertino, in terms of its color and minimalist design. The upper half of the unit is finished in white matte, while the bottom half is an aluminum shell that acts as a stand and is angled to give you ergonomically friendly access to your phone when docked. The hollow shell of a landline has a candy-bar receiver that rests magnetically on the base, a dial for volume control with a flush mute button, and a recessed bay to rest your iPhone 3G, 3GS or 4. There's another dial, hidden under the phone's resting place, that lets you adjust your iPhone's tilting angle. We were really diggint the super-sleek look and design of the unit, but having to plug in a 3.5mm audio cable left us feeling a bit bummed out -- like most people, we prefer fewer cables whenever possible.

Setup

Although setting up this unit doesn't require more than one human, we figured a quick walk-through would be worth your while. In the packaging you'll find a USB cable that connects the dock to your computer for syncing, a power cord that inserts into the wall, and of course, the phone dock itself. All that's left is plugging the 3.5mm audio jack into your Apple smartphone. Once your cables are in order, you'll be all set to relive the olden days.

Functionalit

If you recall, the desktop Phone Dock does more than just charge your device when it's cradled. Like we mentioned above, the device has a USB port for syncing your iPhone with your computer, and of course, using the dock will give you the feeling of using an old school home phone. There's also a speakerphone that can naturally double up as a music speaker, but more on that in a sec. With everything set up, you then have the ability to take calls with a handheld receiver while your iPhone is charging. There's a catch, though: you'd think that with the iPhone docked, lifting the receiver off the base would pick up the call. Sadly, you still have to answer calls by dragging the iPhone's virtual unlock bar like you normally would. Ending calls is a bit unwieldy, too. Put the receiver back on the base and you'll be routed to speakerphone rather than it disconnecting your calls, which makes slamming the phone down in anger rather less satisfying.

As mentioned above, there's a big, friendly volume dial on the front with a mute button in the middle that, curiously, silences both ends of the conversation. And because this is a review of a phone (if you will), we should discuss call quality, right? Suffice to say talking on here sounds more or less like talking on an iPhone, with no noticeable increase or decrease in quality. Calls on speakerphone sounded loud and crisp, and neither end of the conversation experienced echo. As a music speaker, though, it disappoints -- music sounded totally washed out and got worse as we increased volume. For 150 bucks, you'd expect the loudspeaker to be of decent quality, but alas, we suggest sticking to using it just for concalls.

If you'll notice in the top image, there's a 3.5mm audio jack in the middle of the speaker grill. We're told that we could use this to record calls, and we did just that. Problem is, this only captures the audio from the other end of the call. The recording port simply routes the incoming audio into your computer, and you're left with a recording of one end of the conversation which essentially renders this feature useless.

Wrap up

Sure, it's 2011 and landlines are becoming a thing of the past, but hey, if you've already set your phone up to rest in a dock on your desk, this device might just be for you. The Desk Phone Dock is a bit bulky and adds more than one extra line to your land, but we'll admit: talking into a receiver like the olden days feels rewarding -- in a nostalgic sort of manner -- and it can turn your iPhone into a first-class speakerphone. At $150 it's certainly not a cheap toy, but if you're looking for a way to make your calls feel a bit more luxurious, this could be it.

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BlackBerry Bold Touch makes brief appearance on RIM's website

As you may have have been able to discern from the multitude of leaks that have surfaced over the past few months, RIM is apparently getting set to debut a new touchscreen-equipped BlackBerry Bold at BlackBerry World next week. While still not completely official, that's now been all but confirmed by RIM itself, which briefly featured the teaser pictured above on its website before pulling it for reasons unknown. As you can see, RIM apparently couldn't help itself and promised that it will be a "bold step ahead," and it appears that the phone is unsurprisingly running BlackBerry 7, which until recently was better known as OS 6.1. Of course, that's hardly the only news we're expecting to hear at BlackBerry World, and you can be sure we'll be there to brave the puns and bring it all to you.

