Revolutionary Car Folds Up Like a Stroller

A tiny revolutionary fold-up car designed in Spain's Basque country as the answer to urban stress and pollution was unveiled Tuesday before hitting European cities in 2013.

The "Hiriko," the Basque word for "urban," is an electric two-seater with no doors whose motor is located in the wheels and which folds up like a child's collapsible buggy, or stroller, for easy parking.

Dreamt up by Boston's MIT-Media lab, the concept was developed by a consortium of seven small Basque firms under the name Hiriko Driving Mobility, with a prototype unveiled by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

Demonstrating for journalists, Barroso clambered in through the fold-up front windscreen of the 1.5-metre-long car.

"European ideas usually are developed in the United States. This time an American idea is being made in Europe," consortium spokesman Gorka Espiautold AFP.

Its makers are in talks with a number of European cities to assemble the tiny cars that can run 120 kilometers (75 miles) without a recharge and whose speed is electronically set to respect city limits.

They envision it as a city-owned vehicle, up for hire like the fleets of bicycles available in many European cities, or put up for sale privately at around 12,500 euros.

Several cities have shows interest, including Berlin, Barcelona, San Francisco and Hong Kong. Talks are under way with Paris, London, Boston, Dubai and Brussels.

The vehicle's four wheels turn at right angles to facilitate sideways parking in tight spaces.
The backers describe the "Hiriko" project as a "European social innovation initiative offering a systematic solution to major societal challenges: urban transportation, pollution and job creation."


Source : http://autos.yahoo.com/news/fold-up-car-of-the-future-unveiled-for-europe.html

Read More

Evans Earns Title Shot With Convincing Win

CHICAGO – Rashad Evans wasn’t nearly the collegiate wrestler that Phil Davis was and didn’t come remotely close to becoming a four-time All-American and winning a national title, as Davis did while at Penn State.

But in the main event of UFC on Fox 2, Evans proved Saturday that mixed martial arts is another thing entirely.

Evans won by unanimous decision over Davis – judges had it 50-45 across the board – proving to be the faster, sharper and more complete fighter. The victory in front of a sold-out United Center earns Evans a title shot against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones on April 21 in Atlanta.

“Phil Davis definitely brought it, and I won. And now that I won, I get an opportunity to fight Jon and I’m excited about it,” Evans said.

Evans had Davis in a crucifix several times in the fight and rained damage upon Davis. Davis simply didn’t have the hands to make Evans respect him and didn’t have Evans’ overall game.

By the middle of the third round, the only question was whether there would be any fireworks in the cage between Evans and Jones, one-time friends and training partners who had a bitter falling out and have become enemies.

Davis had no answers and Evans simply picked him apart en route to earning another crack at the UFC belt.

A victory for Chael Sonnen also set up a much-anticipated fight. Sonnen will get another shot at middleweight champion Anderson Silva after grinding out a hard-fought decision over Michael Bisping in the co-main event. Two judges had it 29-28 for Sonnen and the other had it 30-27. Yahoo! Sports scored it 30-27 for Sonnen.

With the win, Sonnen will get a title rematch, likely in June in Brazil. In 2010, Sonnen dominated a title fight with Silva at UFC 117, but was submitted in the waning moments of the bout.

[ Related: Evans earns shot at rival Jones ]

Bisping made it a very tough bout, neutralizing Sonnen’s wrestling much of the time. However, his inability to put together any sustained stretches of offense ultimately cost him.

In the third, Sonnen took Bisping down and got his back, but was unable to secure a submission. He moved into mount and landed some hard shots from the top that earned him the victory.

Just 10 days ago, Chris Weidman was 217 pounds and about to eat a Sloppy Joe when he received a call from the UFC to fight Demian Maia in a middleweight bout. He accepted, made weight and, despite gassing in the latter part of the fight, did enough to score a unanimous decision.

Weidman managed to out-strike Maia and largely kept the fight off the ground, where Maia’s jiu-jitsu would have been a major factor.

