Selling your home ranks in the top ten most stressful things you can do in your life. While it may notbe as tough as getting divorced, married or speaking in public, many people pay little or no attention to the details of selling their house. It is these details that can make the difference between success and failure. Even in a hot realestate market, you may sell your home but neglected details affect how much a buyer will pay for your property.more. . .
Good kitchen design starts early, even as early as locating the room within the house. If you're lucky enough to be able to choose which direction your kitchen will face, consider orienting it toward the east or southeast, where morning sun will fill it with light. Unfortunately, in rehab, choosing the southeast orientation is not always possible, although we think it's worth working hard to achieve. Read more...
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TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese carmaker Nissan has said it will mobilize 10,000 drivers in a 30-month experiment to develop an "intelligent transportation system" that sends wireless messages to passing cars.
"Car approaching from left" and "School ahead. Watch your speed," are two voice messages which drivers will receive through the system which uses information obtained from nearby vehicles and roadside optical beacons.
The information is received by an onboard antenna on the vehicle to alert drivers to potential danger from approaching vehicles or inform them of traffic congestion ahead, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. said in a statement.
The test will start on October 1 on public roads in Kanagawa, a prefecture just south of Tokyo, with the number-two Japanese carmaker hoping to commercialize the system in 2010.
"We want to make it a success in Kanagawa prefecture and spread the technology nationwide and around the world," Nissan senior vice president Minoru Shinohara told a news conference.
The experiment will involve Nissan cars equipped with the company's own car navigation system.
The system is seen feasible in Japan where more than 50 percent of cars are equipped with such navigational gadgets linked to the via-satellite Global Positioning System, compared with fewer than 10 percent in the United States and European countries.
The system will be developed in cooperation with NTT DoCoMo, consumer electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the National Police Agency and other concerns, the statement said.
The experiment will test several functions including the "vehicle alert" which tells drivers that other vehicles are moving too fast at blind intersections.
"Speed alert" warns drivers when they are speeding in a school zone. An image of a school zone sign appears on the drivers navigation screen along with a voice warning.
The system also includes "dynamic route finder" which informs drivers of the quickest route to their destination using probe data collected from mobile phones operated by NTT DoCoMo.