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Sony Bloggie 3D now available for aspiring James Camerons everywhere

Sure, we'll never see dreams of a 3D Cisco Flip realized, but Sony's offering the next best thing: the Bloggie 3D. The latest addition to the company's line of pocket camcorders was quietly made available this week for $249.99 a pop -- $80 more than the recently released Bloggie Duo HD, because extra dimensions ain't cheap. The camera takes a cue from Nintendo's latest portable, with a 2.4 inch 3D display that eschews the need for glasses. Or, if you're not in the mood to squint and don't mind the eyewear, you can output the video to a 3D-enabled HDTV.

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Thermaltake's Level 10 GT enclosure gets reviewed, deemed more practical than its predecessor

If you've never heard the words "form over function" used to describe a computer case, you must've missed Thermaltake's Level 10 last year. Sure, it made us do a double take with its BMW-designed, super modular chassis, but its 50-pound weight and $750 price made it an impractical choice for a sizable chunk of the enthusiast crowd. Almost a year later, The Tech Report has gotten its hands on its successor, the $270 Level 10 GT, and deemed it much more fit for real-world use. This time, the company decompartmentalized the 3.5-inch hard drive bays -- all while adding an extra 5.25-inch bay and making room for an external 2.5-incher. Nonetheless, the GT isn't without imperfections -- the reviewer found a few spots where the build quality was lacking. If you've had your eye on one of these, we highly recommend perusing the extremely thorough review at the source link.

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Tesla J1772 mobile connector standardizes Roadster, costs $750

That non-standard charge port on your Tesla Roadster isn't proprietary, it's just outmoded -- but don't worry, a four foot adapter is here to save the day. This new J1772 to Roadster connector bridges the Roadster's 2008 designed charge port to the industry standard J1772, adopted by automakers and energy firms over a full year after the Roadster's debut. The new coupling cable will juice up your wheels in just four hours at EV stations outputting 70 amps, or in seven and a half hours for the average 32 amp level 2 charger. Native plug access to those thousands of ChargePoint stations will set you back $750, but if you've already bought a Tesla Roadster, that's just another drop in the ($100,000) bucket.

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First Trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Director Michael Bay has previously said that Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third installment in the Transformers franchise, would blend "what we know as history growing up as kids with what really happened" in the space race between the U.S. and the former U.S.S.R. That promise was upheld in the teaser trailer, which showed that the mission to the moon was actually to uncover the wrecked transformer, Sentinel Prime.

More recently, Bay has said that Dark of the Moon was more "intimate" as it followed "a small group" that had "no cavalry coming." That promise is fulfilled in the sequel's first trailer and brief plot summary.

    When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon was written by Ehren Kruger and stars Shia LaBeouf and newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley along with John Malkovich, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey, John Turturro, and Frances McDormand, who is revealed in the trailer.

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Hamilton wins the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix

2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton has won his first Grand Prix in the 2011 season, the eighth edition of the Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel in a race where tyre degradation proved once again to be a key factor this year.

Mark Webber drove an outstanding race to come from 18th on the grid to third in the second Red Bull, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button, Mercedes GP’S Nico Rosberg, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher, Lotus Renault GP’s Vitaly Petrov and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.
2011 Chinese Grand Prix, lap by lap highlights:

The third race of the 2011 season is about to start in China’s Shanghai International circuit.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel starts from pole position for the third consecutive time in the season after beating by 0.700 seconds McLaren’s Jenson Button during the qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton starts from the third spot of the grid in the other McLaren ahead of Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Jaime Alguersuari, Paul Di Resta and Sebastien Buemi.

Mark Webber faces a difficult race today as he starts from the 18th place after a disastrous qualifying on Saturday.

Formation lap: the grid clears ahead of the formation lap.

Race start: Race start at Shanghai! Into turn 1, Vettel down to third. Button P1, Hamilton P2. Massa P5, Alonso P6. Great start from Button.

Lap 2/56: Di Resta P7, Sutil P8, Schumacher P9. Webber passes Perez for P16.

Lap 3/56: DRS has been enabled. Kobayashi overtakes Alguersuari for P10.

Lap 5/56: Fastest lap for Button: 1:44.013. Webber is now up to 15th.

Lap 6/56: Di Resta reports over the team radio problems with the rear of his Force India.