Maia’s right eye was swollen badly by the end of the first round and he never got untracked in dropping an important bout in the division.

Evan Dunham had a poor first-round against Nik Lentz in their lightweight bout, but a pep talk from coach Ray Sefo got him going in the second. Dunham pummeled Lentz in the second, closing his left eye, and won by TKO at the end of the round when Lentz was unable to see and doctors stopped the fight.

“I started slow and [was] not very sharp, but by the end of the first, I felt much better,” Dunham said. “I knew I had his number and I was going to take this fight. I completely dominated the second round and I was ready to finish him in the third. When I heard the decision that the doctors stopped it, I was a little bummed out. As a fighter, you want to prove to yourself that you can finish the fight. I’ll take the [win], but I would have preferred to finish it on my terms.”

[ Related: Sonnen earns rematch against Silva ]

Mike Russow, a Chicago police officer, made the local crowd happy by out-grappling hulking Jon-Olav Einemo en route to a unanimous-decision victory in a three-round heavyweight match. Judges had it 29-28 twice and 30-27 for Russow.

Most of the fight was spent with Einemo on his back and Russow in top position. He never came close to finishing the fight, but was in control throughout. His only moment of danger came early in the third, when Einemo drilled him with a hard knee, the best strike of the fight.

Russow survived and went on to earn his second UFC win.

Cub Swanson landed a massive right hand that spun George Roop’s head around and sent him tumbling to the canvas. Swanson followed up with a few shots on the ground and referee John McCarthy stopped it, given the Jackson’s MMA featherweight a TKO victory at 2:22 of the second.

Swanson, who gave up six inches to Roop, had difficulty gauging the distance in the bout’s opening moments. Once he got comfortable, though, he controlled things the rest of the way. He landed harder and more often, both with kicks and punches, and had Roop backpedaling to get out of danger.

“I knew I had to be patient and feel him out,” Swanson said. “He’s a lanky guy who can catch you if you’re not ready. That shot just connected and rocked him and put him on his back. I wanted to make sure that I had finished it because it all happened so fast. I’m going to take about two weeks off and see how I feel. I might be looking to get back in here pretty quickly after a win like this.”

Roop was caught off guard by the finish and had trouble remembering exactly what had happened.

“We had some pretty good action when the match started and I was using my range to gain the advantage,” he said. “I’m really not sure what happened because it really just happened too fast. He hit me with something that I didn’t see coming at all. He followed up on it and did what he had to do.”

Charles Oliveira dropped to featherweight and had few problems with Eric Wisely, forcing a tap at 1:43 of the first with a leg lock. Oliveira, who was 0-2 with a no-contest in his previous three fights, quickly took Wisely down and, when he did, the fight ended almost immediately.

“I have practiced my submissions endlessly and it was easy to look for that opportunity to finish the fight,” Oliveira said.

Michael Johnson survived a bad situation in the third round when Shane Roller got his back and managed to hang on to pull out a 29-28 unanimous decision in a lightweight bout. Johnson used his movement and defensive wrestling in the first two rounds to throttle Roller, an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State.

Roller took Johnson’s back in the third and was landing hard shots, but several of them were to the back of the head and, thus, illegal. When referee Herb Dean stopped it briefly to warn Roller, he never regained his momentum. Roller tried unsuccessfully to maneuver for a rear-naked choke, but Johnson scrambled to his feet and out-struck Roller over the final 70 seconds to earn the win.

“That fight felt great,” Johnson said. “I controlled almost the entire fight except for the brief period in the third round. I felt like my wrestling defense and my entire game was just so much better all around. I was a little nervous in the third round, but I didn’t panic and I kept in constant communication with Herb Dean that I was OK and that some of the shots were to the back of my head.

“I eventually got myself turned around and got back in a dominant position inside the Octagon. This was a good win for me, but I’ve got some work to do in the gym to get myself to where I ultimately want to be. I’ve got my eyes set on top 10 status and, hopefully, title talk sooner rather than later.”

