|
12/25 |
2002/5/28-29 [Transportation/Car] UID:24956 Activity:nil |
5/28 How bad is the 101 between Redwood City and Santa Clara? \_ Depends on time and direction. Generally it gets bad going south in the afternoons around Great America Parkway. Going north in the afternoons is not bad until about Palo Alto because of the Dumbarton. In the mornings, reverse what I just said. \_ It's hell, either way. There are some really really bad spots, but also some stretches (both directions, morning or afternoon) where there's not much traffic so it's not bad the whole way. Not just dumbarton and GA Parkway but also Mt.View, 237,85 can be bad during certain times of day/direction. Then again, thousands do it everyday, so you can survive. \_ all car commuting sucks. |
2002/5/24 [Transportation/Car] UID:24929 Activity:high |
5/23 Take one look at this naked chicken and tell me that the Anti-GM crowd is all whack. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/lf/052202chicken&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=&e=1&t= \_ GM? \_ that's not GM. that's cross breeding. and don't say "that's a form of gm". this is not what anti-gm is about. \_ You may be right but the photo caption says "genetically engineered" not cross-bred. \_ and you trust a reporter... read the article. \_ But hey, it was a "photo caption!" Even less likely than a fucked up headline, we *know* a photo caption is always going to be perfectly accurate! That's photo journalism, pal! The best photo journalism and dontcha forget it! \_ So they made a chicken without feathers? BFD. Maybe you noticed the great variety of wolves around lately? We call them 'dogs'. Very few of them look anything like wolves anymore. No one seems really concerned about it. This is not GM. The anti-GMers are a bunch of luddite whackos. \_ as this is not GM, how exactly does it say anything about anti-gm people? And many anti-gm people are far from luddites. They just have a clue about long-term impact \_ They have conjecture and random guesses and FUD. These are the same people who opposed the great revolution in farming that feeds the world today and are now opposing the next great improvement in agriculture. This is between veggie burgers made from non-locally grown food carted here at great expense and a toke on their bong and a few sheets of acid. Worse than being luddites which actually doesn't bother me all that much per se is that these people are elitist hypocrites who are happy to enjoy the fruits (ahem) of the last great advances which are good enough for them but not happy to see the next wave of agtech which might make all sorts of interesting, edible, and nutritious foods easily and cheaply available to everyone. Fuck em. -GM all the way |
2002/5/22-23 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Transportation] UID:24913 Activity:very high |
5/22 Is the campus administration going to do anything about the network connectivity? \_ There's no problem with networ~{~#{}{@}NO CARRIER~~ \_ Funny! \_ THE WHOLE CAMPUS IS GOING THROUGH A 2400 BAUD MODEM?! WELL DAMN! I'VE GOT A 14.4 I COULD LOAN THEM, BUT I NEED IT BACK FOR MY BBS! \_ The problem with the network is fundamental--bandwidth usage is rising faster than bandwidth cost is falling. Something will be done about it at some point, but it won't be something you'll like. -tom \_ Like paying/packet or port blocking? \_ For example. -tom \_ send the bill to reshall \_ The reshalls already pay for their own bandwidth, and they don't affect the rest of the campus. -tom \_ It'd be nice if the discussion regarding this was in a public forum. A while back, there was some traffic regarding this topic on http://ucb.net.discussion, but that has essentially come to a halt. \_ Has there been any discussion of traffic shaping? It seems like it could offer a sensible solution to the problem. -dans \_ There already is some traffic shaping going on. But it's not a solution--web traffic alone is enough to trigger the problem. -tom \_ Cap web traffic. \_ get a clue. -tom \_ dude if web traffic is the problem, the answer is to force proxy/cache it all and shape/cap the traffic. it'll be slower overall but won't require infinite bandwidth. you're really quick with that 'get a clue' gun for someone who has yet to propose your own alternative. \_ I am actually curious why you don't consider capping web traffic to be a possible solution? Would a cap on web traffic degrade user experience that badly? Perhaps the resulting drop in performance would discourage 'casual browsing'? How much could things be improved via caching? \_ Would you reduce traffic on a busy freeway by building a wall across one of the lanes? The web traffic is a good portion of the fundamental purpose of our network connection--to degrade its usage is to degrade the very reason we have the Internet. Do some research on "the tragedy of the commons." -tom \_ I'm well acquainted with the tragedy of the commons. It is the plague of my everyday existence. I'm just wondering if slightly sluggish web performance might not change people's browsing habits. In effect, I'm not sure if your freeway analogy really applies here. Also, what about caching? That seems to hold the possibility of significantly reducing traffic we send out to the commodity internet. Or is there a reason why caching wouldn't help or is not viable for Berkeley? -dans \_ Changing people's browsing habits is exactly what you don't want to do. The net exists to be used. As for caching, we have an Akamai farm on campus already. One of the major points of the original article on the tragedy of the commons is that there exist problems with no technical solution. -tom \_ The net exists to be used not abused. If you have a bunch of stupid users who are constantly fetching uncachable content like slashdot or any of that web services bs, the best thing to is to discourage such behavior by making it harder/slower to get data from such places. Once people stop abusing the net, the problem is solved. the problem is solved. This problem *HAS* a technological soln., its just that you don't like that soln. because it means you and your '1337 buddies can't get their net fix. \_ Damn, I just did the math with a few conservative assumptions and the bits/user is insanely high. buncha pigs. \_ gee, how many users of Berkeley web sites are there? -tom \_ akamai farm? so what? that's not caching what people are using, it is caching what other people are paying to have cached. not quite the same, eh? \_ Technically an akamai farm can be used as a cache in addition to a cdn. I hope that TPTB are smart enough to do at least that much. \_ wanna bet? \_ Is the web traffic predominantly upstream or downstream? If it's downstream, could the bandwidth be supplemented with load-balancing across cheap asymmetrical connections? \_ Our aggregate net usage is weighted towards outgoing traffic, though the disparity isn't enormous. In any case, DSL (if that's what you're talking about) isn't "cheap" for this kind of usage. -tom \_ The Campus Net Wants To Be Free! \_ "tragedy of the commons": the newst kewl motd phrase. just toss this phrase around enough and you don't need to research or propose any other solutions. \_ The Tragedy Of The Commons Daniel McFadden, 09.10.01 Warning on the Net's shared resources <DEAD>www.forbes.com/asap/2001/0910/061.html<DEAD> |
2002/5/20-21 [Transportation/Car] UID:24891 Activity:moderate |
5/20 I'm changing the brakes on my car. Assuming I don't care much about brake dust on my wheels, is it worthwhile to get the more expensive pads, or will the cheap ones work just as well. Thanks \_ I've been told that if there's one part in your car that's using car manufacturer's brand equipment, it should be your break pad. I don't know much about cars. I'm just the messenger. \_ Well, it's a rather old GM car, and I doubt I can get name brand pads. Here's the approx breakdown (Pep Boys): http://www.pepboys.com/service/brake_serv.shtm It seems like all I get for spending twice as much is less dust and less noise. \_ I don't know much about cars either, but I really think brakes and tires are not the things you should go cheap. You can go cheap by skipping oil changes and screwing up your engine or whatever. Being able to stop or control the direction is much more important than anything else. \_ Small tip on buying tires: http://forum.cooltux.org/viewtopic.php?t=117 \_ CostCo is the way to go if you don't need a huge selection. Includes free rotation/balance. Lines aren't too bad. \_ The selection was a big minus for me when I needed new tires. The ones Costco carried for the size I needed had terrible reviews online. I was able buy a set of tire that had much better reviews for cheaper than what I would haved paid for the cheapest tires at Costco. |
2002/5/20-21 [Transportation/Car] UID:24889 Activity:low |
5/20 Recently a white line appeared on the treads of my car tire. It goes around in a circle in the direction of the rotation. Is it a sign that the tire should be replaced? The treads are not bold yet. Thanks. \_ have it inspected? Is it paint that you ran over? \_ Yes. The manufacturer of the tire intended it as an indicator that the tire needs to be replaced. --dim \_ Thanks. I forgot to mention that the tire is Goodyear Wrangler. \_ Depends... the CA DMV says you can be down to something like 2mm or so and still be legal. The test was the distance from the outer edge of a penny to the top of lincoln's head. I personally think this is unsafe but the DMV says its ok. |
2002/5/16-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:24859 Activity:nil |
05/16 GM to amend consitution 4pm May 23 in #gm on screwdriver. See message to csua@csua. --Galen |
2002/5/10-11 [Transportation/Car] UID:24785 Activity:moderate |
5/10 Man gets volvo filled with wet cement and drives off. Mystery. http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86%257E10669%257E600081,00.html \_ How did he manage to press the pedals with all that cement inside the car? \_ Beats me. I never filled my car with wet cement. I guess it was still wet enough. It's a weird world. \_ Perhaps it was BDG with his ex's car.. \_ next week: Man in cement-filled car found dead at bottom of lake. |
2002/5/5 [Transportation/Car] UID:24714 Activity:high |
5/5 I was in Berkeley last Thursday and tried to park on southside and about 75% of the parking meters were broken. WTF? is this a recent thing? is it something everybody knows about and ignores? -alum who hadn't been to southside in a while \_ I've been told that people break them on purpose on occasion to get free parking. It is nice for me, because if I drive to karate I have to be there for a bit more than two hours, but mostly before the meters are enforced, which means you pay for time you don't have to, and have to come out to put more money in or hope the metermaids miss the few uncovered minutes. </rant> \_ Free parking? If you park at a broken meter you get ticketed. I've been there and done that. --dim |
2002/5/1 [Transportation/Car, Computer/HW/Printer, Reference/Law/Court] UID:24646 Activity:nil |
4/29 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-895715.html Two more companies consigned to trashbin of corporate history. |
12/25 |
2002/4/26 [Politics/Domestic/California, Transportation/Car] UID:24596 Activity:low |
4/26 http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/26/obit.lopes/index.html Is there something about young soul divas in warm weather? \_ I think it's just something about young/stupid people with too much money and free time. \_ No-one else injured. Interesting car accident. \_ Yeah it's a conspiracy to defeminise the Latina female! |
2002/4/17 [Transportation/Car] UID:24471 Activity:nil |
4/17 Feds Own More Vehicles Than Hertz http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/667861/posts |
2002/4/10 [Transportation/Car] UID:24394 Activity:high |
4/9 World's most expensive pack of cigarettes. Ouch! http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wkmg/20020408/lo/1155453_1.html \_ I foresee a big liability suit. --PeterM \_ Use of excessive force while subduing the suspect? \_ I hope not. criminals deserve any and every punishment (accidental or intentional) that befalls them. \_ yeah, especially people who speed in their cars. -tom \_ And people who don't walk their bikes where they're required to. \_ Agreed. Like those three 15-and 16-yr-old teenages (obviously the driver just got his license recently) in Union City last month who were driving an Acrua Integra at 75MPH on a 40MPH local street, missed a turn, crashed into a brick wall and killed by intense flame. The high school they went to (Logan) mourned for the accident. I think the school should instead celebrate that these irresponsible reckless teenagers who were a thread to the community are now off the streets and no innocent drivers or pedestrians had been killed. \_ Officially there are no more 'accidents'. They are now 'collisions' and something like this is called a "single vehicle collision". Anyway, it's better that idiots like this are off the road one way or another. Just a little Darwinian gene pool cleaning here. \_ It's "threat" and "Acura". \_ I used to drive 110 mph on 65 mph roads and 100 mph 55 mph roads. Fortunately, I have better luck/driving- skills and survived to the ripe old age where I now always drive at 55 mph on highways. |
2002/4/8-9 [Transportation/Car] UID:24367 Activity:moderate |
4/8 Anybody have the kind of life insurance where a portion of your premiums go into a mutual fund? What company is it? I'm trying to collect a list and do comparison shop. Thanks. \_ it's called VUL (Variable Universal Life), you can email me as I have a friend who works for State Farm - russwong \_ VUL is almost always a bad deal. For 90% of the people, term life is the way to go. Insurance agent will tell you otherwise, simply because they earn more commission for selling you VULs. Instead of invesing in VULs, buy term life and put the differece in mutual fund yourself and get better return. \_ term life insurance is the kind where if you die within X years, your family get paid. Otherwise if you outlive that X period, nobody gets anything. I thought this is kind of bad. How do you know what X to pick? \_ Life insurance in general is not a good investment. It should only be used if you fear your family will not be provided for if you die prematurely. --dim \_ You don't know how long you will live, hence insurance. The idea is, you only need insurance when you have dependents, so term life should suffice; assuming your dependents will grow up, be gone (in case of your elder dependents) before the term life expires. It's true, you don't get a pay out with term life after X number of years, but you can always convert to whole life later if you prefer. Whole life is still more economical than VUL. Once again, you can always invest the difference in premium in mutual funds yourself. Read Money 101's topic on life insurance on http://money.com |
2002/3/28 [Transportation/Car] UID:24263 Activity:high |
3/27 How much should I expect to pay to get my auto's AC freon topped off? How much if also doing a leak check? \_ Depends. How old is your car? Pre-1992 cars use real R12 Freon and that shit is really expensive to deal with now (like $50 for a pound, and you need a few pounds). If that's the case, it's probably time to just upgrade to an R134a system. If it's a more modern car, R134a is relatively cheap (like under $10/pound). In any case, find and fix the leak first. -nevman Any recommended places? \_ Pepboys? \_ i've heard of two cases of pepboys charging for a whole bunch of work that they did not do(they cancelled the charges without explanation when challenged.) there is such a thing as an honest shop. why go to a dishonest shop? |
2002/3/21-22 [Transportation/Car, Computer, Reference/Military] UID:24180 Activity:high |
3/21 After a plane crashes badly and turns into a big pile of charred rubble, how is it possible for the investigators to determine whether it is mechanical failure or human error? (Let's say they have already ruled out bombs.) \_ failure analysis. \_ black boxes. \_ black boxes, eye witnesses, air traffic control, larger chunks of debris which may have been left behind... \_ Many small parts survive the most destructive crashed. Example, depending on the state of the filament of a indicator light from the cockpit, crash investigators can tell if the light was on or off at the time of impact. Same thing for engine parts and propellers. they can tell if things were rotating or stopped at impact based on the shape of deformation. it is a science. \_ Wow. I see. Thanks. |
2002/3/20-21 [Transportation/Car, Computer/HW/Printer] UID:24170 Activity:very high |
3/20 What victim is next on Carly's list of companies to destroy? \_ Why are people making such a big deal out of this? I work at HP, and I still don't understand. If it were any other company buying Compaq, this would barely make the 10th page of the business section. \_ Compaq (even with DEC's resources) doesn't bring much to the table. \_ HP was a big company respected by engineers. It's sad to see it die. \_ HP is a pos company that needs to die a quick and ugly death. "Hi, we're the men from HP. We don't find solutions; we study problems." |
2002/3/20 [Transportation/Car, Computer/HW/Printer] UID:24169 Activity:high |
3/20 Congradulations, Ms. Fiorina! \_ Nonsense. It's too close to call. Kudos indeed for killing two companies with one stone. \_ exactly. hope the remaining hewlett's and packard's kick her the hell out of hp. \_ Regardless of whether is the right move or not, Fiorina made the big mistake of alienating the hewletts and packards. when she should have included them in the decision making process. She made her own life difficult, merger or no merger. \_ She's a marketing bimbo. What'd you expect? Compaq swallowed and destroyed DEC. If they merge, all this means is HP will struggle that much more, we'll have 1 less choice in the market and what little was left of DEC and their tech will be 100% gone instead of 99% gone. \_ And don't forget DEC swallowed Tandem before that. \_ Nope. Compaq swallowed up Tandem when it couldn't get DEC. Two years later, it ate up DEC. \_ I'm not seeing how all this consolidation is advancing the field, improving shareholder value over the long term or making the consumers(home/business/enterprise) any happier or better served. I think it's only helping the chief execs stuff hundreds of millions of dollars in their pockets like we're seeing in the HP/Compaq deal. \_ Hewlett didn't show up at the board meetings--that's certainly not her fault. It's amazing how many pathetic geeks suddenly become experts on huge mergers when there's a female CEO involved. -tom \_ Bullshit. If he wasn't there how could he have voted on it? URL for "Hewlett didn't show up at the board meetings" please. \_ You're too incompetent to use google yourself? It turns up dozens of references. Anyway, http://www.uniontrib.com/news/business/20020115-9999_1b15hp.html. "Walter Hewlett missed three board meetings in July, including one at which HP's bankers from Goldman Sachs presented an analysis of the deal. " http://news.com.com/2100-1001-275678.html?legacy=cnet "But to insiders, Hewlett's move was no surprise--he skipped a key meeting four months ago to discuss the largest merger in the technology industry. Contacted in July about the added importance of a previously scheduled board meeting, Hewlett responded that he had plans to perform in an orchestra at the exclusive Bohemian Grove in Monte Rio, Calif., according to a source familiar with the board's actions. "Everyone was told it was important and that the board would be making a decision to go forward or not to go forward" with the Compaq deal at the regularly scheduled meeting, the source said." -tom \_ The article I read is actually pro-merger, but it says that Hewlett was left out of the loop until a very late stage. |
2002/3/7-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:24057 Activity:high |
3/7 Man left to Bleed to Death in Windshield. We have reached a new low. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&u=/nm/20020307/od_nm/windshield_dc_1 \_ If she was white and he was black this would be all over the place. Al and Jesse would be at her door step with rent-a-mob in tow. \_ http://www.foxnews.com has it. Nothing on CNN. \_ If both were black, no mainstream media would bother to cover it. \_ And Al and Jesse would also ignore it. No money to be gained from black on black crimes. \_ I like how xtasy was involved \_ She must not have been feeling the love. \_ What about that the lady was a nurse's aide? \_ That would be an interesting conversation: Man: Are we going to the hospital? Woman: Um... Look! Punch bug! Man(screaming): That was a Jetta! ... Man: Why are we pulling in here? Woman: I have to pick up some recycling. Tell me, do I have enough room over on the right side? Man: No, it appears my broken legs are being squeezed against the wall. ...(hours pass)... Woman (entering the garage): What are you still doing here? Man: Please, just start the engine and let me the exhaust kill me. Woman: With gas at 1.50 a gallon? I don't think so... \_ More like, "ARGH! You fucking bitch! <gak>" and then she gets another beer and turns on Jerry to drown out the noise. \_ Shows what you know. Gas is more like 1.15 in Texas. |
2002/2/20-21 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:23923 Activity:insanely high |
2/20 Is it really true that BMWs are theft proof because of that chip in the key? \_ NOTHING is theft proof. Theft-resistant, but not theft-proof. \_ Not even the one James Bond drove. \_ related note: how many of you actually shell out $700 for the GPS tracker security system or $900 for the alarm system? \_ I outfitted my car with "Lethal Deterrent". And it doesn't even drain the battery! \_ Of course not. What if the thief has a tow truck? What if the thief plans ahead and bribes someone at BMW to get him the key for your car? Difficult and unlikely, yes. Impossible, no. \_ Follow up question : Is there concrete data on this stuff anywhere? \_ You're on the motd. There is no concrete data here. \_ No. However, it takes a little more skill, a few more tools, and a little more time to steal a BMW because of those chips (VWs and Audis too). All of those will cut down on theft. \_ anything you do that requires the thief to physically have the proper key (i.e. GM's VATs, the lasercut lexus keys, the bmw chip etc - is just goin gto increase the carjacking incidents) - ex AAA Automobile Locksmith. \_ hi paolo, er, prole... er, pst \_ Only if they want the car that badly. \_ Basically, it comes down to: is the car worth the time to steal? If you can steal an unarmed car in 15 seconds vs. one with an alarm, a Club, etc in 60 seconds, most likely the unarmed one will be taken first. \_ not if the unarmed one isn't worth taking. \_ well, goes w/o saying, don't park your 535i next to a Pinto. \_ 535i ? What do you think this is, 1999? I can't afford that shit. I only have a 325Ci. \_ Practically any car can be stolen if a thief wants it. Thieves don't use a lot of the same logic we do, either. I've seen older cars stolen that were parked right next to much nicer and newer cars. My neighbor had a Saturn (!) stolen that was parked next to Hondas, Cadillacs, a BMW, an Acura, and a Porsche (none of which had alarms that were armed). My dad was carjacked for his beaten-up 1982 Toyota pickup! All you can do is your best. Things like Lojack will help you get your car back, if you think you want it back after it's been stripped. --dim \_ I guess that what car they want to steal depends on the current demand in the used parts market. \_ This is not related to cars, but I've heard stories where someone on campus had a crappy bike and locked it with at Kryptonite bike lock that costed more than the bike, yet the bike was still stolen. \_ I've had a friend who got his *junky* bike stolen off a balcony of a 3rd floor apartment. The bike theifs in Berkeley will go any distance to steal even a piece of crap. |
