Audi TTS quattro in Malaysian showroom

Launched just recently, we now present to you live photographs of the Audi TTS quattro. Priced from RM389,900, the hotter TTS quattro costs a rather significant RM105k more than the entry-level Audi TT 2.0 TFSIwhich retails for RM284,900 instead. So then, what exactly does one get with spending the extra moolah over the standard car? Firstly, you get a smattering of TTS badges as well as a TTS-specific body kit.

Elsewhere on the exterior, the Audi TTS quattro is equipped with sportier rear diffuser within which four exhaust outlets reside. Also, one gets 19-inch forged alloy wheels 245/35 Bridgestone Potenza S001 tyres. The Audi TTS quattro also gets LED headlamps and taillights as standard with the option to spec Matrix LED units for an additional RM5,000.

As expected, the Audi TTS quattro receives a significant power bump over the standard TT 2.0 TFSI model. Under the bonnet, the car is motivated by a turbocharged 2.0 litre TFSI four-cylinder petrol engine with 286 hp and 380 Nm of torque between 1,800 to 5,200 rpm – the slight drop in power over the Euro-spec models can be attributed to the changes made to adapt said mill to our fuel quality and climate.

A six-speed S tronic wet, dual-clutch transmission is responsible for sending said power to all four corners of the car via the marque’s trademark quattro all-wheel drive system. Performance figures include a 0-100 km/h time of 4.7 seconds. Not exactly the slowest of cars, then.

Inside, the Audi TTS quattro retains the familiar Audi Virtual Cockpit instrument cluster which is made up of a 12.3-inch display screen and air-con vents with integrated controls and display. The TTS quattro also adds on electrically-adjustable S sport front seats, a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel with shift paddles and a honeycomb-like laser texture on the dashboard.

Aside from that, the TTS quattro also receives 680 watt 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system as standard. Safety and added driver conveniences include a Comfort Key, Electronic Stabilisation Control (ESC) which includes Traction Control (ASR), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Electronic Differential Lock (EDL), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), and six airbags.

As mentioned, the Audi TTS quattro does ask for quite a lot more over the regular TT 2.0 TFSI. Put simply, if one was to option out a regular TT with more or less the same amount of kit that comes standard on the TTS quattro (B&O sound system, S Line pack, LED lights, 19-inch wheels and so on), the fully-loaded regular TT would cost in the region of RM325k – which equates to about RM65k for the quattro and performance gains.

- Source: paulta.org

Mazda MX-5 Speedster and Spyder headed to SEMA

Mazda to Debut Two Extreme Lightweight MX-5 Miata Concepts at SEMA

The fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 emphasises the concept of a lightweight sports car. Tipping the scales at 998 kg, the roadster is over 100 kg lighter than the third-generation (NC) model it replaces. For comparisons sake, the car is only marginally heavier than a Perodua Myvi, which weighs between 950 to 960 kg.

Nonetheless, Mazda designers feel they can do better, so for this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas, they will be bringing the concept of a lightweight sports car to its most “extreme.” What they’ve cooked up are two different takes on the latest Mazda roadster – the MX-5 Spyder Concept and MX-5 Speedster Concept.

The teaser image released to accompany the announcement features a half-and-half of both concepts stitched together in the middle. Mazda say that both cars will be significantly lighter than the standard MX-5 in the United States, with aftermarket parts and fabrication from various partners.

The MX-5 Spyder encapsulates the “character of a vintage roadster and translates it into a modern-day design.” The car will receive a bespoke leather interior with details that are “painstakingly” crafted, and finished in a new Mercury Silver concept body paint.

The Blue Ether MX-5 Speedster on the other hand, focuses on extreme lightweight, purpose-built performance, drawing inspiration from the minimalist roadsters of the 1950s. The lightweight initiative includes replacing the traditional windshield for a smaller, and lighter, wind deflector.

