Saturday, November 24, 2012

Psy goes tops on YouTube

Fantastic news! That annoying little Bieber dweeb is no longer most popular on YouTube. The most watched video at 805 million goes to none other than Psy. That legendary South Korean with his Gangnam Style. Here it is for you to add a couple more to the tally!


Via TechCrunch

Friday, November 23, 2012

Football? No BBC, that's baseball...

Just read this on BBC News about how Microsoft has just patented smart glasses. Strange though, the image shows people playing baseball but the caption indicates that it's about football... Two quite different sports to get confused with. Probably another case of "island mentality". Anything that isn't strictly British is just ignored.


Image: BBC News

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Brave new world? Or overhype?

By mistake, I decided to watch a curious documentary on BBC3 titled "Superstorm USA: Caught on Camera". I thought it would be an interesting look back at one of the worst weather phenomenon this year. Sadly, this documentary wasn't what I expected, and has successfully lowered my faith in social media. I'll say now though, that it's not because of social media as a tool itself. It's more the way the story was told...

Sunday, November 11, 2012

BBC scandal brings down boss

All in all, pretty bad two weeks for the BBC. The broadcaster's Director General, George Entwistle, stepped down today as the journalistic approach to the child abuse cases are more and more questionable. First, the BBC pulled its own investigation into one of its biggest stars, Jimmy Savile - now known to be a prolific paedophile. Now the broadcaster indirectly fingers someone completely innocent as part of this week's Newsnight programme. This knee jerk episode shows just how far departed the BBC is from ethical journalism.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Lexus LF-LC Blue

At the 2012 Australian International Motor Show, Lexus is showcasing it's LF-LC concept but in a completely new colour: Opal Blue. It's just superb! Have a look for yourself below. Full gallery here.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

New YouTube UI?

Been seeing a slightly different user interface on YouTube over the past two days. Click after the break for a comparison.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Historic home race win for Toyota Racing

This morning, Kazuki Nakajima brought the Toyota Racing TS030 HYBRID back home across the finish line after a mammoth 2h45m stint to claim victory in front of adoring home fans at Fuji Speedway in Japan. The Japanese team, based in Germany, continues to deliver results race after race. At the team's 2nd race at Silverstone, Toyota Racing picked up the teams first podium finish. One race later at the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the team's first win. Today's victory marks the 2nd win in just 5 outings. Very impressive performance! Full race report here.

Felix jumps his way into record books

I have to admit, I didn't really think the edge of space jump is so interesting to start with. Always thought it was just a massive marketing stunt and doesn't really have much substance. The marketing part I still stand by, but the jump... My word do you need some impressive... nerves of steel.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Sensationalism sends Green Day front man to rehab

Strange message just popped up on Facebook saying Billie Joe Armstrong, front man of Green Day, is off to rehab for substance abuse. Had a quick look around to see what happened and it seemed he had a bit of a rock 'n roll moment during a performance on Friday. And that's all it is...

He swore a bit after being told by organisers he had one minute left. That seems rather annoying to me too... Especially if you're one of the biggest bands in the world. Oh, and they smashed their guitars in protest. That's all it is.

The media, of course, is blowing this out of proportions as can be expected. They're all calling it a "meltdown". Yeah, I expect this from TMZ, but more mainstream media are all following. Is it so hard to state the facts without sensationalising every-little-thing? It's all rubbish and you know it! Don't think I'm correct? Judge for yourself in the clip of the incident after the break.

And, you know, of course, what the result of all of this is, right? They've had to cancel a bunch of promotion gigs, so that fans can no longer enjoy their favourite band. Unbelievable!


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Toyota Racing: Simply the Best!

On just the team's third outing at this weekend's 6 Hours of Sao Paulo at the picturesque Interlagos circuit in Brazil, Toyota Racing picked up not only the first podium, but also the first time the team stood on the top step of the podium!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Star Trek Google Doodle

Google put up an awesome Doodle today to celebrate the 46th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series. There are several things to click on to either make a sound - all original sound effects (awesome) - or go to a different "level". Click around and have some fun!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Power of silence at Pikes Peak

Toyota Motorsport GmbH just released this awesome new on-board video of their TMG EV P002 electric racer powering up the hill at Pikes Peak. The car also broke the EV record at the Pikes Peak Intertational Hill Climb just a few weeks ago with this spectacular run. Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Optical madness

Looks like a GIF right? The picture is moving around and just won't stop. Guess what? This is just your mind going mental with this confusing optical illusion.

