- What is the next evolution in cars? Alternative fuels are (no pun intended) gaining steam and electric cars are becoming increasingly prevalent. Bio-diesel is making headway and even cars running on more conventional fuel sources are facing stricter emission laws. But could the next big thing be cars of the future that drive themselves? That fact is already well-known in the auto industry, but not to the American public. A closer look reveals that some of the features and mechanisms to make this futuristic notion a reality are already in place. Mercedes-Benz already produces a $100,000 car that senses how far away other cars are in traffic and accelerates or decelerates accordingly, giving its driver’s foot a rest on crowded roadways. All the driver needs to do is steer, which is still too much to ask of some idiots currently on the road. Then in October, Google announced a fleet of cars that use various sensors and maps to feel out the roadway. "They've driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe. All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles. We think this is a first in robotics research," the company proclaimed on its official blog. A third announcement about self-driving cars or at least steps in that direction came from General Motors, which showed off a self-driving car last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. GM debuted the EN-V (pronounced "envy" and short for "Electric Networked Vehicle") with its camera-like sensors and sonar to keep the car from hitting pedestrians, along with network technology that lets cars talk to each other. A sort of Internet for cars, the system interconnects vehicles and forms them into a wirelessly linked chain that senses where the other links in the chain are at a given time. The EN-V is only a prototype for now and GM predicts it will take 20 years for them to hit the market at a cost of $10,000. It may take that long to sell consumers on driving these butt-ugly whips, which currently resemble large scuba-diver helmets, or mangled dust busters. Oh, and they also have only two wheels, aligned like the front two wheels of a car, not like a bicycle. It shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that GM partnered with Segway to come up with this new piece of technology. "It's basically a dynamically balanced skateboard," said Chris Borroni-Bird, GM's director of advanced technology vehicle concepts. The reason the EN-V is so far from being road ready is that it runs on battery power and has a max speed of about 30 miles per hour and a range of about 30 miles. In urban settings where driving fast and far isn’t a priority, it could work. Driving a 5x5 cube isn’t ideal, but it could work and alleviate many transportation issues in major metropolitan areas. The EN-V can communicate with another EN-V and drive itself, although drivers can take control if they choose using a joystick of sorts to steer and throttle the vehicle. Before GM can market the vehicle as road ready, it also must find a way to protect the vehicles’ wireless signals so hackers could not seize control and cause problems. Some day, though, we may finally have a way to take the burden of actually driving your own car out of the hands of the IQ-deprived ass hats who currently fill our highways and byways. Dream the dream………
- You simply cannot kill James Bond. If 22 Bond movies and scores of villains of varying degrees of competence, intelligence, ethnicity and attractiveness have taught us anything, it’s that 007 is a man who cannot be shot, stabbed or blown up viciously enough to kill him - whoever he may be at a given time. Sean Connery and Roger Moore brought a touch of class and acting talent to the Bond movies, while Pierce Brosnan brought bad acting, rigidity and an uninteresting slant to the world’s most famous secret agent. Daniel Craig took over the role in 2006’s Casino Royale, and its sequel, 2008’s Quantum of Solace, and at the very minimum provided a marked improvement over Brosnan. However, major financial woes at MGM threatened the existence of the 23rd film in the Bond franchise and last year, the movie seemed all but dead. Somehow, some way, that changed as the calendar flipped over to a new year and by some cinematic miracle, production on the newest Bond movie will begin later this year with a projected debut of November 2012. Although much is unknown about the plot and cast for the movie, Craig will be back as 007. Not-so-coincidentally, the premiere date for the film also marks the 50th anniversary of the producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli explained. Sam Mendes will direct the film and bear the biggest burden in hoping that MGM holds up financially long enough to get the movie made without Bond driving a used Volkswagen and shooting a homemade potato gun………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! This time, it’s Tunisia, where new, angry and explosive protests have broken out in a suburb of the capital, Tunis. Police responded to the uprising with the typical excessive force, breaking out their guns and firing into the air to disperse protesters in Ettadamen, nine miles from the center of Tunis. Protests have been raging for days and the number of protestors killed during that span varies depending on who you ask. Officials have copped to 21 deaths in protests in recent days, but union and health officials say the toll may be at least 50. Communications Minister Samir Laabidi gave the government's latest death lies, er, toll, on Tuesday. "Our numbers say there are 21 dead," he said, denying reports of a higher number of casualties. "Those who have spoken of 40 or 50 dead should produce a list of names.” The protests are being pinned on unemployment and political frustrations, but whatever the cause, there is no disputing that this is the most serious unrest in Tunisia for decades. Predictably, the demonstrations have primarily been in and around the working-class suburb of Ettadamen. In the most recent clashes between angry locals and police, protestors hurled stones at police and vandalized shops, cars and a government office - just the sort of activity I love to see in my protests and riots. That led by security forces responded by firing tear gas canisters and shots into the air, i.e. a good time for all. "We are not afraid, we are not afraid, we are afraid only of God," demonstrators chanted. That show of excessive force followed an earlier scene in which police used force to disperse demonstrations there by artists and journalists protesting against the shooting of demonstrators. It sounds like a vicious cycle of dissidence and abuse of authority and in truth, it probably is. In such cases, the government in question tends to offer feeble excuses for its actions and sure enough, that’s exactly what the Tunisian government is doing by claiming four civilians had been killed by police who acted in self defense in the town of Kasserine. That story was disputed by local residents who claimed the protesters were shot dead by police snipers on rooftops. As part of its cover up, er, explanation, the government insisted once again that a fringe movement of extremists was behind the riots, saying that "religious extremist movements and extremist movements from the left" were provoking violence. Perhaps if the government would follow through on its lofty promises of "economic and social reforms and more opening up towards liberty,” these riots wouldn’t be necessary. But unless and until those promises are honored by President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his administration, the riots can and will continue because the people can and will be heard by whatever means necessary to command their government’s attention…….