2002/2/1 [Transportation/Car] UID:23749 Activity:nil |
2/1 My car grew up in southern california; it's getting on in years and now has trouble w/ Berkeley's cold weather-- the choke light comes on when I start it and it's very sluggish till it warms up. If I take it up hills too early it will die altogether-- I think the engine might be flooding. Would switching to a higher octane gas help this situation? Is there any sort of fuel/oil additive I should try? Also, would any of this help me pass a smog check? |
2002/1/31-2/1 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:23741 Activity:very high |
1/31 where can I get a rear view mirror for my monitor? \_ Perhaps any number of car parts stores that sell such things for cars? (e.g., Kragen, Pep Boys, etc.) \_ Something monitor sized and not a 4" x 6" monster suitable for an SUV. I don't want a car rear view mirror. I want a monitor rear view mirror. I've seen them at previous companies. \_ Yeah....like the little round 2" diameter fisheye mirrors people used to put on the sideview mirrors of their van conversions back in a time known as "The 80s". \_ you can probably get one of those rear view mirror for bicyles. \_ go to a trade show. \_ stfw \_ I used to have one, and now I have a web cam set up so I can monitor everything happens in my back. I can also turn the angle and have it point at my boss's office to monitor him. Much more useful than a mirror. \_ it's much more satisfying to arrange your desk to face the office door... \_ computer stores. Or go to a Sun Microsystems store, like at their Agnews Santa Clara office. their Agnews Santa Clara office. But they may not let you in. |
2002/1/31 [Transportation/Car] UID:23726 Activity:very high |
1/30 Has anyone bought a new car online lately? If so, what is good site to shop cars online? Thanks. \_ http://autobytel.com for research and purchase request to a local dealer link:peoplefirst.com for the car loan (blank check sent to house) \_ ride bike! \_ use linux! |
2002/1/30 [Transportation/Car] UID:23716 Activity:high |
1/29 Anyone have exp. with Mercury Insurance (Auto and/or Home)? One of their agents just quoted me a really good price (below $650/yr) for my 1999 Jap. automobile. I have clean records and believe in wasting the least possib. amount of insurance, but want to make sure that in case I do need to claim something that they're good to their words. I also understand they're 2nd-rate insurance company, but would it matter much/ Thx in advance! \_ My family and I (mother, father, sister) have used Mercury for several years. They seemed to be a fine company and with good customer service. Additionally, I believe they are endoresed by AIS, which I think is fairly reputable. \_ Are they fair and reasonable claim-wise? If you have a choice between Mercury and 21st Century (assuming the latter is about $300-400 more expensive), which one would you go with? I know both companies are considered 2nd-rate as well -- orig. poster \_ Have you tried Traveler's? \_ I don't know anything about 21st Century... But I've never had any problems with Mercury, so if they're cheaper and you want to save money..... \_ I have both auto and home insurance with Mercury. I wasn't exactly happy with the claim process. Service rep was constantly slow at getting back to you. According to them, they were just too busy. Could indicate a under staffed situation. However, once I can reach a claim representive, the service was good. \_ Did you try Geico? I get the best rates and service from them, and they are definitely 1st rate. |
2002/1/22 [Transportation/Car] UID:23625 Activity:nil |
1/21 Any soda's driven across country? How much does it cost to drive to the east coast (via say, the 10). \_ Cost? Depends on how you do it. I did it with about a total of about $500 of hotel costs (6 nights, each about $70ish. I could have done cheaper), and about $400 in gas (I have a fuel inefficient car). Plus all food costs (which I forgot). Be aware though that Hwy 10 is probably the longest route you could take cross country. -amirs \_ sorry, i should have been more specific. How much was it just in terms of gas, food, etc. how long did it take? I'm planning on sleeping in the car. \_ truck stops are your friend! they usually have showers, clean bathrooms, decent cheap food, gas, random supplies, and they tolerate people sleeping in their cars. \_ Are truck stops safe? Do you get robbed while sleeping in your cars? \_ Why would you want to drive across the country? It's mostly a giant wasteland. \_ I drove across country back in 1987. It took me two weeks, but I took my time and spent four days with relatives in Wyoming. You can sleep in your car most of the way, but I would not do the northern route in winter. I almost froze to death at a rest stop in Nebraska. -ausman \_ Tom and I drove across country in late April 99. We did a combo of US 20 and I-90. The trip is awesome. Check out the free hot springs in Thermopolis, Black Hills, Dickeyville Grotto and funky neon all the way. We averaged about $100/day including gas, food and cheap lodging (1985 Honda Civic). Truck stops are good for cleaning up but worthless for food and rip-offs for most supplies. Took 10 days but you can do it in 6-7 with two drivers. -larson |
2002/1/9-10 [Transportation/Car] UID:23513 Activity:very high |
1/9 What kind of gas mileage does a bus get? The kind that AC Transit and SF MUNI use. \_ a 72 seat International school bus gets 8 miles to the gallon. buying s a school bus is a bad idea. - former school bus owner. \_ is 8 freeway or street? \_ Guessing street since many/most school buses never see a freeway. YMMV (hah! a joke! get it? ha!) \_ so we'd get better than 8mpg if we drove it on the freeway? \_ look. owning a bus is a *huge* potential pain in the ass. don't get yhourself into that unless you *really* know awhat you're doing. if asking about gas mileage on the motd is your idea of figuring out what you are doing, prepare for misery as you try to unlead the prepare for misery as you try to unload the fucking thing. guess wahat: no one wants to buy your stupid bus after yhou go broke and need to get rid of it to buy food. save youreself now! don't buy a bus!!! unless you have lots and lots basiacally my experiaence with bus ownership is along thge lines of Bitter Divorc3ed Guy's experience with marriage. of capital and free time to fuck with it. basically my experience with bus ownership is along thge lines of Bitter Divorced Guy's experience with marriage. bus bad. -former bus owner. |
2002/1/3-4 [Transportation/Car] UID:23445 Activity:high |
1/2 What's a good tire store in the south bay? (one that changes and checks for your break) \_ costco \_ its a good place. But come at the wrong time (weekends), and you may have to wait an hour or two. \_ Does Costco also fix breaks? I got new tires from there before and I thought it only does tires. \_ they may not check breaks. you may be right. \_ It's spelled "brakes" \_ they may not check brakes. you may be right. \_ I really like Big-O; their prices are fair. \_ Any recommendations for Z rated tires? I need new tires for my E36. \_ Bridgestone Potenzas, Dunlop SP9000s, Pirelli P-zeros. \_ Michelin \_ E36 == BMW 3 Series? \_ yup, previous gen 3 series. current is E46. |
2002/1/1-2 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:23424 Activity:moderate |
1/1 http://www.azzam.com \_ Why do I care about this site? \_ One of the main editors is Al Qaeda. Think of it as an alternative media outlet. :-) |
2001/12/28-30 [Transportation/Car] UID:23393 Activity:kinda low |
12/28 Can anyone recommend a good VW mechanic in/near Berkeley? \_ European Motors in Berkeley, San Pablo at Channing \_ Any guy in particular to talk to? I've been to McNevitt (?) but as a VW dealer, they are $$$. \_ Try asking the friendly folx at German Auto Salvage (G.A.S.) \_ Precision Peoples on San Pablo one block south of Gilman (next to REI). I forgot the owner's name (Ken?). An ex-hippie who likes model airplanes which are hanging all over the garage. They use to only fix german cars until japanese cars became the rage. Now they do both. |
2001/12/27-30 [Reference/BayArea, Transportation/Car] UID:23387 Activity:kinda low |
12/27 Any car wash places that will also clean insides up here in Berkeley/ Oakland/El Cerrito/etc, other than Touchless on Oxford? \_ Broadway and 40th in Oakland. \_ seriously... Touchless sucks. You're better off just hosing your car down for five minutes. |
2001/12/8-9 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:23186 Activity:insanely high |
12/7 Polling sodans on dotbomb failures. Which dotbomb have are you working for? \_ /csua/pub/jobs/* \_ <DEAD>MyTurn.com<DEAD> \_ <DEAD>s8.com<DEAD> \_ http://gamers.com (still looking for a job and yes I am a big luzer) \_ http://channela.com \_ http://thirdvoice.com \_ http://wego.com (not fully bombed yet) \_ http://wired.com/hotwired.com \_ http://inktomi.com \_ http://c2.com \_ maybe you mean http://c2.net, which was not a failure. Sold to RHAT for $42M. (14x sales, 420x ROI) \_ in stocks. \_ ArsDigita... arguably not a dotcom, but now is failing like one. \_ http://wfn.com \_ http://cp.net (CriticalPath) \_ http://Adjectivity.com is still around, still has money, and had 5 sodans at one point, including 3 former presidents, and 2 former vice presidents. \_ http://Autobytel.com, still limping along, left there a long time ago \_ link:PeopleFirst.com, just got bought by CapitalOne for $173 mil. \_ http://taos.com .. \_ Not really a .com, but dotbombed with the best of them. \_ whats left of taos these days anyway? do they have *any* contract work? \_ We have a stack of their 4x5 post-it notes at work. We like their post-its. |
2001/12/7-8 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:23177 Activity:very high |
12/7 Polling sodans on dotbomb failures. Which dotbomb have you worked for? I remember some people bitching about http://thirdvoice.com a while back. Also http://bigbook.com. Which other loser companies have sodans touched and destroyed? \_ feeling a little bitter there, troll-boy? \_ dude, relax. how is this a troll? \_ I worked thirdvoice. I never bitched about it. I sure as hell didn't destroy it. It's a troll. -ex-3V \_ "sarcasm" and "hyperbole." Try looking those up. \_ Uh oh. Found a real person who was there so you back off. Ok. No problem. Apology accepted. \_ Uhh no. Try "sarcasm" and "hyperbole" in regards to the orginal post, hyper-sensitive guy. \_ I can read. I know what it says. It's a troll. If it wasn't they would've stopped after the first line. Call it whatever you'd like and repaint it anyway you'd like. \_ <DEAD>MyTurn.com<DEAD> \_ http://gamers.com (still looking for a job and yes I am a big luzer) \_ http://channela.com \_ Just because someone worked at a place doesn't mean they destroyed it. Take the troll elsewhere. \_ http://thirdvoice.com \_ http://wego.com (not fully bombed yet) \_ http://wired.com/hotwired.com \_ http://inktomi.com \_ http://c2.com \_ maybe you mean http://c2.net, which was not a failure. Sold to RHAT for $42M. (14x sales, 420x ROI) \_ ArsDigita... arguably not a dotcom, but now is failing like one. \_ http://wfn.com \_ http://cp.net (CriticalPath) \_ http://Adjectivity.com is still around, still has money, and had 5 sodans at one point, including 3 former presidents, and 2 former vice presidents. \_ http://Autobytel.com, still limping along, left there a long time ago \_ link:PeopleFirst.com, just got bought by CapitalOne for $173 mil. |
2001/11/27-28 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:23114 Activity:high |
11/27 Does over-inflating the tires improve gas mileage? I tried over-inflating the tires on my truck by 5 PSI and I hardly notice any improvement. (It's a Jeep Cherokee.) \_ They have a PSI rating for a reason. You're going to improve your mileage by some meaningless amount while decreasing the life of your tires a *lot* which means new tires sooner and increased chances of a blowout which could get you and others killed. Stop trying to be a genius and just do what the maniufacturer says. They know better than you do. Put your tires back. \_ The rating is used for average driving. If you're going on a long driving trip, it's ok to go a few PSI over what you would use for street driving. The PSI rating is merely an average. \_ But the rated PSI for a vehicle takes comfort among other things into consideration while I'm willing to sacrifice comfort. So \_ I thought yermom was a ho only at night, not during the day. I'm willing to put up with a bumpy ride for better gas mileage. \_ The PSI rating sets your tires at a rate where they wear out as safely as possible and last as long as possible. You have shocks to ease the ride. Over inflating your tires makes a bad blowout more likely as opposed to a regular flat. At highway speeds you can drive your flat to the shoulder. You might not be able to drive your blowout safely to the shoulder. Please set your tires properly or get off the roads you share with the rest of us. \_ Overinflated tired on a hot day on asphault going fast = bad idea. \_ I thought under-inflation heats up tires, not over-inflation. \_ http://www.usatoday.com/money/consumer/autos/mauto849.htm \_ you'll get a much bigger effect on gas mileage by slowing down a little, especially on such an aerodynamically inefficent vehicle as the cherokee. Other driving habits will have a huge effect on mileage too, such as drafting big vans/trucks as well as cutting back on rapid acceleration and unnecessary braking. tire inflation only helps if they were underinflated (underinflation is sometimes helpful when off-roading, as it improves traction). YMMV \_ I have a Jeep Wangler TJ - I run 40psi on the street and 20psi off-road. My tires are rated to 44psi, so I am still under the limit. Also Jeep recommends 32psi, that is because they do use the tires to help cushion your ride (everyone else here doesn't realize what a true off-road vehicle is set up for). Only caveat, make sure you have quality tires if you want to play with the pressure, BFG, GY, Michelin, etc. And yes, I do see a couple of miles/gallon difference! And yes again, the ride is much more bumpy. \_ Have you actually done the math on what slight gas-milage improvements actually saves you? If you really want to save on gas, don't drive a fucking Cherokee. \_ Well, I'm getting 25+ mpg on freeway which is not terrible, probably because I don't speed. Besides, I take public transit to go to work everyday even though it takes longer than driving. That saves more gas than driving an Insight. I'm just looking for more ways to save gas other than getting a new car when I need to drive to go on a trip. \_ Wow, how do you get 25+ mpg with your Wrangler? What year is it? I only get 12-14 mpg on mine. Also, good advice to the guy above. If you want to get better mpg, don't drive a cherokee. A sedan will be better for you. \_ It's 25+ mpg freeway on the Cherokee. It's a '96 Cherokee Classic 4dr 4.0L 6cyl 5sp manual Command Trac 4WD. I think if I got the 2.5L 2WD that year it'd do even better mpg. |
2001/11/3 [Reference/BayArea, Transportation/Car, Transportation/PublicTransit] UID:22919 Activity:high |
11/2 Anyone crossed the San Mateo Bridge or the Dumbarton Bridge today? How's the situation there? \_ Seemed normal. A couple of CHP cars on either side. Traffic was about average for a Friday. \_ I was so paranoid this morning that I took 880S -> 237W -> 101N to go from Hayward to Foster City. go from Hayward to Foster City to avoid any bridges. \_ THAT must've sucked. it must have added 1-2 hours to your morning commute. 880S from Union City to 237 is horrid, tho 101N should've been ok. \_ It took me a whole 1.5 hours, but that was because there were one construction site running a jack-hammer and one accident on 880S, and two accidents on 101N, all of which caused moron drivers to slow down and look even though no lanes were blocked. \_ stayed home altogether and will do bart next week. Better safe than dead.. \_ you're a moron. \_ got laid off this week. No bridges for me. Can't afford the toll. |
2001/10/8 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Dating] UID:22662 Activity:nil |
10/7 What's the song in the VW commercial where the guy walks in right as he priest says "speak now or forever hold your peace"? \_ Mrs. Robinson? \_ The more important question is "who's the cute chick?" \_ Far more than cute. She's smoking. \_ http://www.vw.com/commercials \_ J. Ralph - One Million Miles Away |
2001/9/24 [Transportation/Car] UID:22605 Activity:high |
9/23 Other than tax status and some red coloring (?) is there any physical (non legal) difference between type 1 and 2 diesel? \_ http://www.cim-tek.com/FAQ2.htm#3 I assume this applies for all types of diesel, not just this brand. In other words, yes. -chialea \_ HYDROSORB is not diesel. |
2001/8/24 [Transportation/Car] UID:22245 Activity:nil |
8/22 Is slashing someone's tires illegal in car-hating Berkeley? |
2001/8/24 [Transportation/Car] UID:22237 Activity:nil |
8/23 How can you remove a tire from a car if you don't have the locking key for the hubcap? |
2001/8/16-17 [Transportation/Car, Science/Electric] UID:22142 Activity:very high |
8/16 my power window on my honda doesn't work, motor seems fine, but seems a cable broke or somethign, anyone know a good place to fix that kind of stuff in san jose, milpitas, fremont area? thanks \_ Go to the Honda dealer and buy the part you need. \_ Get a screwdriver, open your door, put the glass back on the clamp, screw it back together, be happy you spent a couple hours working on something instead of paying someone $100. \_ tried that, but a cable busted.. it is more than removing the door panet, there is a steel wall that keeps in the motor and clamp, etc. and a few electrical connectors \_ power windows are a bitch. - former AAA automotive locksmith. \_ Libraries (or maybe even the Berkeley ToolLending library) have copies of Honda, et.al. repair manuals. Look it up and if it looks easy, maybe can repair it yourself. Note however, it may not tell you the tricks earned from experience (i.e. you might fuck up the interior covering for the door and it never fits right again). \_ too late for that (covering) :( |
2001/8/16-17 [Transportation/Car] UID:22136 Activity:insanely high |
8/16 My Acura Integra got stolen the other day, and there was lots of stuff in it. Anything I can do besides file a police report and wait? My insurance covers the car, but not the stuff inside. \_ Should've wired up a remote-explode device. \_ Are you sure you just didn't forget where you parked? \_ Vigilante Justice! \_ But he has to find who the culprit is first. \_ Nah, just take out every one you see driving an integra. You'll get the guy eventually. Or at least you'll have fun before going down in a blaze of lead. \_ Buy it back from ebay, your friendly online fence \_ D'oh that sucks. I only had the two rear tires of my Integra stolen. \_ They took your tires and left your rims on? Bummer. \_ Nope, they took those too. I woke up to find my car on two jacks. \_ I wonder why they left you their jacks and didn't take all the four wheels. Dumb thieves. \_ Start making a list of things you had in the car...esp. that new moutain bike you've always wanted. \_ not to mention, that titanium powerbook G4 with 1GB of RAM that was left on the back seat.. \_ and a case of freebsd cds! \_ The police should set up thief traps. Create situations that just scream for something to be stolen...then watch. \_ Watch is all they'd be able to do. Look up "entrapment". \_ This is not true. It's only entrapment if they're trying to trick someone into doing something illegal. Parking a nice car somewhere and watching it is by no means entrapment. \_ Look up "sting". \_ If they only have that much manpower ...... \_ I just realized that with GPS systems this would be very viable. You don't even need an officer nearby. Also, setup multiple "target cars," then when the car is driven away, the GPS starts beeping, dispatch is notified, closest officer pulls them over. \_ "loJack" \_ similar been on world's police videos #1-4 \_ That's why I dont keep any important crap in it except my rottweiler \_ Man, that's probably the stupidest thing I've seen in weeks. \_ Mmm, baked rottweiler.. \_ If you have home owner insurance, I think some of your stuffs might be covered. \_ All your Engrish are belong to us. |
2001/8/14-15 [Transportation/Car] UID:22109 Activity:very high |
8/13 Does anybody have anything good/bad to say about Berkeley area auto mechanics? What about online advice from web/newsgroups? My '84 Oldsmobile is grinding while shifting from 2nd to 3rd. Thanks --mjm \_ The Quantum Mechanics is quite good. The rest, mediocre. \_ Ive had very good results with my 89 Olds at Campus Auto. They are a little more expensive than some other places, but they know their shit. \_ Thanks, where are they located? \_ Shattuck Ave and Francisco 848-8828 -- they are actually supposedly one of the more reasonably priced auto mechanics --chris \_ anyone have experience with Ocean Works? \_ good for japanese cars. 849-1383 on 10th street. --chris \_ http://parents.berkeley.edu/recommend/services -- scroll down to "autos" section. -chris |
2001/7/27 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Airplane] UID:21970 Activity:kinda low |
7/26 Are people allowed to take home study or online traffic school in Santa Clara county? \_ given the drivers in the bay area, i thought all you needed to do was show up to the DMV, and mutter "I'm INDIAN, lookee my integra powered by curry!" in an Indian accent and *WHAM* you get your drivers lic. \_ that's BMW, not integra, riceboy. Oh yesh, BMW. \_ for the license, yes, but i'm talking about the traffic ticket bribery school \_ for the license, yes, but i'm talking about the traffic ticket bribery school \_ Hurry hurry hurry, buy my rice and curry. \_ Good rice, good curry, good Gandhi let's hurry. \_ Who needs the Quick-E-Mart?! \_ ask the court yourself. Or are you preparing to get a ticket? \_ Yes. |
2001/7/11 [Transportation/Car, Finance/Investment] UID:21765 Activity:nil |
7/10 Does anybody have anything to say about the new parking permit regulations (max 3 14-day permits, can't buy more than 1 at a time, etc.)? Why was this change made? \_ it's part of the windows xp rollout \_ It's designed to screw students. End of story. \_ according to the "Customer Care Servicers" it is there because of the balck market that was created with sales of said parking passes. Clearly they didn't take any sort of economics. |
2001/6/28 [Transportation/Car] UID:21660 Activity:nil |
6/28 Great porn engine: http://images.google.com |
2001/6/27-28 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers] UID:21654 Activity:nil |
