| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 12/24 |
| 2009/5/31-6/5 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:53063 Activity:moderate |
5/31 I was talking to a harpist who asked me if there were any pieces
that she shouldn't play at my wedding. I said... no, why would
there be restriction? She told me there may be religious reasons
or pieces that may touch some nerves. For example, she played
for Jewish weddings and a few times she's been asked to not play
Wagner's Wedding march. I find it interesting that 50 years after
the war, people still feel offended by Wagner. So let me ask you
Jewish people out there... do you or know someone who wouldn't buy
or use German products because of the Holocaust? It's godamn 50
years, and I doubt any [normal] German person still Heil to Hitler.
\_ Great trolling attempt, I salute you.
\_ 50 years isn't that long. My mom stills remembers WW II very well.
\_ My aunts and uncles claims to hate Japan more than I do, but then
\_ My aunts and uncles claim to hate Japan more than I do, but then
they all buy more Japanes cars and AV appliances than I do.
they all buy more Japanese cars and AV appliances than I do.
-- Chinese
\_ I have a coworker that won't buy VW. He has a Volvo and a Prius.
\_ Jewy people buying german cars what the cock is that shit?
( http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=9138036 )
(audio NSFW, in case you couldn't guess).
\_ is she Jewish?
\_ THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!! A+++ totally recommended.
\_ She is Jewish, this is her best number.
\_ It's Sarah Silverman, FWIW, and I would hardly call this
her best routine. In fact, I rather like Sarah and this
bit kind of sucked.
\_ I didn't call it her best routine. (it is not) I called
it her best "number" by which I meant to imply that it is
her best musical bit. This is good, but some of her
stand up bits are, in fact, awsome. (Though a lot of
her stuff is just lame. She's very inconsistent).
\_ How about Ford? Shouldn't Jewish people boycott Ford, too?
\_ I thought Ford, Disney, etc spend a LOT of efforts
hiring minorities.
\_ Ford Sr. was a notorious anti-semite.
\_ Ah but what Ford thought and what the company did
for minorities were two very different things. |
| 2009/5/14-20 [Transportation/Car, Reference/Languages] UID:52998 Activity:high |
5/14 The Borat is baaaack!
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=55125216
\_ I don't get why you added "The". Why?
\_ Do you call it "The 405"?
\_ The Santa Monica Fwy.
\_ no, that is as stupid as saying Va-Lay-Ho, when you really
should be saying Va-Yay-Ho. Stupid gringos, can't say Vallejo.
They might as well as say La Jo-Lah, San Diego.
\_ "San Ra Fel"
\_ "Va-Lay-Ho" sounds stupid, but that's just because it's
really pronounced "Va-Lay-Oh".
\_ It's stupid when you don't conform to the norms.
If Latin is a language of consistency, then
English is a language of conformity.
\_ Va Yayo.
\_ Va-jay-jay.
\_ Or Los An-Heh-Les
\_ El Eh.
\_ hey "the freeway" guy: get the f over yourself. its just a
stylistic choice and neither is any more or less correct. using the
article is implicitly short for "the 405 freeway". do you say
"take golden gate bridge"? or "take the golden gate bridge" like
everyone else. When people omit the article its probably
implying "route 405" or some such. if you can't handle it,
dont take the freeway and just RIDE BIKE
\_ dude, take a chill pill man.
\_ Do you take "the Telegraph Ave" or speak normal English
like everyone else?
\_ Do you say "take the Telegraph Ave" or speak normal
English like everyone else?
\_ I grew up in Vallejo. I have never heard anyone pronounce
it Va Yay Yo or whatever you are promoting.
\_ Va-La-HO. --e40
\_ I went to a friend's daughter's Quinceanera in Vallejo. His
whole family pronounces the l's like it was an English word. |
| 2009/5/6-9 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:52955 Activity:nil |
5/6 http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_tale_of_two_exurbs \_ Nice article. -tom \_ Starts slow but the comparison between the two towns is nice. Nothing new, but re-affirming. -op |
| 2009/4/30-5/5 [Transportation/Car] UID:52925 Activity:nil |
4/30 We should ban cars, too, because they kill!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/30/netherlands.queen.car/index.html
\_ Cars have significant utility to society. And guess what, there's
a ton a liscensing and registration needed to drive and own a car
because they are so dangerous.
\_ On a related note, I think the California DMV says driving is a
priviledge and not a right. |
| 2009/4/22-28 [Transportation/Car] UID:52890 Activity:nil |
4/21 Ironic end to road rage
http://csua.org/u/o2h
\_ Darwin Award winner
\_ She was menopausal already, so disqualified. |
| 2009/4/7-13 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Airplane] UID:52815 Activity:nil |
4/7 A different kind of high-speed chase for stolen vehicles:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090407/ap_on_re_us/stolen_plane |
| 2009/3/31-4/6 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:52778 Activity:moderate |
3/31 More proof that LA sux:
http://laist.com/2007/06/12/la_wins_5_of_th.php
http://laist.com/2009/03/27/emergency_weekend_closure_of_405_co.php
\_ LA has the worst traffic jams in the nation, but also one of the most
extensive public transit systems, very high usage, and is also
\_ LA has the worst traffic jams in the nation, but also one of the
most extensive public transit systems, very high usage, and is also
one of the most dense urban areas in the US. -ERIC MORRIS
\_ LA itself might be okay, but anytime you leave it, you're
pretty much screwed. Public transit in the greater LA area is
hardly extensive, but nor could you really expect it to be,
cost-effectively anyway, for such a large area. Go sprawl.
\_ LA is much less sprawling than most other urban areas.
If you consider the Bay Area as a whole, the two are
comparable. I have an insane coworker who was commuting
from Vacaville to San Jose for about 3 years, and finally
moved last month.
\_ How far is it from Encino to Redlands? LA is not less
sprawling than other urban areas.
\_ I didn't realize Redlands was part of LA. I think
the point the guy is making is that LA has some
very, very densely developed areas of the type that
do not exist in many American cities outside of NYC
and it will continue to get more dense as the
population swells. LA is very big but it is also
very dense if you look at the "urban area" versus
just the city proper. In fact, it is the most
dense urban area according to Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_urban_areas
(I read it is the #3 most dense behind NYC and SF
according to another study, but the point is it is
*MUCH* more dense than typical for a large US city.)
population swells. LA is the 3rd most dense city
in the nation (behind NYC and SF) and has areas
more dense than SF (and just as dense as Manhattan).
So I would agree that LA is much less sprawling
than most other urban areas since it is ranked
#3. LA is very big but it is also denser than
cities like Dallas, Phoenix, Boston, Washington DC,
Atlanta, Philadelphia, and even Chicago when you look
at the "urban area" versus just the city proper.
Travel just outside the city limits of most cities
(including NYC) and the density really drops off
quickly even though a significant portion of the
population lives there. Not true in LA, which is
fairly densely developed throughout the county
and even into other counties. BTW, I fail to see how
taking the 9 million people not living in LA
and even into other counties. I fail to see how
taking the 11 million people not living in LA
proper and cramming them into LA proper "to make
it more dense" would improve the quality of life.
\_ Redlands is as much a "part of LA" as Vacaville
is a "part of San Francsisco." Reducing people's
commutes would improve their quality of life, but
obviously this could only work if there was enough
transit to move them around. Because not everyone
can drive a car everywhere in a dense urban area,
as Hong Kong and NYC already know and LA is
starting to find out.
\_ Redlands is at least as much a part of the LA
metro area as Vacaville is part of the Bay Area.
The idea that the Inland Empire is a seperate
metropolis is a joke and this is coming from a guy\
who was born in Riverside and still has family
metropolis is a joke and this is coming from a guy
who was born in Riverside and still has family
there.
\_ Calling Vacaville a part of the Bay Area is
is a joke.
|_
http://csua.org/u/nx8 aka
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/los-angeles-transportation-facts-and-fiction-driving-and-delay |
| 2009/3/23-30 [Transportation/Car] UID:52748 Activity:kinda low |
3/23 My 98 Accord needs a new transmission, how much are we looking
at for the entire job? $1500? $3000? Also, what's the difference
between a rebuilt and remanufacturered transmission?
\_ http://www.edwardstransmissions.com/faqs.htm
\_ Just curious, what's wrong with your transmission?
\_ First gear may or may not engage, depending on... luck and
weather. Cold weather engages well, hot weather... my engine
just revs.
\_ I had similar problem with first gear engaging when I start
my car first thing in the morning. I got my transmission
rebuilt twice and still didn't fix the problem. Then I told
my mechanic to replace the gear solenoid and that fixed it.
It was around $2100 to rebuild the transmission I think.
\_ I don't know about the cost of new, but a lot of tranmission
repair shops will rebuild an old one for anywhere in the price
range above.
\_ Don't buy a new tranmission. Find a transmission expert, go
to a junk yard, take a transmission off a car of your model year
for under $300, have the transmission expert install it.
\_ "take a transmission off a car". Like, with a blow torch? sheesh.
\_ It is not that hard, you just need some wrenches and a lot
of time. |
| 2009/3/22-30 [Transportation/Car] UID:52742 Activity:nil |
3/22 A good explaination of the toxic waste plan:
http://tinyurl.com/cpsemy (Economist's View)
\- it is not clear to me there isnt some possibility of
the treasury buying a "lemon" portfolio. to put in in
terms of the EV article, say the govt comes in to buy
half the cars on the lot, but the lot owner has some small
ability to guess which are the "lemon" cars and disproportionately
dumps those on the govt. the scenario reasonable points out the
purpoe of the intervention is to prop up the community with
the car dealership, rather than the car dealership itself,
but as we know the car dealership may have an abiliy to tilt the
govt to make other decision in it's own favor. what was good
for <company X> might be been OK for america, but they arent
the same ... and in some short run cases, when taking about
certain decionsmakers it's not clear their objective function and
social welfare outcomes would even ahve the same sign.