- In case you didn’t know, TCU stands for Texas Christian University. Not that you have a hard time telling as much when you see how the university and its athletic department are handling the screw job they are getting as the college football season comes to a close. After finishing as one of only two unbeaten teams in Division I and the only one not to receive the chance to play for a national championship, the Horned Frogs are actually displaying the class and character to not only issue the requisite canned, prescribed answers about how the system works and they can't change it even if they wanted to, which they can't. Led by athletic director Chris Del Conte, TCU is daring to praise a system that everyone else hates and wants to see go away - everyone except for the BCS honks who get paid by it. Conte readily admits the imperfections of the Bowl Championship Series, but says that he will respect the only college football postseason system he's got until a perfect system is presented. Even after seeing his own team, ranked second in the country as the dust settled on the season, defeat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and then sit idly by as No. 1 Auburn defeated No. 2 Oregon 22-19 in the BCS National Championship on Monday night, Conte would not crack on the BCS. "We're going to celebrate the fact that we won the Rose Bowl," Del Conte said. "But until they get a system that is going to be absolutely perfect so they can figure out a way to determine those things, we need to celebrate the system we currently have right now. "'I’m not going to go through my time with an asterisk: could have, should have, but ... No. We're Rose Bowl champions.” His comments echoed those of TCU coach Gary Patterson, who reaffirmed his stance that he's content to live by the current system: "I still feel the same way about that." Some voters in both major polls clearly believe the Horned Frogs are championship material, as they received three No. 1 votes in the AP poll and one in the coaches' poll, marking the program's highest finish in the AP poll since it last went undefeated and claimed the school's lone national championship in 1938. Del Conte called the No. 2 ranking "phenomenal" and said that he does not believe TCU was robbed of a chance to play for the national championship. "What I feel right now is we just won the Rose Bowl. I mean it sincerely. I'm not going to cheapen that at all. We won the Rose Bowl," Del Conte said. "Who would have ever thought we'd have the opportunity to go to the Rose Bowl and beat Wisconsin? That in itself is unbelievable. There's always going to be the speculation of woulda, shoulda, coulda, but I'm going to focus on the fact that we're Rose Bowl champions and this coach, this coaching staff and these student athletes are champions.” Even with an impending move from the Mountain West Conference to the BCS automatic-qualifying Big East after next season, there is no guarantee that an undefeated season would earn them a title shot. The same BCS that screwed them over this season could do the very same thing even as a member of the Big East. Good times…………
- Hey state workers in California, have you heard that Verizon will soon be offering its own version of the iPhone? You might want to look into it because that government-issued cell phone you’ve been rocking for the past few months of years…..yeah, it’s going bye-bye. With the state’s budget as jacked up as any in the country, new Gov. Jerry Brown is ordering state agencies and department heads to collect 48,000 government-paid cell phones. As part of proposed deep cuts to the budget in the hopes of keeping his state financially solvent, Brown has decreed that those phones must be turned in by June 1, 2011. On the surface, this might seem like trying to slap a Hello Kitty band-aid on a gunshot wound, but when you look at the numbers, the move could indeed save the state a lot of money. See, California currently pays for 96,000 cell phone for state workers, and Gov. Brown estimates the state will save at least $20 million a year by cutting the number of phones in half. He based that figure on data provided by the Department of Finance, which determined the average cell phone bill is a bit over $36 per month. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all state employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cell phones," the governor said in his executive order, released Tuesday morning. "Some state employees, including department and agency executives who are required to be in touch 24 hours a day and seven days a week, may need cell phones, but the current number of phones out there is astounding." Great…..now there’s going to be an all-out brawl determining who gets to keep their phone and who has to give theirs up. Just imagine if this goes by seniority and one person has been in his job for eight years and four months, while another has been on her job eight years, four months and two days…..wow. Even those who get to keep their government-paid phone will still have to sit down with their department head and justify all cell phone usage and demonstrate "a significant business need for an employee's use of a state-issued cell phone or smart phone.” Lots of success with that…….
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