The future is now! Not only do we have driverless cars, we have driverless car crashes! We’ll give Google credit, at least the search engine and online marketing giant is trying to make the world a better place by testing out self-driving software on a Toyota Prius. But earlier this week, the first ever driverless car crash took place on Google’s testing grounds.

Image: inhabitat.com

At least, that is what the web has led us to believe. Photos were supplied from Google’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters – showing the Prius apparently sitting in the aftermath of a rear-end collision with another Prius. However, Business Insider received the following quote from a Google spokesperson about the incident: “Safety is our top priority. One of our goals is to prevent fender-benders like this one, which occurred while a person was manually driving the car.” Take THAT internet speculation!

The Toyota Prius is highly recognizable around the Google compound. That model is used in many locations across the nation as the Google Maps Street View recording vehicle. The driverless Google car implements millions of dollars worth of sensors, combined with the expertise mapping capability of Google Maps.

Source – Jalopnik

High above the rooftops of New York City sits a World War I era plane. Located 26-stories up on 77 Water Street (since 1970) the 1916 Sopwith Camel, a bi-plane not flown since WWI, was laid atop the building by the William Kaufman Organization.

Onlookers from other skyscrapers tend to be distracted not only by the warplane itself, but also working runway lights and large “77″ painted on the landing strip.

“When you’re in a building that’s higher, and you’re looking down, it’s pretty ugly,” Robert Kaufman, the builder’s president told Wall Street Journal. “So we said: ‘what can we do?’ And we got the idea of putting an airplane on the roof.”

The image can be viewed regularly thanks to the magic of Big Brother Google Maps.

Source: Jalopnik

Here’s a look at the newly announced General Motors Plant closures in the North Eastern & Midwest United States.

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Thanks to Google Maps, bbs.keyhole.com & Jalopnik.

Thanks to the New York Times who did a little Google Mapping of soon-to-be-closed Chrysler Dealerships in the continental 48 states. I am patiently awaiting one for GM dealers.

Man…that’s a lot of red.

The Stig – UK’s most elusive celebrity. Some say he is man, others alien. Personally, I think he is from another dimension – possibly brought to this world by some freak accident involving Doctor Who & his TARDIS. Nonetheless, Top Gear’s #1 test driver has been spotted at home through the magic of the newly introduced Google Street View UK.

We see Stiggy in a very unnatural habitat – suiting up in all white at what appears to be an office building. Perhaps he was just disconnected from his robotic recharging post and is about to be teleported to a nearby race track to test drive the new Nissan GT-R. That’s only a theory, of course.