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| 2006/3/1 [Computer/HW/Drives] UID:42036 Activity:moderate |
2/17 I'm cleaning up my place and I found the following items. I'm wondering
what are some positive things I can do to get rid of these items.
For example, paperweight, ebay, etc. Anything's better than filling
up earth with more landfill:
-expensive $200 mini-Aiwa walkman I bought in 1995. It has a RECORD
feature which is rare with walkman of that time. It's POS now,
I guess, and if I want to record I'd probably buy an iPod with
the attachment or something.
-noisy ATX power supply. Too noisy, don't want it.
-fancy digital answering machine with multi-channel redirect (it says
press X to leave voice mail for X). I don't use it because I mainly
use the cellphone's answering machine.
-CD-ROM. No DVD, no CD-RW. Plain CD-ROM.
-100Mb D-Link 604 router. I use wireless now. This seems to be useless
-2G hard drive from my 386/486 era. Not sure what to do with this.
Landfill?
\_ http://www.accrc.org
-expensive $200 mini-Aiwa walkman I bought in 1995. It has a RECORD
feature which is rare with walkman of that time. It's POS now,
I guess, and if I want to record I'd probably buy an iPod with
the attachment or something.
-noisy ATX power supply. Too noisy, don't want it.
-fancy digital answering machine with multi-channel redirect (it says
press X to leave voice mail for X). I don't use it because I mainly
use the cellphone's answering machine.
-CD-ROM. No DVD, no CD-RW. Plain CD-ROM.
-100Mb D-Link 604 router. I use wireless now. This seems to be useless
-2G hard drive from my 386/486 era. Not sure what to do with this.
Landfill?
\_ If you live in the SF/BA, then maybe try
http://greencitizen.com -mice
\_ If it's really about to go to landfill, take it apart and salvage
the magnets. They're fun to play with.
\_ I can use nearly all of those items! But freecycle and craigslist
are good, too, if you want to give them away piecemeal.
\_ You almost have enough stuff to build a firewall/router you could
toss in the closet. |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Computer/HW/Drives] UID:42037 Activity:nil |
2/28 When buying a big LCD (32"-37"), Is it worth spending an extra $300 on
the HD decoder? I currently don't subscribe to HD and I'm guessing
that the decoder will probably cost less than $300 by year 2008
when HD signal is common. However, having an LCD that has a built in
decoder sure makes everything less cluttered. What do you think?
\_ seeing as how the HD standards are stil being hashed out, and there
is talk about throwing away 'legacy support' for early adopters,
I'd say no.
\_ agree. Also might add, try to get a 40"+, prices are coming down
again, they want to push the bigger LCD now |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Finance] UID:42038 Activity:low |
3/1 How much should I tip home improvement contractors? I'm replacing
all my windows and patio doors. The company that sells me the windows
/ doors is also doing installation. There are one foreman and two
workers in the crew. They're spending two full days at my house.
According to http://www.tipping.org/tips/TipsPageContractors.html I
should tip $50+30+30. Does that sound reasonable? I have no prior
experience. Thanks.
\_ Let me put this bluntly. You either have a lot of money, or you
are an idiot, or both.
\_ What the hell is it with you Americans and your obsession with
exact tipping percentages? You tip when you want to and you don't
tip when you don't need to. This is the land of the free and you
do whatever you like. You're not gonna get special treatment for
overtipping and you're not gonna get bad treatment for not tipping.
\_ You have too much cash to give away? You tip to people who give you
good service, who make LESS than minimum wage and depend on tips,
and who you wish to see over and over again to get the same service.
Are these contractors starving, making minimum wage, and you wish
to see over and over again? These people are highly skilled
PROFESSIONALS making good money. You are not obligated to tip
anything.
\_ I have only tipped for exceptional work, but it is up to you.
That number sounds about right.
\_ You are crazy. I tip them if I like them. I tipped my painter
$100, because I liked him and he did a good job. Lots of them
I don't tip at all. Some of them I tip in the form of lunch
and/or beer. Usually, if I tip I will give them a $20 bill
each at most. I didn't tip my window guy at all.
\_ Thanks for all the responses. I just want to know the ballpark
number. For example, the about-right number for average service at
a restaurant is 15%, so patrons can go higher or lower than that
number accorder to the quality of service they receives. So, I just
want to know the about-right number which I can then adjust
depending on how the crews do. --- OP
\_ The crews should have no expectation of being tipped. They
appreciate it if you do it, of course. It's not the same
as a waiter/waitress. You just paid those guys, say,
$100/hour to tile your bathroom and then you want to *tip*
them? Give them a case of beer unless they did an
exceptional job. On an hourly basis they make more money
than you do, even after expenses. The difference being that
they don't necessarily work 8 hours per day every day. Some
of those guys should be tipping *you*. Did you ever see
'The Money Pit'? One of the contractors drives a Corvette.
It's funny because it's true. One of my friends is a general
contractor as he says 'Roofers drive Jaguars.' Sure, your
guys are probably day laborers, but I bet you're still
paying a lot more than the $10-15/hour they are getting in
their pockets from the GC. And you want to tip them?!
\_ Roofers are also completely crazy. I met a roofer who did
a lot of work in Dutch Harbor, and he said that one time
he hired a couple crabbers, but they weren't crazy enough
to roof out there, so they quit. |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Computer/HW/CPU] UID:42039 Activity:high |
2/28 So this new Intel Mac Mini... didn't the old one have better
graphics and also cost less?
\_ I think Apple is overcharging for it, since the new model is $100
more from the last base priced model. As components go down in
price, so should the unit, or the specs should go up with a flat
price. However, keep in mind you do get 256MB more ram ($75),
\_ $75 for 256MB!? What country are you from? You can get 1GB
with that kind of money.
\_ Where? The new mini uses DDR2 5300 ram. The cheapest I've
seen 1 GB is $120 or so. I agree that $75 is overpriced
for 256MB ram, you can get that for around $45.
\_ newegg (first hit, didn't continue searching) CORSAIR
ValueSelect 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM System Memory - Retail
$100... c'mon do a little searching
\_ The x86 mini and the x86 iMac use 200 pin DDR2 ram
not 240 pin DDR2 ram.
