The Automotive Industry, Interactive Games & Advertising

Ferrari have announced an alliance with SCEE which means that finally you can drive a Ferrari in Gran Turismo! More importantly it underlines how seriously the automotive manufacturers are about leveraging an ever growing audience. With 45 million copies of the game sold its a bit of a no brainer that a marque like Ferrari is now involved.

Licensing has traditionally been a complex area Advergaming and Sponsorships is a great article which talks about all aspects of in-game advertisement and sponsorships in particular the section titled A Gray Line: Licensing vs. Advertising.

Nissan North America and microsoft recently announced expansion plans to a long term partnership which originally involved integrating the xbox 360 platform into a concept car called the URGE.

The partnership now extends to Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions platforms such as; Windows live, MSN, live Search, xbox and Windows mobile. Nissan are the primary sponsor of Forza 2 Motorsport for xbox 360 and are co-sponsoring Open for Design program.

Ford announced earlier this year their plans for an advergame called Ford Bold Moves Street racing". Fords advergame strategy carries a greater amount of risk than the product placement approach taken by Nissan and Ferrari and will be interesting to see how it all pans out. My money is on Nissan and Ferrari doing very well and Fords strategy falling flat. And its not only my personal opinion. Gamespot reviews arent very favourable with ratings of bad to poor for the various platforms (Xbox 360, PC etc) which bodes very poorly for Ford. To quote a review: When people complain about racing games because they are boring, Ford Bold Moves is exactly the kind of game they are talking about.

Risky indeed.

Various Artists My Music For Yoga

Hovercraft Plans - You Can Build Your Own Hovercraft In A Weekend

Hovercrafts, also known as Air-Cushion Vehicles (ACV), are amphibious vehicles that move on a layer of pressurized air. Because of their unique design, they can cruise over virtually any surface: water, road, grass, snow and ice. As a result of their flexible nature, Hovercrafts have a great advantage in military applications, but they aren't just for the military. Lots of hobbyists love them too, especially since they are easy to build and with a good set of plans you can build a Hovercraft in a single weekend.

Some hobbyists prefer building and racing radio-controlled hovercrafts, which much like toy boats and helicopters, are controlled from a distance. But theres a lot more fun to be had than watching a small toy hovercraft fly around the local pond. You can actually build a hovercraft for yourself, and then get in it and take it for a drive. You can take your hovercraft for a nice leisurely cruise on the lake, or you can race your kids in the crafts you helped them build! If you get even more involved in hovercraft construction and operation, there are clubs to join as well so you can race fellow hobbyists and share building tips that will help you get more speed out of your craft.

And I have to say, Im a big klutz and even I managed to follow these plans without hurting myself or anyone else in the vicinity. On a weekend trip to my sisters, who happens to live near a lake, I made a short supply run to Lowes and then arrived on my sisters doorstep with plywood stacked up in the car. Her husband, myself and my brother put the Hovercraft together in less than a day and then spent the early part of the evening fighting over who got to use it next, so I think next time were going to try putting two more together so we can all race each other. Having done it once, Im pretty sure now I could just build the next one myself. The plans are easy to follow and well-illustrated for even a hardware newbie like myself to follow. And they really are just an incredible amount of fun. I'm actually looking forward to winter so I can try it out on the ice.

Want to build your own Hovercraft? Get a good set of Hovercraft Design Plans and get started on your weekend project. Convince a couple of friends to join you, and you can start racing them.

Meditation Or Studying Yoga Or Tai Chi Eastern Disciplines

Golf Teaching Tools - Chipping Problems

The golf teaching tool is conventional way of chipping the golf ball. You could use a 5 iron, a 7 iron and a 9 iron to chip with. I like doing this, 5 for the long chip shots, 7 for the medium chip shots, and 9 for the short chip shots.

Let me tell you the method and how easy it is to use. If you have a small chip shot, use your 9 iron and put the ball in the middle of your stance, put a little weight on your left leg, and push the handle over to your left leg. From there, make an arm swing with a little chop of the club head.

Now, if your shot has to go to a little further, take a 7 iron. Dont change the golf swing; same golf swing, same method, but choose a golf club that will send the ball a little further.