Source: via Krypton on Pinterest

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

RIP Michael Clarke Duncan

Opened up Twitter just now and saw a not-so-nice trend "RIP Michael Clarke Duncan." Checked around BBC and CNN, found nothing, so thought it must be one of those stupid pranks. Alas, no. The Washington Post, TIME Magazine and HuffPo all confirmed, Michael Clarke Duncan died age 54 today.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Happy Pre-Birthday Doraemon!

100 years from today, Doraemon will be born in the 22nd Century. Yup, it's an odd one, but the countdown to the birth of the world's greatest cat has commenced before he travels back in time to help Nobi Nobita. So, Happy Pre-Birthday to the inspiration of generations and one of Asia's greatest heroes (as named by TIME Magazine)!

Something wrong with the Beeb

Those of us who watched the BBC's coverage of the London 2012 Olympics would have been bombarded with plenty of pro-Team GB commentary, rather against the Beeb's own "balance" guidelines. It was OK for most cases because the commentators are people. But today I saw this really odd "Breaking News" red banner on the homepage proclaiming:

"Four miners shot and injured by South African police at a gold mine - details soon"
Original banner, click to enlarge

I clicked through and what does the article say?

"Security guards have wounded four striking gold miners with rubber bullets near the South African city of Johannesburg, police say."

Yes, it's not the police as proclaimed by the sensationalist banner on the homepage. It turns out it's security guards. What's the difference though? People were shot... as you might say.

Well, the police fall under the title "authorities" which gives the event an increased gravity, following the mad Lonmin massacre just weeks before. Security guards, on the other hand, are very likely private companies quite far apart from the "authorities" title.

So now News of the World is gone, is the Beeb turning towards a more sensationalist and blatantly untruthful reporting? What happened to the company's own guidelines of balance, hey?

Image source: BBC.co.uk

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

South Africa takes hatrick in cricket rankings

After an emphatic 80 run win against England in the second of the One Day International series in England (first was abandoned after a washout), South Africa becomes the first nation ever to hold the top ICC ranking in all three forms of the sport: One Day, Test and T20. Hashim Amla eased his way to 150 before getting out, continuing his amazing performance with the bat since the Test series which ended just over a week ago.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Toyota Philippines' GT86 launch video

Toyota Philippines has released this awesome gem of a video for their launch of the Toyota GT86 (known as the "86" in that part of the world). It was filmed on the runway of Subic International Airport and directed by Sid Maderazo. The clip is only around 4 minutes long but it features some really amazing synchronised driving with the new sports car. Watch after the break.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

RIP Neil Armstrong

The first human ever to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, passed away today owing to heart complications at age 82. One of his astronaut colleagues once famously said: "We went to the moon but we discovered the Earth." That really sums up the space missions throughout the 1960s.

May he rest in peace...

Monday, August 20, 2012

Number 1, end of story!

South Africa is the new number one Test Cricket team in the world after their wonderful victory over England to end the series 2-0. Well done boys! It has been a thrilling series after all the crazy ups and downs - what with Mark Boucher suffering a horrible career ending injury and Kevin Pietersen's weird texts leaving him dropped from the English team. No one can say Test Cricket is boring... You just can't.

Friday, August 17, 2012

It's a sad day... [graphic content]

This is the news plastered on major news outlets today: "S African mining clash killed 30". It's a real shame and a damn sad day for the Rainbow Nation. We have yet to see any meaningful comments from the Presidency and I hope that comes quickly... This is not 1960 and we really don't need another Sharpeville. Don't the police have other ways to handle situations like this? Water cannons come to mind... Apart from some bruising and slipping, it doesn't seem all that harmful compared to rifles and hand-held automatic weapons.

Update (17/08/2012 13:00): The Presidency just announced South African President Zuma will depart the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting early to visit Rustenburg, site of the deadly police shootings.

"Zuma is to cut short his attendance of the 32nd SADC Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, in order to visit Rustenburg this afternoon," reads the statement.

Update (17/08/2012 15:40): President Jacob Zuma said he is "shocked and dismayed at this senseless violence."

