car pc misc
7 March, 2007 - 09:59 New and Actually Good Car Dealership Locator!
Locate car dealerships via Google Maps and browse area dealerships. Site utilizes vote buttons to rank area dealerships. Higher quality dealerships, based on votes, are displayed first.
After many years of the internet being around we seem to still be stuck in the same old ways of using directories to locate companies. The standard search is available along with a category browse, but it seems that few sites really put a push into actually knowing - nay - seeing where the companies are based.
The above is especially true in the car / auto industry though today I was sent a link to a new car dealership finding website that has done a superb job of the 'location' side of things. As an added bonus they are using Google Maps as their mapping solution and do a fantastic job of integrating it with a full car dealership rating and review system.
7 March, 2006 - 14:21 Tell your car what to do
Talking to a machine and having it DO what you asked it to has long been the stuff of Sci-Fi. Early implementations of voice control interfaces have been clumsy at best. Some interfaces catch on quickly and people fall in love, look at the iPod, Google, Telephones and Tivo.
The power of a good interface can enchant people and allow the underlying device to become part of every-day life. Poorly designed human interfaces on the other hand can spell disaster or at least a storm of consumer complaining, which in marketing IS a disaster. BMWs I-Drive, Bluetooth, and many VCRs are great examples.
7 December, 2005 - 17:25 DVD means driver very distracted
A man is charged with going nearly 150 km/h while watching a film on his laptop computer.
Forget stereo buttons, cellphones or chatty passengers -- experts say more and more drivers are being distracted by a new in-car technology that soon could prove deadly.
The dangers posed by front-seat movie players were underscored this week when Chatham-Kent OPP charged a driver with speeding along Highway 401 while watching a film on his laptop computer. He was driving nearly 50 kilometres an hour above the 100 km/h limit between Dillon and Bloomfield roads.
2 December, 2005 - 09:43 Car enthusiasts revving up car computers
Upgraded car shocks, mufflers and brakes are something you would expect from a souped-up car, but how about an actual, custom computer? Thousands of extreme car-modders already are installing complete computer systems in their vehicles for GPS, music playback and even Internet access. Members of the mp3car.com forums recently got together in Huntington Beach, Calif., to show off their electronic vehicles.
Car computers generally run Windows XP and have a graphical front-end that enlarges the buttons and unifies the mixer, video, music and GPS functions. There are different front-end software packages and most are freeware. The large buttons are not just for looks as Robert Wray from MP3car.com told us that "the enlarged buttons are a safety feature because the default size is very small on a 7-inch screen." The screen of choice is usually a touch-sensitive 7-inch or smaller LCD monitor.
2 December, 2005 - 09:36 Prospect 11 Self Driving Car
No one believed that Princeton students would want to get dirt under their fingers, ORFE professor Alain Kornhauser GS '71 said at the beginning of a presentation on Wednesday about a project that proved such skepticism was undeserved.
During "Prospect 11: The Making, Testing and Running of Princeton's Entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge," Kornhauser and his team of student engineers shared their experiences competing in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge.
DARPA, a division of the Department of Defense, created the challenge as part of a project to design autonomous ground vehicles that could help save lives in warfare. Entries had to cross an obstacle course set up in Nevada's Mojave Desert.
17 November, 2005 - 10:20 UK 24x7 vehicle movement database begins
A "24x7 national vehicle movement database" that logs everything on the UK's roads and retains the data for at least two years is now being built, according to an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) strategy document leaked to the Sunday Times. The system, which will use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), and will be overseen from a control centre in Hendon, London, is a sort of 'Gatso 2' network, extending. enhancing and linking existing CCTV, ANPR and speedcam systems and databases.
Which possibly explains why the sorcerer's apprentices in ACPO's tech section don't seem to have needed any kind of Parliamentary approval to begin the deployment of what promises to be one the most pervasive surveillance systems on earth.
12 October, 2005 - 09:20 Toyota Self Parking Car in Europe
You may recall a few years back toyota were showing a demo of a car that parks itself. We personally felt it was a bit clunky and slow, however it seems that the feature is soon to come to us after already being around in other parts of the world.
A car that parallel-parks for you? The japanese version of the Toyota Prius has had the functionality for a while. Next year, it's our turn. Gadget-lovers rub their hands in glee.
From mid-2006, the Prius Tech Edition arrives in Europe. It promises to become one of the ultimate dreams for gadget-lovers.