- Source: paultan.org

Vape: Perlu ada garis panduan untuk pelajar sekolah

IRMOHIZAM: Kementerian Pendidikan khususnya perlu memberi penekanan terhadap isu ini dan sentiasa mengambil langkah berjaga-jaga. - Gambar fail

CYBERJAYA: Garis panduan penggunaan rokok elektronik atau vape perlu diwujudkan bagi mengelakkan penyalahgunaan dadah membabitkan alat ini di kalangan pelajar sekolah.

Presiden Majlis Belia Selangor, Datuk Irmohizam Ibrahim berkata, Kementerian Pendidikan khususnya perlu memberi penekanan terhadap isu ini dan sentiasa mengambil langkah berjaga-jaga.

"Perkara ini sangat penting kerana dikhuatiri ada pihak atau pelajar yang mengadunkan dadah-dadah sintetik sehingga menyebabkan kemudaratan terutama sekali generasi muda di negara ini," katanya ketika ditemui selepas menghadiri Asia Young Entrepreneur Summit 2015 di MAGIC, di sini, hari ini.

Irmohizam juga berkata, industri vape mampu membantu golongan belia dalam bidang inovasi selain memperbanyakkan lagi usahawan muda di negara ini.

"Antaranya seperti bidang penyelidikan dan pembangunan (R&D) iaitu dengan adanya jaringan francais termasuk dari segi bentuk pengawalan pusat-pusat ini.

"Ia sekali gus melahirkan lebih ramai usahawan muda di kalangan mereka kerana vape juga dilihat sebagai gajet dan ramai yang teruja untuk membeli pelbagai aksesori untuknya.

"Ia boleh melahirkan industri inovasi dan kreatif di kalangan generasi muda," katanya. 

- Sumber: Astro Awani 

Pencarian Guru Besar hilang tertumpu di sekitar anak sungai

Pencarian guru besar (Jashiah Rabu) akan melibatkan enam anak sungai dalam lingkungan dua kilometer radius dari perkampungan Orang Asli kampung itu.

KUALA KUBU BHARU: Operasi mencari dan menyelamat (SAR) guru besar Sekolah Kebangsaan Tamat Keramat, Jashiah Rabu, 53, yang hilang sejak 10 hari lepas ditumpukan di sekitar kawasan anak sungai Kampung Buluh Telur.

Ketua Polis Daerah Hulu Selangor Supt R. Supramaniam berkata pencarian guru besar berkenaan akan melibatkan enam anak sungai dalam lingkungan dua kilometer radius dari perkampungan Orang Asli kampung itu.

"Polis akan terus berusaha menjejak Jashiah dan berharap menjumpai beliau dalam masa dua atau tiga hari ini," katanya ketika ditemui Bernama di pusat operasi.

Supramaniam berkata operasi SAR itu melibatkan 61 anggota terdiri daripada polis, Jabatan Bomba Dan Penyelamat Malaysia, Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia, Veteran Komando Malaysia, Jabatan Sukarelawan Malaysia dan penduduk kampung berkenaan.

"Pasukan operasi SAR kini dipecahkan kepada enam kumpulan dalam mengesan mangsa yang hilang, apa yang kami harapkan adalah Jashiah ditemui dalam keadaan selamat," katanya.

Supramaniam berkata sebanyak 30 bungkus bantuan makanan kecemasan (Talian Hayat) berisi biskut, gula-gula, roti, lilin dan mancis akan ditempatkan di lokasi pencarian yang telah ditanda oleh polis sebelum ini.

"Bungkusan berkenaan hanya akan diletakkan setiap 300 meter bagi membantu Jashiah mendapat bekalan asas," katanya.

Sementara itu, salah seorang daripada sukarelawan yang terlibat dalam operasi itu, Khairul Annuar, 63, berkata beliau mendapat idea 'Talian Hayat' berdasarkan pengalaman lepasnya mengikuti beberapa operasi SAR sebelum ini.