20GB more space, 2 more USB ports, and the new Intel processor
supposedly "delivers two times the performance of the original Mac
mini." The last part I don't get because it's the Intel Core Solo
is a single 1.5Ghz chips, while the original was a single PowerPC
G4 chip (1.42Ghz). I thought, RISC processors allowed computers
to get more processing out of the same raw Ghz? At least that's
what Apple was touting at the pinacle of the Intel vs PowerPC
wars. So how does a single 1.5Ghz chip double performance from a
1.42Ghz chip, especially a RISC based one? And yes, the new mini
uses shared video RAM, but it is an entry level machine, even if
it's not priced like one.
\_ If I understand correctly RISC chips tend to get their speed
from being superscalar (multiple piplines). And the pentium4
is a RISC chip BTW, just has decoders on it for x86. --jwm.
\_ There are a couple of other changes that make the single
proc x86 mini faster than the PPC mini. The x86 mini has a
667MHz system bus, while the PPC had a 167MHz system bus.
The x86 mini uses a 5400 rpm SATA2 HD, while the PPC had a
4200 rpm laptop drive. The x86 mini also has 2 MB L2, while
the PPC only had 512KB L2.
\_ There are a few other changes that make the single proc x86
mini faster than the PPC mini:
1. 2MB l2 v. 512KB l2
2. 667 MHz system bus v. 167 MHz system bus
3. PC5300 DDR2 ram v. PC2700 ram
4. 5400 rpm sata2 HD v. 4200 rpm ata-100 hd
Personally the attractive features for me are the upgrade to
GigE, the 4 usb2 ports and the builtin bluetooth. I don't
know what to make of the shared video b/c it might be faster
than the Raedon 9200 in the PPC mini, but then again you have
to give up around 80 MB of main memory.
If I didn't own a PPC mini, I would probably have bought the
single proc one by now.
single proc one.
\_ Fundamentally, the fact that Apple switched to Intel chips,
\_ Fundamentally, the fact is that Apple switched to Intel chips
ostensibly to save money and because of better heat
performance in small form factors, and the best they
can come up with is a machine that may or may not be faster
than an identical-looking box they released over a year ago
for $100 less, is pissing a lot of people off. -tom
\_ I think that the focus on the $100 price increase
for the base model misses something crucial.
The base model x86 mini has the same specs as the
high end PPC mini and costs almost $200 less. In
addition, the base x86 mini comes w/ gigE, optical
audio out, 4 usb ports, and builtin bt. Personally,
I think apple has done a good job in reducing the
price of the mini.
\_ wow, increasing the price by $100 for no clear
advantage in performance is "reducing the price."
Do you work for Bush? (Here's a hint: in the
computer industry, generally computers get
significantly faster and cheaper in a year). -tom
\_ Apparently tom not only flunked out of UCB, but
even basic H.S. economics. The new Mac mini base
is functionally comparable to the old Mac mini
"deluxe", not to the old Mac mini base. Since
the new Mac mini base costs less than the old Mac
mini "deluxe", there is a drop in price. You get
more value for your dollar, but the unsophisticated
buyer like yourself can only focus on the base
price.
\_ Who gives a shit about that? The reality of it
is that the entry price went up $100. Is the
user getting $100 more value? Basically just
256MB more RAM. Considering how time works
in the computer world and the age of the old
system, this deal stinks.
\_ I think the user is getting more than $100
in value in comparison to the base model
PPC mini:
in value and performance in comparison to
the base model PPC mini:
1. 300 extra MHz - 1.5GHz x86 v. 1.2 GHz
PPC [in addition, the x86 has 2MB l2,
instead of the 512KB l2 in the PPC,
which should make the base mini seem
"snappier"]
2. 20GB extra HD - 60GB sata2 (faster) hd
v. 40GB ata-100 hd (the 4200 rpm hd in
the PPC can be painfully slow) In the
PPC mini, the upgrade to a 60GB HD was
around $40-$50.
3. 256MB extra (faster) RAM - in the PPC
mini a 512MB Dimm was around $50.
mini a 512MB Dimm was around $50. The
extra ram was sorely needed b/c the
mini was very slow w/ 256MB RAM.
4. Builtin Airport and BT - in the PPC
mini these were BTO options that added
about $50.
5. 4 USB2 ports - don't need to buy a
ugly usb hub, which saves $20 or so.
6. gigE instead of 10/100
7. optical audio out
Even if one says that Apple's BTO prices
were 2x the real cost for RAM and HD and
NO additional price should be added for
the faster processor, the price difference
($20-$25 HD + $25 RAM + $50 BT/Airport
~ $100) is easily made up by the add'l
features of the base model x86 mini.
I still think that the correct comparision
is between the old deluxe PPC mini (1.42,
1.5 GHz) and the new base model x86 mini.
The PPC deluxe model cost $599 and did not
come w/ airport, bt, 512MB of ram, gigE or
optical audio out. The only feature that
the the deluxe PPC mini had was a bigger
HD. Arguably, all the extras in the x86
mini more than make up for these 20GBs.
To get a 1.5GHz PPC mini that w/ a config
similar to the base x86 mini, one had to
spend nearly $800 (I know I bought one).
optical audio out.
1.5 GHz w/o superdrive) and the new base
model x86 mini. The PPC deluxe model cost
$599 and did not come w/ airport, bt, 512MB
of ram, gigE or optical audio out.
The only feature that the deluxe PPC mini
had was a bigger HD. Arguably, all the
extras in the x86 mini more than make up
for the smaller HD, even if there is NO
performance upgrade (ie you are getting
a x86 mini w/ many more features today
than you would have if you bought a 1.5
GHz PPC mini on monday).
Furthermore, to get a 1.5GHz PPC mini
that w/ a config similar to the base x86
mini, one had to spend nearly $800 (I
know I bought one).
w/ a config similar to the base x86 mini
one had to spend nearly $800 (I know b/c
I bought one), which is why I say that
the base model today is $200 cheaper than
the comparable PPC model.
To me the base mini easily demonstrates
that every year you get more computer at
cheaper prices.
that every year you get more computer
at cheaper prices.
If you just want to focus on the cost of
entry, you are right it is $100 more. I
think that such an inquiry is basically
useless b/c it ignores almost all of the
relevant facts.
\_ The thing that kept me from getting
an mac mini before was that I was
worried the G4 would be slow. That's
corrected now, and all the extra
goodies look good!
\_ The old 1.4GHz PPC mini was pretty
good provided you got enough ram.
The new 1.5GHz core solo mini should
be quite nice if you get 1 GB of ram.
