Archive for May, 2008
Posted by Matthew on May 23, 2008 at
8:03 am
From the Captain Obvious news desk, a new report by GMAC Insurance concludes that over 16% of American drivers don’t know the rules of the road and would flunk a written driving test were they forced to take one. Frankly, given how much stupid crap I see during my commute every day, I’m surprised it’s only 1 in 6 who fail. A couple of the biggest problem areas were what to do when approaching a yellow light (it’s not “speed up so you can run the red before the other way turns green”, morons) and the safe distance to maintain behind another vehicle (I’ll give you a hint: it’s a lot more than 3 feet).
Interestingly, drivers out east (New England and DC) had the worst scores, while drivers in the midwest, where I live, had the highest scores and the lowest failure rate. Also, “…the study found that drivers over the age of 35 were more likely to pass, and women were more likely to fail than men.”
Apparently, one of the “bright spots” of the results was that almost all test-takers knew “how to interpret a solid yellow line.” I’m guessing those drivers could also interpret a solid concrete barrier.
Source: CNN Money
Posted by Matthew on May 16, 2008 at
9:48 am
This certainly qualifies as one of the most bizarre (and creepy) stories I’ve seen in a long time. Houston, Texas, is being attacked by millions of tiny ants known as “crazy raspberry ants” that are attracted to electronics. They were accidentally brought over on a cargo ship, and have since gone forth and multiplied, screwing up sewage pumps, computers, gas meters, fire alarms, and other electronic equipment in the process. Worse, since they’re resistant to most ant killers and each colony has several queens, they’re practically impossible to kill. They even use the bodies of those that do die to build bridges over pesticide-treated areas. Yeah — like I said, creepy.
Full story on WRAL news
Posted by Matthew on May 14, 2008 at
4:39 pm
I’ve seen a lot of crazy (and crazy expensive) stuff being built in Dubai over the last few years…everything from manmade islands totaling thousands of miles of beachfront to the world’s tallest building (by far) to the world’s largest mall. The latest thing I’ve learned about is no less crazy: an indoor ski complex!
Given that the area’s oil reserves will supposedly run out within the next two decades, the prince of Dubai has made it his mission to turn the desert city into a lush oasis of tourism and entertainment. So far, they seem to be exceeding everyone’s expectations, helped in no small part by the “spare no expense” mentality that is clearly pervading the developers. I have to admire the grand scale of the vision. However, I have to wonder if this is why we’re paying nearly $4 for a gallon of gas!
More images:
Posted by Matthew on May 6, 2008 at
2:42 pm
Just sixteen Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradales (a special version of the standard 360) were imported to Australia and New Zealand, and now there’s at least one fewer gracing those roads. A (very nice — or perhaps very naive) father allowed his son to borrow his extremely rare Challenge Stradale, who promptly got a little too excited with the right pedal and wrapped the beautiful and expensive sports car around a pole.
As sad as that is, it’s not the best part of the story. No, it actually gets funny. Naturally, anyone who wrecks a Ferrari is going to attract some attention. News crews were apparently there within minutes, and mercilessly filmed the son as he called home to tell his father what had happened. Unfortunately, there’s no video record of what the father did to his son later.
I think I would have just never gone home.
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