Lap 7/56: Button P1, Hamilton P2, Vettel P3, Rosberg P4, Massa P5, Alonso P6. Petrov up to 11th after passing Alguersuari.

Lap 8/56: Drive through penalty for Liuzzi for jumping the start.

Lap 9/56: Perez passes Webber for P15.

Lap 10/56: Alguersuari pits. The Spaniard rejoins but his right rear wheel falls out at Turn 2. He’s out.

Lap 11/56: Schumacher pits from 11th. Webber pits. Maldonado pits.

Lap 12/56: Di Resta pits from P10. Massa P5 and Alonso P6 now pressuring Rosberg. Rosberg pits from P4. Perez overtakes Buemi for P11.

Lap 13/56: Buemi has pitted.

Lap 14/56: Vettel pressuring Hamilton for P2. Vettel overtakes Hamilton.

Lap 15/56: Button and Vettel pit together. Vettel resumes ahead of Button, but replays show Button pitting in the wrong garage! Meanwhile Massa has passed Hamilton.

Lap 16/56: Massa and Hamilton pit. Sutil pits.

Lap 17/56: Alonso pits. Perez and Barrichello pit. Replays show Massa and Hamilton overtaking Heidfeld. Buemi pits again. Glock pits.

Lap 18/56: Petrov pits.

Lap 19/56: After the first pit stop, Rosberg is now leading the race ahead of Vettel, Button, Massa, Hamilton, Schumacher and Alonso. Pit stop for Heidfeld.

Lap 20/56: Kovalainen pits from P16.

Lap 21/56: Webber is up to 11th. Trulli pits.

Lap 22/56: Kobayashi has a slightly damaged front nose. Liuzzi pits.

Lap 23/56: Alonso is struggling to pass Schumacher for P6.

Lap 24/56: Rosberg P1, Vettel P2, Button P3, Massa P4, Hamilton P5.

Lap 25/56: Button pits from P3. He rejoins in P8.

Lap 26/56: Rosberg pits from the lead. Hamilton pits. Alonso has finally passed Schumacher. Webber pits. Maldonado pits.

Lap 27/56: Schumacher pits from P5.

Lap 28/56: Fastest lap for Button: 1:41.536. Fastest lap for Webber: 1:41.200. Rosberg passes Alonso for P3.

Lap 29/56: Button passes Alonso for P4. Glock pits.

Lap 30/56: Hamilton overtakes Alonso for P5. The Spaniard is clearly struggling with the degradation on his tyres.

Lap 31/56: Sutil, Kobayashi, Heidfeld pit. Massa closing in on Vettel.

Lap 32/56: Vettel pits for the second time.

Lap 33/56: Alonso finally pits for a new set of hard tyres. Di Resta pits. Alonso resumes in 10th. Schumacher made it past Petrov for P7.

Lap 34/56: Massa pits from the lead. He resumes in P5. Replays show Massa crossing the pitlane exit line. Buemi has pitted.

Lap 35/56: Rosberg P1, Button P2, Hamilton P3, Vettel P4, Massa P5, Schumacher P6, Webber P7, Petrov P8, Alonso P9.

Lap 36/56: Hamilton overtakes Button for P2.

Lap 37/56: Perez pits from 10th. Alonso makes it past Petrov for P8. Webber closing in on Schumacher for P6.

Lap 38/56: Button makes his third pit stop and rejoins in fifth. Petrov pits. Webber overtakes Schumacher for P6.

Lap 39/56: Hamilton pits for the third time and resumes in fourth.

Lap 40/56: Third pit stop for Rosberg. Schumacher pits.

Lap 41/56: Vettel P1, Massa P2, Rosberg P3. Webber pits from 6th. Hamilton P4, Button P5. Kovalainen and Glock pit.

Lap 42/56: Hamilton passes Rosberg for P3.

Lap 43/56: Fastest lap for Webber: 1:38.993. Trulli pits from P18.

Lap 44/56: Hamilton closing in on Massa (P2).

Lap 45/56: Hamilton passes Massa for P2. Rosberg and Button getting ready to pass Massa. Webber has passed Alonso for P6.

