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Japanese auto makers to develop a standard car OS

Jaspar
The Japanese government is working with 10 major Japenese auto makers to develop a standardized automobile operating system. While we're tempted to make jokes about blue screens of death and unexpected errors, the truth is many cars now include complex electronics and require a computer system to coordinate all those newfangled parts. And developing a uniform operating system is going to make life a lot easier on your poor neighborhood mechanic.

JasPar, or the Japan Automotive Software Platform Architecture group will be responsible for developing the platform. JasPar is a joint venture that includes the cooperation of Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Toshiba, and other auto and electronics makers. Many of those companies are currently developing their own operating systems.

The goal is to have a prototype available in 2009, with a final version on the market in 5 to 10 years.

[via TechMeme]

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

CiviballsI have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

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