Monthly Archives: February 2012


Fully autonomous vehicles are still quite a few years out, but the many of necessary…

Fully autonomous vehicles are still quite a few years out, but the many of necessary pieces are appearing in cars now. The next big step is integrating all of those signals to build smarter control algorithms.

We also need more precise GPS data which will be enabled by the next generation of satellites that are going up over the next couple of years, assuming LightSquared doesn't mess it all up first.

#cars #autonomous

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Five Reasons The Robo-Car Haters Are Wrong
.autonomous_left_rail {
clear: left;
float: left;
font-size: 0.9em;
margin-bottom: 30px;
margin-left: 0;
margi…

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Straight from the horse's mouth, take that wingnuts 3

Straight from the horse's mouth, take that wingnuts

Reshared post from +Jeff Gilbert

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Eastwood Calls Criticism of Chrysler Ad “Daydreaming”
Actor/Director Clint Eastwood is firing back at those who criticized his “Halftime in America” Chrysler ad.

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For the youngsters out there and those with failing memories, +Tesla Motors https://plus.google.com/114133424228405038490/posts/bvn5Hv6iKJP… 1

For the youngsters out there and those with failing memories, +Tesla Motors https://plus.google.com/114133424228405038490/posts/bvn5Hv6iKJP is not the first company to do double hinged gull-wing doors. Way back in the early 1970s the Chevrolet Aerovette concept used the same idea to help limit the outward swing of the doors by adding a second hinge at the base of the side windows.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1970s-chevrolet-corvette-concept-cars4.htm

#gullwing

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/1970s-chevrolet-corvette-concept-cars-7.jpg

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Tesla Motors revealed its third (second all-new since the original Roadster was developed… 2

Tesla Motors revealed its third (second all-new since the original Roadster was developed from the Lotus Elise) vehicle last night at a special event in California. The Model X is an good-looking but maybe not very practical all-electric crossover that is expected to the join the Model S sedan late in 2013. http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx

As CUVs go, the Model X is quite attractive and follows the design language that Franz von Holzhausen created for the Model S. The platform is based on the Model S and same sort of skateboard electric drive architecture pioneered a decade ago by its AUTOnomy concept http://www.adrianchernoff.com/pages/AUTOnomy.html

Despite the low-slung platform that gets all of the hardware out of the way, from the initial images I'm seeing of the Model X it seems to have some packaging issues. Like the Model S, the crossover has seven seats although the tiny child-size rear-facing jump seats of the sedan have been swapped for proper forward facing seats.

von Holzhausen has devised an interesting door arrangement for the X that uses conventional hinged front doors and gull-wings (which Tesla insists on calling Falcon wings, presumably in honor of the Falcon rocket produced by Musk's other company, SpaceX) for access to the second and third rows. This arrangement allows for a larger opening to access the third row without making the doors excessively wide when opened. However, judging from the position of the passengers in the second and third rows as seen in the photo below from Engadget, adults won't be very happy in the back for any length of time.

That's actually probably not that big of an issue since most mid-size crossovers have the same issue. Third row seats are usually best left to little ones and they will probably have an easier time getting in an out than they do in most others. While the gull-wings make for easy ingress-egress, I do see this becoming a manufacturing and quality nightmare. Plus being in that third row when the door opens on a rainy day probably won't be much fun.

The other big packaging issue I see is the front door openings. Take a look at those front door openings! They are virtually triangular with the windshield sloping back to meet the B-pillar. Taller drivers and passengers will definitely have to duck to get in and out without whacking their heads on the pillar. I have a feeling this is going to have change quite substantially in the two years before customer deliveries start in earnest.

I must say that I've long been skeptical of whether Tesla could survive in the long-term as an independent entity and I'm frankly surprised they have hung in as long as they have. I think it's the sheer force of will of Elon Musk that has kept them going and I hope they succeed. The success or failure of the Model S will be very telling about the company as a whole. Good Luck to everyone at Tesla.

#tesla #teslamodelx #ev #electricvehicles

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Excellent news for the web! Now we need to go back revisit the pantent granting process…

Excellent news for the web! Now we need to go back revisit the pantent granting process and get examiners to outright reject patents that are either obvious, vague or duplicate ideas that have already been produced.

Reshared post from +Tim O’Reilly

It's so great to see the Eolas patent struck down. We had firsthand knowledge of this case at O'Reilly, since +Dale Dougherty and +Pei Wei, who worked with us on GNN back in 1992 and 1993, have testified repeatedly in this trial over the past decade or more. Pei's work with Viola (see http://viola.org) was clearly prior art, but it took till now for the court system to catch up with that obvious fact.

The current patent system is a terrible tax on invention, as it requires real inventors to spend time in court rather than focusing on making real things happen. We must remember that the patent system was supposed to "promote the progress of science and the useful arts," not to enrich people who know how to work the legal system.

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Texas Jury Strikes Down Patent Troll’s Claim to Own the Interactive Web
TYLER, Texas — After threatening web companies for more than a decade, Michael Doyle and his patent-holding company Eolas Technologies — …

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Just watched this on the new motor trend youtube channel via the xbox on the big…

Just watched this on the new motor trend youtube channel via the xbox on the big screen and it looks fantastic. Congratulations to Angus MacKenzie and the whole +Motor Trend Magazine crew. They have truly succeeded in making the transition from old school print buff book to digital media
#cars #motortrend

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Without doubt the highlight of the current presidential campaign has been Bad Lip…

Without doubt the highlight of the current presidential campaign has been Bad Lip Reading and here is the latest effort.
#indecision2012

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Get the pop tart!!!

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I spent many evenings reading Dr Seuss to my kids when they were young, and loved…

I spent many evenings reading Dr Seuss to my kids when they were young, and loved every minute of it. The silly art and the Ted Giesel's magical words were great.

But all good things eventually need to be updated and the gang at MAD have brought Seuss into the current century.

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Dr. Seuss for the Digital Age
2012 marks the 75th Anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which has led many to wonder what the Seuss library would look like if he wrote his books in the present day. Once again, MAD stands years ahead of the pack — in 2008, we updated some of Seuss’ most popular titles to make them relevant to the message-board-trolling miscreants of the YouTube Generation.

From MAD #491, July 2008
Writer: Darren Johnson
Artist: Gary Hallgren

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I knew this guy was overated :) 2

I knew this guy was overated 🙂

Reshared post from +The Onion

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New Biography Reveals Einstein Devised Theory Of Relativity On Paper Because He Wasn't Smart Enough To Invent Microsoft Word
PRINCETON, NJ—A new biography by science historian Tanya Medel has rocked the physics world with the revelation that theoretical physicist Albert Einstein wasn't smart enough to invent Microsoft W…

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All things great and small set to scale 2

In the grand scheme of things, what we do here on our little blue ball doesn't really amount to a hill of beans.

Reshared post from +Erin Fors

This. Is. Bad. Ass. The scale of the universe. Check it. http://images.4channel.org/f/src/589217_scale_of_universe_enhanced.swf

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http://images.4channel.org/f/src/589217_scale_of_universe_enhanced.swf

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