The Silverado 1500 is Chevrolet’s half-ton full-size pickup that was redesigned for 2007. Available in Regular Cab, Extended Cab, and Crew Cab versions with a choice of three different box sizes: 5 feet 8 inches, 6 feet 6 inches and 8 feet, the next-generation Silverado is built on an all-new platform for a smoother ride and more responsive handling. The new front-end appearance is unique to Silverado, including a wider, taller grille with a prominent gold bow tie and large vertically stacked headlights that are pushed to the outer edges of the body. Most Chevrolet Silverados come standard with the OnStar advanced communication system.

Reports are flying in from Italy that Google might be working with a hardware partner to bring a Nexus tablet similar Nexus smartphones. Google Executive chairman Eric Schmidt told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sea that Google plans to market a tablet of highest quality in the next six months.

His exact statement in Italian:

Noi nei prossimi sei mesi contiamo di mettere sul mercato un tablet di altissima qualità.

There were no other details shared about the tablet. It is also not confirmed whether this upcoming tablet would even get the Nexus name or it would just be a tablet from a hardware partner running stock Android with stamp of approval from Google.

Eric Schmidt also did not reveal any details when asked about Majel, the so-called Siri competitor, but stated that Google already has best voice translation technology and it could be used to make something like Siri.

Via SG

Blizzards, heavy snowfall may disrupt holiday travel
The Associated Press
Posted: Dec 19, 2011 12:27 PM ET
Last Updated: Dec 19, 2011 12:19 PM ET
An Eldorado jogger gets his morning run in through some snow on Dec. 14, 2011. Winter storm warnings and advisories are in effect as more snow and rain make their way across portions of northern and central New Mexico. (The Santa Fe New Mexican, Clyde Mueller/Associated Press)
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Blizzard warnings went up across wide sections of the Southwest and Great Plains Monday, two days before the official start of winter, as a major snow storm threatened to play havoc with holiday travel.
Warnings forecasting snowfalls of up to 45 centimetres stretched across the region as the storm barreled toward parts of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. In southern Colorado, blizzard conditions were expected to drop between 20 and 40 centimetres of snow and threatened to close Interstate 25 from New Mexico into the Colorado.
In southwestern Kansas, winds of up to 72 kilometres per hour were expected to create whiteout conditions and high drifts that could block roads.
"We are preparing," said Kansas Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Swartz. "We've had a few storms in the northwest, but we are fully stocked with sand and salt in all our regions. We're in good shape."
Storm follows unseasonably warm temperatures
The storm was expected to also disrupt holiday travel on major interstates in the region, including Interstate 35 in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, interstates 25 and 40 in New Mexico and Interstate 70 across central Kansas. Motorists were urged to check road conditions before beginning any long journeys.
The storm follows a surprisingly mild Sunday across the region. Thunderstorms were moving across Kansas Monday, with conditions expected to deteriorate as the day progressed and temperatures fell.
In New Mexico, heavy snow and high winds forced the closure of U.S. Route 64 between Raton and Clayton, making driving conditions difficult in the mountains and across northern parts of the state. Santa Fe schools and Los Alamos National Laboratory were closed because of the storm. Crews were plowing and pouring salt across roads that were expected to see up to 38 centimetres of snow.
In the Oklahoma Panhandle, where residents enjoyed relatively balmy 15-degree-Celsius conditions on Sunday, a National Weather Service blizzard warning said up to 40 centimetres of snow was possible before the storm exits the region Tuesday.
Heavy snow began falling in Cimarron County on Monday morning. Vicki Roberts, who owns the Black Mesa Bed and Breakfast in Kenton, Okla., said about 3.8 centimetres of snow settled after about an hour.
Roberts said she expects to be stuck inside at least through Wednesday if a blizzard slams the area as forecast.
Precipitation could help ease Texas drought
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation said Sunday that crews would work around the clock to keep roads clear, and that they have about 130,000 tons of a salt and sand mixture at their disposal.
The precipitation also could help ease a drought that has plagued Texas for more than year.
"You're not going to find too many people who have to put in winter wheat in this area complaining," said Tabatha Seymore, observing program leader for the National Weather Service in Amarillo, Texas.
"It's just wonderful to have this moisture to sit on top of the crop and melt. It's fantastic for them."
Long haul truck driver Frank Pringle, at a Love's Travel Stop in Amarillo said he intended to go as far west as road conditions would allow Monday. His biggest worry was with four-wheel drive cars because "they will shoot past you and cut you off and you have to hit your brakes. And hitting brakes in the snow is not a good thing."
Clayton, N.M., Police Chief Scott Julian said his town is expecting more than 30 centimetres of snow. He is worried the most about drivers passing through town to Colorado or Texas who might decide to take their chances with the storm only to find that "they get ten miles out of town, they can't see in front of them, and they get stranded out there."
© The Associated Press, 2011

Updated: December 13, 2011 2:25AM

GRAYSLAKE — Village trustees have approved a set of design parameters that the Illinois Tollway Authority will hopefully include in its plans should they eventually decide to go ahead with extending Route 53 from the Cook County line up to Route 120 in central Lake County.