\- We have now learned the words LIBOR, MORAL HAZARD and CLAWBACK.
Here is the next word: ADVERSE SELECTION.
\- oh, in addition to the LEMON PROBLEM, i could also see
a BARBARIAN AT THE GATE type scenario ... remember where
the people seeking to LBO a firm could hire current management
to advise them [how is this even legal? james suroweiki
has a good discussion of this, some time in the last two
years, i believe]. i could see a cabal of bank executives
put together a special purpose hedgefund to cherry-pick+
asset strip their firms ... sure this would have some
upside to the tax payers while they would massively
benefitting from their leveraged play, but then when the
companies are left with post cherry-picking LEMONS, the
govt will have to go out and bail them out again
... at which point these executives will no doubt get
golden parachutes and leave. as we can see from AIG
... Libby and Greenberg earlier, being a 7/8/9-digit
CEO doesnt mean you cant do some mean you cant do
some moonlighting: http://tinyurl.com/cma28w --psb |
| 2009/3/21-30 [Transportation/Car] UID:52739 Activity:high |
3/21 "From CEO to pizza man"
link:www.yahoo.com/s/1046736
"Ken Karpman went from making $750,000 a year to $7.29 an hour, plus
tips."
I don't understand how a guy making $750k can go broke. He probably
spent all his fortune on fancy house, fancy cars, fancy vacation ...
oh, and some fancy silicone on his wife. (See 00:34 and 00:56.)
\_ It's easy to go broke. More importantly, why is he working for
minimum wage now? He's not unskilled worker.
minimum wage now? He's not an unskilled worker.
\- it's seems like some significantly rich people have spectacular
levels of non-recoupable cash outflows ... if you buy a million
dollar boat, you can sell it with a haircut, but all the money
on docking fees, labor costs, yacht club memberships etc are
gone forever. i knew a guy who was paying $14k-15k/mo in *rent*
which is a reasonable fraction of your income even at $1m/yr.
Although I agree this guy could probably come out further ahead
by spending his evenings cutting expenses and liquidating
property than delivering pizza.
\_ Yeah, the outlays some of these guys maintain is pretty
surprising IMO. I read "The millionarie next door" and a
number of the highly paid doctors and lawyers they surveyed
had less in assets than your average HS teacher.
\- Somebody has to buy $3000 dresses.
\_ Life is about living, not about dying with the most $$$
\- living != buying shit
in your checking account. I'd rather be a broke doctor
who eats at good restaurants, travels around the world,
and drives a Porsche than one of those teachers who
has $300K in the bank and has a more-than-boring life
in order to save that much $$$ on $50K/year. A lot of
people in the Midwest and South have lots of savings
because their expenses are cheap and they don't do
anything exciting and don't buy anything nice. Does
that sound like a win to you? To some it might, but
not to me.
\_ Geez, talk about a false dicotomy. Saving some of
your money for later is not the same as becoming a
hermit. If nothing else, everyone retires eventually,
if you have a decent job and have no assets, you're
an idiot. (Sans some REALLY good excuse.) Anyway,
Travelling around the world is nice, but most of the
things people spend big bucks on are completely
retarded. I'd rather have a nest egg I can fall back
on than yacht club fees and $3000 dresses. Those
aren't 'living' they're just attempts to show up other
people, which is just dumb.
\_ I can't tell you how much I disagree with you.
We're not talking about 'not saving'. We're talking
about how a teacher could have more savings than a
doctor. The only way to do that is to save A LOT.
I would argue TOO MUCH. I don't want to wait
until I retire to enjoy life. I'd rather enjoy
life as I go. I might not live until retirement.
Boating is a lot of fun and that you think it's
somehow an attempt to show people up says a lot
about you. I am not advocating not saving at all.
What I am saying is that given a choice between
5% saving and 50% saving I'd err on the side of
5% and enjoy life. I know a lot of people of modest
means sitting on big piles of cash who never go
anywhere, buy anything, or enjoy themselves because
they don't know any different from the small town
lifestyle their parents and grandparents lived. I
think *that* is stupid. What are they waiting for?
Death? Their kids will be the ones to benefit.
\_ Not everyone thinks this is a bad thing.
\_ Which is why I said: "To some it might, but not
to me". I want the last check I write to
bounce.
\_ I, for one, am planning to live and still be
active into my 70's which should be quite
possible looking at relatives. Having some
money saved up can give you a lot of freedom
and options. You don't have to be worried about
monthly budgets and you can get/do something
expensive if you feel like it. You can invest and
potentially secure a supplemental income and
retire earlier, or work less.
Things are different for doctors. They are
already rich. Their earnings future is
guaranteed to be way better than the school
teacher. It's more secure than most other
high paying jobs. They can work like 2 days
a week and still live decently.
Spending a lot of money on things won't
necessarily mean you'll enjoy life more.
\_ Saving more doesn't mean you will enjoy
life more either and it's more likely you
will enjoy life less given that $$$ in the
bank doesn't do you any good until you
spend it. Last time I bought a car I spent
$50K. I thought: "I should just buy a used
car and save money. That makes sense. What
would I do if I had $50K in the bank right
now? I'd buy a nice car. Oh, that settles
it." I am not advocating no savings,
because that is obviously stupid. I think
you must strike a balance, though. It
would suck to put off doing things "until I
retire" and then die in a car wreck next
week. Save at a reasonable rate, something
like 10-15%, and enjoy life. I have a
friend who made $30M last year when he
left his old company (stock options). $30M!
What did he do? Get another job right
away. Stupid. Enjoy life. I can understand
wanting to work. I enjoy work. However,
his main concern was medical expenses
wiping him out and that his wife will get
1/3 if she leaves him (they are very happy
and there is no sign of that). It's not good to
always worry about money when you are secure,
like most doctors are.
\_ Well cars are particularly a waste of money
to me. A car is not something I want to
be working for. Driving a fancy car isn't
living better to me. It does impress the
ladies though, maybe that is worth it?
It's kind of like buying fancy clothes. I
doubt most men enjoy the fancy clothes, but
they enjoy how it looks to others.
\_ An expensive car is generally safer and
drives better. I am miserable
driving a POS car now (like when I
have to rent). To me it improves my
quality of life to have a car I like
to drive when I have to drive. It's
not about impressing others. I had a
friend with an old car that always
broke down and she was afraid to go
anywhere far from home and it really
affected her life. She finally broke
down and got a new car and she won't
admit it, but it made her life a lot
better knowing that she could drive
through a sketchy part of town at night
and not break down or take a day
trip somewhere without having to
arrange for a rental.
\_ The utility of a car that works is
pretty much infinitely greater than
one that doesn't work. The utility of
a fancy car over a honda is no where
near that great.
\_ The price of a fancy car over
an Accord isn't that different
either. $31K for a
top-of-the-line Accord versus
$31K for a BMW 328i or $35K for a
Lexus ES350, for instance. Where
you really save money is by buying
an older used car (late model costs
almost the same as new), but then
you have the potential 'doesn't
work' problem. My BMW, when it
was new, cost $170/month more
than my Honda Accord. People spend
that much on stuff like cable TV
(which I don't have) or movies
(which I don't go to), but the BMW
drives about 10X better even if
the utility is the same. To be
honest, I don't even think the
utility is the same. I feel my
BMW has helped me avoid several
accidents I would not have been
able to avoid in a Corolla with
superior handling, acceleration,
and braking capability. I feel
unsafe in many other cars. I
think a lot of people who never
drive a nicer car don't appreciate
the difference and maybe it's
better that way (for them) because
it's hard to go back to a minivan
after driving a good car.
\_ I dont recall whether DKAHNEMAN
did this study or just cites it,
but "studies show", if you ask
people "how much do you like
your car", there is a correl-
ation to the price. However, if
you ask them "how much do you
like/disklike your commute?"
[generally one of the least
liked activities], there is no
correlation [once you hit the
"reliable" threashold].
So expensive cars pay off when
corr [once you hit "reliable"
threashold], there is no corr...
so expensive cars pay off when
THINKING about how much you
like your car, but not so much
when USING it. If you can get
ahold of these two lecture from
2007, they are very, very good:
http://grad.berkeley.edu/lectures/hitchcock/kahneman.shtml
Note this is a study measuring
happiness and satisifaction, so
safety stuff is somewhat out-
side its scope. --psb
\_ No, we're talking about doctors and lawyers who
manage to waste so much money THEY fall below
"average" teachers.
\_ Let's be realistic. A doctor makes 5x what
a teacher does and disposable income is
probably > 5x more. Even if the doctor
saves 3% he's probably accumulating more $$$
than a teacher socking away 15-20% when
you account for his home appreciating, his
higher social security payments, etc. For
a doctor to fall below the average savings
rate of, let's be generous and say 5%, that an
average teacher saves means he is saving less
than 1% of his income each and every year.
I'm sure it happens (I've had years with
negative savings) but get real.
\_ cont'd
I have an acquaintance (not the one above) who
is a multimillionaire. He is not educated and
made his money in air conditioning and by
saving and buying rental properties as he
could from his (decent but not MD level)
salary. I went to Las Vegas with him and
we stayed at a scary place off the strip
with roaches and hookers. We ate at a
McDonald's that didn't have anything in
stock and was filthy (I have to imagine
corporate was horrified). Then, we ate
there again the next day with his other
multimillionaire couple friends. When I
complained that it was unsanitary and they
didn't have basic items in stock he relented
and we went to IHOP. The three people
eating with me were worth millions of
dollars. I, personally, think that's retarded.
I have seen this happen almost as often as
the "maxed out on credit cards and buying
the big screen TV" lifestyle and I think I
prefer the latter because at least it is
insect-free and I won't get a disease.
