5/15/2013 02:12:00 PM

Crawl to Wine Bars by Cable Car

(Photo via Flickr/rvr)
Real SF Tour presents a monthly crawl called Cable Cars to Wine Bars. It begins at the Powell Street cable car turnaround, where three subsequent cable car rides lead to four drinking destinations. At $35, not including wine or any nibbles you may order, the price is a little steep — but so are those hills in heels. Of course, you could always take your own self-guided tour: Hop on the Powell cable car and hop off for a glass of vino with dinner at Sons Daughters or Aurea.

Article source: http://blog.zagat.com/2013/05/crawl-to-wine-bars-by-cable-car.html

Singer George Michael has been injured in a car crash.

The former Wham! star received treatment for “cuts and bruises” following the accident just north of London on Thursday evening but no further details of his condition have been released.

A spokeswoman for the “Careless Whisper” hit maker says, “George Michael was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a traffic accident yesterday evening, no third party was involved. He is being treated for superficial cuts and bruises but is fine. We have no further comment at this time.”

Michael hit headlines in 2007 and 2010 after twice crashing his car while high on cannabis.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2013/05/17/george-michael-injured-in-car-crash/

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Car2Go, the car-sharing service in Austin, Tex., from the German luxury-car maker Daimler, has plans to add up to five cities, including Denver, Minneapolis and Montreal, to its North American roster this year. The service’s fleet of electric and standard Smart cars allows for rentals by the minute and in one direction. It frees drivers from picking up and returning cars to a specific location by letting them use their smartphones to locate available cars and unlock them by scanning their membership cards.

Article source: http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/swipe-a-card-get-a-car/

By Pat Muir

On Blog

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YAKIMA, Wash. — Fine, all right, I admit it; I’m a sucker for bands that combine outlaw-punk attitude with upright bass.

Angie and The Car Wrecks, the psychobilly band playing a free show at Bill’s Place on Friday, do that. They have a sound that conjures images of pin-up girls, hot-rods and Jerry Lee Lewis levels of debauchery. And they filter that through a punk lens, leaving a veneer of grime atop the whole thing. It’s good-time rock ’n’ roll, and it apologizes to no one.

Plus, local favorites Shoot Jake are opening. And those guys are great. The show starts at 9 p.m. Bill’s is at 206 S. Third Ave. For information visit www.facebook.com/billsplacetav or www.angieandthecarwrecks.com or call 509-575-9513.

Article source: http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/1145890-8/on-blog-top-pick-angie-and-the-car

There’s the loss of property. We often think items should be safe in our vehicles; we shouldn’t have to hide our stuff. In an ideal world, that would be true. Unfortunately, there are those who, given the opportunity, will steal from others. If there is something to take, they’ll take it. There’s the damage – if any – done to the vehicle. I say “if any” because many times, the thieves don’t have to break a window to gain entry to the car; the car is left unlocked.

These crimes are so prevalent, happen very quickly with little chance for immediate police response – if the crime is reported – and often occur in late night/early morning hours when there is little chance of the thieves being seen by neighbors.

One frustration for police is that many of these car prowls are not reported. As a result, police may not have an accurate picture of the degree of the problem. I know about many of these incidents because I get your e-mails where you discuss among yourselves what’s been happening in your neighborhoods. Our officers hear 2nd-3rd hand about the incidents because of what neighbors say after the fact. However, the actual number of reported incidents, those that were called in to 911 or reported on-line, do not reflect the level of activity that you are relaying to us. It’s not enough to mention in passing that a car was broken into. That crime needs to be reported. Don’t just email each other or me; make an official report to 911 or on-line.

I’ve heard from neighbors that they didn’t report the car prowl because it didn’t appear that anything was taken, even though it was obvious the car had been gone through. I’ve also heard from neighbors that there was no damage to the car, or the car was left unlocked, and therefore the car prowl wasn’t reported. Just because it doesn’t appear that something was taken or that no physical damage was done does not mean that no crime was committed. Please, report them. If you don’t tell us, we won’t know.

Reporting
To report a car prowl in progress, call 911 immediately. It is a crime in progress and that has a higher priority of response than a crime that occurred some time ago. Answer the call takers questions to the best of your ability. To report a car prowl that occurred sometime in the past; 1) Call 911, tell the call taker up front that it is not an emergency or a crime in progress, but that you want to report a car prowl. 2) Using our on-line reporting system: http://www.seattle.gov/police/report/default.htm In either case, whether you call it in or do it on-line, the information will be entered and a record of the incident will be generated, and you will still receive an incident number for that occurrence, even without an officer showing up to take a report.

