I didn’t hear about this movie coming out, so thanks for the heads up RealMovieNews. com.
Real Movie News has posted the first photos of Matt Damon and Julia Stiles on the set of Universal’s The Bourne Ultimatum. The third installment of the popular franchise is being directed by Paul Greengrass for a release on August 3, 2007. Joan Allen and David Strathairn also star.
Click here to view the pics!
Thanks to its $4.5 billion budget deficit, New Jersey’s just instituted a 7% tax for online purchases and downloads of music and videos. For you, that means iTunes, Napster, and other stores are going to be a bit more expensive.
No idea how they’re enforcing this, but maybe changing your State in your iTunes account can get around it?
Link here
Don’t get stung by this up close and personal look at the yellow and black robot in disguise.
Here’s a close up look at Bumblebee from the upcoming Michael Bay-directed Transformers movie, courtesy of Ain’t It Cool News.
Meanwhile, fans report from the production site: “There were a ton of security guards walking around, but we tried to be sneaky and got some cool video of some street devastation. The video doesn’t do justice to what the special effects people did. We saw them set the whole thing up from bare street. They placed a bunch of black Styrofoam pieces around to look like a crater. Then they took a crane and placed some beat down cars on some metal braces to make it seem like they were blasted out of the craters. It looked absolutely amazing! The video gives you an idea about the size of the devastation. Toward the end of the video, you’ll see some footage of Bumble Bee Camaro and the Ratchet Truck.”
Check out the video at Latino Review.
A survey conducted by the Piaggio Group (the guys who make Vespas) concluded that almost one in three Americans would be extremely or somewhat likely to consider using a motor scooter (like the new Piaggio MP3 pictured above) for their everyday transportation needs. Conducted during the first week in May 2006, the survey respondents indicated that they’d be willing to transfer 35% of their weekly mileage to a scooter. “Scooters” were defined in the survey as two-wheel vehicles that can reach 40-100mph, whose average cost is $2,000 or above. The survey found other strong factors motivating consumer’s willingness to consider utilizing a scooter, including environmental concerns and overall cost savings. The survey found that 33% of Americans would be likely to use a scooter to reduce emission harmful to the environment, 35% would be likely to use a scooter to save $25.00 a week on gasoline
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Tax breaks benefiting buyers of sports-utility vehicles fly in the face of a good energy policy and are costing American taxpayers billions of dollars a year, according to a report from Rep. Edward Markey.
“It is incredible that the Bush Administration and Republican Congress can be so blind as to leave these tax loopholes in place while our dependence on Middle East oil soars, the price of gasoline spikes, and our soldiers are mired a war in the Middle East,” said Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
The study, which includes estimates from the Joint Tax Committee of Congress and focuses on two policies favoring the purchase heavier vehicles over smaller models, showed that the tax breaks will cost $2.6 billion next year and $15.7 billion over the next 10 years.
The first break is the exemption light trucks and minivans get from the Gas Guzzler Tax, a levy imposed on autos rated below 22.5 miles per gallon. As an example, the report said an Audi station wagon that gets 20.5 mpg incurs a $1,300 tax, while a 15.8 mpg Jeep incurs no penalty.
Markey also criticized a policy that allows businesses to purchase SUVs and write off most or all of the cost of the vehicle on their income taxes in the first year. That amounts to a subsidy of almost $600 million a year, and $4.1 billion over the next 10 years, he said.“This makes no sense. Congress is using the tax code to generate artificial demand for inefficient vehicles in the automobile marketplace,” said Markey, who introduced a bill aimed at eliminating both tax breaks for SUVs.
“Regardless of whether we ever ramp up and modernize the minimum fuel economy standards, providing these out-of-date tax incentives that reward the purchase of inefficient vehicles just make things worse,” he added.
Meanwhile, demand for the so-called gas guzzlers has fallen off steadily in recent years, a blow to domestic automakers that depend heavily on the full-size vehicles for profits. Truck sales at General Motors (GM :
General Motors Corporation plunged 31.2% in July, while Ford’s fell 43.8%.
From the Staten Island Advance (NYC): A police officer from the North Shore’s 120th Precinct suffered a leg injury when he fell off his scooter yesterday morning during a minor accident near the St. George Ferry Terminal, police said.
The officer, said to be in his 40s, was traveling on Bay Street toward the ferry terminal shortly before 7:30 a.m. when his scooter skidded on the wet and oily pavement, hitting the rear of a sedan stopped for a red light at Bay Street and Richmond Terrace, according to police sources.
Police said they didn’t know how fast the scooter was going.
An officer responding to the scene suffered a laceration of the forehead, police said; it was unclear how the second officer was injured.
Both officers were listed in stable condition at St. Vincent’s Hospital, West Brighton, according to police sources and a hospital spokeswoman.
The extent of damage to the red Pontiac Grand Prix with which the officer collided was not known.
A rainstorm had slicked Staten Island roadways just in time for the morning commute.
This from ms aawaters on the NY Scooter Forum:
Further proof that scooters are pretty mainstream? Now consumer-oriented technology companies are tying their brand image to scooters. http://www.iskoot.com/
Got Skype but hate being tethered to your PC? Before you invest in a fancy Skype-ready phone from Belkin or a Wi-Fi-enabled gadget from Sony, consider iSkootMobile, a free service that lets you make and take Skype calls from your cell phone–no PC, special hardware, or Wi-Fi hot spot required.
