Having computers control your automobile is NOT a good idea...It's like having a HAL 9000 driving around with you

Read the enclosed article - This is why I am looking forward to a time in the future when the two vehicles I will be driving will be my 1963 Jeep and the 1966 VW Bug I am rebuilding in the barn out back..... I don't need or want a computer in control of my car.



It's a car - not a laptop....The new cars are great, but take a look at a 7 year old computer and how it performs...that is the issue you will be dealing with when your new car gets older....and the cost associated with having it debugged...The computer allows your every movement, your every action to be tracked and recorded.

My old Jeep and the VW will never have those issues.

'Your' Car Won't Be After 2015
By Eric Peters on 4.25.12
After a certain point, it's not paranoia.


The latest brick in the wall is the predictably named "Moving Ahead For Progress in the 21st Century Act," also known as Senate Bill 1813. (See here for the full text of the bill itself; the relevant section is 31406.) This legislation -- already passed by the Senate and likely to be passed by the House -- will impose a legal requirement that all new cars made beginning with the 2015 models be fitted with so-called Event Data Recorders (EDRs). These are the "black boxes" you may have read about that store data about how you drive -- including whether you wear a seat belt and how fast you drive -- ostensibly for purposes of post-accident investigation.


These EDRs are not new. GM and other automakers have been installing them in new cars for years -- in GM's case, since the late 1990s. What's new is the proposed federal mandate, which would make it illegal to not have one -- or (in all likelihood) to remove or disable one in a car required to have the device.


The question arises: why?


Several possibilities come to mind:


First, the EDRs could be -- and almost certainly will be -- tied into your vehicle's GPS. (Most new and late model cars, conveniently, already have this, too.) Then data about your driving can be transmitted -- as well as recorded. To whom? Your insurance company, of course. Progressive Insurance already has such a system in place -- voluntary, for the moment.


When EDRs are mandated, you will no longer have a choice.


We'll be told it's all for the sake of (groan) "safety" -- just like the old 55 MPH highway speed limit and every radar trap in the country. Of course, it's really for the sake of revenue -- the government's and the insurance company's. Your rates will be "adjusted" in real time, for every incident of "speeding" or not buckling up. It'll be so much more efficient than using cops to issue tickets. After all, so many fishes escape! With an EDR in every car, no one will escape. Your "adjusted" premium will be waiting for you when you get home.


You've got mail!


And naturally, they -- the government, insurance companies -- will be able to track your every move, noting (and recording) where you've been and when. This will create a surveillance net beyond anything that ever existed previously. Some will not sweat this: After all, if you've got nothing to hide, why worry? Except for the fact that, courtesy of almost everything we do being either "illegal" or at least "suspicious," we all have a great deal to hide. The naivety of the Don't Worry, it's No Big Deal crowd is breathtaking.


But the last possibility is probably the creepiest: EDRs tied into your car's GPS will give them -- the government and/or corporations -- literal physical control over (hack) "your" vehicle. This is not conspiracy theorizing. It is technological fact. Current GM vehicles equipped with the same technology about to be mandated for every vehicle can be disabled remotely. Just turned off. All the OnStar operator has to do is send the appropriate command over the GPS to your car's computer, which controls the engine. It is one of the features touted by OnStar -- of course, as a "safety" feature.


In the future, it will be used to limit your driving -- for the sake of "energy conservation" or, perhaps, "the environment." It will be the perfect, er, vehicle, for implementing U.N. Agenda 21 -- the plan to herd all of us formerly free-range tax cattle into urban feedlots. So much easier to control us this way. No more bailing out to the country or living off the grid - unless you get there (and to your work) by walking.


The pieces are all coming together.


First, computer-controlled cars. Next, widespread adoption of GPS in cars. Then, EDRs tied into them.


Viola. "Your" car is suddenly under the control of others. Just as "your" other (cough, hack) property -- "your" home, for example -- is under the control of others. It does not matter that you paid for it. Or even that you have the legal fiction of ownership. You do not control "your" property -- hence it is really the property of others. You are merely allowed to use said property -- under certain conditions -- by the leave of the true owners.