Heavyweight Lavar Johnson made his UFC debut an impressive one, out-striking Joey Beltran and stopping him at 4:24 of the first round. Johnson finished Beltran with a combination of punches, starting with a crunching right uppercut that landed squarely on the chin.

Johnson, whose reach and punches controlled the round, poured it on after landing the uppercut. As Beltran slumped to all fours, referee Robert Madrigal jumped in to stop it.

“I landed some hard shots and he stayed in there,” Johnson said. “I stayed calm and composed and picked my shots and I knew one would eventually land where I needed it to. I knew I had him when I got him with that uppercut and I just kept putting it on him until he dropped.”

In the opening fight on the show, Chris Camozzi struggled in the opening round of his middleweight bout with Dustin Jacoby. Jacoby was consistently beating him to the punch and landing the harder shots. But Camozzi knocked Jacoby down in the waning seconds of the first and that seemed to change the fight’s momentum.

Camozzi controlled the rest of the match and ended it with a guillotine choke at 1:08 of the third round. Camozzi, who said he dislocated a finger on his left hand in the second round, set the finish up with a kick. As Jacoby staggered back to the cage, Camozzi caught Jacoby with the guillotine and forced the tap.

“I felt like my timing with strikes was on and that was what I needed to keep good distance from him,” Camozzi said. “I dropped him once with a hook and I knew that I could use my striking to dictate the rest of the bout. A little into the third round, I heard my coach tell me to ‘Go for the kick.’ I did and that allowed me to set up the 10-finger guillotine to put him out.”

Source : http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-iole_ufc_on_fox012812

Read More

Thinking About a Used Car? Buy Now, Before Prices Rise

If you're looking to buy a used car in the near future, you should consider grabbing one now, before prices rise. That's according to Kelley Blue Book, which expects to see used car values jump as much as 5% before March and remain high for the rest of 2012.

January is often a so-so month for auto sales, as many consumers give their bank accounts a chance to recover from holiday spending. As a result, used-car values tend to remain flat, heating up around the same time as the weather.


But KBB is already seeing some upward movement in on-the-lot pricing. The biggest jump has been in passenger cars -- particularly mid-size, hybrid, and full-size rides, the average values of which rose $107, $86, and $85, respectively, between January 6 and January 13. Compact crossover and compact car values were up $78 and $61, respectively, during the same period.


Not surprisingly, the costliest used cars are those that have recently been refreshed. If you're hoping for a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze or Kia Optima, expect to dole out a sum closer to the original sticker price than if you went for a 2011 Toyota Corolla or Honda Accord. (The one exception to that rule might be the revamped 2012 Honda Civic, which was heavily panned by critics from the moment it arrived in showrooms last April -- so much so that executives ordered an early re-do.)

KBB expects used-car prices to remain on an upward trend for the rest of the year, and given other analysts' predictions, we tend to agree. As we saw yesterday, Americans' vehicles are aging fast, meaning that more consumers will probably be in the market for a new car soon. Add that to the recovering auto industry, and you've got a recipe for high demand -- and high prices. 

Want to get the ball rolling on your used-car purchase? Find a ride near you and check out loads of used-car reviews in TCC's used car section.


Source : http://autos.yahoo.com/news/thinking-about-a-used-car--buy-now--before-prices-rise.html

Read More

Jennifer Aniston Buys an Ultramodern L.A. Home

Looks like it's time to update the Celebrity Real Estate Heat Map: A-lister of A-listers Jennifer Aniston has reportedly scooped up new mansion for herself in Bel-Air, Calif.

The pristine 8,500-square-foot four-bedroom was designed in 1965 by noted Los Angeles modernist architect A. Quincy Jones; after first hitting the market for $29 million in 2008, the house was reduced to some $24 million, at which point Aniston swooped in and scored it for even less: $21 million.

And as if this lucky lady didn't already have enough of them, here are yet some more perks: more than three acres of land, views of the city and ocean, a pool, a guesthouse, a wine cellar, and—last but certainly not least—a vineyard. Let's not forget to look inside: those distinctly midcentury-feeling interiors boasts gleaming wood floors, full-wall expanses of glass, and some pretty stunningfireplace detail.

