Minion

Electric drives have a couple of interesting challenges that internal combustion drives don't really have to consider. A lot of work goes into balancing battery charge, engine power and heat dissipation in the electronics. The car is able to go faster, but they have to limit the top speed (and also average speed) to make sure that the limited charge in the batteries lasts for the entire lap. In an IC car, you can just add a bit bit more fuel, without too much extra weight. Adding more battery cells comes with a much larger weight and space penalty. This is why it only maxes out at 270 km/h. The second issue is that the battery, power electronic and motor performance reduce as they get hotter through the lap. This may explain why the top speed drops towards the end. It might also be that the battery management system started to limit the power to make sure there was enough charge left to finish the lap. Edit: Actually, the explanation may be even more mundane - looking at the lap profile, the beginning parts appear to have more downhill sections than the end parts. In the webinar linked below, the Head of Simulation at VW Motorsport discusses these challenges and how they overcame them. It's mainly about the Pike's Peak record, but around 1h4 he discusses the specific challenges of the Nürburgring. https://www.ansys.com/en-gb/resource-library/webinar/fluent-battery-cooling-system-vw-motorsport

I went through the UK Tier 2 (General) visa process at the beginning of this year, so I can help you with that a bit. The most fundamental requirement is that you will need to get a job offer before you can apply for the visa. Your company will then apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship for you. Once that is approved, you can then apply for the visa itself. I found the CoS to be a major obstacle to the job search - it involves a fair amount of admin for a company to be registered as a sponsor and can cost £500-£1500, depending on the size of the company. Smaller companies weren't even willing to consider my applications, since they weren't willing to go through the admin. This generally leaves your only options as companies that are already registered as sponsors. If your position is on the shortage occupation list, the company can apply for the CoS straight away, provided the salary is above a certain level (usually around £21,000 for entry-level workers and £29,000 for experienced workers). For jobs that aren't on the list, the company needs to perform a labour market survey (basically, they must advertise the job for a month) to show why they must employ a foreigner, instead of a local. They must also pay you more than £20,500. An alternative to the General category could be an intra-company transfer, though you'd then need to find a job at a company with a SA and UK presence and that is willing to transfer you. Once you have the job offer and your employer has obtained a CoS, the visa application is relatively straightforward, though some potential obstacles are: You may need to show that you've had at least £900 in cash in your bank accounts continuously for three months before the application. You need to go for a TB test at an approved clinic. There are three: in Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban. You need to apply in person for the visa. The application centres are in CT, JHB, Pretoria, Durban and PE. The total cost for the process is about £560 + about R1000 for the TB X-ray and the visa is valid for three years. There is now also an option for a more expensive, five year visa at an extra cost. Sponsorship applications are only submitted on the 5th of each month and mine took about 5 days to be approved. There is an annual limit of 20,000 CoSes per year (April to April), but I my application only went in in February and I didn't have any problems. My visa itself was processed in a week from when I submitted it. Here's a link to an overview of the process, including lists of sponsors and shortage occupations: https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/overview

If anyone's thinking of taking their bike in a bag, I'm selling a cloth bag that would be useful the purpose: https://www.bikehub.co.za/index.php?app=hubmarket&module=core&do=view_item&item_id=83055&new=1 I bought it with every good intention of Gautrain commuting and then got lazy, so it's unused.

Prepare to be cold. Very cold. I've seen the dip near the lion park circle go down to -6°C.

I don't profess to know Octavian's thought processes, but I think Borat may have the answer to this (around 19s): http://youtu.be/DvVRMrUYvYs#t=19s

I'm playing Deus Ex Human Revolution at the moment. Also with large numbers of ways to complete missions, sneak around etc. Lots of fun.

It should have been: Rhino guy banned for showing horn.

I found an English version: http://www.colheli.com/news/the_hover_barge/

$1500US Edit: based on Garmin SA past pricing, it should then be around R15k-R17k.

DC Rainmaker reckons September overseas, so maybe December-ish here? http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/02/updated-schedule-february.html

I don't think they use NaCl in those, rather nitrogen-based salts like KNO3.

Except, in your example, the pass has value beyond its emotional impact on the student. By cheating a pass, he could get a place at university or a job he might not otherwise have gotten and in doing so, exclude someone who earned their marks. I seriously doubt that, outside the race, a back marker gains any advantage by cheating from 400th to 300th, aside from bragging rights. Nor do I think that there's much chance of the person coming 301st instead of 300th losing anything significant.

Does it matter to me? No. I just see a solid wall of text and move on without reading it. Should it matter to you? Yes. If you want someone to spend time giving you a reasonable response to your statement, question, whatever , then, at least, make it easy for them to read and process. You've missed the opportunity to get valuable feedback from people who just can't be bothered to wade through that solid lump of text.

I think the HealthyGear may only apply to Adidas gear.

Nice use of the strobe effect.