Ferrari may be known as the Ferrari of the car world (?) but that doesn't mean they are without some issues of their own. They are issuing a recall on the Ferrari 458, not because of an issue with their beautiful hand built engines, or brilliant soft leather interiors, or even their unstoppably precise transmissions. The 458 are being recalled because if you get stuck in the trunk you won't be able to get yourself out. That's right, all cars now a days need to have a safety release inside the trunk incase you get stuck in there, the 458 has one, it just doesn't work unless the car is moving. I understand that escaping from a trunk while a car is moving at the speeds a Ferrari is capable of would not be safe (hence the recall), but come on, have you seen the trunk space in a 458 Italia?!? You'd have to be a Fraggle to fit in there. That being said, safety first, so all you 458 owners out there get your car to the dealer. Then when you get it back come take me for a ride, because that car is awesome.
Personal taxis are starting to find a home with regulations. Services like Lyft and UberX helped to connect drivers with passengers via their respective apps. The idea was great; if you needed a ride, you checked the app to see if there was someone with a car in your area offering a lift, you’d contact them and next thing you know you are sharing a ride to your destination. The problem came when lack of regulations shut down these services. Taxi companies are heavily regulated: their drivers are background checked, the insurance is kept up-to-date, vehicle inspections are performed regularly, etc. These new “personal taxi” services, as they have been deemed, were not regulated and were forced to shut down because of such. Well recently, Colorado has become the first state in the US to set regulations for these services (UberX and Lyft respectively) so that the service can run lawfully and undisturbed. California has since also began to regulate the new form of transportation, and hopefully other states will follow soon.
Today we’re talking about the six-fingered man. No, not the one that Inigo Montoya was looking for, but Mel Brooks. On the 40th anniversary of his film “Young Frankenstein” Mel Brooks was immortalized in cement along the Hollywood Walk of Fame outside the famous Chinese Theater. In typical Mel fashion, however, he couldn’t just stick his hands in the cement. Rather, he donned a prosthetic sixth digit on his left hand, leaving an eleven-fingered handprint under his signature in the cement. The man always found a way to make the masses laugh, and it seems that he’ll continue that trend whenever someone passes by his cement handprints.
The world of transportation is constantly changing, and these days it’s seems to be happening quickly. We’ve seen electric cars, high-speed rail transit, solar power coming into the mix, and now the newest progression, JPods. JPods are a cross between a train and a ski lift, the technology was developed by West Point graduate Bill James. The commuter pods work very similar to the train system you already know, the difference is; the tracks will be elevated above the roadways, and the individual pods will be able to fit a small group of friends in each one. This allows for a more desirable commuting experience than cramming onto an over crowded train car. Because of the smaller size of the pods, and the accompanying technology to direct them, these JPods will be able to bring their passengers closer to their destinations than a typical train car can. Now, as if the concept didn’t sound good already, the pods will also be covered in solar panels, assuring that the entire system is self-sustainable on renewable energy. JPods will first be tested in Secaucus, NJ, a town with a rather large transportation issue. Secaucus is just the beginning though, Bill James, CEO of JPods envisions the personal commuter pods showing up all over, including across major bridges like the George Washington bridge to help reduce auto traffic as well. The more green transportation ideas like this that make their way to reality, the better road congestion and pollution becomes, so this could be a win win for everyone.
We’re all trying to eat healthier these days, but it’s hard. You go to the grocery store and the produce aisle literally looks like a garden. Then you walk down the snack aisle and everything is colorful, fun looking, full of life and exciting buzz words that make my impulse buy reaction kick in. Well, times are changing and they are starting to bring that kid friendly marketing to the produce aisle. They are packaging healthy snacks like baby carrots in snack size bags with chili-lime powder to sprinkle on them. Not only will the packaging entice kids to tug at their parent’s shirts until they buy them, but the healthy flavoring will give them the same satisfaction they have when eating a bag of Doritos. They literally make the carrots finger-lickin’ good. That’s not where it stops though, they have fruit purees that kids can slurp on the go, or kid targeted health smoothies. The produce aisle will begin to look more like the cereal aisle with colorful mascots and eye-catching packaging. If you ask me no harm can come from using these types of marketing tactics to get kids away from the sugar and into the fruit and veggies.