6/27 Find the cheapest gas in your area: http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_index.asp \_ ADODB.Field error '800a0bcd' Either BOF or EOF is True, or the current record has been deleted. Requested operation requires a current record. /includes/priceupdate.asp, line 6 go go microsoft. \_ It seems to work fine under Netscape, but I just get a blank screen on OmniWeb :-( |
2001/6/16 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Sports] UID:21545 Activity:moderate |
6/16 Cartrain to sanjose! 8 ppl going to see Tomb Raider, 8 cars going. aww yeah. \_ you fools. I crashed it (as in saw it for free) and still it was overpriced! It SSSSSSSSSsssssucked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111! \_ That's what I heard. If you want to see a decent movie try Atlantis. It was pretty good. |
2001/6/11 [Transportation/Car] UID:21477 Activity:nil |
6/11 good references for SMTP please? \_ http://www.myhometechie.com/hackz/general/napster.html \_ http://www.rfc-editor.org |
2001/6/1-3 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/PublicTransit] UID:21405 Activity:high 61%like:22140 |
6/01 Low-key bike ride on Saturday, 6/2, meeting at 10:00 AM at Rockridge BART. Route at http://www.best.com/~doosh/bicycle/tiburon.html. Mail ride-bike-request for details. \_ "4 legs is better than 2." \_ Four legs good, two leggers BETTER. \_ car train. Meet on Sat, drive around bikers and laugh at them. Hand out training wheels and diapers. \_ I'm in. My wife and I will bring our matching Suburbans. \_ is it true bikers are gay? \_ the gay ones are. \_ Yes. \_ No. \_ It's okay. Those strange feelings you have are completely natural. Come out and let your inner beauty shine! |
2001/5/22-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:21324 Activity:high |
5/22 I wonder what's next in Afgaistan, gas chambers for Hindus? http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/05/22/afghanistan.hindu/index.html \_ ANYTHING NOT CHRISTIAN IS EVIL, COMMIE, AND LIBERAL. \_ Krystallnacht. \_ They are not gas chambers! They are showers! \_ I hope that you are being sarcastic. \_ I'm sure he was. But how can you be so certain? You don't even know what he's talking about. Was every shower in Europe a gas chamber? The real gas chambers were said to have been dynamited anyway. |
2001/5/8-9 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:21214 Activity:high |
5/8 Berkeley Critical Mass this Friday, downtown Berkeley BART gather 5:30 PM to depart after 6 PM. Sound system, water pistols, movies after. http://guest.xinet.com/bike/couch \_ And please drink and drive your SUVs. \_ And bring out your guns. \_ puleeze. more underpowered twinks who will get themselves killed thinking they can mix in with regular traffic \_ they also bitch and cry when their handle bars get stuck on someone's mirror. only an idiot and careless biker gets that close to a car. \_ while waiting on a red light on Market St. in SF couple of weeks ago, a woman tried to squeeze between my car and the sidewalk. She ended up toppling over as her bike hit the sidewalk. I tried damn hard not to laugh, but was quite unsuccessful. Oh, and it's not like she couldn't have ridden her bike on the sidewalk... there were hardly any pedestrians and the sidewalk's 20 feet wide. \_ so if you ride on the sidewalk, you get a ticket. if you ride between cars, you die. if you ride your bike in traffic and take up the whole lane, you get harassed. \_ Cyclists should do what motorists do. If you see a bunch of cars behind you waiting to pass you, pull over to the side and let them pass. For the most part, this is convention on the highways and should work for cyclists as well. \_ How typical, a motorist advocating that cyclists break the law. \_ They do anyway without any help. \_ Like not stopping for pedestrians at stop signs (and even red lights) while whining about car drivers not stopping for them. \_ Like the 4 cars that sped through red lights just this morning on my walk from bart to work. \_ yeah, but bicyles don't weight 2 tons, cars do.. all the more reason to respect their power even if there are morons behind it. \_ Some cyclists are fucking stupid (crossing against a red light, etc), but this is hardly the behavior most cyclists have. \_ I'm saying she should've ridden the sidewalk for her own good. Fine by me if she wants to risk hurting herself. In fact, I'm glad she fell on her sorry ass. If she insists on sharing the road, she could've waited like all the other motorists instead of squeezing through. \_ I agree, and tend to take the whole lane when I'm riding on Market. Which is really the right thing to do. --dpassage \_ the right answer is 1) stay the hell off the sidewalk and 2) obey the rules of the road (such as the CVC) when riding and if you can't be bothered to do either, suck it. --jon \_ Bring 'em on. I just got a new grill on my Suburban and a little blood will help give it color! \_ Wow. A little bicycle advocacy seems to bring out more than any recent trolling. That's fine. Yer cure when yer angry. -ulysses \_ ulysses? who names their kid ulysses? |
2001/5/6-7 [Transportation/Car, Computer/HW/Printer] UID:21183 Activity:very high |
5/6 Any new fiction books out there that are any good? (I'm looking for something along the line of Forester, Hemingway, etc., ie literature or some reasonable facimile there of) \_ well, i bought "sick puppy" by carl issaison (sp?) on a hunch before a trans-pacific flight and liked it. it's neal stephenson w/o the sci-fi part, if that helps. very hyperbolic. read the first few pages at the store and decide for yourself. \_ New only in comparison to the names you mention, but I'm reading Gaddis' JR. Good stuff. \_ why did Gaddis have to forego chpater breaks, or breaks \_ why did Gaddis have to forego chapter breaks, or breaks \_ READ HARRY POTTER YOU MUGGLE! \_ tmonroe is that you? \_ Read The Moor's Last Sigh, if you have not already done so, I suggest. of any sort, for that matter? it makes reading his book so much more difficult \_ I said literature, not bedtime stories for 6 year old children. \_ and he gave you a decent reading suggestion, not a bedtime story for 6 year old children. read it before you knock it; if you've read it, say why you didn't like it \_ Okay I've read HP, and its like a Scooby Doo eps. The characters are way to sterotypical and there is little in the way of plot or character development or even social interaction. HP is like Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew. Its okay if you are under the age of 10. \_ come on. it's for elementary school children. i read some of it. how is it literature? it reminds me of Roald Dahl. it's popular probably because elementary school is the level of these adults' reading. if you want a good fantasy, Song of Ice and Fire by Martin has moments of pure excellence. \- I've read the first two HP books and i think they are popular rather than good ... i can see why people like them, but they dont have complex character or plot or great dialog. I suppose you get cuaght up in what will happen to various characters and how the "mystery will be solved" ... i'd compare HP to a popular TV show rather than to literature. --psb \_ Read The Moor's Last Sigh, if you have not already done so, I suggest. \_ I couldn't finish it. But then again, I've never liked Rushides' work. \- I think "White Teeth" is pretty good. But some people are likely to get more out if it than others ... such as if you are familar with ehtnic issues in London. I dont understand why you say "new fiction" and then mention Hemingway. I liked David Lodge too: Changing Places has a lot of berkeley refs. This is literate fiction not "literature" BTW. --psb \_ I should have said new "literature". Basically I'm looking for something written in the last 10 years that has the depth of description and character development that was found in some of the better novels in the early to mid 1900s. \- what's the deal with "written in the last 10 yrs" ... you want a contemporary setting? you could try saul bellow's ravelstein. --psb \_ I gather that the 70-90 was a bad time period for literature, ie commie/liberal/feminist propoganda masquerading as literature. My take is that the situation has improved, and the writing is much more honest in the last 10 years. Contemporary setting is not that important for me as compared with good honest writing. BTW, I just finished "True at first light" and didn't like it much. That's why I'm asking about some newer authors. \_ My list of 20th century literature I think measures up well... ~cody/bookrec.html \- everyone i recommended "A Fine Balance" to liked it. fo rsomething more cheery, Changing Places, Small World, Therapy (last three are more good stories than serious lit. although you have to knpw a bit of litcrit to get SW).--psb |
2001/4/27 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Food] UID:21116 Activity:high |
4/26 http://Amazon.com:Books :: ??:Electronics What is ?? \_ http://Amazon.com \_ Is http://Amazon.com as good as let's say Fry's electronics in terms of electronic selection? \_ dunno, but i bought my playstation there. \_ Better, since Amazon sells new products, not the 90% returns that Fry's offers. |
2001/4/25 [Transportation/Car] UID:21096 Activity:nil |
4/25 Test. "Vadim" \_ if this test works, the above entry should be auto-deleted shortly. |
2001/4/24-25 [Transportation/Car] UID:21087 Activity:very high |
4/24 on a 1.6 vtec engine, at what point does one shift? 2500? 3500? (redline at about 7200). Should i be doing 60 in 4th gear? (or 3rd?) - this is not an integra. \_ Of course it's not an Integra. It's a Civic. \_ D00D 175 4 TR1CK3D 7YP3 R C1V1C DX R4C3R! \_ Doesn't it depend on how much power you want vs. how little gas you're willing to burn at that moment? \_ ok, the spec then is to maximize engine life; get good gas mileage, i care not for racing on the street. \_ in that case shift at 3000 rpm. To maximize engine life tune up more often. Every 3000 miles engine oil change intermediate service every 15000 miles. \_ Good rule of thumb. To maximize economy, you will want to shift with the purpose of keeping your foot as light on the throttle as possible. \_ How often is tune-up needed? \_ A "tune-up" is such a vague term. If you're clueless about cars, you'll probably want a mechanic to look at it every year or 15000mi, whichever comes first. Not as important if your car is very new. \_ RIDE BIKE \_ USE LINUX! |
2001/4/23-24 [Transportation/Car] UID:21065 Activity:insanely high |
4/22 Let's argue about the gas is cheaper than food thing some more. \_ it's really how much additional food you eat which is the issue. Also, if you bike and don't own a car at all you save money on car payments, registration, maintenance, insurance, as well as merely on gas. \_ And your job choices are limited to where you live or your housing choice to where you work. \_ And you life is in the hands of soccer moms driving 80 MPH on local roads in thier SUVs. Personally, I'd rather be in a car, at least I will *survive* an accident. But then again, if you RIDE BIKE and get killed, its not a big loss since you are no longer in the gene pool to spread your stupid luser genes. \_ In terms of per exposure hour, you are much more likely to die in a car than on a bike. But this will be my only response to this troll. -tom \_ Hey tom, I'm genuinely interested in this -- do you have a URL or anything? -mice http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/health/risks.htm _/ -tom \_ Rock! Thanks! -mice \_ okay this pro-bike page is flawed. the statistics they use are based on national figures. i believe riding a bike on silicon valley or city streets and expressways is far more dangerous than riding country roads or what have you. i don't put any faith in those statistics. certainly not to the point where i would spout them as if fact, as tom is doing. i mean think about it. bikes aren't going to be on freeways, where some large portion of auto fatalities happen. nor will they be in the most dangerous traffic patterns, in general. \_ The soccer moms only do 45-50 in the 25 zones where I live.a If you really believe that riding a bike for 20 miles will cost you more in increased food consumption than a gallon of gas you are quite retarded. For another thing, what food are we talking about? A bowl of rice or pasta is cheap, and bread is $1 a loaf. For a third thing, gas has pollution costs not captured in the pump price. \_ So does food production. Anyway, who put you on the water and bread diet? Last I checked, this isn't a Soviet prison. \_ This is stupid. Biking takes longer than driving -- my time is valueable. The added trip time * $/hour > cost saved by not using gas. If you're a burger flipper or some pathetic fryalator-operating schmo, then this may not be true for you, but in a general sense your argument is specious. \_ Or work for UC. \_ okay fine, you win. i don't ride bike either fwiw. except, i do for exercise/fun. so if you want regular exercise biking gives you that as a freebie. the problem is that our infrastructure makes biking the streets pretty unsafe and tedious. \_ On that point, I certainly agree. The infrastructure is absurdly skewed against bikers (and pedestrians, for that matter) & etc.... \_ You make it sound like a conspiracy. \_ It's not. It has more to do with one simple little fact: not enough people give a damn. Deal with it. between home and work, driving to/from work costs more than biking. (Of course time and safety is another issue that varies between situations.) \_ BOOT TO THE HEAD!!! \_ YERMOM GAVE ME HEAD!!! \_ BOOT TO THE HEAD!!! \_ riding 100 miles will probably cost you a hotel stay. That's more expensive than the gas involved. \_ Plus driving also has car maintenance cost not captured in the pump price. \_ Which is why if you've ever been reimbursed for driving, you'd know you get paid by the mile (usually about 25-35 cents), not for what you put in your tank. Can you multiply .3 x miles traveled and fill out a form? \_ Exactly. But since you don't get reimbursed for driving between home and work, driving to/from work costs you 25-35 cents per mile while biking is a lot cheaper. (Of course time and safety are other issues that vary between situations.) \_ If I didn't own a car or insisted on biking to work I would need another million dollars to buy a house near my job or I'd have to take a $40k pay cut to work near my home. Driving is cheaper than biking if you don't work at McDonald's. Here's some math: I drive about 20k miles to/from work each year. At $.35 per mile that's $7000. Another $500 or so for the bridge. Driving is cheaper by far. I can't afford to ride a bike to work. \_ I take the shuttle between Hayward BART and Foster City to go to work. Parking at BART is free. Shuttle is free and is open to the general public. Saves me gas money, car maintenance, bridge toll, and the time to wait in line for the toll booth instead of riding on the carpool lane. Plus I can take a nap. \_ There aren't shuttles everywhere. There isn't BART to/from everywhere. There isn't always BART parking. However, I am glad this works for you. It doesn't work for many people. |
2001/3/21-22 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/Security] UID:20873 Activity:very high |
3/21 Went for a regular cleanup but the medical bill sez the doc did root canal and 6 x-rays. It said I had to pay 20% of the copayment to the doc but the doc sez to just ignore it. what's going on and what should i do 'bout it? \_ mmm, medical insurance fraud. \_ the doc over-charges. If the actual charge is $100, the doc is reporting the cost to be $120, so the $20 you supposedly need to pay is included in the overcharged amount. It is a win-win situation for you and your doc. Pretend that you don't know about it and play along. \_ I already paid a fuckin $10 copayment, and the insurance is paying $725 for a $50 cleanup. What the fuck? \_ its called fraud. If you're annoyed about it talk to your \_ If that's the case, I think you should also charge the doc 20% for your "services". insurance provider to get yer doc busted. \_ This is why medicare and medicaid are going bankrupt. As a taxpayer, thanks! \_ Do you even know what medicare is? If you did you would be able to figure out that the original poster isn't even qualified for it. \_ liberal solution: spend more on medical/care to cover the fraud. ITS FOR THE CHILDREN! \_ Yeah, totally. I'd pay anything and give up all my freedoms so long as it was for the children. \_ That's your frequent flyer miles rebate. \_ I read an article in Smartmoney magazine saying that doctors are not earning as much as they used to. Many are working longer hours, selling their Porches, and putting their children in public instead of private schools. Also, they no longer small talk or develop a personal \_ They make the same, but they have to work harder for it. Tough. For $350,000 they can deal. There's a lot of competition driving down prices. Most of my doctors don't even charge me the co-payment (they "forget") so it's not like they miss that extra $10 from each patient. The fee schedule is all out-of-whack with reality thanks to HMOs. For example, buying a certain medication through my HMO = $10 copayment. Buying it "without insurance" = $6.50. That's why I *always* ask how much the drug is retail cost, and it's not limited to drugs. The HMOs are screwing the doctors and the patients. --dim \_ But HMOs are FOR THE CHILDREN! Don't you care about THEM!? relationship with their patients but go right to the diagnosis in a production line manner. \_ And this is supposed to excuse fraud? \- If this has really happened to you, you have a obligation to bring it up. It'd really bad to let them get away with this. This is hardly a Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread. |
2001/3/20 [Transportation/Car] UID:20862 Activity:nil |
3/20 Does a particular car have better gas mileage when the engine is hotter or cooler? \_ hotter: the piston rings seal better and the fluids offer less resistance. |
2001/2/26-27 [Transportation/Car] UID:20695 Activity:high |
2/26 Anyone knows why the southbound 880 freeway was shutdown by the CHP this morning around 8:15? There was obviously no accidents on the freeway. KCBS says the CHP shut it down for "an undisclosed reason". \_ The Martians have landed! \_ from http://sfgate.com/traffic East Bay (FIRST REPORTED AT 5:07 am) ACCIDENT IN BERKELEY, A TRAILER FROM A BIG-RIG HAS OVERTURNED ON THE UNIVERSITY AVENUE OFF-RAMP FROM EASTBOUND 80. CHP IS THERE. THE RAMP IS SHUT DOWN UNTIL ABOUT 9:45 A-M. TRAFFIC IS A MESS: EASTBOUND 80 IS BACKED-UP ONTO WESTBOUND 580, WHICH IS BACKED-UP ONTO WESTBOUND 24 FROM ROCKRIDGE BART STATION. NORTHBOUND 880 IS BACKED-UP TO THE POST OFFICE. (UPDATED AT 9:58 am) \_ No, I'm thinking about the shutdown on Southbound 880 near the Coliseum exit around 8:15am. I saw two CHP cars blocking all four lanes and two officers walking around a few hundred feet ahead. troll \_ The Martians have landed! troll \_ no doubt to "protect the public" or for "security reasons". the police are supposed to be working for us -- in return for the power \_troll the police are supposed to be working for us -- in return for the power we invest in them, they should completely disclose what they do and why, nothing less. the police have too much power if they cannot disclose their "reasoning" \_ No, no. Orson Welles and the Mercury theater made that whole thing up. \_ Save a few syllables. Just call it "880 south." No "the." No "freeway." |
2001/2/25 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Activities] UID:20681 Activity:nil 85%like:20683 |
2/24 ok, so I'm thiknig of buying a vw golf (2door), since apparently honda decided that civic hatchbacks are not hip and sexy and discotinued them in '97. anyone got any bad/good experience? troll \_ You are buying a car?!? Oh the horror! Oh the humanity! Don't you care about our precious pale blue dot and its environment? If you buy a car, it will need gas. This is just the excuse that Pres. Bush needs to install Oil Wells in Alaska and off the coast of California. Just because I lost is no reason to give up the fight! - Al Gore (Join Team Gore 2k4: The committee to retake the White House by Any Means Necessary) troll \_ Experience? No. But imagine what you'll look like when your little golf gets smacked by something 4 times bigger like a CSUAer on a bike with linux loaded laptop in hand.... \_ OSuX! OSuX! 1T'5 A11 A80U+ OSuX D00D! K3WL AKWUA & 5H1T! \_ 5UV! 5UV! 1T'5 A11 A80U+ 5UV D00D! GA5 GU55L3R & 5H1T! troll \_ R1D3 B1K3! RUN GN00/L1N5UX! D00D! - 3133T H@X0R \_ You probably be wanting one of these for your Golf: http://collegehumor.com/pictures/tailpipe.html |
2001/2/24-25 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/Editors/Emacs] UID:20669 Activity:high |
2/24 What is the parmater and value to turn off auto-save in emacs? \_ ^X^C \_ you can add (setq auto-save-default nil) to your .emacs file, I think. \- you know about the apropos command, right? this should be easy to figure out once you know the term "auto-save". --psb \_ http://www.ouchytheclown.com/welcome.html \_ Okay, that's bizarre. |
2001/2/23 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:20657 Activity:high |
2/22 http://www.jadedonline.com - ph33r tina yothers. ph33r. \_ who are these people? and what is wrong with the girl named tina? (I hope its not "She's a MAN Babee!") \_ you knew her as alex P keaton's younger sister on Family Ties. wow. heather thomas is like 50. ph33r. \_ in much better shape is miriam bialik, who's in ucla grad neurosci \_ who is miriam bialik? - unhip sodan \_ starred in the sitcom "Blossom". \_ "Mayam," even \_ Blossom? Never heard of it. Was it on cable or something. - really unhip alum \_ One of the guys is wearing a Cal hat in one of the pictures. That's better than most press Cal gets. \_ "Unknown TV Sitcom Actor Wears Cal Hat!" Yeah thats the sort of press you should be dying for. \_ She's not wearing the hat. It's someone in her band that is barely visible. So it should be "Unknown member of Unknown TV Sitcom Actor's Band Wears Cal Hat!" \_ go bears. Actually Cal is consistently one of the top 5 universities in sports merchandising sales, the others being football/basketball powers. We just have the coolest colors and the coolest logos. -tom |
2001/2/21 [Transportation/Car] UID:20639 Activity:high |
2/19 U-Haul wants $56 for a move between towns (pick up the truck in town A and drop it off in town B). Is there a cheaper alternative? This is from South to East Bay and it's a small truck. \_ It's cheaper if you take back to where you rented it. \_ but you have to pay for double the mileage, and it might not be worth it depending on the miles. \_ When I rented, one-way was much cheaper, and I would have had to drive it back, and that wasn't even counting the extra miles. (U-Haul) \_ If it's not too much stuff you need to move, rent a passenger van from Budget or Thrifty or whatever. get unlimited mileage, ask them to take out the seats. \_ if you have a car with a trailer hitch, you can rent a van-trailer with unlimited miles too. Worked for me. -ERic |
2001/1/12-15 [Transportation/Car] UID:20306 Activity:kinda low |
1/12 I don't understand why someone cleaning up trolls on the motd would leave the modded cars thread unscathed. \_ fragile-ego dickhead sysadmins don't care one way or the other about modded cars. \_ hahaha, what's your problem against modded cars thread? \_ There's no such thing as cleaning up trolls. Only making more space for more and better trolls. |
2001/1/6-16 [Transportation/Car] UID:20248 Activity:low |