The addition of front row and the
remote make it fairly attractive (to
me) as a htpc.
\_ why is it that tom always seem to have a
stick up his arse?
\_ He says it's $200 less. You say it's $100 more.
Only one of you can be correct.
\_ The entry-level model is $100 more than the
old entry-level model. He claims that the
entry-level model is now faster than the high-end
\_ The entry-level model is $100 more than the old
entry-level model. He claims that the entry-
level model is now faster than the high-end
model was before, so it's $200 cheaper. He
ignores the fact that by Moore's Law, the
machine should be almost twice as fast for
the same cost by this point, not $100 more
for a possible incremental speed increase.
And it's not like the old entry-level Mac Mini
was a great deal to begin with. -tom
machine should be almost twice as fast for the
same cost by this point, not $100 more for a
possible incremental speed increase. And it's
not like the old entry-level Mac Mini was a
great deal to begin with. -tom
\_ I'm not claiming that the entry level x86
system is faster than the high end PPC
system. I'm claiming that they are comp-
arable. I get the $200 savings b/c a
similarly spec'ed 1.5 GHz PPC mini would
have cost about $799.
Re Moore's Law - Is this your argument:
1. 1.2GHz/1.4GHz PPC mini released in
Jan 2005
2. ~ 12 months have passed
3. The proc should be 2.4GHz/2.8GHz
Please note, the period for Moore's law
is 24 mo these days, not 18 mo or 12 mo
as in the past. Also note that Moore's
law says nothing about cooling and power.
There is no way Apple/Intel could pack
in a 2.4 GHz P4 in that form factor w/o
a huge ps and hideously loud fans.
If your argument is that the low end
mini ought to have had a core duo proc,
I think this is unrealistic, considering
Moore's own company cannot make these
chips cheap enough for this price point.
Re the mini not a good deal -
I've owned numerous SFF PC's and I never
had one that was as silent as the mini
w/ equiv power (sure you can get a 800
MHz via c3, but it not nearly as fast
as a 1.4GHz PPC G4). Personally I think
the PPC mini was a great deal for a
completely silent and totally integrated
package. The addition of front row make
this far more desirable as a HT pc than
a xbox or a pc running mythtv/windows
media center b/c it is small and quiet.
\_ Look, I'm glad you're happy with it.
Buy one and enjoy it. But to claim it's
a good deal is ridiculous. -tom |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:42040 Activity:nil |
3/1 Can someone point me towards any resources that would let me figure
out how much to charge for consulting services in a given country? I
need to figure this out; indie IT consultants almost don't exist here,
so there's almost no info to go on, and I think basing it on the same
sort of percentages I can work with in the US/Europe compared to what
big companies charge won't work, as their rates are pretty skewed
compared to average income here. Any sites that do comparisons
internationally would be appreciated. -John |
| 2006/3/1 [Science/Electric] UID:42041 Activity:moderate |
3/1 Say I have a circuit breaker that says 20A. How many watts can I load
on it before it pops? I'm asking because every time I have a space
heater (1500W) and hair dryer (1850W) on, the circuit breaker pops.
\_ P = VI where P is power in watts, V is voltage in volts, I is current
in amps (A). Wall socket voltage is a max of 120V in the USA and is
220V-240V in some places elsewhere. Can you figure it out now or do
you need more help?
\_ [80 column nazi-ism removed, helpful original 83 col text restored]
So take *that* 80 col nazi! --content quality >>> 80 cols retentive
ness and format advocacy.
\_ P = VI where P is power in watts, V is voltage in volts, I is
current in amps (A). Wall socket voltage is a max of 120V in the
USA and is 220V-240V in some places elsewhere. Can you figure it
out now or do you need more help?
\_ [80 column nazi-ism removed, helpful original 83 col text
restored] So take *that* 80 col nazi! --content quality >>>
80 cols retentive ness and format advocacy.
\_ Come on 80 col nazi! Rally, damn you, RALLY!
\_ AS a rough estimate, and with normal US household power, you can
say 100W = 1A, so you're trying to throw 33A through that 20
circuit breaker. Of course it's going to blow.
\_ Isn't this high school physics? |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:42042 Activity:high |
3/1 great video about some georgia college students doing a speed
limit experiment:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5366552067462745475&q=speed
anyone know the funky song thats playing at the end?
\_ In Georgia? I'm surprised they weren't shot.
\_ This is really interesting, and I get their point, but their
execution, while effective and dramatic, was pretty dickish.
I hope they weren't pulling that during a busy commute time.
--erikred
\_ Why? I like the whole "civil obedience" thing. If following
the law is dangerous and pointless, then...? -John
\_ Have you ever been stuck in traffic and discovered that the
reason for the traffic was a "phantom" stop (i.e., the result
of someone ahead of you slowing slightly, and then the person
behind them slowing more, and so on until you finally stop)?
Well, it's bad enough when the flow of traffic is disturbed
by an expression of Chaos Theory; it's more annoying when it's
the the result of some people actively seeking to slow down
traffic to make a point. --erikred
\_ Yes, it is a well-documented phaenomenon of traffic
dynamics. That has nothing to do with stupid or in-
appropriate laws, and with pointing this out. -John
\_ I was attempting to evoke a visceral response to being
stuck in traffic and then trying to get you to compare
that feeling with the feeling you would have if the
latter were instead the case. But hey, if neither of
these bother you, more power to you. How's the traffic
in the Andes? --erikred
\_ It would bother me tremendously, natch. I hate being
stuck in traffic, but it's kind of a NIMBY thing.
What they're doing is sort of snotty college-brat
hoserish, you are right, but the point they make is
very valid. As for traffic in the Andes, look at
~john/Temp/IMG_14{23,42,53}.JPG :-) -John
\_ vo ist ze lederhosen? HEIL GERMAN JOHN!!!
\_ So we agree... to agree. :) Nice pix. That's the
right setting for 4/AWD. --erikred
\_ Thanks...it always warms my heart with joy
when some banker twat in one of the cheap
Chinese SUV knock-offs they love down here
cuts me off, to just think about where I took
ours last weekend... -John
\_ I think people are going too fast. I like the current
speed limits. I hate people who tailgates me with their
big fat truck and headlights when I am already driving
at the speed limit. I will purposely slow down to
annoy them when they do that. - Mr 55
\_ Mr 55 Guy, I have the answer for you from the cop who
did the driving class I was in for a ticket in response
to some woman who was seeking praise from the cop for
doing 55 in front of fast people, "It is not your job
to regulate the flow of traffic, it is my job. If
you're going slower than the vehicles behind you, get
out of the way, you're more dangerous than they are".