Image source: BBC News, Wikipedia, News24

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Two new on-board videos from Toyota

Toyota Europe uploaded two new on-board videos today. The first features Toyota Hybrid Racing's Alex Wurz taking the firm's latest EV record breaker, the TMG EV P002, out for a spin before the car's date with the Colorado Rockys for Pikes Peak. The next video is an on-board shot of Toyota's latest motorsport project - a return to rallying with the Yaris R1A also announced recently. Watch after the break.



Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Jaguar F-Type [Spy Shots]

Received these from a friend in the UK this morning. Camouflaged Jaguar F-Type doing road tests in rush hour. My buddy actually FaceTimed with me (iPhone in a hands-free bracket) to give me a live video feed. Pretty cool!



Monday, August 13, 2012

Toyota goes back to rally with Yaris

Toyota Motorsport in Germany today announced their return to the world of rallying! The new Yaris R1A will now be available as customer entires for 22,500 euros. The first race the new hot Yaris will be the Rally of Germany later in August 2012. By the way, the 1.3-litre engine is not modified at all to make sure the rally version is fun and affordable. Can't wait!


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Instagram time! [GALLERY]

Here's a gallery of my recent Instagram pics.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Toyota looks back at 2012 Le Mans [VID]

This year, Toyota brought green technology to Le Mans. The team went through both absolute highs - leading the race from Audi - and horrible lows - Anthony Davidson's massive crash. But, it's just the beginning. The Toyota Racing team will be at the 6 Hours of Silverstone at the end of August and continue for the rest of the FIA World Endurance Championship season this year. Good luck to everyone at Cologne!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Curiosity landing, better than any rollercoaster

NASA put up this awesome video of their Mars Curiosity landing on Mars. It hurtles through space, then the thin Martian atmosphere at supersonic speeds to be stopped by a parachute and rocket engines. No sound here, because it’s made up of 200+ images stitched together. But, it’s amazing! Just imagine.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Phelps cements record at Olympics


Well, it has happened. Phelps cemented his title as greatest ever Olympian at the final swimming even at the 2012 London Olympics - the 4x100 meter medley relay finals. He has won 18 gold medals, 2 silvers and 2 bronze medals at the Olympics bringing up a total of 22 medals. That is by far the most of anyone who ever competed in the games. Not to mention his other medals from international swimming meets and the massive 39 world records he holds in the pool. It's been really awesome following this great sportsman!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

The disgrace that is politics of the @Olympics

After a spectacular opening ceremony to the XXX Olympiad in London, I felt rather compelled to share some news of a disappointing nature. For the whole week, I've been Tweeting patriotic messages about my birth country of the Republic of China, also popularly known as Taiwan. But, at every Olympic Games, I always feel a sharp pang of sadness when my team walks into the arena with a "fake" flag. That is because the International Olympic Committee ruled back in 1980 that Taiwan is not a country in the Olympics sense and cannot compete using its own flag, anthem or, indeed, the proper name of the country at the Olympics.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Anothony Davidson at Le Mans [Video]

Just noticed, I've just reached 300 posts and 50,000 pageviews. No time to waste. Here's a really cool video of Anthony Davidson from Toyota Racing at Le Mans this year.

Turn the volume up. Put on full screen. Enjoy!


Anthony Davidson // Le Mans 24 Hours from thirtyfive on Vimeo.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Incredible waterfall rainbow at Yosemite [PIC]

I saw this picture just a few minutes ago on Huff Post Good News. It's simply incredible and I can scarcely believe its not been CGI'd somehow. But... Well here it is!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Augmenting reality with interactive car windows

Toyota unveiled a rather interesting car concept last year at an ACEA (European automaker's association) event in Brussels. The concept, coming from the company's European division, uses augmented reality to turn car windows into drawing canvases and information display. The concept was extremely popular, gaining over 1 million hits on YouTube quite quickly. It was also widely reported by CNN and even made it on Jay Leno's talk show - albeit as a bit in his monologue. Have a look at this video (and the CNN + Leno reports) after the break.

Toyota Europe's innovative concept recently won this year's Core77 Design Award in the Speculative category.



CNN report


The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Plane vs. lightning (don't watch if you're flying soon)

What happens to a modern airliner when it's struck by lightning? Well... not much actually. Modern airlines are quite safe, even though, statistically, every single plane is struck by lightning once every year. But the new generation of planes, like the Airbus A380, are no longer being made with metal. Weight saving is paramount. So manufacturers are going for carbon fibre. And carbon fibre disintegrates when struck by lightning. See how Airbus is working to prevent future disasters in this BBC clip.

