Report: California considering digital license plates
Filed under: Government/Legal
We’ve checked various calendars and confirmed the date is not April 1, so we can safely say this is not a joke - it’s just another idea from the California idea lab. In order to help close the state’s $19.1 billion deficit, a study bill has been introduced that allows the DMV to explore the feasibility of digital license plates. The new tags would display the number when the car is moving, then show ads and public service announcements any time the car stops for more than a few seconds. It isn’t clear if the license number would always be displayed or would disappear when the ads come up.
The stated goals are the same as always: a public-private partnership that will bring in revenue and create jobs. We’re still a long way from seeing such a thing happen - the private company that owns the technology doesn’t yet have a working prototype. The DMV has until 2013 to complete its research, but now the door is open we wouldn’t be surprised if something, somewhere, came of this.
[Source: NBC San Diego | Image: Brett L.]
Report: California considering digital license plates originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-long-way, a-study-bill, california license plates, checked-various, close-the-state, digital license plate, digital-license, licenseplate, news, same-as-always
Video: Lewis and Jenson put their McLaren together themselves
Jun 21, 2010 Object, news, video
Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Videos
Hamilton and Button try their hand at mechanics - Click above to watch the video after the jump
Grand Prix racing sure has come a long way since the old days of driving your car to the track, lining up on the grid and fixing problems yourself track-side. Just how far? Well, the two reigning world champions had to find out the hard way.
In a promotional video for McLaren’s title sponsor Vodafone, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were left to hand-assemble their own F1 car, without any help. Shameless marketing ploy? Sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a watch, so check it out in the video after the jump, where you’ll clearly see a better team dynamic than Lewis enjoyed with Fernando Alonso back in the day.
[Source: YouTube via PistonHeads]
Continue reading Video: Lewis and Jenson put their McLaren together themselves
Video: Lewis and Jenson put their McLaren together themselves originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-long-way, find-out-the, formula 1, formulaone, grand-prix, jenson-button, lewis hamilton, marketing, more-horizontal, official-reveal, since-the-old, spypics, videos
Report: GM enlists Ritz-Carlton trainers to help improve Cadillac dealer service
Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising, Cadillac, GM, Luxury
General Motors has taken its Cadillac dealer network in for service in a big way, and the company is hoping that consumers will be able to tell the difference soon. While the products in GM’s luxury portfolio have come a long way in just a few short years, customers lured in by slick ads and slicker sheetmetal have been turned off by a dealer experience that has remained largely unchanged over the decades. To fix that problem, The General recently brought together 300 salespeople for a training seminar in Chicago.
So how do you go about training workers to give customers a more gratifying sales experience? GM decided to turn to a group that knows a thing or two about hospitality - Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. - for some help. The hotel gurus suggested that dealership owners free up some cash to help rectify bad service issues. Some dealers have given sales people up to $500 in cash to help wow customers. The money can be used to provide free maintenance or extend subscriptions to OnStar or satellite radio in the event that a customer has a problem at the dealership.
The Chicago seminar is part of a nationwide training tour that GM hopes will stamp out the brand’s reputation for hit-or-miss service.
[Source: Automotive News]
Photo copyright (C)2009 Chris Shunk / Weblogs, Inc.
Report: GM enlists Ritz-Carlton trainers to help improve Cadillac dealer service originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-long-way, cadillac, entry, general-motors, hotel, news, paris motor show, parismotorshow2010, stamp-out-the
Fact or Fiction: The History of Makeup
May 28, 2010 Object
This might be stating the obvious, but makeup sure has come a long way since the days of ancient Egypt. You might be shocked at what women do in the name of beauty today — what with all the nipping, tucking and chiseling — but, hey, at least we’ve stopped putting poison on our faces (Botox notwithstanding). Take a stab at our quiz and find out how much you know about the history of makeup.
More here:
Fact or Fiction: The History of Makeup
Tags: a-long-way, days, give-your, hard-work, know-about, obvious, quiz, save-you, since-the-days, tucking-and
How are terrorists tracked, and what does it cost?
May 28, 2010 Object
Terrorists work very hard to remain undetected. After all, if we knew where they were, we could stop them from attacking. But they usually work in small groups, or even alone. How do law enforcement officials track them down?
Original post:
How are terrorists tracked, and what does it cost?
Tags: a-long-way, days, even-alone-, give-your, hard-work, know-about, law-enforcement, obvious, officials-track, quiz, remain-undetected-, since-the-days, small-groups, tucking-and, work-very
Best reaction to an oncoming Google Street View car ever
May 21, 2010 Object
Filed under: Etc., Europe, Technology, Humor
Click above to watch animation after the jump
There’s no denying that Google StreetView has made our lives easier. There’s always a difference between knowing where something is on a map and seeing the surrounding landmarks with your own virtual eyes, and Google Maps has gone a long way toward bringing the world to our living room. Of course, StreetView has also helped to remind us of just how entertaining the human race can be. Creative souls the world over have staged pranks - both elaborate and otherwise - to have themselves immortalized in the annals of Googledom.
While we’ve seen our fair share of superheroes, unique vehicles and the like, our hats have to go off to the crew in the animated GIF seen after the jump. There is no elaborate set up or costume, just two guys who really wanted to be on Google StreetView. Go ahead - see it for yourself.