She then proceeded to repeat herself and heap praise
upon herself for her high moral standards which
elicited the same response in much harsher tones until
he eventually beat the concept into her tiny brain.
\_ So what was her ticket for?
\_ No idea. He was extremely no nonsense and had
zero bullshit tolerance so we didn't play the
'go around the room and say what our tickets are
for' game. He gave this one girl the boot from
class for coming in 20 minutes late on the
second night (still wearing her cheer leader
high school outfit) and sent her packing in tears
to go sign up for a re-take.
\_ why were you in traffic school for? - Mr 55
\_ tagged for running a yellow light. In 20 years
I've had 4 tickets including that one, another
was "unsafe right turn on red" and one for
speeding. 72 in 65. The last was a Berkeley cop
for something that took him 15 minutes to figure
out what to put on the ticket but came down to
something like, "crossing a highway against
oncoming traffic", that traffic being his idled
patrol car on the side of the road with his lights
out at night.
\_ I am not trying to regulate traffic. I am just
trying to drive at a safe speed. why should I
be subjected to dangerous tailgating or constant
lane changes. It's not like I am driving at 45.
I am driving 55. I've never been stopped by police
for driving too slow. - Mr 55
\_ If you're driving 55 in California, you're still
driving too slow. The limit is 65 here and it's
generally agreed that if you're driving 55,
you're impeding traffic, particularly if you're
in the left lane. By the way, in Germany, you
will be pulled over if you get caught being a
left lane bandit or if you tailgate. I think
that's the way it should be here.
\_ Wrong. The speed limit for big rigs on every
highway in California is 55 or less. You are
allowed to drive 55 legally in the right hand
lane. Change the law if you don't like it.
\_ There is a place for you on the highway that
is safe for your driving speed, won't get you
heavily tail gated, won't piss off or endanger
anyone, including yourself and requires no lane
changes at all: the right lane. Know it, drive
it, love it.
\_ First of all, that's bullshit. Years ago,
when I used to be a car-driver like you,
I used to go slightly over the speed limit
(which was 65) and stay in the right lane
if there were two lanes or the middle lane
if there were three and frequent exits. I
was continually tailgated, and occasionally
brighted out even when the left lane was totally
empty. Face it. Most of the people on the
road shouldn't be given a license to operate
a fucking bigwheels, much less the 6000 pound
monsters they all feel the need to drive now.
And whatever speed any of you drive, you still
poison my air, and I still have to pay for
your oil subsudies and oil wars. I don't even
remember where I was going with this rant
now. FUCK BIRDS!!! Let 'em die in windmills.
\_ You know, I find it kind of reassuring
that you're not on the freeways anymore.
\_ With 30,000 car related deaths a year,
I'm glad you feel so safe. Moron.
\_ Heh, I never said I "felt safe".
I said it was "reassuring". Work
on your reading skills, young
neurotic padawan.
\_ Oh, yeah, it was the other guy
who said "we're all safer".
Whatever. Consider my crazed,
free-floating rage to be directed
at both of you.
\_ Well, once again your reading
skills have failed you. The
fact that we're safer thanks
to your absence isn't equivalent
to "we're safe". Keep trying,
neurotic grasshopper.
\_ Fuck you.
\_ LOL I haven't had this
much fun on motd in a
long time. Keep it up
Mr. Wannabe Sociopath!
\_ Blow it out your ass,
wanker. FUck you.
\_ Y0u r3wl, dud3!!1!
\_ Someone is off their meds this
morning.
\_ Heh, I was about to say something like
that, too. We're all safer. Except the
pedestrians he's going to hit with his
bike at 30 mph because he doesn't walk
his bike at cross walks as per the law.
\_ Fuck you.
\_ Back on the meds! Down, boy! Down!
\_ Just went on new medication this
week. So far I'm unimpressed.
Fuck you.
\_ Yeah, I'm not so impressed
with those meds either.
Maybe you should consider
going to a new doctor.
\_ And I'll support your right to do this. If you get some
friends to drive next to you and thereby block all
traffic, however, you're not just exercising your right,
you're blocking traffic, no matter how legally you're
doing it. --erikred
\- and dont do that in the "fast lane" if there is one.
\_ When I drive in the fast lane, I always make
sure that my car is faster then cars in the lane
to my right, but still, there will be these
people driving big trucks or other monster
vehicle tailgating me. I mean if I get a good
chance, I will filter right and let them pass
but I don't feel I have an obligation to do that
in a hurry if I am already faster than cars in
the lane to my right. I find these tailgaters
annoying, and I will slow down just to annoy
them back if they follow me too closely. - Mr 55
\_ Yeah, see that puzzles me. I'd think that,
if the guy behind you is engaging in stupid
of the guy behind you is engaging in stupid
dangerous behavior, the logical thing to do
would be to get out of his way and alleviate
the hazardous situation rather than trying
to get the 'last word' and exacerbate things.
That behavior would seem to contradict your
insistence that you drive slowly to be at a
"safer speed". -mice
to get the 'last word' and exacerbate the
situation. That behavior would seem to
things. That behavior would seem to
contradict your insistence that you drive
slowly to be at a "safer speed". -mice
\_ I usually move right to allow faster cars to
pass in the fast lane, but I'm with you-- I'd
rather slow down than give in to a tailgater.
\_ The proper thing to do is let the
faster traffic pass. You could get a
ticket if you don't.
\- while i acknowledge there is obnoxious
tailgating, you do have to pull up
enough to convey you want to go faster.
(which i usually do and then back off)
and of course if there is a lot of
traffic ahead of the car directly in
front of you, you should back off.
\_ Not if passing on the right is allowed,
as it is on CA highways.
\_ Do you know what "proper" means?
\_ Sorry, wasn't clear: agreed with
proper, disagreed with ticket.
\_ When I retook my DMV exam recently
this question was on it. If
someone pulls up behind you and,
say, flashes his lights then it
is your job to get out of his
way. It is not his responsibility
to pass you on the right.
\_ yea, the DMV booklet also says
to maintain a certain distance
while following. I actually
prefer people flash me instead
of tailgating me, which is
much more dangerous.
