Another tragedy rocks motorsport after Simoncelli is killed in MotoGP crash

Motorsport was mourning its second death in the space of a week after Italian Marco Simoncelli was killed in a crash at the Malaysian Moto GP.

The Gresini Honda rider lost control of his bike on the second lap of the circuit in Sepang and appeared to be hit by Colin Edwards and then Valentino Rossi as he slid across the track.

Agony: Marco Simoncelli's father is comforted as he waits outside a medical centre where the rider was taken following a crash at the Malaysian Grand Prix

The 24-year-old's helmet came off in the collision and he was taken to the medical centre for treatment, but died from his injuries.

Moment of horror: Simocelli loses control on the second lap before fatally colliding with Colin Edwards as Valentino Rossi ahead manages to escape

Simoncelli's death comes exactly a week after British racing driver Dan Wheldon, a former IndyCar champion and two-time Indy 500 race winner, was killed in a 15-car pile-up at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Buckinghamshire driver was 33.

Tragedy: Race marshalls attend to Honda rider Simoncelli (C) following his fatal crash just four minutes after the start of the Malaysian MotoGP race

The organisers cancelled Sunday's race as soon as the extent of Simoncelli's injuries became apparent.

A statement on the MotoGP official website read: 'On Sunday 23rd October, during the MotoGP race at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit, San Carlo Honda Gresini's Italian rider Marco Simoncelli suffered a serious accident in which he received critical injuries.

Moment of horror: Simoncelli loses control on the second lap

Collision: Simoncelli fatally falls off of his Honda after colliding into Colin Edwards

Fall: Edwards spins off the track along with Simoncelli's bike as the 24-year-old Italian devastatingly lies motionless

'The race was stopped immediately with the red flag and Simoncelli was transported by ambulance to the circuit medical centre where the medical staff worked to resuscitate him.

'Despite their efforts, Marco sadly succumbed to his injuries at 4:56pm local time.

Sorrow: Honda team members (above and below) react to the sad news

'Everybody involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Marco's family, friends and team at this tragic loss.'

Losing control: Simoncelli (No 58) crashed on the second lap of the race, riding between Edwards and Valentino Rossi

Emergency: Race marshalls quickly arrive at the scene to assist the stricken Simoncelli

Simoncelli, who won the 250cc world championship in 2008, clinching the crown in Sepang, stepped up to MotoGP in 2010.

His death was the first fatality in MotoGP since Japan's Daijiro Katoh died from his injuries sustained at the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix.

Wheeled away: Track officials remove Simoncelli's motorcycle after the dreadful accident

Newly-crowned champion Casey Stoner admitted immediately after the crash he had feared for Simoncelli.

'As soon as I saw the footage it just makes you sick inside,' the Australian told BBC2.

Cancelled: Rubbish covers the track after the race was abandoned early in Sepang

'Whenever the helmet comes off that's not a good sign.'

Tributes poured in for Simoncelli from teams and riders.

British MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow wrote on Twitter: 'RIP Marco Simoncelli! A great rider and all round nice guy. My thoughts are with all his family & friends. I will never forget today.'

Delivering the news: MotoGp officials relay the tragic announcement

Formula One driver Mark Webber tweeted: 'R.I.P Marco A special talent that will be missed... Thinking of your loved ones, and all the motogp paddock..mark.'

A message on Simoncelli's Gresini Honda team website read simply 'CIAO "SUPER SIC'"'.

Support: Simoncelli girlfriend Kate is consoled by a TV crew member following her partner's tragic crash

Paolo Simoncelli, Marco's father, is comforted by his son's manager Carlo Pernat outside the medical center following the accident

The Rizla Suzuki team wrote: 'All at Rizla Suzuki are deeply affected by today's tragic events and send their deepest condolences to Marco's family and friends during this time of great loss.

'R.I.P Marco Simoncelli, 20 January 1987 - 23 October 2011 - A true competitor.'