"Saya mengharapkan Jashiah dapat mengisi tenaga selama 24 jam lagi dengan menemui bungkusan 'Talian Hayat" itu.

Selain makanan yang diberi kami juga meletakkan nota sebagai panduan kepada Jashiah untuk mencari jalan keluar," katanya.

Katanya, antara pesan yang ditulis dalam nota itu meminta agar Jashiah tidak panik, kekal berada di tempat 'Talian Hayat' dan menyalakan api bagi memudahkan pasukan penyelamat mengesan beliau.

Jashiah kali terakhir dilihat jirannya keluar dari rumahnya pada petang Jumaat dan apabila suaminya Ruzilan Omar, 57, pulang didapati pintu rumah mereka terbuka dan Jashiah tiada di rumah.

Difahamkan, Jashiah menghala ke kawasan Hutan Simpan Bukit Kutu selepas keluar daripada rumahnya di Taman Seri Seruling dengan berjalan kaki dan menumpang kereta orang lain sejauh kira-kira 10 kilometer. 

- Sumber: Bernama |  November 01, 2015 

Nov 2015 fuel prices: RON 95, 97, diesel unchanged

There’s no need to rush the petrol stations tonight, everyone. It has been confirmed that prices of RON 95, RON 97, diesel and Euro 5 diesel in Malaysia will go unchanged for the month of November 2015. And yes, it’s November tomorrow. Oh how time flies. 

As such, fuel prices will stay as they were in October 2015, at RM2.05 per litre for RON 95, RM2.45 per litre for RON 97, RM1.90 per litre for diesel and RM2.00 per litre for Euro 5 diesel. 

So it’s no good news, but at least it’s not even more bad news for Malaysian motorists, especially after the recent toll hikes on October 15, involving no less than 18 highways across the nation.

- Source: paultan.org

Nur Fazura dedah semua dalam musim kedua

NUR Fazura Sharifuddin

PETALING JAYA: Selepas putus cinta dengan Shaheizy Sam, tidak kedengaran lagi pelakon jelita, Nur Fazura Sharifuddin menjalin hubungan dengan mana-mana lelaki.

Bagaimanapun, sesuatu yang mengejutkan berlaku apabila secara tiba-tiba, pemenang trofi Aktres Terbaik Festival Filem Malaysia ke-27 ini mendedahkan kisah perpisahannya.

Cerita itu dinyatakan sendiri Nur Fazura atau Faz, 32, ketika ditemui pada majlis pratonton program realiti Facing Up To Fazura di Talent Lounge, Damansara Perdana, di sini, semalam.

"Mesti ramai yang terkejut apabila saya mahu bercerita kisah perpisahan sedangkan ramai yang tahu saya single. Semua ini akan saya dedahkan secara eksklusif dalam program ini.

"Menerusi program ini, saya kerap mengalir air mata. Banyak perkara yang selama ini saya pendam, saya luahkan semua.

"Bukan mudah untuk kita membuka rahsia diri tetapi itulah yang saya lakukan untuk musim kedua ini," ujar Faz yang turut menjadi penerbit bersama untuk program realiti itu. 

Pada majlis itu, Faz turut menghiburkan tetamu dengan dua lagu termasuk single terbaharunya berjudul Bangun.

Mengikut Faz, lagu ciptaan anggota kumpulan The Waklu's itu dihasilkan berdasarkan kisah benar dirinya. 

"Sebelum ini, saya pernah dihentam di laman Instagram kerana merakam selfie dengan anjing. Kebetulan mereka membaca komen yang ditulis dan menyifatkan perkara itu tidak sepatutnya berlaku.

"Justeru, lagu itu ditulis bagi memberi semangat agar saya terus bangun dan tidak mudah berputus asa. Liriknya sangat sesuai untuk semua orang kerana ia memberi motivasi," katanya.

Facing Up To Fazura musim kedua akan mula disiarkan di saluran E! (Astro 712) jam 10 malam ini.

