automotive

(quote)

A lesson on how to park a car somehow turned into a swim at the community pool.
Maryland’s Montgomery County Fire and Rescue service says it found a car sitting in the middle of a city’s pool over the weekend following a "driver error" during parking practice session.
Photographs posted on Twitter showed the car halfway submerged in the pool at the North Creek Community Center - which had been closed for the season.

(unquote)

Photo courtesy Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service

(quote)

The world's longest train route spans more than 8,000 miles, crosses through eight countries, and is long enough to stretch from Florida to Washington state 3 times.

The China-Europe Block Train begins in the city of Yiwu in China's east and crosses through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, and France before reaching its destination 21 days later in the Spanish capital of Madrid.

Also called Yixinou, the route surpasses the world's second- and third-longest routes, the Trans-Siberian railway (5,772 miles) and the Moscow-to-Beijing (4,340 miles) train.

The Silk Railroad - Episode I: World's longest rail link, from Yiwu to Madrid
An international freight railway network is connecting China to cities across Europe, dubbed the new "Silk Railroad." Two thousand years ago, commodities from China would need a year to reach Europe, along the ancient Silk Road. But today, Chinese consumer goods can reach London by rail in just 14 days.

Yiwu railway station - a massive freight terminus, began transporting cargoes overland to Europe in 2014. It's part of the multi-billion-US-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to boost international trade.

The Yiwu-Madrid railway is the longest rail link in the world. It spreads across 13,000-kilometers through France, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Along the way, the train transfers three times due to different track gauges in China, Europe, and Russia.

(unquote)

Image courtesy Skye Gould / Business Insider

(quote)
Not even James Bond had an Aston Martin like this.
The British sports car maker revealed a concept version of a flying car, the Volante Vision Concept, at the Farnborough Airshow this week.
Aston Martin has billed the futuristic vehicle as a luxury car for the skies. The autonomous hybrid-electric vehicle, which has room for three passengers, is designed for urban and inter-city travel, the company said. It’s also capable of vertical take-offs and landings. The vehicle could fly at top speeds of around 200 miles per hour, according to Reuters.

Aston Martin unveiled the Volante Vision flying car concept on July 16. Like many other personal air-transportation concepts, the Volante Vision utilizes vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology, so it can land on a dime in tight urban areas. It packs hybrid-electric power and is capable of autonomous flight (as far as concepts are capable of anything).

This is the first time the British car brand, traditionally known for its luxury sports cars, has ventured into aircraft design.
Named after the Italian word for flying, the Volante was debuted on 16 July 2018 at the Farnborough Air Show, alongside other aircraft designs including Boeing's hypersonic aircraft concept.

(unquote)

Image courtesy Aston Martin

(quote)

The Volvo was in self-driving mode with a human backup driver at the wheel when it hit 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she was walking a bicycle outside the lines of a crosswalk, police said. She died at a hospital.

(unquote)

Photo courtesy AP Photo / Eric Risberg

(quote)

21 Nov, 2017
Uber Paid Hackers $100,000 to Delete Stolen Data on 57 Million People, to Keep Massive Cyberattack Quiet
Hackers stole the personal data of 57 million customers and drivers from Uber Technologies Inc., a massive breach that the company concealed for more than a year. This week, the ride-hailing firm ousted its chief security officer and one of his deputies for their roles in keeping the hack under wraps, which included a $100,000 payment to the attackers.

Compromised data from the October 2016 attack included names, email addresses and phone numbers of 50 million Uber riders around the world, the company told Bloomberg on Tuesday. The personal information of about 7 million drivers was accessed as well, including some 600,000 U.S. driver’s license numbers. No Social Security numbers, credit card information, trip location details or other data were taken, Uber said.

21 Nov, 2017
Uber concealed massive hack that exposed data of 57m users and drivers
Firm paid hackers $100,000 to delete data and keep breach quiet
Uber concealed a massive global breach of the personal information of 57 million customers and drivers in October 2016, failing to notify the individuals and regulators, the company acknowledged on Tuesday.

Uber also confirmed it had paid the hackers responsible $100,000 to delete the data and keep the breach quiet, which was first reported by Bloomberg.

21 Nov 2017  read more »

(quote)

This Solar-Powered RV Runs Without Fuel Or Charging Stations
The cross-country road trip is as American as apple pie. Which is why it’s so ironic that the latest motorhome innovation comes from overseas in Germany, where a new, electric motorhome has been unveiled by RV company Dethleffs. This motorhome is built for the open road, with a sleek design and head-to-toe solar panels so you never have to worry about finding the next charging station.

That's right: The open road is officially calling.

Where we’re going, we don’t need charging stations.

The market has been expanding beyond everyday vehicles with advances in things like electric-powered semi trucks. And we’ve seen the rise (and possible peak) of the tiny home market, where solar panels and other green technology is often utilized. Motorhomes have been largely left out of this discussion. That’s for understandable reasons. A vehicle synonymous with the wide-open road (and, inherently at odds with the idea of frequent EV charging stations) has no obvious place in the electric market. Until now.  read more »

Next level: This black pick-up truck, spotted outside a Dairy Queen fast food joint in America, is not only hogging one disabled spot but two, as well as the entrance path (Imgur - Nosam88)

(quote)

Some people's selfishness, it would seem, knows no limit. And for whatever reason, many are even more brazen when they get behind the wheel.

Flabbergasted witnesses from around the world have been posting evidence of the worst parking offenders online, and some will really have you scratching your head.

One, snapped in Russia, shows a car that has parked directly in the middle of two bays - both of which were already occupied, to create a highly problematic vehicle sandwich.

Another, spotted outside an American fast food joint, is not only hogging one disabled spot but two, as well as the pedestrian entrance path.

But why? This confounding shot was wittily captioned 'my neighbor is a god at parallel parking' (Imgur - TooMuchTime87)

Sweet revenge: 'This is what you get when you take up four parking spaces in my workplace', another uploader stated (Imgur - thesongbirdy)

Tut tut: Cars in the US are not permitted to park next to fire hydrants, for this precise reason - so firefighters appear to have smashed the window and fed the hose through instead (Imgur - MoneyshotMcGee)

 read more »