New and improved!

Earlier this year, my wife traded her 2003 Pontiac Vibe (manual transmission, window cranks) for a 2024 Hyundai Elantra. The Elantra not only has electric windows, it also has a key fob that allows the bearer to open the door and turn on the car without inserting the key anywhere. It has a computer monitor and video cameras and front, back and side radar sensors. It has pressure sensors for all four tires. The software can be updated remotely, but only when the car isn’t in motion. I’m glad she didn’t get a Jeep.

“A software update to Jeep 4xE models caused major malfunctions over the weekend – leaving many owners stranded and some in danger after their power failed.

 

“The culprit appears to have been a buggy "over the air" (OTA) software update to the company’s uconnect software on Friday October 10, which “bricked” vehicles if owners installed it.”

*snip*

“Some described losing power abruptly whilst driving in the wake of the update. One Jeep owner, Kerry Hollis, who works in IT infrastructure at Wells Fargo, told The Stack: “This was a software change that obviously wasn’t tested thoroughly and was dangerous and could have had life safety implications. 

 

“Fortunately, for me, I lost propulsion while going at low speed in my neighborhood, so I was able to pull over, restart and limp back to my home. I’ve read stories of others that weren’t in that situation, going at highway speeds, and in traffic...

 

"Stellantis reacted quickly but it shouldn’t have happened..."

 

“He added: It’s concerning... that most auto manufacturers and new vehicles even have the ability to be disabled by the manufacturer or even worse, someone with a malicious intent.”

 

I’m still driving my 2013 Honda Fit. Not only does it not require remote software updates, but it’s a stick shift, so nobody under the age of 60 can steal it. It only has 62K miles on it, so I’m hoping to keep it on the road for another ten years.

https://www.thestack.technology/jeep-software-update-bricks-vehicles-leaves-owners-stranded/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I agree with RFK Jr.

Though it feels weird to say it, RFK Jr and I agree on something: curtailing direct-to-consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals. “ The Trump administration is discussing policies that would make it harder and more expensive for pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to patients, in a move that could disrupt more than $10 billion in annual ad spending.   Although the US is the only place, besides New Zealand, where pharma companies can directly advertise, banning pharma ads outright could make the administration vulnerable to lawsuits, so it’s instead focusing on cutting down on the practice by adding legal and financial hurdles, according to people familiar with the plans who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.   “The two policies the administration has focused in on would be to require greater disclosures of side effects of a drug within each ad — likely making broadcast ads much longer and prohibitively expensive — or removing the industry’s ability to d...
Read more

About that Trump lawsuit

So Trump is suing Rupert Murdoch for defamation because of the release of a salacious doodle. Nothing remarkable about Donald J. Trump weaponizing the legal system against his opponents, I know. But there are some things that do bear remark here: “ . . . he's suing Rupert Murdoch personally. But you know who he's not suing? Lachlan Murdoch, who's actually the chairperson of News Corp and Fox, who's actually the decision-maker. Rupert Murdoch has no official role there anymore. He's an adviser.   “So, I thought that was revealing in a lot of ways, because it isn't just about going after the entity. It's sort of this expansion spillover, trying to send as much of a message as you possibly can. He's sort of hitting every potential lever, not just against Murdoch and that empire, but then all the other media properties in the future. It's also about sending an example.” “HAYES: Yeah. That, to me, is the point here, is that these lawsuits are not lawsuits...
Read more

ACIP and the thimerosal hoax

Now that a notorious anti-vaxxer is Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, fringe theories on vaccines are being mainstreamed at the CDC and other governmental agencies. On example is the fake thimerosal-autism connection: “ Thimerosal, an ethyl-mercury based preservative, has been employed since the 1930s to keep multi-dose vials of vaccines safe and free of contamination. Despite its value, it has become a target for anti-vaccine activists due to faulty, unwarranted extrapolations from methyl-mercury, a distinct form of mercury that can be toxic in high doses.   “This fallacious association between thimerosal, toxicity, and potential neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism has been thoroughly investigated in dozens of clinical trials over decades. One of the more notable studies involved comparing cohorts of Danish children who were vaccinated with a thimerosal-containing pertussis vaccine (which was routinely in use until 1992), with those who were later vaccin...
Read more