sparked

Arguably Microsoft's biggest threat is its irrelevance to Web developers. Though the company dominates personal computing and is a major force in enterprise computing, it remains a distant also-ran to LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Python/Perl) development for the growing Web ecosystem. On Thursday Microsoft announced its WebsiteSpark program to build inroads with the Web crowd, but the program is unlikely to make a serious dent on LAMP's dominance.

The reason? There are some big strings attached.

Microsoft has gone after Web developers before, but products like Expressions haven't made much headway with Web developers, as The Seattle Times reports.… Read more

For years, style was absent without an excuse from American subcompacts. But the days of slab-sided, no-frills hatchbacks may soon be history.

For decades, something was missing in the small cars designed, built and sold in the United States. It was gone for so long that most American consumers probably didn't know what it was.

But to Ralph Gilles, Chrysler Group's chief designer, the missing ingredient was obvious. U.S. subcompacts lacked emotional appeal.

"Small cars of the past were not necessarily done with passion," he said.

Generations of Detroit designers seemed to say: No one buys a small car for its styling, so why bother? Uninspired, appliancelike econoboxes? What else did you expect?

American subcompacts had none of the attributes found in the cool, quirky and even elegant small cars created elsewhere in the world, from the original BMC Mini to the first Peugeot 205 to the modern Citroen C3.

U.S. automakers were forced to churn out small cars to raise corporate average fuel economy averages, so they could keep selling big trucks. Small-car design? An oxymoron.

But consumer preference has shifted -- the result of higher gasoline prices, new fuel-efficiency standards and concern about climate change.

"Small cars and vehicles powered by four-cylinder engines have been on a steady increase since 2004," said Ford Motor Co. sales analyst George Pipas.

U.S. fleets must average 35.5 mpg by 2016, compared with 25.3 mpg this year. Combined with stricter emissions standards, it means the number of small-car nameplates for sale in the United States will increase.

And when a market segment gets crowded, automakers must rely on styling to set their vehicles apart from the crowd.

"It's not business as usual for small cars here anymore," said Moray Callum, Ford Motor's design director for cars.

The expanding lineup of new small cars means styling will get a lot more creative and appealing, just as it did with mid-sized cars recently. (Think of the modern Chevrolet Malibu, the new Ford Taurus and the current Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.)… Read more

WARREN, Mich.--For all the attention on the electric Chevy Volt, General Motors has big expectations for another key car segment: small cars.

The auto giant opened up its design studios and testing grounds to the media on Tuesday to showcase its product pipeline of 25 new models over the coming two years. Having dramatically cut costs, its turnaround now rides on its ability to sell new cars.

Certainly, GM will continue to sell SUVs, trucks, and large sedans--highly profitable product categories that flourished when gasoline was cheaper than now. But GM's designers have sharpened their focus on smaller … Read more

Hybrid drivers are something of an insurance nightmare! How much is your driving privacy worth? Ford Taurus SHO blows us away. And hang on to those spark plugs; they could be collectible!

• Taurus SHO is a badass. There, we said it.

• Audi A5 Sportback makes us nuts

• Ford developing laser spark plugs

• Pioneer AVIC-U310BT is a scorching value

• CNET's tests speed radar and adaptive cruise control

Updated at 12:03 p.m.: To correct that Arc Attack did not synchronize music to its tesla coils.

Just in time for Maker Faire, I read in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning that a local fire artist has created a revolutionary machine: a fire pit, from a company called Live Spark, designed to make flames dance to the beat of music.

According to the Chronicle, Brett Levine--not surprisingly, a Burning Man and Maker Faire artist, as well as a former software entrepreneur--has begun selling his so-called "Fire 2.0," a $15,000 device that has gotten … Read more

General Motors announced today plans to build a small, fuel-efficient car at an idled UAW manufacturing plant in the United States.

The news tempers previously announced plans to import 17,300 small vehicles from China in 2011, which probably didn't go over well with the UAW.

Currently, about 67 percent of GM cars and trucks sold in the U.S. are built in the U.S. By producing another car domestically, GM anticipates that U.S. production levels will increase beyond 70 percent by 2013.

The proposed car was not announced, but an article from Automotive News speculated that the Chevrolet Spark is one of three small cars that General Motors could export from China to the U.S. The Chevrolet Lova and Aveo were also named as import possibilities.

The U.S. automaker already has the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt slated for production next year to help it comply with increased efficiency requirements of a fleetwide fuel economy of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. … Read more

Something's afoot at Twitter. Well, something's always afoot at Twitter, but this time the founders are leaving everyone hanging by Twittering about it.

CEO and co-founder Evan Williams posted to his Twitter account on Thursday morning: "Tomorrow just became a very big day. (Sorry for the teaser--more later.)" Ooh! Fascinating!

So what's up with his fellow co-founder, Biz Stone? He's in Boston, which happens to be where one of Twitter's big investors, Spark Capital, is headquartered. Spark led Twitter's $15 million Series B funding round last year.

"It's almost midnight … Read more

FatWallet.com, a company that provides online coupons and exclusive offers from retailers, announced the launch of a new site design Wednesday. Along with a new navigation tool, the site has added Coupon Search, which allows users to find valid coupons from retailers worldwide. According to the company, the redesign will also give users more chances to "share" and "subscribe" to the site via e-mail, social bookmarking, and RSS feeds. The site's new design is live now.

Spark Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in Internet and new-media companies, including Twitter and Boxee, announced … Read more

You've seen them in movies: tracking devices so small they can be put inside a tooth or embedded under the skin. In reality, tracking devices--for the general public at least--are not that tiny, but they can be pretty diminutive.

Lightning GPS introduced a small tracking device on Wednesday called the Spark Nano. Of course, you'll need to take the "Nano" notion with a big grain of salt. The device is actually about the size of a 9-Volt battery--you know, the big one that's used in a smoke detector. The Spark Nano is, however, rugged and … Read more