Morning Reads: Saturday, 15 March 2008

[mika]

TodayÔÇÖs Birthdays / Calendar

A Corny Concerto ÔÇô Elmer Fudd
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Boom Boom ÔÇô Porky Pig (1936)
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Daffy Duck and the dinosaur
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Little Beau Pepe
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amadirectlink.com
AMA submits testimony to Congress on motorized recreation on public land.


Fun to watch, but I hope the Ducati Hyper Motard sounds better in real life than on this video!
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<a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1100585/ducati_hypermotard_motorcycle_review/">Ducati Hypermotard Motorcycle Review - video powered by Metacafe</a></font>


dealernews.com
HondaÔÇÖs reasoning behind Marysville


motorcycle-usa.com
Memorable Motorcycles: Honda 350 ÔÇ£4ÔÇØ


Depending on your perspective
motorcycling-news.com
Why a motorcycle is better than a wife. [search ÔÇô wife ÔÇô substitute husband ]


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moto22.com
Open registration Roadmoto Cup

worldsbk.com: Official Web Site ÔÇô News, features and more


motogp.com: Official Web Site ÔÇô News, features and more

BMW Sauber F1
BMW Motorsport




http://m1ka.smugmug.com/photos/241999867_WieVR-XL.jpg]/img]


[url=http://www.eemsonline.co.uk/news/14-03-08_7]eemsonline.co.uk[/url]
Automotive X Prize sponsor to be announced on 20th of March


[img]http://m1ka.smugmug.com/photos/240832395_wn7Db-XL.jpg

BMW Website Review:

worldofbmw.com: Being Chris Pfeiffer


worldofbmw.com: Resident Evil on the streets


There BMW motorrad videos from BMW Motorrad SA

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BMW at the Geneva Auto Show: Round of up key messages and show highlights
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BMW Yachtsport


BMW Golfsport


BMW Oracle Racing


BMW Sport website


BMW PressClub: Page 2

BlogRoll: some of the blogs I have collected while purposefully wondering around the internet.


Stuff: A place for everything and everything in its place, including stuff.


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boingboing.com
Roger WoodÔÇÖs latest clock sculpture


businesswire.com
Review: Analysis of the US motorcycle market which covers new touring, custom and sportster motorcycles


cyrilhuzeblog.com
New and legal vintage license plates.


thenewcaferacersociety.com
The are of Akira Yamaguchi revisited


webbikeworld.com
GEAR: SHIFT Streetfighter Jacket


M.R. Traveler


Places 2 Ride Blog


www.biker-events.com
Finding the Good Times on 2 Wheels


Horizonsunlimited.com ÔÇô Newsletter

2008 International Rally
Gillette, Wyoming, July 17-20 2008


Mining The Website


A message from home, the Home Page that is.

NEW FEATURE: Picture This!
As inspired by the Forum, each month we'll provide a topic for photo contributions. Members are invited to submit one photo that best depicts the topic. Photos will be judged by MOA staff. Those selected will be featured in the BMW Owners News. Each photo must include a 50 word (or less) description, your name, member number, city, state. Topic: Where I keep my Owners News. Send your photo to picturethis@bmwmoa.org. The winners will appear in the APRIL issue of the BMW Owners News.



Threads worth following:

Photo Assignment:
Here is a link to the PHOTO ASSIGNMENT INDEX, with links to the various excellent Photo Assignment threads

Latest project: ÔÇ£Old CroÔÇØ the R-evolution

Diary of a Barn Queen

ItÔÇÖs time to switch the ratchet over to tighten.


TodayÔÇÖsRoadFood.com


Woot

Todays Woot
The Blog

Packer News: Packers.com, jsonline.com - Packers Plus Online


Humor

Over Heard in New York | Voice of the City
Sluggy Freelance
The Onion
xkcd


Bike Candy:

Ooops!

From: Bikes in the Fast Lane

THE END

 

[mika]

Page 2

"BEST OF THE BEST" - BMW GROUP DESIGN.
03/14/2008

"Best of the best" - BMW Group Design.
Six vehicles won the red dot award 2008 - Special "red dot: best of the best" award for BMW 3 Series Convertible and BMW G 450 X - double success for BMW Group DesignworksUSA.