MARCO SIMONCELLI: 1987 - 2011

1987: Born in Cattolica, Italy on January 20.
1996: Runner-up in the Italian Minimoto Championship.
1999: Champion of the Italian Minimoto Championship.
2000: Claims a back-to-back title in the Italian Minimoto Championship and is runner-up in the European Minimoto Championship.
2001: Moves up to the the Italian 125cc Championship and wins the title in his rookie year.
2002: Wins the European 125cc title.
2003: Takes part in his first full season in the 125cc World Championship with the Matteoni Racing team.
2004: Joins the Rauch Bravo team and wins his first Grand Prix at a rain-soaked Jerez.
2005: Completes another 125cc campaign with the Nocable.it Race team and finishes fifth in the final standings.
2006: Moves up to the 250cc class riding for Gilera. Finishes the season in 10th overall with a sixth place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix his best result.

2008: June - Wins his first 250cc race at the Italian GP in Mugello in controversial circumstances when Hector Barbera crashed into him after Simoncelli appeared to try to block him off.October - Wins the 250cc World Championship after a successful season with Gilera with a third place finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
2009: Finishes third overall in the 250cc World Championship behind Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama and Spain's Barbera.
2010: Moves up to ride in his debut MotoGP season for Honda. Finishes 16 of the 18 races en route to eighth place in the championship.
2011: May - Collides with Dani Pedrosa while battling for second in the French GP. The resulting crash saw Pedrosa break his collarbone and Simoncelli receive a ride-through penalty, eventually finishing fifth. Simoncelli accepted he needed to re-evaluate his driving style and at times be more cautious.June - Claims his first MotoGP pole at the Catalan GP but a poor start resulted in a sixth placed finish.October 23 - Killed in a crash during the Malaysian GP in Sepang.

On strike in protest, the young politician is open shirt

Katarzyna Lenart
Various ways do politicians campaign in order to qualify for the parliament. However, Katarzyna Lenart performed arguably controversial.

Lenart was very young. He was only 23 years. He became a candidate member of the legislature of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) in the parliamentary elections held two weeks ago.

Political science student campaign to upload videos via YouTube. There he styled a la strippers (stripper) by taking off one by one outfit she was wearing.

However, Lenart not show all parts of his body. When he finally took off her bra, there are the words "censored".

He ended the video with the words "Want more? Select SLD. Only we can do more".

The slogan was insinuating Civic Platform party slogan which reads "We'll do more". Civic Platform is the party that now rules.

Candidates from the electoral district of Lublin was no way to dodge when called to invite her campaign hoopla. "I think, now is the time to make a fuss," he said.

"My campaign is to target youth, and young children are only interested in things that are controversial, unfortunately," he explained.

It is unclear whether the video was Lenart managed to become a member of the legislature, a position that is craved.

Your dead iPhone is a gold mine - literally

If you're one of the more than 1 million Apple enthusiasts who pre-ordered an iPhone 4S this week, you're likely looking to ditch your old phone.

The day that Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) unveils a new iPhone is like the Black Friday of cell phone trade-in services. Gazelle, one of the best known of the so-called "recommerce" sites for electronics, said that it received a phone every six seconds during Apple CEO Tim Cook's presentation on Oct. 4.

As sales of expensive smartphones grow rapidly, trade-in sites have also risen in popularity. Their services give customers the opportunity to make some cash off their old devices, which shoppers can use toward their shiny new handsets. At one point last week, Gazelle had offered up to $284 for some iPhone 4 trade-ins.

But what happens to your trade-in once you ship it to Gazelle, ReCellular, NextWorth, Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) Trade-In, or any of the other recommerce sites out there?

First, cell phones are inspected for wear and tear and to see whether they still work. Damaged phones are assessed for salvageability.

All phones then go through a memory wipe. Each trade-in company said it wipes memory in two steps to ensure your data is completely erased from the phone. If the phone doesn't work, the companies will physically destroy its memory.

"We make sure there are no late-night texts still on your phone," said Joe McKeown, vice president of marketing at ReCellular.
Where old iPhones go to die

Phones that are in excellent shape are typically either sold directly to consumers on the trade-in companies' sites, or they're hawked on eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) or Amazon. Gazelle receives so many iPhones that it tends to sell Apple's smartphones to wholesalers, since the recommerce company lacks the manpower to sell all of them on eBay or Amazon.