What was the advantage of having $5M cash
in the bank and $5M in properties if you
can't spend more than $30 for a hotel
while on *vacation* in Las Vegas? But
think of the $$$ he saved over Bellagio!
\_ This is how a real multimillionaire parties:
http://casakimball.com
\_ No way a GP makes 5X a teacher, more like
3X. But in any case, saving lots now means
retiring at 50 for me, which is worth a
lot of sacrifice for me now. But I am not
a teacher, our combined family income is
lot of sacrifice to me. But I am not a
teacher, our combined family income is
more like an MD, so I can have what I want,
which includes shopping at Whole Foods and
$20 bottles of wine with dinner and some
vacations, but we still save something like
vacations, but still save something like
30% of our take home pay.
\_ The median GP is 3X a teacher, but there
is more variation about the mean.
GPs are also not representative of
class {physician}. Most "GPs" these
days are internal medicine specialists.
If you want to retire at 50 that sounds
great if you can live a better lifestyle
than you do now. Otherwise, I'll pass.
\_ I'd rather take the bus down to the
pier and crew on someone elses sailboat
all day at 50 then drive my $50k car
to the office and work all day, but
each to their own.
\_ Whatever floats your boat. Why
not just crew now? You can get
paid for it, too.
\_ Can't pay for a mortgage in SF
and school for two kids on that
wage.
\_ So we all pick our poison.
\_ Internal medicine (and family practice)
docs get paid the same as GPs, right?
\_ No. Internal medicine is a
specialty. Why would a doctor
waste time with that if it
paid the same as a GP?
\_ I don't think you understand
medicine very well, actually. |
| 2009/3/10-17 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:52698 Activity:very high |
3/10 Are there many JD, MBA, MDs who read MOTD? Currently below, there is
one person claiming to be a lawyer and another mentions an MBA...
Also, is it proper to preface MOTD with a preposition (e.g. the motd)?
\_ I don't know if there are many JDs who read the MOTD, but I do. I
think there is one MBA from INSEAD who reads the MOTD. I don't
know about MDs, but if my brother gets into med school next year
there might be one.
Also, is it proper to preface MOTD with a preposition (e.g. the motd)?
\_ "the" is an article, not a preposition, and yes, the MOTD deserves
an article. -tom
\_ Thanks (for the grammar correction and MOTD rules). It's like
The 405...
\_ no, it's not like "the 405", which is an awful LA
construction (literally and linguistically). MOTD
stands for Message Of The Day, so it's incorrect to say
"Are there people who read MOTD," which expands to
"Are there people who read message of the day?" -tom
\_ You say "gins and tonic", don't you?
\_ "the" is also used in Canada and England. e.g. The M1.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_07/014178.php
\_ Well, "The M1 Motorway" is the name of it. The name of
280 is not "The 280 Freeway", it's Interstate 280.
There's also no other 280 around to confuse it with.
You don't put "the" on other road names so why do it
for freeways? e.g. 1st street "the 1st street". We
do say stuff like Highway 1 or Route 1 though, or I-80.
Those actually make sense, unlike "the".
\_ The 10 freeway is the Santa Monica Freeway. The
405 is the San Diego Freeway. It's retarded to
call the 405 "Interstate 405" and immediately
brands you a putz.
\_ not as retarded as calling it "the 405".
\_ Since The 405 is an LA freeway, that's the
appropriate designation. It's The 405,
80, 280, etc, and I-5 (because that's in both
noCal and soCal). If you said "take 405 to 101"
in LA, you'd sound like a FOB who says things
like "have you read message of the day?"
\_ It is certainly the case that we use
dialect to identify clan membership. David
Foster Wallace had an interesting article
(partly) on that point:
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/DFW_present_tense.html
But it's also the case that "the 405" is
stupid. -tom
\_ Sorry, but it's not. If you say "Take
405 freeway to 10 freeway" then that's
stupid. You need the article just
like if you say "Take the San Diego
Freeway to the Santa Monica Freeway".
Maybe it's not what your used to, but
it's completely correct and makes
complete sense. You can always tell
someone new to California (not just
LA) when they ask "How do I get on
the Interstate from here?" (guffaw)
\_ I say stuff like "take 80 to 980"
all the time. Just like I say
"Go down 18th and turn on
Mission." You would never say
"Go down the 18th" now would you?
\_ No, I wouldn't. However,
"take 80 freeway to 980
freeway" sounds stupid does it
not?
\_ It's not called "the 10 freeway."
It's called 10, or Route 10,
or Interstate Highway 10. -tom
\_ Only on Planet Tom is it not
called "the 10 freeway". It is
called that because it descends
from "the Santa Monica Freeway".
It is sometimes called I-10
and when it is "the" is not used.
However, when "the" is used it
is used because it makes sense
to use it as in "the 10 freeway".
It is never referred to as 10,
Highway 10, or Route 10 and
none of those are official
designations. Official designation
is Interstate 10 and I addressed
that case.
\_ I drove 10 all the way across
the country, and nowhere other
than LA does anyone call it
"the 10," and no one anywher
calls it "the 10 freeway." -tom
\_ I drove 10 all the way
across the country, and
nowhere other than LA
does anyone call it
"the 10," and no one
anywhere calls it "the
10 freeway." -tom
\_ 1. People in LA do call it
"the 10 freeway".
2. The reason no one
anywhere else uses
"the" is because they
do not use names for
it like "Santa Monica
Freeway" and
"San Bernardino Freeway"!
Don't you get it? Hell,
in most of the rest
of the country they
don't even call such
highways "freeways",
but we do and it's
completely correct to
do so. Next you will
be saying that it's
not soda, but pop
because you heard
people in Missouri
call it that.
\_ 1. It's completely
stupid to call it
"the 10 freeway" and
I've never heard anyone
say that.
\_ It is not stupid and
you don't hear it
because you live in
a bubble in
Berkeley. What
is stupid about
it?
\_ As explained
above, it makes
no logical
sense. -tom
2. You're completely
wrong that other
places in the country
don't have local names
for I-10. Look at the
wikipedia page.
\_ I didn't say they
didn't. However,
I bet they use
"the" if they use
them followed by
the word "freeway".
3. People everywhere
other than LA manage
to have local names
for highways, and
don't use "the" in
front of the number.
-tom
_/
Several commenters here says that "the" is used in Canada.
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/003203.php
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/003203.php -abe
\_ People elsewhere
manage to call
"soda" "pop", too.
Is that also
stupid?
\_ That's a
different
dialect--it's
not gramatically
illogical, like
"the 405" is.
-tom
\_ "the 405"
is short
for "the
405 freeway"
which is
grammatically
correct.
\-arent you from
NJ, home of
"the (new jersey)
turnpike" and "the
pip", near
"the long island
expressway" (sic)
"the LIE"
[and the maj degan,
the cross bronx]
the cross bronx etc]
i personally like
the "the". what i
hate is "internet"
without the "the"
and "maths" instead
of "math". --psb
of "math". for fwys
i use kind of an
ideosyncratic system.
for bay area fwys
i'd say "the 101"
but normally leave
off "the" on others.
ideosyncratic
system. for bay
area fwys i'd say
"the 101" but
normally leave off
"the" on others.
\_ "The Turnpike"
is the name of
the road. It's
also I-95, and
no one calls it
"the 95." -tom
\_ Because it is
not "the 95
freeway/
highway/
expressway".
Do you say
"get on
freeway" or
"get on the
freeway"?
BTW, "maths"
annoys me, too.
annoys me,
too.
\_ I was watching Season 5 of 24 last night and the Russians kept using
"the" in front of freeways (e.g. the 118). But they were in LA and
the writers probably live in LA.
\_ "Are there people who read the Wired?" vs. "Are there people who
read Wired?" <-depends on whether you deem MOTD to be a designation
or the title of /etc/motd.public. Either way, you shouldn't be
reading Wired, that rag.
\_ PhDs are a dime a dozen on the motd.
\_ You think a dozen people are reading the motd?
\_ Yeah, about 20 or so.
\_ Thank you for wasting 10 minutes of my life reading about
'405' and 'the 405' on the motd. get lives, all of your. !the tom
\_ Not as annoying as Star Wars guy, but not as exciting as
Bitter Divorced Guy. |
| 2009/3/3-11 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/PublicTransit] UID:52669 Activity:nil |
3/3 "Stimulus bill increases transit tax benefit for commuters"
http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2009/news20090220b.aspx
"The law raises the amount of pretax income that workers enrolled in
employer-sponsored commuter benefits programs can use to pay for mass
transit -- from $120 per month to $230 per month."
\_ pity they encumber the EZRider program such that its difficult to
pay for BART fares via EZrider with employer-sponsored commuter
benefits. |
| 2009/2/23-26 [Transportation/Car] UID:52624 Activity:moderate |
2/23 Three Chinese people on the HEADLINE of http://cnn.com (finally!). Unfortunately, it's bad news. Moral of the story: killing 3 lives is only worth 34 years in prison. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/23/china.parents.ohio/index.html \_ Actually, the dude had already killed two others. I don't understand why he was allowed to drive either. \_ that question is best answered by sympathetic jurors. \_ There's no guarantee he wouldn't drive just because he "wasn't allowed to". It said he had no insurance... is that allowed in Ohio? Shit happens. \_ Apparenlty he had a licence. \_ That doesn't mean it's legal to drive. http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/financial_responsibility/fr_requirements.htm Although, the minimum $ insurance and the penalties look pretty wimpy. Anyway, maybe parents shouldn't mortgage themselves like crazy investing in their kid. Not only might this happen but it seems like a huge burden to put on the kid. \_ Maybe, but they only have 1 kid, and probably don't trust the govt. to deliver on the pensions... \_ "Only" 34 years? Dude. \_ OJ Simpson got nothing. So relatively speaking... \_ This Skaggs person should be rendered down for parts and sold on the organ market, and the $$ given to his victim's families. \_ I gotta say, Skaggs is a great name for a random jerkwad. \_ I vaguely remember there was an old guy who drove his car into a farmer's market & killed whole bunch people back then. all he got was a slap on the wrist, no? \_ George Weller in Santa Monica. And yes only a slap on the wrist. First of all he's old and doesn't know what the heck is going on, what good is it to jail him? Secondly, everyone in LA needs to drive, even the old guys, so if you doom this guy, you'll doom a bunch of Angelenos. The gloves don't fit, you gotta acquit! \_ Nobody walks in LA. \_ There's nowhere to walk to in LA. |
| 2009/1/6-9 [Transportation/Car] UID:52325 Activity:low |
1/6 Teens tape fake license plates to their cars and purposely zoom
by speed cameras. Someone else gets the ticket in the mail:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=13749
\_"It is unfortunate that kids have a lot of time on their hands that th\
ey can think of doing such a thing."
