Featured New Toyotas Will Narc You Out.

Oh well. You can always buy a dumb car that doesn't have GPS and such. Or, if push really comes to show, and we get really really desperate, we can just obey the traffic laws and not go 50 in a 35 zone - & stuff like that.

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Funny how Tesla offers software updates via their web servers so even if your Tesla is several years old, you're using the same software version as a brand new Tesla... Meanwhile Toyota decides they can compete with connecting cars to webservers in a more profitable way than Tesla? Shameful...

 

First thing I did after purchasing 2020 Prius PRIME LE was to opt out of the Safety Connect Service. The car is the first car I have ever owned that has it's own telematics installed.

 

This is what Tesla is doing with their insurance.

 

yea, but Tesla is using their own secure servers... To farm this out to Amazon is insane seeing that AWS servers are in control of 40% of all global consumer commerce and they unlawfully (anti-trust violations) use that data to further their rapidly growing monopoly to act like a defacto government that applies tarriffs, taxes and sanctions on any business that doesn't run all their transactions exclusively through AWS servers. It's an outrageous crime that most people aren't even aware of yet. But Ebay has sued them and Attorneys General in multiple states plan to do the same. Bezos has built a system where all your business dealings can be tracked and you get punished/fined by Amazon if they notice you are doing business that's not in their monopolistic interests.

 

hey, they are already listening to you through alexa...

 

ballot question #1 in ma is a right to repair law. the auto mfgs are running scare ads claiming anyone could access your personal data, emphasizing the possibility of increased domestic violence

 

Which is why many of us won't ever own an Alexa device...

 

Right to repair laws are essential... PriusChat would be shut down by Toyota in an instant if the laws allowed them to do so... Because after all only $tealerships know how to fix such "complicated" equipment.

 

or a nest, and black tape over my mac camera

 

This was in Brisbane (AUSTRALIA) news paper yesterday:

 

That is why my house can't have one. If anyone ever listened in, Men In Black would come knocking on the door to question the spouse, and possibly haul her away.

 

not all Tesla updates have been welcomed. Some are received as grenades .... like when Ludicrous / launch mode was reduced as part of an update ... or supercharger / charge speed got throttled, once the magic number of supercharger hookup thresholds gets hit .... or (our personal straw that broke the camels back) a 20 something software code'er gets to change display functionality - where you can no longer default a particular display as a top ½ of the screen. Or the charge voltage gets shunted - instantly reducing your range, etc.
The up side of the OTA functionality is - you let OTHER poor slobs receive updates for several weeks FIRST ... and NEVER take 'em just because you can. If you have read on blogs - discovering that there ARE surprises included in updates - & the grenade is unacceptable - you can stop it from ever loading - by "accepting" update now .... then as it starts - go drive around your neighborhood for 15 or 20 minutes in stead of NOT driving during update, as your car instructs ..... it freezes the car' s ability to update - & only the service center can undo your procedure.
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At least that isn't political, in a country with a touchy No Such Agency and Department of Homeland Security.

 

I thought John Deere was the main one afraid of right to repair laws.

Well, yeah. There wasn't somebody from Tesla in the car watching where the car was, and able to hit the brake if the system makes a mistake. Toyota and others would have the same stance with their parking assist features. If the dynamic cruise on any car missed the vehicle ahead of you, and crashed into it, you would be held responsible, because as the driver you are suppose to have control of your car at all times.

 

In WW-I, pilots did not have parachutes because there was a fear they would abandon their planes instead of burning to death or crushed in a crash.

When I was working, I often speculated that application programmers had to sit in a computer chair and had to program it to reach their potential desk. Then I realized how many would be hurt ... badly

A former operating system system programmer, I got to see a lot of programming screw-ups and poor designs ... even my own:

• using an n-bit integer for minutes in a year (failed in November)
• failure to save context in an interrupt service routine (fixed 10 years later 750 miles away)

Yet I realized the arc of software is towards a better life that makes our lives better ... like the screen you are reading.

My Std Rng Plus Model 3 has everything through 'full self driving.' Source: Tesla Vehicle Safety Report | Tesla

In the 2nd quarter [2020 rjw], we registered one accident for every 4.53 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged. For those driving without Autopilot but with our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 2.27 million miles driven. For those driving without Autopilot and without our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 1.56 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA’s most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 479,000 miles.​

Is it perfect? No, but it is perfectible. For example, I reported a reproducible phantom braking problem and Tesla released a GPS fix that solved my problem. But then I know how to submit a problem technical people can understand and correct.

Bob Wilson

 

I expect this will merge with these new subscription-based car features.

Before long you'll be able to buy a bundle of phone service, teeth whitening and lanekeeping assistance!

Though honestly, that's where I stop wanting my own car and start putting up with taxis and rideshares while lobbying hard for improved public transit funded by taxes on car owners.