Aniston's had quite an impressive year in terms of real estate. The actress listed and then sold her spectacular Ohana estate, a Beverly Hills beaut that was once featured on the cover of Architectural Digest. She swiftly found another Beverly Hills estate in which to shack up with new beau Justin Theroux.

Let's not forget her East Coast accommodations, either: her new SoCal new pad is located just a plane ride away from her nest overlooking Gramercy Park. In short: life looks pretty fine when you're her.

Source : http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/jennifer-aniston-buys-an-ultramodern-la-home.html

Read More

Romney Would Rank Among Richest Presidents Ever

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just how rich is Mitt Romney? Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you're in Romney territory.

He would be among the richest presidents in American history if elected — probably in the top four.

He couldn't top George Washington who, with nearly 60,000 acres and more than 300 slaves, is considered the big daddy of presidential wealth. After that, it gets complicated, depending how you rate Thomas Jefferson's plantation, Herbert Hoover's millions from mining or John F. Kennedy's share of the vast family fortune, as well as the finer points of factors like inflation adjustment.

But it's safe to say the Roosevelts had nothing on Romney, and the Bushes are nowhere close.

The former Massachusetts governor has disclosed only the broad outlines of his wealth, putting it somewhere from $190 million to $250 million. That easily could make him 50 times richer than Obama, who falls in the still-impressive-to-most-of-us range of $2.2 million to $7.5 million.

"I think it's almost hard to conceptualize what $250 million means," said Shamus Khan, a Columbia University sociologist who studies the wealthy. "People say Romney made $50,000 a day while not working last year. What do you do with all that money? I can't even imagine spending it. Well, maybe ..."

Of course, an unbelievable boatload of bucks is just one way to think of Romney's net worth, and the 44 U.S. presidents make up a pretty small pond for him to swim in. Put alongside America's 400 or so billionaires, Romney wouldn't make a ripple.

So here's a look where Romney's riches rank — among the most flush Americans, the White House contenders, and the rest of us:

—Within the 1 percent:

"Romney is small potatoes compared with the ultra-wealthy," said Jeffrey Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University who studies the nation's elites.

After all, even in the rarefied world of the top 1 percent, there's a big difference between life at the top and at the bottom.

A household needs to bring in roughly $400,000 per year to make the cut. Romney and his wife, Ann, have been making 50 times that — more than $20 million a year. In 2009, only 8,274 federal tax filers had income above $10 million. Romney is solidly within that elite 0.006 percent of all U.S. taxpayers.

Congress is flush with millionaires. Only a few are in the Romney realm, including Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004. Kerry's ranking would climb much higher if the fortune of his wife, Teresa Heinz, were counted. She is the widow of Sen. John Heinz, heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune.

Further up the ladder, top hedge fund managers can pocket $1 billion or more in a single year.

At the top of the wealth pile sits Bill Gates, worth $59 billion, according to Forbes magazine's estimates.

—As a potential president:

Romney clearly stands out here. America's super rich generally don't jockey to live in the White House. A few have toyed with the idea, most notably New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom Forbes ranks as the 12th richest American, worth $19.5 billion. A lesser billionaire, Ross Perot, bankrolled his own third-party campaigns in 1992 and 1996.

Many presidents weren't particularly well-off, especially 19th century leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, James Buchanan and Ulysses S. Grant. Nor was the 33rd president, Harry Truman.

"These things ebb and flow," said sociologist Khan. "It's not the case that all presidents were always rich."

A few former chief executives died in debt, including Thomas Jefferson, ranked in a Forbes study as the third-wealthiest president.

Comparing the landlocked wealth of early Americans such as Washington, Jefferson and James Madison, with today's millionaires is tricky, even setting aside the lack of documentation and economic changes over two centuries.

Research by 24/7 Wall St., a news and analysis website, estimated Washington's wealth at the equivalent of $525 million in 2010 dollars.