\_"It is unfortunate that kids have a lot of time on their hands that
they can think of doing such a thing."
Yeah, we should keep kids chained in the salt mines all day.
Hopefully that will keep them stupid as well as occupied.
\_ Saltpetre mines, you mean.
\_ we should send them to recover the Holy Land, for all good
Christians. |
| 2008/12/18-2009/1/2 [Transportation/Car] UID:52269 Activity:nil |
12/17 Chrysler halts production. It's not like anyone I know in N Cal
actually drives one.
\_ they still own lamborghini?
\_ not like everyone i know in N Cal drives
\_ hasn't stopped them from begging for rides
\_ It's called a "Dodge" for you.
\_ Dodge and Plymouth all over N.Cal, but then again I don't
consider the Bay Area N. Cal.
\_ The only people I know who buy those kind of cars are
blue collar workers or those who are uneducated. My
provider Tracy the stripper drives a cheap Plymouth. Sorry
\_ "provider tracy the stripper". what does she provide?
but all my college friends drive Japanese or German cars.
\_ Wow, a little classist are we? (And you forgot the
occasional Ford, followed by 4 years of "why the fuck
was I so stupid?")
\_ I have never regretted my 1967 mustang hardtop.
\_ There is a special place in hell for idiots who buy
cars older than they are.
\_ VIP lounge, where all the hottie sluts hang out
\_ zomg UNDEAD WARLOCK
\_ OH NOES NERF
\_ our nerfs will block out the sun..-blizzard
... then we will fight in the shade. -lock
\_ Plymouth brand was dropped years ago. (2001)
Dodge and Jeep (Chrysler corp) are fairly common. I think
Chrysler should be killed though if possible. Ford is
actually a decent company, they have Mazda, are competitive
in Europe, have the best financial situation, have had the
bestselling truck for decades, etc. Ford at least has done
well in the past with stuff like the Taurus and the Focus,
unlike GM. GM is pretty bad but even they have certain
bright spots (they do well in China apparently).
GM is pretty crappy though, not that the quality is
necessarily bad but their product introductions are sloooow.
They also have a mess of redundant brands and need serious
restructuring. They also have a brand image problem after
years of trying to push crappy products with heavy marketing.
\_ Ford was nice and turned down the bridge loan.
\_ I'd love to see ford (and for that matter gm) go back
to building nice classic cars of limited production.
'58 vette is beautiful- they can exist like that, way
'69 vette is beautiful- they can exist like that, way
smaller than they were before. Retool their factories to
build military vehicles and public transit vehicles.
\_ god wtf are these people taking their designs from
the movie "Cars"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth-generation_Chevrolet_Camaro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth-generation_Chevrolet_Camaro#2006_Camaro_Concept
\_ The auto companies always halt production over Christmas/New Years
\_ For two weeks, not a month. |
| 2008/12/12 [Transportation/Car] UID:52240 Activity:high |
12/12 Lots of good things happening as people drive less:
http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=9511696 |
| 2008/12/9-14 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:52215 Activity:kinda low |
12/9 I have what is likely a very basic (and possibly stupid) question.
Do the current financial troubles of the big 3 auto makers
just happen to coincide with the horrible economy we have,
or is it resulting from it? Thanks.
\_ They were already troubled, but not irreparably in the
previous environment. The current environment has made things
much worse.
\_ GM is an unmanagable leviathan which has been in decline for 30 years.
Its debt was downgraded to junk status _last_year_ after they lost
$39 billion. The downturn would merely pull the plug on this vegetable.
\_ GM is an unmanagable leviathan which has been in decline for 30
years. Its debt was downgraded to junk status _last_year_ after
they lost $39 billion. The downturn would merely pull the plug
on this vegetable.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/12/03/ap5776689.html
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2008/snapshots/175.html
\_ The Economist ran a story about the End of the Car Giants, which I
unfortunately cannot find right now. They said their business model
was basically broken and that they were going to wither away. This
was about three years ago. |
| 12/24 |
| 2008/12/4-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:52164 Activity:nil |
12/4 "Even in Michigan, Not Everyone Wants a Lifeline"
http://www.csua.org/u/n1l (finance.yahoo.com)
\_ I'm curious: why so much discussion and public gnashing of teeth
about a little bailout for the automakers, when a ginormous bailout
for the banks was barely even discussed?
\- because the narrative is "investment bankers are masters of
the universe" and "american autoworks are lazy and overpaid".
\_ How about banks are critical to the functioning of the economy,
and the auto makers are not.
\_ How about you still get to keep your goods (you still have the
car and it still runs) when auto makers go bankcrupt? You lose
the warranty and any pre-paid maintenance visits, but those are
small compared to the car. |
| 2008/11/24 [Transportation/Car] UID:52087 Activity:kinda low |
11/22 Have you guys noticed an absence of car commercials these days?
Bahahahahahahaha. -bike loving hippy
\_ Are you high? It seemed like there were nothing _but_ car
commercials on Monday when I was watching Heroes.
\_ Heroes is basically one giant car ad.
\_ Rats, I was hoping you'd make "have to be high to
understand Heroes" gag.
\_ Actually, that would be Knight Rider.
\_ Football is all car and truck and beer ads, as usual. |
| 2008/11/20-27 [Transportation/Car, Reference/Tax] UID:52057 Activity:nil |
11/20 "Far from vanishing, many of GM’s assets would be quickly purchased
by competent foreign automakers eager to expand their capacity in what
is the world’s largest auto market. Happily, the list of well-run car
companies, from Toyota to Nissan to Porsche, is long."
big FAT LOLZ there. When GM closes up, GM's factories are going to
go idle and rust and provide excellent opporunities for hipster
dumbasses who love breaking into buildings to photograph our
crumbling industrial past glory. Those jobs are not coming back, EVER.
\_ GM is a modestly profitable car company with a huge losing pension
fund attached. In bankruptcy, they will be able to dump the
pension liabilities onto the government and return profitable.
\_ which I would argue this is a sure sign of incompetitiveness of
USA as a whole. Then again, if Pension were funded properly,
shouldn't be a problem. My guess is that during the go-go days,
GM decided to use the pension contribution and count it as profit.
GM decided to use the pension contribution and count it as
profit.
\_ No, it is mostly an artifact of the fact that we push health
care costs onto private employers, while that cost is borne
by The State for GMs competitors. Even offloading all the
pensioners healthcare costs alone would make GM profitable.
The GM management (and unions) decided to forstall a bunch
of labor issues in the 70's by increasing benefits, which we
are paying the price of now, but no one could have reasonably
expected health care costs to increase at 7%/yr for 30 years.
\_ not just the 70s and not just GM. This happened with a lot
of city/county governmental orgs as well. The contra costa
county school district is going to be bankrupt due to
quickly increasing pension/medical benifits for retired
quickly increasing pension/medical benefits for retired
staff.
\_ Of course, those evil socialist countries fund health
care by TAXES on corporations. But we could never tax
corporations here, because that would make us
uncompetitive. Or so goes the corpratist line. -tom
\_ Right, because corporations here don't pay any taxes
ever. There's no way an evil corporation like
XOM would pay any tax.
\_ That statement is becoming more true every year.
In the 50s, 1/3 the federal tax revenue came from
corporations, today it's 7% and still dropping.
Assuming the corporists that run the government
continue their successfuly campaign to eliminate
taxes on corporations whenever possible, it's
conceivable that will go down to 0% in a decade
or two. -!tom |
| 2008/11/19-24 [Transportation/Car] UID:52049 Activity:kinda low |
11/19 if someone gave you a new GM car, would you take it?
\_ Do I have to pay taxes on it?
\_ If it was a corvette, almost certainly (even if I had to pay tax).
\_ I think this is precisely the point. I'm sorry, but problem with
GM is NOT the current financial crisis. They have not be able
to make attractive AND reliable product for decades.
I am in China right now, and I see *PLENTY* of small, fuel
efficient car made by GM. I just don't understand why don't
they just import those back to US again.
to make attractive AND reliable product for decades. I am in
China right now, and I see *PLENTY* of small, fuel efficient car
made by GM. I just don't understand why don't they just import
those back to US again.
\_ Maybe those cars can only get one star in NHTSA crash tests.
tests.
\_ and that is not GM's problem? GM should of made their car
globally accessable a long time ago.
\_ and that is not GM's problem? GM should of made their
car globally accessable a long time ago.
\_ Yes it would be GM's problem. I'm just saying that
this might be GM's reason for not importing those cars
back to the US. -- PP
\_ The other part of the problem is that no matter how good and
attractive GM cars may be, there are plenty of people who
"bought American" to be supportive and patriotic at some
point and got stuck with lemons. If you've ever bought a
bad car, you're very likely to never buy that manufacturer's
cars again. Similarly for friends of people who have
bought lemons.
\_ Is this like when I date white women?
\_ Exactly. White women are like American sportscars.
They're fast and fun in the beginning but they give
you a lot of problems down the road. Asian women
on the other hand are like Japanese sportscars.