Lap 47/56: Vettel P1, Hamilotn P2, Massa P3, Button P4, Rosberg P5, Webber P6, Alonso P7. Replays show Sutil and Perez making contact at Turn 2.

Lap 48/56: Sutil pits. Hamilton is being told to lookout at his tyres.

Lap 49/56: Race control: drive through penalty for Perez for causing a collision.

Lap 50/56: Button passes Massa for P3.

Lap 51/56: Hamilton pressuring race leader Vettel. Replays show Rosberg passing Massa for P4.

Lap 52/56: Webber up to P5. Hamilton takes the lead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Lap 53/56: Webber pressuring Rosberg for P4. Hamilton P1, Vettel P2, Button P3, Rosberg P4, Webber P5, Massa, P6, Alonso P7. Webber overtakes Rosberg for P4.

Lap 55/56: Webber now pressuring Button for P3. Webber overtakes Button for P3.

Last lap: Lewis Hamilton takes for first the chequered flag and wins the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel finishes second ahead of team-mate Mark Webber. Fourth place for Jenson Button, fifth for Nico Rosberg, sixth for Felipe Massa, seventh for Fernando Alonso, eighth for Michael Schumacher, ninth for Vitaly Petrov and tenth for Kamui Kobayashi.

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Schumi vows to see out his Merc contract

Michael Schumacher insists he is not ready to throw in the towel following another difficult start to the season.

A lot was expected of the seven-time World Champion when he came out of retirement in 2010 to sign a deal with Mercedes GP. However, he failed to live up to expectations last year and finished a disappointing ninth in the Drivers' Champions - 70 points behind team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Although there has been a marked improvement this year, he is still finding it difficult to match the performances of Rosberg.

There have been suggestions that Schumacher could pack it in before his contract expires in 2012, but he is having none of it.

"I will fulfil my three-year contract with Mercedes after which I will work as a representative of the team's brand," he told Germany's Bunte.

He added: "I am on a mission to take Mercedes GP to the top step of the podium. Fighting for 10th place is not always pleasant. I expect to be in a better position soon."

Although he is confident of improving, Schumacher also admits that being 42-years-old "is not the same as 25".

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South Africa at the 2011 ICU International Cheer Union World Championships

Team South Africa you did us proud!! Well done Justin and Sam!



Co-ed Partner with Justin Spotting



All Girls Group



Congratulations to Canada for winning this Co-Ed Elite Team section! Here's some highlights


Got to www.varsity.com to view all the team's performances under Varsity TV. Enjoy!

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Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden start well in Portugal

The rain that was forecast for the first day of practice at the Estoril Grand Prix arrived, but fortunately for the MotoGP riders, both sessions took place in dry conditions. After a nighttime shower, the weather granted a respite until shortly after the finish of the premier class’ 45 minute second free-practice session of the top class.

The rain that was forecast for the first day of practice at the Estoril Grand Prix arrived, but fortunately for the MotoGP riders, both sessions took place in dry conditions. After a nighttime shower, the weather granted a respite until shortly after the finish of the premier class’ 45 minute second free-practice session of the top class.

It was a good day for both Ducati Team riders, with Valentino Rossi fourth and Nicky Hayden ninth, making progressive improvement from the morning to the afternoon. The Italian rider improved his time by approximately five tenths, while the American actually dropped a second and a half from his earlier time.

Valentino Rossi:
“I’m pretty satisfied with how the day went. Let’s start with my physical condition, which I’m very happy with: I was obviously aware of being a little better when I arrived here, but I wanted to wait until I tested my shoulder on the track, which confirmed that I’m able to ride well and have fun. It still hurts a little, and I’m missing a little strength, but the difference compared to my left shoulder is less. I can concentrate on riding the bike, and when watching myself on television, I can see that my style is starting to be a little more normal. Naturally, we’re also working on the bike. Today we used a different weight distribution and some changes to the electronics that worked well. For the first time, we went faster in the afternoon session than in the morning. We dropped almost half a second, getting us closer to the top. I still have some problems with rear grip, so tomorrow we have to do better, but I’m happy for now.”

