MindDrive – A Car Driven by Social Media

There is nothing like a great American road trip.  Ever since Ford made the automobile mainstream with the Model T, people have been driving to and from wherever his or her heart pleases.  Sometimes these excursions are for fun, and some have a purpose.  They all have one thing in common though: lots of fuel is used.  Now what if your runs off of Tweets, FaceBook posts, and Instagram follows?  This is MindDrive’s Project Ghia.

MindDrive is based in Kansas City.  It is an “auto-shop-type” based program designed to help the at-risk youth of the urban environment learn a trade, and to more or less keep them out of trouble.  Their stated mission is “to inspire students to learn, expand their vision of the future, and to have a positive impact on urban workforce development.”

What MindDrive is doing is very beneficial for the youth of today’s society, but they are not learning how to do oil changes in a 1993 Ford Escort.  Project Ghia involves taking an old 1967 beat up Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia, and not only restoring it, but converting it to an electric car that is powered by social media.

Basically, the plan is for the students to drive the car from Kansas City to Washington, DC to promote the program MindDrive.  The car is only given wattage to move if people “like” them on Facebook, comment on FaceBook, Tweet them, tag them, follow them, and so on.

To have a bunch of at-risk teens build a car after school is one thing, but to have them convert an old chunk of steel into an electric car that runs off of “social fuel” is another.  Help fuel them on their journey by following them, Tweeting them, and so on!  Their information is below!

MindDrive

Website

FaceBook

Twitter (#MindDrive)

Instagram

YouTube

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The Brilliant Bus

Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post

Well this is something different.  We have a bus.  What’s so special about a bus?  This bus is a unique creation by retired Estella Pyfrom.  So a retired woman purchased a bus; what’s the big deal?  Well, how are you reading this: your phone, your computer, or a tablet, right?  This is something many people, especially children, do not have access to.  A simple desktop computer is something that a lot of us take for granted.

Estella Pyfrom realized this and with her retirement money spent an initial $450,000 on “Miss Estella’s Brilliant Bus”.  The bus was fitted with 17 computers loaded with educational software.  The bus tours around the Palm Beach area in Florida, allowing children without access to a computer get their hands on one.

She does have certain rules like no gum and no going on Facebook.  She has the stations set up to follow state mandated curriculums.  Children are only allow to progress to the next level of education on her bus if they get a 90% or higher on each level.  Now those are some standards! 

She does not just cater toward children though.  She also aids the parents of the children with helping them with writing a resume, finding affordable housing, and searching for jobs.  If that’s not enough, Pyfrom has also partnered with a nonprofit organization in the community to help provide meals to 3,000 residents each month!

Estella Pvfrom Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post

The total running cost is reaching almost 1 million dollars to maintain and modify the bus.  However, Pyfrom is not looking for an easy retirement. 

"I'm not tired yet. And I don't think I'm going to get tired," she said.  "I'm constantly charged up.  I look at the faces of the children and I get energized."

Now that’s a pretty bold statement; one that I can personally respect.  So many people are in a rush to help the children in Africa and other less fortunate areas, and while I will say there is nothing wrong with that, charity and goodwill should start from home.  There are millions of families here in the United States that can use our help.  Estella Pyfrom is helping with this amazing idea.

If you would like to learn more, or if you would like to help Estella Pyfrom continue this dream, visit Miss Estella’s Brilliant Bus website here!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ATOZYcom!

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Chrome Wrap: The Average Joe’s Alternative to an Oil Sheikh’s Daily Driver

It’s simple: girls like diamonds, and guys like chrome.  Any guy who loves his car, bike or truck, will usually try to get a tasteful amount of chrome accents on it when the budget allows.  What one would commonly see is wheels, exhaust, interior trim, engine dress-up pieces, and the like.  But what about having a chrome car?  Well unless you own an oil empire in Saudi Arabia, you may have to settle for chrome wrap.

Some of you may be asking, “What is a wrap?”  For those who are new to this, I’ll explain.  It’s pretty much what it sounds.  A large sheet (or precut pieces of vinyl) is placed over a car.  It’s as simple as that.  Doing this will give the car a completely new look such as changing the car’s color, adding graphics, or both.  Take a look at this black Mustang being turned blue!

Courtesy of Auto Blog

So now what about chrome wrapping?  Well, it’s the same concept as above, but now the “color” is chrome.  This will certainly be a head turner.  For an example, take a look at this video from a company that seems to have three names (click here for their website to see what I mean):

Any car modification in my mind comes down to “what’s the price?”  A shop in the Orlando, Florida area wrapped a 2013 Infinity G37 Coupe for about $8000.  That’s a lot of money to someone like me, and probably to most of the people reading this.  Most typical vinyl wraps can cost anywhere from $2000 to $4000 or more.  Is an extra $4000 really worth getting your car to look like a mirror?  That depends on the person with the car and wallet. 

All I have to say, is you better have a garage to keep that thing in, because that would be a (insert chosen word) to clean.

Courtesy of AUSmotive

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