\_ Two wrongs don't make a right.
\_ Like I said if he flashes
me it's okay. Sometimes
people do have emergencies.
But no, tailgating is not
acceptable because you
are endangering other
people's lives. And yes,
two wrongs don't make a
right means you are not
supposed to tailgate even
if the old lady doesn't
move over.
\_ I'm not disputing that
tailgating is illegal
and dangerous. I am
pointing that that impeding
traffic in some silly
urge to be 'right' is
both unsafe and illegal.
\_ well, you said "if a
driver pulls up
behind you, it is your
job to get out of the
way". This is not
true. A prerequisite
for impeding traffic
is two or more vehicles
following you. Blocking
one idiot trying to drive
faster than the
traffic flow doesn't
constitute impeding
traffic. No police
will stop you for that.
\_ The point is they are adhereing to a law that should
ticket everyone not going that slowly anyway.
\_ We're not blocking traffic, we are
traffic! - Critical Mass
\_ I would like to have seen the cops get involved.
\_ And what could they do? Ticket them for going the speed limit?
I suppose there could be a ticket for disturbing the peace or
or something like that. Like willfully attempting to block
traffic.
\_ Obstructing traffic. Misdemeanor in CA
\_ Would that stick if you were travelling exactly at the
maximum speed limit? On what grounds? As long as you
weren't blocking emergency vehicles...
\_ In CA, Obstructing Traffic requires a vehicle to be
stopped. Strangely enough, the proper charge might be
Reckless Driving. See:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vctoc.htm
\_ 4 lane freeways are 55 there? Yeesh.
\_ I think they should invent new signs in some threatening color and
put new "Zero Tolerance" speed limits on them, that are like the
ones the cops actually enforce. 1mph over and you'll be ticketed
(reliably).
\_ In Scottsdale, they have automatic speed ticketing cameras/radar
now.
\- as is common in europe. will be interesting to see if they
survive giving tickets to cops and judges and pols.
\_ Except for in the UK (where they're insane), most Euro
cameras have tolerance limits, and are in areas where
traffic is dangerous and speeding is dangerous. Except
in some places like NL where they measure over distance.
This is pointless and lame. -John
\_ I always know when we hit a camera zone in Holland
when my relatives are driving me somewhere because
for no reason they suddenly slow down a lot, and
then a little later speed up ...
\_ Are you kidding? They'll be 'taken care of'.
\_ I kind of doubt that. The red light cameras in SF
and the speed cameras in DC are unmolested.
\_ You misunderstand. PP was refering to the practice
of 'ticket-fixing'.
\_ In Taiwan, they have a device that will warn you whenever
you approach places where there are speed ticketing
cameras or radars.
\_ Russia: get jailed for having an official crash into YOU. -oj
http://csua.org/u/f4a
\_ America: apologize when an official shoots YOU!
http://www.thedailyjournalonline.com/article.asp?ArticleId=224493&CategoryId=12395
\_ They should learn to spell. |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Finance] UID:42043 Activity:nil |
3/1 Private equity funds are raping people, laying off thousands
and spreading enough misery around the people who actually
have to work for a living before our Chinese masters
really screw with us, and all the San Francisco Chronicle
can do is send some dude to Google and photograph ultra rich
nerds eating? Fuck.
\_ KILL THE BIRDS
\_ Spew much?
\_ Amusing but if you're using the SF Comical as your primary source
of serious news you get what you pay for. For 25 cents/day I got
the comics and their trimmed down version of AP news on BART. |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Transportation/Airplane] UID:42044 Activity:kinda low |
3/1 http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13511193,00.html Stewardess panics in high turbulence. Uh ... wrong job I guess? "She began screaming every time the plane shook. She shouted at the top of her voice, 'We're going to crash! We're going to crash! We're going to crash!'" The un-named woman - in her mid 20s - also lobbed sick bags across the cabin when poorly [sic] passengers screamed for more. \_ a friend of mine was a Stewardess for Continental. She gets motion sickness if she eat anything on the plane. So, her solution is not eat anything on flight... and she is on direct flight from Newark to Hong Kong via North Pole... 21 hours straight :p \_ Definitely wrong job. I think it's a job requirement to appear calm in these situations. \- see SQ-crash* at http://home.lbl.gov:8080/~psb/Articles/News \_ please send us more links to irrelevant, boring stuff \_ Dude, that was horrendous. Warning: do not read if you're easily spooked and want to fly every again. --erikred \- i was on that flight a week before! i actually think it almost says more about journalists than airlines. Singapore Airlines needed Scott McClellan: MESERVE: A Singapore Airlines spokesman just told us that he believed, at this point, there were no fatalities. Was that your impression as you left the aircraft? DIAZ: Oh, there were tons of fatalities. There were people burning on the flight. I only saw about 20 people -- I only saw about 20 people that -- clearly I don't know -- they put us in a room. But there were lots of fatalities. The plane split in half. |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Science/GlobalWarming] UID:42045 Activity:nil |
3/1 What is better for top coat, acrylic or polyurethane? I'm looking for
something that's easy to paint and moderately durable. Which one
of these is water and oil based? Thanks.
\_ Silk, to match your top hat?
\_ it might help if you say what you're trying to do. polyurethane
is often alcohol-based--i've never used the water- or oil-based
ones, so can't say anything about them. |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Reference/BayArea] UID:42046 Activity:nil |
3/1 Because I'm insane, I took on another project. I'll be singing
a minor role in Tosca with SF Lyric Opera this weekend and next
at the theatre in the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. It should
be a pretty good show. http://sflyricopera.org/season.html
--scotsman
\_ wow, how long did you need to practice/rehearse for this role?
\_ About 2 weeks... Italian's easy to memorize, though. |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Transportation/Car, Science/Electric] UID:42047 Activity:low |
3/1 Is it more cost effective to fill up butane/propane gas from your
local store like Home Depot and use a gas heater to heat up your
room? My electric bill shot up last month and I'm thinking of
switching. I don't have central AC, unfortunately.
\_ Should be a simple calculation. But make sure you exhaust
the fumes properly.
\_ If you are a homeowner, consider installing central air. I
should get my money back in five years. -ausman |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Motd] UID:42048 Activity:moderate |
3/1 csua minutes: "Difficulty in recruitment:
Right now our recruitment is in severe decline, what can we do to get
people more interested in what we are doing. Infosessions will help,
but will be slow to develope. This will be an open-ended discussion
of things we can do to boost membership and more specifically
active/interested membership."