Nicky Hayden:
“This morning was not a good session at all, but the afternoon was a lot better. We had a problem with one bike in FP1. I’m not sure what happened, but we’ll send the engine back to Bologna to check it out. I went back out at the end, but we used hard tyres because I didn’t want to waste another soft tyre, since it looks like it will be a soft-tyre race this weekend. Also, I had just gone out with a new setting, and since I only did about four corners, we got no information on that. We lost some valuable time, but this afternoon went better—not spectacular, but pretty steady. I was in the top ten for most of the session, and I had a decent feeling with the bike—I would say better than what the lap time shows. I’m sure everybody thinks they can do better tomorrow, but I feel like we can do a good job and try to get in a good lap in qualifying, which is going to be really important.”

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Sirius Satellite 2.0 to include DVR-like features, personalized stations?

The problem with Sirius Satellite Radio? You can listen to hundreds of stations, but only if you tune in live. As it stands, licensing restrictions make it impossible to record Howard Stern asking intrusive questions about people's sex lives. But that could change with version 2.0 of the platform, which is rumored to be on track for a fall release. According to a CNET report citing the good ole' "source close to the company," select programs will
be available for on-demand listening for a limited period after their original airing. And, this source says, the new platform could take a cue from Pandora and Slacker with personalized stations that let you skip songs, flag your favorites, and ban the ones that drive you insane. If true, listeners would get a whole lot more value out of that $13 monthly subscription -- and SiriusXM might have a greater chance of beating Pandora in the battle for your in-car attention. Until then, you'll just have to keep listening to Tiger Blood Radio live.

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Amped Wireless' UA600EX adapter quadruples your laptop's WiFi range when you're on a boat

For every gadget you can use on land, there has to be one you can use at sea, right? Just in time for yachting season, Amped Wireless released the weatherproof UA600EX High Power Wireless-N 600mW Pro USB Adapter, which promises to extend your notebook's WiFi range in areas where there are no hotspots to be mooched. That sounds ideal for boating, but thanks to some flexible mounting options and one heavy-duty 26.5-foot cable, it should also come in handy everywhere from offices to RVs. The single-band UA600EX runs on the 2.4GHz spectrum, and although the company stops short of saying just how many feet of leeway you can expect, it does claim to quadruple your computer's range -- whatever that happens to be. If you have a hankering to watch Deadliest Catch on your next fishing trip, you can nab one of these bad boys at the source link for a cool $110.

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SIM-sized satellites to lift off with Endeavour this afternoon

They won't be beaming GPS or radio signals back to Earth anytime soon, but these one-inch-square satellites could one day travel to distant planets -- without fuel. Developed over a period of three years by a team of undergraduates at Cornell University, the Sprite chips could eventually be used for communication, flying in clusters like tiny space plankton. After hitching a ride on-board the final space shuttle Endeavour mission this afternoon, the three prototype satellites will be mounted outside the International Space Station, where they'll sit for the next few years, exposed to conditions found only beyond our atmosphere. Perhaps someday we'll even see some "Spprite" KIRFs by the time China's own space station is ready to hit the launchpad in 2020.

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Amazing Guitar

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Tinie Tempah delaying the release of second album to concentrate on breaking the US

Tinie Tempah is delaying the release of his second album to concentrate on breaking the US.

The British rapper had planned to bring out a follow-up to debut 'Disc-Overy' later this year, but after his single 'Written in the Stars' went to number 14 in the US charts he is putting all his efforts into making it big there.

A source told the Daily Star newspaper: 'Tinie has got the busiest schedule around, but you'll never hear him moan. Even when he's on a plane, he's thinking of ideas for his next album, show or performance.

'As much as he wants to get new music out to his fans he doesn't want to short-change them, so the album will now come out in 2012.'

The American public appear to be very taken with Tinie, especially after discovering he hung out with Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton at last year's Radio One's Big Weekend event in his homw country.

The source added: 'All the Americans want to ask Tinie is about meeting the royals. They're overwhelmed at the story of Wills declaring himself a big fan of his debut single 'Pass Out'.'

