The weird noise I've been hearing late at night .... self driving cars

[tank_monkey]

There's a coffee shop with a GREAT patio, super fast free Wifi about a block from my place. Sometimes I go there to hang with friends and talk shop. But each night (around 11pm going forward) I hear this weird whirring noise, like a spaceship from the Cartoon 'the Jetsons'.

It's Google's SELF DRIVING CARS. They're weird. They sound like spaceships and there are no drivers.

I figure they're being test on public streets that have little to no traffic late at night, but I usually see about 4 to 5 of them before I go home. What's interesting is that I know a lot of folks who have never Seen ONE, let alone 50 or so that I've seen in the last several months. At night the globe on the top glows blue.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/blog/google_self_driving_car/road_ready_small.jpg

I don't know. I think SKYNET is becoming real.

[Schuetzenman]

Just another reason to get out of commiefornia.

[sevlex]

Frickin Johnny Cab!

[alismith]

Blue lights, around here, designate police cars.

[l921428x]

It is a Google probe droid stealing wifi information. You can call me stupid if you wish.

[Altarboy]

Because driving one's self is such agony.

[Full Otto]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uber-self-driving-cars-20160818-snap-story.html

A fleet of Fords and Volvos, capable of driving themselves, is fully equipped and ready to hit the streets of Pittsburgh within weeks.
...........
“Uber is accelerating its plan to replace its 1 million human drivers with robots as quickly as possible,” Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick said in a blog post Thursday. He also announced a partnership with Volvo to work on driverless car development and the acquisition of Otto

[rci2950]

I guess I should probably try and get as long out of my truck as I can. I don't want any of that shit in a vehicle I am owning.

[Helen Keller]

blue lights = k-mart

[l921428x]

It is a Google probe droid stealing wifi information. You can call me stupid if you wish.

Don't lissen.

[Altarboy]

Hope I can retire before they have a self driving rig.

[tank_monkey]

Blue lights, around here, designate police cars.

That's flashing lights. This looks like a low powered night light that's a glowing orb all the time

[Hobe Sound AK]

Remember that Show from 1966? My Mother the Car, it was a 1 Season Flop. The Sprit of a Guys Mom, is a reincarnated Voice in his 1932 Packard. Plus She controlled the Car, it was a Dumb Show.

[shorthair]

I remember that show.

[alismith]

The one major flaw to all this stuff is that if it runs on a computer, someone, somewhere can hack into it. They've already done this with a few of the computer controlled cars (had human drivers inside them) and caused a brake failure that led to an accident a few weeks ago.

Heard in on the radio news a couple of weeks ago.

[tank_monkey]

Remember those scary movies where a car was running people over and it had no DRIVER in it? There was a movie call "The Car" and also this theme appeared in several made for TV movies and a couple of scary TV shows ;) I figure the kids several generations from now will be going "So? The car has no driver? What's the big deal?"