The Tollway Authority currently is conducting an engineering feasibility study on the project since the Illinois Department of Transportation has decided it is not financially feasible at this time.

Mayor Rhett Taylor said while there is no assurance that the tollway will build the project, money was included for a study in the recent toll rate hikes. The largest section of the Route 53/120 project would fall within Grayslake.

The village has been a strong supporter of the project for many years and has definitive ideas on what it should entail within its boundaries.

“The parameters incorporate planning standards adopted by the Route 53 Corridor Planning Council, as well as high environmental standards to help minimize adverse impacts on Grayslake,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the Village believes the Tollway should consider certain operational objectives beyond congestion relief should they proceed. These include a road configuration that supports anticipated expansion of economic development in central Lake County, and allows for eventual expansion of mass transit to these business growth areas.

The mayor points out that Grayslake has over 1,300 acres of land set aside for business development near the Route 53/120 planned corridor.

“The chosen road configuration should support economic development in the area,” Taylor said.

The trustees also have thoughts on how the roadway should be built in Grayslake. They want the lowest possible elevation throughout — below existing grade where possible — and an underpass built at routes 137/83 to accommodate train tracks there.

Traffic noise should be kept under 64 decibels in the adjoining village corridor, providing decorative sound walls between residential neighborhoods if necessary. Berms should screen the view of the roadway from outside the corridor and roadway lighting should not spill outside the corridor.

Signage is also a concern. Road directional signs should be screened from outside the corridor with no spill lighting.

The village requests identification signage placed at Winchester Road, Route 120 and west of Alleghany Road. Village sign designs should be used and Grayslake will pay for costs.

Village officials point out they have an extensive bicycle network and do not want to disrupt it. They suggest existing north-south bike path connection routes be planned at Harris Road, Lake Street, Alleghany Road, and at routes 45 and 83. They also want minimum impact to wetlands at the Central Range wetland restoration area and east of Route 45.

By Edward J. Correia, CRN
December 09, 2011    4:00 PM ET

The mass production of LCD displays has turned them into a commodity. A 19-inch LCD monitor that in 1998 sold for upward of $2,995 can now be had for $79.95. So it’s natural to see them appearing everywhere from the backseats of taxicabs to the picture frames in grandma’s living room.

And why not? A moving sign attracts far more eyeballs than a static poster ever could, and technologies exist that can tailor the sign’s content to the viewer in realtime. LCD screens deliver news, safety warnings, product information, restaurant menus and train and airline flight information. They also can be used to make reservations, sell tickets, or even be the front end of digital jukebox.

What’s more, they’re increasingly being used as decoration. In the passageway between two of its terminals at JFK Airport, American Airlines treats passengers to beautiful and moving images of international landscapes. And in department stores, it’s becoming more common to be helped by a “point of information” kiosk that can provide just-in-time data or discounts to spur a purchase. UNIQLO, a Japanese clothing retailer with three stores in New York City, recently reached an agreement with a solution provider for more than 400 NEC Display Solutions of America screens to promote its products to shoppers in its flagship UNIQLO New York Fifth Avenue store and other locations.

In addition to the market for lobby signs and decorative signage applications, which are typically one-off sales with periodic content updates, there are a few signage applications with the potential to generate regular streams of recurring revenue.

The first, and perhaps easiest to sell, is for in-store promotion of a customer’s own products or services. These are increasingly popping up in menus at quick-serve restaurants and delis but also can be seen in stand-alone ceiling or counter signs that display “Today’s Specials.”

The infrastructure for these products requires either a PC to drive content to each display, or a product that can display content from a USB stick. Solution providers generate recurring revenue from managing and updating content.

The second, and a bit more challenging, is the sale of signage for hyperlocal marketing. Imagine one customer that a solution provider already services is a deli. That deli might share space in a strip mall with a dry cleaner, a pet store, a restaurant and a bank. A solution provider might approach the deli owner to buy a digital sign to use as a menu display and offer to split the revenue that the dry cleaner is paying to advertise in a small box on the deli menu.

The dry cleaner might in turn purchase its own sign and run reciprocal ads from the deli, which might promote its breakfast and lunch specials at certain times of day. These two customers pay nothing to each other, but each generates revenue for the solution provider for managing the content and sending monthly reports.

A third way, and the most potentially lucrative one, is for a solution provider’s digital signs to be offered as part of a digital signage network. According to Pierre Richer, president and COO of NEC Display Solutions, this market also is the most complicated, and solution providers looking to enter it should have a solid background in advertising.

“It’s a bit like selling television, radio and print, but a lot more complex,” he said, because of all the technologies and players involved.

The Test Center put four products to the test for this digital signage feature. Products tested include Elo TouchSystems’ 22C2 Medical All-in-One Touchcomputer, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ)’s LD 4720 Digital Signage Display, LG’s 42LV355B EzSign TV and Software and NEC’s E462 46-inch Entry-Level Commercial Display. Rather than conducting a head-to-head review, the Test Center evaluated each product for its ability to meet its intended purpose.

To test image quality, we displayed the LCD monitor calibration and testing images found at www.lagom.nl/lcd-test. We looked most carefully at the contrast, color gradation, white saturation and black level capabilities of each display.