Thursday, October 20, 2011

lincoln memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue (Abraham Lincoln, 1920) was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior murals was Jules Guerin. It is one of several monuments built to honor an American president.

The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963 during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Like other monuments on the National Mall – including the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and National World War II Memorial – the memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 15, 1966. It is open to the public 24 hours a day. In 2007, it was ranked seventh on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

The Lincoln Memorial, designed after the temples of ancient Greece, is significant as America's foremost memorial to their 16th president, as a totally original example of neoclassical architecture, and as the formal terminus to the extended National Mall in accordance with the McMillan Plan for the monumental core of Washington.
The first public memorial to Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C. was a statue by Lot Flannery erected in front of the District of Columbia City Hall in 1868, three years after his assassination. However, demands for a fitting national memorial had been voiced since the time of Lincoln's death. In 1867, Congress heeded these demands and passed the first of many bills incorporating a commission to erect a monument for the sixteenth president. An American, Clark Mills, was chosen to design the monument. His plans reflected the bombastic nationalistic spirit of the age. His design called for a 70-foot (21 m) structure adorned with six equestrian and 31 pedestrian statues of colossal proportions, crowned by a 12-foot (3.7 m) statue of Abraham Lincoln. However, subscriptions for the project were insufficient and its future fell into doubt.




lincoln ls

The Lincoln LS is a mid-size, rear wheel drive sedan from Lincoln. For its production run from 1999 until 2006, it was based on the Ford DEW98 platform, which was shared with the Jaguar S-Type and Ford Thunderbird. LS versions were originally to be called LS6 and LS8 depending on engine choice, but those designations were replaced with "LS V6" and "LS V8" after Toyota's Lexus division became concerned about the potential for naming confusion with its Lexus LS. Along with the related Jaguar S-Type, it is the first entry-level luxury car owned by a Ford brand since the Merkur Scorpio and XR4Ti ended production in 1989.

The LS was introduced in early 1999 as a 2000 model year vehicle, in part as a successor to the Lincoln Mark VIII coupe that was discontinued after 1998. It was the first Lincoln in decades to offer an optional manual transmission. With its available V8 power, rear wheel drive, and near 50/50 weight distribution, the LS was an attractive alternative to European sports sedans.
Prices for the LS from the 2000 to 2004 model years ranged from just over $30,000 for a base V6 model in 1999, to around $45,000 for fully equipped Special Edition V8 LSE trims in 2004. By 2006, prices ranged from $39,945 for a base model to $49,100 for a top-of-the-line LS. The increase in base price was caused by the elimination of the entry-level LS V6, which in turn moved the now V8-only LS from the entry-level luxury segment to the mid-level luxury segment.

Production of the LS ended on April 3, 2006. All Lincoln LS models were manufactured at Ford's Wixom Assembly Plant which was idled in 2007, as part of The Way Forward. About 262,900 LS models were built.
In 1999 the LS debuted as Lincoln's first rear-wheel drive sport luxury sedan for the 2000 model year. The LS was devised to appeal to a younger generation of luxury car buyers not common to Lincoln as well as to those who would have normally chosen auto manufacturers such as BMW or Mercedes-Benz for a luxury sport sedan. Though related to the Jaguar S-Type, which was introduced the same year, the LS was distinctive in style and content due to the fact that the S-Type and LS each had their own design teams. In designing the LS to be competitive in its segment, Helmuth Schrader, the LS' German-born chief designer, said of the car, "In a segment defined and dominated by BMW and Mercedes, the car had to have a functional, no-nonsense look. This redefines the Lincoln brand, but we still had to make sure it was recognizable as a member of the same family as the Town Car, Continental, and especially the Navigator." Heeding this insight, the LS featured an understated, well-proportioned exterior design with squared-off edges (relative to the S-Type), including trapezoidal headlight housings and rectangular fog lights. The body was tightly sculpted with short front and rear overhangs to emphasize an athletic appearance while well-rounded wheel housings were intentionally made small to suggest that the car's wheels were larger than their actual size. The greenhouse of the LS offered spacious headroom and was accentuated by a smoothly arched roofline. Completing the exterior were subtle chrome accents on the front and rear fascias and Lincoln's signature waterfall grille.




jaguar logo

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Jaguars, along with the Carolina Panthers, joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1995.