They're not as wild and loud as American sportscars
but they sure last a long time. |
| 2008/11/19-23 [Transportation/Car, Industry/Jobs] UID:52041 Activity:nil |
11/19 Toyota to lay off temporary workers in US. are we screwed now?
\_ When GM goes under, they'll rehire them.
\_ HAN: (over speaker) Now let's blow this thing and go home!
\_ I know you don't believe in technical indicators, but today
the S&P 500 very nicely bounced off of its Oct 2002 low. |
| 2008/11/13-26 [Transportation/Car] UID:51959 Activity:kinda low |
11/13 I think the American automobile companies and all of the companies
that depend on them and all of the employees and retirees who depend
on these companies are going to go bankrupt. We are truly screwed.
"lulz". Any suggestions of where I should move?
\_ liquidation or restructuring bankruptcy?
\_ probably restructuring bankruptcy. but this is at best a lame
stopgap measure. people aren't buying GM cars NOW. people
\_ Here is something I don't understand. GM / Ford's biggest problem
is that they simply are not making cars that people want. I just
fail to see how borrow money from Government is going to change
any of that.
will not wake up one day and desire to buy GM products MORE
during or after the bankruptcy unless something amazing happens.
they're screwed. I'm going to go climb in my 32 mph Honda
Accord now.
\_ You mean mpg?
\_ You mean 32 mpg?
\_ Can i have your stuff when you leave?
\_ You haven't seen my honda, lulz.
\_ Here is something I don't understand. GM / Ford's biggest problem
is that they simply are not making cars that people want. I just
fail to see how borrow money from Government is going to change
fail to see how borrowing money from Government is going to change
any of that. |
| 2008/11/4-5 [Transportation/Car] UID:51818 Activity:nil |
11/4 On average, do Amercians cover more miles during daily commutes or
during travelling (business trips, vacation, etc.)? Any stats on
these? Thanks.
\_ I don't have stats but I remember that commute to work is about
93%. The number of you miles you accumulate during your vacation
is nothing compared to your typical 260 day/year * (mileage).
For example, if I commute 12 miles one way, then each year
I rack up 260*12*2 = 6240 miles. That's nothing compared to
the once a year S Cal N Cal trip I make (1000 miles at most).
\_ Thx. Then I'll vote No on Prop 1.
\_ You mean 1A?
\_ It's 11:59PM. Looks like Prop 1A is going to pass.
Yay! We're finally going to get a real railroad...
IN TWENTY YEARS.
\_ Voting no based on this metric seems pretty silly.
\_ I take a company shuttle to work each day (~100 miles) but fly
down to LA almost every week (~800 miles). I do it for pleasure
but a lot of my coworkers fly up and down to LA weekly for work. |
| 2008/11/3-4 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:51802 Activity:kinda low 50%like:51793 |
11/3 Here's a gas/diesel/biodiesel/ethanol/vegatable-oil + compressed-air
hybrid, with plug-in capability:
"Air Cars: A New Wind for America's Roads?"
link:www.csua.org/u/mth (finance.yahoo.com)
Range:
- 60 miles at 35mph on one plug-in "recharge" alone.
- 800 miles at freeway speed on one tank of gas/diesel/whatever alone
(106mpg).
\_ And of course it's ridiculously tiny and impractical. Guess what,
a tiny ass car like that with just a plain ol' gas engine would
already get great mileage.
\_ The Smart ForTwo doesn't get gas mileage anywhere close to this.
In fact it doesn't even have better gas mileage than the Prius.
\_ The Smart is bigger than this thing, can carry luggage, and
actually meets safety and performance standards.
http://www.itmdi-energy.com/news/airpod_launch-091008.php
"can be driven up to 70 km/hr" (43mph)
The car has 5.45 hp "maximum". This is basically a golf cart. |
| 2008/11/1-3 [Transportation/Car] UID:51776 Activity:kinda low |
11/1 Seriously considering buying a 2009 Honda Fit. Thoughts?
\_ It appeals to people today the way it did with the Civic
many years ago.
\_ Highly recommended - by far the best of the new econoboxes.
It's what Hondas used to be before they all got on the juice.
My biggest objection to the old Fit, the lack of a left side
footrest, has been addressed in the '09. The only trouble
the Fit has is a somewhat alarming blindspot at 45 degree
angles from the driver's viewpoint caused by rather large A
pillars. This is only an issue if you're over 6' tall though.
I recommend a test drive to see how it "fits" you.
\_ Superb, thank you. I happen to be very tall, but I didn't
the blind spot much worse than, say, that of a Mazda 5. |
| 2008/10/22 [Transportation/Car] UID:51625 Activity:moderate |
10/22 wow
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Gasoline_tanker_explodes_shuts_down_I-880.html
\_ How could a mere sedan set a loaded big-rig tanker into a spin,
especially that it was a rear-end collision instead of a
side-impact?
\_ The sedan spun, the rig overturned (probably jackknifed). |
| 2008/10/6-9 [Transportation/Car] UID:51403 Activity:kinda low |
10/6 Why is drafting behind semi trucks dangerous? I'm thinking it's not
dangerous because my car's brakes should perform better than the
semi's. So if the semi hard-brakes for whatever reason, my car should
be able to slow down quickly enough. OTOH I think a semi following me
is more dangerous, because if I hard-brake, the semi probably can't
slow down quickly enough.
\_ Trucker is higher than you, and can see danger up ahead, while
blocking YOUR view of the road ahead. He can react. If he reacts,
you have a high risk of getting in an accident. Don't tailgate
big trucks.
\_ Because you can't see around the truck, your reflexes are not
as good as think they are, the truck is wide enough that an
emergency swerve around the truck is harder, and if you it
emergency swerve around the truck is harder, and if you hit
a truck at speed you pretty much go splat.
\_ Truckers hate it when you do this. -son of a Truck Driver
\_ Did your parent explain why? Thx. -- OP
\_ obviously because you are a low visibility
tailgater and are now yet another variable
in their "defensive driving". no doubt also
truckers are irritated when they keep extra
braking distance between themselves and the
car in front and other aggressively cut in
front into the gaps. i have sympathy for
truckers. but not for say people driving other
low-vis vehicles like humvees ... i am a lot
less likely to let one merge in front of me.
\_ Roger that. -TDS
\_ Having seen cars squashed by trucks, I'm not interested in saving
a few gallons.
\_ I totally support drafting behind trunks. FIRST you'll save
a lot of gas and save the environment. SECOND if you die
doing so you'll stop polluting the environment completely
as well as erasing your dumb gene. Go for it. |
| 2008/10/5-9 [Transportation/Car] UID:51387 Activity:nil |
10/5 http://www.csua.org/u/mjj (Yahoo! News) "... Venezuela, where gasoline goes for 12 cents a gallon." Now do you still want to commute in gas guzzlers and feed their economy? |
| 2008/9/25-30 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:51304 Activity:nil |
9/25 "BART gets an equivalent to 249 miles per gallon during the peak
commute hours."
http://www.bart.gov/news/barttv/?&cat=27&id=362
\_ I assume that 249 miles per person per gallon, which means my
carpool gets 120.
\_ That's correct. My carpool of two on a Prius only gets 102. --OP
\_ Do they publish their data? What's the MPG during off-peak?
What's the total MPG for all operational hours?
\_ According to link:csua.org/u/mgc they use 300 GW/year of energy, at
a cost of $31 million; according to link:csua.org/u/mge they carry
1.3 billion passenger miles a year. If gas is $3.80 a gallon,
then that's the cost equivalent of 160 person miles/gallon. I'd
like to know the pollution equivalent, too, but that sounds like
more work to calculate.
then that's the cost equivalent of 160 person miles/gallon
overall. Anyone want to calculate the pollution equivalent?
\_ http://www.google.com/search?q=gallons+per+mile |
| 2008/9/20-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:51245 Activity:nil |
9/20 I noticed that when I use Google, some browsers give me auto
suggestions and some browsers don't. How do I enable auto
suggestions for all of the browsers I use? Thanks. -noob |
| 2008/9/18-19 [Transportation/Car] UID:51219 Activity:nil |
9/18 Daily Show economist here. Is it true AIG tried to clear up its
problems by lending itself money?
\_ AIG has an exciting financial investments division.
AIG also has a boring life insurance division.
AIG life insurance has lots of capital because insurance is
regulated.
AIG financial investments, because CDS is not regulated as insurance
even though it is, is a large hole in the AIG ship.
AIG life lends to the AIG ship to support the ship. |
| 2008/9/18-19 [Transportation/Car] UID:51218 Activity:low |
9/18 Credit default swap is a 70 TRILLION dollar business? really?
holy crap.
\_ well, after they're offset, maybe it's a trillion ... or more
\_ hi. what do you mean offset?
\_ A bought insurance from I1 on C going to 0 from 100.
\_ A bought insurance from I1 on C going to 0.
B bought insurance from I2 on C doubling in price.
As long as I1 and I2 can always pay off the insurance, then
the net swaps are 0. |
| 2008/9/17-19 [Transportation/Car, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:51203 Activity:nil |
9/17 Haha, Pelosi has no idea where Natural Gas comes from.
http://csua.org/u/mde
\_ Sounds like she'd make a great VP candidate.
\_ What's wrong with that? Not everybody farts. :-) |
| 2008/9/11-18 [Transportation/Car] UID:51138 Activity:nil |
9/11 Photojournalism from the Chinese Olympics, err, I mean the RNC
http://drunkatdnc.blogspot.com
http://www.baaqmd.gov/pln/grants_and_incentives/vehicle_buyback
\_ Why didn't Zombietime cover it, I wonder? |
| 2008/9/11-18 [Transportation/Car] UID:51133 Activity:nil |
9/11 I once saw a vehicle buyback program that pays maybe $1000 for vehicles
that fail the smog test? Does anyone have a link for this? I found
http://www.baaqmd.gov/pln/grants_and_incentives/vehicle_buyback but
only that's for vehicles that pass the smog test. Thanks.