Yet Washington had to borrow money to pay for his trip to New York for his inauguration in 1789, according to Dennis Pogue, vice president for preservation at Mount Vernon, Washington's Virginia estate. His money was tied up in land, reaping only a modest cash income after farm expenses.

"He was a wealthy guy, there's no doubt about it," Pogue said, and probably among the dozen richest Virginians of his time. But, "the wealthiest person in America then was nothing in comparison to what these folks are today."

—How does Romney stand next to a regular Joe?

He's roughly 1,800 times richer.

The typical U.S. household was worth $120,300 in 2007, according to the Census Bureau's most recent data, although that number is sure to have dropped since the recession. A typical family's income is $50,000.

Calculations from 24/7 Wall St. of the peak lifetime wealth (or peak so far) of Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama add up to a total $128 million — while Romney reports assets of up to $250 million.

If you consider only those presidents' assets while in office, without millions earned later from speeches and books, their combined total would be substantially lower, and Romney's riches would leave the pack even further behind.

Source : http://finance.yahoo.com/news/romney-rank-among-richest-presidents-ever-135357128.html

Read More

Snowy Owls Soar South From Arctic in Rare Mass Migration

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Bird enthusiasts are reporting rising numbers of snowy owls from the Arctic winging into the lower 48 states this winter in a mass southern migration that a leading owl researcher called "unbelievable."

Thousands of the snow-white birds, which stand 2 feet tall with 5-foot wingspans, have been spotted from coast to coast, feeding in farmlands in Idaho, roosting on rooftops in Montana, gliding over golf courses in Missouri and soaring over shorelines in Massachusetts.

A certain number of the iconic owls fly south from their Arctic breeding grounds each winter but rarely do so many venture so far away even amid large-scale, periodic southern migrations known as irruptions.

"What we're seeing now -- it's unbelievable," said Denver Holt, head of the Owl Research Institute in Montana.

"This is the most significant wildlife event in decades," added Holt, who has studied snowy owls in their Arctic tundra ecosystem for two decades.

Holt and other owl experts say the phenomenon is likely linked to lemmings, a rodent that accounts for 90 percent of the diet of snowy owls during breeding months that stretch from May into September. The largely nocturnal birds also prey on a host of other animals, from voles to geese.

An especially plentiful supply of lemmings last season likely led to a population boom among owls that resulted in each breeding pair hatching as many as seven offspring. That compares to a typical clutch size of no more than two, Holt said.

Greater competition this year for food in the Far North by the booming bird population may have then driven mostly younger, male owls much farther south than normal.

Research on the animals is scarce because of the remoteness and extreme conditions of the terrain the owls occupy, including northern Russia and Scandinavia, he said.

The surge in snowy owl sightings has brought birders flocking from Texas, Arizona and Utah to the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest, pouring tourist dollars into local economies and crowding parks and wildlife areas. The irruption has triggered widespread public fascination that appears to span ages and interests.

"For the last couple months, every other visitor asks if we've seen a snowy owl today," said Frances Tanaka, a volunteer for the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Olympia, Washington.

But accounts of emaciated owls at some sites -- including a food-starved bird that dropped dead in a farmer's field in Wisconsin -- suggest the migration has a darker side. And Holt said an owl that landed at an airport in Hawaii in November was shot and killed to avoid collisions with planes.

He said snowy owl populations are believed to be in an overall decline, possibly because a changing climate has lessened the abundance of vegetation like grasses that lemmings rely on.

This winter's snowy owl outbreak, with multiple sightings as far south as Oklahoma, remains largely a mystery of nature.

"There's a lot of speculation. As far as hard evidence, we really don't know," Holt said.

Source : http://news.yahoo.com/snowy-owls-soar-south-arctic-rare-mass-migration-175336821.html

Read More

For Towson, Ending Record Losing Streak is Big Relief

As Towson University's record losing streak extended into uncharted territory this winter, sophomore forward Marcus Damas grew more and more hesitant to answer his phone or check his email.