Using this club will probably get the golf ball to go back up towards the pin. again, ball in the middle of your stance, weight left, handle left, arm swing. And, it will go a little bit further.

Now, lets just say that you had to hit a golf shot where the ball had to go all the way to the back of the green. Now you're going to use a 5 iron. Here it is, ball in the middle of the stance, weight left and handle left; same golf swing, an arm swing with a chop. And that 5 iron will send the ball a lot further. Thats a great golf teaching tool that should help you going forward.

Now, you may struggle with your short chip shots. And if the grass is mowed down, dont ever hesitate to putt the ball.

Do everything the same that you normally do when you putt a golf ball. The only challenge is, is that sometimes it comes out of the rough, bouncing a little bit, or when the fairway is mowed and its not perfect like the putting green.

Now heres the last golf teaching tool for you. You may struggle with your conventional chip shots and you dont like to putt the golf ball. So, why dont you try this utility wood? This is the 3 iron. The difference is, is that its built like a wood. So the bottom of it, the sole plate, is a little bit longer and itll stop you from stubbing the golf ball.

So, here it is. Approach it just like a putt and grip it like a putter, stand to it like a putt, and stroke it like a putter. And if you do that, the golf ball will take off and head to the hole. And thats when you use a utility golf club.

I hope this gives you some insight into making your short game a little easier when you're in and around the fringe. Dont forget to putt, use a flat-faced club like a putter, try your 3 wood, try your 4 wood, and lastly, do the conventional way, and I guarantee you that will help you.

Copyright 2006 David Nevogt

David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to http://www.golfswingguru.com

Mat Nike Yoga

Before You Buy - An Xbox 360

Before purchasing the next generation video game, there are a few things that should be taken into consideration. The xbox 360 is the latest attempt from microsoft to control the giant that Sony has dominated for the past several years. With a three-core IBM processor at its heart, this thing appears to be a wild animal waiting for its release. without getting too technical, the specs on the xbox 360 easily eclipses any piece of gaming equipment around today, with the exception of some of the $4k-$5k high-end gaming PCs.

The first decision you have to make is whether or not to spend and extra $100 on the official xbox 360 or take the cheap way out and grab the core. I think you can assume what my recommendation is but for those unaware dont waste your money on the core system. The core, at a suggested price of $299, includes the system, a wired controller, basic video cables, and thats pretty much it. For those that chose to be a bit more dollar wise, the $400 xbox 360 includes the system with chrome details, a wireless remote, a wireless controller, HD component cables, and the 20 GB hard drive. The latter of the two options would be more than $650 if purchased separately.

The second decision you must make, is if you are going to really jump into the next generation or if you are content with your current television situation. Personally, I went HD over two years ago and there is not in turning back in my horizons. At minimum, you need an HD-capable set in order to fully experience what the next generation of gaming has in store. My current set-up (pictured below) includes my xbox 360 being displayed on a 32 Olevia Flat-Panel LCD and the picture in one word is MIND-BLOWING. If you have the finances, dont chinch on what type of display is showing these beautifully rendered graphics. just as a test, I set up my 360 on the last standard television I have in my home and to be honest, it didnt look to bad. But once I set it up on my High Definition set, my heart felt at piece and my eyes were finally able to relax and soak in the beauty. The level of detail on an HD set compared to traditional makes the xbox 360 a must have for ANYONE that has and HD television.

The last thing to consider is the game lineup. I purchased my xbox 360 the day it launched (how is another story) and with it I bought: madden 2006, call of duty 2, Need for Speed, Perfect Dark Zero and nba 2K6 (Im not rich, its called credit). To my surprise Perfect Dark Zero and Call of duty 2 quickly stood out as the better games graphically and had pretty good game-play. If youve ever played a first person shooter such as Halo, there shouldnt be any problem popping these in without much of a learning curve. nba 2K6 is definitely a must-have and is leaps and bounds better than its xbox predecessor. madden and Need for Speed were pretty disappointing considering they seemed to be ports from the original xbox and nothing more. The line-up, as of now, is still in its infancy and is not enough to make you HAVE to own this system immediately. However, Im a gaming nut and I would have been extremely disappointed had I not had this system on launch day.

Recommendation: purchase this system as soon as it is financially viable. The killer apps are in the pipeworks!

John Stirk Yoga Teacher