\_ http://tinyurl.com/3tz267
\_ Thanks! |
| 2008/9/4-8 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:51061 Activity:nil |
9/4 Can someone point me to any well-regarded sites for GPS information?
(something similar to http://dpreview.com for digital cameras, but for GPS)
I'm mainly looking for in-car/dash-mount GPS, but I need to read up
on the different methods available for live-traffic. I could also
use a site where I can narrow down my possible choices by features.
Thanks!
\_ Don't. I live in LA. I spend over 2-3 hours a day on THE I-10
I-110 and I-405. Don't. I bought a GPS w/ live traffic report
from Costco. The delay is over 10 minutes, so by the time you
get out, live traffic condition is already over. It is very good at
looking at the past, but not the present. Traffic conditions in
LA is too dynamic for this sort of stuff. You'll be going at
0MPH with yellow dots while 60MPH with red dots. It is totally
useless. My advice is to get the fuck out of Los Angeles instead
of wasting money on GPS. PS I returned my GPS from Costco.
\_ If you were a real Los Angeleno you would know their proper
names:
The Santa Monica Freeway, The Pasadena Freeway and the San Diego
Freeway. Go back to Tofuville. |
| 2008/9/4-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:51055 Activity:nil |
9/4 I want a car that can do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM
\_ Fuck this car. I want a lifestyle that does not require me
to drive. Fuck all cars.
\_ Move to San Francisco, New York City or Boston then.
Or Europe, you Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey. |
| 2008/9/1-3 [Transportation/Car] UID:51018 Activity:kinda low |
9/1 Just saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on ABC Family for the first
time since I was a kid. Now that I'm grown up, I'm very disgusted
with the movie. All that pleasant drive in open country with your
magical car is just illusionary and unsustainable in this world.
This is a film that GM would have loved to show to kids to get
them addicted to the world of automobile quagmires. This movie
may have been as cool as smoking in the 60s but is way outdated
and today is as uncool as George W Bush.
\_ Actually, I saw it as more of a propaganda for Socialism. You
know, In Car (Government) We Trust. In time of leasure, we tell
the Car how we should enjoy our lives, but in time of crisis,
it is best that we just sit back in the Car and let it determine
where we should go, how fast we should go, when we should go
for doing so will only make the trip so much more pleasant.
\_ Actually it's really a capitalist propaganda. Just listen
to the lyrics:
... Your seats are a feather bed, you'll turn everybody's
head today.
... With pride in our ownership, the envy of all we survey.
\_ and look who it was written by!
\_ What about Ian Flemming?
\_ well, nice try anyway. You proved you knew it was by Ian
Fleming. But actually I was assuming you did. That was not
a test; sorry about that. My point actually was:
Ian Fleming was like Mr Cold War. You can't very well
expect anything he wrote to withstand the relentless mallet
of obsolescence. Throw the guy a fricken bone. |
| 2008/8/12-17 [Transportation/Car] UID:50854 Activity:kinda low |
8/12 I've had AAA for over 15 years. It's $47 + $27(additional) per
year. Thanks to the internet, Google maps, GPS, iPhone, and
Travelocity and other wonderful sites, I no longer use AAA maps
and AAA routing anymore. The only thing I need these days would
be the towing service. I just found out that I could pay $6/year
to my auto insurance for towing service up to $70. In contrast,
AAA offers 7 miles of free towing. Does it make any sense to
keep AAA? How many miles can you tow for $70 these days?
\_ I was debating this very thing just recently. I opted to keep
AAA for two reasons:
1) It's nice to be able to perform DMV transactions w/o going
to the DMV.
2) I tend to take advantage of the discounts using my AAA card
for things like hotels and rental cars plus even at some
retailers. I am not sure I break even each year, but it's close.
P.S. AAA also provides other services like a locksmith if you
lock your key in your car, which you might use if you have an
older car that still uses keys. I used it a couple times
over the last 15 years.
\_ The best reason for using AAA instead of another emergency towing
service is that AAA negotiates with the individual towing companies
for higher priority, and has contracts with more towing companies
to provide a better density of coverage. In other words, if you
break down at the side of a road, the towtruck AAA dispatches will
get to you faster than the towtruck dispatched by your insurance
company. To me, that's worth the money. Also, AAA covers *you*,
not *your car*, so you can use it on a friend's car if needed.
\_ I have AAA membership, as well as insurances for 2 auto, home owner,
rental property, umbrella, and 2 life.
\_ Shit, you would probably be rich by now if you had invested all
that money instead of giving it to insurance companies.
\_ I don't even have earthquake or ID theft insurance. Not sure
if AAA offer the latter. -- PP |
| 2008/8/10-13 [Transportation/Bicycle, Transportation/Car] UID:50833 Activity:nil |
8/10 Not just in San Francisco are car drivers rude, stupid and dangerous:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/fashion/10bikewars.html |
| 2008/8/6-10 [Transportation/Car] UID:50792 Activity:nil |
8/6 "Here's your mask to wear. But don't wear it!"
link:www.yahoo.com/s/930035
\_ Heh, I get a chuckle out of China being os testy about this stuff.
Also, how does 2008 Beijing compare to 1984 LA? LA was pretty nasty
back in the 70's, wasn't it?
\_ la = cars
beijing = cars + factories
\_ 84 was in the 70s?
\_ Har, har.
\_ Hey, I'm not the guy who wrote "the 70's" right after
refering to 1984.
\_ 1984 LA was awesome. The traffic was great, the weather was
great, the smog was a non-factor, and events conspired to make it
one of the most successful Olympics ever. |
| 2008/7/31-8/5 [Transportation/Car] UID:50744 Activity:moderate |
7/31 Always have exact change
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_10055204
"He said the attacker calmly came to the front of the bus to show
off the head.
\_ is my CCW permit valid on a bus in Winnipeg?
\_ this is why public transportion should be banned.
\_ Do you think you are safer on public transit or operating your
own car?
\_ Dunno, but I'm not gonna be beheaded by a passenger in my car.
\_ I'm glad that 37 passengers were unwilling and unable to stop
a single psycho with a knife. There was a wacko on the bus in
Boston (the bus driver eventually kicked him off the bus) and I
was already planning for having to tackle the dude, even though
I'm hardly the heroic type, because there were women and kids
at risk. I was *hoping* some of the other guys nearby would
help me out if it came to that, but it looks like maybe that
was wishful thinking. Or else Canadians are just pussies.
\_ Or maybe the real world is not the action movie you
think it is. Dude snapped with no warning late at night
when most people were half asleep. I bet by the time it
was over most people didn't even fully understand what was
going on. Ever been mugged? It's not until after the dude
is running away that you actually have a chance to think
"hey wait, I'm on the ground, my jaw hurts, and that dude is
running away with my wallet!"
\_ The morons got back on the bus and watched him dismember
someone.
\_ Not according to the article.
\_ Yes, according to the article.
\_ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7535840.stm
Where?
\_ "The bus driver, Caton and a trucker at the
scene re-boarded to see what was happening.
Caton said he saw the suspect had the victim on
the floor of the bus and "was cutting his head
off and pretty much gutting him" with a large
hunting knife.
The attacker turned toward them and the three
men quickly left the bus, blocking the door as
the attacker slashed at them through an opening.
The three secured the door to prevent the man
from fleeing. Caton said the driver disabled the
vehicle after the attacker tried to drive it
away.
As the three guarded the door with a crow bar
and a hammer, the attacker went back to the body
and calmly came to the front of the bus to show
off the head."
\_ "Passengers exited the bus, and a trucker who
stopped provided wrenches and crowbars to
several of them so they could keep the suspect
on the bus until police came, witnesses told
Canadian TV."
The guy has already been stabbed multiple
times, and is in the process of being gutted,
and you think the other passengers should have
fought him? Why? Do you actually think they
could have done anything for the victim at
that point?
\_ How about, I dunno, before it got to
that point instead of running off the bus
like pussies?
\_ Cause you are a real man who westles
bears and fucks 10 women a day. Oh
wait, I forgot. You are some pathetic
shit who last got laid in '98 and spends
his nights masturbating to war porn.
\_ I'm the first to admit I'm not the
type of guy you'd expect to intervene,
but I would. I think most healthy
males would if they have such a
numerical advantage.
\_ What advantage? People are waking
up to discover they're on the RL
set of a slasher film. Panic is
the default setting in that
circumstance, and it's a miracle
more people weren't hurt rushing
off the bus.
\_ Yes, they did. They were still
pussies.
\_ That's not what the CBC says. Heck, according to this,
even the victim was sleeping. The passengers did pretty
well. -!pp
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/31/greyhound-transcanada.html
\_ "Knife! Knife! Run!" followed by something like:
"Gee, do you think we should go back and check on that
guy?"
Good job to trap the dude in the bus, though, for
what good it did the victim.
\_ The guy who'd already been stabbed 50 or 60 times?
One of the first things they teach police and first
responders is that you're no good to anyone if you
make yourself a victim, too.
\_ People survive being stabbed that many times
and who is to know that he wouldn't go after
someone else?
\_ ...hence why they got everybody off the bus.
I'm all for outstanding heroics to save a
person's life, but second-guessing people
who arguably saved everyone else on the bus
is just dickish. They did what they thought
was right under the circumstances.
\_ I was on a BART train once and saw a guy running through cars,
randomly punching people in the face, then running to the next
car. I thought "WTF?" so I started following him. Some huge
extremely buff dude in the next car, who was probably a pro
football player or something (no kidding) then saw him and
tackled him and then sat on him until we got into Embarcadero
station, where the cops came and arrested him.