"I'd get a call every day asking when we would get a win," Damas said Saturday. "A call, or a text, an email, a post on facebook, a mention on Twitter. Every day."

Damas can expect nothing but congratulatory voicemails and text messages this weekend after Towson won its first game in 395 days. The Tigers defeated visiting UNC Wilmington 66-61on Saturday to end the longest losing streak in Division I college basketball history at 41.

A win over a struggling conference foe that is just 8-13 this season wouldn't normally be cause for jubilation, but Towson celebrated on the floor and in its locker room as though it had just clinched an NCAA tournament berth. The Tigers (1-22, 1-10) went the entire 2011 calendar year without a victory. Prior to Saturday, Towson's last win was a 93-90 OT victory against La Salle on Dec. 29, 2010.

"It felt unreal," Damas said. "After all this work, we finally did it. It was a big relief."

It has been 15 years since Towson last had a winning season, but this losing streak has been particularly dismal.

Twenty-eight of Towson's 41 losses have come by 10 or more points, including all but three this season. The closest the Tigers have come to winning during that stretch was a 95-93 overtime loss to UNC Wilmington last season in which they somehow squandered a 22-point lead in the final 14 minutes of regulation.

There was a point on Saturday when it looked like Towson might surrender another lead to UNC Wilmington. The Seahawks trimmed an eight-point deficit to one and had a chance to take a lead with 20 seconds left, but they missed a pair of free throws, enabling the Tigers to escape with the long-awaited victory.

[ Related: All of Saturday's college hoops scores ]

Towson's struggles this season are no surprise considering new coach Pat Skerry had to essentially rebuild the roster this offseason.

Leading scorer Isaiah Philmore transferred to Xavier shortly after former coach Pat Kennedy was fired. Braxton Dupree left to play professionally in Israel. And the indefinite suspension of leading returning scorer RaShawn Polk before the season left Skerry with just one player who played for Towson last season: redshirt sophomore forward Erique Gumbs, who averaged a mere 3.6 points.

Skerry's recruiting prowess offers hope for the future. And in the short term, Towson believes not having the pressure of ending the streak could do wonders for the competitiveness of this team.

"Coming to Towson, we knew it was going to be hard," Damas said. "We didn't think it would be this bad, but nobody stopped believing. The competition just got hotter in practice. Nobody stopped trying liking a loser. Everybody just kept believing.

"To finally win today, it's a lot off our shoulders. It's a blessing."

Source : http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/towson-first-win-414-days-big-relief-222727420.html

Read More

NFL Stars Stuck with Super-size Homes

The NFL regular season is in the books. The AFC and NFC title games are done. Now it’s up to the New England Patriots and New York Giants to whip the country into a lather when these two Northeast teams meet for the ultimate NFL showdown.

Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, Feb. 5 means finding the perfect place to party while rooting for Tom Brady’s Patriots or Eli Manning’s Giants. Of course, some NFL stars past and present are not exactly hurting when it comes to palatial digs big enough to host the neighbors.

Which one of these guys would you like to score an invite from to celebrate that unofficial national holiday?

Tom Brady
NFL career: New England Patriots (2000-present)
Location: Boston, MA
Price: $10.5 million

With an arm that will land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Brady doesn’t have a lot to sweat — at least on the football field. In real estate matters? Brady’s been a little down on his luck trying to sell his apartment in the Boston real estate market. After taking a $400,000 price cut from his original 2009 list price, the home was re-listed in early October for $10.5 million. The 5,311-square foot condo offers 3-plus bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a master suite, luxurious kitchen and a state-of-the-art gym.

Terrell Owens
NFL career: San Francisco 49ers (1996-2003), Philadelphia Eagles (2004-2005), Dallas Cowboys (2006-2008), Buffalo Bills (2009), Cincinnati Bengals (2010) 
Location: Dallas, TX

T.O. has never been shy — about anything. Not his flamboyant touchdown celebrations, his reality-TV persona or about his own prodigious talent on the field. The Pro Bowl receiver’s ambition to return to the game has garnered the usual T.O. publicity churn, and so has his equally high-profile life in luxury real estate. That includes a recently reported monster price drop for the condo Owens owns in the pro-athlete-friendly Azure high rise in Dallas. Originally listed for $2.125 million, the 3-bedroom, 4.5-bath unit took a $95,000 price cut before being taken off the market last month.