1/5 Has there ever been a legitimate scientific study done on farting? Like the differences in gas output of men and women, eating what stuff makes it smell really bad, whether vegetarians fart do not smell as bad, etc. \_ men produce more gas than women because on the average they have more body mass \_ well, first of all, you wanna get all scientific and stuff, use the word flatulence. \_ This is a decent farting page: http://www.heptune.com/farts.html It has references to the current literature out there. \_ Why do you know this!? This doesn't sound like something you just found in Google. \_ I consider myself a hobbying fartist. I found the link on http://bored.com. Also featured is the "Scoop on Poop". |
2000/12/31 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:20204 Activity:nil |
12/30 Strange, they all point to the same page http://bush2000.com http://bushsucks.com http://bushblows.com http://bushbites.com |
2000/12/27-28 [Transportation/Car] UID:20179 Activity:nil |
12/26 Buying a 90 Camry. Where should I take this to to be looked at before i fork over money for it? \_ AAA offers unbiased diagnosis, although I think it charges a fee. -- yuen \_ AAA is an evil lobbying arm of the automobile monopoly |
2000/12/12-14 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:20084 Activity:high |
12/12 Does anyone know of a good website where I can get reasonably complete and objective evaluation of a variety of cars from a consumer's perspective (comfort, reliability, etc)? I was thining of buying a new car, possibly a sports car... \_ Test drive them. Your needs are probably unique to you. I know people who hate sports cars, because the ride is rough. Sports car enthusiasts look at those wanting a smooth, quiet ride in disdain. If you drive them you'll find out really quickly which cars are for you. --dim \_ http://www.edmunds.com is a very good way to narrow your choices. -- Marco \_ I second that. \_ http://www.Oldsmobile.com Last chance! \_ epinions, carreview \_ The words of the prophets were written on the studio walls. \_ As much as I hate M$, http://carpoint.msn.com is a very good site for this sort of comparison. \_ Buy me your top 20 or 30 cars. I'll drive them around for a few weeks each and report back to you. \_ http://www.carfree.com \_ Get the great new book, _Divorce_Your_Car_ \_ this is written by "Hippie Press", following their great hit, "I want to live at home and be spoonfed like a baby by my parents - pass the bong please" \_ Cool. Can I find that on Amazong? They got anything on how to hypnotise my parents into going for this? \_ http://www.honda.com solves all of your problems. \_ RIDE BIKE! |
2000/11/17-19 [Transportation/Car] UID:19818 Activity:high |
11/17 How do most cars eventually "die"? (excluding terrible accidents) \_ When the cost of repairs is higher than the value of the car. \_ 150K on trasmission rebuild, 200K on engine overhaul. \_ my uncle's literally went up in flames on Mother's Day. He was brilliantly trying to get it re-started and just cranking the engine until flames started to appear under the hood. Real spectacle, with the fire department and all. -- bitter alum \_ Whatever. Rednecks can't be bitter. Deal. \_ do you donate the car? Send to the junkyard? Sell to some poor college student? \_ Donate. \_ Donating is a pain in the ass, most charity groups take forever + repeat phone calls to get around to picking it up. \_ Nah, I made a call, they showed on time, I filled out some papers, they left me with some proof for my taxes and hauled it away. Call a different charity if your first choice flakes. \_ if it's old enough, send it to the california auto retirement program... get a few bucks and get a smoker off the road. \_ how long do i have for my honda 97 accord w/ 82000 on it? \_Honda's are pretty reliable in general. I've seen japanese cars go 140-180k perfectly fine with normal maintainance done. \_ Depends on the type of driving. My '89 Honda Civic had 235,000 miles on it when I traded it in, and it was still running perfectly. But 95% of those miles were freeway miles. Never had the engine rebuilt or any major system overhauled ... -eric |
2000/11/11 [Transportation/Car, Industry/Startup] UID:19730 Activity:nil |
11/10 wtf is http://venturehighway.com? Anyone heard of these guys for info that's isn't on their website. |
2000/9/23-25 [Transportation/Car, Health/Disease/General] UID:19312 Activity:nil |
9/22 Health Insurance question. I just finished school, but I will be taking time off and traveling and don't want to start working until 6 months to a year from now. So, I need temporary health insurance. I found a policy I like. But I have one concern. Suppose that during this temporary policy, I get a brain tumor, or something happens to me that is very serious, that requires more than one year of treatment. When the temporary policy runs out, I won't be able to renew it (It's a maximum of 1 year), and then no other insurance company would take me because I'd have a pre-existing condition and then I'd be screwed. Or, is there some law that requires insurance companies to take me (assuming that I've been continually insured, etc.). What should I do? Any advise is appreciated. \_ you're young, you'll be fine. \_ If you get that sick while you're young, you might as well commit suicide. \_ By law they have to insure you. However, they don't have to charge you a low premium. This is why group coverage is such a nice thing. The risk is spread out over the group and so when you have a heart attack your premium doesn't rise much if at all. If you carry your own insurance then they won't drop you but they can raise your premium to something like $400/month or more. All this said, listen to the above guy and stop worrying. --dim \_ Sorry I'm beating a dead horse, but... http://www.tchra.org/newsletter/feb98/insure.htm "Highlights of the HIPAA regulations: It limits exclusions for preexisting medical conditions, to 12 months (or 18 months for late enrollees), ... " What exactly does it mean preexisting medical condition? Does this mean a condition you had before you got any insurance, or would this also refer to a condition that you got while under one insurance company, if you switch to another? \_ Also, according to http://www.tchra.org/newsletter/feb98/insure.htm "Under HIPAA, employees can use their current health care coverage as evidence to reduce or eliminate any preexisting medical condition exclusion period that might apply under a new employer's health plan." Am I correct in assuming that this also applies to individuals, regardless of employment? \_ I'm guessing you are talking about the CPIC Life policy? You probably want to look into getting a regular policy. I found the premiums similar, and it's worth the peace of mind. I have the name of a decent insurance agent, email me and I'll send you his name. You can ask him all your ?'s - cathyg |
2000/9/21-25 [Transportation/Car] UID:19305 Activity:nil |
9/20 What's a good place in Berkeley to get my car's fuel injection and fuel filter cleaned? How much does it typically cost? \_ fuel filter = $8/filter at pep boy's + you have to know how to relieve the pressure on your fuel system or $16 for the filter + $15 labor at any shop. I recommend oil change centers or Pep Boy's tune up package than full service repairs / gas station places. \_ $15 labor at any shop and you say, "BTW, I've got a filter in the back seat. Can you use that one?" Total cost = $23. |
2000/9/21-22 [Transportation/Car] UID:19301 Activity:high |
9/21 My 91 Sentra needs transmission work. Need recommendation. Thanks. \_ SR20DET engine/tranny swap. http://www.se-r.net \_ junk yard. \_ GoodWill. \_ Seriously, Midas will do a decent job, but its like $700. Your car isn't worth that much. Dontate it and get the tax write off and buy another one. \_ I'm sure the car is worth more than $700. Take the car to a Nissan specialist in your area. They cost less than the dealer (who doesn't?) but use OEM parts. --dim \_ Off to Sentra Heaven. \_ senatra haven? |
2000/9/7-10 [Transportation/Car] UID:19200 Activity:low |
9/7 anyone bought a car from greenlight? what was your experience? \_ No, but I did at http://carsdirect.com. Got my new Toyota 4Runner for about 2K lower than any dealer quotes I got... about $350 over invoice. I was in my new car within a week of placing my order. Great price and responsive service, and I got everything I wanted. A car more in-demand (i.e. - Audi TT, BMW 330) may take longer though. Check it out. \_ Was the $350 over invoice price you paid the out-of-door after-tax everything-included price? In general when people are talking about X dollars above invoice, do they mean every charge included? \_ Invoice is what the dealer is paying the maker (ford, honda, gm, toyota, etc) to get the car. Taxes, license and the rest is all extra. \_ Got my Camry from carsdirect for $400 under invoice. --dbushong |
2000/9/6-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:19181 Activity:high |
9/5 I went to a car dealer and was honest to them that I was only interested in knowing their best offering price, and they gave me $13,000. After more research on the Internet, I've determined it is a good price. So I went back and told them I'd like to purchase the vehicle at $13,000. But they said they would only sell it for $13,999. The price they quoted me was a "shopping price", not a "selling price". And a "shopping price" is a "sales tactic" they use just to "get the customer to come back the door". The way it works is, they quote you a below invoice price knowing that you couldn't get it anywhere else, and when you come back for that price, they will try to sell the vehnicle to you for a higher price. Is this "tactic" legal? I feel deceived and cheated, is there anything I can do? \_ This is bait'n'switch. Next time get it in writing for the exact car you want. If they won't put it in writing as good for a period of at least a week, they're lying. Also, if you go back and they say that particular car is already sold, they're lying. Also, if you're this incapable of understanding how sleazy car sales are, then buy your car online. You'll get an ok but not fantastic price and won't have your charming sense of naivete destroyed. \_ they have to give the VIN number of the alleged car sold I think. \_ if you want vengeance, ask jsl to go there to bargain for you. \_ what would jsl do...? \_ This is explicitly illegal. Write to your local district attorney, and/or report them to the BBB. \_ They may make it legal, by simply saying that the car they quoted the price for was already sold. Also, if you don't have the quote in writing, there is not much the DA or the BBB can do for you. \_ they have to give the VIN number of the alleged car sold I think. \_ They can give the VIN number of any car they have recently sold for ~ 13-14K. Just because they said it was 13K to you doesn't mean they had to sell it for 13K to someone else. \_ Post the name of the bastards here. BBB report should still be filed, etc, but interested sodans want to know. \_ Guilty dealer is Capitol Nissan at San Jose. \- spend some time having them fill out the forms and then walk out saying "this is my shopping day, not my buying day" --psb \_ hey this is pretty funny, psb. \_ hmm...it's going to be tough trying to get these bastards fill out forms without your own singature. You don't want to be held responsible for having to buy the vehicle. \_ This is a variation of Bait and Switch. You *must* read this site: http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/advice/Games.Dealers.Play.html -mogul \_ Great page!!! -- yuen \_ When buying a vehicle, always negotiate for the OUT THE DOOR (OTD) price. Most dealers will pad the changes with freight, prep, documentation, and other loozer fees, which can make a huge difference in the price. -nweaver \_ ride bike kill car \_ The best way to avoid this kind of BS is to buy you car from a credit union (TechFed, SCFCU, etc) or AAA. Dealers can't afford to piss of even one credit union or AAA member because they will get black listed. \_ Get it In Writing, Get it In Writing \_ another way of putting it: "Fax me a quote please". If you dont have a fax, pay $1.50 at Longs drug to receive \_ the phone system has enough wasted numbers. a fax there. \_um, receive faxes for free at http://efax.com or many others |
2000/8/7-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:18912 Activity:moderate |
8/7 Does anyone have any experience purchasing from http://cardirect.com? \_ Yes. \_ cunt. \_ A friend of mine bought her car via http://carsdirect.com -- she got a great deal (cheaper than the dealership), and picked her car up the very next day at the closest neighborhood dealership. She said it was great, she didn't have to deal with them trying to "upsell" her (they told her they're strictly forbidden to do so on carsdirect cars) -- they gave her the keys, and she was out of the dealership with her brand new car in 15 minutes. --chris \_ go to LINUXBIKEdirect. they wont provide any suful services, and they will make yoiu read a little red book and will smesll bad, but they wont make you pay a dime \_ Thanks. |
2000/7/27 [Transportation/Car] UID:18792 Activity:high |
7/27 Rahimi, Alabed, Aladdin, Rahee, Rashad, Nailah, Khalid, whatever. Middle eastern people are all major fuckin' assholes. They think they know everything and they think everyone owes them something. No wonder no one likes Ali Rahimi and my middle eastern auto mechanic. No wonder they don't get along with Israelis. They're all major fuckin' luzers. I hope they all die. Alalalalalalalalah!!!! \_ your mother seems to like me. and your mechanic. -ali. \_ Ali, I though you were a freak, but I never realized you were a perverted freak who would go in for a three-some with another man! |
2000/7/17-18 [Transportation/Car] UID:18696 Activity:kinda low |
7.17 hey, does anyone know of car rental companies that allow you to take their vehicles into mexico? thanks. \_Heh, your insurance doesn't even cover you if you take your own car into Mexico. \_ Almost any rental car company in San Diego will let you take a car into Mexico. National does for sure, as I did that a few months ago. Just let them know, so they can charge you extra for the Mexican car insurance. It is important that you carry insurance in Mexico, as you can get up in jail for driving insurance in Mexico, as you can end up in jail for driving without it. -ausman \_ is this the same as renting a car from the bay area then buying border insurance in san diego to be covered in mexico, or would that be some breach of contract with the rental company? \_ Most rental car contracts specify the car is not to leave the state without prior permission from the company. |
2000/7/13-15 [Transportation/Car, Reference/RealEstate] UID:18668 Activity:moderate |
7/13 Pictures from the Underhill movie night party and protest (more housing less parking) which happens every Saturday night all summer, http://www.bclu.org/underhill \_ Don't need more housing. Need more parking. \_ UCB needs far more of both. Housing is more important for incoming students though. \_ I can sleep in my car. I can't park in my bedroom. \_ If you live that close to campus you don't need car. \_ Sigh. No. You're confused. Nevermind, it isn't worth explaining. \_ all of you new undergrads, and people who want to find a different place to live...you guys are all totally fucked. thank god i'm out of cal. -- fucking bitter alum \_ The problem with this sort of 'protest' is you're pitting two different needs against each other inappropriately. You should be making noise about more of everything. Certainly the university owns enough lands to satisfy both needs. You're creating a false sense of value. Both are important. Both should be taken care of. The resources are there. \_ that was actually pretty sane. I'm sure someone will delete that response \_ it's a load of shit. The university is using nearly all of its space now. Office space and lab space both take priority (in University thinking) over students or parking, yet office and lab space is getting horribly squeezed. Where is all this land the University can use? There are three plots near campus; Underhill, People's Park, and the Oxford Tract. Underhill is being built on, People's Park is a political quagmire, and the Oxford Tract is getting a seismic replacement building. So, uh, where else do you put student housing and/or parking? -tom \_ Check out a map of the city with UC owned land marked. It's *everywhere*. They own a *huge* chunk of the city. I was floored the first time I saw it. And no, it isn't just the obvious campus and other UC marked areas. As far as "People's Park" (it's neither), they should've paved it years ago. It's a criminal sesspool and a waste of perfectly good land. Politics be damned. The worthless opinion of the typical city citizen has never stopped UC from doing anything else. |
2000/7/13-15 [Transportation/Car] UID:18658 Activity:kinda low |
7/13 I really don't see how ZEV or LowEmitV can reduce congestion: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vehinfo/decal.htm Is the government stupid? \_ Because when the smog is so bad that you can't see, you have to drive slower. \_ It doesn't say ZEV can reduce congestion. It says you can drive a ZEV to avoid the congestion. -- yuen \_ CalTrans is trying to encourge people to use ZEV/LEVs. They ahve stated that they'll kick them back outta the carpool lanes if/when theres enough of them that the carpool lanes start getting congested. \_ one word for CalTrans-- LAME. \_ Yup...did you guys know that for a while, they were trying to prevent private companies from taking public works infrastructure contracts? basically, they were hogging up all the contracts and not allowing any private companies to do road and bridge work. The public was geting screwd as a result because Caltrans would take all the contracts and then the work would pile up, they couldn't handle the load. So stuff just sat around not getting done. lots of structural companies were getting together to file a petition to change something in the state constitution so that Caltrans couldn't get away with this anymore, but I don't know if it passed. But yeah, they're messed up. \_ If allowing a few thousand cars into the carpool lanes which won't make the lanes any more crowded will encourage more people to look at low emission vehicle options, it sounds good to me. I've already seen a lot more people interested in alternative fuel vehicles as a result of the law. -cdaveb |
2000/7/6-7 [Transportation/Car] UID:18599 Activity:high |
7/6 I'm a white guy with a bike who runs Linux and I saw this really really pretty Asian girl in class who is working on her MCSE+I and drives a BMW. Is there hope for us? \_ i don't think ethnicity applies to trolls. only humans. \_ Probably not. A girl, Asian or not, driving a BMW probably won't appreciate your reason for riding a bike or running Linux. \_ This is obviously a troll. Everhone knows asian chix drive mercedes', not beemers. \_ Shit. I better tell my woman she's driving the wrong car. \_I am the cute girl you saw, and no, there is no hope for you. |
2000/6/26-28 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:18554 Activity:very high |
6/26 Bike patented today. \_ urlp || explanationp \_ Like, dude. If you want to be using lisp notation, at least have the decency to do it right. What you meant to say was, of course, (or urlp explanationp) \_ Today??? How could it not be patented after all these years? \_ That's a velocipede, not a bike. And it's from 1866. \_ well, it's an intermediate step; it has pedals on the front wheel, which the early velocipedes didn't. As people realized the mechanical advantage of larger wheels, this kind of model gave way to the "high-wheeler" (icon of "The Prisoner"). Those had a high center of gravity and tended to pitch people over the front wheel, so they were eventually eliminated in favor of the chain-drive "safety bicycle", which really was very similar to the one we know today. I still don't see why it's relevant to the MOTD. -tom \_ The motd is irrelevant. You will be assualted. \_ so tom. what IS relevant to the motd? I'm somewhat curious how you're going to unify questions about heat/light reflectivity, dating asians, unholy unions with cars, skydiving, and investment decisions in such a way as to make the above IRrelevant. \_ It's based solely on what personally interests tom. Anything else isn't important. \_ My question is, why should anyone care that a particular implementation of something was patented on a particular day. Big fucking deal. -tom \_ While I agree that patent-birthdays aren't very interesting. But claiming that it's not relevant to the motd is -- oh fuck it. whatever. \_ It's just tom. Don't let it bother you. \_ heard it somewhere. However, the date seems to be wrong. It seems to be on November, and not June 26: http://www.student.tdb.uu.se/~y94ebo/bkpat.html \_ DRIVE SUV! \_ No, I get tested regularly. \_ DIVE SUB! \_ RIDE VELOCIPEDE! \_RIDE VELOCIPEDE!!!! USE DIFFERENCE ENGINE!!!! |
2000/6/15-16 [Transportation/Car] UID:18482 Activity:high |
6/15 Is it normal for new brake pads to squeek like hell? The mechanic asked me if I wanted to have rotors resurfaced for an extra $100 which would prevent from squeekying and I said no. Now I'm suspecting that he is trying to fuck me up. \_ Warped rotors don't cause squeeking. That mechanic is full of shit. When installing the new pads, he was supposed to spray on sticky blue stuff called "disc brake quiet". Also, there are shims that came with the pads that he was supposed to put in as well. Those should've made the squeeking go away. \_ Not true. warped rotors CAN cause squeeking, although they generally cause the vehicle to shake while stopping also. And while the "sticky blue stuff" might have some nominal usage, the primary cause brake squeekage is the partial melting and resolidification of the pad surface. This causes the pad surface to become glassy, which leads to squeeking. \_ So how do you actually fix it? Will it go away eventually? --dying in traffic \_ This is caused by more environmentally friendly materials in brake bads (I think they are more metallic and contain less, if any, asbestos). My dealer (Nissan) actually showed me a company memo to that effect last time I had my brakes done and returned to the dealer to complain about the squeaking. I've noticed that many (new) cars squeak as I'm driving. It's just hard to notice with the window rolled up and/or the radio playing. It does get a little bit better over time, but it'll never be completely silent. Of course, your situation could be different since you say that squeak "like hell" instead of just a little bit. \_ You eventually get a fix-it ticket from a cop and pay $100 to have your rotors resurfaced. \_ do what the cowboys do, go out into the middle of nowhere, speed to 65 then slam the brakes to break in the pads. repeat a couple of times. \_ Maybe check out different brands of brake pads? Or did they already squeak BEFORE the new pads? \_ Car Talk \_ Buy an anchor, or a brake chute. -John |
2000/6/3-4 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:18396 Activity:very high |
