Tesla Roadster gets airbag waiver

Click the Tesla Roadster image to see it full sized.

From R&D Magazine:

Tesla gets airbag waiver

WASHINGTON (AP)—Tesla Motors received a waiver from the government on a federal air bag standard Monday, bringing it a step closer toward the production of its all-electric Roadster later this year.

Tesla, based in San Carlos, Calif., has pre-sold all of its 2008 Tesla Roadsters, a fully electric sports car that sells for $98,000. The company expects to begin deliveries in the first quarter of this year but needed the waiver to be able to sell in the U.S.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it will give the company a three-year exemption from the advanced air bag rule, noting that Tesla tried to comply with the requirements and would still have standard air bags on the vehicle.

Based on information provided by the automaker, NHTSA estimates the waiver will cover 3,825 Roadsters, including 625 vehicles this year and 1,600 in each of the following two years.

NHTSA called the Roadster "one of the most advanced full electric vehicles available" and said the "public interest is served by encouraging the development of fuel-efficient and alternative-fueled vehicles."

Tesla has based its Roadster on the two-seat Lotus Elise sports car, which also could not comply with the advanced air bag rule and received an exemption from NHTSA in August 2006. The vehicle will be manufactured at a Lotus factory in Hethel, England, under Tesla's supervision.

Click the Lotus Elise image to see it full sized.

Late last week, Tesla reported it had passed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and confirmed they had moved from a two-speed transmission to a one-speed transmission because of concerns about performance. The first batch of Roadsters will be supplied with “temporary” transmissions.

These are durable, the company says, but acceleration is much better with the new transmission:

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Tesla Motors
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San Carlos, California 94070
(650) 413-4000

French Trader Jerome Kerviel FORCED to Work 30 Hours a Week

Friends of rogue French trader Jerome Kerviel last night blamed his $7 billion losses on unbearable levels of stress brought on by a punishing 30 hour week.

Kerviel hid his November losses in a batch of wonderfully fresh croissants.

Kerviel was known to start work as early as nine in the morning and still be at his desk at five or even five-thirty, often with just an hour and a half for lunch.

One colleague said:

"He was, how you say, une workaholique. I have a family and a mistress so I would leave the office at around 2pm at the latest, if I wasn't on strike. "

But Jerome was tied to that desk. One day I came back to the office at 3pm because I had forgotten my stupid little hat, and there he was, fast asleep on the photocopier.

"At first I assumed he had been having sex with it, but then I remembered he'd been working for almost six hours."

As the losses mounted, Kerviel tried to conceal his bad trades by covering them with an intense red wine sauce, later switching to delicate pastry horns. At one point he managed to dispose of dozens of transactions by hiding them inside vol-au-vent cases and staging a fake reception.

Last night a spokesman for Sócíété Générálé denied that Kerviel was overworked, insisting he lost the money after betting that the French were about to stop being rude, lazy, arrogant bastards.

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Video on story:


Humor found on the internet with no credit to the author.
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Jim Cramer Loses $50K Bet to Eric Bolling over 2007's Hottest Sector

Jim Cramer is both an entertainer and a gentleman for making good on this bet wtih Eric Bolling over his prediction last year that financial services would be the hottest sector for 2007.

Read the full story: Jim Cramer Loses $50K Bet to Eric Bolling: Financial Services was NOT 2007's Hottest Sector

See Jim Cramers "They know NOTHING" rant video with Erin Burnett here.

Bo Yah!

Melissa Theuriau of France: Videos and Pictures

Is there anyone more beautiful to watch and listen to than Melissa Theuriau of France?

• Melissa Theuriau of France Video

Mélissa Theuriau was born on 18th July 1978 in Grenoble (France).

Education:

• 2000 : University Diploma (DUT) in News-Communication from the Technical University (IUT) Pierre Mendès France in Grenoble.


• 2002 : Masters degree in Audiovisual Journalism from the Institute of Communication and Media (ICM) at Echirolles.

Resume:

• Freelance journalist for Canal + and Glem Production.
  
• 2002 - Journalist/Reporter (JRI) for the daily programme on Match TV.
  
• January 2003 - Freelance journalist for the editorial team of LCI.
  
• July 2003 - First appearance on air for LCI. Stand-in for regular news presenters during the summer, alternating between morning and evening editions.
  
• September 2004 - Permanent post as journalist presenter in the morning team.
  
• October 2004 to June 2005 - At the same time, responsible for Travel Chronicle on LCI. A weekly programme of useful information concerning travel.
  
• September 2005 to June 2006 - Presenter of LCI Morning with Thierry Gilardi.
  
• Septembre 2006 - Editor in chief and presenter of the news magazine Forbidden zone on M6.
  
• November to Décember 2006 - Presenter of One day, one photo on Paris Première, showing a selection of photos which have marked history.
  
• January 2007 - Presenter of 2 or 3 days with me on Paris Première. A weekly travel programme in which an invited guest reveals more about him or herself during a trip.

2007 Photo




Melissa Theuriau of France Video



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Megabus Low Cost Bus Service for California, Nevada & Mexico

Megabus offers West Coast bus service for budget minded travelers between major California and Nevada cities to Mexico via Tijiuana and San Ysidro for as little as one dollar ($1) each way!

More info.

Travel from San Francisco or San Jose in Northern California to San Ysidro at the Mexican Border for as little as $3! Using the internet to book tickets with Megabus you can get tickets between major west coast cities for as little as one dollar each way and two dollars round trip.

For more information, list of routes, maps and more, see "Megabus Low Cost West Coast Bus Service for California, Nevada & Mexico."

Travel from San Francisco, Milbrae, Oakland and San Jose to Mexico via San Ysidro requires two tickets with the stop at the hub in Los Angeles, California. The San Ysidro station (San Ysidro MTS & Bus Transit Center) is a short walk from the Mexican Border for easy access to Tijuana Mexico, a city "busrting wtih Mexican and International culbure."

Cruelest Form of Eye Tests for Old Geezers

Sent to me by a reader via email, this bit of humor made my day.

If you are lucky, the nurse will help you with the exam.