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Tech News & Commentary
Trey in La Vergne, Tennessee listens on WTN 99.7FM asked: “Cars made by Ford that obey the speed limit. Wouldn’t that make the police officers mad that are out there trying to meet their quotas for the month? Most police officers have to give out a certain number of tickets a month. Also – if a cop pulls you over and says you’re speeding, would you be able to argue the fact that your car is unable to speed and say that he’s lying?”
Police officers will tell you that they don’t have ticket quotas to reach. Officially, that’s true. We’ve never heard of a department where there was an actual ticket quota as an official policy.
On the other hand, we are well aware of departments that have told officers who do not write enough tickets that they must not be doing their jobs well enough. The assumption being that traffic violations are out there and if you can’t find them, you’re not trying. There might be some truth to that, but it still smells like quota to some.
Regarding your second question, many cars have speed governors today, and these Ford cars are only different in that they can set the governor’s top speed automatically and nothing else, the speed restrictions can be turned on and off.
As for telling a cop that your car can’t go fast enough to be speeding, if they have a properly calibrated speed gun that says otherwise, they’re gonna believe their tech over yours.
You can argue that invisible aliens from Neptune drive in front of you and won’t let you speed, but they don’t have to believe you when they have evidence to the contrary.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports Segment:
Despite the high price you’re paying for what’s supposed to be blazingly fast Internet service, has your Netflix started streaming as slowly as a three-toed sloth? If yes, it’s time to make sure you’re getting the speed you need, both from your Internet service provider and the setup in your home. Consumer Reports electronics spokesman James McQueen is here with a few tips on how to do that.
Guest Segment:
Kevin Faro, Co-Founder – MOTA
Mobile accessories and the world’s first smartring
Richard in Fairbanks, Alaska listens on 970 KFBX asked: “Bluetooth headsets for stereo listening – The ones I find up here are out of my price range. I am hard of hearing, so I can’t really hear the speaker on my iPhone, so I’d like to get a Bluetooth headset for my listening.”
It’s hard to tell what may fit your needs without knowing what price point you’re aiming for. There are a lot of inexpensive bluetooth headsets, unfortunately, they also tend to be terrible.
You should easily be able to find lots of bluetooth stereo headsets online for between $10-15, but you can expect them to be uncomfortable and sound less than great.
If you can stretch to around $40, you’ll start running into well known brands like Plantronics and LG, they won’t be the highest end models, but at least they should sound and feel much better than they cheap $15 generic chinese versions.
If you prefer over the ear sets, they’re usually a little more, but you can still find them starting around $20 or $30, and the great ones will likely be closer to $400.
The question is, what are you looking for? will you be satisfied with mediocre sound? is the volume more important to you than the quality of the audio? If you don’t mind less than stellar sound and don’t plan to wear them for hours at a time, some of the cheaper options may work well for you.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Travis in Haughton, Louisiana listens on 710 KEEL asked: “I was listening and they were talking about an FM radio chip that was in our cell phone devices that was disabled. How do I enable that or is it possible?”
The answer was that it’s not possible to enable this chip, Travis. The chips that are used in smartphones are very similar to the chips used in any kind of portable radio receiver, and as such they have capabilities to meet a wide range of applications.
Unless a smartphone was specifically designed to connect the chip inside with the supporting hardware needed to turn it into an FM radio receiver, there’s nothing you can do to cause that to happen.
But, as we noted the last time we talked about this, it’s the rare broadcast radio station these days that doesn’t already have a streaming audio feed over the Internet. Also, apps like TuneIn Radio give you access to hundreds of radio stations from all over the country.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
TYLT: Car Charger RIBBN Cables – These cables rapidly charge 2 Smartphones or 2 Tablets simultaneously.
Monster Products: DNA Pro 2.0 High powered Over-ear headphones
MOTA: 10-foot lightning cable for Apple Devices and 3-port USB Car Chargers
Verykool: S5015 Spark II Smartphone – Unlocked GSM phone with Android OS and front facing flash – perfect for selfies!
Kensington: KP400 – Switchable USB and Bluetooth Keyboard