The Stuff

A bag containing a laptop. A case with photographic lenses. A passport. A Handbag containing cash, credit and debit cards, driver’s license and social security card. A purse with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Galaxy 2 phone, wallet, $3000 cash. An iPod Nano, miscellaneous power tools, keys to managed rental properties. Backpacks with personal items/effects, purse with wallet, credit/debit cards, ID. A pair of Nike Jordan 5’s.

These are some of the items that have been taken from vehicles in the past week. All these vehicles were parked on the street, often overnight and often in front of a residence. Aside from thoughts of disbelief (like who leaves $3000 in cash in a purse on the floor of a car parked on the street overnight?), the obvious question for me is why are we leaving our valuables in our vehicles when we could take them inside the home that’s less than 30 feet away?

There are ways to avoid being a victim of car prowl. The most effective step is to not leave anything of value in an unattended vehicle. If you are out running errands and are going to be making multiple stops, don’t leave valuables in the interior of the vehicle where they can be seen. Place them in the trunk when you get them before proceeding to your next stop. If you want to enjoy one our local parks, don’t leave valuables inside the passenger compartment; put them in the trunk. However, don’t wait until you get to the park to put your valuables in the trunk; you’ve just shown everyone in the area you’ve put valuables in the trunk. Put the items in the trunk before you get to the park and leave the vehicle.

Recent Car Prowl Arrest
There is a bit of good news. Early morning on Saturday, May 11th, officers arrested three adult males for Investigation of Car Prowl. Once caught, they were found to have stolen property from multiple vehicles. They admitted to trying car doors, and upon finding an unlocked door, went through the vehicles and helped themselves. They admitted to prowling at about 15 vehicles that night. The good news here is that we were able to catch and arrest three thieves who caused a lot of neighbors a lot of grief. This would not have been possible if not for the neighbor who heard a noise coming from the street, and who upon checking it out saw someone sitting in his neighbor’s vehicle who he knew was not his neighbor. These arrests would not have been possible without that neighbor’s vigilance and the 911 call that was made. We’d like to acknowledge the officers who responded to that call and made these arrests: Officers, A. Belgarde, D. D’ambrosio, T. Persun, and D. Ward.

We’ve said many times, car prowl, liked most crime, is a crime of opportunity; if you remove or reduce the opportunity, you remove and reduce the crime. Police can respond to a crime once it has occurred. Police can work to deter crime, but can’t do so if the crime goes unreported. It is through your reporting that police are able to respond and act. Police will do what can be done. However, it is you as neighbors that prevent crime. It is neighbors taking the step to not leave valuables in the unattended vehicle, but instead take them inside the home or workplace with them. It is neighbors knowing each other to extent that they know the person they see sitting in a neighbor’s car doesn’t belong there, and they are willing to say something. You can’t have community without communication.

Article source: http://westseattleblog.com/2013/05/west-seattle-crime-watch-more-car-prowls-and-what-police-want-you-to-do-about-them

With an iPhone running the DriveStyle app connected to a Mercedes-Benz, the driver can access the DriveStyle interface.

(Credit:
Mercedes-Benz)

Mercedes-Benz announced it would demonstrate Google local search, Street View, and traffic integrated into the dashboard of one of its vehicles during Google I/O. These features will be introduced soon as part of Mercedes-Benz’s DriveStyle app.

Local search will let drivers enter any term to begin a search, resulting in a list of nearby place names. Each entry can be selected as a destination for navigation. The Street View feature will let the driver see a 360-degree view of any destination, as long as Google has covered it.

Traffic data is similar to what can be found on Google Maps. Mercedes-Benz did not say whether it would replace or complement the existing traffic data already available on its navigation system.

One intriguing feature called Radar View relies on Google data to find concentrations of bars, restaurants, or clubs in any city. This feature helps drivers quickly find nightlife centers.

The Google integration relies on Mercedes-Benz’s DriveStyle app running on an iPhone and connected to a
car using the Mercedes-Benz Drive Kit Plus feature. Once connected, the driver uses the car’s Comand (Mercedes-Benz’s name for its cabin electronics) interface to control and view the Google content.

The DriveStyle app currently lets drivers access social media and audio on the iPhone. The new Google Maps features will be categorized under a new Places menu.