And once SB 1813 is passed and signed into law, there will no longer be an opt-out. In fact, sure as the rooster crows in the morning, you can bet the next step will a law requiring older cars not originally fitted with the technology be fitted with it -- or else decommissioned. It is inconceivable that they -- the government and its insurance company cronies -- will allow anyone to drive a vehicle not subject to this monitoring and control. They will insist it's not "safe" -- and of course, "unfair" that owners of older cars not equipped with EDRs are able to "get away" with "speeding" and not wearing their seat belts.


Our cars were once a tangible expression of the freedom ideal. They are fast becoming mobile cages. And the really devilish thing is they're making us pay the costs of our own imprisonment, too.




About the Author
Eric Peters is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities: The Cars You Love to Hate (Motor Books International) and a new book, Road Hogs.

Lemans - The 24 hour endurance race

LEMANS....This name is the moniker for all things motoring. Pontiac made a car called LEMANS which was one of the most sought after cars as it was the little sister to the Pontiac GTO.....

Steve McQueen made a movie in 1971 called LEMANS based on a race driver in the famous 24 hour long race.....Steve McQueen was the man when it came to racing.....

The WALL STREET JOURNAL recently featured a piece on " The Most Beautiful Cars of Le Mans "...as one who admires all things Automotive, here are my two personal favorites....All I can say is I was always one with a fine eye for all that is fast & sexy....and these two fit that bill perfectly.

1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa

Torrential downpours, not to mention the death of a French driver, marred the race in 1958. Still, fans were treated to a wonderful sight: the American Phil Hill's now-legendary performance, in which he drove on the ragged edge at night in the rain with no roof in this red shock of an automobile. The Testa Rossa ("red head" in Italian) is still today one of the most famous Ferraris. The bodywork was designed for Ferrari by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. It charioted Mr. Hill to a Le Mans championship that year, making him the first American to earn such honors. Since it rained for some 20 of the 24 hours, its average speed of 106.2 mph was miraculous

1955 Jaguar D-Type



This car holds the dubious distinction of winning the deadliest automobile race in history while breaking the Le Mans speed record in the process. Nearly 90 people died at Le Mans in 1955 when a car launched into the crowd.

Some 22 hours later, a D-Type driven by British hero Mike Hawthorn (wearing a bow-tie no less) took the checkered flag. The car's body was designed by Malcolm Sayer, a pioneer in aerodynamics (he would go on to design Jaguar's beloved E-Type). The D-type could hit about 175 mph in a straight line and had no seatbelts. Average speed over 24 hours at Le Mans: 107 mph.

Auto Industry lobbies to make your car even more undrivable along with taking all control away from responsible drivers....

When it comes to things like Automobiles and all other vehicles that you can drive, fly, pilot, navigate, etc., I am a big fan of keeping the technology limited to what works best for you as the person in charge. The Apollo Astronauts went to the Moon & Back with a small navigational computer and other technology that has data storage ability smaller than most cell phones....IT WORKED well for them.....why fix it if it ain't broken????

For example, SEAT BELTS are a good thing as they keep me safe - a REGULATOR that would limit the speed to some arbitrary limit set by someone else would NOT be a good thing. SAFETY GLASS in case of an accident is a good thing - COMPUTERS that control everything in the vehicle and have the ability to make the car undriveable until you pay some Geek to diagnose it at $100 p/hour is NOT a good idea.

The Feckless Bastards who decided that we needed to make cars overly complicated are at it again. First, they decided a while ago that we needed to have a computer control all the engine functions. This was foisted on us as "economizing" the car and providing better mileage....Now, when the computer doesn't like what it sees or if the car is running a little off, a RED LIGHT shows up on your dash...The sensor tells it to light that and you have to go to the service bay.

I tried once to get an inspection sticker - The guy who runs the machine said he couldn't give it to me as the "red light" on my dash would show up on the sticker machine and would automatically fail my car. I stated that the car was fine - no known issues - He replied that he said that is likely true BUT the computer can't be overridden - I asked what should I do?? Well, he could diagnose it for $100 an hour until he found the issue (NOT an option I wanted) - His other suggestion was to get some hi-test gas, add a few cans of carb cleaner to the tank, dive it around and if the light went out, come in for a sticker ASAP....