Tinie, 22, was also flattered by his meeting with royalty, telling BANG Showbiz: "Prince William came to watch me, and that was a really surreal.

"To think that the future king of England was watching my set and, like, singing along to my lyrics was a little bit crazy.

"But he was so sincere and just one hundred per cent, just very much personal and nice to know - we got on like a house on fire."

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Sir Elton John hasn't spoken to his mother in three years

Sheila Farebrother explained her 64-year-old son has cut her out of his life "completely" after what was believed to be a disagreement with his partner David Furnish, with whom Elton fathers four-month-old baby Zachary.

She explained: "He has cut me off completely. It happened three years ago this June. He has had nothing to do with me since then.

"I don't want to go into what caused it. It is a painful subject. My son cut me out of his life for good."

The 86-year-old widower ' who is still financially supported by the singer ' also claimed she has "no particular interest" in meeting her new grandson, who was brought into the world via a surrogate mother on Christmas Day (25.12.10).

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, she added: "I have no particular interest really. You will have to ask them about that."

Despite Sheila having sold a treasure trove of Elton memorabilia for £28,820 when she recently moved house, she also insisted it had "nothing to do" with the rift between her and her son.

She said: "That has nothing to do with it. I moved into a smaller place and had nowhere to keep all that stuff."

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Adriana Lima

Birth Name: Adriana Francesca Lima
Birth Date: June 12, 1981
Birth Place: Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Lima never thought about being a model, although she had won many beauty pageants in elementary school. However, she had a friend at school who wanted to enter a modeling contest and did not want to enter alone, so Lima entered with her. Both sent in pictures, and the contest sponsor soon asked Lima to come out for the competition. Soon after, at the age of 15, she entered and finished in first place in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" model search. She subsequently entered the 1996 Ford "Supermodel of the World" contest and finished in second place. Three years later, Lima moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. After acquiring representation, Lima's modeling portfolio quickly began to expand, and she appeared in numerous international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire. As a runway model, she has walked the catwalks for designers such as Vera Wang, Christian Lacroix, Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, and Valentino, among others. Lima became a GUESS? girl in 2000, appearing in that year's fall ad campaign. She also appeared in the book A Second Decade of Guess? Images.

Lima continued to build upon her portfolio, doing more print work for Maybelline, for whom she worked as a spokesmodel from 2003 until 2009, the same year she appeared in the company's first calendar, a limited edition run also featuring Kemp Muhl, Jessica White, Julia Stegner, and Anna Wang. Lima has also worked for notable fashion brands bebe, Mossimo, Armani, Bulgari, De Beers, FCUK, Intimissimi, Keds, Swatch, Versace, and BCBG. She also appeared on the covers and in the editorials of other fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, GQ, Justify FullArena, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. Her April 2006 GQ cover was the highest-selling issue that magazine for the year. She also appeared in the 2005 Pirelli Calendar and became the face of Italy's cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile, a move that earned her the nickname, "the Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy."


In February 2008, Lima was featured on the cover of Esquire, re-creating the classic 1966 Angie Dickinson cover on Esquire's 75th anniversary along with fellow Victoria's Secret Angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Karolina Kurkova, Izabel Goulart and Selita Ebanks. She appeared only in shoes, diamonds and gloves for the November 2007 issue of Vanity Fair celebrating 20 years of supermodels with her fellow Angels. In February 2008, she was chosen to be the face of Mexico's Liverpool department store chain and launched the partnership with a press conference, runway show, and summer campaign. Lima returned to the high fashion runway in 2009, walking for Givenchy. That same year, after visiting Turkey, Lima signed a contract with Doritos to appear in print campaigns and commercials which began airing in Turkey that April. She was also one of the faces of Givenchy for the Fall/Winter 2009 season, alongside Mariacarla Boscono and Iris Strubegger.

In 2006, Lima ranked as the fifth highest paid supermodel. In 2007 and 2008, she ranked as the world's fourth highest paid supermodel by Forbes Magazine.

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Simoncelli happy after topping the timesheets on day one

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s Marco Simoncelli was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal, despite a crash in the afternoon.

