Hasta La Gadget!

A peek at Crimea’s controversial election day, Philly widens freeways by mistake, and does Austin, Texas, have a drinking problem? Plus, the incredible story behind Rio’s most famous monument, and the truth about earthquakes in L.A. Come along with us on this week’s Urban Reads.

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I am quite sure that Hanna Barbera’s cartoons do bring back plenty of fond memories to many of us, with the futuristic The Jetsons being one of them, long before the likes of Star Trek and Star Wars made their respective appearances. The Jetsons did come with a future which was full of robots as well as pets that were intelligent enough to hold a conversation with you. The world that they lived in back then was entirely unrealistic, but it does seem that over time, technology in the real world might have been playing catch up, and have done so pretty well to boot. The Commute-Case is definitely a move in the right direction.

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Commute-Case Turns Your Briefcase Into A Ride original content from Ubergizmo.

Carmageddon—it was the nightmare scenario L.A.’s transportation authorities warned of when a construction project shut down a critical stretch of freeway for an entire weekend in July 2011. Gridlock. The glow of brake lights. The overwhelming angst of a city denied its full and unimpeded access to its freeways. In the end, the public outreach built around that ominous term worked. Motorists stayed home, and life went on as normal. A few wags even staged a "dinner party" on the deserted freeway.

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Uber is a popular ridesharing service that has seen significant global expansion in the past year. The company is often criticized for various reasons, some find fault with its surge pricing policies while others downright oppose its presence in their cities. Since a tragic incident in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve, there has been much talk about Uber’s insurance policy. It has made a few changes and described the updated policy in detail on its official blog. Drivers and passengers are now insured when the Uber mobile app is turned on during a ride, coverage of up to $100,000 is offered for bodily injuries, with $50,000 maximum per person.

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Uber Details Updated Insurance Policy For Passengers And Drivers original content from Ubergizmo.

Ah Paris—city of light, city of love, city of smog? Unusually warm spring weather has trapped diesel car emissions, blanketing much of France in noxious and dangerous air pollution. It’s gotten so bad that officials in Paris are taking the radical next step of making public transportation, bike shares, and electric car shares free to use all weekend.

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