Journalists have long used those silly fifth-wheels and radar guns to measure the performance of the vehicles they are testing. Now that the iPhone has a built-in accelerometer (that's how it knows you turned it sideways) - it was only a matter of time before someone put it to good use.

Liberty For One's g-tac can measure 0-60 time, quarter mile time and trap speed, and even 60-0 braking distance.  There is a graph available that plots your last three runs.  g-tac is available on the iPhone App Store for $4.99 - that's cheaper than the gas required to run a quarter in a muscle car.

A thousand miles, a carful of kids. It's no small undertaking. It's a situation that calls not only for some music, but for the right music. The perfect presciption to keep kids and parents both, in good spirits as the miles roll by. For this we needed a professional. We needed Uncle Rock. We're loving Uncle Rock's Road Trip Mix available on iTunes. Here's the playlist, just click through to itunes to download your own.

1. Rock Out - Uncle Rock

2. House Party Time - Dan Zanes & Friends

3. Dance Around - Ralph's World

4. I'm A Believer - The Monkees (or Smash Mouth)

5. One Little Slip - Barenaked Ladies

6. Alphabet Of Nations - They Might Be Giants

7. Peace Will Come - Dog On Fleas

8. Best Day Ever - Spongebob Squarepants

9. Yellow Submarine - The Beatles

10. Funkytown - Alvin & The Chipmunks

11. The Time Of Your Life - Randy Newman

12. What Goes On - Elizabeth Mitchell

13. Accidentally In Love - Counting Crows

14. Superhero Medley - Uncle Rock

About Uncle Rock: Before being dubbed "Uncle Rock" by his nephew, Robert Burke Warren  performed as a bass player in many rock and roll bands, including international garage rock titans The Fleshtones, and spent a year portraying Buddy Holly in "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" in London's West End. His CDs "Uncle Rock - Here We Go!", "Uncle Rock Plays Well With Others" and "Uncle Rock U" feature catchy, funky, raw rock songs for kids and their families and have recieved rave reviews from the LA Times and Cookie Magazine.

We're looking forward to rocking out more with Uncle Rock on Car and Caboodle, and can't wait to hear what he has in store for us for back to school and upcoming holidays.

The next time your mechanic dings you for a $20 Cabin Air Filter change, keep in mind that others are spending much more for similar service. The Sun is reporting that an unnamed Lamborghini Murcielago owner recently flew his supercar from Doha to London and back for a simple oil change.

The fluid change, which may or may not have included the dreaded cabin air filter add-on, cost a whopping £3,552 (roughly $7,000 USD.) Freight from Qatar to England and back - a 6,500 mile journey - is around £20,000 ($39,600) - bringing the total to over $46,000 for the entire shebang.

Environmental groups in the UK are expressing outrage, and as one Heathrow airport employee rightfully pointed out, it would have been much less expensive to fly a couple technicians first class to Qatar. 

I'm not passing judgement here, I think the world needs supercars and Sheikhs to buy them. What do you think? Is this excess intolerable or is it just one person spending their money the way they please?

No one wants to plan for an emergency, but a little bit of planning goes a long way towards making the most of your vacation days and can help prevent a tragedy. Worth the effort!

If you are planning a trip then you will want to check out some of the offerrings at the Chicks and Cubs website.  Some picks to consider:

1. Physical IDs for children to have all the information they need, ON them, to get back to parents quickly if they become lost. ID bracelets, Shoe Stickers, Shoe Tags, Dog Tags, Temporary Tattoos, Electronic Child Locator ($8.00-$30.00)

2. Wallet IDs These are great for putting all the important information in one place. Parents carry the card and hand it over to authorities if you child is lost. Also great for giving to other caregivers (child care on a cruise, playdates,...). This can also be a physical ID for tweens/teens - since they don't have a drivers license yet. ($10.00 for 5 cards)

3. Parking Pal Magnet This is a magnet that you put on your car. It gives children something to do while you get babies and/or other gear out of the car so they don't dart out into traffic in a parking lot. (set of 2 magnets for $16.00)

4. Information for before you go on a trip (to busy, crowded places!!). Kid Escape! from Child Abductors DVD - teaches kids physical moves to try there very best to ESCAPE from an abductor.  ($12.00)

5. Mini First Aid  Kit This first aid kit is great for little scrapes. Great size for diaper bag, camera bag, purse. ($6.00)

If there's one game my kids enjoy playing on the road, it's "Would You Rather?". Unfortunately, they are not all that creative with the questions so when they make up their own it usually goes like this:

Kid One: "Hey Mom, would you rather walk down the street naked or eat dog poop?" (naked)

Kid Two: "Hey Mom, would you rather eat cat poop or walk down the street naked?" (still naked!)

Thankfully the folks at Zobmondo are pretty good at coming up with clever conundrums that do not all involve public nudity or animal poo, and that my kids still find immensely amusing. As do I. Such as:

"Would You Rather... Rip a garment while trying it on and swear you found it that way or… be given too much change and not tell the cashier?"

Zobmondo's version of this travel game ensures that you are never out of amusingly tricky choices and that you will enjoy much laughter and lively conversation as the miles fly by. Sans electronics!

We're hitting the road in a week's time, and we'll be bringing the travel version of Zobmondo's "Would You Rather..." game along with us. We love it so much that we decided we'd rather share it with you than keep it a secret. So we are giving away two travel sets of the classic game to two lucky winners. Here's how to enter:

In the Comments Field Below:

1. Answer the Question "Would You Rather... travel 5 hours by plane or 5 hrs by car with your children in tow?"

2. Hit us with your best original "Would You Rather" question, and keep the game going!

Two winners will be chosen at 11pm on Friday Aug 8th. Winners will have 72 hrs to respond to email before we draw another do please do check your inbox!