Get Adobe Flash player
Images: BBC News

Monday, July 16, 2012

Racing in Slow Motion IV [VID]

Another awesome racing video I discovered through CarMagSA today. 15 minutes and you'll understand just why motorsports is so amazing! There's also a great and touching tribute to Italian MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Toyota celebrates 55 years of motorsports

Image courtesy Toyota Europe
And it features the latest footages from this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's really fun to watch and quite an emotional piece in my opinion. Really like the soundtrack - sounds familiar if you've ever watched Russell Crowe's Gladiator. But Le Mans isn't all... Toyota's motorsports heritage spans across the globe from rallying to top formula track racing. Enjoy!


Final 3 parts of @TTAC's Lexus LFA story

And here's Bertel Schmitt, the author
Been a little busy so haven't been very good at updating this blog. Anyways, here's the final three episodes of the Lexus LFA story by TTAC. Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Rebellion Racing looks back at 24 Hours of Le Mans

This video is absolutely brilliant. It really brings out the emotional parts of Le Mans. Rebellion Racing runs Lola-Toyota cars using V8 powerplants from Toyota Motorsport GmbH. A slightly more advanced version of that engine powers the petrol part of the Toyota Racing TS030 HYBRID which made its Le Mans debut this year. Take 8 min out and enjoy!


24 H du Mans 2012 from Axel ANQUETIL on Vimeo.

TheTruthAboutCars.com goes inside LFA Works clean room

Circular loom, one of two in the world (image courtesy TTAC)
The adventure of TTAC's Bertel Schmitt continues inside the clean room at LFA Works - the birthplace of each and every of the 500 Lexus LFAs. Read about it here. The third part of this five part exclusive series will be online later on today on TTAC. Keep an eye out!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Inside Lexus LFA Works - online exclusive by TheTruthAboutCars.com

Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package from Goodwood last year
Throughout this week, TheTruthAboutCars will run a 5-part series on the inner goings on of the Lexus LFA Works - that's the birthplace of the awesome LFA halo car in Japan. TTAC got exclusive first-hand access to the Motomachi plant in Japan to check out how the car is made. It's no secret that I love the LFA. This article is a must read, even if you don't have such passion about the car as I do. Part 1 was just published. Here's a short extract. Have a read for the full article here.

Gymkhana 5 - mouth gaping in awe-someness!

No need for any more words. Here's Gymkhana 5 by the awesome Ken Block. It's inspired!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Belgian tourism sues Belgian weather service for bad weather

From this week... It's gloomy!
This is definitely the funniest bit of news I've read for a while. It appears the Belgian tourism bureau is going to take the Belgian weather service to court for forecasting really rotten weather for July and August. The weather forecast currently shows just five days above 25°C in July while the first half of August will just be terrible.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Epic road trip Barcelona to Budapest in Toyota GT86

One of my favourite things in life is a nice road trip. The one big dream when I came to Europe was the possibility of going on these cross continental treks and take in the sights and sounds along the way. Sadly, I don't get to do it often enough. Generally, when I have to go somewhere, I can't take it leisurely, so it's flying or train most of the time. Never mind. Others are out there doing it and someone has made a wonderful video with a Toyota GT86 going from Barcelona to Budapest. Got this video from Jalopnik. It's spectacular!

Note: it's about 21 minutes long but it's so worth it! Take it with you while on summer vacation this year :)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Higgs particle and Hawking's sense of humour

Today's big news has been the potential discovery of the Higgs Boson, a.k.a. the "God Particle". This is the main target of research at the $10 million CERN research facility in Switzerland. The discovery of this particle means the last missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics is found and everything in the cosmos can likely be explained. Speaking of this momentous occasion in our history, renowned scientist, Stephen Hawking, displays an amazing sense of humour after having lost $100 in a bet that this particle could not be found. Check it out here via BBC News:

Get Adobe Flash player

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

New GRMN Sports FR Concept going to Goodwood

New pictures from Toyota of the all-new track-focussed GRMN Sports FR Concept. GRMN stands for GAZOO Racing tuned by Meister of Nürburgring (the same place they picked up two class wins with the GAZOO Racing Lexus LFA and Toyota GT86 at this year's 24-hour race). Designed for on-track action, the GRMN Sports FR Concept chucks out 320 PS thanks to its twincharged format (turbo- and supercharger). More after the break.