After the disappointment of crashing whilst leading the race in Jerez, the 24 year old dominated both first and second practice, to finish ahead of fellow Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. Simoncelli was consistently quick on a circuit where he has enjoyed good results in the past. His best result of his debut season was here at Estoril with a fourth place. The rider from Cattolica was happy with his set-up after improvements were made from earlier in the day and is confident of continuing enhancements throughout the weekend.

Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini Team

”Yes today is a great day of course for me because I started the morning very fast. We continued this into the afternoon. We did some work on our set-up and made some modifications to the chassis and everything is working good. We still need to improve the grip in the first corner for the maximum angle, this is the main problem. This morning we had some problems with the brakes but we solved the issue, not completely but a very good step forward. I’m happy and confident with the set-up of my bike.”

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Lady Gaga throws royal wedding-themed party to mark the end of her tour

The eccentric singer marked the end of her 'Monster's Ball' tour on Wednesday (27.04.11) by throwing a huge bash inspired by today's (29.04.11) nuptials between Prince William and Kate Middleton for her friends, family and crew in Cleveland, Ohio.

According to insiders, the 'Judas' singer decorated the venue with Union Jack bunting and served her guests ' including her mother Cynthia - traditional English fare such as cucumber sandwiches, coronation chicken and crumpets with jam, with gin cocktails served in royal mugs.

A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: 'Gaga had the time of her life ' on occasion she was even talking in a London accent.

'Her attention to detail was impressive. She had a special room decorated backstage in British flags and bunting and everyone was told to work the royal look.'

Gaga, 25, dressed up as William's great-grandmother, the late Queen Mother, in what was described as a 'unique interpretation' of the royal, while her entourage were also creative in their costumes.

The source added: 'Her dancers came dressed as Wills and Harry, Henry VIII and even corgis, like the Queen's dogs.'

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Simoncelli fastest again in FP2

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s Marco Simoncelli was quickest for the second practice for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal after also topping the timesheets in FP1. The Honda rider got the better of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

The Italian lost the front end of his Honda going into turn 3 midway through the session so had to jump onto his second machine but he was never headed. The 24 year old has won at this circuit back in 2009 in the intermediate class and will be aiming for his maiden victory/rostrum after missing out on the opportunity in Spain.

The second practice of the day was run in much hotter temperatures underneath the Portuguese sunshine. The MotoGP class just missed out on the rain which began to fall at the end of the forty five minute practice. All 17 riders were separated by 2.510s.

Lorenzo who has recorded three pole positions here in the premier class, was consistently quick throughout FP2 and finished with a deficit of just 0.061s behind Simoncelli. The 23 year old was 0.003s faster than his rival Pedrosa in third. The Repsol Honda rider has yet to win in any category at this circuit. It’s only one of only four venues the Spaniard has been unable to achieve victory at.

Finishing on identical lap times of 1’38:102 were Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) and Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) after their much talked about coming together from the last race in Jerez. The Italian has had five wins here in the premier class. The Australian spent a large portion of the session in the pits as he did in the morning. Stoner claimed his maiden victory in the intermediate category back here in 2005.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was again solidly in the top ten, keen to put the disappointment of Jerez behind him. The American has had two fourth places here in 2006 and 2008 which are his best results at this circuit. Rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) was seventh quickest in only his third race of the MotoGP campaign. The Czech rider finished in 10th place here last season.

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) has not had a happy time so far at this venue after crashing on the sighting lap here in 2010 and therefore was unable to take part in the race. After a run off in first practice this morning, the Yamaha rider was eighth fastest, 0.900s off Simoncelli’s best time.

The final two places in the top went to two Ducati machines. Ninth was Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) who will be hoping to achieve the first win for Ducati at this circuit. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Team) who had his best ever finish in MotoGP after his sixth place in Jerez was tenth quickest in FP2. The ten riders were covered by less than a second.

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Chris Brown drops F.A.M.E. album cover

Next month, Chris Brown is scheduled to release his much anticipated F.A.M.E. LP. To get fans more excited, the singer has just issued the artwork for his fourth studio project, which will arrive on March 22nd. Do you plan on supporting C. Breezy?