Munich. With its successful performance at the red dot award 2008, BMW Group continues its career of excellence in pioneering design. This year, a total of six members of the BMW Group won the internationally acclaimed label. Two of them, the BMW 3 Series Convertible and the BMW G 450 X motorcycle also won awards in the special category "red dot: best of the best" for outstanding design achievements in the automotive, transport and caravan segment. The trophies will be presented on 23 June, 2008 on occasion of the awards ceremony at the Aalto Theatre in Essen/Germany. Other finalists for the red dot awards 2008 were the BMW X5, the BMW 1 Series Coupe, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe and the BMW HP2 Sport motorcycle. BMW Group globally operating subsidiary BMW Group DesignworksUSA also impressed the high-profile members of the jury. The design studio won a red dot award for the interior design of the Embraer MSJ business jet and the design of the Zeydon Z60 luxury yacht.

For the first time in the history of the red dot awards, the jury will provide "honorable mentions" during this year's ceremony. With these honorable mentions, the jury will pay special attention to products that have clearly set themselves apart from the competition by their particularly successful design solutions. According to the jury, three current BMW Group models deserve this special recognition: the BMW M3 Coupe, the MINI Clubman and the BMW F 800 GS motorcycle.

Launched in 1955, the red dot award has become established as one of the most important design awards in the world. It recognizes achievements in numerous categories such as automotive, architecture, domestic, consumer electronics, fashion, life science and medicine. This year, the jury considered the design of 3,203 products from all over the world. A total of 600 products won the red dot Label. Thirty red dot awards are granted to contenders in the automotive, transport and caravan category, three of which are also presented with the "best of the best" award for particularly pioneering design. Two of these top three are current members of the BMW Group family: the BMW 3 Series Convertible, which reinterprets the classic line flow of an open BMW 3 Series by combining it with a retractable hardtop, and the BMW G 450 X motorcycle, a no-nonsense sports enduro that openly displays it zest for contest.


The repeated great success of BMW Group with the red dot awards again confirms that outstanding design quality will be rewarded with international recognition. Last year, BMW Group was honored for its ongoing, innovative design achievement: as a highlight of the gala, BMW Group was presented with the title "Design Team of the Year". In 2007, BMW Group and BMW Group DesignworksUSA won a total of eight red dot awards for product design.

The fact that all models of all brands regularly contribute to the success of BMW Group during highly acclaimed design competitions such as the red dot award confirms the strength of BMW Group Design's unusual concept that combines a common design philosophy with brand-specific design strategies. The brand-specific design strategies are based on the philosophy of BMW Group. The claim to premium substance lies at the heart of this philosophy. In all three brands, this claim comes with a guarantee of aesthetic quality. This philosophy demands respect for every individual brand, its idiosyncrasies, specific design characteristics and last, but not least, its history. Accordingly, the core objective of any BMW Group Design team consists of tracking down the individual character of a brand and its model, to establish a perfect and suitable equilibrium between factors that affect the overall design such as dynamism, technology, driving experience, enthusiasm, comfort, panache, elegance and innovative force and find the right expression in its design.

The common characteristics that are encouraged and maintained by BMW Group Design are not obvious at first glance, as every single one of the three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce has their own, strong identity with clear values and a unique image. Only an intense study of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce and even BMW motorcycle design reveals the congruities. The development of models for the three brands under one roof generates powerful and positive synergies. This constellation also provides fertile ground for the brand design, which boosts the strong character of the individual brands.

With its cross-brand design philosophy, BMW Group Design maintains strategies that underline the unifying personality of all three brands while also boosting the powerful, unique personality of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce models. On a third level, each of these three brands express new, creative ideas within the cross-brand philosophy, which is the benefit of the extraordinary collective innovative strength of BMW Group. Dr. Klaus Draeger, Head of BMW Group's Development and Purchasing division to which BMW Group Design reports, explains: "When we introduced a new concept, which would unite all our different brand design studios in the culture of BMW Group Design, we clearly made the right decision. Expressing the fact that all our products belong to the family of BMW Group and ensuring the efficient cooperation with all process partners while boosting the unique personality of the individual brand can only be achieved when all team members are working closely together."