[Source: Make Use Of]
Continue reading Best reaction to an oncoming Google Street View car ever
Best reaction to an oncoming Google Street View car ever originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 May 2010 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-long-way, a-map-and, after-the-jump, both-elaborate, entry, gif, google-maps, goolgestreetviewgif, news, steam-emanating, tech
News & Rants: Easy Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
May 7, 2010 Object
Listen up, dads! Mother’s Day is Sunday. Don’t forget to send your mom some flowers, but let’s get a little more creative gift-wise for your wife, the beautiful mother of your children. This is the woman who spent nine months carrying your growing child and now spends hours upon hours as an unpaid taxi driver chauffeuring the kids around. Make her Mother’s Day special by focusing on an area where she spends a lot of time – the car. Here are a few suggestions to get her all revved up (you know, they say the best type of foreplay is a little help around the house – that’s gotta go for the car, too.):
Stuff the glovebox with car wash coupons: Make a quick stop at the local full-service car wash tonight and load her up with coupons or gift cards. She’ll appreciate the teenagers’ vacuuming all the nasty crumbs out of the backseat so she doesn’t have to.
Organize the junk: It takes kids about 2.5 seconds to take a car from clean and uncluttered to completely “lived in” – aka a total mess. Take an hour or two to clean out all the clutter. If you really love your wife, you’ll make a run to Target or the Container Store and pick up a few items to help contain future clutter.
Get her car professionally detailed: If you don’t want to buy her a brand-spanking-new car, the next best thing is to get her current car professionally detailed. They’ll even shampoo the spoiled milk out of the carpet, which is something everyone will appreciate.
Take her out on a date in the newly cleaned car: This requires that you take care of all the planning so all she has to do is show up rested, refreshed and looking like a goddess. Have the sitter (or a grandparent) come early so your wife has time to primp uninterrupted, make the evening’s reservations, get yourself all spiffed up and take her out like you did when you were courting.
A little extra effort to show your wife how much you appreciate all of her hard work as a mom will go a long way this Mother’s Day. You can take all the credit and thank me later.
Read the original here:
News & Rants: Easy Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
Tags: a-few-items, a-little-help, a-long-way, a-quick-stop-, container-store, coupons-or-gift, house, kids, woman
Rumormill: Mazda considers offering diesel CX-7 in the States
Mar 19, 2010 Object
Filed under: Crossover, Mazda, Diesel
2010 Mzda CX-7 - Click above for high-res image gallery
Two years ago, Mazda introduced an advanced new 2.2-liter four cylinder diesel engine in the European market. Since then, we’ve asked Mazda officials on several occasions whether they would offer that engine in the U.S. market. The company has never ruled out bringing a diesel here, but it has also never said it would. Instead, Mazda has always said that it’s watching the market and if there was demand for a diesel in the U.S., it would look at offering the efficient engines. Perhaps the success of Volkswagen’s diesel offerings in the U.S. has convinced Mazda to look more seriously at oil-burners.
Mazda also offers a higher revving, more powerful 2.3-liter diesel which would be better suited to U.S. tastes. Mazda already offers the CX-7 with an SCR after-treatment system that would go a long way to meeting American emissions standards. However, at last fall’s Tokyo Motor Show, the company also showed a next-generation diesel dubbed Sky-D, which is 20 percent more efficient. According to Road & Track, Mazda has acknowledged that the Sky-D diesel could be part of the lineup for the next generation CX-7 and CX-9, but the obvious question is: When?
Gallery: 2010 Mazda CX-7
[Source: Road & Track]
Rumormill: Mazda considers offering diesel CX-7 in the States originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-long-way, already-offers, crossovers-cuvs, cylinder-diesel, edge se, european, found-the-edge, mazda diesel, next-generation
The last interview DeLorean never gave?
Mar 19, 2010 Object
The name John DeLorean is synonymous with the automotive industry. From his days at General Motors, where he turned Pontiac into the automaker’s de facto performance division with the creation of the GTO, and, therefore, the muscle car genre in general, to his days running his eponymous car company that gave us the classic stainless steel gullwing wedge that became an iconic time machine through the magic of the movies, DeLorean was at the forefront of the industry for three decades.
Sadly, John DeLorean died in March of 2005. We’ll never know what exactly he may have had in store to bring DeLorean Motor Company back to the market, though a telephone call two weeks before his death gives us a few clues. Apparently, DeLorean was planning to relaunch DMC with a new take on the classic DMC-12, complete with an engine from Renault with an optional hydraulic hybrid drivetrain and carbon fiber panels to keep it all lightweight.
The above information comes courtesy of our sister site AOL Autos’ Maintenance Editor Tom Torbjornsen, who had planned an interview with John DeLorean that was to take place one week after his death. Torbjornsen pieced together information from a conversation he had with DeLorean and his “best guess at what [he] thought John might have said based on [their] conversation.” It’s an interesting read, and you can check the whole thing out by clicking here.
[Source: AOL Autos]
The last interview DeLorean never gave? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-friend-via, a-long-way, a-new-take, already-offers, automotive, classic, days, death, edge se, entry, information, mazda diesel, next-generation, pieced-together
Sony PSP Phone in the works? Naah…
Mar 1, 2010 Object
Enough of geeky phones or watch phones for now, let’s give some time and valuable TF space for the PSP Phone. Not that I’m saying Sony is already cooking one since this is just a concept.
Some Chinese guy creatively made this image of a PSP phone. It looks obviously …
Read the rest here:
Sony PSP Phone in the works? Naah…
Tags: a-long-way, and-coordinates, and-the, contacts-but, for-your, geeky-phones, give-some, image, phone, psp, space-for, time-and, twitter