04/64 Any recommendations for cars that are good to hit bicyclists with? I'm thinking about a small Mercedes, cause they have the crosshairs type hood ornament, but then those always get stolen. Either that, or something really small and maneuverable, or something with light, quick-opening doors that you can take out bike messengers with? Maybe an SUV for effect? Also, how do I pick up hot Asian chicks? I'm a math major and can prove that gaussian is the only function family closed under convolution, using Windows NT, not that girly Linux crap. -John \_ You forgot to mention that you dont want some damn japanese rice-rocket either. \_ .45 ACP is the standard. \_ I'm told a VW bug is best for wiping out bikers. They have the best bumpers and no one considers a cute car a threat until they're gnawing on the underside of your rear tires. Find a hot asian math major chick with an NT laptop. The younger asian chicks (*your* little sister, soy boy) _LOVE_ the new bug. I can get action from any asian chick 18-21 with the new VW bug. \_ Yes, as long as you can squeeze your lack-of-exercise-mashed- potato-stuffed turkey belly between the front seat and the steering wheel. Otherwise your months of pussy eating would all go to waste when your frustrated "hot asian math major chick" decides to go medieval on your turkey arse with the VW bug plastic flower, then hop on to her Specialized mountain bike to race off to TA her math class on proving that guassian is the only function family major chick with an NT laptop. The younger asian chicks (*your* little sister, soy boy) _LOVE_ the new bug. I can get action from any asian chick 18-21 with the new VW bug. closed under convolution, and in her hurry, crushing the useless NT laptop lying on the pavement with her super knobby bike tires. \_ Are you being sarcastic? \_ Are you? \_ The doors on Mercedes are not very quick, unless you're talking about the low-end 190 series. Generally, four-door cars will give you better speed and maneuverability, however they have less range. There is no advantage to using an SUV -- the extra \_ It sounds like you want a saturn coupe. The doors are light but long, so they can swing out fast and have a good reach. The use of plastics means they can take more damage, and the red color hides bloodstains well. height is of no use unless you want to focus on the bicyclist head area. In addition, you have to consider the cost of repair and replacement. You'd be amazed how quickly doors wear out with the huge number of bicyclists in SF/Berkeley. \_ But headshots always do more damage!! \_ Aw, but they all wear helmet nowadays! \_ Hahahahhahaa... you ever seen one of those dinky helmets after an auto rolls over it? This dude's face wasn't even identifiable, but he sure looked cool on that bike. What was left, anyway. \_ Fuzzy, you are the trollmaster. I bow before you. \_ Fuzzy's post isn't really a troll. For one thing, he signed his name, which reiffin never does. For another, his post is actually funny, which reiffin's never are. -tom \_ Whatever, tom. -reiffin \_ what, exactly, do you get out of deleting useful information and replacing it with inflammatory anonymous crap? Is there any particular reason you choose anonymous trolling to be your sole point of interaction with the CSUA? Is there some reason you don't just go away? -tom |
2000/5/29-31 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/PublicTransit] UID:18361 Activity:very high |
5/27 I have a job in Santa Clara and trying to find housing. Is Fremont a pretty bad place to live (in terms of commute time)? \_ Assuming you drive it between 0700 and 1000 like most commuters, 880 from Auto Mall to Dixon Landing will take way too long. Past that, it should be mostly okay. If your company doesn't already do some sort of carpool or vanpool thing to/from BART, raise a stink. Commuting via car sucks. Public transit takes longer, but at least you can stay far less surly. \_ Get motorcycle. \_ We need more organ donors. \_ hey, if you ever donate a kidney, a lung, and a cornea, you can be a millionaire for that sacrifice..just to be off topic. \_ Where's a good place to start looking for apartments? \_ Montana. \_ The commute is a bit hard. Maybe you can telecommute a few times a week. \_ It worked for Mod Flanders until she died. \_ it's going to hurt \_ any good side street shortcuts? Is it better on 880 south of 237 junction? \_ the 880 cooridor is prob the worst traffic in the bay that isn't caused by a bridge. the only way around it is to get over to 680. it clears up ALOT right after the stretch from Dixon to 237. -shac \_ Bad as it is, 880/237 is now only like 3rd or 4th on the list of non-bridge-induced traffic spots. \_ 880 is damn clean right after 237 and down until it hits 280 or so (haven't been much south of there); but job in Santa Clara involves 237 which is also awful for the first couple of miles after the 880. If you're heading south from Fremont, use Mission or Driscoll, and then Warm Springs to take city streets down to Dixon Landing. Dixon Landing itself is packed, but it's still better then rotting on the 880. On average, expect 60-80 minutes (ie from center of Fremont to center of Santa Clara). Definitely not under 40. -alexf [commuting from Fremont for 2nd summer now] \_ Though you must take into account that in terms of any sort of entertainment, you have to drive at least 30 minutes just to get OUT of fremont in either direction. All commuting and no play makes Jack a dumkopf \_ What? It took me 90 minutes average to get down from Cal to Nvidia and ATI Research. I doubt the drive from Cal to Fremont takes only 10-20 minutes. \_ You should also note summer traffic is easier. \_ Isnt there still the 101 bottleneck south of 880/237? something like 5 lanes becoming 2? \_ My girlfriend takes 50-60 minutes from Palo Alto to Freemont. \_ That's against the popular direction; Fremont -> Palo Alto is ~80 minutes (via Dumbarton, at least). -alexf \_ 15 minutes for me (Fremont to Menlo Park) at 8:30am Gotta love the carpool lane. \_ Turns tricks in Fremont to afford Palo Alto? I'd think the PA tricks would pay better. \_ Your girlfriend drives slow. More like 50-60 minutes from PA to Berkeley. \_ Sure, Fremont is nice, but why do you need to live there too? Why not live in Mt View/Santa Clara/S'vale and avoid the traffic? You get a consistent 15-minute commute. If you're working at Exodus or the new Sun campus I can give you some commuting tips/tricks on where to live. \_ Fremont is nice? \_ Fremont is a pit. Dunno where s/he came up with the idea that Fremont is nice. Dirty slum wouldn't be too far off. \_ Bits of it suck... so what? Bits of every town suck. Much of it is drab suburbia, some of it is nice. \_ Uhm, no. I'll be kind and say you have a different understanding of 'nice' from me and leave it at that. \_ Mission San Jose is a dirty slum? You have high standards indeed. \_ it's a shithole, not much better off than union city. the only thing from there was christy yamaguchi, if you consider that anything good. and the original home of a certain big-eared freak that has plagued the lives of certain berkeley alumni to this very day. |
2000/5/7-9 [Transportation/Car] UID:18193 Activity:low |
5/6 Is there a VW place in the southbay that anyone has had good experience with in getting their car serviced? \_ Never had my car serviced there, but I've heard good things about Sunnyvale VW from the mailing lists and newsgroups I follow. --nevman \_ if I bought a new VW and need to get the 5K oil change that comes with my warranty, do I need to go to the dealership I bought it from or can I go to any VW dealer? |
2000/4/27-28 [Transportation/Car] UID:18128 Activity:nil |
4/26 http://www.moller.com/skycar |
2000/4/22-24 [Transportation/Car] UID:18082 Activity:high |
4/22 I'm 23 yrs old. Is there a car rental place (near LAX) other than Dollar rent a car that will rent to me? I dont have any hertz club cards or crap, and I dont care about how much it will cost.. \_ Try Enterprise. Your mileage may vary (no pun intended). \_ A lot of places will rent to under 25 y/o if you're willing to pay a bucket load of extra cash for their "Under 25 White Boy Insurance" policy. Call around for details. Get the car in advance or be sorry. \_ I've tried, and they've said no. \_ isn't budget the only one for under 25? hence their location near Cal.. \_ no, that's avis that's on oxford. i've been rented a car from there and i was only 20 at the time but it was paid for by the company i interviewed with. \_ Bay Area Rentals rents to 21 yr-olds. \_ RTFQ : LAX != Bay area || Berkeley \_ a few years ago when I was 22, I rented from enterprise at LAX. if i remember, it was on my card w/ no reference to the folks who would reimburse me. they charged extra. |
2000/4/19-20 [Transportation/Car] UID:18047 Activity:kinda low |
4/19 ME question. What is the difference between an engine of different styles but of the same volume displacement. Like, what is the difference between a 3.0 liter inline-4 and a 3.0 liter inline-6. How is 6 cylinder better than 4 in terms of performance and efficiency? Same question for a 3.0 liter inline-6 vs. a 3.0 liter V-6. \_ The smaller the engine, the more efficient. The larger the engine, the more powerful. Therefore the most efficient engine doesn't exist and the most powerful would fill the universe. \_ More cylinders == higher revving. Fewer cylinders == more torque. \_ ???? The Honda S2000 is a 4 cylinder that revs very very high. What are you smoking ? -eric \_ Fewer cylinders does NOT give you more torque. \_ For the same engine size, it tends to. Look at twin bikes. \_ RIDE BIKE! \_ and where do valves come in? \_ In the engine compartment, normally installed at factory. \_ This is all wrong. Fewer cylidners means higher revving because there is less rotational mass in the camshaft, valve lifters, etc. 4 vs. 6 vs. 8 and inline vs. V refers to the stagger of the pistons and firing orders, etc. So you get different power strokes per rotation of the cam. The 8 will be smoother and deliver more power strokes per rotation. The 4 can produce similar power but demands higher RPMs to do so. If you had an inline 8, then the camshaft would lift 2 cylinders at a time, in 45 degree increments which means any 2 would be at the bottom, half-up, half-down, and about to fire...it makes no sense. You could fire 4 together but there would be a long compression stroke with no power delivery. This is the kind of stuff that V, inline, 4, 6, 8 determines... Not horsepower. Horsepower is purely determined by the surface area of the piston getting shoved down...the bigger the piston, the better except for mass and interia...it all balances out. |
2000/4/11-12 [Transportation/Car] UID:17969 Activity:very high |
4/11 for those of you ex casa-zers http://www.casa-z.org \_ Technology, for all of its marvelous developments, has yet to come up with a protocol for sending smell-over-http. -John \_ not to mention scabies \_ gonoherpesyphilaids. \_ There is however, this company that is building this product to add smell to video games, such that when you play a car racing game, you will smell burning rubber. I think it's going to have like 100+ different fragrances. It may have to pass some health safety organzitions' scrutiny, I am thinking. \_ What? Are they reconsidering the Japanese subway-car smell? \_ How are they going to simulate the groping of teenage schoolgirls while on the subway? |
2000/4/7-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:17950 Activity:insanely high |
4/8 Angelina Jolie (from hackers and foxfire) will be lara croft... \_ and "girl,interrupted", and "from the heart" or whatever, and.... well, at least she's proportional. \_ The woman who won in Wheel of Fortune last night was much more proportional. \_ someone on soda watches Whell of Fortune? oh my gawd! \_ Which one is more ample, Angelina or Nell McAndrew? \_ Yup! Jepordy -> Wheel of Fortune/Family Feud -> Who life modem of Lara Croft)? \_ funny, I didn't konw modems HAD breasts Wants to be a millonare. That's my everynight \_ Yup! Jeapordy -> Wheel of Fortune/Family Feud -> Who Wants to be a Millionaire. That's my evening entertainment. \_ Too bad there wasn't a game show based on spelling. You would do great on that one. \_ Wheel of Fortune wasn't based on spelling? \_ well if you look at the motd log you'll see jepordy. \_ Yeah, she's 1/3 of the video game Lara Croft. \_ Which one is more ample, Angelina or Nell McAndrew (the official life model of Lara Croft)? |
2000/4/5-7 [Transportation/Car] UID:17929 Activity:high |
4/5 Discount gas vs. Brand Name gas question. (Original question was deleted by a careless motd poster). \_ The big oil refinieries auction their excess supplies and smaller vendors like RR or Costco buy it at these auctions. This is the same gas (octane and all) as the big companies. The only thing that you have to watch out for is that some of these smaller vendors add more cleaners to thier gas, thus you think that you are getting more gallons of gas for a cheaper price, but in reality you are not getting as much gas. \_ What exactly does "add more cleaners" mean? Are they adding MTBE or what? Will the cleaners damage the car's engine? Rotten Robbie's 92 octane around my area is about $1.99. Cheaper than the crazy $2.15 that I've seen in some Chevrons. \_ I don't know what the percentage of cleaner to gasoline is now, but it used to be something like 10/90 at most brand name stations (shell,chevron,exxon), 15/85 at BP/Mobil/76, 20/80 at Arco and 30/70 at RR. Don't know \_ Do you have the source for these numbers? \_ Yeah, the numbers sound bullshit to me too... Gasoline in California is very tightly regulated, and it's very unlikely that you can have 20% more "cleaner" in it. If what the anon poster meant \_ but isn't it funny that gas with more detergent was MTBE (which is not a cleaner at all), then the limit is 15%. --nevman \_ The numbers aren't exact, but I got them from my Chem TA several years ago (graduated 97). They Chem TA (blacklightning may still carry the lec. I don't believe it though. I usually get gas at the service station nearest to my house which happens to be a 76. notes) several years ago (graduated 97). They might be bs since this guy was a RIDE BIKE!r. Just as a side note, I don't believe any of this. I usually get gas at the service station nearest to my house which happens to be a 76. I used to get arco all the time for my Corolla since thier 89 octane was much cheaper than the others. I now need to get 92 octance for my Lincoln and all of the places around my home (w. sj) are about $2.05 - $2.07 so it doesn't make much difference. about Costco. I don't think that the cleaner damages your car (my dad says that it damages the fuel injector, but I haven't seen that in my corolla with ~ 50K miles, YMMV). You just have to be comforatble getting less gas for your $s. \_ but isn't it funny how gas with more detergent in it essentially is sold as higher class gasoline? "People think they're buying chivas regal for their cars" Now with MORON, NEW SUPER PREMIUM UNLEADED" -tpc \_ Some car companies will refuse to honor the warantee if you use a gas of a lower octane than the recommended. If you bought a MB,Cad.,Linc.,BMW,Jag. buying 92 instead of 89 octane shouldn't make a big difference to you monetarily. If you need to buy cheap gas in order to save money cause your car cost too much you should have bought a cheaper/more affordable car and you should get a CLUE! \_ Hm. I've been getting a lot of gas recently. How would I go about auctioning THAT off? \_ Let me know if you find any buyers. I've plenty. \_ If you're going to parrot a joke, at least do a good one. \_ http://www.priceline.com is going to add gas to its list of things that you can buy from them. |
2000/3/29-30 [Transportation/Car] UID:17880 Activity:very high |
3/28 Recommendations for a proximity-sensitive car alarm? My car keeps getting vandalized and the factory-installed alarm is only sensitive to outright breakins. Or would this only invite more vandalism? \_ Clifford. \_ get a big ferocious dog. \_ And leave it in the car 24x7? \_ With a small saucer of water and some air, anything is possible... \_ proxmity alarms turn a car into a car just begging to be keyed. \_ More from SOMA to somewhere where people don't resent your existence. \_ Move out of the slum you live in. The only damage my car ever had was from the idiots in the UCB _Staff_ parking lot dinging my doors and using my hood/roof as a shelf for their shit while they opened their doors. The rest of the non-leftist world will treat your property with greater respect. \_ write "Diesel" on the back of the car. - paolo \_ Then Ilyas will try to break in. |
2000/3/28-30 [Transportation/Car] UID:17873 Activity:insanely high |
3/27 So you can convert nickles and dimes into BART tickets. But how do you get rid of pennies? --PeterM \_ I don't know about your bank, but I just bring all my coins to my bank, and they use machine to calculate and give me bills and change. It's free, of course. \_ No way your bank is in Berkeley. \_ Throw them out. Or pay your taxes with them. \_ Donate to the beggars on Telegraph ave. \_ Throw them at the unlucky from rooftops \_ Lucky (I guess Albertson's now) has coin converting machines. I'm not sure if they all do. \_ What's the fee for that? It isn't free. \_ 6-9% - well worth it for pennies. Just collect in a jar all your non quarters and go when its full. \_ Post office. Buy stamps. \_ can't you buy one of those contraptions which helps put coins into rolls, and bring those to the bank? \_ perhaps some gambling place in Nevada allows people to use pennies? \_ AC Transit buses take pennies. That's where i used to get rid of pennies when i didnt have a bus pass during summers. Seriously, after just a few rides, you are outta pennies, though I usually use them in combination with some dimes/nickels, cuz putting in 100+ pennies is lame & slow. -- social science major \_ Only a social science major would consider this. \_ C'mon, think about it. Do you really think an employed cs major would need to take the bus? *sheesh* \_ No, the employed CS majors are all busy riding bike. \_ Only the dumb ones. The rest of us are either in our BMW's or Mercedes. \_ And Lincolns. \_ and Lotuses. \_ Anyone have a Aston Martin? \_ nah, only the punk assholes who like to show it off, esp. some of filipino and korean punks \_ And the rest of us like sucking smog and getting hit by cars on our 45 minute commute? Fuck that. You've never worked or you'd know. You pour your coins down a chute. A machine calculates the total, prints out a slip, and you then redeem it at a register for cash. \_ This seems like the best option for me. Where is an Albertson's in/near berkeley? \_ There's one on 40th and San Pablo. Ride your bike. \_ Also there's one in the El Cerrito Plaza mall, and on College Ave. near Zachary's Pizza -- close to El Cerrito Plaza and Rockridge BART, respectively. \_ I'll take the beamer to Alberton's with all my pennies. \_ Be careful, don't hit a tree and dent your beamer on your way there. \_ Why would I hit a tree? Trees are your friend. If I was going to hit something, I'd hit a biker. |
2000/3/13 [Transportation/Car] UID:17756 Activity:high |
3/13 How much would you spend on having someone detail your car? (car with paint protection and leather seats) Should you take it to the dealer where you bought the car? Thx - jthoms \_ I wouldn't. Maybe if I thought it would boost the price a bit for a consumer resale or I'd get laid with a nicer car when I was picking up my new super model girlfriend on a first date. \_ traditonal sports-car pickup line: "Hey babe, wanna help buff my leather seats?" |
2000/2/28-29 [Transportation/Car] UID:17647 Activity:kinda low |
2/27 apropos of the thread below...what is the price of diesel, roughly, in california these days? i live in connecticut, and it's up to around $2.00/gallon, i.e. higher than gas, and high enough to affect food prices. is this true out west too? this price hike happened ver suddenly about a couple months ago out here. what about other parts of the country? normal 87 octane gas is around1.50/gallon here. \_ A little higher than gas, but diesel engines use fuel more efficiently, so overall it is generally more efficient to use diesel. Diesel cars are very popular in Europe. There are some disadvantages to diesel engines: They sound louder, they stink a bit more, and more importantly they don't get as hot when they are working, so you cannot really redirect engine heat into the passenger compartment to make a heating system. -- ilyas \_ not so. from a price per mile ratio, yes. but diesel tends to have some nasty environmental effects as well. also, many gasoline powered cars today can exceed diesel ones in terms of miles per galon. \_ Overall, gasoline engine technology is a bit more mature (at least in small passenger cars), thus it is not surprising that some gasoline powered cars are more efficient than some diesel powered cars. However, diesel technology is more promising. I think diesel is better for the environment than gasoline. It seems counterintuitive, because diesel 'stinks more,' but it's true. However, there are some harmful compounds that are released in greater quantities by diesel engines (see post below). Another thing about diesel engines is that they don't accelerate very well, thus 'sporty' cars will probably have gasoline engines for a while. -- ilyas \_ tell us of the stars \_ Billions, upon billions, upon.... \_ There's still the soot problem, which apparently is a cancer problem. Again, better diesel mixtures can go part of the way to cleaning this up. |
2000/2/27 [Transportation/Car] UID:17641 Activity:high |
god damnit i hate hearing ppl who know nothing about cars rant about cars \_ I suppose you think current designs are good enough? A change as simple as converting to diesel would easily give 60-70mpg with no compromises (other than using the more smelly diesel) \_ Is diesel harder on the environment in any way? -ignorant \_ Currently, higher NO2 emissions, due to high sulfur content in diesel mixtures. However, that's just a matter of developing a better mixture. Synthetic diesels are much better. Also, diesel requires less refining than gasoline, so (should be) much cheaper when economies of scale kick in. \_ so shuddap yerself \_ This is because they don't RIDE BIKE! enough. This is my theory and I am sticking to it. \_ This makes no sense what-so-ever. If they RIDE BIKE! more, then they would know more about cars, or they would rant less about cars? Either way, it makes no sense. Please go to your academic advisor and withdraw from school immediately. You're dragging down the curve. \_ If I want to give someone some stocks as a surprise gift, how do I go about it? Do I need to ask my broker (online broker) to issue me stock certificates in the gift recipient's name, and then send those to them? Can they just then send the stock certificates to their broker, and have it deposited in their account? Thanks. |
2000/2/27 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:17639 Activity:very high |
