Each week I bring you the top stories in the auto industry along with my commentary or sometimes amusing thoughts about the craziness that goes on in the world of cars.
Stories you’ll find today:
Uncle Sam Wants You… to Play Grand Theft Auto. The U.S. Army has found a reenlistment incentive nobody saw coming: four days off to play Grand Theft Auto VI. Soldiers in the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion at Fort Stewart, Georgia, who reenlist by Nov. 14 for at least two more years of service can receive a special four-day pass timed to coincide with the game's Nov. 19 release. And this isn't an internet hoax—the Army confirmed the memo is authentic. About 130 soldiers are eligible, and at least 20 had already taken the deal as of last week. Army officials say the idea came from the battalion's career counselor as a creative way to connect reenlistment incentives with things soldiers actually enjoy. You can't fault the marketing: know your customer. Still, the math is magnificent. Commit another two years of your life to Uncle Sam and he'll give you 96 hours to steal virtual cars, run from virtual cops and generally behave in ways strongly discouraged by your actual employer. The takeaway is simple: recruiting has changed. Somewhere, an Army career counselor just looked at signing bonuses, duty-station choices and educational benefits and said, "Yeah, but have you guys seen GTA VI?"
Flock Around and Find Out. Cybersecurity researcher Bill Swearingen has spent the past year developing a decidedly unusual form of automotive camouflage: computer-generated patterns designed to confuse the algorithms used by surveillance cameras. His noRecognition project used roughly 31 million tests to train a system to create what are known as adversarial patterns, and Swearingen says the resulting designs defeated 11 open-source detection algorithms he tested, including software associated with Flock license-plate readers, Axon body cameras and Clearview AI. Then came the real-world test at the DEF CON cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, where a 2009 Toyota Yaris was covered in one of the bizarre patterns and driven past a Flock camera. The camera captured the car, but according to reporting on the demonstration, its detection software failed to recognize and log the vehicle. The takeaway is simple: we've apparently reached the point where artificial intelligence is now being used to defeat artificial intelligence. The good news is your car may become invisible to surveillance software. The bad news is you'll be driving a Toyota Yaris wrapped like the carpet at a 1990s bowling alley.
The Invoice Says Transmission. The Mechanic Says Nope. Florida resident Jade Hill took her 2008 Ford Edge to AAction Better Built Transmissions in Pembroke Pines after the SUV stopped moving. Hill says she was told it needed transmission work costing $3,850, money she didn't have, so she took out a loan and paid the bill. The Edge came back running, but months later the mechanic who actually worked on it contacted her with a rather important update: he says he replaced the two front axles and never touched the transmission. Better yet—or considerably worse, depending on where you're sitting—he had recorded the repair. Local 10 News obtained video showing the mechanic working on the axles and saying the transmission was functioning properly, along with recordings of conversations inside the shop. Hill's invoice, meanwhile, listed a transmission overhaul and reconditioning, torque converter, transmission components, fluid and labor. The shop's attorney strongly disputes Hill's allegations, says company records document the transmission repair, and has challenged both the former mechanic's credibility and the legality of his recordings. The parties later reached a resolution, but the terms weren't disclosed. The takeaway is simple: when you're handed a $3,850 repair bill, you expect the parts listed on the invoice to have actually met the mechanic. And if your mechanic later calls to tell you the most expensive repair wasn't done, that's one follow-up call nobody wants from the service department.
Green Light Once a Year. Don't Miss It. There is a traffic light on the tiny Japanese island of Himakajima that goes through a normal red-yellow-green cycle just once a year. No, it isn't broken, and apparently nobody from the highway department has forgotten to change a timer. The island has only about 1,600 residents and no other conventional three-color traffic signals, so the light normally just flashes red in one direction and yellow in the other. Once each year, however, local elementary school students are brought to the intersection and the signal is switched into normal operation so third- and fifth-graders can learn how traffic lights and crosswalks work before eventually encountering them on the mainland. The light was installed in 1994 after educators decided little training signals weren't giving children enough real-world experience. The students practice waiting for the signal, looking both ways and crossing properly. The takeaway is simple: somewhere in Japan sits possibly the most underworked traffic light on Earth, spending 364 days preparing for its annual performance. And if you're ever stuck through three red lights on your morning commute, remember—it could be worse. You could miss the green on Himakajima and have to wait until next year.