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Talk of the day

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 10, 2007

Honda hybrid: It's Speed Racer meets Al Gore

Hybrids don't have to sacrifice looks to be environmentally friendly - they can be muscular and stylish, too. That's the message Honda hopes to send at this month's Tokyo auto show with its new gas-electric hybrid sports car CR-Z. "This is something rivals can't offer," Tetsuji Morikawa, a Honda Motor Co. engineer, said of the CR-Z, whose sales date is promised for the "near future." The model will be on display at the biannual Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public Oct. 27. Japan's No. 2 automaker already sells the hybrid Civic but discontinued the hybrid Accord and hybrid Insight. It has promised a new hybrid in 2009.

YouTube to spread ads across Web

Google Inc. will begin showing YouTube videos on thousands of other Web sites, hoping to profit from ads attached to the clips. The expansion represents the Internet search leader's farthest-reaching attempt yet to cash in on its $1.76-billion acquisition of YouTube since the deal closed 11 months ago. Google already shows some video ads on clips on YouTube's own site. The ads accompanying the outbound YouTube clips won't be in a video format. Instead, they will appear as a graphic straddling the video or as a link along the bottom. But Google won't be pulling clips from YouTube's entire library, which includes a multitude of wacky segments contributed by amateur videographers. The material sent to other Web sites will be confined to video from providers who sign consent forms.

Putin puts foreign execs on notice

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that there should be fewer foreigners in high-level positions at Russian companies. Putin, who has been very wary about foreign influence, urged Russia to rely more on its own products - and included foreign managers with imported goods. "It's necessary to start with personnel, with people, because everything depends on them," Putin told lawmakers. While the thrust of his remarks appeared to be that an economically growing Russia should be able to provide its own managers for its companies, the comments could chill a foreign business community already struggling with bureaucratic hurdles and corruption. Putin, who has presided over strong oil-fueled economic growth in nearly eight years as president, has repeatedly said that Russia no longer needs to rely on foreign aid and advice as it did during the troubled years following the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Big protest on tap over bottled water

Cities around the nation are joining influential restaurateurs and activists in a public campaign to be launched today to persuade consumers to choose tap water over bottles. Chez Panisse restaurant, run by celebrity chef Alice Waters in Berkeley, Calif., has joined Corporate Accountability International and others to promote tap water as safer and more environmentally conscious. The campaign encourages cities to stop using public money to buy bottled water for its offices and to press for greater disclosure of where the water comes from that goes into the bottles, though the pledges vary based on what each city decides.

[Last modified October 9, 2007, 23:19:01]