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EyesOn Design 2008

If seeing is believing, then the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology (DIO) does their share of making new believers annually, including those who are visually impaired. Originally founded in 1972 by Dr. Philip Hessburg and his associates in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, out of a genuine appreciation for fine automobiles, the DIO gives credit to the designers who have given these cars their individual beauty.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

New version of Sync turns car into mobile wireless hotspot

The next generation of Ford's Sync system will turn the car into a wireless connection hotspot. The wireless Internet connection is active when a cellular wireless card, also known as an air card, is plugged into the car's USB port. The connection can than be accessed by wireless devices in the car, such as a laptop computer or a handheld device.