Black lace has always been around, but for a long time it had been mostly reserved for underwear, funerals and gothic chicks. Recently that has changed, as black lace outerwear has made its way back to being “trendy” again (considering the world’s dark romantic, vampire obsession, its not surprising, is it?)

Personally, I have not owned anything lacey, black and suitable to wear outside of the bedroom since the 90’s – but after a little trot around YDE the other day I am now the proud owner of a fabulous black lace shift dress by Vida (for R425).

I think the only thing to be careful of when wearing lace is to not overdo the trend or wear too much see-through lace (or you may end up looking as ridiculous as Lady Gaga at the 2009 VMA’s)

Will you be wearing black lace out this year?

Another week has passed us by and of course there is always something to talk about in the motoring world. A battle is soon to commence in our sub-compact class, with the introduction of Volkswagen’s new Polo Vivo this week and the imminent arrival of the new Ford Figo. Internationally, Audi stole the limelight recently with the announcement of their A1, but this week BMW has confirmed they will be building a 0-Series car to compete in the premium sub-compact class.

On the local front, I jetted off to P.E. on Wednesday morning for the launch of the new Volkswagen Polo Vivo. Essentially a budget version of the previous generation Polo, the Polo Vivo is now the entry-level car for the Volkswagen brand and arrives a couple of months after the legendary Citi Golf was retired in January. Not surprising is the way the new Polo Vivo drives – exactly like the Mk4 Polo it’s based on. This is not a bad thing and in terms of a Citi Golf replacement, the Polo Vivo is leaps and bounds ahead in safety and build quality, whilst still offering value for money (prices start from R101 500). The Polo Vivo’s story is as much about the car itself, as it is about the steps VWSA have taken to source parts and produce the car locally. Polo Vivo is a proudly South African product, with a R1.1 billion investment in a new supplier park and 700 jobs having been created as a result of the new car.

Ford’s answer to the Polo Vivo is their Figo, that was recently launched to the world’s media in India. In a similar story to VW, Ford have used the previous generation Fiesta as the base upon which to build the new Figo. 85 percent of parts are reportedly new for the Figo, but the Fiesta was a good car to begin with so the Ford Figo comes with a solid reputation regardless. The Figo will be launched here in SA within the next month or two, with pricing expected to be in the R100k to R130k range.

As mentioned, BMW Chairman, Norbert Reithofe, has confirmed this week that a rival to the Audi A1 is in the works – dubbed the BMW 0-Series at this point. Perhaps most surprising though is the announcement that it will be based on a front-wheel-drive platform, in contrast to BMW’s rear-wheel drive tradition. Reithofer said “For these new vehicles, we are developing a common architecture for both front and four-wheel-drive”. With an all-new MINI Cooper expected to arrive in 2014, the new models would likely utilise the same front-wheel-drive layout. Worrying for BMW purists is the fact that the use of the same platform for a new BMW 1-Series can’t be ruled out. Hopefully BMW is not about to make a u-turn on their rear-wheel-drive philosophy. There is no news on when the 0-Series is expected to make an appearance, but with the A1 heading to showrooms, expect to hear a lot more in the near future.

A small car of a different kind, is Honda’s recently launched CR-Z hybrid hatchback. Hybrid cars are still in their infancy relative to the age of the motor industry. The Toyota Prius was the first model to bring hybrid technology to the mass market but other manufacturers are beginning to joining the party. Running alongside the motor industry is the business of tuning or modifying. As one can imagine, tuning and modifying of electric and hybrid vehicles is something very new. Brabus has done it with the Tesla Roadster and with the launch of the Honda CR-Z a few weeks back, Honda’s in-house tuning division, Mugen, released a few cosmetic updates for the new hybrid. However, tuning legend Spoon Racing hit the headlines this week with news of the beginnings of their tuning package for the new CR-Z. Among the parts being tested are new coilover suspension components (lowering the car by 50 mm), N1 exhaust, ECU, ‘twin-block’ calliper and slit rotor brake upgrade. There’s no information on the ECU at this stage, but the N1 exhaust has reportedly given the CR-Z a more sportscar-like note, in contrast to the near-silent stock exhaust system. A set of blue Spoon CR93 alloys finish off the car and compliment the new ride height.

I’ve also had the Nissan Qashqai n-tec on test for the week. In short, one of the best looking cars in its class, with 18-inch wheels and chrome accents setting it apart from the rest of the range. It’s comfortable, rides well and the 2,0-litre engine provides enough oomph for running around town and cruising on the open road. An optional accessories package adds leather seats and an infotainment system, which we had an argument with. You can read the full report here.

Next week Toyota will be launching a facelifted version of their Toyota Auris and Hyundai will be introducing a new model. If you’re in Cape Town this weekend, why not head down to Killarney for some serious excitement with the Wesbank Super Series on Saturday. In contrast to all the speed, don’t forget it’s the Argus Cycle Tour on Sunday in the Cape, so choose your Sunday drive route wisely.

Some related items for you:

• Chrome Hummer H2
• Last week’s motoring news
• Get your tyres changed while you’re at work
• BMW Planning Front-Wheel-Drive A1 Rival

Google Reader has gone real-time, MyScoop has gone real-time, Wordpress is involved with it and it’s all revolving around an open protocol known as pubsubhubbub (click here to find out what pubsubhubbub is).

Now, joining the crew is AfriGator, which has just implemented pubsubhubbub and will be aggregating your posts instantly. Just remember, if you have your own installation of Wordpress, you will need to install a plugin, which is called PuSHPress and is available here.

It’s really super to see South Africans jumping onto this and realising how important instant information is!

