The EU may approve "road trains" for European highways
Truck-based road trains are currently used for long-distance transport in rural Australia and in several other countries; they are created by physically connecting several trailers or semi-trailiers to the lead tractor unit.
The EU is proposing a different type of “train,” which would be comprised of a mixture of trucks, buses, and passenger cars closely following one another in a slipstream, much as race cars do at professional tracks. The project’s acronym is SARTRE (SAfe Road TRains for the Environment).
The lead vehicle would be handled by a professional driver who would monitor the status of the road train. Those in following vehicles could take their hands off the wheel, read a book or watch TV, while they travel along the motorway. Their vehicle would be controlled by the lead vehicle.
The idea, of course, is to improve fuel economy and to relieve congestion by allowing a greater number of vehicles to occupy a given area of the roadway. But notice how this concept also solves the problem of texting-while-driving, by removing the “driving” component and allowing the driver to spend his/her entire time texting. Sounds perfectly logical to me. What could possibly go wrong?
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BuckyBalls Magnetic Toys are 216 rare earth magnet balls that can be shaped and molded into virtually any shape. Tear 'em apart and snap 'em back together in unlimited ways for hours of fun! Watch the video for a quick demo of what BuckyBalls can do. Remember to get two for twice the fun! Link |
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The Danger of Texting and Walking: Teenager Fell Into a Manhole
We all know that texting and driving is bad, but texting and walking? Fifteen-year-old teenager Alexa Longuiera learned that texting while you walk may be dangerous the hard way: she fell down a manhole while texting!
Alexa Longueira, 15, was walking on Victory Boulevard with a friend at about 5 p.m. yesterday, preparing to send a text, when she felt the ground give way.
"She literally just handed me the phone and I opened it [and] I felt this big drop," the Susan E. Wagner High School sophomore said.
"It was four or five feet, it was very painful. I kind of crawled out and the DEP guys came running and helped me. … They were just, like, ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’" [...]
The family said it intends to file a lawsuit.
Whether Alexa was sending a text or not shouldn’t make any difference, Mrs. Longueira said, because workers never should have left the manhole unattended. And while she’s thankful the sewer wasn’t full at the time, that didn’t make it any less gross.
"Oh my God, it was putrid," she said. "One of her sneakers is still down there."
The Staten Island Advance has the story: Link (Photo: Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance)
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Texting Champion: "Let your kid text during dinner! Let your kid text during school! It pays off"
Think that all that texting is just a big waste of time? Think again! For 15-year-old Kate Moore, texting sure does pay:
"Let your kid text during dinner! Let your kid text during school! It pays off," 15-year-old Kate Moore said Tuesday after winning the LG U.S. National Texting Championship.
After all, she said: "Your kid could win money and publicity and a phone."
For the Des Moines, Iowa, teenager, her 14,000 texts-per-month habit reaped its own rewards, landing her the competition prize of $50,000 just eight months after she got her first cell phone.
Moore, with a speedy and accurate performance, beat out 20 other finalists from around the country over two days of challenges such as texting blindfolded and texting while maneuvering through a moving obstacle course.
In the final showdown, she outtexted 14-year-old Morgan Dynda, of Savannah, Ga. Both girls had to text three lengthy phrases without making any mistakes on the required abbreviations, capitalization or punctuation. Moore squeaked through by a few seconds on the tiebreaking text, getting the best two out of three.
Link – via Technically Incorrect (Photo: Frank Franklin II/AP)
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Teen racks up 14,528 texts in one month
In California a 13 year old girl was able to rack up an astounding 14,528 text messages in one month. For those keeping track that’s 484 a day which breaks down to 20 an hour or 1 every three minutes, for the entire month!
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