The DriveStyle app currently only works on the
iPhone 4/4S. Mercedes-Benz promises a version for the
iPhone 5 soon, but offered no information about an Android version.

This Street View image is delivered to the car’s LCD through an iPhone’s data connection.

(Credit:
Mercedes-Benz)

Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-57584656-48/mercedes-benz-integrates-google-maps-features/

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times A car being towed in New York City.

When we were looking for a home in a new city a few years ago, my family took a welcome break from house hunting to eat dinner.

We emerged from the restaurant just in time to see our car speed by — on the back of a tow truck. Apparently, we had mistakenly entered the incorrect parking space number in an automatic payment machine. We had paid — for the wrong space. So an alert local towing firm had pounced.

Our little adventure ended an hour or so later, after we tracked down the location of the tow lot and retrieved our car. The tow operator didn’t want to hear our argument about having paid for the wrong space, and the children were cranky, so we just paid the fee and went on our way.

But things didn’t go so easily for Robert Pelkey of Manchester, N.H., who sued a towing firm after it hauled away his car and then sold it, even though his lawyer told the towing firm he hadn’t abandoned it and wanted it back.

The towing firm invoked a federal transportation law to argue that his claim under a New Hampshire consumer law was invalid. The towing suit made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which this week found in Mr. Pelkey’s favor.

Here’s Mr. Pelkey’s tale of towing woe. In February 2007, a firm called Dan’s City Used Cars towed Mr. Pelkey’s 2004 Honda Civic from its parking spot because he had failed to move it during a snowstorm, per the policy of his apartment complex.

It turned out that Mr. Pelkey was ill, and ended up in the hospital to have his foot amputated shortly after the car was towed. He suffered a heart attack while in the hospital, and stayed there for nearly two months, according to a brief filed by his lawyers.

A notification mailed by Dan’s City to Mr. Pelkey was returned, according to the court’s opinion, so the firm scheduled the car for auction. When Mr. Pelkey did return home and found that his car was gone, his lawyer located the car and offered to pay any charges owed to reclaim it. But Dan’s City sold it anyway, without paying Mr. Pelkey anything for it.

Mr. Pelkey sued under a state consumer law and the state’s highest court found in Mr. Pelkey’s favor, but Dan’s City appealed to the United States Supreme Court. On Monday, the court ruled that the federal law didn’t trump Mr. Pelkey’s claim and that his suit was valid. So he may yet be compensated for his troubles.

Adina Rosenbaum, a lawyer for Public Citizen and Mr. Pelkey’s co-counsel, said the Supreme Court “affirmed that people can bring state law cases against towing companies that tow their cars and sell them against the owners’ wishes.”

Katherine Strickland, a lawyer for Dan’s City, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Have you ever had a car towed? What was your experience? And how much did it cost to have it returned to you?

Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/a-car-towing-tale-of-woe/

Tesla designed its Model S from the ground up to allow software updates after it leaves the factory.

(Credit:
Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

At Tesla’s sunny headquarters in Palo Alto, I asked CTO JB Straubel when to expect the next model upgrade for the Model S. He quickly dismissed the automaker cliche of updates based on model years, saying that Tesla would release new features for the Model S as his team finished creating them.

One of the Model S’ great strengths, beyond its zero emissions, minimal running costs, excellent driving character, and luxury appointments, is that Tesla can deliver over-the-air updates to its cabin electronics.

And those updates can be very extensive, as the Model S features few hard controls. Its instrument cluster is entirely digital and almost all cabin controls live on the 17 inch touchscreen dominating the center stack. Behind the scenes, two Nvidia Visual Computing Modules, hosting Tegra 3 chips, perform all the processing for navigation, media, handsfree phone system, and instrument cluster display.

Nvidia’s VCM measures about 3 inches per side and hosts a Tegra 3 chip.

(Credit:
Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

New trip planner
As one example, Straubel said Tesla would soon be releasing a new feature, a trip planner, to help drivers manage the Model S electricity consumption. This feature goes beyond simple navigation to look at different routes and estimate their energy consumption, based on factors such as hills. It will show drivers how much juice they have left once they reach their destinations, and most likely suggest charging stations along the route.

Straubel noted that Tesla had released between 6 and 10 updates since the Model S launch, but that the pace is slowing as initial feature requests from owners have been met. He projects updates every 2 or 3 months going forward.

