Brilliantly Bad Weekend Edition

Self-driving toy cars, DIY car designs, brilliantly good ideas, moments and more!

Nov 25, 2023

1. Finally, a self-driving car for toddlers

The Rocar is basically Knight Rider for kindergarteners. The rideable, AI-powered robotic toy car responds to voice commands and answers back, thanks to its ChatGPT integration. A low-res display gives Rocar a face on the windshield. It’s cameras and microphones not only enable it to interact and navigate, but also harvest children’s private information before they have any idea what that even means. The car also sports lowrider hydraulics, so it can bounce and spin (hopefully without a child sitting on it).

2. Daihatsu car enables owners to 3D-print their own parts

Daihatsu Motor unveiled recently a battery-powered concept car called the me:MO. The car is designed for modular customization inside and out with user 3D-printed parts. Because the public generally sucks at design, the end result is like the car version of a MySpace page. (In related news, Daihatsu still exists.)

Mike’s List of Brilliantly Good Ideas

Got Ghosted names and shames companies that simply stop communicating after a prospective employee applies or gets interviewed.
Receipt-AI organizes your receipts in Quickbooks or Xero when you take a picture of them and text them to the service.
DarkHotels lets you find hotels and Airbnbs based on the amount of nighttime light.

Mike’s List of Moments

Movement of the moment: “The Twitter Resistance” (People who still call Elon Musk’s social network “Twitter” and refuse to call it “X.”)
Word of the moment: “X-odus” (People and companies leaving Twitter.)
Claim of the moment: “The more you troll, and the more furious replies you generate, the more Twitter promotes you and the more Twitter pays you.”
Number of the moment: 4,000 (The number of days NASA’s Curiosity Rover has operated on Mars as of earlier this month.)

Mike’s List of Shameless Self-Promotions

It’s time to take your genAI skills to the next level
The future of augmented reality is AI
Read ELGAN.COM for more!

Mike’s Location: Silicon Valley, California

(Why Mike is always traveling.)