All posts tagged with: Technology

Photo Credit: Ford Canada

From the sleek exterior lines and eco-boost engine, to the air conditioned leather seats and four moon roofs, the Ford Flex is the hottest and most comfortable seven-passenger crossover vehicles in 2013. It’s fun to drive, full of safety features and most importantly, fuel-efficient.

“Flex appeals to people who want to stand out from the crowd,” said Mark Fields, President of The America’s. “With technologies not found in other full-size utilities, even better fuel economy and a more modern, sophisticated look, we’re offering people even more reasons to choose Flex with the new model.”

Photo credit: Ford Canada

On the outside, the 20” aluminum wheels make a bold statement and the new front end rounds out the edges. “Flex” is the only name you’ll find on the front end, and on the back a standard dual exhaust. Standard colours are ruby red, deep blue or brown – or customize it with tow-tone with white, gray or black body-colour roofs.

Great for long trips!

Inside the three-row crossover is nothing but space, even in the back bench seating for three. The mid-cabin console has a cooler/freezer compartment, ideal for keeping things cold on long-trips. Each row of seating has their own moon roof and the middle row has their own climate control.

The 2013 Ford Flex has every feature a driver needs. Front row leather seats are heated and air conditioned, there are rain-sensing wipers, keyless entry, power-fold mirrors and a mountain of safety features like blind-spot sensors.

The cruise control is radar-enabled. It detects the relative position to other vehicles. When the cruise control is on, it functions normally, however, when there is a slower vehicle ahead the sensors automatically slow down until the vehicle has cleared, then it resumes to the set speed. Very cool!

The 2013 Ford Flex overlooking Kalamalka Lake in Vernon, BC

The MyFord Touch control system has been overhauled for 2013. The 4.2 inch screen controls everything from music and interior lighting, to GPS mapping and temperature control. When synced with Bluetooth or USB, the hands-free voice-activated calling features and stored device music are all available. Unfortunately there are still bugs in the system because the connectivity with smart phones doesn’t always work, or work consistently.

Who's got the better Flex? Photo Credit: McKenzie McMillan

Powering this baby is a 3.5-litre V6 eco-boost engine that delivers outstanding fuel-efficiency for its size. Essentially you get the all-wheel-drive capability and power of a V8, but in a precisely designed high-output, engine. It delivers exception fuel economy and horsepower. The automatic transmission also has a manual control, powered by paddle shifters on the steering wheel – standard on all models. It easily powers up steep hills, handles fast corners well, and is easy to drive through the city.

Photo Credit: Ford Canada

For a mid-size vehicle it’s really fun to drive, has many great features for both driver and passenger enjoyment and is extremely comfortable on long-trips.

The 2013 Ford Flex is built in Oakville, Ontario.

This could quite possibly be the coolest thing this year at any road running race in British Columbia in 2012. It’s a game-changer and it sets the bar for other races to embrace technology and how they need to apply social media, not with just on-the-ground teams, but actively engage running participants.

Participants in the TC10K will be the first participants of any road running race held in British Columbia to have their time and placing posted live on Twitter and Facebook during the Sunday, April 29, 2012 race.

The TC10K social media tracking service has officially launched and participants can sign-up to transmit their standings live as they cross special timing mats at the 5km, 8km and finish lines. Victoria-based Race Day Timing is providing the free service.

“In addition to having your 5km, 8km, and finish time shared live on your Facebook or Twitter account during the race, friends and family will be able to track a participants progress on our live leader board and athlete tracker,” says Mark Nelson, Owner, Race Day Timing.

The live social sharing requires each participant to register for the service after they have registered for the TC10K event. Participants registering to run after April 16 will need to wait 48 hours before they can register for the social feeds.

Male porn star and producer, Brent Everett and his husband and producer Steve Pena, have both enjoyed success in the adult entertainment industry.

Adult entertainment and porn in North America are multi-billion dollar industries. The demand is insatiable. With the advances in technology, is there still money to be made by models or producers?

The reality is yes. Producers are constantly pushing the boundaries and coming up with new and creative ideas to shoot and distribute. It’s the way that they are making producers and studios are making their money is what is changing.

Ten to twenty years ago they would have hired actors, shot a scene, edited and then released it out on VHS or DVD. Today, with the advancements on the internet there are less and less DVD sales and VHS is obsolete.

Today, some revenue still comes from the traditional sale of DVD’s, but other revenue streams are now available. Video on demand, live webcam shows, paid member sites, merchandising, and special model appearances are ways the industry has learned how to diversify.

But it’s not just technology that is impacting the industry. During the economic downturn people turned to the internet to exchange files and access codes to private sites because disposable income was stretched thin. When people aren’t buying the media, producers aren’t getting paid and therefore there is less media being filmed and distributed .

This dramatically impacted not only producers and studios, but also the models who appear in front of the camera. Many adult entertainment models found themselves having to diversify their own careers. Many took up modeling in the fashion industry or have made special appearances at circuit parties and clubs.

Some models chose not to weather the storm and turned to more traditional careers in retail, business, technology and even acting.

Similar to the music industry, the adult entertainment industry need to find ways to diversify their revenue streams to continue to fulfill the worlds desire for erotic film.

It’ll be interesting to see how the world of adult entertainment evolves over the next few years as new technology like 3-D becomes more mainstream and how mobile and tablets will be used to create new revenue streams for producers and studios.