2/26 Car recs? <=25k, economy primary, single person, thanks. -nick \_ RIDE BIKE! \_ is this nick weaver or nick kralevich? anyway, for $31K, you can get Honda S2000. \_ No, this is the other nick. Since when is 30mpg "good"? Jeeze. By now all cars should be made of fiber glass run on diesel or fuel cells and be getting 120mpg. Why hatchback would be nice. 30 mpg is squat! I want 80mpg :) does a Volkswagen Golf weigh 2950 pounds?!?!?! Why does CA ban diesel engines, but allow SUVs???? -nick \_ you dont say ANYTHING about style. It's all about style. There are lots of cars under $20K which give killer gas milage, etc, etc. Pick oneyou like. A '94 mitsu mirage lasted for me, and gets over 30 miles a gallon. (1.8 liter, manual). Plus front wheel drive kicks ass. \_ thanks! don't care about "style" as in "de moda", but \_ Buy 5-year old car, more bang for buck, plus still new enuf hatchback would be nice. 30 mpg is squat! I want 80mpg :) -nick \_ the new volkswagen offerings are lots of bang for the $$$, imho. check out the golf/jetta variants with the 1.8L turbo... Avoid Mazda, Ford. \_ The request was for economy. i always heard turbos double your maintainance costs, and half your engine life. Not very economical. \_ Buy 4 or 5-year old car, more bang for buck, plus still new enuf to not be a total pain, but expect to pay $2K for immediate fixings. RECYCLEs car, SAVES gas, environment etc. Japanese: Nissan,Toyota (avoid Honda prices higher) Avoid used Mazda, Ford, SGI. How much is EV1? \_ in what way does it save gas? Newer cars will have better (i.e. lower) emissions profiles, right? And probably better fuel economy, as well. Unless I get a volkswagen GTI. hehe. -nick |
2000/2/6-7 [Transportation/Car] UID:17441 Activity:high |
2.5 Anyone know where they sell/showcase 505 vaios around Berkeley Campus? or close thereto? (I don't have a car). \_ You do to have a car Paolo. \_ Take BART into the city to the Sony Metreon \_ You do too have a car Paolo. \_ RIDE BIKE! \_ Bribe someone to drive you to the Emeryville CompUSA. \_ You don't have a car before you're a LOSER. If you had a CAR you wouldn't need to BEG on the motd for some CAR owner to help your DUMB BIKE RIDING ASS. \_ yes, I have a bike. Yes, i have a car. Id rather walk. And I've probably done more driving than you, son. \_ Ok, I'll bite... I've been driving for 18 years. You? The odds are in my favor on this one. I don't own a bike or use linux when I can help it and proud. Hey, you said up top you have a car. If you're the original poster, you're a liar one way or the other. If you're not, I wasn't talking to you and you're a liar for replying as if you were the original poster. Either way, you're an idiot. \_ You are over 30 and you are still so juvenile? \_ You must be new around here. This is soda. |
1999/12/22-23 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:17084 Activity:kinda low |
12/21 Has anyone seen the Weird Al video It's all about the Pentiums? It's pretty damned funny. \_ damn you're slow. \_ they should've made it all about RISC. \_ http://www.thepentiums.com since last summer. If you hadn't seen that one before, check out http://www.sagabegins.com as well |
1999/12/3 [Transportation/Car] UID:17000 Activity:high |
12/3 Is the totally new (and affordable) Toyota Echo technically the same as the old and crappy Toyota Tercel? \_ Who cares? It's still overpriced, and fucking ugly to boot. RIDE BIKE! \_ USE LINUX! \_ What's the standard Toyota? \_ ED is the standard! |
1999/12/1 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/Editors/Emacs] UID:16984 Activity:moderate |
11/30 How do I auto-indent/tab a block in emacs? Esc, ctrl-\ \_ Thanks. This entry will be deleted shortly... \_ Meta-Control-Right-Shift-NumPad9-auto-indent-and-tab-level8 |
1999/11/30-12/1 [Recreation/Food/Alcohol, Transportation/Car] UID:16975 Activity:low |
11/30 Does anyone know what the steaming factory next to the West Oakland BART station does? During morning commute hours there's often a very strong alcohol-like smell near there, so strong that if I forget to turn off the A/C in my car when I drive by there, my car will be filled with that smell within seconds. \_ It's West Oakland's natural scent (the smell of gangs and cronies) \_ They produce cyanide ther for the medical industry. \_ They produce cyanide there for the medical industry. \_ alcohol-like smell? probably baking bread for the day... \_ They produce high-test malt liquor for the indigenous population. |
1999/10/20-21 [Transportation/Car] UID:16742 Activity:very high |
10/20 A dumb and slow guy driving on 101 keeps braking for no reason and it pissed me off. I honked at him, gave him fingers, and soon realized that he's my director. WHAT SHOULD I DO?!??!?!? \_ Just to clarify, are we supposed to presume this happened? If so, you blew it. But I'd pretend it never happened and hope that he didn't recognize you. Park your car in the back. \_ kill yourself before it's too late \_ In a place where he can overhear you, casually mention how your twin brother is the biggest jerk. \_ If he saw you in the car, quit and get a new job. \_ Or plead ignorance and pretend nothing ever happened. \_ The fact that you referred to him as "dumb" would imply that you're better off working for someone else. \_ Hey, dufus: he wasn't braking for "no reason", he was braking because you were TAILGATING, asshole. \_ whenever I see someone tailgating me, *WHAM* down on the brakes. That always shows them. \_ Considering that *everyone* in the bay area tail gates at almost all times, you must have a good rear bumper. \_ sarcasm-detectorP? \_ No. Tailgating is like a hobby here or something. Leaving safe distance is like an invitation for one or two cars to force their way in and then you're tailgating again. Or you drop back and it happens again. People here can't drive worth shit. \_ hAHAH...sOMething to Learn, never lost your cool. So lets know what happen to you now...Did he recognize you? \_ ignore it, and if he confronts you tell him he should learn how to fucking drive. \_ So you're a road raging tailgating idiot? Why would you finger and honk at someone? They're not going to "get it" and it makes you look like a psychopath. Just wait until you can go around, stop fucking tailgating and then pass when it's safe. Do not fucking cut them off. You sound like an asshole and deserve whatever ill may come of this. |
1999/9/24 [Transportation/Car] UID:16583 Activity:very high |
9/24 I hear about people sueing GM all the time (ie. Ford truck, \_ Why would you sue GM for a Ford problem? Do you have any clue what you're talking about? seat belt, etc). Can people legally and successfully sue foreign car makers? \_ It will be on Tuesday October 5. And I apologize for the \_ Nope. will be posted soon. -dans \_ yes. \_ it's the amount of money your mom pays me every year so that i fuck her the way your pop can't. \_ you looking to sue? Not too many years back, a guy went out drinking and dancing at a club. He fell asleep driving back in his toyota truck. He rolled over several times and the door failed, flinging him out (no seat belt) and criplling him. The initial award for the faulty door - many millions. \_ The final award after the judge threw it out because the jury ignored his instructions and they retried it plus numerous appeals? Zero. \_ Nope. \_ If they have a business division in the US (which seems likely), then yes. If you bought a car from some small dinko company that does custom hand built cars in Italy, then you have enough money and lawyers to sue them in Italy. But being rich like this, you're likely to already know this. Yes, you can sue legally but you'll lose. |
1999/9/20-21 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/Security] UID:16553 Activity:low |
9/18 anyone have a car and want a decent cassette deck? let me know... - danh \_ Boosting car stereos again danh? \_ could this be the reason why .shost authentication doesn't work if you have this service turned off? \_ It's there to buxt the not-so-elite h4ckurz!!!!1 \_ ssh does not use identd. Turn it off, it's annoying. -tom \_ it does if linked against a libwrap.a that does rfc 1413 lookups by default. |
1999/9/17-18 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:16539 Activity:nil |
9/16 Stumbled across this great site for searching prices on camcorders, cameras and etc. http://photonut.com |
1999/8/23-25 [Transportation/Car] UID:16376 Activity:high |
8/23 Where's a good place to go to get a car's brakes fixed? \_ Your own garage. \_ Big-O left my brake fluid low even after I told them to redo it because it was so low the first ime I could feel the car sliding. At my next 5k check, the deal caught and fixed it without being because it was so low the first time I could feel the car sliding. At my next 5k check, the dealer caught and fixed it without being told to look for it. Ford. \_ Geez, even an infant could top off the brake fluid. Helloooo... \_ After sitting on my thumb for 2 hours, I just took it as is and left. A third time wasn't going to improve matters. The second time wasn't great but it wasn't bad enough that I'd slam into someone. Moral: don't go to Big-O for brakes. \_ No, you missed the real moral: Learn about your car so you can add brake fluid yourself in 5 minutes instead of wasting all day waiting for the morons at Big-O to screw it up. \_ The real lesson is: learn how your brakes work, morons. You probably needed a bleed, not just a top-off. \_ You'd void the warrantee doing it yourself. If you're driving an ancient piece of shit, go ahead, it doesn't apply. \_ I wasn't there for brake fluid, I was there because the calipers were shot on one side, among other things. Since I didn't give you a full damage list or how it happened, you have no clue what my car needed. You just assumed you're really smart which you may be but you still don't know what you're talking about. |
1999/8/20-22 [Transportation/Car] UID:16350 Activity:high 73%like:16345 |
8/19 Car gurus: Should I brake hard or brake smoothly to save my brake pad and tire? A mechanic told me that if I brake hard, then I don't have to change my brake pad as often. However, another mechanic disagrees and says that if I brake smoothly, then I don't have to change my tire as often. Who is right? \_ "brake" \_ obviously you need to call Car Talk \__ don't brake at all \_ if you have a manual transmission, downshift gradually to second gear, and then use your brakes at the last moment. If you have an automatic, don't worry about it, it won't make a noticable difference no matter what you do--just replace as needed. \_ Brake pads are much cheaper than clutch parts. Stop worrying so much about something that wears out 2 or 3 times in your vehicle's life. Break gently because the people in front of you get edgy when you wait till the last second to not hit them. \_ My brake pads cost a few bucks. No big deal. The rest of the assembly was very expensive. Thank god it was covered. \_ ob. RIDE BIKE \_ Should I brake hard or smoothly to save the brake of my bike? \_ Use only the front brake to save the back one for when you really need it. That way you'll always have at least one good brake. \_ If you want to save a brake, save the front one; the rear brake provides only about 25% of the braking power of the front brake. -tom \_ Shouldn't the percentage depend on how hard you squeeze the left and rigt brake handles? -- yuen \_ dont brake \_ brake in spurts, preferrably while going straight before the corner. the discs/pads air-cool and you don't waste tire \_ See? RIDE BIKE! \_ Don't brake, rear-end me and let me sue you for $$$. traction you could be using to turn or power out of the turn. ride your brakes and you'll overheat them, won't be able to make the turns as fast, and maybe you'll fly off the mountain since i had to tell you this in the first place. works for cars and bikes. \-does anyone put automatic trans car in neutral at red lights? i had a friend who did that [in my car] and it drove me nuts. --psb \_ I do at long lights. The vibration in the steering wheel gets annoying. \_ No. That's stupid. You still need to brake or you'll roll (obviously) unless on near perfectly flat road. Two problems here: your friend is an idiot and you let your friend in the driver's seat. Get smarter friends or keep the keys. \-this isnt about stopping. it is about "is that healthier for your car than leving it in drive and pressing the brake hard". i think the benefits in the brake area are offset by the shifting. --psb \_ Why are there benefits on the brake? The pads don't wear because the discs/drums aren't rotating during red light. -- yuen \_ legalities and stupid driving aside, brake pads are *expendable*. they are meant to be worn out, and to be replaced, and braking hard or soft isn't going to make a difference. the only difference you can shoot for is going for different compounds. but in the end, if you are a normal driver, brake properly and (if that mechanic isn't full of shit) replace your pads in 2004 instead of 2005, bfd. --caliban \_ Just use the parking brake. Shift into neutral, then yank that lever in the middle real hard! -mtbb \_ If you hit them hard at the end, the people behind you won't have time to stop and getting rear ended and then rammed into the car in front of you is far worse than replacing your tires or pads one extra time over the life of your car. Smooth and early so you don't get hit. Whiplash is for real and hurts like hell. The legal and it still sucked to get hang out in the emergency room hassles are a nightmare as well. \_ Whose fault would the police/court think it is in this case? The one in front or the one behind? \_ unless their (company's) lawyers are way more expensive than yours, you're never at fault for making a stop and getting spanked. \_ Mostly true. I won't go into petty legalities where this isn't so. Anyway, you're better off not getting hit at all, no matter who is legally at fault. I've been hit and was totally not at fault both legally and in the real sense and it still sucked to get to hang out in the emergency room for xrays, dealing with insurance and inspections for car damage, getting recorded describing it over the phone, etc. Just brake nice and smooth and don't get hit. \_ if you do some crazy braking you are at fault but the other person is gonna need serious witnesses \_ It's not worth it. Don't get hit. |
1999/8/19 [Transportation/Car] UID:16345 Activity:very high 73%like:16350 |
8/19 Car gurus: Should I break hard or break smoothly to save my break pad and tire? A mechanic told me that if I break hard, then I don't have to change my break pad as often. However, another mechanic disagrees and says that if I break smoothly, then I don't have to change my tire as often. Who is right? \_ "brake" \_ obviously you need to call Car Talk \__ don't break at all \_ if you have a manual transmission, downshift gradually to second gear, and then use your brakes at the last moment. If you have an automatic, don't worry about it, it won't make a noticable difference no matter what you do--just replace as needed. \_ Brake pads are much cheaper than clutch parts. Stop worrying so much about something that wears out 2 or 3 times in your vehicle's life. Break gently because the people in front of you get edgy when you wait till the last second to not hit them. \_ ob. RIDE BIKE \_ Should I break hard or smoothly to save the break of my bike? \_ dont break \_ Since it takes several years of commute riding to go through a $25 set of brake pads, don't worry about it. -tom |
1999/8/9 [Transportation/Car] UID:16273 Activity:nil |
08/08 ED! ED! ED IS THE STANDARD! MOTD EDITOR! ALL OTHERS MUST BOW BEFORE ITS INFINITE, TACITURN GLORY! ? Here are your messages: "You have 30 minutes to move your car", "You have 10 minutes", "Your car has been impounded", "Your car has been crushed into a cube", "You have 30 minutes to move your cube". |
1999/8/4-5 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:16246 Activity:high |
8/4 http://www.thepentiums.com - It's All About the Pentiums, Baby! \_ If you haven't seen it yet, http://www.sagabegins.com now STL C++ crap deleted. Anything ilyas touches turns into bullshit. \_ You're just feeling sad because ilyas stands up to motd punks like yourself. (It is of course well known that any interesting argument on the motd gets deleted, but I just felt like pointing this out for those who aren't paying attention.) \_ listen kid. there are people with clue who know what they're talking about, and then are people who think they know what they're talking about so they completely ignore those who try to clue them in. Ilyas falls in the second category, and most of the people who replied to him fall in the first. He could either take the stance of someone who is about to learn something and who should pay attention to what people are saying and make an effort to understand, or he could be the way he is. The second option gets his posts nuked. |
1999/7/22-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:16182 Activity:nil |
7/22 I deeply regret to inform everyone that Joe Wujek and his wife, died in an automobile accident recently. I would like to say that despite the relative difficulty of his courses, he was one of the best teachers in the EECS department and a great mentor who passionately believed in professional ethics. I have posted more information at: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~jeffwong/joewujek.txt I will miss him dearly. -jeffwong \_ For those of you who don't have cars several IEEE members on campus are driving down this Friday and you might be able to catch a ride if you are interested. Please mail officers@ieee. If you have any photographs you would like of professor Wujek please send them to us also. -jeff |
1999/7/22-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:16180 Activity:moderate |
7/22 http://www.dailycal.org/archive/1999/7/20/parking.html ... Egged on by the Academic Senate's subcommittee on Parking and Transportation, this policy would reimburse the UC Parking Office $20,000 for every parking space that is removed for "capital improvements," whether it be for more student housing, office space, or recreational purposes. According to these faculty members, those other services "do not contribute directly to the University's academic mission," but parking does. ... Just another example of the UC screwing students. Who the fuck needs housing. All those faculty living in their Berkeley Hills and Oakland Hills and Kensington Homes dont give a fuck about students trying to get housing anywhere near campus. \_ UC kills \_ UCkills! \_ Why don't they turn those parking spaces into multi-level garages. = more spots + less space. \_ I'm sure running Linux will solve this problem. It solves everything else. |
1999/7/12-13 [Transportation/Car] UID:16113 Activity:high |
7/12 Does anyone else think that the $4.9 billion awarded to the six plaintiffs in the GM lawsuit is more than a little ridiculous? --dim \_ Why would I give a shit about GM? Of all the three American car companies or even any other company in the rest of the world they make the shitiest of cars and treat their workers like dirt. \_ Were you born in another country? There's nothing ridiculous about it. It's going to be appealed down into almost nothing and the plaintiff's grandchildren are likely to be dead of old age before any of them see a dime, if ever. I see nothing wrong with it, except that GM is so evil, they needed to sue in the first place. \_ I don't know. How many people did GM kill/maim/mutilate this time and did they know it would happen to someone but didn't care? \_ Companies as a whole can never care. This case in question was concerned with a particular design for side-mounted truck fuel tanks. It turned out, retrospectively, that this side-mounted design was not very good from the safety perspective. I don't think people at GM have enough clue to be evil deliberately. -- ilyas \_ "They're too stupid to be evil". Heard that before. They're all evil. They didn't get to be that size without being evil. \_ GM (in 1979) knew that this design was faulty. They calculated the cost of redesign (quite high) vs. expected lawsuit settlement (not as high). This just ticked off the jury, and punitive damages were awarded. $4.9 Billion is about 9 months of operating profits in this, a very good year. --cody \_ don't the large, evil corporations have insurance for things like this? \_ why is it that these ridiculous memos are always uncovered during these product liability trials? why don't they shred them? \_ Because like M$ and other large companies they feel above the law which is why we need high rewards like this: to remind these multi national monster corporations that they are not above the law and people are more important than their bottom line. \_ $4.9 billion is a lot of money. All six could have been killed and I wouldn't have awarded that much. That's insane. GM would be forced to make these people billionaires with the money of their customers (us). I can relate to the plight of the plaintiffs, but that's just too damn much money. Maybe they should find a way to make GM spend the money on certain safety programs or finance certain government programs (e.g. for burn victims). --dim \_ A smaller judgement would have reinforced the philosophy, "losing lawsuits is less costly than fixing our problem." I think the people on the jury purposefully made it so large to tell them that this is a bad philosophy. \_ The people who won the lawsuit have promised to donate at least half (after the half the state and feds take in taxes) to hospital burn centers. \_ don't forget the lawyers' cut which I think would be 1/4 to 1/3. \_ Lawyer contingency fees are legally allowed to be as high as 40% plus costs. (not sure about the costs part, but pretty sure). \_ If it was you driving that truck you wouldn't go through a costly and painful lawsuit just to make GM do what they should have done in the first place. You think it's ok for them to kill their customers as long as they donate money to charities? You feeling ok? \_ Yes, GM should be made to do what they didn't before. Yes, damages should have been awarded (both compensatory and punitive). $4.9 billion is too much, though. In fact, I think it's about 10 times too high. --dim \_ Hello? It's going to be appealed to nothing. GM is *not* going to write 6 checks that total $4.9b. The plaintiff's grand children will be dead of old age before they see anything and it sure as hell won't be $4.9b. Glad you're not on the jury. \_ I realize that there is an appeals process and that the final settlement will be smaller. The point is that the sum is *ridiculous*. No one knows how much the final settlement will be for, but GM certainly won't get off cheap, Smug One. --dim \_ No shit. I'm *glad* they're not getting off cheap. Don't you get it? Do you own GM stock or what? \_ The Government should be making them do what they didn't do right the first time. If it's so bad that common citizens had to sue them to get justice then the Government has way fucked up and the little people should get to keep what they've won. Fuck GM and their "the lawsuits would be less expensive than fixing it" crap. Fuck that. |
1999/6/30-7/1 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:16043 Activity:high |
6/30 Some time ago, there was a short that was a StarWars parody that you could download. What is the name of it and does anybody know of a place that I could get it? Thanks. \_ do you mean the South Park one? \_ or troops? look around http://theforce.net. \_ Yes. Thank you. \_ Do you mean TROOPS? \_ <DEAD>www.thumbtv.com<DEAD> \_ http://www.sagabegins.com \_ http://www.cdnow.com - Weird Al Yankovic, "Running with Scissors" |
1999/6/28 [Transportation/Car] UID:16030 Activity:high |
6/28 What's the difference between winter gasoline and summer gasoline? \_ winter gas has stuff in it to prevent your engine from freezing. \_ In most states summer gasoline is cheaper than winter gasoline but those fuckers in California's oil companies think otherwise. |
1999/5/24-25 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:15864 Activity:high |
