In case you needed another reason to love chocolate, here it is: you can drive your car with it!

Well, OK, maybe not your car (not yet anyway), but these guys drove from the UK to Timbuktu using the "waste chocolate" from a chocolate manufacturer. They left the UK on November 26 and got to Timbuktu in about a month. The group, Ecotec, donated (and delivered) one of their biodiesel production units to a charity in Timbuktu.

Now that's alternative fuel. I wonder if we can get cars to drive on Yodels or maybe Funyuns?

[via Boing Boing]

Strawberries, marshmallows, caramels and truffles are all things that I like to see covered in chocolate. I am not such a fan of seeing inedible things that are chocolate covered, but perhaps I am in the minority because every year someone seems to put out a chocolate covered car around Valentine's Day. Last year, a white chocolate-covered Fiat was on display in Japan. This year, a Chinese car company completely covered a new VW Beetle in chocolate, added some frosting and candies as decorations, and put it out in front of a grocery store in Qingdao, in the Shandong Province. It was probably the same company that, in 2005, covered another Volkswagon in chocolate and candy (picture after the jump).

Now, if they were chocolate covered Ferraris, I might have to change my mind about the whole chocolate-car thing... although I would still probably just chip off the chocolate to get to the car.

The Jones Soda Company has been tempting soda lovers for ten years with flavors from Root Beer and Strawberry to Fufu Berry and Blue Bubblegum. Their unusual - and unusually realistic - flavors have taken them from a small niche company, to a national brand, with lines of organic drinks, energy drinks, popsicles and candy in addition to their famous sodas.

To celebrate a decade of drinks, Jones has put together a new limited edition soda pack. Unlike the somewhat disturbing holiday pack, this one is a winner with all its flavors. It includes Blue Bubblegum and Green Apple sodas, as well as two of the original hits, Raspberry and Pineapple Upside Down sodas. The drinks come with a numbered, special-edition Hot Wheels "replica of the original black and silver-flamed Jones vans," which the company used for distribution in its early days.

There will probably be collectors out there who will not open the box to preserve it for posterity, but if you do get one, you really should taste the Pineapple Upside Down soda. It's light, tangy and delicious, so it's no wonder that fans have been asking for it to be reinstated for so long.

This pack won't be sold in stores, but is available for purchase online.

When was the last time you had a soft-boiled egg? It doesn't seem like the gently cooked eggs are as popular as they once were, but perhaps, using the same techniques that were applied to fast food advertising, they can regain some of their former popularity. What techniques am I referring to? Trying to appeal to men. Of course, there is no soft-boiled egg coalition, but this particular egg cup, Mr. Egg, is designed specifically for men. Clearly based on the idea of a toy car, the metal-cast cup is chrome plated and has tiny, working wheels.

We recommend accessorizing this "ride" with a side of toast, rather than trying to find miniature rims for the wheels, but feel free to add racing stripes to personalize yours.

[via cribcandy]

Have you ever mentally shaken a fist at someone driving recklessly, chatting on his or her cell phone instead of watching the road? Probably. Have you even done that while sipping a shake or eating a snack-sized bag of chips, still sitting in traffic? If so, you were no better off than that other guy.

After extensive testing on car simulators, researchers in England concluded that eating or drinking while driving seriously impairs your reaction time and increases the likelihood of getting into an accident, despite the fact that many drivers actually drive more slowly while eating.

The simulation involved driving through a city environment and, at some point, being confronted with a pedestrian stepping out into the street. 9 out of 10 eating drivers had an accident. Some say that this is proof that eating in the car should be regulated, but if so, will changing the radio station be next?

Your best bet is to drive with your own safety in mind and try to take a sip or two of your coffee while stopped at a red light, not while merging onto the highway.

It's a happy day for anyone concerned about overweight kids. In more McDonald's news, Disney is ending its relationship with the fast food chain amid concerns about childhood obesity, according to the Los Angeles Times.  For the last decade, the studio marketed its movies by stuffing little Nemo and 101 Dalmatian figurines into Happy Meals. The deal, with netted Disney $100 million, will end this summer following the release of Pixar's "Cars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

With drive-thru service now accounting for up to 70% of fast food sales, the mind boggles to hear that companies are trying to speed up their drive thru service. One method of speeding up service is to route calls to call centers - instead of simply receiving them inside the restaurant over a speaker or radio - to increase accuracy. Companies have found this to be relatively effective, particularly in areas where their employees have limited English skills. The call centers enter the menu items onto a central computer, which transmits the order directly into the restaurant's computers. Another strategy is to replace the traditional written menu board with a photo illustrated or digital one, hoping that tempting food imagery will help customers choose their food faster. There are even computer programs that average how much food needs to be cooking at any given moment.