\_ Advice. Leave infosession to UCSEE and SWE that have traditionally
dominated this area for the last two decades. You guys are
stepping into dangerous territory and this turf war really
sucks. Leave infosessions alone, bastards. If you seriously want
to get more members, find a niche market, not something that
steals from other established organisations. Do something new
and innovative, like asking karen to do a bikini car wash drive.
Hell, we'd pay for that. -anon ucsee rep
\_ I don't even know what UCSEE stands for, and I want to have
an infosession right now just to piss you off. What a jackass
attitude.
\_ Uh, CSUA has been doing help sessions on stuff for quite a while.
What's the difference between "infosessions" and "help sessions"?
\_ i think one has students teaching unix shells and the other
has visitors from PIXR
\_ UCSEE and SWE have traditionally dominated Infosessions for the
last two decades? Bullshit. You're engaging in some pretty
gross revision of history. First off I *know* that UCSEE and
SWE (did they used to be AWICSEE, or is that a different society
for women engineering group? Didn't AWICSEE's membership top
out at like 6 people back in 2002?) had basically no physical
presence in Soda Hall prior to 2005. I find it highly unlikely
that there's been a sea change in the last two years. HKN,
which does have a presence in Soda, always did a fair number of
Infosessions, but it's usually hurting for original thinkers,
and thus shamelessly rips off every good one the CSUA has (nb
movies in 306 Soda--paolo, CSUA president circa 1999, startup
jobs fair in the ASUC ballrom, i.e. a massive
meta-infosession--jones, president circa 1998, I can go on...).
UPE also used to have a hand in the Infosession game, but went
into hibernation due to lack of interest circa 2004, has it
reawakened? The CSUA charter is to serve all students with an
interest in computer science, and this is simply not true for
UCSEE (only EECS students in COE, and arguably only those with
an EE focus) or SWE (only Women in COE). Furthermore, the CSUA
provides services to the community that UCSEE and SWE don't
including Help Sessions and Mentoring, and, in the past,
received less money from the EECS department than either UCSEE
or SWE. So let me get this straight. The CSUA serves a wider
audience and provides more community services than UCSEE and SWE
*combined*, but it should leave infosessions, which are
conveniently the most profitable `service' a CS student group
may offer to UCSEE and SWE. Hogwash. Nonsense. Shite. You
don't like that the CSUA is reigning in on `your' turf? Try
matching the CSUA's services then you can talk.
All that said, the groups don't necessarily need to fight over
this. The infosession landscape has at least one large,
unfulfilled niche, which are smaller and/or startup companies
that don't have the money to go through COE's industrial
partnership program (the precise name escapes me). The CSUA can
and should bring these companies to campus. Officially, they
can't do `recruiting' events in Soda Hall, but there are plenty
of worthwhile InfoSessions that are not de jure recruiting
All that said, the groups don't necessarily need to fight over
this. The infosession landscape has at least one large,
unfulfilled niche, which are smaller and/or startup companies
that don't have the money to go through COE's industrial
partnership program (the precise name escapes me). The CSUA can
and should bring these companies to campus. Officially, they
can't do `recruiting' events in Soda Hall, but there are plenty
of worthwhile InfoSessions that are not de jure recruiting
events, but serve the same purpose. I did this with VMWare back
when they were small and Zero Knowledge Systems (may it rest in
peace) among others when I was CSUA president. P.S. Sign your
name instead of making thinly veiled, weak anonymous threats.
-dans
\_ Gee, I wondered why dans knew so much about meth.
\_ Gee, I wonder why the preceding passage would do anything
to dispell your wonder? Have you read any of the minutes
I took for the CSUA? -dans
\_ ucsee must be destroyed!
\_ Interesting. So what will happen to all us cranky alumni when five
or six selfless individuals cannot be scrounged up to cater to our
every whim? What will we do without wall, motd, and email spools
filled with 99.99% spam?!
\_ We could start a fight club.
\_ Why would anyone want to endure pain and medical bills?
Make it a Counter-Strike fight club.
\_ Every anti-social nerd dies. Not every anti-social nerd
really lives.
\_ Does the CSUA still do a lot of social activities (BBQs, RISK
tourneys, volleyball, etc.?) Maybe asking if any CS profs will
let you announce that sort of thing after lectures might help. -John
\_ CSUA used to be fun in the early 90s. From reading the minutes
however, it seems like people there have gotten a lot more
serious. They're trying to do mentoring, help sessions, info
sessions, and other serious events that many other organizations
(like UCSEE) have been doing long before CSUA started doing the
same thing just recently (recent as in past 5 years?). I don't
know why this is the case. I suspect it is probably
the same reason why there are fewer war protests and
peace activists on Telegraph and Sproul Hall today than a
few decades ago.
\_ Speaking of which, I found Rick Starr. He now performs (but
mostly just begs for change) in front of the 20th St. exit
of 19th St. Oakland BART. His outfits are now significantly
on the side of bizarre and tattered, rather than just
tattered, and he seems to have lost significant spark. Poor
Rick Starr.
\_ I was wondering about this--I guess it's partly due to a
mixture of people getting into CS for $$$ in the late 90s,
more competitiveness and lower wages in the industry, and
the decline of the labs as people got PCs in dorms and
apartments. -John
\_ The CSUA has been doing serious events like help sessions
since antiquity. Although other organizations offer
tutoring, no other organization offers anything like the
mentoring program. While the CSUA may have been light on
infosessions prior to 1998, its history of corporate outreach
goes way back. Soda Mark VI was donated by AMD. If you look
\_ Through no fault of the CSUA's. A UCB alum was working in
developer relations at AMD and offered MKVI to the CSUA.
in the circa 1990 CSUA t-shirt in the office you'll see an
EDS logo in the lower-right corner. Do you think it got
there because the CSUA membership at the time just really dug
EDS? Going all the way back to the birth of the CSUA, Soda
Mark I was a donated by Apollo Computer. What other
`serious' events have other student orgs done since before
2000? The faculty retreat? I know we've been involved with
that since 1998, probably earlier, and I largely wrote the
joint presentation for two years (2001-2002?) -dans
\_ I have a question. What actions currently seem to bring people
into the CSUA? I joined the CSUA because there was an arcade
game in the lounge and I wanted to fiddle with it. I stuck
around because I like crazy people, and paolo and dans were
there. I don't think I am normal. None of my mentees joined.