Available in beta form since mid-February, iSkootMobile employs proprietary technology that lets users access their Skype contacts list, receive calls from other Skype subscribers, and place low-cost calls through SkypeOut, all from the convenience of their mobile phones.
What’s the catch, you ask? So far, iSkootMobile only works with a handful of Java-enabled handsets and smartphones from Nokia, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson, so if you don’t have the Razr, the Pebl, or the Walkman w600i (to name a few), then you’re out of luck. Hopefully, the list of compatible products willl expand once iSkoot really takes off and sheds its beta heading. In fact, just today the company announced that Skype has agreed to officially slap its logo on iSkootMobile. Plus, iSkoot says it plans to expand its support to more platforms and services, including Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger, in the near future. The sooner the better–and in the meantime, I won’t invest a dime in any mobile Skype products.
This story is definately true, but I fear that those who don’t know much about scooters will lump the *new* scooters made currently (most of which are 4 stroke) with the old scooters the writer talks about here.
With temperatures rising like gas prices, scooters may seem the perfect mode of transportation.
You get up to 100 miles per gallon, on top of the hipster factor and the feel of the wind in your hair. But there’s one imperfection to these sassy little two-wheeled machines: A March 2005 study by the Environmental Protection Agency shows most scooters on the road pollute more than SUVs.
That sounded so counterintuitive that WW decided to test a few scooters, with help from the crew at Esquire Motors in Goose Hollow, which donated its time and emissions-testing equipment.
(CBS4) DENVER High gas prices may have encouraged many drivers to get out of their cars and onto scooters, but scooter fans say it’s the fun that keeps them riding.
More scooters than usual were on Denver’s streets this weekend as the city played host to the 14th annual Amerivespa Scooter Rally.
Scooters have improved over the course of the years, especially in terms of reaching street speeds.
“All you do is twist the gas and they go faster and faster and faster,” said John Beldock, owner of Erico Motor Sports, on CBS4 Sunday morning.
New models of scooters have top speeds of 35 to 60 mph. That increased speed means they are safer on city streets.
The new scooters also have plenty of storage, so scooter-riders can even do the grocery shopping.
Parking is also a breeze because a scooter rider doesn’t have to find a parking spot or meter; it’s legal to park a scooter on the sidewalk in Denver.
For many, though, the real draw is that gas mileage. Stephany Schmidt bought her scooter 5 months ago.
“It only takes about $3 to fill up my tank,” she said. “And I can go all week or longer with it.”
Many scooters can get up to 80 miles a gallon, but scooter aficionados say it’s not the money savings that keep them on the scooters.
“They’ll drive the scooter for the first day because of the gas mileage, ” Beldock said. “”And the second day and every day after because of the fun.”
This weekend’s scooter rally came to Denver because it is considered a very scooter friendly town. It probably helped that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper rides a scooter, too.
Next year the rally heads west to Seattle.
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Scooters are no longer resigned to the courier business, college towns and replays of Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn’s Vespa-enchanted “Roman Holiday.” And they’re no longer foreign to U.S. buyers.
Domestic sales of these gas-saving two-wheelers have surged as budget- and environment-minded consumers look for relief from high pump prices and as more-appealing models come on the market. Demand isn’t expected to stall anytime soon, industry observers say.
U.S. sales for just the leading manufacturers Honda, Yamaha and Aprilia of scooters with engine sizes of 150cc or less (generally considered midsize to small and not usually reaching sustainable highway speeds) totaled about 16,000 in 1999. Sales from this group had jumped some 200%, to 48,000, by 2004, and they continue to rise, according to industry stats from Robert Pandya, spokesman for the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows.
These figures include only those models endorsed by the Motorcycle Industry Council as being up to current industry standards and EPA regulations. Toss in older bikes and those imported from smaller, mostly Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean makers not typically manufactured to meet U.S. environmental rules, and the 48,000 figure nearly doubles, Pandya said.
Higher-end Vespa has seen a rebirth in U.S. popularity, returning to this market in 2000. Its scooters are once again being designed to EPA standards, but with new models giving a nostalgic nod to the brand’s traditional styling. Its Italian parent Piaggio (IT:307326: news, chart, profile) went public to much fanfare in early July. The company has U.S. dealerships in some 100 locations, over half of which have opened just since January 2005.
Energy efficiency, relatively low entry costs — some new midsize scooters start near $1,000 — and parking flexibility are frequent motivators behind purchases of new scooters and of the growing crop of used machines being refurbished from fix-it shops and flea markets. But for many buyers, the cache that comes with buzzing around the neighborhood astride a sleek mass of plastic and chrome is just as enticing.
“People realize you don’t need a three-ton vehicle to run down to the corner store. So, yes, it’s about practicality. But really, it’s about fun,” Pandya said.
Suburban Chicago family man and futures-industry executive Greg Sabatello is the proud papa of a four-stroke 200cc Vespa Granturismo, which he bought a few years ago. Sabatello reserves his scooter use mostly for the weekends, but finds he seldom gets behind the wheel on Saturdays and Sundays.
“I rarely drive a car; my son has taken over that. My entire family lives within blocks of each other and my kids’ schools and sporting events are all close. You can’t beat the convenience of the Vespa, particularly for errands,” he said. “I can put the groceries under the seat and in the bubble on back.”
