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| Killer clicking |
| A Chinese man has dropped dead after playing games on the internet for three consecutive days, according to the state media. The 30-year-old from the southern boomtown of Guangzhou was rushed from the cybercafé to the hospital, but later died of what doctors diagnosed as exhaustion. President Hu Jintao has already launched a campaign to rid the internet of 'unhealthy' content - now there is a ban on the opening of new cybercafes and limits are being set on the amount of time internet users can spend online. |
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| Sticky situation |
| At last, there might be a solution to gum-spotted pavements. Researchers at the UK's University of Bristol have created a special polymer, which, when mixed with the synthetic latex of regular chewing gum, makes it much less sticky. In fact, the new Clean Gum comes away from pavements naturally in 24 hours and has the potential to be environmentally degradable. Its makers say it's just as tasty as the sticky sort though, and it could be on the market by 2008. |
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| Royal intervention |
| Members of the Dutch royal family have admitted to editing their own entries on the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands - the younger brother of heir to the throne Prince Willem-Alexander - and his wife Princess Mabel changed information on Wikipedia about Mabel's past relationship with a drug baron. It is considered very bad form to alter your own Wiki entry, but the edits were discovered by Dutch media using the online tool Wiki Scanner, which also revealed changes to Wiki entries on the Iraq war and the Guantanamo Bay prison, which were made from CIA and FBI computers. |
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| Wwwacky website |
For people old enough to remember when music was good, the release of Dylan: His Greatest Songs compilation, will be a source of some excitement. As if that wasn't thrilling enough, to go with it Bob Dylan's PR people have come up with an ingenious website that gives fans the unmissable chance to create a customised version of the iconic Subterranean Homesick Blues video.
Simply go to www.dylanmessaging.com and type in your message, which will then appear on Bob's giant cue cards. When you're happy with the results, you can send the video to a Dylan fan friend, who can watch the words a-changing.
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Volume 12.10
October 2007 |
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Hello Welcome to the October issue of Fleettorque, brought to you by Fleetcare!
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Special Novated Lease Offer |
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 Apply now for your brand new car with a Novated Lease from Fleetcare, and we'll also include a DVD Player and Satellite Navigation System. Now that will keep everyone happy over the holidays!
Call us now on 1300 655 170 or click here to find out more...,
Offer closes December 24, 2007 - just in time for Christmas - so get cracking! |
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Mitsubishi Lancer |
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 The safer, smaller and more economical new Lancer will arrive in showrooms next month and will kick off a whole revamped range from Mitsubishi.
The new Lancer has been upgraded all round, with more head and shoulder room than its previous incarnation, and a host of upmarket gadgets including power windows, air-con, an MP3-compatible CD player and 60-40 split-fold rear seats.
While the basic is priced from $20,990, the Lancer VR model costs upwards of $25,290 and comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, automatic air-con and headlights, rain-sensing wipers and a six-disc CD player. Top of the range is the sporty VRX, which costs from $28,990 and has sports-tuned suspension, 18-inch alloys, keyless entry, a Bluetooth hands-free phone set-up, privacy glass and a spoiler.
The high-performance Evolution X Lancer is due early next year and two Ralliart models will follow soon after. The Lancer line-up will be complete when a hatchback arrives in early 2009.
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Dozy driver danger |
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 Dropping off at the wheel is one of the biggest causes of road accidents, so it's no wonder that vehicle manufacturers are spending time and money researching ways to keep drivers awake.
Volvo has come up with an innovative new system that gives drivers a nudge when it senses they might be heading for forty winks. The snappily named Lane Departure Warning and Driver Alert Control kit uses a camera to monitor the vehicle's road positioning and sounds an alarm while displaying a visual alert on the dashboard at the first sign of wavering. The set-up is being offered by Volvo as an option on the V70 and S80. |
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What a stunner |
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 It may look like a mild-mannered mobile phone, but tangle with its owner and it'll unleash a shocking 900,000 volts of taser-power.
In fact, this isn't a phone at all, but the Streetwise stun gun in disguise. Designed as a crim-deterrent, the phone look-alike also has a built-in high-powered LED torch and only costs around $120, from www.securitysafetyspy.com, for use in countries where these sorts of personal protection devices are allowed. |
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Sign of the times |
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 All the traffic lights and stop signs have been taken off the streets of a German town in an effort to improve road safety. The western town of Bohmte's 13,500 vehicles have the same rights of way as the pedestrians since the local council adopted the 'Shared Space' initiative last month.
The idea was developed by Dutch traffic specialist Hans Monderman and proved very successful in the north Netherlands town of Drachten, where there are now no traffic signs at all - and no street markings or pavements either. Amazingly, the number of accidents has fallen dramatically and the initiative is now being backed by the European Union, which has coughed up half of the $2m it cost to remove the signs in Bohmte.
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