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| 2005/5/16-17 [Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:37706 Activity:moderate |
5/16 Make sure you get the firmware updated on your Prius:
http://tinyurl.com/cfd5r (cnn.com)
\_ Wow. Didn't expect this kind of things to happen on a Toyota.
\_ Pretty scary if it happens when you're trying to cut in front of a
semi while entering a freeway.
\_ I personally think the increased use of software in cars is
a bad trend. Most software is nowhere near as reliable as
mechanical controls or electronic controls and the potential
for unintended or undetectable failures is high.
I'm thinking by next car should be a willy's jeep :-)
\_ Maybe you should stop flying then, because new Boeings and
ALL Airbuses are controlled by electronics, without the
possibility of manual over-ride.
\_ I pretty much avoid airbus flights whenever possible.
Computer control on the new Boeings does have me
worried, but the way I look at it a failure of the
computer control on a plane means I'm dead, while
the failure of the computer control in a car means,
I will probably live but will lose a leg an arm or
be bound to a wheelchair. I prefer dead to cripple.
\_ Yeah, I heard the Jeep Willy could run even with a punctured
radiator. My Cherokee has only okay reliability, though.
\_ Yermom likes to download the firmware in my Penis. |
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| tinyurl.com/cfd5r -> money.cnn.com/2005/05/16/Autos/prius_computer/index.htm?section=cnn_tech NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A software problem is causing some Toyota Prius ga s-electric hybrid cars to stall or shut down while driving at highway sp eeds, according to a published report. The Wall Street Journal reports that the problem involves Priuses from th e 2004 model year and some early 2005 models. com, a popu lar vehicle-information and shopping site, has had 13 individuals post c omplaints in a Prius forum. Some of the cars that shut down had to be to wed to the shop before they could be restarted. The newspaper quotes an official from Toyota as saying the stalling probl em is due to a software glitch in its sophisticated computer system. The car has both a gasoline engine and an electric motor, which is set to provide it with power during certain driving conditions, particularly i n city driving. The gasoline engine is supposed to be shut down or run a t a very low level when the car is driving slowly or idling but provide most of the car's power when it is cruising at highway speeds. The report said no injuries or fatalities have been linked to the problem , but it did not say whether there had been accidents due to the problem . A NHTSA spokesman said the agency is monitoring the complaints, but no fo rmal investigation has been initiated. Toyota spokesman Sam Butto told the newspaper the auto manufacturer ident ified a "programming error" in the computer systems of 23,900 Prius cars last year and sent owners a service notice advising them to bring the c ars into dealers for an hour-long software upgrade. He couldn't say how many Prius owners got the upgrade and whether the lat est problems involve buyers who never got the upgrade or if an altogethe r different glitch is shutting the car down. |
| cnn.com -> www.cnn.com/ About 250 prisoners freed from Abu Ghraib The United States today freed about 250 detainees from Abu Ghraib prison, site of alleged abuses that prompted global outrage and led to days of hearings on Capitol Hill. Today marks the first mass prisoner release since the abuse scandal broke several weeks ago. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had visited the prison Thursday. |