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So what's a soccer Mom, or Dad, to do with that minivan after the kids grow up? Add a jet engine of course! At the flip of a switch the jet engine pushes out the back window and you are ready to race anyone that crosses your path. There are a lot more photos and cool videos of the rocket van on the website. - Link
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Yahoo has extended a deadline for naming board directors, to allow it to find an alternative to Microsoft's unwanted $44.6bn (£22.3bn) buy-out bid. 
Yahoo said the original offer undervalued the firm
After Yahoo rejected the bid, Microsoft hired a firm specialising in proxy battles, indicating it could try to remove Yahoo's board of directors.
Yahoo said Microsoft could still name directors but the extension let Yahoo's board seek "strategic alternatives".
The original 14 March deadline has been extended to an unspecified date.
It now runs until 10 days after Yahoo sets a date for its annual meeting, which must take place by mid-July.
'Imminent deadline'
A proxy fight would allow Microsoft to nominate directors who were sympathetic to a deal, which shareholders would then vote on at Yahoo's annual meeting.
Yahoo, which has been struggling, rejected the initial offer, saying it undervalued the firm.
The latest move by Yahoo is an indication that it is "probably less receptive to Microsoft than was initially believed", said Jeffrey Lindsay of Sanford Bernstein
"In light of the current circumstances, this change removes an imminent deadline," said Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang in a filing sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Yahoo has been seeking links with other media and internet firms that would give it more independence.
| Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller | |||||||
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Indian ODI skipper M S Dhoni is in news again, but not for cricket. Dhoni today visited a temple in Ranchi and sacrificed a goat as part of temple rituals. He was seen performing all religious functions along with the temple priest. He did so in the presence of some political leaders and officials.
| By Giancarlo Rinaldi
BBC Scotland |
Most boats do not have legs. But a jack-up barge has six, protruding high into the air when the ship is in transit.
Extending to a length of 48m from the bottom of the ship, and penetrating up to 5m into the sea bed, the "legs" of these ships provide a stable "ground" in a place where there is only roiling water.
As the legs push down, the ship is lifted above the waves. Purpose-built at a Chinese shipyard, the £60m jack-up barge MPIO Resolution is an extraordinary piece of engineering in itself.
With a solid platform achieved, the windmill is fixed into place using a crane from the ship. The jack-up barges sail with their legs up 
These procedures are becoming more common as the drive goes on to increase wind power.
If government targets are to be met, the UK could have as many as 7,000 offshore wind turbines by 2020. In the process, it would increase the amount of energy produced by that means about 60-fold.
The building of each offshore site tends to be contentious, with complaints about disruption to wildlife and eyesores.
And after surmounting any planning concerns, the big engineering question of putting the turbines in place remains.
E.ON spokesman
The giant jack-up barges are purpose-built for the expanding industry and one such vessel is the £60m MPIO Resolution.
Its most recent appointment has been to help with construction of the 60-turbine Robin Rigg scheme in the Solway Firth, about six miles off the south west coast of Scotland.
In August last year, the £325m scheme's progress was delayed by the late arrival of another jack-up barge, the Lisa A.
The barge itself is a major piece of construction to overcome the difficulties of working at sea.
The vessel was purpose-built at the Shanhaigun Shipyard in China and delivered to the UK in February 2004.
On average, it takes about 24 to 36 hours to install wind turbine foundations from a vessel like the Resolution. 
The Robin Rigg site is about six miles from the Scots coast
At locations where drilling is required, it can taking closer to three days.
Then the vessel often has to wait for high water to allow it to move to the site of the next turbine.
Finally, it can return to fit the rest of the structure - usually in a period of about 24 hours for each turbine.
E.ON, the company behind the Robin Rigg project, has been philosophical about the difficulties encountered in the Solway.
"The offshore environment does present a number of challenges that you don't face onshore," said a company spokesman. MAJOR PROJECTS USING THE MPIO RESOLUTION Robin Rigg, Solway Firth North Hoyle, Wales Kentish Flats, Kent Barrow, Morecambe Bay Lynn & Inner Dowsing, Lincolnshire Horns Rev, Denmark
"However, offshore wind does offer a number of advantages such as the potential to build larger and more powerful wind farms.
"Certainly the availability of vessels capable of carrying out offshore work is an issue.
"And there's always the possibility that bad weather and high seas can affect construction, but the more we learn about building these projects the easier it will become." 
Jack-up barges rise out of the water to form a stable platform
Offshore wind farms like Robin Rigg play a key role in helping the UK deliver its renewable energy targets, E.ON believes, and in teaching lessons for the next generation of bigger, more powerful wind farms.
Which may mean we see more massive jack-up barges patrolling the waters around the UK in years to come.
The US defence department has banned the giant internet search engine Google from filming inside and making detailed studies of US military bases.
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Front entrance of Fort Sam, San Antonio, Texas as seen in Google Maps Street View |
Close-up, ground-level imagery of US military sites posed a "potential threat" to security, it said.
The move follows the discovery of images of the Fort Sam Houston army base in Texas on Google Maps.
A Google spokesman said that where the US military had expressed concerns, images had been removed.
Google has now been barred from filming and conducting detailed studies of bases, following the discovery of detailed, three-dimensional panoramas online - and in particular, views of the Texan base.
"Images include 360-degree views of the covered area to include access control points, barriers, headquarters, facilities and community areas," said the defence department in a statement quoted by AFP news agency. 
But images inside the base have been removed
It said such detailed mapping could pose a threat.
Google spokesman Larry Yu said the decision by a Google team to enter the Texas base, which is in San Antonio, and undertake a detailed survey, had been "a mistake".
He told the BBC that it was "not our policy to request access to military installations, but in this instance the operator of the vehicle with the camera on top - which is how we go about capturing imagery for Street-View - requested permission to access a military installation, was given access, and after learning of the incident we quickly removed the imagery".
Individuals and governments
Military officials are currently looking into exactly what imagery is available - though it may not be able to order its removal if images are taken from public streets.
Among the popular mapping services offered by Google are Street View, which allows web users to "drive" along virtual US landscapes with ground-level views, and Google Earth, which offers detailed satellite and 3D images of locations around the world.
In this case, it was imagery offered on Street View that caused the concern.
But both have provoked complaints - from individuals depicted in the images and from governments concerned that satellite images could compromise security.
Gary Ross, a spokesman for the US Northern Command, told AFP that although such services could be useful, "there has to be a balance".
But Mr Yu said Google would listen to concerns about privacy and security.
"We try to have a compliant image removal policy - not only relative to the military but to consumers also," said Mr Yu.
"If people have concerns, they should contact us."
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