\_ Good on you and the other dude! How did it go when the
cops got there? |
| 2008/7/30-8/5 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:50730 Activity:nil |
7/30 "Neighborhood Walkability Linked to Weight"
http://www.csua.org/u/lzh (http://www.webmd.com
"People in the study who lived in the most walkable neighborhoods
weighed an average of 8 pounds less than people who lived in the least
walkable areas."
"Neighborhoods built before 1950 tended to have sidewalks and other
characteristics that made them more accessible to pedestrians, ......
In general, newer neighborhoods offered fewer opportunities for
walking."
Not all suburbs are the same.
\_ Yeah, take Saratoga for example - no sidewalks or street lights.
\_ San Francisco: 2nd skinniest county in America
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5n2wft (Money Magazine)
\_ Just in front of Williamson County, Tennessee, well-known as
a walkable urban center. |
| 2008/7/28-8/3 [Transportation/Car, Reference/Military] UID:50710 Activity:nil |
7/28 The impossibility of getting a CCW and the potential for accidents
and great harm from handguns makes ownership very unattractive.
I'm now thinking of getting a taser. Do people need to register
tasers? Can they be carried in automobiles? CCW tasers?
\_ A taser is considered a loaded firearm. (People v. Heffner)
\_ It can't be. It is projectile using COMPRESSED AIR and
should not be subjected to gun-powder related weapons.
\_ Seriously, can you carry a taser in your car? Can you
conceal it?
\_ HEFFNER held that a taser is a firearm for the purposes
of Penal Code 12031, which makes it a misdemeanor to carry
a loaded firearm on your person or in a vehicle. If you
could find some way of unloading your taser, then you
probably could carry it in your car or conceal it. Also
there are several exceptions to 12031. One of these
applies to people who have a permit to carry a concealed
weapon. |
| 2008/7/28-8/2 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:50706 Activity:nil |
7/28 Thugs on Wheels strike again
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372364_criticalmass27.html
\_ You know, I'm so surprised that we haven't had a nutcase
with CCW PERMIT carrying guns and wielding a SUV who ended
up shooting a bunch of bicyclists yeah baby BANG BANG BANG
\_ So let's see. Critical mass goes by. Dude in car doesn't want
to wait 10 minutes for them to pass, instead pulls out in front
of them. People get pissed and shout at him, so he drives his car
through the crowd and hits some people. Then things get ugly.
Frankly he got off easy.
\_ I have no idea where you invented this summary from:
"According to what some witnesses told police, an altercation with
the driver ensued and some of those on bikes began sitting on his
car and hitting the vehicle, Jamieson said.
"According to what some witnesses told police, an altercation
with the driver ensued and some of those on bikes began sitting
on his car and hitting the vehicle, Jamieson said.
"The driver tried to back up, he said, and struck a bike.
"That's when bicyclists really began attacking the vehicle.
I think the cyclists got off easy. That's the problem with mobs.
\_ Key word: some. Let's guess which some those were. Dude
should never have ridden his car through the crowd. You
know that, he knows that. You think people just decided
to attack him for fun? How come all those 1000s of other
cars along the route didn't get attacked?
\_ I think the Thugs intentionally intimidate drivers, and are
thrilled to escalate minor confrontations (jumping on the
car, etc.) which induce panic in the driver, who in fear
tries to get away from the mob. See, that's the problem
with mobs.
\_ So because the guy was irrationally fearful, it is okay
that he committed assualt with a deadly weapon? Good
thing he didn't kill anyone. Would it be okay if I
started shooting at car drivers that violate my right of
way as a pedestrian? That is certainly a more rational
fear than this guys. What was the chance that someone
on a bicycle could actually hurt him if he stayed in
his car with windows rolled up?
\_ Smashing the windshield? I'd say he is 100%
justified in fleeing from a mob, possibly injuring
members of the mob in the process.
\_ They smashed his windshield after he started
running people over, at least according to the
press account of the incident. I am not saying
that there was a good reason to smash his wind
shield, but he had no excuse for deliberately
running people over, just because they were
blocking his way and sitting on his car and
"hitting the vehicle" which means smacking it
with their palms.
\_ Nope, sorry you've got it wrong.
"The driver tried to back up, he said, and
struck a bike."
"That's when bicyclists really began attacking
the vehicle."
It was after the attack that the car drove
away through the crowd.
\_ Anyone with half a brain would know,
don't try to muscle your car through
a crowd of bikes. What did he expect?
The sea of bikes to part before his
mighty car penis? He tried to drive
through them. He fucking hit someone.
\_ Sorry, once the mob attacks, the victim
should use force (even deadly force) to
escape from the mob. That's the problem
with mobs.
\_ Any bicyclist with a quarter of a brain
should know not to try to block the way
of a moving car. Those that place more
importance on asserting their "right" to
annoy drivers than on protecting their
own safety fall victim to natural
selection.
\_ "Tried to back up" means that he deliberately
backed into someone blocking his way. This
should be assault, but since he was in a car
he will get away with it.
\_ I generally agree with you, but this
is orthogonal to whether you have
a right to run over someone who
blocking your way.
\_ "Tried to back up" means that he
deliberately backed into someone blocking
his way. This should be assault, but since
he was in a car he will get away with it.
\_ No, it means he deliberately tried to
back up, and there was someone in the
way. That doesn't mean he was
deliberately trying to hit someone.
\_ Let's change the bikes to say, a
regular demonstration. Demonstrators
are marching, blocking a car. Dude
tries to pull out of his space anyway
and hits a demostrator. People start
crowding his car and screaming at him
for hitting someone when it was
obvious he should have just waited
rather than just pulling out when the
road was blocked. Dude responds by
driving his car through the crowd,
hitting several people. You don't
think he would be at fault there
either?
\_ And attacking the vehicle, smashing
the windshield? Yes, no fault in
trying to get away.
\_ Since neither of us was there and
there are no videos, we can only
speculate, but if you are surrounded
by people peacefully blocking your
way, backing up without making sure
your way is clear is at the very
least, very reckless. |
| 2008/7/23-28 [Transportation/Car] UID:50671 Activity:nil |
7/23 Are all traffic engineers imbeciles or is it just the Silicon
Valley? I was at an intersection where the green light was
letting cars through 2 seconds at a time on an 8-lane street
but letting cars through a minute at a time for a 4-lane street.
\_ Pretty much all imbeciles. In my city there's a road that has
two lights in close succession - maybe 20 feet from each other.
For years they were set so that they turned red and green
together and you could go on your way. Someone had the bright idea
to set them so that when the first one turns green the other one
stays red for a couple of minutes longer which makes traffic
pile up into the intersection. Brilliant!
\- non-idiot: http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman
\_ Yes. Just look at 110 freeway in Southern Cal. The 10/110
junction is idiotically designed. Also look at the 405 and
101 junction. Why the hell they placed exits and entrances
the way they are now, and why they can't do anything about
it to fix the problem, is just idiotic. A friend of mine
had a dad who worked at Rockwell and was laid off in the 80s
and hired as a CalTrans engineer in the 90s said CalTrans was
very laid back and they don't really care about anything except
to follow legal and civil engineering rules. They know absolutely
nothing about operations research or flow optimizations.
\- i thought LA was supposed to be the well-run traffic system ...
although i guess operations is different from design.
when i have spoken to "transit people" [not engineers], i dont
seem to get very good answers to "why do the carpool hours
not make sense" "why is the echchange from MajorFwyA to MajorFwyB
which is not in an especually crowded area one lane" "why was
the cost estimate for the new bay bridge that far off" "why have
they been closing a lane of the lower bay bridge for part of the
day for say 5years now?" etc. i do understand that the avg
traffic engineer may have very few degrees of freedom to
fix stuff liek this. maybe their lives are something out of
The Wire|The Sopranos.
\_ Wait, I thought commuting by auto was far superior than by
public transit. How can this be, if everyone designing the
freeways is so incompetent? Perhaps they should hire DBAs
from the private sector to do all their engineering for them.
\_ The same morons are the ones designing public transit.
\_ The only decent traffic engineers I know of are the ones working for
NJDOT. The NJ turnpike is amazing. |
| 2008/7/15-23 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:50578 Activity:nil |
7/15 http://www.newsweek.com/id/145876 Move over Tesla, a cheaper electric car is on the horizon! \_ The RAV4 EV wasn't that expensive. \_ Why do you say 'move over tesla' when the linked article is actually about the next model of tesla? \_ What I mean is "Move over, expensive car for rich people. FUCK Y'ALL RICH PEOPLE who benefited from tax breaks from F*** Y'ALL RICH PEOPLE who benefited from tax breaks from GWB and Reagan, now we poor suckers can drive EV as well!" |
| 2008/7/1-14 [Transportation/Car] UID:50444 Activity:nil |
7/1 "Most state workers in Utah shifting to 4-day week"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-30-four-day_N.htm
Maybe you can get your employer to do the same, or maybe one work-
from-home day in a week.
\_ Like I said before, Mormons have it good man.
\_ This is an actual decent way to reduce gasoline usage. We need more
good ideas like this.
\_ Question: Does a 4-day week actually reduce gas use?
I don't really stay home on weekends. On workdays, I pretty
much just go to/from work, which is actually a shorter commute
than what I get up to on weekends. So, with a 4-day week,
does gas use increase or decrease?
\_ Uh, you reduce your commutes-per-week from 5 to 4.
\_ Uh, you missed the point, which is that I drive less
on a commute day than a non-commute day. If that
is true for most people, then gas use increases
with a 4 day workweek. Get it now?
\_ I got that. You going to drive more on the 3 days now
then you did on the two days before?
\_ Yes, most likely.
\_ You're weird though.
\_ I'm not the PP, but I drive more on off days
also. I dont think it's that odd. I don't
know if I'm in the majority or not, but
it's worth considering. If people use the
off day to take the Sea Doos out to the
river then it will actually increase gas
consumption.
\_ If that's true, a work-from-home day is still a good alternative.
