Daily Archives: May 17, 2005

Reboot that car!

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Hmmm… Knowing that I am a Prius owner, Dave Hill kindly sent me this link!

Since its launch, the Toyota Prius has become the most popular gas-electric hybrid automobile. Drawn to its excellent gas mileage, consumers have been so eager to get their hands on the car that they have been willing to pay US$1,000-2,000 over list price for used models.

Some 2004 and 2005 models have fallen victim to a software bug that causes the cars to stall on the highway. In some cases, the cars can be restarted immediately, but other instances have required a call to AAA for a tow into the dealership to get the problem fixed. A Toyota spokesperson blames a “programming error” for the situation and says owners of affected vehicles have been sent letters asking them to bring their cars into the dealership for what is described as an hour-long software update. Overall, it appears that fewer than 30 cars have been affected by the problem.

Phew! But don’t you just love the idea of having your car logged in for a firmware upgrade!

Quote of the day

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We could really speed up the whole process of drug improvement if we did not have all the rules on human experimentation. If companies were allowed to use clinical trials in Third World countries, paying a lot of poor people to take risks that you wouldn’t take in a developed country, we could speed up technology quickly. But because of the Holocaust —

Francis Fukuyama, quoted in yesterday’s Washington Post. The quote tails off as I’ve set it out.

I’m reminded of Larry Summers’s idea that pollution should be moved to poor countries because life is cheaper there. How do these screwballs acquire reputations as major public intellectuals?

It was this big, Mum!

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Today is Sue’s birthday. If she had lived, she would be 51. One of those days with bitter-sweet memories. I love this picture of her feigning astonishment at one of Tom’s tall stories.