One area on which Tesla is working, which will be less transparent to owners, is how the Model S sleeps. Part of the seamless experience of the Model S is that it is ready to go as soon as you get in, with all displays lighting up right away. To make that behavior possible, Tesla puts the processors into a sleep mode that draws enough power to make them quickly awake. But in an electric
car, any power draw must be minimized, especially when the car is not in use. Tesla is still working on perfecting the balance between making the car instantly ready and consuming little electricity when parked.

Tesla progresses in cabin tech (pictures)

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Click through for more details of Tesla’s cabin tech

However, as much as Tesla can tweak its software, Straubel says that the car’s drive systems are safe. The two Nvidia Visual Computing Modules are firewalled from the power control and drive systems. Straubel mentioned a moment in a development car when both the instrument cluster and center display went through a reboot, which had no effect on the driving performance.

Planning autonomous
A good portion of our conversation centered around a tech area missing from the Model S, driver assistance systems. Features such as adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance are common on luxury competitors, but not available on the Model S.

As these features rely on cameras and radar, a software upgrade just isn’t going to cut it.

Although Tesla has not yet determined a strategy to implement these systems, or what form they would take, Straubel said the preferred approach would be similar to how the company handled the Model S dashboard electronics. Instead of implementing features in a piecemeal manner, Tesla would like to equip future cars with a complete sensor array capable of giving the car enough data for autonomous driving.

However, instead of making the cars fully autonomous from launch, Tesla could enable different driver assistance features through its over-the-air updates. The trick is building as much hardware capability into the cars as technology permits, then software can be developed and implemented as required.

This thinking is what really sets Tesla apart from its automaker peers, and highlights the problems competitors have faced when trying to implement modern electronics into their cars. With cars developed in three to five year product cycles, there is no possibility that the electronics can be as up-to-date as the latest smartphones,
tablets, and other personal devices.

Tesla may be an upstart, but it has valuable lessons for its older competitors.

Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-57584496-48/teslas-path-to-the-upgradable-car/

The Enclave’s combination of good looks outside and roomy comfort inside won over Cars.com reviewer Joe Bruzek. Buick’s three-row crossover was redesigned for 2013 with flashier exterior styling and upgraded cabin materials. While it’s not the most luxurious crossover in the class, Bruzek says the Enclave offers a winning blend of premium features and family-friendly comfort.

2013 Buick Enclave Review

Article source: http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2013/05/carscom-reviews-the-2013-buick-enclave.html

Source: mikey k via flickr

A Sheepshead Bay family is still mourning months after 27-year-old family member Yuliya Hermanska was tragically killed in a car accident, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

Hermanska was killed on March 23 when she left her Sheepshead Bay apartment to go shopping. She was struck when a 66-year-old driver jumped the curb and hit her. The New York Daily News described the situation that led to Hermanska’s death.

Police say the driver, Mikhail Nulman, was issued a summons for blowing through the red light at Ocean and Voorhies Aves. He swerved to avoid a collision with a turning car but lost control and mounted the curb, driving nearly 70 feet on the sidewalk and striking Hermanska and two teenage girls, both of whom survived, according to police accounts.

The tragedy hit Hermanska’s family hard. She was a bright lawyer who spoke three different languages and was engaged to be married to fiance Vitaly Obodovsky.

“I keep on asking myself, ‘Why did you let her go to the store?’” Obodovsky told the Daily News.

Uliana Hermanska, Yuliya’s mother was also devastated and has been left wondering whether her daughter will ever see justice. The family’s lawyer, Edward Steinberg, told the Daily News vehicular fatalities involving ‘out-of-control’ drivers, who were not intoxicated or on drugs or alcohol, fail to inspire prosecutors to act quickly.

Steinberg claimed he called the Brooklyn district attorney’s office for details but hasn’t heard anything back. The DA’s office denies this charge and offered that the family should come in whenever they like to help the investigation along.

Related posts

• Three Pedestrians Injured After Car Jumps Curb On Ocean Avenue
• Photos: Three Car Accident On Ocean Avenue
• More Photos Of Friday’s Cop Car Accident
• Car Explodes Near Train Station Following Accident

Tags: car accidents, edward steinberg, mikhail nulman, nypd, ocean ave, uliana hermanska, vitaly obodovsky, voorhies ave, yuliya hermanska

Article source: http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2013/05/tragic-car-accident-haunts-sheepshead-family/