Automation.

Via /., Volkswagen just tested out a semi-self-driving car:

The system maintains a safe distance to the vehicle ahead, drives at a speed selected by the driver, reduces this speed as necessary before a bend, and maintains the vehicle’s central position with respect to lane markers. The system also observes overtaking rules and speed limits. Additionally, stop and start driving maneuvers in traffic jams are also automated.

The good news–or bad, depending on how you look at it–is that compared to the more advanced autonomous driving technologies, Volkswagen’s latest Temporary Auto Pilot is based on a relatively production-like sensor platform, consisting of production-level radar-, camera-, and ultrasonic-based sensors supplemented by a laser scanner and an electronic horizon.

This means that we could see a production version within the next couple of years.

VW is careful to say that owners would need to oversee the system, of course, but this is a big step towards  having personal cabs. On the one hand, this could be great. DUIs could become nonexistent¹, and having a computer in charge of acceleration should produce better fuel economy and better traffic flow. On the other hand, being able to do do things while in the car would give people another reason to forgo mass transit, which is a much more effective way to achieve both those things.

Linkwad.

1. Verizon dropped 10,000 emergency calls during Maryland’s January snowstorm. Hope you didn’t buy a Verizon iPhone for the service!
2. One Two-click extension adds movies to your Netflix queue. Pretty sweet.
3. Coolest nerd tattoo ever.
4. If I were going to spend $100k on an electric car, it’d be this one. No, it’d be this one. Daaaaaamn.

Son of Touchstone.

This week’s “Jevons Paradox¹ object lesson” comes in the form of wirelessly charging a Tesla Roadster:

In short, sending power through air (a good insulator) is infinitely massively² less efficient than copper (an excellent conductor). This negates a lot of the fuel-efficiency advantages of electric cars, to say nothing of what happens when those giant battery packs need to be replaced. However, because they’re marginally more convenient, newer, and cooler, I fully expect wireless charging to be commonplace soon.

Linkwad (updated).

1. Baltimore judge dismisses 75 parking tickets in 13 minutes, including two for my friend Jessica. I’m forced to side with the meter maids–Baltimoreans are idiots who double-park all the time, even when there are open spots twenty feet in front of them. In my ideal situation, double-parking would be legal, but it would also be legal to vandalize any double-parked vehicle without a driver inside.
2. Translate text in pictures. Holy crap, the future is awesome. Less awesome: no Android version. Even-less-awesome update: Steve says it doesn’t work very well on large blocks of text, which makes sense.
3. L.A. Noire, Rockstar’s newest game, looks pretty amazing, and appears to have crossed the uncanny valley. I’m stoked for the game (featuring Ken from Mad Men!), but it also brings George Lucas that much closer to making more terrible, terrible movies.
4. Update: Racing a Honda Fit sounds dumb, but it turns out to be a pretty good idea.

Let’s go, Toyota.

Although I’m generally of the “cars shouldn’t go Herbie and start driving on their own” school of thought, stopping a runaway car really is, to quote Scott, “bush league material,” and although it’s certainly a bad look for Toyota, there are relatively few circumstances under which it should be fatal. So, if your car isn’t braking¹ or starts accelerating or solving crimes and talking back, here’s what you should do:

1. Shift into neutral for acceleration, or downshift for brake failure.
2. Apply the brakes. If your brakes are out, gently engage the emergency brake.
3. Hit your emergency flashers, find somewhere to pull over and kill the engine.