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| Joy ride |
When Italian police pulled over a vehicle they had spotted zig-zagging along a Milan highway, they discovered that the cause was a completely naked 70-year-old woman who had been cuddling up to the driver, 11 years her junior.
After demanding the couple get dressed, the police tested the semi-nude male motorist for drunk driving and discovered that he was three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit. |
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| Long shot |
It sounds a bit like cheating, but a Russian cosmonaut is planning to set a record for the longest golf drive ever by blasting a special golf ball way out into space using a six iron while standing on the International Space Station.
The drive is expected to be at least three billion kilometres long, but there is a risk that it could bounce off the space station itself and cause enormous damage. |
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| A nose for crime |
The world's first human body odour bank is being established in eastern China to help track down criminals.
The facility in the city of Nanjing has a collection of 500 suspects' personal smells, which are kept on ice at minus 18 degrees celsius. The scents are waved under the noses of police dogs whose job it is to match the niffs with samples taken from crime scenes. |
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| Wwwacky website |
'Tree climbing is no longer just for children. It's for people of all ages who are young at heart and ready for the pleasure trees can provide.' So say Tree Climbers International (TCI) whose website www.treeclimbing.com has all you would ever need to know about, you guessed it, climbing trees.
Describing themselves as the world's first organisation for recreational tree climbers, TCI is based in Georgia, US, but that doesn't stop them spreading their love of tree ascension around the globe, courtesy of the world wide web.
The site provides all you need to know, promoting enjoyment of trees, and safety when climbing. There's even a tree climber's log. (geddit?) |
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Volume 11.04
April 2006 |
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Hello and welcome to the April edition of Fleettorque, brought to you by Fleetcare.
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Car talk for girls |
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 Have you ever wanted to know more about your car but were too scared to ask? Do you want to give up on being the damsel in distress?
Fleetcare is giving a limited number of female drivers a rare opportunity to meet one of Australia's leading F3 drivers (who also just happens to be a woman), Leanne Tander. Leanne will be running a series of Motoring Women's Workshops around Australia on the following dates: Perth, Thursday 11 May; Brisbane, Thursday 20 July; Sydney, Thursday 10 August; Melbourne, Thursday 8 September. The location of each workshop will be confirmed in forthcoming weeks.
This is a fun, informal workshop. Participants will walk away with some extra knowledge about their cars, some hands-on experience in working on a car, as well as having some fun and having the opportunity to meet Leanne in person. Leanne's views are that "Sometimes women feel like they're being pushed into having extra things done on their cars when they're in for a service, but after attending a workshop they will at least understand why the brake pads may have needed to be changed, and they will have some idea of the components mentioned in their service list. Where possible, it's a hands-on workshop so they will actually get to have a go at doing things and make sure they're doing it right." Groups are limited to a maximum of 32, so click here to visit our driver care section and register your interest. |
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Mercedes SL |
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 Mercedes has made a few subtle changes to Australia's biggest-selling sportscar, the SL.
Although Merc customers were apparently wary about the facelift, the changes have been well received, particularly the new 3.5-litre V6 (200kW) engine, which has more power though is more economical than the V6 it replaces. The steering has been sharpened up a little too and the front grille has had a slight re-style.
The new SL goes on sale in the middle of this year, and, despite the improvements, the cost will only rise a few per cent. Currently they range from $209,900 to $372,900. |
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Grey matter |
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 Nintendo is about to launch the first video game aimed at sharpening the minds of the over-45s.
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training was designed by a Tokyo neuroscientist for the Nintendo DS handheld games console and features dozens of mathematical, language, memory and IQ puzzles. Players can also race against the clock on various tasks including reading aloud and drawing.
The game is already a huge hit with Japanese senior citizens and is part of a drive to increase the appeal of video games to women and older customers. |
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Small car, big wait |
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 Volkswagen's smart Golf GTI has become something of a victim of its own success - so popular are the cars that they can't be produced quickly enough to meet the enormous demand.
As many as 800 Australian customers are now queuing to take delivery of a new Golf GTi, and when their very own vehicle does arrive from the VW factory in South Africa, most will have endured an eight-month wait.
Since going on sale in 2004, the Golf GTi has been acclaimed both by critics and customers around the world. The car is priced at $39,990, although most customers order optional extras, bringing the price up to about $50,000. |
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In the frame |
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 Anyone who enjoys snapping away on their camera phone will know the frustration of taking a good photo but only being able to view it on the phone's tiny display.
But this is where the new Photo Viewer from Parrot comes in - it's an 8.75cm 320 x 234 TFT screen in a leather or white oak finish created to look exactly like an ordinary photo frame, which can be plugged into your phone and will display all your snaps.
The Photo Viewer works with JPEGs and has 32MB of flash memory, which is enough for 100 photos. It also features a built-in Bluetooth receiver, which allows you to transfer pictures from your camera phone from up to 10 metres away. Also, when you turn the frame around, it automatically realigns your photos so that they're the right way up. The Photo Viewer goes on sale this month, priced at around $420.
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