The club has played all of its home games at EverBank Field, located near the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville. The team headquarters is also located in the stadium. The Jaguars practice during the season and training camp in the stadium and on adjoining practice fields. They are the only team in the "big four" sports leagues to play in the city of Jacksonville. Since their inception the Jaguars have won two division championships and have made six playoff appearances.
Every year Jacksonville hosts the Gator Bowl, an annual civic highlight traditionally accompanied by parties, ceremonies, parades and other events leading up to the game. The annual Florida vs. Georgia Football Classic, a major college football rivalry game between the University of Florida Gators and the University of Georgia Bulldogs is also played in Jacksonville.

The Gator Bowl stadium was built out of steel trusses during the Great Depression and was frequently built onto, with the final addition of the reinforced-concrete west upper deck coming in 1982. The stadium hosted short-lived teams in both the World Football League (Jacksonville Sharks/Express) and the United States Football League (Jacksonville Bulls) and the occasional NFL exhibition game. The city also hosted the American Football League All Star Game in 1967 and 1968. The city briefly attempted to lure the Baltimore Colts, whose owner Robert Irsay famously landed a helicopter in the stadium as thousands of Jacksonville citizens urged him to move the team there. City leaders also attempted to get the Houston Oilers to move to Jacksonville at one point in the late 1980s. Great efforts were made to lure the Oilers, including the creation of a "Jacksonville Oilers" banner and designation of a specific section of the Gator Bowl as a non-alcohol, family section for proposed home games (a feature utilized today at Jaguars games).
In 1992, the NFL announced that it would add two new teams, originally in time for the 1993 season. The league had not expanded since the 1976 season with the addition of Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers; with the sport growing the NFL felt the time was right to add additional franchises. Five cities were ultimately chosen as finalists for the two new teams: Charlotte, North Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; and Jacksonville. From the beginning, Charlotte and St. Louis were considered the heavy favorites; Baltimore also a strong possibility. Though not as strong a bid, Memphis was still considered an outside possibility, as the NFL did not have a presence in the area.




tesla model s

The Tesla Model S is a full-sized battery electric sedan in development by Tesla Motors. It is an electric car that was codenamed WhiteStar during research and preliminary development. It was announced in a press release on June 30, 2008. The prototype vehicle was displayed at a press conference on March 26, 2009.

Production for the retail market is expected to begin in mid 2012, with a base price of US$57,400. The base model will have a range of 160 miles (260 km) when fully charged, and a 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) acceleration of 5.6 seconds. The premium Signature Series will have a larger battery pack available with ranges of 230 and 300 miles (370 and 480 km). The first 1,000 cars to be produced will be of the premium Signature version. Charging times vary depending on the battery pack's state-of-charge, its overall capacity, the available voltage, and the available circuit breaker amp rating (current). A complete charge may take three or more hours using standard US 110 VAC household circuits or a 45-minute QuickCharge to 80%, equivalent to adding 170 miles (270 km)-of-range for each hour charging, will be possible when connected to a DC fast-charger. In addition, a battery swap will be possible in less than two minutes.
The Model S is being designed as a high performance electric sedan that competes with cars such as the BMW 5-series. This model follows Tesla Motors' business plan to expand down-market from the high performance Tesla Roadster sports car, which has a base price of US$109,000 or €99,000.

Initial design was created by Henrik Fisker, and later re-styled by Franz von Holzhausen who previously worked for Mazda North American Operations.
The Model S was featured on Late Show with David Letterman in April 2009. Because the car uses no gasoline whatsoever and does not produce any tailpipe emissions, it was allowed on the Late Show set and was the first fully functioning car on the stage.




smart car

Smart is an automotive branch of Daimler AG. Smart is a German manufacturer of microcars produced in Hambach, France, and Böblingen, Germany. It is marketed as the "smart" in all lower-case, with the Smart brand logo, as of 2010, denoting a letter "c" for "compact" and an arrow for "forward thinking".

In the late 1980s, SMH (makers of the Swatch brand of watches) CEO Nicolas Hayek began developing an idea for a new car using the same type of manufacturing strategies and personalization features used to popularize Swatch watches. He believed that the automotive industry had ignored a sector of potential customers who wanted a small and stylish city car. This idea soon became known as the "Swatchmobile". Hayek's private company Hayek Engineering AG began designing the new car for SMH, with seating for two and a hybrid drivetrain.
While design of the car was proceeding, Hayek feared existing manufacturers would feel threatened by the Swatchmobile. Thus, rather than directly competing, he preferred to cooperate with another company in the automotive industry. This would also relieve SMH of the cost burden in setting up a distribution network. Hayek approached several automotive manufacturers and on July 3, 1991 he reached an agreement with Volkswagen to share development of the new project.

