A Table That Attaches to Your Steering Wheel

Posted by John Farrier in Car & Vehicle, Food & Drinks, Gadget on October 5, 2009 at 3:03 pm

Driving is boring and it takes time out of your busy life. Why not multitask and use your driving time more productively? With the Laptop Steering Wheel Desk, you can eat, use a computer, read, do your nails — whatever. What could possibly go wrong? On sale at Amazon.com for $23.23. | Link – via Foolish Gadgets | Image: Mobile Office

 
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How Do Countries Choose Which Side They Drive On?

Posted by Miss Cellania in Car & Vehicle on September 11, 2009 at 1:27 pm

This past week, drivers in Samoa had to switch from driving on the right side of the road to driving on the wrong, er, left side. Since the switch was relatively sudden, all the buses now open onto the middle of the street! The Samoans say the switch was to end their dependence on American-made vehicles. Mental_floss takes a look at how other nations decided which side of the road to drive on. Some reasons seems silly in retrospect. Link

 
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Why Don't We All Drive on the Same Side of the Road?

Posted by John Farrier in Car & Vehicle on September 8, 2009 at 6:52 pm

Yesterday, the residents of Samoa began driving on the left side of the road instead of the right. This is the first major switch since the 1970s, when Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone made the change. Randy James of Time magazine has an article exploring how different nations came to use different sides of the road:

Theories differ, but there’s no doubt Napoleon was a major influence. The French have used the right since at least the late 18th century (there’s evidence of a Parisian “keep-right” law dating to 1794). Some say that before the French Revolution, aristocrats drove their carriages on the left, forcing the peasantry to the right. Amid the upheaval, fearful aristocrats sought to blend in with the proletariat by traveling on the right as well. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-handed conquest, like Great Britain, preserved their left-handed tradition.

Link via Outside the Beltway

Image by flickr user multitrack used under creative commons license.

 
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In-Car Pizza Oven

Posted by John Farrier in Food & Drinks, Gadget on July 10, 2009 at 7:37 am

Have you ever found yourself driving your car and saying “Hey, I’d like to have a freshly-baked pizza right now, but I don’t want to stop driving”? Well, you’re in luck! You can plug this 12-volt pizza oven directly into your car’s cigarette lighter.

Link via Geekologie

 
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World's Most Dangerous Driver

Posted by Alex in Car & Vehicle, Video Clips on June 23, 2009 at 1:30 am

Think that the person yakking on his cell phone while driving in the car next to you is bad? He’s nothing compared to this dancing Romanian driver! How on Earth did he get his license?!

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via Information Nation

 
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DWBF: Driving While ... Breastfeeding!

Posted by Alex in Car & Vehicle, Crime & Law on March 1, 2009 at 2:07 am

If you think that talking on the cell phone and driving is dangerous, wait till you hear what else this woman did: she breastfed her baby while driving her other children to school!

Police say it is against the law to drive with a child in your lap. Children under 4 or 40 pounds must be properly restrained in a child safety seat.

In this case, officers said Compton had the child in the lap with the baby’s head up against the steering wheel. They say there is not only the risk of a crash, but deployment of the airbag.

Compton said she will take the advice of the officers into consideration, but she may breast feed her baby while driving in the future if she feels that is is necessary.

If you think about it, she’s got some skillz breast feeding, talking on the phone, and driving all at the same time!

WHIO Dayton TV has the story (and video clip): Link

 
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How to Hack Construction Signs

Posted by Jill Harness in Everything Else, Gadget, Science & Tech on January 24, 2009 at 1:19 pm

Ever wonder how to make the construction light signs change their text? Now you can with these handy instructions:

“It will ask you for a password. Try “DOTS”, the default password.

In all likelihood, the crew will not have changed it. However if they did, never fear. Hold “Control” and “Shift” and while holding, enter “DIPY”. This will reset the sign and reset the password to “DOTS” in the process. You’re in”

Am I the only one that thinks maybe, just maybe, these things should be a little harder to change? They usually are protected with a tiny lock, and sometimes that’s not even on there. What if the sign above was trying to warn the whole road was blocked and people laughed and kept driving 65?

Link Via BB Gadgets

 
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