Richard Read, Reporter
Articles
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UPDATED: See below
Ever hankered for a piece of Marilyn Monroe -- or Debbie Reynolds, or Carrie Fisher, or Cary Grant for that matter? Well, you're about to have a chance to score a grand slam,...
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Tori Spelling Crashes After Paparazzi Chase: Is Ecclestone To Blame?It was a Monday morning like any other for Tori Spelling. She woke up, got the kids out of bed, then ran a gauntlet of paparazzi while driving them to school. Only this Monday, the shutterbugs forced Spelling to crash -- and Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone may be (indirectly) to blame. According...
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Father's Day: 5 Great Gifts For Gadget-LoversPeople complain about Mother's Day, about how hard it is to shop for mom, about how commercialized it's become, about the price of long-stemmed roses. But Mother's Day is a walk in the park compared to Father's Day. You see, Father's Day has always been an afterthought. It was conceived after...
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Bernie Ecclestone Buys Priciest Mansion in U.S. (For His Kid)Money is no object when it comes to completely spoiling the FIA supremo's daughter, it seems.
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Austin Chumlee Russell Haggles His Way Into A MaseratiHere's a little celeb news to make you smile -- or cry, or maybe scratch your head, depending on your point of view: Austin "Chumlee" Russell from the reality series Pawn Stars is now motoring around Vegas in a Maserati GranTurismo. According to TMZ, the Chumster visited his local Maserati showroom...
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Security Breach? Nissan Leaf Shares Your Location & SpeedIt might seem surprising in today's world of Facebook updates and Foursquare checkins, but people are still concerned about privacy. In fact, privacy concerns have resulted in major headaches (and lawsuits) for both Google and Apple in recent months, and we wouldn't be surprised if Anthony Weiner...
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Google built its reputation as a small, simple search engine, but there's nothing small about the company's investment in electric vehicles. Google has just placed an order for 30 Nissan Leafs and...
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Car In The Shop? Google Maps Tells You How Late The Bus Is: VideoThe only thing more annoying than putting your car in the shop is waiting to catch the bus the next day. It's such a common frustration, it made up Everywoman Sandra Bullock's entire backstory in Speed. The worst part is that while some transit systems offer updates to commuters, indicating when...
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Volvo Launches Beefed-Up 'Volvo On Call' App For iPhone, Android In EuropeVolvo was one of several auto brands cast off from its parent company during the recent recession. The majority of those marques were shuttered (e.g. HUMMER, Pontiac, Saturn), and one -- Saab -- is struggling to keep the doors open. Volvo, however, has managed to stay the course, and a new app...
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Greased Lighting Goes To Car Heaven The Same Week As Jeff ConawayIf you've seen the 1978 movie Grease, you know Greased Lightning. It's car that John Travolta and his pals restore over the course of a rousing musical number and turn into a...well, we won't use the term from the song, we'll just call it a "chick magnet". One of the rides used during the filming...
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iOnRoad App Brings Collision-Avoidance To Your Smartphone: VideoIf you're in the market for a new vehicle, you might be tempted to go for something with high-tech safety features, like a collision-avoidance system. At the moment, though, most of that technology is tied to luxury rides or comes as pricey add-ons. But if you've got an Android smartphone, a new...
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Ray LaHood Wants Less Tech In Cars, More Ads About Distracted Driving: VideoYou can call U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood many things, but "slouch" isn't on the list. At a time when computing and social media are expanding to fill every corner of our daily lives, LaHood is pushing back, urging automakers to limit the technology included in new cars. Not only...
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There's controversy brewing in Italy these days, and it has nothing to do with Berlusconi or teenage mistresses. No, the cause of the consternation is the return of the Italians' long-lost cousins:...
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Tipsy Supermodel Estella Warren Needs Help Getting Home: VideogameIf you were paying attention last week, you probably heard about model/actress Estella Warren's run-in with the law (which happened shortly after her run-in with a row of parked cars). Well, if you thought you'd heard the last of Ms. Warren, think again, because TMZ has made her the subject of a...
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Break Free Of Traffic Jams With John Cleese & TomTom: VideoEverybody loves John Cleese, right? Beyond his work on the popular Monty Python and Fawlty Towers TV shows -- not to mention many memorable film appearances -- he's written for stage and screen, and he's managed to inject some much-needed humor into the political climate of both the U.S. and...
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Memorial Day: 6 Apps For Your 3-Day WeekendIf you're one of our U.S. readers, you're probably (well, hopefully) preparing for a three-day weekend. And although gas prices are sky high, chances are good that many of you are planning road trips over the Memorial Day holiday. If you're in that number, we'd like to suggest a few apps that'll...
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Ford Takes Its Talking Vehicles On The RoadWhile EVs and plug-in hybrids may be drawing most of the headlines these days, there's another tech development on the horizon that could bring bigger changes for drivers -- and the planet. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology is a promising, affordable solution to many of today's transportation...
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Peugeot 3008 Launches Out-Of-This-World Space Flight ContestIf you live in the U.K. and you've got some time to kill this summer, Peugeot has launched a new contest that might be of interest. And if you win, they'll shoot you into outer space. (Well, almost.) The contest is called "Spot3008", and it's designed to hype the automaker's 3008 crossover. The way...
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Have you ever been motoring down the street and thought, "Well, okay, this is fine, but driving would be a lot more fun if it were more like a videogame"? So have we. Thankfully, the folks at...
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Bianci Pro Racing Watches Win The Jay Leno Seal Of ApprovalYour wristwatch can say a lot about you as a person. Rolex? Traditional topsider type. Casio? Hipster. TAG Heuer? Leonardo DiCaprio. Now, a new line of watches wants to tell the world that you're a gearhead -- and it's got Jay Leno on its side. The line is called Bianci, and one glance at its "Pro...
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Ford Sync Could Soon Monitor Your Blood Pressure, TooFord's popular Sync telematics system offers an array of great features, like entertainment, navigation, and diagnostics. Now, the automaker's tech team are wondering if they might extend diagnostics to evaluate the health of drivers themselves. Developers at Ford have begun working with WellDoc, a...
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The eBay Motors App Arrives At Last, But Can It Save The Day?We expected the eBay Motors app to arrive in March, but it missed that deadline by a couple of months. Now that it's finally arrived, can the app redeem itself by preserving eBay's standing as a worthwhile shopping destination? There's no denying that eBay has lost luster over the past few years...
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Three's A Trend: Volkswagen Enters The Ride-Sharing GameToday, roughly 50% of the world's population lives in urban environments, and by 2030, the figure is expected to hit 60%. This presents an interesting challenge for automakers: given the hassle of car ownership in cities -- not to mention subways, buses, and other transportation methods available...
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Dallas, Minneapolis, San Francisco Become Part Of DOT's 'Talking Car' ProjectWe all know about the growing popularity of collision avoidance systems. As recently as this week, we've even heard about developments on the autonomous car front. Problem is, most of those systems depend on vehicles going it alone, using radar and other technology to avoid hazards in their way...
Richard Read