Our government is really doing some stupid shit. For starters, Biden is writing orders that take over sectors of the economy because, well because he wants to.
He is using the Wartime Production Act, an act meant to allow the president to mandate production of necessary materials during wartime, to mandate the production of heat pumps. Most of the companies announced in the order, seven out of the nine, don’t manufacture heat pumps. Now they do. Or else.
Then that is followed by news that our new Speaker of the House is the same old establishment piece of garbage that is the Republican and Democratic parties. Our speaker allowed a provision to be funded in the continuing resolution that funds a mandate requiring that all vehicles manufactured after 2025 be equipped with technology that will automatically disable the vehicle if driver impairment is detected. Adding to that, new regulations will be coming down that require vehicles to include speed limiters that detect the speed limit and prohibit the vehicle from operating above it.
I did a post in jest back in 2015 about what would happen when major computer software makers controlled cars. If you remember, I have been talking about auto manufacturers charging subscription fees in order to activate certain features on cars like cruise control or air conditioning. The air conditioner costs $15 a month, the ability to tow a trailer is $20 a month, and engaging the four wheel drive sets you back $40 a month. Heck, even the seat warmers cost $4 a month. It will cost you $20 a month to use your key fob to remotely unlock or start your vehicle. See where this is going?
Suppose you were the government and wanted to get on this gravy train. You could charge people a monthly fee to operate on high speed highways. Or perhaps charge people from other states a fee to operate a vehicle in your state. Perhaps you voted for the wrong candidate, or your Social Score drops- your car gets turned off.
I predicted at the time that a new industry would take off: an industry centered around hacking or jailbreaking your car. It turns out that I was correct. That day is already here.
I drive an F150, and people are already doing some interesting hacks on Ford vehicles. Enter a piece of software called FORScan. You can already do some interesting things. Reprogramming your temperature gauges to bee more than just meaningless scales, for one thing.
Teslas have been found to have an unpatchable security hole that will allow owners to unlock all pay to play features on Teslas.
I have already done a few hacks to my truck. I got rid of that annoying automatic start/stop feature in my F-150, for one thing.
