I’m not a big fan of flatulence humor because I think it is used for cheap laughs. I was a bit disappointed with this video because of that reason. However I felt compelled to share this video any way because it parodies Twitter. Watch Ashton talk about Tooter in the video below:

Hyundai Chairman Mong-Koo Ordered To Pay $60 Million

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Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-Koo will have to pay $60 million in damages to Hyundai Motor Company because of a lawsuit brought by 14 minority shareholders in the car company. Hyundai shareholders Chung Mong-Koo and Kim Dong-Jin suffered major losses when Hyundai Motors sold shares of Hyundai Chaebol (Hyundai Airspace & Aircraft Co. and Hyundai Hysco) and their affiliates. [TheTruthAboutCars]

General Motors Working On Rear-Wheel Drive Hybrids

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General Motors will be moving their Two Mode Hybrid powertrain made for trucks to rear-drive cars according to GM Vice Chairman of Global Product Operations Tom Stephens. This motor will appear in 2013 when GM introduces a new line of full-size trucks. [Edmunds]

Ford Shows Off The Shelby GT500

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Ford will be showing off the 2011 Shelby GT500 later today at the SVT garage near Detroit. [AutoWeek]

Danica Patrick Heading To NASCAR Nationwide Series

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GoDaddy.com girl Danica Patrick got 6th place at the ARCA race this past Saturday. This year she will have a Nascar Nationwide Series debut at the Daytona International Speedway. “Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do,” stated Patrick as quoted by The New York Times. Patrick will drive the Number 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala. [NYT]

Toyota Exec Jim Lentz Goes On Digg

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Jim Lentz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Motor Sales will be answering some of the top questions asked by the Digg communitylater today as part of a Live Digg Dialogg. Over 1,000 questions have been asked on the forum. Some of the questions include:
“What do you drive?”
“How far along is Toyota on moving into some truly gas free cars in the future? Are these kinds of vehicles even possible or feasible in our current lifetime?”
“It has been years since Toyota had a sports car (Supra) available for sale in North America. Are there any plans to bring back the Supra or come out with a new afordable [sac] sports car?” [Digg]

Chad Henne Wins Audi Fuel-Efficiency Competition

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Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne won a competition between reporters, writers, and athletes to find out who can get the most miles per gallon out of a 2010 Audi Q7 TDI engine. The route was to be between Herdon, Virginia and Miami, Florida. Henne was able to achieve 32.6MPG. Henne won $20,000 and donated it to the Berks County Community Foundation. [Examiner]

Today is Monday February 8 and Super Bowl is now over with the Saints taking the win. Congratulations to everyone in New Orleans. It is a sad day for Peyton Manning and friends, but there’s always next year. Here is your Pulse2.com technology news round up.

Google’s $1 Billion Display Ad Biz and Translator Phone

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This year, Google is expecting their display ads business to generate more than $1 billion. This is about 4% of their total sales this year. If $1 billion is achieved this year, this would be an increase of about 40% from the year before. [BusinessWeek]

Google is also rumored to be making software for a phone that would be capable of translating foreign languages on-the-fly. The software covers about 52 languages so far. [Times UK]

AOL Is Close To Selling ICQ

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According to sources with AllThingsD, AOL is close to selling off ICQ for a price that is near $200 million. ICQ has about 40-50 million active users across the world with a major penetration in Germany, Russia, Eastern Europe, and Israel. There is rumored to be about seven bids, four which are very serious. ICQ is based in Israel and has about 100 employees. ICQ is slightly profitable. [AllThingsD]

Loopt’s Local Ads

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Loopt and Mobile Spinach have partnered to provide special offers and discounts for local businesses. As of right now the service is available in San Francisco and the company expects to roll out the service to other major cities in the near future. Loopt has about 3 million users. [MediaPost]

Verizon Bans 4Chan

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4chan announced on Twitter that they have been “explicitly blocked” from Verizon. 4chan founder Christopher Poole attempted to reach Verizon to find out why they have been blocked, but Verizon was not able to give him a definitive answer as of yet. [ReadWriteWeb]

HTC Incredible

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Above is a photo that was sent to PocketNow.com and it is believed to be the Verizon HTC Incredible. The phone uses Android 2.1 with HTC Sense and there is a Snapdragon CPU inside. The phone would come with 256MB of RAM and there is a 3.5-3.7″ WVGA screen. [PocketNow]

Riddim Ribbon

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Tapulous has launched a new game called Riddim Ribbon. Tapulous decided that they wanted to move on beyond Tap Tap Revenge. The Riddim Ribbon game costs $2.99 and comes with several songs by The Black Eyed Peas. [Tapulous]

