Two things stand out about this photo that reader Jacob sent in: Firstly, that I never would have picked Obi-wan as a Volvo driver… He always seemed more a Mercedes kind of guy to me. Secondly, that the Jedi master is a lot more vain than the Star Wars films made him out to be, considering those vanity plates cost $430 a year to display on your car. And last I heard, Jedi don’t make that much moolah. The Sith, on the other hand…
[Thanks Jacob!] More »
All of us have considered it at one time or another. What if we just didn’t have a licence plate? The cops could spot us speeding, we’d ditch out on a side street and then we’d drive the same car to work the next day without a hitch (or tasering). It was a fun daydream, but now with these RF Licence Plate Covers, we can live that dream.
It’s well known that Steve’s Merc does not have a licence plate, but a barcode. Many thought that this sticker was some sort of replacement, an agreement with the state of California to display his information. But some car saavy folks tell us that Jobs’ bar code is just be the VIN number to his car and, according to the state of California, no one is exempt from having a licence plate. The fine for driving without one is US$250 per occurrence—coincidentally (or not-so-coincidentally?), the price of an iPod classic. [iPhone Savior]
It’s not what I would call a Bond-calibre flipping licence plate, but the system that a Queens truck driver hooked up in his rig is chock-full of ghetto ingenuity. Apparently, Orlando Payano mounted his licence plate on a hinged piece of metal then ran an attached cable through his cigarette lighter. When he went through a toll booth, all he had to do is pull the cord and abracadabra! No licence plate caught on camera.
While this is by far our favourite geek vanity plate, we don’t pretend that others don’t exist. And frankly, if I pulled up behind someone repping a wireless radio standard for all to see on the back of their Hyundai, I think there’s a great chance I might spit-take my Big Gulp and risk a rear impact collison. And that’s not the only one–Pingdom’s blog has a great roundup of geek flags flying high and hard on back bumpers around the world.
