By Leslie Spellman :: 7:59 PM
Late this afternoon Chrysler agreed to recall two older model Jeeps that have plastic fuel tanks located behind the rear axles that could explode in a rear-end collision. The company had initially refused to take action when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) first contacted them regarding the SUVs.
The recall action only covers a portion of the vehicles initially identified by the NHTSA, which earlier this month announced that Jeep Grand Cherokees from model years 1993 through 2004 and Jeep Libertys from 2002 through 2007 were at risk of fire and explosion due to the location of their fuel tanks. A government study showed that that 51 people had died in a three year period from fiery crashes in Jeeps with gas tanks located behind the rear axle.
Chrysler had initially dragged its feet on the recall, claiming that its data and tests showed the design of the vehicles to be well within governmental standards for rear impact collisions. The NHTSA gave Chrysler until tomorrow to respond to the recall request.
Only certain models of the Jeeps initially identified have been selected for recall action by Chrysler. The SUVs that do qualify include over a million and a half Libertys from 2002 through 2007 model years and Grand Cherokees from 1993 through 1998 model years. These vehicles will be outfitted with a Chrysler Mopar brand trailer hitch, which is bolted to the frame behind the fuel tank, providing extra protection to the tank in an impact.
The other vehicles in the NHTSA’s original recall request will be treated as “customer service action” vehicles by Chrysler. Owners of these vehicles will receive notices stating that their vehicles are protected if they have trailer hitches installed by the factory or a dealer-installed hitches. Dealers will offer inspect other trailer hitches to ensure they were installed correctly and provide protection. Vehicles in this category that do not already have a hitch will not receive one.
It is expected that this recall will cost Chrysler about $200 per each hitch that needs to be installed, plus the cost of the labor and parts to install the hitch.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 2:31 PM
If you live in or are visiting New York City this summer, you’ll be able to top up your mobile device’s battery for free at charging locations across the city, thanks to a new program by AT&T called Street Charge.
Street Charge is deploying a cadre of solar powered charging stations in all five boroughs. Outfitted with solar panels on the top of the stations that feed a bank of lithium batteries in the base, the charging stations will work any time of the day or night.
Cables for charging your phone are provided at the station, for any device that uses a Micro USB, USB, 30-pin connector, or Lightning port cord to charge.
Roughly 25 stations will be placed across the city throughout the summer. Some areas that already have a station include Brooklyn Bridge Park, Coney Island, Riverside Park, Central Park, Randall’s Island, Governors Island, Union Square, and Hudson River Park.
AT&T’s Street Charge builds on the efforts the company made after superstorm Sandy last fall, when it provided similar charging areas and temporary cellular signal towers. New Yorkers who had lost power flocked to the AT&T installations to charge their phones and connect to the Internet.
“Recognizing the need for a sustainable charging solution,” said an AT&T spokesperson, “we teamed up with solar industry leader Goal Zero and Brooklyn-based design firm Pensa to develop the initiative and bring it to local residents.”
A map of charging stations, both currently available and planned, is below.
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:49 AM
A news story on the website Arab Crunch earlier this morning made the rounds of the Internet claiming that Facebook had been deliberately blocking the ability for users to log in using the anonymized browsing service TOR.
TOR is a popular tool used by political activists in emerging democracies and countries in turmoil to hide their tracks while using social media services to communicate with their supporters, media, and the outside world in general.
Though it does appear that Facebook was indeed blocking TOR logins for a time, there was no malicious intent on Facebook’s part in doing this.
The block was initiated by Facebook’s system automatically when it detected a higher than normal volume of unexplained activity that the social network’s security tools believed could have been attributed to hackers. Facebook’s actions were taken to protect Facebook users from possible harm due to unauthorized activity.
According to a post on the TOR blog, Facebook is aware that the block has been temporarily put in place, and is working with TOR to address the issue and allow users to log in via the TOR service again.
The TOR blog post reads:
A number of users have noticed that Facebook is blocking connections from the Tor network. Facebook is not blocking Tor deliberately. However, a high volume of malicious activity across Tor exit nodes triggered Facebook’s site integrity systems which are designed to protect people who use the service. Tor and Facebook are working together to find a resolution.
Facebook has not yet commented publicly about the issue.
By Paul Thomson :: 9:08 AM
As a security precaution against hacking attempts, Microsoft has announced that it will do away with its longstanding practice of allowing multiple linked email accounts on its Outlook and Hotmail cloud email services.
The mail services provided by Outlook.com and Hotmail have long allowed users to connected multiple email accounts together under a single sign on. However, as hackers with access to one of the linked accounts can then take over the rest of the accounts, Microsoft sees liked accounts as a target that has been increasingly tempting to hackers.
Over the next two months, Microsoft will transition away from linked accounts, and move to support account aliases instead. Users will be given the option to forward email and send messages from more than one email addresses, but will not be able to control multiple email accounts through one sign-on.
Accounts will begin to be unlinked in late July, and the process will take about two months to cover all linked email accounts across the two services.
By Paul Thomson :: 11:03 PM
College has two L’s, not three.
Who needs spellcheck? Apparently, the National Collegiate Athletic Association does. Despite nearly having the word “college” in their name, they managed to misspell it on a prominent sign above the dugout at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Spotted by Louisville, Kentucky-based sports writer Howie Lindsey and posted to Twitter, the picture above is one of many shared by collegiate baseball fans today, at the start of the series which runs through the 26th.
The NCAA has not made a public comment about the error.
They are, however, currently receiving an earful about the issue on Twitter. Below are some selected Tweets.
Ha. Gotta love the NCAA sometimes. How do you misspell “college” of ALL words
— Geoff Smith (@BerkRecSports) June 15, 2013
How the NCAA gonna misspell the word “college” on top of the dugout at the COLLEGE WORLD SERIES?! Biggest baseball event of the year!
— Tyler palmer (@T_Palms23) June 16, 2013
The NCAA calls themselves a cheer squad for student-athletes, but misspell “college” on 3B dugout in Omaha. How ironic.
— Scottie Bordelon (@ScottieKnows_) June 16, 2013
Who’s watching the CoLLLege World Series?
— Michael Latiolais (@mikeylatiolais) June 16, 2013
So college is apparently spelled colllege on national tv
— Sam Porter (@swats1963) June 16, 2013
“Colllege” World Series. Lol. Sooomebody made a mistake.
— cKj (@colbyjade) June 16, 2013
NCAA setting a great example for Student-Athletes…#coLLLege #CWS (pic from kevingausman12) http://t.co/gDYbCwpVZT
— Myles Laroux (@myleslaroux) June 16, 2013