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US To Standardize Car App/communication Device Components
coondoggie writes "The U.S. Department of Transportation has high hopes of standardizing the way autos talk to each other and with other intelligent roadway systems of the future. The department recently issued a call for public and private researchers and experts to help it build what the DOT called 'a hypothetical four layer approach to connected vehicle devices and applications certification.'"
The UN creates a completely different standard, based on Russian Car Cams.
This is probably not needed for their drivers though. The use of middle fingers and "FUCK YOU!" appears to have caught on just fine as an industry standard.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
In the short run, the real question for me will not be how the cars communicate with each other, but how they handle the cars that do not communicate at all. Nobody wants to swap engine oil at 75MPH with the VW Bus going 55 just because the bus wasn't communicating. Just like how nobody wants to meet the driver of that car that had to stop short to avoid a hazard.
I think for me, the biggest feature I'd like to see is a HUD that gives me a relative speed on the cars around me along with warning indicators communicated from cars ahead when debris is noted on the road. Hate that last-minute slight swerve to dodge a thrown tyre-tread that I couldn't see until the swerve.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Seriously, this is annoying as heck. Either because they're going under the speed limit, or they're going at the exact-speed as the guy in the next lane and blocking traffic. And the highways by me are plastered with "Left lane pass only" or "keep to right except to pass"
Under the speed limit is obvious...
But the same-speed thing bothers me. NOT when it's rush hour... there's nothing to be done about that.
But it's mid-day and some idiot decides to cruise on the left-lane at the EXACT speed as the guy in the next lane. Nobody in front of either of them as far as the eye can see. So traffic is building up and up behind them and causing congestion because nobody can pass these 2-or-3 cars in front of them.
If you want to be going as the same speed as the guy in the middle or right lane, then GET IN the middle or right lane!
ADDENDUM... especially when the left-lane idiot is going the same speed as the dump-truck next to him. So everyone is getting pelted with small pebbles and things and are unable to pass.
Standardized toll pass would allow cash-strapped counties to collect tolls from out of county residents. Just like "speeding" tickets, only there is no such thing as driving slowly to get around it.
The Massachusetts Turnpike already does that without the EZ pass. Say you're an out-of-state driver who has never heard of the Mass Pike, so you turn onto a clearly-labeled interstate, follow a one-way road for a little bit, and BAM! Hit by a surprise toll. Better hope you've got cash, sucker, 'cause there's nowhere else to go!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnStar#Use_as_surveillance_device
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
ADDENDUM... especially when the left-lane idiot is going the same speed as the dump-truck next to him. So everyone is getting pelted with small pebbles and things and are unable to pass.
I don't need a new government standard to fix this. I already put a pair of pneumatically-driven TRAIN HORNS connected to a deep cycle marine battery and isolated with a big honking 1 farad capacitor and an industrial-grade current limiter under the hood. It's good for about 20 seconds of SWEET MOTHER OF GOD sound before it spends the next half hour recharging off the alternator.
Believe me... people get out of the way when their car is literally shaking from the noise behind them. And yes, I did dynamat the entire passenger compartment, even the firewall... which makes for whisper-quiet drives until HORN OF DEATH is activated. I have four sets of industrial-grade ear protection and a pack of disposable ear plugs in the glove box, because I measured the SPL at over 120dB even with all the sound-dampening. Unfortunately, the windshield itself transmits a significant amount of vibration through it and there's no practical way to fix that problem...
I've only had to use this weapons-grade horn a couple of times, but let me say, the effects were immediate. Make sure you have plenty of distance between the vehicle in front of you when you hit the button... people have a funny habit of standing on the brakes when their world turns a vibrating shade of red.
I personally guarantee you though... you'll be able to pass anyone after pushing the big blue button.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Wow, that's scary. Whoever is buying that data can just look who's garage you park at every night to figure out who you are. The same thing goes if you have a cell phone carrier that sells your location data.
"In 2011, OnStar did announce that it would start retaining all the information collected by the GPS and internal system, so that it could be sold to third parties (possibly insurance companies).[13] Although this data is supposed to be “anonymized”, it remains unclear exactly what they mean by this as it is extremely difficult to anonymize GPS data."
You do realize that he's complaining about people engaging in illegal practices, right? Where I live, cops regularly enforce the "Left lane for passing only" signs that were posted within the last year on our main freeway. If you're in the left lane and not passing the guy next to you, you'll earn yourself a citation pretty quickly because what you're doing is not only illegal, it also endangers everyone else on the road by causing cars to pile up behind you, thus increasing the likelihood of an accident significantly.
Your chief calling while driving is not to abide by the law, but to drive safely. Following the law is the best way to drive safely in about 99% of situations, but the laws are inadequate at times, and it is not your responsibility to try and enforce them against others, since your doing so will more often than not result in a more dangerous situation than if you had left the other driver alone. Every cop I know will tell you that it's okay to speed up beyond the limit in order to pass someone if doing so will result in a safer driving situation for the people involved. And at least where I live, failing to do so means that you need to drop back and get out of the left lane if you want to be law-abiding. Either way, it's safer for everyone involved.
http://xkcd.com/927/
So in high school I rigged a dashboard switch to the brake lights. If an annoying tailgater decided to touch the back of my car I simply held down the switch...which never failed to open up some space!
You don't really need to do that. Most vehicle brakes light before any significant pressure is applied -- you can usually trip it with just a light touch (not enough to affect speed). Unless your car is very new or the brakes were just replaced, there's usually enough play to get the light to come on.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
No, it's not. You don't pronounce U.S. as "us". An acronym is when you pronounce it as a word.
acronym
noun
an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g., ASCII, NASA).
U.S. is an initialism.
initialism
noun
an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately (e.g., CPU).