Michael Strahan
NFL career: New York Giants (1993-2007) 
Location: Brentwood, CA
Price: $6.95 million

Former Giants defensive end Strahan is a NFL commentator these days, but he made no bones about how he’d prefer to be with his old team on the field come Super Bowl Sunday. The seven-time Pro Bowler retired in 2008 after the Giants won Super Bowl XLII, but he does have other business to attend to these days, including some in the Los Angeles-area real estate market. His 9,200-square foot Brentwood estate recently hit the market with a $6.95 million price tag. Featuring 6 bedrooms, 8 baths and 2 powder rooms, the home includes a master suite, large balcony, his/her baths and walk-in closets, as well as steam/dual shower.

Troy Aikman
NFL career: Dallas Cowboys (1989-2000) 
Location: Dallas, TX
Price: $24 million

Former Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Troy Aikman set the standard when he was racking up Super Bowl rings. It’s no wonder that his real estate holdings are equally impressive, including the home Aikman listed for $24 million last May, making it the most expensive residence currently on the Dallas real estate market. The Mediterranean-style mansion sits on nearly 1.5 acres with a creek running through it. There are 5 bedrooms, 7 baths, a sports court, outdoor fireplace/pit, outdoor living center, wet bar, exercise room, game room, library and guest quarters.

Joe Montana
NFL career: San Francisco 49ers (1979–1992), Kansas City Chiefs (1993–1994)
Location: Calistoga, CA
Price: $35 million

NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana is offering a major discount on his Sonoma vacation retreat — a $14 million price cut! That’s the second big cut for the San Francisco 49ers family, considering the way the Niners were cut from the playoffs by the Giants in the NFC title game. Now listed for a jaw-dropping $35 million, Montana’s Tuscan villa-style estate is close to 10,000 square feet and sits on 500 acres of lush wine-country land with creeks, wide-open views and even a private pond stocked with fish. The grounds also include an equestrian center, a full-sized basketball court, skeet shooting range, gym, pool and spa.

Source : http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/nfl-stars-stuck-with-super-size-homes.html

Read More

Sony’s Biggest Misses

The PlayStation Vita won't hit store shelves for another month, but some critics are already declaring it a disaster, based on early sales returns.

That's quite premature -- not to mention a bit fatalistic -- but you don't get to become a multi-billion dollar, multinational company without making a few mistakes. For every Walkman and Playstation 2 there exists a handful of other Sony ideas that didn't ring true with consumers.

Some were critical flops. Some had disappointing sales. Some weren't even physical products. But, in the end, all of them fell short in one way or another. Here's hoping the Vita avoids the fate of these Sony misfires.

PSP Go

The concept of a gaming system that only delivers content via digital delivery sounded promising. After all, by bypassing retail and doing away with physical media, costs would be lower and players could get great titles for less. Well, that's what we assumed, anyway.

It turned out that the digital games were no cheaper than physical copies — and worse, Sony struggled getting digital copies out in time with the physical retail release. A steep price point ($250?!) gave it a black eye, while the lack of a UMD drive meant that gamers who had built inventories of PSP games weren't able to port them over without buying new copies. Though it's still being produced in North America, it was discontinued in other regions a mere two years after its release. Talk about going nowhere fast.

BetaMax

The war in the mid-1970s for the home video audience was a fierce one — and you would think that Sony, then at the height of their power, would have been the force to bet on when they unveiled the BetaMax in 1975.

Instead, consumers rejected the company's attempt to dictate an industry standard and opted to go with JVC's VHS format, which traded picture quality for recording length (three hours to Betamax's one). The studios backed VHS  as well, which would go on to rule the decade, while Sony's format would quietly fade away.