But it's in the traded-in junk where it starts to get interesting.

Old phones that are in workable condition and still have some demand for them (think Motorola RAZR, LG enV) are sent to wholesale partners. Those wholesalers have access to retail chains in and out of the United States that specialize in selling used feature phones to customers.

"You'd be surprised, but these wholesalers find demand for those items around the world -- usually in developing countries where there's not a lot of supply for those products," said Israel Ganot, CEO of Gazelle.

New but broken phones are typically sold to wholesalers that recondition the devices and sell them back to carriers or retailers for warranty replacement handsets.

Gazelle said about 90% of its devices are resold. ReCellular said roughly 80% of smartphones and 60% of feature phones are ultimately sold back to consumers.

"Typically there is some value in a device, but if it's so old or broken, it needs to be recycled," said Jeff Trachsel, spokesman for NextWorth.

How old?

"We'll get those old bag phones or brick phones that are about a foot long," said ReCellular's McKeown. "Every day you get something like that."

Gazelle said it has a small museum in its headquarters of surprising things people sent in, including a Motorola (MMI) DynaTAC 1980s-era "brick" phone, a Motorola StarTAC phone, a pager, a first-generation iPod, and an original Nintendo.

But "ancient" and broken technology actually has a lot of value -- to trade-in sites, if not to you. Most won't pay more than a few cents for these old phones, but they'll happily recycle them if you send them in.

There are 0.034 grams of gold in each cell phone, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That's the equivalent of 0.001 troy ounces, worth about $1.82 at today's prices.

 

Melting millions from gold scraps

 

There are also 16 grams of copper, worth about 12 cents, 0.35 grams of silver, worth 36 cents, and 0.00034 grams of platinum, valued at 2 cents.

In bulk, that's a ton of precious metal. In fact, ReCellular said it recycled enough gold last year to make 1,500 wedding bands and enough copper to make two Statues of Liberty. The trade-in companies all send parts to one of just two smelters in the United States, so that tiny amount of value becomes a treasure trove of bling.

"They're doing this in very, very high volume," said Ken Byer, CEO of Cloud Blue, Gazelle's recycling partner of choice. "There's more gold in a pound of electronics than a pound of gold ore, so it's certainly worth it."

So when you send in your old phone to get some cash, it could eventually become someone's wedding ring.

This is the World's Most Dangerous Road

Sensation seekers risked their lives to tread a path that is called the most dangerous in the world, located in southern Spain. Those with great caution track roads and halting at a height of more than 100 meters it inch by inch.
They are not alone. People who like adrenaline had flocked to southern Spain to experience the path of El Caminito Del Rey who has lived 110 years before the trail began to be fixed next year. Some travel companies are now starting to offer an unofficial tour after a video, which made my hair stand on end, from a climber who was circulated through the channels on YouTube.
Daily Mail on Sunday (9/10/2011), reported that the promotion company said, people do not need to be experienced to be melitasi climbers on the trail. The requirement is only that the participants must be at least twelve years old and not afraid of heights.
Pathway, also known as Setapak King Street, built in 1905 for workers in order to berjalanan between the two hydroelectric power. But the line was closed in 2000 after the two fell and killed a pedestrian.
The road snaking along the edge of high cliffs at El Chorro Gorge, thirty miles from Malaga. Most of the road lane width of one meter was completely destroyed by the iron-iron rusted, gaping holes, no handrails, and some parts are actually broken or disconnected.
An emergency wire is now mounted on the surface of the stone so that hikers and climbers can hold on to the wire when melitas. Yet many still choose not to use safety equipment at all.
Road repairs to begin. Budget of 8.3 million euros and will take three years. Improvements will make the trail safe again so attract more tourists. Improvements will include construction of handrails, safety barrier, lighting and visitor center.
A climber on the route last week said, "Too bad they will repair the path. There will be many improvements and it will make him lose the sensation again. Right now we are free to go there but I am sure, they will make us have to pay if you want to use it in the future. "