Category: Transport
Russian car dashboard Eee PC hack
Check out this very-professional-looking hack of an Asus Eee PC 701 into a car dashboard. It’s the work of a young Russian named Dali, who also added a touchscreen, camera, bluetooth, GPS unit, USB hub, card reader, wireless keyboard and a joystick mouse. Phew…
The end of the line of Oyster cards – all change, please
Poor old Oyster looks set to have its name ripped from our mini-wallets and cast back into the sandy estuaries from which it came with Tfl announcing that they’re looking for a new London transport ticketing system…
eBay Nutcase of the Week: American town attempts to sell massive steel bridge
If you happen to be in the market for a massive, ready-made steel bridge, the mayor of Winchendon, Massachusetts has a deal for you.
He’s stuck the local bridge on eBay, for a starting price of $100. If you have the relevant insurance and equipment to move a 90-foot steel bridge, it’s yours. Winchendon doesn’t need it any more as it’s fixing up the area…
World about to get lighter and stronger thanks to "buckypaper" and the magic of nanotubing
Buckypaper is similar in concept to papier mache – layer it up thick and it gets stronger. So strong, in fact, that aeroplanes and rockets and even common household chairs could all be made from buckypaper in distant some future world. We are therefore calling it papier mache 2.0.
The invention of scientists at Florida State University’s High-performance Materials Institute (headed by Ben Wang, pictured), buckypaper is a simple way of compositing…
Self Balancing Unicycle – no clown skills required
The only thing ridiculous about unicycling is having to constantly pedal backwards and forwards to keep yourself on the thing. So how about a unicycle where you don’t have to pedal? Ladies and gentlemen, meet the self-balancing unicycle…
Oyster card hack released to the internet
Back in July, some researchers at the Radboud University in Holland discovered a way to hack the RFID chip used in a number of mass transit cards worldwide, including London’s Oyster card…
Curb your teenage tearaway with Ford's MyKey
New MyKey technology, developed by Ford, will be rolling out next year. The development will allow parents to put limits on their kids’ driving. They can put speed restrictions in place, give fuel warnings, or prevent kids from using the radio until their seatbelt is fastened.
The full listing of features is over the jump, but as someone who has never driven, teenage or otherwise, the only message this sends is mistrust of your poor kids. Unless you have a particularly troublesome kid, this seems remarkably unnecessary. Speeds artificially limited? Reduced radio volume? If you don’t trust them not to exceed 80mph, then why let them drive at all?
Make your own mini-Segway with an Arduino
This one fits firmly into the hobbyist category, but a bloke on a set of message boards has managed to create a little mini-Segway using parts worth about thirty quid or so. All it consists of is some Lego and an Arduino…
Jailbreak into your car with the first car-key/mobile phone hybrid device
We’ve seen the phone/oyster card hybrid, and the barcode scanner/phone hybrid, and we’ve long had mp3 cameras and cameras built into our phones. Enough? Not for Japan. Their attitude is “let’s see what else we can cram in there!”. They’ve put your car key into your mobile. At the moment it only works with Nissan vehicles, but it can remotely lock or unlock your car, as well as starting or stopping the engine. It’s not on the market yet, but they’ll be demonstrating it at the CEATAC conference in Tokyo on Sept 30th.
Ryanair: In-flight mobile phone calls possible within weeks
You know the drill. When you get on a plane, it’s all “Seatbacks up!”, ”
Stow your tray tables!”, “The exits are here, here, and here!”, and “For the love of god, turn your phone off!”. Well, perhaps not any longer. Ryanair have outfitted ten of their planes with the capability to allow you to make in-flight phone calls.