By 1993 Ferdinand Piëch had become CEO of Volkswagen and he immediately sought to terminate the project with SMH. Volkswagen had already been working on their own "three-litre car": a car which would consume three litres of fuel per 100 km of driving (the eventual Volkswagen Lupo 3L). Volkswagen's own concept was believed to be a better business proposition, featuring four seats and more cargo room.
Hayek had suspected that Piëch would seek to end the agreement with SMH upon his ascendancy to the CEO position; therefore, he discreetly began approaching other car companies with the Swatchmobile project. Rebuffed by BMW, Fiat, General Motors and Renault, he finally reached an informal agreement with Daimler-Benz AG, maker of Mercedes-Benz cars.




bentley continental gt

The Bentley Continental GT is a two-door 'two plus two' grand touring coupé released in 2003, replacing the previous Rolls-Royce-based Continental R and T.

A re-bodied Volkswagen Phaeton, it is equipped with a 5,998 cubic centimetres (366.0 cu in) (6.0 litre) twin-turbocharged W12 engine, which produces a DIN-rated motive power output of 560 metric horsepower (412 kW; 552 bhp) at 6,100 rpm, and torque of 650 newton metres (479 ft·lbf) at 1,600-6,100 rpm. Torsen-based permanent four-wheel drive is standard. It will accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour (0 to 62.1 mph) in 4.8 seconds, and go on to reach a top speed of 318 kilometres per hour (197.6 mph).
The four door Continental Flying Spur saloon was first displayed at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. The Flying Spur utilizes most of the technical underpinnings of the Bentley Continental GT, and was introduced to European and North American markets in the summer of 2005. Together, the Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur have boosted Bentley's annual production from around 1,000 units in 2003, to 9,200 units in 2006.[citation needed]

The Flying Spur has 6-litre, 12-cylinder engine, configured in a W formation. Unlike a conventional 12 cylinder engine with two banks of 6 (V-12), the Continental's 6-litre engine is configured in four banks of 3 cylinders each (W-12). This shortens the W-12 engine's length considerably, compared to a 2 bank configuration. The W-12 produces 552 bhp (412 kW; 560 PS), accelerates from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds, and propels the Flying Spur top speed of 194 mph (312 km/h).
One notable aspect of the Continental Flying Spur is its grille. Made to look like traditional chromed brass mesh, it is a metal-covered plastic-core. This was fitted as a safety feature; it is designed to break apart upon impact with a pedestrian.




volvo s60

The Volvo S60 is a compact executive sedan produced by the Swedish automaker Volvo from 2000. Two generations of the sedan have been produced to date.

The S60 marked a clean break for Volvo from the boxy design that many associated the brand with in the 1980s and 90s. Its design, done by a design team led by Peter Horbury, built upon the styling of the S80 and was the most marked departure from traditional Volvo styling since Horbury joined the firm in 1992. Accordingly, Volvo marketed the car as heralding a "Revolvolution."
The S60 was refreshed in 2005. The exterior was updated with body-colored side moldings and bumpers, as well as new headlamps. The interior received some updates as well, with new seats, trim, and an updated center console. The Four-C chassis from the S60 R became an option on some S60s. The T5 engine was also reengineered from 2.3 to 2.4 litres and received an increase of 10 bhp (7 kW; 10 PS).

Police specification models came about through Volvo's extensive work alongside the users of the vehicles and Police Fleet Management departments. As a result the Police specification vehicles have a striking difference from original showroom model. Firstly the suspension was up-rated to deal the demands of Police work; this included fitting the front suspension of the D5 model variant (as the suspension was designed to deal with the heavier diesel engine). Nivomat self-levelling suspension was also fitted to the rear to ensure correct geometry of the vehicle, regardless of the weight carried. On early models, the clutch was also replaced with the stronger D5 unit.
A larger specification battery and 110A alternator was also fitted to run all the extra equipment, along with a dedicated Police fuse box in the boot. Extra wiring looms are also fitted specially for the Police radios and other equipment, including CCTV cameras. Additional electrical noise suppression has been added so as not to interfere with the sensitive electronics the police use.