5/23 My friends and I want to start a E-commerce company. Can anyone think of products that are not being sold on the Internet yet? \_ Human slaves. \_ mixed drinks \_ Soiled diapers. Somebody out there must have a fetish for baby shit. - http://eshit.com \_ porn \_ Fresh tofu, for one. For now you have to drive all the way down to either Sacramento or to San Jose to get the really good stuff. And what if you move to Arizona? No options, there. \_ human organs \_ Ice cream. \_ Promise me 50% of your revenue and I'll give you ideas. \_ That's it. Sell fresh ideas! Intangible product, yes, but potentially profitable. \_ Sexual services - become an e-pimp. \_ Been long since done. \_ Set up shop in amsterdam shipping marijuana around the world. \_ been done already \_ Just because you can use/buy/own/sell/etc the shit in a dump like amsterdam (only parts of it at that), doesn't mean that, oh say, US Customs is going to let your shit in this country. \_ dork \_ Whoa! You sure put me in my place! You are *SOOO* cool! Try selling a "how-to-be-cool-like-a-csua-geek!" kit on the net! Train everyone to be like Mr. I-can-type-d-o-r-k! Guaranteed big money! Who wouldn't want to be like Mr. I-can-type-I'm-a-big-boy-now? \_ dork \_ How can anyone argue with such logic? You are truly Master Of Flames! I bow before your vast and overwhelming intellect and general superiority! All hail dork! \_ books/cds/videos \_ used condoms. Especially those that are filled completedly with cum. \_ Damn, if i knew i could make a profit, i would've kept mine. \_ I can fill up half a condom with cum per orgasm. Who needs my cum? -peter north |
1999/5/19 [Transportation/Car] UID:15838 Activity:nil |
5/18 Happy 25th Birthday, nevman. Woohoo! decreased insurance rates! \_ Thanks. Too bad California doesn't seem to be on the "25 and huge insurance drop" plan anymore. -nevman \_ Just get married and watch your insurance rates drop without having to wait. \_ I'm sure he's working on that part too. |
1999/5/18 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Bicycle] UID:15829 Activity:insanely high |
5/17 Bike or take public transport. \_ I used to bike to work ... but then the co. was very small and now I share the room with several other employees -- how do you deal with showers/sweatiness/stench? \_ It's not a problem for reasonably short rides. For longer ones, bring a change of clothes. -tom \_ if you live in an rv or bus in the parking lot you can shower in your vehicle and walk to work and not pay rent. bikes suck. \_ get job somewhere with showers at work. \_ where? \_ soda hall \_ sun \_ Any company in Marina Village, Alameda \_ LBL \_ organic, vivid, wired \_ Showers at work is a major career choice maker for \_ Showers at work aren't really necessary if you're riding 5 miles or less (and depending on personal tendencies, possibly much more than that). Just bring a change of clothes. -tom me. In fact, being able to bike to work is the only factor in choosing a job, apartment, and girl friend. Biking is all. Kill all drivers. \_ yes, kill 'em all, but don't let god sort them out. let me sort them out. i have some special things planned for the non users of turn signals and those who defile the crosswalks. \_ I was being sarcastic. What kind of moron centers his whole life around a bicycle? There's a special place in Hell for bikers who don't stop at red lights or stops signs and treat pedestrians like crap. \_ I used to buzz pedestrians crossing on a red. Was I evil? \_ Peds *always* have the right of way. Period. *Always*. Yes. You fucked up. You did wrong. *Always* no matter how stupid they are. \_ Don't forget those who think turning on their hazard lights exempts them from obeying all traffic laws, common courtesy, and common sense. \_ I drive to work every day with my hazards on doing 90+ mph. The cops and everyone else leaves me alone, I don't pay bridge tolls and it's a damned fine way to avoid accidents since everyone avoids a car they think might be about to explode. \_ Buy your co-workers nose-clips for Xmas presents. \_ lick yourself off like a cat |
1999/5/17 [Transportation/Car] UID:15827 Activity:nil 52%like:15793 |
5/17 Support Gas Out day tomorrow. Bike or take public transport. <DEAD>www.gasout.org<DEAD> \_ was it that gas rose +7 points in the consumer price index or that the CPI rose 7 points because of high gas prices? (yes, the CPI is the reason everyone is screaming inflation now) \_ oil and gas contributed to most of CPI increase. That was expected. Anyone can tell you that gas prices were sky high last month. The big question is, has the market discounted a likely increase in rates? Will Big Al send the market into a tail-spin tomorrow? |
1999/3/10-11 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:15573 Activity:nil |
3/9 If you know of regular, scheduled Ultimate frisbee games (pickup or practice, I don't care), please email me. --sowings \_ Kleeberger field on thursdays at midnight. --sly |
1999/2/16-17 [Transportation/Car, Academia/Berkeley/Classes] UID:15427 Activity:high |
2/16 Why did my post get deleted? Here it goes again: I just got a new car and I'd like to install a fog light bcuz it is cool man. Okay, now, the dealer wants to install it for $300 bucks. However, if I install it myself, it will only be $150. Here's my Q: Exactly how well do fog lights work (30% farther? 50% farther??), and how hard is it to install it yourself? I'm pretty good with wiring, but I've never taken apart car parts, panels, etc. THANKS MAN!!! \_ Um, I believe people already did answer it (and then misc. stuff) Don't think you'll get any more than that. \_ because it was flame-bait the first time, and still is. asshole. \_ Why does this post remind me of kchang? \_ Because KCHANG IS BACK MAN. First person to figure out how he's posting to the motd gets to squish him (again). |
1999/2/16-17 [Transportation/Car] UID:15422 Activity:very high |
2/15 Does anyone find something wrong with these directions? I got a flat tire and the instruction manual said to lower the car jack first before screwing in the bolts after replacing the tire with a spare. Wouldn't that cause the spare tire to be unevenly bolted in or does that not matter? \_ OH MY GOD. This must be from a Soda female. All the females, when \_ Sexist twerp stranded or have problems, go to the instruction manual and start following the directions, step by step. No wonder there aren't many female mechanics, cuz they're simply mechanically challenged. \_ So you automatically knew to lower the tire? \_ OH MY GOD. This must be from a Soda male. Only soda males can be such jerks. -- another Soda male. \_ The instructions are correct. You don't want to tighten the nuts while the car is on the jack. That's dangerous! Tighten them by hand first and then lower the jack before tightening them well. --dim \_ Why would it be dangerous? Intuitively, it seems more reasonable to do it while the car is off the ground so the wheel won't be crooked when you tighten the bolts. \-you shake the car. \_ You shake your bootie! \_ You shake after you whizz... \_ You always need to put on and off the bolts while the wheel is touching the ground. Otherwise, you can't torque the bolts well as the wheel will spin, OR, you may knock the car off the jack. Dim is correct. Put the wheel on, and hand tighten the bolts, which will keep the wheel aligned, THEN lower the car and torque the bolts. -nweaver \_ Exactly -- use only non-wrench force while the car is precariously propped up on the jack. Also, consider tightening the bolts again after driving a short distance on the new wheel. \_ Just ride bikes! \_ Fucking idiot. |
1999/2/16-17 [Transportation/Bicycle, Transportation/Car] UID:15419 Activity:moderate |
2/15 I'm thinking of buying a Roof Rack. Which brand is better, Yakima or Thule? Which lasts longer, easier to mount/unmount, and have good accessories? THANKS! \_ yakima uber alles \_ Yakima seems to have better accesories support. That's why I ended up buying one. And a round bar looks better than a square one, IMHO. Only complaint -- wind noise, but I'm sure every rack has that problem. -nev \_ Yakima is very easy to install (the foot and clip come in one piece) and the bar is 30% thinner than Thule, which makes the door fit better. Yakima is a lot more aerodynamic. However, it is slightly more expensive ($15 more for the system). Thule is bigger, stronger, and cheaper (typical Ameri-Swede engineering). Yakima is smaller, looks better, works better, installs better, but more expensive (typical Japanese engineering). \_ try Yakima, Washington engineering though the actual company is in California \_ many pro. cycling teams use yakima. one team car fell off a cliff with yakima rack full of bikes. car was totalled. rack was put on another car with bikes and they went on their way \_ I find it funny that a lot of environmentalists and ultra left-wing bike Nazis at SF want everyone to ride bikes instead of drive, when they themselves use cars to transport their bikes. Godamn Mass Hypocrit \_ i doubt many of the "left-wing bike Nazis" use cars to transport their bikes. these people actually use their bikes as transportation. it's mostly the people who bike for sport, not lifestyle, who feel the need to use cars to transoprt their bikes elsewhere. however, there isn't really anything hypocritical about using a car to car to take your bike somewhere far away to ride. not many of those "bike Nazis" would argue that you shouldn't be allowed to go anywhere that you can't bike the whole way to... \_ The term "bike nazi" is kind of like calling peaceniks the orchestrators of the holocaust. The history of the forced dependency upon the autombile is intimately related to fascism and the two World Wars. Car Nazi is a more appropriate term for *anyone* who drives a car. \_ Can you explain more on how dependency was forced. I've never heard of such a thing. Thx. \_ Uhm.. what the fuck are you talking about? What does it take to get into that state of mind and how do I get some? \_ Read a book sometime. Start with _City_of_Quartz_ by Mike Davis. |
1999/2/16 [Transportation/Car] UID:15418 Activity:insanely high |
2/15 I just bought a new car. The dealer install for fog light costs about $300. Here are my questions. EXACTLY how effective are fog lights, are they worth $300, and is the "do-it-yourself" kit ($150) easy to install? THANKS. \_ I smell a riceboy... but anyways, fog lights are effective as long as they are yellow and mounted low. Installation difficulty varies according to how much is pre-wired in your car. Usually, it's Switch-Relay-Light, and some grounds. \_ The PC term to use here is rice rocket. \_ So as long as there's a worse racial epithet any lesser one is ok to use? I see.... \_ Racist. \_ Calling other people "riceboy" might be racist. I'm not too offended myself because there are much worst racial slangs long as they are yellow and mounted low. Installation difficulty varies according to how much is pre-wired in your car. Usually, it's Switch-Relay-Light, and some grounds. than that one. But you've go to admit that those lowered super modified 60hp Honda Civics with an unplugged muffler, anti-white people Lambda frat decals, annoying fog lights, and punk ass looser drivers make us normal Asians look bad. \_ amen to that! Idiot asian punks who customize honda civics/accords really make normal asian guys look BAD. Why do you behave like such dorks? This is not HK or Taiwan pal, stop acting like idiots. \_ It's funny to see people from SanFranSissyBayArea call other people punks. Whether you are asian, white or whatever, and whether you drive a Jeep Cherokee, Honda Civic, Volkswagon, or BMW, to people from other parts of the country, you will always be a sissy punk ass. \_ You may think you are normal, others think you are a nerd a geek, a cheap ass...you donot like them, they do not like you. You call them names, they call you names. So you think you are better, they think they are better. You think they are idiots, they think you are a dumbass. Everyone's got an opinion, everyone's got his/her own preferrence. Anyway, you can buy after market fog lights and have them installed elsewhere, most of the time, you can have it cheaper than the dealer...Dealers always try to rip u off. \_ You're absolutely right. Everyone's titled to have an opinion. (unPC stuff removed) But the fact that even the Heurestic Squelch took out an entire page for a rice racer parity shows you how totally stupid the concept is. \_ So as long as there's a worse racial epithet any lesser one is ok to use? I see.... \_ no, I'm just saying that "riceboy" is a fairly lame insult. It was as if a four year old said "you're stupid". You just don't give a damn. \_ Die pre-schooler!!! \_ I'm chinese, and I use the term 'riceboy' quite liberally. I frankly don't understand this counterculture. \_ Males in Hong Kong and Taiwan don't even do stuff like this. AFAIK this is a North American Asian thing only. \_these mods are quite the rage here in japan, tho -vann \_ fog lights are VERY effective for annoying the shit out of other drivers. that and those blue tinted lights, white brake lights, and those other modifications that make your engine louder. \_ If the fog gets so thick you need special lights, maybe you shouldn't be out on the road? Don't forget driving isn't just about not hitting the other guy, it's about not getting hit and the guy who slams into your trunk will crush in your rear no matter what kind of lights you have on the front. |
1999/2/10 [Transportation/Car, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA] UID:15387 Activity:high 52%like:15393 |
2/9 Can someone suggest a nice place to proposition on Valentine's Day? I'm thinking about either the parking lot outside Lawrence Hall of Science after dark, or Treasure Island facing SF. Thanks. \_ there are some good places in nevada, the Bikini islands, and Amchitka. \_ As far away from Berkeley as possible. You should have planned a lot longer than five days before so that you could plan plane trips to Seattle or Hawaii or something like that. Unless you're poor of course which, in which case, you're stuck here. \_ I suggest _not_ doing so on V-day unless you -know- she's going to say yes. Don't want to ruin your V-day forever.... \_ Something indoors is better because cold noses and blown around hair isn't romantic. A fire is good too. -a girl \_ Set your girlfriend's hair on fire. \_ How about outdoor but in a car? No cold noses and blown around hair. Would a girl think it's romantic? \_ No. My girl advisor says, "No. Cars don't work. It's trashy." She goes on to say, "Just take her to your place or borrow a friend's with a fireplace and make her dinner. He's too late to get reservations at a good restaurant. He needs to show that he's put effort into it". I think the idea is to forget the view and do something nice. She went on and on about it but that's all it comes down to. Don't be a cheap spaz. \_ if you're stuck here, I would suggest The Rose Garden. - tpc \_ Not after dark. I've seen drug deals there at night. Not very romantic. \_ Rose Garde in Golden Gate Park? But there're no roses these days. \_ Don't! It's not good to get married. You lose all your freedom, free spending habits, and all the good looking babes on soda, etc. \_ Who on soda is a good looking babe? Any homepage? Thx. \_ This is exactly the reason there aren't any. Go take a humanities class of some sort and stop looking so desperate and for your own sake as well as God's, TAKE A SHOWER! No, one shower last Thursday doesn't count. Moving it up to at least twice a week is a good start. \_ What do humanitites classes and bathing have to do with good looking babes on soda? I bathe every day and took a few English classes, but I've never seen a babe on soda. There weren't any babes in the English classes either, most were commies with too many body piercings. \_ But I was just trying to conserve water. |
1999/2/9-10 [Transportation/Car] UID:15380 Activity:nil |
2/8 I am going to Europe for 3 months (or more) and want to store my car. Where's the good place round here that stores only cars and such (not U-Haul or Public Storage)? |
1999/1/27 [Transportation/Car] UID:15306 Activity:nil |
1/27 Is there a particular reason that many luxury car commercials, airline commercials, and other love to use actors and actresses with British accent? For example, the Mercedes commercial, Lexus commercial, etc. Even the Pharo and his son in Prince of Egypt have British accent. \_ there is an American subconscious that says "the Brits are rich, snobby, high class, and uptight" |
1999/1/22-24 [Transportation/Car] UID:15277 Activity:nil |
1/21 Anyone in southbay (Santa Clara/Sunnyvale area) looking for a roommate? I practice regular hygene and have no known communicable diseases. Email sky@csua \_ do you want any? \_ As an alternative, if anyone drives from Berk. area to Santa Clara/Sunnyvale area, and would let me carpool with you, I will pay your gas or whatever. |
1999/1/6-7 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:15174 Activity:low |
1/5 Any recommendations on an ADSL ISP? \_ tycho networks, http://www.tycho.net \_ PBI has been plenty cheap so far... |
1998/12/30-31 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:15148 Activity:high |
12/28 How often should I change the air filter on my car? Thanks. \_ This should be in your manual. Call the dealer if you don't have one. \_ Every 30k miles or so, but it varies a lot with driving conditions such as dusty roads, SoCal smog, and the like. \_ 30k miles a about a quarter of the average life of a car. Eveery 3k seems more reasonable. \_ There's only one way to filter the air with your car: DON'T DRIVE! \_ Kinda ironic that the same filthy air that your car creates needs to be filtered for your car to run smoothly. \_ It isn't ironic. You can't survive breathing the same air you exhale any better than a car can. Stop trying to be deep and Politically Correct. Go wear a black turtle neck and down a few triple mocha espresso lattes south side if you're feeling clever or superior. Come back when you're done. \_ Uh oh, the anti-auto "My only tool is a hammer" geniuses got out of their cages again. While you're ragging on cars, let's talk about the amount of perfectly good water the chip industry spoils in their chip fabs. Let's all stop using computers. Do you read the newspaper? Any clue how many trees that kills? Eat meat? Slash'n'burn in S.America plus insane over crowding in chicken boxes in the US. Are you veggie/vegan? Where do you think all the funky veggie foods come from? They get shipped in by some oil burning ocean going tranport. What went into the production of that transport and the trucks that carried the food from there to the store? Clue time people: ALL human activity is destructive to the environment. Stop fooling yourselves. The _only_ way to stop breaking the planet is to leave it (or just kill everyone off quietly). \_ Your argument is short of idiotic, sorry to say. The goal of public policy is to limit things that are enivronmentally distructive. Chip fabs spoil about 0.0000...001% of all the water in this world which is a miniscule amount whereas automobiles emits millions of pounds of waste and toxins every year. No one ever said we should wipe cars off the face of this earth but to limit the amount of emissions by mass transportation, car pools, ev's, bicycle, hybrid cars, cleaner burning cars, etc... \_ I check it periodically (often when I change oil) and if it looks overly dirty then I change it. Works better than some arbitrary number of miles. --dim |
1998/12/3-4 [Transportation/Car] UID:15061 Activity:high |
12/2 If someone parks a car illegally blocking my driveway after office hours, which govt. dept. do I call to have it towed? Thanks. \_ Post your address here so we can vandalize the car and your home at the same time \_ Tow Truck Company (after using your key of course) \_ Police \_ parking and transportation dept of police \_ But do they work at night? \_ Marine Corp. \_ Goldberg. \_ Just try to get someone to steal the car. \_ Or put a bunch of bumper stickers all over it \_ Those non-profit charities that take donated used cars \_ Which can take a few weeks to get them to come by and requires you fill out paper work, prove ownership, sign papers transfering ownership, etc. Nice try though. |
1998/10/30-31 [Transportation/Car] UID:14859 Activity:moderate |
10/30 Where is a good web site to obtain Northern Cal traffic data? For example, the average MPG, throughput, etc in different sections? \_ Try http://www.dot.ca.gov (dot = Dept. of Trans. aka Caltrans) \_ <DEAD>traffic.maxwell.com<DEAD> KICKS BUTT. Real time map and speed. \_ YKYBUCTLW you see this question and it takes you half a minute to realize it's not about Internet traffic. \_ What does MPG mean to you? |
1998/9/16 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Bicycle] UID:14608 Activity:insanely high |
