GAJIZMO

Sam Bass ‘heartbroken’ over guitar smash

Sam Bass, the longtime NASCAR artist who painted the Gibson guitar smashed by Kyle Busch after the Nashville Nationwide Series race on Saturday night, said he was “stunned and heartbroken” to see his work destroyed in victory lane. Follow this story at SceneDaily.com. 

Internet, cellphone: 'the new essentials'

Belt-tightening consumers more likely to cut back on movie tickets, DVDs and top-tier cable, study finds

Amid the threat of tough economic times, Internet and cellphones have become almost like heat and water for consumers - they are among the last monthly expenses that households are willing to cut from their budgets during a recession.

A survey conducted last week in Canada and the U.S. suggests that if consumers are forced to reduce spending, they will look almost everywhere else in their household budgets before they unplug their computer or switch off their BlackBerry.
"Many consumers, with minor exceptions, view these as essential utilities, like water or electricity," says the report. FOLLOW this GLOBE AND MAIL  STORY.

On the road with the Volvo XC60

If you've ever had a demanding lover, you'll know what it's like to drive the new Volvo XC60. If it could talk, the XC60 would say, in a snooty voice: "Not like that. Faster! Slower! Don't put your fingers there! Oh you're useless, let me do it!" It's like Rowan Pelling, with a chunkier rear end, functioning airbags and GPS as standard.
As I join the Valencia rush hour, lights are flashing and beeps beeping all over the car. I'm doing everything wrong. The driver-side wing mirror light tells me there is a car in my blind spot. A red light reflected on to the windscreen indicates the car thinks I'm too close to the vehicle ahead. The beeping has been activated because the car thinks I am poised to plunge over a Spanish precipice. FOLLOW this STORY at The Guradian.