In fact, I think the only person I ever successful recruited
was ajaffe. So, why do people join? -jrleek
\_ Easy. Someone told me you can get a free lifetime Berkeley
account, so I went and signed up. I still use it. It's
great to have that "berkeley.edu" stamp on the top of
your resume, it says a lot and catches attention at a glance.
\_ What is the mentee -> active member conversion rate anyway? I
joined because paolo showed me the glory that was the CSUA
lounge when we were both taking 61B, and I was thus able to
escape the pits that are the labs. I also had hopes that I
could find and/or recruit others to hack on projects, but, for
the most part, this did not pan out. -dans
\_ For 3.5 years I knew the CSUA existed, but didn't really
know anyone in it, what they did, why they were there, etc.
Then Paolo brought Mortal Kombat 2 into the office in an
attempt to get his TA to spend more time there, and it
worked swimmingly. Once I hung out there a lot and got to
know the people, joining seemed like a good idea. You
need to get people in there in the first place,
in a setting where they can meet people, and that's going
to happen with social events like BBQs, volleyball, and
game tourneys. Heck, a weekly poker game might draw a
crowd. -bz
\_ I had just arrived on campus and called a high school friend. He
happened to have root and gave me an account over the phone. It's
been my primary account for 13 years. I've never taken a single
computer science course. I have occasionally been an motd
annoyance. I'm not sure which better qualifies for CSUA
membership. People are welcome to email me about engineering
hydraulics, though. -- ulysses
\_ I definitely got involved with the CSUA because the people
involved in it seemed a lot more interesting and fun than the
drones huddled in the labs. It might have also had something
to do with (president at the time) Seano, who I believe just
wanted someone around that he could beat at Netrek. --lye
\_ On mentoring, how is it currently advertised? Just flyers?
Could we get into the normal CS student orientations? When I
joined the CSUA was helping out with the transfer student
orientations. Could we get into those? (Transfer
students generally need all the help they can get.) -jrleek |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:42049 Activity:moderate |
3/1 http://csua.org/u/f4e (AP via http://latimes.com) Watch Dubya participate via videoconference in FEMA briefing one day ahead of Katrina arrival. fyi, note that levy "breach" != levies being "topped" See "Nobody anticipated ..." below http://www.factcheck.org/article344.html \_ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/politics/10katrina.html \_ Face it, nothing is going to change the public opinion to the left. This includes oh so boring facts "made up" by liberal biased media. The only thing that'll change the mind of the overwhelmingly conservative dominated America is when Fox News shows footage of a whitehouse intern sucking GWB's dick. \_ or news aboot da Arabs buying our ports! \_ Ok. Whether it's Bush's fault or not is not relevant to the future of America. What's relevant is that most of the Red State folks believe that the New Orleans brought the disaster onto themselves by a series of mismanagement and corruption. The New Orleans are like the grasshoppers who partied at Mardi Gras while the ants (Red State people) worked hard because they're self-reliant and have moral and family values. Guess what? These Red State hicks are praising Bush for not wasting money on these New Orleans and welfare leeches who by the way are mostly colored negros that they despise of in the first place. And by 2008, there will be more conservatives bearing more conservative babies, and more aging folks opting for conservative politics, and even more young college kids opting for conservative politics. The university is now no longer a playground for the liberals. So you see, it doesn't matter what Bush does. Regardless of all the fuckups, what is clear in the future is that you'll see more and more car bumper stickers that say "Work harder. Millions of welfare recipients depend on you!" and "<Conservative Candidate> 2008" \_ Is that why Bush is at a 34% approval rating? \_ Yes, that's what happens when you poll 2x as many Democrats as Republicans. Go look at they poll data on that one then wash the koolaid out of your mouth. \_ Clearly, you're not a member of the reality-based community. community. Gallup had him at 39 a few weeks before the latest shit hit the fan, Quinnipiac just polled him at 36...but please, go on making tired kool-aid jokes. \_ Seriously, go look at the poll data. It was almost 2x D vs R. Believe what you want. I believe in facts. Koolaid jokes are appropriate when the other person doesn't bother to research the basis of their numbers. \_ The poll was for "adults nationwide" not "registered voters", and not "likely voters". The weighted %s are 37.4D 28.4R 34.2I. You'd be hard pressed to refute these. And 37.4 != 56.8. Hell, even unweighted, 40 != 53. Your "facts" are broken. \_ Hey nice of you to actually find them. Now you can do the reading comprehension part of this where the word "almost" appeared in my statement which is another way of saying, "your numbers are so messed up it isn't even worth discussing". I also note you chose to focus on the weighted numbers but I'll give you a nickel's credit for at least mentioning the raw numbers since we have no idea how they weighted anything. Next time you post crappy poll numbers you can put a "*" next to them and provide the raw data instead of spewing random numbers that you think support your partisanship. Had you noted them in the first place instead of tossing off your cutesy one liner I wouldn't have said anything. \_ The ratio of registered Democrats to registered Republicans is 1.35:1. -tom \_ "registered" != "likely voters" or we'd not have a Republican controlled government. Registered voters is no more interesting than "adults nationwide". If they don't vote, their political opinions don't matter. \_ That was my first post in the thread. You've challenged the credibility of the poll based on its methodology without any evidence but hand-waving. You wanna call them crappy, fine, but it's not a winning debate tactic. What would be a valid distribution in your mind? Please show your work. \_ applying near zero brain power to this I would say that a poll of people who are likely voters in upcoming elections based on previous voting patterns that closely matches the political demographics of the total likely voter population would be a good start for a poll. i'm sorry if this is a difficult concept for you but very few polls even attempt to actually reflect what voters think or want about anything so spewing random numbers about what percentage of a skewed survey of "adults nationwide" is a stupid and useless information-free political act. the poll in question in this thread is so slanted away from anything resembling a useful poll it isn't worth posting or discussing the 'results'. And I use that word very loosely. \_ If you want a "likely voters" poll, go find one. Your claim, still unsupported, is that their methodology was bogus. You claim, also unsupported that the values are skewed. Grow up, put up, or shut up. BTW, Fox just released theirs of Registered voters. 