jan. 24

Links we love today: Mid-season acquisitions, suing celebs, Dr. Mew and more

Assistant Editor Samantha Pitchel reads everything so you don’t have to.

Here are the links we loved today:

Meet HUMORdy, a new YouTube channel featuring videos from comedians, actors and filmmakers in Austin.

Elissa Bassist on the many ways improv can improve your writing.

18 funny women you should be following on Twitter; 8 life lessons from a 52-year-old prostitute; 5 things we learned from Monday’s debate.

DR. MEW: DR. WHO-INSPIRED CAT ILLUSTRATIONS!

Ben Stiller and Jonathan Safran Foer developing “Jewish family comedy” All Talk for HBO; Vulture breaks down the 10 new pilots ordered by NBC; Rob Riggle, Brian Posehn and Kumail Nanjiani join stop motion feature; Julian Assange getting his own TV show?

What do Kathleen Hanna and the Insane Clown Posse have in common?

Martha Stewart sued by Macy’s; Jimmy Fallon sued for gender discrimination.

Oldest dinosaur nest site found!

Spending on small luxuries really adds up:

U.S. workers spend more than $1,000 a year on coffee and another $2,000 on lunch, with men and young workers more willing to indulge in a $5 coffee than women or older colleagues, according to a survey of Americans' workplace spending habits.

...how does your food spending stack up? Mother Jones' calculator tells you if your expenses are normal or excessive.

James Murphy talks about LCD Soundsystem doc Shut Up and Play the Hits; Joseph Gordon-Levitt "songifies" the news, and yep, it's precious.

We are excited about: Topshop’s new nail art pens; The forthcoming Ed Emberley documentary; This AV Club interview with Chris Gethard.

Why not send someone a Hammogram?

New episode of The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show, featuring DC Pierson talking about his sci-fi novel, The Boy Who Never Slept and Never Had To.

I have a crazy girl crush on Katy Goodman, frontwoman for La Sera; check out the new video for “Please Be My Third Eye”:

A clip from John Mulaney’s new special, New in Town, airing Saturday on Comedy Central (and available on DVD next Tuesday):

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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