Nokia Class Action Lawsuit

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A class action complaint has been made against Nokia alleging that the phone company had committed securities fraud. The complaint was filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. [PCWorld]

TweetDeck Adds Flickr

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TweetDeck has created a new version of their desktop Adobe AIR-based software that allows you to view YouTube videos and add Flickr support within the software. The company has also increased the Twitter API requests for up to 350 API calls per hour. Posterous is also now supported. [Mashable]

Super Bowl Sunday is here again folks. Personally I’m rooting for the Colts because Ervin Baldwin went to Michigan State around the same time that I did. And I also think highly of Mike Hart even though he went to U of M. And of course I also think that Peyton is one of the best QBs I’ve seen. And usually when I pick my favorite team, it is based on proximity to where I live. Lucas Oil Stadium is a couple hundred miles south of me. But one of my most favorite parts of the Super Bowl is the ads.

Every year advertising companies spend millions of dollars to advertise for the Super Bowl. A large portion of the money spent on Super Bowl ads go behind the creativity too. Although Pepsi won’t be participating in Super Bowl advertisements this year, CBS was able to sell about $200 million worth of ad space. About 100 million people are expected to tune into the game.

I have compiled a list of 40 of the greatest Super Bowl commercials of all time. Check it out and let us know what you think about this year’s commercials in the comments:

1. Ed McMahon and M.C. Hammer – Cash 4 Gold

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Here is the end of the week auto news roundup. The stories include Barry Levinson threatening to sue Ford over Twitter, Toyota’s new “unofficial” motto, a story about Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes, and an update with General Motors.

Barry Levinson Threatens Ford Over Twitter

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Using the hands free SYNC system, you will be able to update and receive tweets in the near future. However The Law Offices of Barry Levinson is getting ready to sue Ford Motor Company for that reason. Below is a portion of a press release that he sent out [TheTruthAboutCars]:

Ford’s development of technology to facilitate driver computer use runs counter to the national trend, which sees authorities cracking down on distracted driving… Ford defends its Twitter technology, claiming to be making existing driver behaviors safer. But Ford’s assertion may not hold up to scrutiny. The 2006 driver distraction study found that talking and listening to conversation via cell phone was as likely to cause a crash as dialing a cell phone; if this seemingly apt analogy for the distinction between typing on a computer and talking into one holds up, it would undermine Ford’s justification for installing Twitter technology in cars.

Toyota’s New Motto…

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This picture was a hit on Digg. Toyota: Moving Forward Even When You Don’t Want To.

Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes

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Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes was found at the bottom of a cliff around Mulholland Drive. Apparently Sheen left the keys in his Mercedes and the garage open. Sheen was notified about the car from a Mercedes rep. [Jalopnik]

GM Donates To Haiti and Builds A Robot With NASA

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The General Motors Foundation has donated 30 GMC Sierra pick up trucks as part of the Haitian relief effort. The pick up trucks will arrive in Haiti around mid-February with additional supplies like tarp and tents. The GM Foundation also donated $100,000 along with $250,000 from the auctioning of a limited edition Chevy Corvette at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction [eGMcartech].

General Motors and NASA have partnered to develop a robot called the Robonaut 2 (R2). “The partnership’s vision is to explore advanced robots working together in harmony with people, building better, higher quality vehicles in a safer, more competitive manufacturing environment,” stated GM VP for global research and development Alan Taub.

Happy Friday everybody. Today is February 5, 2010 and below is the Pulse2 News Roundup. We are going to talk about Facebook, Apple, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Sony, Jersey Shore, Google Earth, FriendFinder, TechCrunch, Patrick Stewart, Jon Stewart, and Bill O’Reilly today.

Facebook 400 Million and Project Titan

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Facebook is working on overhauling their message system in order to replace it with a web mailing system. The code name for the project is Project Titan [TechCrunch]. Facebook has also turned 6 years old this week and has reached the 400 million user milestone. [Mashable]

Location Based Apple Ads and iTunes Web Browser

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Apple has notified App Store developers that they will be prohibited from using location based advertisements for their applications. “If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store,” Apple said [MacNN]. You can now browse the App Store on the web [PCWorld].

