Oh! Gizmo

By Luke Anderson

When I’m out driving, I usually try to be as friendly as I can to the other drivers. Doing things like letting someone out of a driveway when they’ve already been sitting there for a while is just courteous. When someone returns the favor I tend to give them a nice wave, but I don’t know that they always see it. Here’s a cool sign for the back of your vehicle that you can use to tell someone that “they rock” or a number of other sentiments that can be expressed with a single hand.

Sure, the first thing that jumps to mind is the good old middle finger. However, usually when I fly the bird, it’s to the guy that just cut me off, in which case this sign wouldn’t help much. If you do happen to be angry with the car behind you, do make sure it’s not a cop before sending them a one-fingered greeting, I don’t think they’ll take kindly to your gesture. This 9″x6″ remote controlled sign will run you around $40.

[ Perpetual Kid ] VIA [ RGS ]

By Luke Anderson

Seeing a DeLorean up for sale on eBay isn’t anything new. Every now and then you come across one that tries to pass itself off as a time machine, which is always cool to see. However, it is rare that you find one that features an electric motor.

Someone has taken the time and effort to swap out their 1981 DeLorean DMC-12’s motor with a WarP 9 electric motor, which is powered by thirteen 12 volt 100 amp-hour batteries. This will get you around 40 miles per charge, with a top speed of over 88 MPH. That 88 MPH is important since that is the speed needed to activate the Flux Capacitor which was also installed.

There are two disappointments that I see here. First, the “Buy It Now” price is set at $100,000 which is a bit salty, even for an electric DeLorean. Second, this guy has a Flux Capacitor, has traveled into the future, and battery technology still sucks. Okay, so maybe I made up that last part.

[ eBay ] VIA [ Jalopnik ]

By Jonathan Kimak

Technology and insects seem to mesh very well. There are so many gadgets out there that either resemble a bug or behave like one. Now car manufacturer Nissan is using bees for inspiration.

The Nissan Bumblebee is also known as the Biomimetic Car Robot Drive, or BR23C. The bumblebee car simulates a bee’s compound eyes by using a Laser Range Finder(LRF) to detect obstacles up to 2 metres(6.6 feet) away within a 180-degree radius in front of it. The moment it detects an obstacle it reacts like a bee and turns away from the obstacle at right angles to avoid hitting anything.

Unlike a bee, it is restricted to 2-dimensional movement and cannot move up or down.

It is hoped that the Bumblebee car will allow Nissan to develop a fully functional collision avoidance system for cars. Their goal is to reduce the current amount of car crashes in half by 2015.

[ Autoblog ] VIA [ Engadget ]

By Jonathan Kimak

Progressive Insurance has a gadget that can monitor your driving habits. It can tell how many times you slam on the brakes suddenly and how fast you accelerate along with other signs of a good or bad driver.

If you drive safely then you could save as much as 60% on your insurance premiums. The downside is that if you drive poorly your insurance rate can actually go up by 9%. Everyone who signs up will get an immediate 10% reduction on their premiums before Progressive learns the truth. The monitoring system is already being tested in Alabama, Oregon and Minnesota and will make it to the rest of the U.S. during 2009.

[ Detroit News ] VIA [ Kicking Tires ]