I took his advice and a day later, the light went out ! I hurried to the dealer, drove into the inspection bay and got my sticker. Yeah !! A day later, driving along when "BING", on goes the light again.....Are you kidding me ?? So an arbitrary sensor (which could be good , bad or indifferent) decides my ability to drive my car ??? THIS IS INSANE......

Now, the same arseholes have upped it one more - They want to install an "alcohol sensor system" in EVERY NEW CAR as standard equipment starting in the near future that will automatically sense whether it detects alcohol in your blood or in the air -

To Wit:

"Right now, she said, the sensors that detect alcohol levels in the air can be made to react within five seconds after a driver gets into the vehicle.

The touch-detection system currently takes 20 to 30 seconds to determine blood-alcohol content.

"But the next generation of solid-state electronics will bring it down a lot," she said."

OK, so you are out with friends for dinner, someone spills a drink on you, your car detects the alcohol on your clothing and guess what??? YOU are not driving your car anywhere....THIS is INSANE as it presumes all drivers are drunks and treats us like CHILDREN who must seek permission to drive our cars, even when we are following all vehicle laws to the letter.....These people are out of control.

By the way, here's a little something for you PRIUS drivers....something Toyota didn't share with you when you bought the car. When you reach 100,000 miles, they will recommend you change out the batteries ( Ya know, the large battery pack that makes the car all green & stuff - even though the factories that produce those batteries create 10 times the pollution one regular car would create in the course of it's entire life, but I digress) - OK, so you need to replace the batteries - COST for this procedure ??? Approximately $4000....value of a seven year old Prius that has reached 100,000 miles and needs a battery pack? - $4000....WOW that's something, you will HAVE TO shell out $4000 or you will be unable to drive a $4000 car....no way around it...And there you go....you THOUGHT you had already paid for the car but you are their chump and you will have to keep right on paying for as long as you want to drive that green (not-so-green really) car.....Good Luck with that....not me...they can go pound sand.


Well, my solution to this is to drive my classic cars - I have a 1963 Jeep Universal and I am working on restoring a 1966 VW Beetle.....Neither is subject to emissions control and neither requires a computer....I'll drive the VW in the winter and the Jeep in the summer - I can fix both and as long as they have air, spark and Gasoline, they will run and go where I want to take them....Brilliant.

F&*k these idiots and their vision of a nanny-state that mucks up cars so much that you can barely drive it or have to keep paying into the coffers of the Auto Industry to drive something YOU ALREADY PAID FOR.....They have decided to find more way along with the FEDS to keep digging into your wallet....sorry, Classic Cars are a way around this stupidity and I am all for the Old Cars.....They were better built and will last a whole lot longer AND I am the only person who decides when to drive it...or how fast.

If I violate the law doing so, I am solely responsible for that action...No need of the Government to screw-it-up so law abiding citizens have to suffer for other's stupidity and limit our liberty based on the few that muck-it-up for the many.



Technology to Take Aim at Drunken Driving
Researchers want sensory device on all cars to measure blood-alcohol level.
By ASHLEY HALSEY III
THE WASHINGTON POST

Published: Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 11:28 p.m.

The technology developed in the past decade to sniff out terrorist bombs eventually may be used to combat another scourge: drunken drivers.

Researchers funded by auto manufacturers and federal safety regulators are working on sensory devices -- to be installed as standard equipment on all new vehicles -- that would keep a vehicle from starting if the driver has had too much to drink.

"We're five to seven years away from being able to integrate this into cars," said Robert Strassburger, vice president for safety for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group for the world's major auto companies.

The new technology would not require that the driver blow into a tube, like the interlock devices some states require after drunken-driving convictions. Instead, either a passive set of sensors permanently installed in the vehicles or touch-sensitive contact points on a key fob or starter button would immediately register the level of alcohol in the bloodstream.

Less clear is whether such technology -- which presumes that all drivers are potential drunks -- will antagonize some car buyers, and it's uncertain how much it would cost.

But that's a marketing problem for down the road.

Alcohol was a factor in 10,839 highway deaths in 2009. In the past two decades, it accounted for 268,442 deaths. And 10 percent of people in the United States recently admitted to being drunk behind the wheel in the past year.