If you spend a fair amount of time online following the news, you’ll probably have heard about this weird word, “Pubsubhubbub“. One of the strangest words I’d ever heard and I think most people don’t know much about it, so let’s have a look:

Wikipedia defines it: PubSubHubbub is an open protocol for distributed Publish/subscribe communication on the internet. The protocol extends the Atom and RSS protocols for data feeds. The main purpose is to provide near-instant notifications of change updates, which would improve on the typical situation where a client periodically polls the feed server at some arbitrary interval.

What this means is that content is being syndicated as close to real-time as possible aposed to the usual delay.

Pubsubhubbub is a Google initiative, which appears to be cropping up all over the Internet. Google Reader has gone real-time, Wordpress have adopted Pubsubhubbub technology and an assortment of other companies are starting to use it.

Here’s a video to help you understand:

I think we’ll be hearing a lot of hubhub over the next few months to come!

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics giant late Wednesday unveiled the world’s first 3-D TV technology aimed at revolutionizing the home viewing experience.

At a glitzy ceremony in New York’s Time Warner Center, the leading consumer electronics maker announced the launch of a broad lineup of new sets, beginning with 46-inch and 55-inch C7000 models this month, showcasing the LED-lit TVs’ 3-D picture quality with incredible depth and perfect clarity.

Viewers are to wear electronic glasses that open and close rapidly in time, with images designed for the right and left eye, creating a three-dimensional effect.

Samsung also announced the expansion of its strategic alliance with DreamWorks Animation, the US maker of “Shrek,” “Kung Fu Panda” and other hit movies to speed up the worldwide deployment of in-home 3-D to mainstream consumers.

This will include a first-time feature-length, 3-D Blu-ray version of DreamWorks Animation’s 2009 release, “Monsters vs. Aliens.

Growth of 3-D has been slow because of a lack of programming, the need to wear special glasses and the higher prices of 3-D sets, but the recent release of science fiction blockbuster “Avatar,” a 3-D film by “Titanic” director Cameron, has renewed interest in the medium.

“3-D is more than just a groundbreaking technology – it’s the future of television, and we are committed to bringing this total viewing experience to consumers everywhere with the best picture quality in 3-D content possible,” said Yoon Boo-Keun, president of Visual Display Business Unit at Samsung Electronics.

Rapper Will.i.am and his three partners in the The Black Eyed Peas were on hand to promote Samsung’s new 3-D TV technology.

“This is going to enrich how you view sports, movies and TV at home,” he told reporters.

Also present at the launch ceremony were US magnate Donald Trump and Cameron, who has played a key role in promoting the development of 3-D content.

Samsung officials say they hope to sell around two million 3-D TV sets this year worldwide. Prices are expected to range from around 2,000 dollars for 40-inch models to around 7,000 dollars for 55-inch LED C9000.

Meanwhile Samsung’s Japanese rival Sony said Tuesday said it would start selling 3-D TV sets in Japan in June, but it has yet to announce a launch date for overseas.

Sony said its first 3-D liquid crystal display TV models would hit the Japanese market on June 10, with a price tag of about 350,000 yen (3,535 dollars) for a 46-inch version.

[Thanks Morgan via Luxuo]

If this is where things are going, what’s next?!

[Thanks Ant]

It’s been a while since I did a Whiteboard Friday post, apologies for this, I’ve been focusing on other things. Whiteboard Fridays by SEOmoz.org are always a great way to learn more about SEO and that’s shown in this video, take a watch:

What do you reckon? So many people look at Twitter as just a communications tool, and I don’t blame you for this, but I’m hoping that now you’ll see a different side to it – I’ve been using it as a research tool for quite a while now :)

Follow me on Twitter by clicking here and I’ll keep you posted on interesting tips.

Yacht’s are all about luxury, if you can afford one, it’s an unspoken law that you’ve “made it” in life; I guess that does stand true to some extent. Lionel sent through these photographs earlier today, take a look at this!

I spent quite some time tracking down the source of these pictures and it comes from Dornob.com and the yacht is known as a Why-Yacht.

Here’s something new for those champagne/sparkling wine fans..

Available from Cuvees Classiques in he Palms Centre, Main Road Salt River and Wine Concepts in Newlands and on Kloof Street.

Sterling Silver Champagne and Cocktail Straws!

A gift with a difference for that special birthday, anniversary or wedding with a bottle of bubbly or a unique item to add to cocktail menus!

• Tall champagne flute or small bottle straw: Retail price R900.00
• Regular champagne flute (10 cm bowl) Retail Price: R810.00
• Tall Cocktail glass ( 9.5cm bowl) Retail Price R780.00
• Short cocktail glass (7cm bowl) Retail Price: R675.00
• Name engraving R50.00 each.

Individually handmade by a South African jeweller.

[Thanks Michael]

I’m a big fan of wine, but more specifically red wine. Michael Olivier has educated me a lot through his wine reviews and previous gifts, but this time it’s Sam Paddock (via GetWine) who’s sent me several bottles and is giving me some education.

Tonight I’ve opened a bottle of Bouchard Finlayson, 2009 Blance De Mar and I’m really enjoying it! The first bottle I had was a Special Cuvee, which was nice, but a little strong and powerful on the pallet, whereas I find this bottle softer and easier to drink.

Here are the wines I’m looking forward to:

Super collection, dying to try the 2006 Wild Yeast Chardonnay, and there’s nothing like some Brut MCC :)

Here are some other useful links if you’re into wine or want to know more about it:

1. Wine courses in Stellenbosch
2. Wine reviews on iMod by Michael Olivier