Snoop Vader

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Rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg was caught in the middle of an imperial march walking around SoHo New York. It looks like Snoop has crossed over to the dark side since he is walking right next to Darth Vader. [HuffPo]

Sony Profits

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Sony announced yesterday that they have returned to profit during the last three months of 2009. As a result, the company raised their outlook. [New York Times]

Snooki Crasher

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A new meme has hit the Internet thanks to Jersey Shore character Nicole “Snooki” Pilozzi. The meme is called Snooki Crasher and it features images of Snooki in places where she doesn’t belong. Below are a couple of examples. [URLesque]

World War II on Google Earth

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Images of World War II destruction have been uploaded to Google Earth. The cities where the images were uploaded include Berlin, Bordeaux, Hamburg, Cologne and Dresden. [Telegraph]

FriendFinder Cancels IPO

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The FriendFinder Network filed for an IPO about a month ago. The FriendFinder Network is a brand that oversees porn websites and social networks. The company was supposed to start trading this week, but they have cancelled due to “market conditions.” [AllThingsD]

TC Intern Fired

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TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington apologized to his readers on behalf of an intern that accepted a MacBook as compensation for writing a blog post. The intern was fired and every blog post he wrote was deleted. “I apologize to each one of you. I promise that we will always maintain complete transparency with you on how we operate, even when it isn’t such an easy thing to do,” stated Arrington in his apology. [TechCrunch]

Patrick Stewart on Twitter

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Patrick Stewart, the Star Trek Captain Jean-Luc Picard, calls his mobile phone “my beautiful iPhone.” But he doesn’t quite understand Twitter and is has a fear of getting addicted to gaming. “To reduce life to–how many? 140? Just seems to me to be a little bit simplistic. Maybe I like complexity and abstraction too much.” [HuffPo]. And if you’re a fan of Patrick Stewart, check out a project that my friend Mo Kakwan made at Yahoo! Hack Day a few years ago.

Bill O’Reilly vs. Jon Stewart

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Comedy Central news host Jon Stewart was a guest on FOX host Bill O’Reilly’s TV show earlier this week. The debate between Stewart and O’Reilly attracted 4,091,000 viewers. And about 1,041,000 of those viewers were aged between 25 and 54. [BusinessInsider]

1. According to Heritage.org, “The average American family has savings of only about $1,000.”  Fortunately the average American will be able to buy a car if they need it thanks to CarsForAGrand.com.  I heard about this website from Jalopnik and started exploring it after.  It is like a craigslist for cars that are a grand and under.  You can filter out the cars by location too. I highly recommend checking out this website if you are interested in buying a car on a budget.

2. Toyota reported a $1.7 billion quarterly net profit [Detroit News], but the recall will cost about $2 billion this quarter [TruthAboutCars].  Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak complained about the cruise control in his Prius and Toyota acknowledged that it is being caused by a software glitch [Jalopnik]. Below is Jon Stewart’s take on the situation:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Toyotathon of Death
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

3. Ford is rumored to be planning the launch of a special-edition Clubsport RS and a Focus RS which will look similar to the 2012 Focus unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. The Focus Clubsport will have about 500 units manufactured initially and will have a 2.5L 5-cylinder turbo engine, giving it 350 horsepower [EGMCarTech].

4. GM has extended the deadline for Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. to buyout Hummer from them. Now Sichuan has up until the end of February [4WheelNews].

1. Twitter has announced a new feature called Hovercards.  Hovercards appear when you put the mouse over a username or avatar and it displays additional details about that user.  This will make it easy to follow, RT, and DM users. [Twitter Blog]

2. uTorrent 2.0 has been announced.  The updated version is only applicable to Windows as of right now.  The new version includes bug fixes, improved performance, bandwidth regulation, and UDP support. [Lifehacker]

3. SEGA has revealed that Project Needlemouse is Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. Sonic 4 will be in 2D and will continue from the last Sonic and Knuckles game. The game will be available on PSN, Xbox Live Arcade, and WiiWare this summer. [Hellforge]

4. Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has sold off HotJobs to Monster.com for $225 million in cash. Monster will continue to power Yahoo job listings for 3 years as part of the deal.  Yahoo! bought HotJobs for $436 million in 2001. [TechCrunch]

5. Wikileaks is a website that started in 2006 with the goal of hosting leaked government documents.  Wikileaks gained a lot of attention when 9/11 pager messages and Guantanamo Bay manuals were leaked.  Wikileaks raised about $200,000 as part of a fund-raising goal to stay operational, but the company is seeking an additional $400,000 to pay staff members.  The funding was announced via Twitter: “Achieved min. funraising goal. ($200k/600k); we’re back fighting for another year, even if we have to eat rice to do it.” [Telegraph]

6. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has acquired a New York based company called Touchco.  Touchco develops touchscreen technology and will be merged with the hardware division for the Amazon.com Kindle.  Touchco’s interpolating touch technology can be made transparent and work with color LCD screens.  It can also detect an unlimited number of touch points.  Touchco can achieve this at lower costs than the estimated iPad/iPhone screens (or $10 per square foot).  [Engadget/NYT]