A new city ordinance will allow police to seize the vehicles of owners who have been playing music in their cars too loudly. That's right, the town is not just handing out fines (which can go up to US$750) but towing away people's rides. The law isn't just targeting huge, aftermarket thumpers, either --factory stereos in many cars are enough, as stated in the legislation: "No person shall operate .
.. any device used to .
.. reproduce any recorded sound if the device is located .
.. in any motor vehicle on the public way and the sound can be heard from 75 feet or more from the device.
" What's worse is that the police don't have to hear your music -- hearsay evidence is admissible. Your car could be parked somewhere for hours, but, if someone complained to the police about your tunes, a tow truck could show up and leave you stranded. If this becomes a problem for residents of Rockford, how long do you think it will be before cops start getting noise complaints about the mayor's own vehicle?
Or the police chief 's? Or city councillors' rides? I'm just sayin'.
If this technology had been out in the 1970s, Starsky and Hutch would have lost their raison d'etre. Police in Los Angeles have tested a device that shoots a "sticky" GPS locator onto the rear of a fleeing car, letting the cops pull back from dangerous car chases and track a perp's movements via cellular technology. The unit, called the StarChase Tagging and Tracking Pursuit Management System (or SCTTPMS for, er, short), uses a laser-sighted, compressed air cannon mounted on the front of a police cruiser to shoot a miniature GPS receiver embedded in an epoxy compound.
According to Wired.com, the LAPD plans to have this equipment on its streets full-time by early next year. "It has real James Bond appeal," says Sergeant Dan Gomez with the LAPD's Tactical Technology Unit.
How about having that "James Bond appeal" wrapped in a big cheese wrapper? Variety.com reports that NBC, inspired by the success of the summer blockbuster Transformers, is in talks to revive its 1980s fromage-fest Knight Rider, which starred Germany's favourite singer, David Hasselhoff.
The Hoff played Michael Knight, a lone crime fighter who drove a futuristic talking car named K.I.T.
T. Which one of the two was the bigger star is up for discussion; which had more talent is obvious. According to the Web site, the advancement of computer-generated special effects has convinced the network an enhanced, F/X-laden show would be financially feasible.
NBC was also looking at the movie's successful "advertiser integration" -- in plain-speak, that means having General Motors pay to have one of its cars be the new K.I.T.
T. (Presumably, it would be the new Camaro as opposed to, say, an Aveo.) In fact, Knight Rider 2.
0 (my suggestion, not NBC's) could hit the small screen as early as next fall. No word on who would play Hasselhoff's character, but, really, could anyone replace him?
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