The PS3's launch price

When Kaz Hirai took to the E3 stage in 2006 and announced the PlayStaton 3 would cost as much as $599, jaws dropped — and more than a few people in the audience wondered if he had misread the teleprompter.

He hadn't. That stratospheric price point put a damper on enthusiasm for the console and led a lot of fans to the less expensive Xbox 360 for their high definition gaming options. While the PS3 hardly flopped, the initial pricing is often pointed to as the reason the system isn't leading the pack like its predecessor.

eVilla Network Entertainment Center

While the idea of a 'network entertainment center' makes sense today, it was a little less obvious in 2001. The idea was to create a web and e-mail station that cost less than a standard PC.

It didn't catch on. Why? Lots of reasons, including a crummy sound system, Sony's refusal to support platforms such as Shockwave and Windows Media, and a baffling $500 price point (in addition to monthly charges). Sony recognized the problem quickly, killing the eVilla within two months and refunding everyone who bought one.

MiniDisc

In 1992, Sony offered a recording option that let people make crystal clear copies of their music. It was markedly better than the audio cassette and cheaper than the recordable CD (which at the time cost $14 each — plus the cost of hardware). Sony counted on CD-R to remain at stratospheric price levels for 10 years, but they didn't.

They also didn't count on the advent of the MP3 file format. The adoption of MP3 as an industry standard further doomed the MiniDisc and its ATRAC format, and while it was something of a hit in Japan, it just never caught on in North America.

AIBO

How can you go wrong with a robotic dog? Simple: Make it kind of creepy and overly expensive.

Launched in 1999, AIBO (short for Artificial Intelligence roBOt) was able to walk and "see" its environment,  and even recognize certain spoken commands. But outlandish pricing -- a base model cost a cringeworthy $2000 -- the digital doggie was never adopted by the mainstream market.  It made it through three generations, but was mercifully put to sleep in 2006.

PSX/PlayTV

While there has been plenty of chatter about game consoles doubling as DVRs, no one has hit upon the magic formula to make that work yet. You have to give Sony credit for trying, at least.

The PSX (for the PS2) and Play TV (for the PS3) had a similar function: letting people record their favorite shows using their PlayStations. Priced exorbitantly, neither struck a chord with users, and Sony killed both products before they ever set foot onto U.S. shelves.

PlayStation Home

Xbox Live managed to take the lead in the online console space by offering a sense of community and a sense of achievement. Sony, in 2008, tried to launch something similar with the free PlayStation Home virtual world, which one-upped Microsoft by giving users an avatar and both private and common areas. It was, in some ways, a sort of Second Life for the PS3.

The problem? It was boring and sprawling and players largely ignored it. Undaunted, Sony's still trying to keep Home relevant, and to be fair, it has actually gotten a lot better since its rough beginning. But most PS3 owners still bypass it and head straight into their games.

Mylo

Short for 'My Life Online', this handheld device was meant for portable instant messaging, Web surfing and the playback and sharing of media files. Sound familiar? That's because you've probably got a cell phone in your pocket that can do the same things.

Adding to the problems? It only worked in WiFi hotspots and originally cost nearly $300. Even worse, it was released in 2006, a mere year before Apple would change the mobile experience forever with the iPhone. The fact that Sony kept it alive for four years is the really amazing part, though.

Lair

How can a game about a guy flying a dragon while fighting monsters, created by the team who made the superb Rogue Squadron games, all powered by the graphical force of the PS3 go wrong? Simple: Ignore any real story components and pair it with one of the worst controllers to hit the gaming world (that would be the PS3's Sixaxis controller).

Once hoped to be a system-seller, Lair turned out to be anything but. GameTrailers,  Games Radar and countless other sites dubbed it one of the most disappointing games of the decade. And Sony didn't earn a lot of love by sending critics a reviewer's guide and a note encouraging them to "open your mind and hands for something very different" long after reviews were posted.

Source : http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/sony-biggest-misses-194009929.html

Read More