39/54 app/dis \_ I claim that a political poll that covers anything other than voters is useless junk produced solely for PR purposes. If they don't vote, they don't matter. See above for my comments on registered voters. Not interesting. How hard is it to figure out that when I said "likely voters" I meant "people most likely to vote, thus having opinions that matter", not every asshat with a useless non-voting opinion? Spewing at me that my claims are unsupported is ridiculous since my claims are so simple, even a motder could understand them. Frankly, I don't care at all what the actual numbers would be in a real poll anyway. GWB could be at 100 or at 0 and I wouldn't care, but the methodology in that poll is weak and then to spew it on the motd as if it has value is just trollish. \_ "don't vote" != "can't vote". I'd agree with you if the president were up for election that a "likely voters" poll would be more useful. But non-voters have to live under this administration too. And they can very well become voters. To ignore their voice is stupid and undemocratic. \_ true but historically not the case. over time the number of voters as a percentage of those eligible to register+vote has been slowly dropping over the years. I agree that it would be nice if the opposite were true but it isn't the case. As far as elections and such go, I agree in general that doing a popularity poll on a second term President isn't useful but we're never that far from a mid-term or the start of the next general election cycle so I do believe that polls of likely voters carry some weight in regards to which way the country is going politically. \_ Why don't you get even more pedantic and point out that "likely voters" are self-reported, so those are meaningless too? All polls are worthless! The only useful information is what some dipwad who hasn't fashioned a survey in his life says on the MOTD! -tom \_ thanks for contributing. without you here, it just wouldn't be the same. glad to have you on board. you're the best, nay! dare i say, U r0xx0rz, tom! if you have nothing to say, say nothing. you'll look smarter. \_ He's looking smarter than you, and that ain't saying much. \_ Just coming down to his level so he can understand. Anyone who uses "dipwad" at his age.... \_ Thank you. This further illustrates the fact that AP is yet another liberal mouth blabbering about nothing but non-sense. \_ At least he assured them that they were "fully prepared" \_ well, dubya said the federal govt was fully prepared to assist state govt, but it's doubtful whether that was true too my analysis is that pre-dubya, fema was in charge. when dubya came in, he whacked fema and said the states are now in charge. he broke something and then expected someone else to fix it ... hmm, sounds like ... gimme some help here. \_ He didn't "whack" it. He "privatized" it. THE FREE MARKET FIXES EVERYTHING! Except that it doesn't. \_ now there's a novel idea. pump all the money to the government and let it do its job. Let me guess, you're a socialist? \_ people should put that enron movie in their netflix queue |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Computer/SW/Security] UID:42050 Activity:nil |
3/1 Every once in a while my ssh and X11 via port forwarding would get
stuck and wouldn't respond anymore and I'd have to reconnect.
Does anyone know why this is happening and how to fix it? Thanks.
\_ Does this only happen after you've been idle for a while? |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Reference/RealEstate] UID:42051 Activity:nil |
3/1 Swami is a fraud!
http://csua.org/u/f4d
\_ Those are Jan 1 - Dec 31 stats. What about Dec 1 to Feb 28?
\_ I hear prices dropped 50% on Feb 2.
\_ It was 150% |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:42052 Activity:nil |
3/1 Soybean fueled car!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/17/eveningnews/main1329941.shtml |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Recreation/Humor] UID:42053 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto |
3/1 John, is this you?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-890218145934088002&q=berlitz |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Others] UID:42054 Activity:nil |
3/1 ACM has produced a significant new report on the impact
of offshoring/outsourcing on the IT industry:
http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport
Executive Summary and Findings:
http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport/summary.htm
Bottom line: not nearly as bad as some had thought.
http://CCNMoney.com article
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/23/news/economy/jobs_it_offshoring |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Consumer/CellPhone] UID:42055 Activity:nil |
3/1 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_hi_te/fake_caller_ids Caller ID is unreliable and not 100% accurate! This sucks. If it's not 100% accurate, it is completely useless. \_ Hello emarkp! KAIS MOTD is inaccurate, thus misleading and is therefore completely useless. Likewise, caller ID is inaccurate, thus misleading and is therefore completely useless. Good logic. \_ Umm, no. The usefulness of caller id is knowing who is calling me so I don't have to do the whole "hello, who is this" dance at the start of each call. If someone starts spoofing my friend's phone numbers that will suck, but until then just because it can be done, well, I really suspect anyone I know cares that much. |
| 2006/3/1-2 [Consumer/Audio, Recreation/Humor] UID:42056 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto |
3/1 What if Microsoft designs the iPod package:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAGr3mVVUwE
I am looking for a wmv/mov/rm format of this video. thanks.
kngharv
\_ Google video it
\_ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=36099539665548298&q=microsoft+ipod |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Transportation/Car/RoadHogs, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:42057 Activity:low |
3/1 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_bi_ge/autos_consumer_reports Good bye Detroit! And good riddens \_ riddance \_ why arent the expensive cars like MBZ and Audi more reliable? \_ Consumer Reports had a sidebar on that last year. Their theory is that European luxury carmakers tend to stuff the cars with unproven, gimmicky electronics that are prone to failure, where Japanese luxury brands are more cautious. \_ It's not that, it's that they do not have sufficient control over their supply chains. Especially Mercedes was hit by a series of really bad quality component parts, leading to recalls. BMW and, to a lesser extent Audi, have this reasonably well in hand. -John \_ Isn't it obvious? They are built by Germans who are unhappy that the Italians, French and Austrians are always enjoying cigarettes, coffee and beautiful women in cafes while they are stuck in working in factories whose efficiency would make the SS proud. \_ Why are people who are generally pro-union, anti-Detroit? \_ If the cars were better, I'm sure they would be "pro-Detroit". When Hyundai cars first appeared here, they were awful and Consumer Reports said the Excel was one of the worst cars they ever had tested. Maybe they are just being objective? |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Recreation/Media] UID:42058 Activity:nil |
3/1 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060301/od_nm/cannibal_film_dc Proof that Germans are the weirdest people in the world. \_ http://snltranscripts.jt.org/90/90asprockets.phtml http://www.pistolwimp.com/media/42170 |
| 2006/3/1-4 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:42061 Activity:nil |
3/1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4765058.stm Brown was doing a good job all along. Next on Fox News at 11, the blame is now on the bureaucracy in the government, setup by the Clinton administration. Yes, it's the democrats' fault. God Bless. |
| 5/19 |