- Sumber: BH Online 

Apa dah jadi pada Shenty?

HOS program HLive, Shenty Feliziana. - Foto ihsan Instagram Shenty Feliziana

KUALA LUMPUR: Semalam BH Online menerima gambar wartawan penyiaran yang juga hos program HLive, Shenty Feliziana menunjukkan wajahnya dalam keadaan mencurigakan. Apabila diamati, terdapat kesan seperti luka dan lebam pada wajahnya.

Sejak semalam juga tumpuan kepada wanita kelahiran Singapura yang mencari rezeki di Malaysia itu menjadi perhatian apabila dia memuat naik gambar di sebuah lokasi dengan catatan yang bermaksud semoga Jumaat yang mulia ini menyerlahkan kebenaran dan Allah bersama mereka yang sabar. 

Usaha menghubungi Shenty untuk bertanyakan mengenai gambar kecederaannya dan maksud kenyataannya itu tidak berjawab. Persoalan yang diajukan kepada pihak HLive juga tidak dijawab.

Persoalannya, apakah yang terjadi kepada Shenty? Apakah sebenarnya maksud gambar yang menampakkan kecederaan di wajahnya. 

STATUS yang dimuat naik di dalam Instagram Sheny Feliziana. - Foto ihsan Instagram Shenty Feliziana

- Sumber: BH online | 31 Oktober 2015

JDT tutup mulut 'haters'

Ucapan tahniah mencurah-curah di tujukan kepada JDT selepas menyaksikan pasukan dari selatan tanah air itu menjuarai Piala AFC.

Ucapan tahniah mencurah-curah di tujukan kepada Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) selepas menyaksikan pasukan dari selatan tanah air itu menjuarai Piala AFC.

Malah kemenangan skuad bimbingan Mario Gomez keatas pasukan dari Tajikistan, Istiklol FC pada perlawanan akhir malam tadi, sekaligus munutup mulut pengkritik.

Antara komen yang mendapat 'like' tertinggi dalam ruangan komen pada catatan bergambar sekitar majlis penyampaian hadiah di laman Facebook JOHOR Southern Tigers adalah dari Ismail Othman.

Ismail berkata: "Tahun lepas JDT kalah final Piala Malaysia.... Satu Malaysia tepuk tangan....Satu Malaysia buka mulut, kutuk kaw kaw....Rupanya Allah nak bg kejayaan yang lebih besar.... Alhamdulillah,".

Yang menariknya, ada komen lain terhadap luahan Ismail yang berbunyi: "Menang free boleh laaa..," kata Dino Chin. Seterusnya Dino Chin pula menjadi mangsa diatas komen panasnya.

Sementara itu, Redzuan Yunus berkata,"Kalau arwah Mokhtar Dahari masih hidup, beliau pasti salute JDT dan TMJ sebab zaman beliau pun tak sejauh ini pencapaiannya."

Ada juga komen yang menyatakan dirinya tidak boleh menahan emosi sehingga menitiskan air mata selepas menyaksikan kejayaan JDT: "Tiba-tiba je airmata nie mengalir apabila wisel penamat dibunyikan menandakan kemenangan JDT muncul juara Piala AFC, terima kasih kepada Mario Gomez pemain-pemain JDT keseluruhannya, warga kerja PBNH dan tidak lupa tahniah kepada TMJ kerana berjaya membawa perubahan dan kemajuan dalam bola sepak Johor," kata-kata daripada Mohd Hamiyudin Sa'ude.

Ucapan-ucapan tahniah bukan sahaja datang daripada masyarakat Johor, malah daripada pelbagai peringkat masyarakat di Malaysia kerana mengharumkan nama negara di pentas bola sepak antarabangsa.

"Tahniah JDT..aku yang bukan bangsa Johor ni pun rasa bangga...macam mana jatuh bangun JDT untuk sampai ke tahap ini dikeji, dimaki dan sebgainya tidak mematahkan semangat TMJ.

