Smart meters mean no free parking

It's one of life's little pleasures--a reward for all of the time and energy you've put into finding a parking spot in the first place. You go to put your only silver coin in the meter and--yippee--it's still got 25 minutes left.

Well, savor those moments, because it looks like technology is making them a thing of the past. A story on smart parking meters in the Wall Street Journal last month referred to meters in Pacific Grove, Calif., that know when a car pulls out of the spot and quickly reset to zero.

It's rare that stories on new technology make me sad. At least I was joined by some of the 13,368 visitors to a FARK.com discussion on the issue, who also feel like something is being taken away from them.