In a crappy economy, buying a new (or “new”) car isn’t always a happy event. From Forbes comes a list of four helpful tips to help you save your bank account and your sanity while car-shopping this summer. Hint: it’s not too early to start looking for back-to-school or winter wheels, and why outgoing models are often your best bet.
As inspiration, check out Gadling’s list of “Iconic Road Trips” across the U.S.
Traveling through Europe you’ll notice that many things are just a little bit different from the United States. Like the Royale with Cheese (actually the Cheese Royal, Tarantino got it wrong), Europe has many slightly different takes on American icons.
Demolition derby, for example is huge in the United Kingdom, but it’s called banger racing. Cars race around a track while smashing into each other. Nobody cares much about who wins the race since the crashes and flips are far more fun.
The most popular car to use for these races is the Reliant Robin. These three-wheeled vehicles were popular in the 1970s and ’80s because legally they were considered motorcycles and weren’t subject to high automobile taxes. Lightly built of fiberglass and equipped with surprisingly powerful engines, they’re fast but top heavy, and liable to flip on sharp turns. This, of course, makes them perfect for banger racing. Check out this video to see what I mean.
As the SpaceX Dragon mission to the International Space Station comes to a successful close, the future of space travel comes a bit closer. That’s good news for NASA and America’s refocused space program. But they better not get too comfortable with their accomplishments so far, another company already has plans for a human settlement on Mars by 2023.
Mars One plans to send the first crew of four astronauts on a seven-month journey to Mars by April 2023 to establish the first human settlement. Sending a new team to the settlement every two years, the plan calls for over 20 humans to live and work on the red planet by 2033.
“A manned mission to Mars is one of the most exciting, inspiring and ambitious adventures that mankind can take on,” says Mars One on its website. “We see this as a journey that belongs to us all, and it is for this reason that we will make every tread a step we take together.”
To finance the operation, Mars One plans on bringing all of us along on the ride, watching and helping decide as the teams of settlers are selected, trained and prepared for the mission.
Secretly working out the plan since early 2011, the Mars One team has met with international aerospace companies who can design and deliver the essential hardware components for the Mars mission.
We’ve all heard it – the dreaded “are we there yet?” Even though I don’t have children yet, I’ve been (un)fortunate enough to spend an ample amount of time inside of vehicles with children (and adults) who have road patience on par with someone in line for the toilet at a bar.
With oil prices dropping to recent lows and the heavy summer travel season just beginning to gear up, there’s a fair chance you’re going to find yourself stuck in the car with an individual or two who simply has had enough of being in the car.
Luckily for all of us, British car hire service carhiremarket.com recently released an original list of “Top Ten In-Car Games For Kids” in order to help the time in the car pass a little more quickly. It is a brilliantly compiled list, which even highlights the potential pros and cons of each game (e.g. ducking under every bridge could cause back pain in some adults). The list includes classics such as counting the number of blue or red cars to obscure ones such as scoring a running tally of the number of legs featured on the mascots of local pubs.
While none of these make for a quiet or even a relaxed car ride, they hopefully will at least burn enough time to make getting to Ant Edna’s and back a tolerable experience.
Just when those who would like to use their mobile phone in the air get a break, a new survey says most travelers would prefer that they keep it turned off.
Not long ago, Virgin Atlantic announced it would allow mobile phone calls during flights on its London to New York route. Calls made will cost £1 a minute and a text will be 20 pence, much more than on the ground but worth it to those who need uninterrupted communications ability.
But a new survey from flight comparison site Skyscanner has revealed 86 percent of those surveyed said it would be “annoying to listen to other people’s conversations” reports Caribbean News Digital.
“In a world where we are now almost always ‘on call,’ it seems people don’t want to say good-bye to their last sanctuary of non-connectivity,” says Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner Travel Editor. “Flying allows us to switch off for a few hours, both from our own calls, and other people’s.”
Even those who like the idea of using their mobile phone in the air are not all that excited about it. Only 1 percent of respondents said they would actually pay more to fly with an airline that offered mobile call ability – surely not enough to get airlines in the mood to offer it.
The Skyscanner survey also revealed 48 percent said they would send texts, 35 percent said they would surf the web, 10 percent would send email, but only 6 percent would actually make and take calls.