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Jesse McCartney: Shopping For a Good Piano

Jesse McCartney pulls the door closed on cameras as he leaves Boa restaurant in Beverly Hills on Monday night (March 14).

The 23-year-old musician recently chatted with JJJ about looking around for a new piano to celebrate his new album. “I haven’t found one yet though,” Jesse shared.

He continued, “I used to take lessons when I was younger and want to take some more, actually. I know enough here and there but I really want to zero in on my songs and learn a few of my own, so when I do go out on tour and perform these songs, I can hopefully play some stuff.”

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iZettle's chip-reading Square competitor will take your money, no swipes required (video)

Everyone seems to be getting on board with Square's iPhone credit card reader -- Apple started selling the device in its stores last week, and even Visa has taken a financial interest in the company. However, due to the popularity of fraud-fighting chip-enabled smart cards on the other side of the pond, Square's offering doesn't quite fit the bill. iZettle has a similar solution for Europe that includes the ever-so-necessary smart card reader, which the company is launching in Sweden this June. Not only does it enable you to accept credit card payments from friends or customers, the app adds a social twist. Merchants can email a photograph and receipt to buyers, who can then share their latest spoils on Facebook. Of course, if this starts to catch on, it could make explaining that "awesome deal" you scored on a new laptop that much more difficult when it pops up on your significant other's news feed.

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Hayden Leslie Panettiere

Birth Name: Hayden Leslie Panettiere
Birth Date: August 21, 1989
Birth Place: Palisades, New York, USA

As one of Hollywood’s most sought after young actresses, Hayden Panettiere is currently filming Wes Craven’s highly anticipated Scream 4 for Dimension Films in the leading role, ‘Kirby Reed,’ opposite Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, and original cast members, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox-Arquette. The fourth installment of the wildly popular horror franchise is scheduled for an April 2011 release date.

Panettiere is best known for her role as ‘Claire Bennet’ in NBC's award-winning drama series "Heroes" from 2006 to 2010. For this role, she portrayed an indestructible high school cheerleader, struggling to define her identity and place in the world. "Heroes" followed the lives of ordinary people who discovered they possess extraordinary abilities.

Panettiere began her acting career at a young age by lending her voice to the animated movies, A Bug's Life and Dinosaur. From there she went on to star in the movie Remember the Titans, where she played the spitfire daughter of Coach Yoast. Her career hasn’t slowed down since. Other credits include: Fireflies in the Garden, I Love You Beth Cooper, Racing Stripes, Lies My Mother Told Me, Tiger Cruise, Normal, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Message In a Bottle, Object of My Affection, The Architect, and Ice Princess, for which she also recorded the song "I Fly" on the film's soundtrack.

Her roles have won her numerous accolades. Panettiere is the recipient of the 2008 and 2009 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Actress: Action/Adventure, as well as the 2009 Teen Choice Award for “Choice Celebrity Activist.” She also received the "Breakout Actress Award" in 2007 at the Capri Hollywood Film Festival, and the award for Favorite "Clipped" Dramatic Artist for the Television Season at the 2007 1st Annual Wave Award.

Panettiere's impressive list of accomplishments also includes her now three-year long association with Neutrogena. She also designed the popular "Hayden Bag" for Dooney & Burke.

Panettiere is a committed environmental activist. She currently serves as an ambassador, along with fellow ambassadors Nelson Mandela and Queen Noor, for the World Conservation Union's (ICUN) Wildlife Foundation. She is also widely known for her role as campaign spokesperson for the Whaleman Foundation, an oceanic research, conservation, and production organization dedicated to preserving and protecting dolphins, whales, and their ocean habitat. Since serving as spokesperson, she has traveled to Washington DC to meet with congressmen, was invited to the International Whaling Conference in Portugal, and was featured in The Cove, a 2010 Oscar®-winning documentary film exposing the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. Her involvement in animal welfare also led to her being the recipient of the Genesis Wyler Award from The Humane Society of the United States in 2007.

Panettiere also serves as an ambassador for Declare Yourself, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to empower and encourage every eligible 18-29 year-old in America to register and vote in local and national elections.

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