"Macam mana Safiq Rahim yang hampir dijual ke Felda dulu berjuang untuk mendapat kembali posisi dia hingga dianugerahkan pemain paling bernilai..bagaimana TMJ disalahkan apabila beliau drop Baihaki dari JDT..teringat lagi kata2 Jimenez..Nak cabar kejuaaraan liga kena tukar defend yang keras kental..dan hasilnya TMJ bawa MARCOS ANTONIO yang kini jadi kesayangan peminat JDT.. Taniah JDT anda semua memang layak untuk sampai ke tahap ini," komen daripada Ahmad Zainol.

- Sumber: Astro Arena

$300 for a balloon? Yes, but this old one tracks down storms

A 2005 photo shows the launch of a weather balloon from the National Weather Service office in 

Shreveport, Louisiana. Pix by MARIO VILLAFUERTE, BLOOMBERG NEWS

When the latest computer forecast models couldn't figure out where major Hurricane Joaquin was headed earlier this month, the National Weather Service ordered extra launches of one of its oldest tools -- the weather balloon.

Twice a day, in what may be the world's largest act of international cooperation, crews at about 850 weather offices around the globe walk outside and set loose balloons at precisely the same time.

In an age of satellites, radar, jet aircraft and high-speed computers, a method of gathering weather data that became routine more than 80 years ago would seem outdated. Not so, said William Blackmore, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's upper-air observation program.

While all the modern advances are crucial tools for forecasting, weather balloons can do something all the rest cannot: measure the atmosphere from the surface to about 115,000 feet (35 kilometers) every second, he said.

"What makes it unique is that it's providing information every 15 to 20 feet," Blackmore said. "At the present time, that can't be beat."

In the United States, 92 weather service offices make the twice- daily launches, sending the balloons, usually hydrogen-filled, into the atmosphere, Blackmore said. With a few extra launches thrown in, the United States alone sends about 70,000 to 75,000 balloons skyward annually. Each balloon sounding, including labor, maintenance and parts, costs about $300.

Around the world, there are 1,300 sites where balloons can be launched, though only about two-thirds of them take part in the daily sampling, according to the World Meteorological Organization's website. That is about 620,500 balloons per year. This may be why so many U.F.O. reports have been dismissed as weather balloons over the years.

The idea of reaching into the sky to see what's going on up there has been around longer than humans have been able to get airborne.

Kites carrying thermometers were first used in Europe in 1749. In 1885, the U.S.'s Henry Allen Hazen rode balloons above the Earth's surface to take observations, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website.

Outside Boston, at the Blue Hill Observatory, 19th-century researchers sent a kite 2,030 feet above sea level on Aug. 4, 1894, the organization's website said. By 1898, kites were being used across the U.S.

"If you look at a kite, it could make a very good platform," Blackmore said. "The problem with the kite is you need wind and they could only go so high."

By 1909 the kite was out and the balloon was in. In 1938, balloons started carrying radiosondes, packages of instruments that measure the weather and radio the information back to the surface. This allowed meteorologists to gather data from as high as 100,000 feet.

With a few technological improvements, such as global positioning satellite data, the same system is in place today.

After being radioed to ground bases, the information the balloons gather -- air pressure, wind speed, temperature -- is fed into computer models along with data from other sources to help forecasters predict the weather.

Blackmore said the balloons are about 5 feet across when launched and swell to more than 20 feet by the time they reach about 115,000 feet. The lower air pressure at the extreme altitude eventually causes the balloon to burst.

Protected in a plastic or Styrofoam case, the radiosonde parachutes back to the ground where, forecasters hope, someone will come along to find it and mail it back to the weather service. The radiosonde has a message written on it explaining what it is, plus a postage paid mail pouch.

Fewer than 20 percent are refurbished and flown again, Blackmore said.

Even so, that's equipment the weather service can't do without. 

- Source: The Washington Post