How Waze is changing cities and making driving more pleasant
This is a very interesting #NatandLo video from Google about the company Waze (which Google -- or is it Alphabet? -- owns). It gives a special peek into the Waze editing system and how top Waze drivers/contributors are out there helping make Waze more accurate every day.
I had no idea that Waze was more than just traffic though. Apparently, certain regions of Waze allow for road repair reports that go directly to government officials, other areas allow for car shares (Israel only for now), and even emergency response systems have made use of Waze's data to make better decisions and deploy aid. That's pretty cool.
Land Rover Discovery Sport pulls a 108-ton railcar
A slightly modified Land Rover Discovery Sport goes on rails to pull this 108-ton railcar. I feel like this is an impressive feat, no? Is it? It is right? Right? Most cars shouldn't be able to pull a train, right?
These Smart car police cars
Too funny, man. I can't help but chuckle a bit every time I run across one. This particular one is for traffic cops. I guess it's one step above those 3-wheeled carts.
The Green Book: The Negro Travelers' Guide
I've written about The Green Book previously and it's always nice to revisit this bit of black history. If you haven't heard about this, there's a great podcast from 99% Invisible that talks about the Green Book and how it gathered data from African Americans all over the country through mailmen and functioned as a working travel guide for places that would be friendly to black people (in a time when it was legal to deny service based on the color of your skin).
This NYC yellow cab is fake
Photo by Herman Yung
Hey! I'm back! The Herman Yung that is the taxi aficionado! Yes, it's really me! Here I am!! Well, look at this photo above! It's a taxi, right?! NOPE! It's just a yellow car with some very convincing NYC TLC decals!
I'm pretty sure that if the TLC police were around, they'd stop this car in a second. It has no TLC medallion and the number of this taxi doesn't conform to the usual TLC numbering system. Overall, just a big (probably illegal) phony!
Fake rubber driveway spikes to deter non-authorized vehicles
This seems pretty nifty to be honest. It's a set of rubber spikes disguised to look like those real spikes you find at the entryway of parking lots to stop people from driving the wrong way or into a designated space. The only difference of course is that these bend safely once you drive over them. But seems like a funny way to make people not drive onto your own personal driveway. Get them here.