9/16 There should be a law against road repairs during rush hours. My commute just about doubled because they closed off one lane on a local street, which slowed ttraffic to a crawl on the highway. \_ There should be a law against drivers of single-occupant vehicles complaining about the traffic. -tom \_ There should be a law about bike fanatics babbling about things they don't understand such as the fact that not everyone can live within easy bike distance to their work or get involved in a carpool. \_ "Can't?" Where in the Bay Area is there employment where there is not housing within a few miles? \_ Uh huh, I suppose it's that easy to find affordable AND available housing. Housing isn't an issue in the Bay Area, right? \_ it's an issue, but it's not impossible. I've lived within biking distance of my place of work for over 10 years now, even though I've lived in at least 6 different places and had two different work locations. -tom \_ Have you lived in the south bay within this past 3 years? Finding a place to live is harder than finding a job. To find one that is within a few miles, good luck. \_ I'll admit, I live at home, 1/2 hr commute to work. I could easily live across the street from where I work for $1600/mo. Worth it? No. \_ Add $500/mo to what you are currently paying for rent and see if you can afford it. A car easily costs that much. \_ Maintenance/car insurance/gas/commuting does not add up to $500/mo. maybe $300. for my current rent + $300 i couldn't get shit near my place of work. \_ A car is an absolute necessity. Without a car is like no life. Would you expect \_ The life rules should be amended to support those with no car voluntarily. - ped to go on a date on your bicycle? \_ According to the AAM, owning an average car costs 45 cents per mile, which for an average amount of driving comes out to about $500/month. That, of course, doesn't include any of the external costs of driving, such as environmental damage. It also doesn't include the cost of your time. And yes, I go on dates on my bicycle. -tom \_ "Hey honey, let's take a scenic tour by BART." \_ I don't know about you, but the sort of woman I tend to date is more interested in a person's level of integrity and personal responsibility than in what kind of car he drives. -tom \_ I dunno about you, but the women I date would be annoyed if all posts. -tomy \_ You are one those fucking lucky rich people. \_ I see zero correlation to that statement. \_ tom works for the University, which means he makes less than the average soda geek our dates were confined to within 20 miles. Oh, and no dates if it's raining... \_ pussy. you dont deserve to \_ They've been saying _that_ since before you were born. live in a moderate climate. Go move to arizona. \_ How about I don't _want_ to live in the slums where my employment is? How about I like to do more than go to work. How about I need to shop for more than a 6 pack of coke once a week? How about a trip up the coast? A drive do provide exercise. to visit relatives in San Diego? How about a late night trip anywhere you might get dragged off your bike (like where my work is)? How about we all live in tom's idyllic ideal little world where everyone can use a bike and BART/bus to get everywhere and do everything? --still waiting for the fantasy; driving in the realworld 'til then \_ You are one those fucking lucky rich people. \_ Luck doesn't (typically) generate wealth. Brains, hard work, connections, and a winning personality generate far greater wealth for most than dumb luck. \_ Why waste all day driving to San Diego when you can fly for cheaper than the cost of gas? \_ And how are you going to get around SD when you get there? What if you *enjoy* road trips? --emarkp \_ How about you take responsibility for your actions? One way to start would be to sign your name to your inflammatory MOTD posts. -tom \_ Because I fear you'll ride the 450 miles to my house on your bicycle and rape me with your water bottle. How about you answer some of those very real questions? Oops, sorry, you lose. You don't have a good answer so you just rag on my for not signing my name. To be honest, the only thing I really fear is being associated with you in any way, including a "chat" on the motd about your fanatic desire to force everyone to live your 60's reject hippy lifestyle. \_ over 70% of trips in the Bay Area are in single-occupant vehicles--that's ridiculous. Of course when the oil runs out, I'm sure people will find that they "can" live in a more responsible manner. -tom \_ They've been saying _that_ since before you were born. \_ uh, do you believe the oil *won't* run out? -tom \_ do you know when tom was born for that matter? \_ You mean like all them single-occupant bicycles? \_ that don't cause nearly as much wear and tear on the pavement, dont suck up nearly as much petroleum products, dont kill hundreds if not thousands of people yearly, do provide cheap and efficient local area transport, and do provide exercise. --jon \_ we also don't complain about the traffic, because the worse it is, the more of an advantage we have. -tom \_ Yeah, ya'll just create more traffic like the Bay Bridge / cyclists incident last week \_ That wouldn't have affected traffic at all if not for the CHP. -tom TOM: you are an idiot. I drive the Bay BR about twice a week, and commuted on it for all of last semester! The average speed is 70+mph!!! Unless these bikers ( with their 10 foot flag) were setting world speed records, you're full of crap! \_ sign your name, wimp. -tom \_ Actually its more like 60mph but there's still no need for an antagonistic "protest". \_ Did you graduate from Cal? I refuse to believe an alum from one of the top universities in the nation would present an argument like that. \_ Don't think tom has graduated. \_ They were moving nearly at the speed of traffic. There were 17 of them, in the space that one car would have taken. The CHP are the ones who blocked two lanes. -tom \_ There's this little issue of it being ILLEGAL to bike on the bridge. \_ It was a PROTEST, twink. -tom \_ So all protests are illegal by def'n? \_ Just ignore the fanatic prick. He has nothing of interest to say regarding transportation issues. Just the SOS. \_ as opposed to you. -tom \_ Glad you agree. First sane thing you've said. \_ go tom! if you can't see the bars, then you're not in prison, right? -nick \_ did they lets jmeggs out of jail yet? \_ jmeggs is a twink \_ one thing this occasional bike rider complains about a lot is the condition of roads in the bay area, esp in berkeley since I live here. I wonder what Jason Meggs and his like would accomplish if they were to lobby for better roads rather than protesting on the local bridges (not that an occasional protest is a bad thing). Voters of the World unite, oust those elected representatives who don't do right by you --jon |
1998/9/11 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/PublicTransit] UID:14575 Activity:very high |
9/11 Why do we need a rail line on the new bay bridge "to reduce car flows"? Doesn't BART already cross the bay? \_Maybe to accommodate Amtrak, freight and other commuter line trains? Such a solution would help divert some car and truck flow. \_BART's resources are already somewhat maxed out, as any BART commuter can tell you. We're packed like sardines in there during peak commute hours. \_ They're trying to pack more trains in, but I don't think it will work that well. People still need to enter/exit at stops and the trains stop in the tube often already. \_ BART is non-standard rail, for one thing. It's also run incompetently and, as noted above, is near maximum train capacity already. A train line over the bridge could, for example, hook up with CalTrain's tracks and provide a way to get directly to the Peninsula or San Jose from Oakland, for example. -tom \_ BART's train spacing could be much shorter, tho. And, you would have to replace 20%! of the bay bridge traffic, shifting them to mass transit, to even break even, which I find highly doubtful. \_ if you put a new rail line in, you double the person-capacity of the bridge. If car traffic gets worse, there is impetus to use more responsible means of transporation. -tom \_ THE STATE SHOULD PROVIDE BICYCLES FOR EVERYONE. \_ No, they should provide cars, since that is the most responsible way to get around. Remember, consumption keeps our economy strong. Buy stuff. Work your ass off. eat stuff. \_ I wish the new bay bridge had double the lanes as well. Car's rule! I don't like waiting in line to go to the northern peninsula.. \_ Umm, the new bay bridge only goes from oakland to treasure island - what would the point of double the lanes be? Get to treasure island fast, then wait there forever? \_ No, they should have a conveyor belt instead that runs at 50mph. That way cars could cross much faster. And for pedestrians they should have a giant catapolt and a net on the other side. Those damn civil engineers don't know what they're talking about. \_ Me too, but without the net. \_ On the side of ludicrousy, there should some mass relocation of where EVERYONE lives so 90% of all people are within 5 miles of where they work. But I really do want to see the catapult idea implemented. \_ Better yet, we should build really tall sky scrappers so that way the entire bay area lives within a few blocks of each other. \ \_ It's for the psycological impact. To get people sitting incars to be forced to watch the people in the trains grinning at them as they whiz by. |
1998/6/15-19 [Transportation/Car] UID:14217 Activity:nil |
6/15 Can anyone recommend a car mechanic/shop in Berkeley for checking a used car I want to buy? \_ try precision peoples on san pablo near gilman, or AAA ($$$). |
1998/5/12-13 [Transportation/Car, Reference/History/WW2/Germany] UID:14088 Activity:high |
5/11 Ve haff high-speed, high-tech, high-gloss Autobahn you peon. Learn to build roads, Amerikaner Schweinehund pig dogs. -John \_ But your roads were built by Hitler's minions to move tanks around the country. \_ It is (or should be) quite well-known that our Interstate Highways were built in order to help keep the nation "safe" from nuclear attack... -brg \_ and Eisenhower built ours to have 1 out of every 5 miles of freeway straight enough to serve as emergency air strips in times of invasion. \_ I like Ike! \_ Yes, and your point was? \_ That Eisenhower was JUST LIKE HITLER! (Except without hair or a mustache.) \_ Except for genocidal take-over-the-world insanity and a long list of other "negative personality traits" Hitler had and Ike didn't. \_ don't think a M1 Abrams would have too much trouble on any of the local freeways. Figure that even gridlock on these roads wouldn't slow 'em down too much. \_ But your roads were built by Hitler's minions to move tanks around the country. \_ It is (or should be) quite well-known that our Interstate Highways were built in order to help keep the nation "safe" from nuclear attack... -brg \_ and Eisenhower built ours to have 1 out of every 5 miles of freeway straight enough to serve as emergency air strips in times of invasion. \_ I like Ike! \_ Yes, and your point was? \_ That Eisenhower was JUST LIKE HITLER! (Except without hair or a mustache.) \_ Except for genocidal take-over-the-world insanity and a long list of other "negative personality traits" Hitler had and Ike didn't. \_ That's what you think, and that's what the "approved" historians would like you to believe about Ike. It's amazing what psychotherapy, a clique of determined kingmakers, and a sheeplike, willing-to-stay-quiet media can accomplish . . . \_ You're claiming that Ike had genocidal plans or that Hitler didn't? Seek help either way. \_ If Hitler had won, in several hundred years, what would historians have said, since history is written by the victors? Would the millions who perished magically disappear? \_ something like "Lots of criminals were rooted out and executed ..." \_ Wouldn't the cars tend to get in the way? \_ But we have CHEAP GAS, GUNS, and COUNTRY MUSIC!!! GOD BLESS the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!! USA #1!!!!!! |
1998/5/11-12 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Bicycle] UID:14079 Activity:very high |
5/11 Living in Silicon Valley really sucks. In the past two years, I can just see that traffic jam gets worse and worse every day... and the cost of living just sky rocket. Crowding creates frustration man. \_ Then leave. Move to Alaska or somewhere. \_ Did you learn to speak English on a fishing boat? \_ "immigrants"... 'nuff said. Squirting kids out left and right and driving wages down. Call me "un-PC", but as far as I can tell, it's fucking obvious. \_ Traffic jam: 1) More and more people come into the Bay Area 2) Cost of housing skyrocket because of skewed supply/demand, so more people have to live farther for affordable housing. Driving farther of course means more time on the road, and more time on the road means more traffic jam. The moral of the story, Silicon Valley does really suck. \_ move to Redmond. \_ The _real_ moral of the story: _you_ really do suck. _Real_ between them is 1 very slow and windy lane, which blocks the entire 92, 84, 237 lanes. Don't they know that the slowest element of any flow system bottlenecks the entire system? JESUS CHRIST. men and women don't live far away with an impossible commute so replace them with IEOR and computer scientists. that they can have a pretty little house with flowers and a barbecue . . . _REAL_ men and women work all day, and then sleep under their desks at night. Pansy-boy. \_ So leave. You, too, can make a difference . . . one person at a time. \_ Blame it on CalTran. They are good at building bridges, etc, but they know shit about queueing theory and control flow. They have built huge 92, 82, 237 highways that connect between 101 and 80, but they are so stupid and incompetent that the interconnect between them is 1 very slow and narrow lane, which blocks the entire 92, 84, 237. Don't they know that the slowest element of any flow system bottlenecks an entire system? JESUS CHRIST. I think they should fire old and incompetent civil engineers and replace them with newer and younger IEOR and computer scientists. \_ IEOR and Computer Scientists? Yeah! Auren Hoffman and Scott Bonds -- building the Bay Area's next-generation freeways! \_ Speaking of stupid traffic exchanges, how about the whole 580/80/bay-bridge/cypruss/macarthur-maze mess? \_ I just love the 5-10 minute traffic jams at the Bay Bridge toll booths on Saturday nights when they open only 30% of the booths \_ Funny how they talk about the new rate hike having made the bay bridge toll delays even longer. Stoopid people not having correct change and what not even more often. on the bridge between the island and SF. -ERic \_ That doesn't bother me half as much as the near-constant traffic jam around yermom \_ Ride bike! \_ I try but most of the bay bridges dont allow bikes, and BART has f*cking obnoxious bike-on-bart hours. The bike-shuttle across the bay bridge is nice but has the same traffic problems. \_ try "motorbike" \_ try "organ donor" \_ You can die a slow death in traffic, or lanesplit on a bike and play the odds. I'm winning. \_ Do any of the new Bay Bridge designs under consideration include bike lanes? \_ They're all required to. But tat would only get you to the island midway. They would stil need to put bikelanes on the bridge between the island and SF, so its sort of a waste. -ERic \_ Ve haff high-speed, high-tech, high-gloss Autobahn you peon. Learn to build roads, Amerikaner Schweinehund pig dogs. -John \_ But your roads were built by Hitler's minions to move tanks around the country. \_ and Eisenhower built ours to have 1 out of every 5 miles of freeway straight enough to serve as emergency air strips in times of invasion. |
1998/5/7-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:14062 Activity:nil |
5/6 1984 Honda Accord 5sp HB, 180k mi, needs ~$500 of repairs due to an accident (right rear wheel knocked out of alignment, needs suspension parts) but otherwise generally reliable, $250/bo. -phr |
1998/4/14-15 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:13955 Activity:high |
4/14 ``Hello. Your vehicle is large and is taking up too many parking places. Please be considerate of other drivers when you park. We have deflated your left front tire in an effort to point out how annoying this can be. There is no damage to the tire or your car. Sincereley, the Peoples' parking commission (PPC). http://www.ppc.org '' \_ The Port of Philadelphia and Camden? \_ please change this as you wish. Yes, i know the web site is a red herring. That's what makes it even more subversive :) \_ another thing you can say is "we may have deflated..." that way, you don't actually have to do anything, and you will get the bonehead to start thinking :) \_ sounds like the rantings of a small and petty person \_ This is stupid beyond belief. Obviously someone purchased a large vehicle so they could take up more than one of the numerous easily obtained parking spots available in Berkeley or SF. Next time they'll sell their large vehicle and buy two small ones to keep you happy. |
1998/4/14 [Transportation/Car] UID:13951 Activity:very high |
4/14 I am starting an urban vandal group in SF which will go around and let the air out of one tire of any large 4WD jeep, etc. that takes up >= 2 spaces of street parking (after leaving a note on their windshield explaining why this was done.) I need a good name for this group. Any ideas? Once I get the name, I can send off anonymous letters to SF newspapers/web sites/ etc., proclaiming the existence of the group. \_ you are indeed a very small and petty person \_ Let the air out of one tire of any vehicle that double-parks on Bancroft or Telegraph, and I'll be willing to join you and die for your movement. \_ attacking 4wd is more visible, and more amusing. Im very serious about this, btw :) I need a name, and i need to make a bunch of "business cards" to leave with vehicles so "vandalized" \_ Four-Wheeler Contras? -yetanotherwingnut \_ parking nazis \_ Too controversial. Remember, this must appeal to the dysfunctional glassy eyed corporate masses/ unemployed/ illiterate/ and so on. People with hardly any sense of humor. Ya gotta make it simple, and conscise, like a nike ad. \_ just do it. \_ you'd have everyone driving small cars like yugos and leCar's in SF? \_ RIDE BIKE!!!! \_ What's so wrong with everybody in SF driving a small car? (And I'm talking about _reliable_ small cars, not P.O.S's like Yugos and the like.) S.F. is a dense, urban area with lots of traffic and limited space; this would seem to be the environment that small cars are best-suited for. (Oops, I forgot . . . SF is an __URBAN JUNGLE!!__, and you need the proper huge, manly URBAN ASSULT VEHICLE to tame those unruly streets! Grrrr!) \_ whats so wrong with everybody in SF just riding bikes? \_ Key the damn things as well \_ I was thinking of this, but that does _damage_; the funny thing about letting air out, is that is does _no_ permanent damage, it is just a _real_ inconvenience. The masses are more likely to side with us in this case. \_Who's eating all the parking meters in Berkeley? - danh |
1998/4/6 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:13905 Activity:moderate |
4/6 This weekend I've finished my report on corrolation of the average car size that is manufactured vs. the state of the economy. Roughly speaking: 1920=midsize (bad/okay economy), 1950=huge car (++economy), 1970=compact/small japanese cars (bad economy/OPEC crisis), 1990=huge AND tall SUV (good economy). Isn't that an interesting observation? \- Interesting observation, but I think you don't have enough data points. I mean, maybe cars were that size/shape in the 20's because cars were more or less a new thing then. I agree about the downsizing from the 50's cars to the 70's. That was mainly due to the oil crisis. However, in the 90's, even the huge and tall SUV are getting pretty good mileage, arent they? They aren't necessarily fuel burners. -leblon \_ Toyota 4Runner gets about 18MPG. That compared to a Corrola or Civic with about 40MPG.... that's still a big difference. We're not even going to discuss Jaguar with about 8MPG or some luxury car with as low as 12MPG. \_ If I am not mistaken, they call the 1920's the "Roaring Twenties," because, right up until the stock market crash of 1928,the economy was incredibly strong. Cars of that era were some of the largest ever produced, many with 400-500 cubic inch I-8, I-12, V-16, V-18, and V-20s. True, horsepower and fuel economy were low, but that was mainly due to poor metallugury of the engine componets. When you speak of the Twenties, do not forget the Cadillacs, Duesenbergs, Lincolns and Pakers of that era. In the thirties, despite the Great Depression, cars were still produced, many of which were quite large and quite powerful for the times. Even during the Gas Crisis, the Big Three still produced very large cars (this is why the Federal Government had to bail out Chysler). It was not until the early eighties that the Big Three finally caught on, and started producing smaller cars to compete with the Japanese imports. Mid-size and compact sedans in this country are often some of the largest cars on the road in other Eurpoean and Asain countries. |
1998/3/23-24 [Transportation/Car] UID:13850 Activity:high |
3/23 What's it like living in the Sacramento area? \_ Ever lived in a desert? Ever lived in a slum? Ever lived in a desert in a slum? \_Ever watched a gladiator movie ? Ever seen a grown man naked ? \_ Yes. Spartacus is awesome. \_ Yes. Wish I didn't. \_ Like living in San Jose, except fewer tech jobs and affordable housing. \_ How does the traffic compare? \_ larger/faster highway than 101/280 \_ Plus the fact that it's about 50 degrees warmer. \_ And the white trash have less money \_ Actually it's only a little warmer in Sacto. \_ Slum in a desert. \_ No, you're thinking of L.A. \_ the blood and the crypt, smog, LA traffic, hot temperature, hot tempered drivers, wanna-drive-a -BMW-gangstah, Entire Redlight Sunset Blvd, buy a map to the star, insurance fraud heaven (25% of acc are fraud), Taco Bell heaven... I never knew that LA was such a heaven till I came to Northern Cal. \_ Yeah, the Bay Area doesn't have any traffic and no Taco Bells. |
1998/2/24 [Transportation/Car] UID:13730 Activity:very high |
2/23 Thanks for all the responces on the Accord! Any word on current finance rate and such? Thanks. \_ The student credit union (which you can join for giving a buck to the telegraph development something or other) gave me 7.4% for 48 months when I got my legacy in September. Unless you can get special dealer financing (unlikely with honda), credit unions are your best bet. -jor \_ what you mean unlikely? i got 6.9% from honda. --aaron \_ Wait, on the commercial Civics have 3.9% APR. Does that apply to ALL dealerships? Thanks. |
1998/2/17-19 [Transportation/Car] UID:13685 Activity:nil |
02/17 would like to start carpool to mountainview if interested, please contact jsl@csua.berkeley.edu |
1998/1/31 [Transportation/Car] UID:13595 Activity:nil |
1/30 To the guy looking for a car, Honda or Saturn is fine. Just don't end up being an Everyday Dumb Ass, fooled by Everyday Steve Young, paying an Everyday $2500 extra for the Everyday People Commericial, Everyday. \_ So who's this guy wiping out everyone else's opinion and just put up his/hers? |
1998/1/30 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:49809 Activity:nil |
1/29 Hi. We're considering buying a new car soonish. We're trying to decide between the Honda Civic EX, the Accord LX, and the Subaru Impreza. Any impressions/comments/suggestions? Thanks... \_ sign your name, fool. Anyway, the Subaru has AWD, useful if you want to go skiing without chains. -legacy owner \_ Honda Civic EX with 127hp and fuel efficient; plus you could get at around 15k...It's a very good deal...Now I just hope they sale Honda Civic Type-R here... \_ Chevrolet Suburban is good. \_ Got the Civic EX. Like it. \_ The Civic and Accord are ridiculously overpriced, like all the vehicles riding the 'resale value' wave. The market always collapses, leaving the wannabe yuppies riding them holding the lease and lein payments. \_ The Civic is probably the best of the small cars. Good mileage isn't built like crap, relatively inexpensive, etc. The Accord is an overgrown Civic with a price to match. Dont do it. \_ http://www.edmunds.com essential site. Check the used prices to see resale value as well. -mogul \_ I recommend a Honda Civic EX. VERY gas efficient and good engine power out of this car. With today's inflated gas price, it's very economical to drive a Honda Civic. \_ HX has even better milage. (Manual version goes 44mpg!) And it costs less than EX. You don't get that many horsepower and bells & whistles as EX but I think that's only a small penalty. -- yuen \_ Got anti-lock breaks? \_ You also might want to look at the Saturn. ("Ia Ia Saturn Fhtagen") |
1997/2/12 [Transportation/Car, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA, Computer/HW/Printer] UID:32063 Activity:nil |
2/12 Anyone seen my little HP Pen I left in the csua office? I left it there a week ago. -=Aubie |
1996/7/24 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Sports] UID:31871 Activity:nil |
7/22 Interested in pickup soccer sometime this summer? Write to me if interested. -caos |
1994/12/21 [Transportation/Car] UID:31679 Activity:nil |
12/20 FORD BRONCO VENGEANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! \_ Ford is squishable i will squish you - ali |
1993/4/1 [Transportation/Car, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:31242 Activity:nil |
4/1 | FBI Raid CSUA Office!!!! See http://ucb.org.csua for more info | \_ Over 70 undergraduate CS students arrested on various charges | of piracy, conspiracy, and electronic theft! List available | later tonight. CSUA is starting a bail drive for them. Send | money to hob@soda, official bail treasurer and csua vacation manager. | |
12/25 |