Watercooler Stories

Commissioning studios aid luxury car buyer

BOSTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Many top-of-the-line U.S. luxury car consumers don't want to wait the three to four months to have their luxury vehicles built.

Many Americans wanting to buy a customized car like DaimlerChrysler's Maybach, which costs about $300,000, are used to picking a car off the lot and driving off in it, Robert Ross, automotive editor of Robb Report, told the Boston Globe.

"That's the pleasure of having a car commissioned, you get to sit there and think about it and it makes it better when the thing arrives," Ross said. "You're not going to be first if your car has to be made from scratch."

To help the luxury car consumer customize his or her vehicle, car dealers have created commissioning studios at their dealerships where clients can sit, have a drink, and discuss the color, leather and wood used on the interior -- as well as the radar braking system, set of silver wine goblets in the center console, 21-speaker surround-sound system, DVD player, TV monitors and refrigerated wine cooler.

Soccer moms muzzled on game day

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Coaches and parents of a Los Angeles-area youth soccer league weren't allowed to make a peep during this weekend's games.

Coaches, parents and all other spectators at Region 88 American Youth Soccer Association games in Glendale and La Crescenta were told to stay hushed as part of an etiquette experiment that keeps feisty adults quiet and empowers children to play their games with minimal interference, the Los Angeles Times reported.

They could mumble, but only beneath their breath. They could express enthusiasm only with applause -- and when their children scored goals, they could jump for joy but not cheer, the newspaper said.

Known as Silent Saturdays or Silent Sundays, the idea has been gaining steam since the late 1990s in youth soccer leagues around the country.

"We're giving the kids a chance to play the game. We're letting them do it their own way," said Aldo Mascheroni, commissioner of the Region 88 AYSO.

Stanford wins robot race

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Pentagon officials are reviewing the tape but believe Stanley, a robotic vehicle designed by a team from Stanford University, won the Grand Challenge race.

The race is part of an attempt by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to get non-governmental researchers to develop new technology, The New York Times reports.

DARPA developed the Predator drone, the stealth fighter and the precursor to the Internet, the Arpanet.

Twenty-three teams designed robotic vehicles to compete for the $2 million prize, but only three could finish the 132-mile course through the Nevada desert.

Stanford's vehicle, a retrofitted Volkswagen Touareg, and a Hummer and a Humvee from Carnegie Mellon University crossed the finish line within two minutes of each other.

None of the 15 contestants in the first Grand Challenge in March 2004 finished that race.

Liles writes hip-hop book of advice

NEW YORK, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Kevin Liles, a U.S. hip-hop record company executive, has written a book that says even accountants can get jiggy to achieve success.

The multimillionaire writes in "Make It Happen: The Hip-Hop Generation Guide to Success" that would-be tycoons could achieve their wildest ambitions by "embracing the struggle" and following the "hip-hop way," reported the Sunday Telegraph.

"The Donald (Trump) understands the hip-hop way of celebrating his identity," said Liles. "He makes his swagger work for him. Without that, he would just be another real estate developer."

Liles says hip-hop culture involves a work ethic that has the power to make dreams come true. He says his book provides advice not just for young rap music enthusiasts but for bored businessmen as well.