Drunken driving "remains the leading cause of fatalities on America's roads, killing more than 10,000 people in 2009," said David Strickland, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The "technology presents a new opportunity for us to dramatically lower drunk-driving deaths and has the potential to save literally thousands of lives every year."

THE GOAL

Strassburger, whose group is part of the development task force, said the goal is to have an operating model in two years.

The objective is to produce a device that will react in less than a second and function without maintenance for a least 10 years or 157,000 miles.

"We haven't met our criteria yet, but we feel comfortable that we will," said Susan Ferguson, a longtime safety expert who is leading the research. "Speed, accuracy and precision are the three key criteria."

Right now, she said, the sensors that detect alcohol levels in the air can be made to react within five seconds after a driver gets into the vehicle.

The touch-detection system currently takes 20 to 30 seconds to determine blood-alcohol content.

"But the next generation of solid-state electronics will bring it down a lot," she said.

The sensors have proven accurate, but precision -- consistently repeatable accuracy -- needs to improve.

Strassburger said the cost per vehicle hasn't been established, "but obviously it has to be relatively low."

"It has to be in line with other safety systems," he said. "We want the public to understand the need and how they benefit."

THE TECHNOLOGY

The technology is a direct offshoot of the quantum advances in sensory detection since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The ability of machines to scan people, packages and luggage for tiny trace elements that would expose a terrorist threat has expanded exponentially.

"Now your typical explosive trace detection system is based on rapidly evaluating minuscule molecular substances," said Richard Bloom, an anti-terrorism expert who chairs the Aviation Security and Emergency Management Committee of the Transportation Research Board.

"If you can do that with explosives, you should be able to do that with any kind of detection, including alcohol and drugs."

Telltale devices that determine when someone has been drinking have been developed in the past decade and already are in widespread use. One celebrity, Lindsay Lohan, has worn a SCRAM bracelet, which measures blood-alcohol content every 30 minutes through a person's perspiration.

For the same type of technology to be used in cars, researchers want a response within one-third of a second.

The task force developing the system is a partnership between the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and NHTSA. The initial $10 million research grant, provided by NHTSA and carmakers, paid for the first two years of research.

Additional funding from Congress is being sought so the project can be continued for the final three years, making the critical leap to refine what works in the laboratory into something that functions consistently in a vehicle.

The new technology may collide with the desire of many people who want to have a drink or two without fear that they won't be able to drive home.

Already, the technological advances gained in the fight against terrorism have created an uproar by providing airport security with revealing full-body scanners.

TOP GEAR...BLOODY BRILLIANT

The casual reader will no doubt figure out that I am a huge Anglophile....been a fan of the Brits since I was a lad....

Well, the best thing to come out of the UK in some time has to be TOP GEAR...the trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are over the top funny and as British as they come.....when they are not squabbling amongst themselves about the most inane points of car issues, they are always busy making fun of themselves and all things automotive. It's like hanging out at the local car show (if you are located in the UK)and running into your drinking buddies.....they have a great chemistry and Clarkson is the ringleader.

Take a peek at this video.....very cool.

http://www.bbcamerica.com/shows/topgear/video.jsp?bclid=31431151001&bctid=30084702001

The brilliant take on all things automotive, mix in some great British humor and a bit of in your face attitude and you get a brilliant hour of funny SHITE...I highly recommend you take in an episode on BBC America, Mondays at 21:00 hours...

Here's a sample of the kind of humor you'll hear from Jeremy Clarkson, as he pontificates about all things automotive:

" We start tonight with the highlight of my childhood. It's the Ladybird Book of Motorcars from 1963, and as you would imagine it's full of rubbish really. Just endless boring grey shapes, until you get to page 40, where you find the Maserati 3500 GT. Now this for me, when I was little, was like kind of Jordan and Cameron Diaz. In a bath together. With a Lightning jet fighter. And lots of jelly.."

Where else would you see three blithering idiots take vehicles like a Toyota truck and try to make it into a boat to go across the English Channel??? or try to see how fast they can have celebrities drive a basic car around a test track (and embarrass them when they fail miserably at it?)...the stuff they do to all things automotive is Brilliant.....just bloody Brilliant.....take a look, you won't be sorry......