jan. 27

Links we love today: 80s photos, porn star politicians, #humblebrag rankings andmore

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

Here are the links we loved today:

The 120 Minutes Archive is “the independent, critically acclaimed, definitive library of music video nostalgia.”

Tumblr of the day: T Rex Trying.

No big deal or anything but THERE ARE 26 NEW PLANETS.

30 pounds of cocaine found…at the United Nations?

5 ways Clueless ruined my life; 3 Parks and Rec-inspired rap songs; 10 awesome animated music videos; 5 ways to customize your Mac’s desktop icons.

Harris Wittels doing God’s work over at Grantland with the latest installment of #humblebrag power rankings.

New episode of Julie Klausner’s “How Was Your Week?” featuring David Cross and Eliot Glazer.

Jump From Paper’s eye-catching bags are the ultimate trompe l’oeil.

Daily Beat writer Ramin Setoodeh reviews Katherine Heigl’s One For The Money:

1:03 a.m. At this point, Heigl does the impossible: handcuffed naked to her own shower pole, she’s still boring.

Amazing Flickr set: New York in the 80s.

Today in Girl News, Kate Carraway explores being alone (but not lonely).

Two porn stars are running for mayor in the same Italian town; Kazakhstan has a fancy new subway.

The AV Club interviews The Weakerthans’ John K. Samson about his solo album Provincial.

Secrets of the world’s healthiest women.

There is a museum of water in St. Petersburg, Russia (and it looks awesome); Russian rock band Mumiy Troll to release first English LP.

GQ explains the allure of Chris Jericho:

Historically, Jericho has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, working in places where great things are happening: Mexico's lucha libre scene in the early '90s, Japan and ECW in the mid-'90s, WCW's ridiculously fertile undercard in the late '90s, the on-fire WWF main-event scene around the turn of the century.

Episode 3 of Craig Rowin’s new podcast, “It’s That Episode,” featuring The Onion’s Seth Reiss, will be up on Monday; here’s a two-minute preview:

Have you seen the new Sleigh Bells video yet?

They Might Be Giants perform “When You Die” on Conan last night:

Self-driving Roller Coaster

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

Waymo car

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.

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

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