Le Mans will never be the same again!

Just caught this YouTube vid from this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans race courtesy of Jalopnik. It's from the on-board helmet cam of Jordan Taylor in his #73 Corvette. Simply stunning, and completely mesmerising! Must watch, again and again!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Schumi back on podium!

Eventful F1 European Grand Prix at Valencia ends with Michael Schumacher on the podium in 3rd!

Post race investigation announced that Schumi may have failed to slow down for yellow flags during the latter few laps of the race. If found guilty, he may lose his podium position...

Update 19:16 CET: No penalties after all for Schumi! Keeps podium finish.

THE MOMENT! #MichaelSchumacher #3rdplace #ValenciaGP  on Twitpic

Thursday, June 14, 2012

It's Le Mans at last!

"After several months of preparations and hard work, Toyota Racing has arrived at Circuit de la Sarthe for arguably the greatest endurance race in the world – 24 Hours of Le Mans. The afternoon started with a four hour free practice session. This is the first time the cars all ran on this circuit since the official test two weeks ago. The session wasn’t without incident, but more on that later. More importantly, the first of three qualifying sessions took place in the evening with our cars finishing in 4th and 6th places..." More here:
(Reblog from Toyota Europe Corporate Blog)

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Akira Iida Top 40 qualifying at 2012 24 Hours Nürburgring

Here's a fun video find. GAZOO Racing just uploaded the on-board footage of Akira Iida driving the team's race-prepped Lexus LFA #83 at this year's 24 Hours Nürburgring. It's quite mesmerising. Enjoy!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Pure electric motorsport bliss

This is insanely cool. Last year Toyota Motorsport GmbH, based in Cologne, Germany, brought out an electric race car. The car, the TMG EV P001, uses the chassis from a Radical track day car and a full newly developed electric race powertrain. TMG took it along to the Nürburgring where it set a blistering lap time of 7:47.794, the fastest electric vehicle ever to tackle the Green Hell - the record still stands. Now, they've brought out an upgrade, ready to tackle the Pikes Peak hill climb in the US. Check out the video after the break.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

@Toyota_Hybrid Racing wears Le Mans war paint

Yesterday, Toyota Hybrid Racing team revealed their brand new blue/white war paint for their #7 and #8 Le Mans cars. The race takes place over the June 16 and 17 weekend, but this weekend the teams have already set up shop at the La Sarthe circuit for official testing. I'm really liking the new hybrid blue scheme. The colour is derived from the blue highlights found in the Toyota and Lexus badges of the company's hybrid models. It's also not the first time Toyota is racing in blue at Le Mans. Between 1985 and 1993 several cars also ran a similar livery. Check out the gallery below.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Schumi still geat, but...

Michael Schumacher showed his true form last Saturday with an awesome pole lap during Qualifying. Sadly, because of Mr Ecclestone, all videos of the lap on YouTube has been blocked or taken off-line. I'm sure if you tune in to Sky F1 channel (in the UK) you'll probably still be able to catch it. The race ended pretty badly with a fuel pump issue for Schumi after posting some blistering lap time to eat into Massa's 6th place lead. What really worried me is this picture after Quali... I'm just really not so sure about the angle, and hand/arm position of our German friend...

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Girls from the Nürburgring

So, it's been a week since the 24-hour race at The Green Hell, but it's never too late to look back at fond memories of the race. Here's a pic gallery of the grid girls from the race. Enjoy!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Falken Drifting Team - awesome video

A very good morning from Nürburgring! As I write, the British GT guys are going all out on track, flying past the pit straight and paddocks. Enjoy this video I took midway through dinner. It's the Falken Drifting Team putting on an awesome performance for the crowds here.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Videos from Nürburgring grid

Just have a look at these vids from the grid. When the cars shoot off the line, it's purely awesome!



British GT grid walk

Martin Brundle has his F1 grid walk - one of my favourite moments every race. Now, I present my very own British GT grid walk. Hot from the grid, these are the latest pictures of the awesome machines on display at the Nürburgring. While I write this post, the cars are shooting past making some really, really thunderous roars. Music to my ears!