\_ Yer supposed to be working at home on the 5th day, idiot, not
driving to Yosemite.
\_ Yes, I think work-from-home would work. |
| 2008/6/30-7/14 [Transportation/Car, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll] UID:50420 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto |
7/1 So I'm in NYC now and I've been walking or taking a cab. I wish I
hadn't returned my rental car, because driving here was so easy
(I drove the first day), especially compared to Boston. Streets are
laid out in a grid and traffic isn't so bad. I won't use mass transit
at all here. I am rethinking my take on mass transit. Before I thought
it only worked in dense cities. Now I don't think it's really needed
anywhere. BTW, in Boston I had the experience of being kicked off
the T for not having a ticket, but the station I was at didn't
sell tickets. Talk about Catch 22. That was the Fine Arts station,
which tourists like me presumably use. Mass transit is so user
friendly and easy to use.
\_ Now you are just trolling.
\_ You win the high on crack award.
\_ I think you're just plain stupid. "Now I don't think it's really
needed anywhere." - Traffic in NYC is bad enough with the number
of people that drive right now. If NYC didn't have mass transit
it'd be ten times worse.
\_ And more so in Tokyo and Hong Kong. -- !OP
\_ Or maybe there wouldn't be so many people crammed together
and they'd be happier for it. The worst problem with driving
in NYC is the cost of parking. I really do wish I had kept
my rental car, though. My independence is limited without it
and everyone talks about scary NYC driving but that's a myth
perpetuated by, presumably, tourists who live in small towns.
\_ Yeah everyone who lives in cities would be happier if they
just spread out, we understand your (bizarre) worldview.
It is actually quite doable to drive in NYC, I have done
it as well, but after a while you realize that you are
annoying all the cabbies. The only reason you can get
away with driving in lower manhatten is because almost
everyone on the road is a professional driver and they
make allowances for you. Just don't hit a bicyclist. |
| 2008/6/24-27 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:50363 Activity:high |
6/24 It amazes me how stupid people are about economics. Don't people
realize that "speculators" make things better?
\_ Because no politician has the guts to say: "Suck it up and move on,
it's demand and supply and the government can't and shouldn't do
anything about gas prices". Because no politician has the guts to
say "Look, how about YOU consume less gas, then you will spend less
anything about gas prices". Because no politician has the guts to say
"Look, how about YOU consume less gas, then you will spend less
money on it? How about living closer to work, avoiding distant
suburbs, using carpools or public transport, or trading in your
"barn-on-wheels" grocery-getters and 300HP single occupant commuter
appliances for something more efficient?" No politician wants to say
that and no consumer seems to want to hear this either. There are no
enough drama or opportunities to pander to voters in the traditional
"demand and supply" explanation for the fuel price situation.
suburbs, using carpools or public transport,
or trading in your "barn-on-wheels" grocery-getters and 300HP
single occupant commuter appliances for something more efficient?"
No politician wants to say that and no consumer
seems to want to hear this either. There are
no enough drama or opportunities to pander to voters in the
traditional "demand and supply" explanation for the fuel price
situation.
\_ Sorry but this is flat out stupid. People live far from their
jobs because the price of a house or rental is so much lower
even taking into account the huge increase in gas prices we've
seen since 2006. I want to live in your fantasy world where we
can all simply choose to live near work. Do you really truly
think people drive 2+ hours a day because they like driving?
All these people could swap out their Hummers for shitboxes
cutting their gas costs by 50% or whatever and they'll still get
creamed. The reality is there aren't that many large vehicles
doing long commutes. I drive a V8 guzzler. I drive it fast.
Here's the math: I use ~1000 gallons per year getting about 20
mpg. At $5/gallon for premium that's $5k/year. I can switch to
a crap car, get 30 mph and pay 20 cents less per gallon. That's
a savings of 333 gallons and $1800/year. Whoop-ti-do. I've
saved the earth. And it's 400HP, thanks. There is plenty
enough oil out there, insufficient refinery capacity and a ton
of stupid laws that create different magical blends of gas that
distort the market. I'm sure the oil companies are doing a-OK
on my wallet, too. Drill, build some refineries, consolidate
blend requirements across similar regions, and prices will drop.
Econ 1. The big question is: do the people in control of these
things *want* the price to drop? Hello Congress and State law
makers?
\_ I _know_ childrenless couples who opt to drive one hour each
way to their work just so that they could afford to
live in a ginormous house even though they could live for the
same amount of money in a perfectly nice two bedroom house
or an apartment in a nice safe neghborhood, 5 to 10 minute
drive distance from their work for the same money.
(no that's not in Bay Area). So yes, my claim was entirely
stupid. Next, refinery situation is not nice, but you won't
lower the gas prices by much simply by simplifying the blends
and regulations. About 75% of the price of gas you pay
at the pump simply covers the price of oil that was used
to make this gas. The rest is refining and distribution.
Streamlinging refinery regulations would knock off a few cents
at best. If every person who drives a gas guzler actually
did something to lower gas use by 30% like you propose above,
the prices wouldn't be so "bad" right now. The proven oil
reserves in the parts of the US where you can't drill will
increase the supply of US made oil only marginally, and we
still will end up importing most of our oil from abroad.
I am not saying we shouldn't drill more, but McCain's and GWB
push to open more areas for drilling will not fix any problems
in the short term, and hardly make a big difference in the
long term.
\_ Do you read the viking hall of manliness website too?
\_ Since you know nothing and have nothing intelligent to
say you have to resort to a cheap personal attack. Good
call. That worked for me in 5th grade, too.
\_ 0.o That site breaks my brain.
\_ http://arthurshall.com
\_ People live far from their jobs because they are selfish
jerks who don't care how much suffering they cause other people
just so long as they get their 5 bedroom 3 bath home on half
an acre full of junk from Target. Homes are 50% larger then
they were in the 50's and families are smaller now. A smaller
car is not really going to fix the fundamental problem.
jerks who don't care how much suffering they cause other
people just so long as they get their 5 bedroom 3 bath home
on half an acre full of junk from Target. Homes are 50%
larger th[a]n they were in the 50's and families are smaller
larger then they were in the 50's and families are smaller
now. A smaller car is not really going to fix the fundamental
problem.
\- gee, i guess even economists who debate things like hot money
and the effects of high capital mobility are "stupid about
economics". liquidity is generally good. but speculation is
more complicated and might be "net" good, but not necess
"all good". also not everybody is in the position of the
dollar and a very large domestic economy.
YMWTGF(GSOROS, sterilization).
how about signing your name when calling other people stupid? --psb
\_ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121426475050198395.html
\_ I do when I specify names. The nearly universal complaints about
commodity speculators is silly.
\- "i do when i specify names" is kinda silly.
second, in your OP you didnt resrict your comment
to commodity speculation. the FX futures mkt and
the mkt for financial hedges and speculation is
much bigger than the commodities mkt, so that would
hardly be a default assumption. --psb
\_ It is always easier to blame someone else for your troubles
than accept your own part in the problem.
\_ Well informed speculators make things better. Get rich quick idiots
can throw prices totally out of whack, which is bad for necessities
like food and shelter.
\_ Exactly. There is a mass of people who just follow whatever the
trend is. They hear dot com they balloon that up, housing ditto,
now energy and commodities. They are idiots because the majority
of them in each case don't realize the large paper gains, and
meanwhile they cause short term problems and volatility.
\_ It is not clear to me what kind of problems dot com
speculators caused, other than a temporary misallocation of
capital. It is not like driving up the cost of WebVan stock
caused a shortage of anything.
\- just out of curiosity, what do you consider the diff
between a <DEAD>dot.com<DEAD> "speculator" and a <DEAD>dot.com<DEAD> "investor"
to be ... i mean it is meaningful to talk about a
hedger vs a speculator in a commodity or in the FX mkt,
but it's not totally clear how to differentiate in the
case of a stock ... or do you mean some vague either
focusing on time horizon or "second order" investments
[calls/puts, shorts, butterflies etc]. |
| 2008/6/18-22 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/PublicTransit] UID:50291 Activity:nil |
6/18 "June 19 is a Free Transit Day!"
http://www.mtc.ca.gov/news/info/spare-the-air.htm |
| 2008/6/12-13 [Transportation/Car] UID:50235 Activity:nil |
6/12 Today is Spare the Air day.
http://www.sparetheair.org
\_ shut up capitalism hating socialist freeloader
\_ There are private companies running public transits, private
companies researching in more fuel-efficient cars, private
companies makeing tele-commuting infrastructure, etc.
companies making tele-commuting software, etc. |
| 2008/6/9-12 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:50195 Activity:nil |
6/8 6 Ways You're Wasting Gas - Yahoo! Autos Article Page:
http://www.csua.org/u/lq7
\_ Dumbest article evar! Why does common sense continue to masquerade
as news articles?
\_ Because a lot of people don't seem to have much common sense? |
| 2008/5/23-31 [Transportation/Car] UID:50044 Activity:nil |
5/23 "March driving down for 1st time since 1979: government"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080523/us_nm/usa_driving_data_dc
\_ With gas now over $4 per gallon even at cheap places, it costs
me $10 per day ($5 for gas, $5 for parking) to drive to work,
and that's by picking up people for casual carpool. That's a
tipping point for me, so I'm going back to public transport,
at least until the schools get out and I can snag free parking.
\_ See, price signals do work. |
| 2008/5/17-23 [Transportation/Car, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:49987 Activity:nil |
5/17 Bush suspends oil reserve deliveries to soften the gas price.
Good idea (lowering price) or bad idea (less gas in the reserves)?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24672293
\_ Don't you mean "Bush agrees with Congress to suspend oil reserve
deliveries after they threaten veto?"
\_ Veto doesn't mean what you think it means.
\_ Bad because such a tiny amount of oil won't make a dent to the oil
or gas price. Good for the politicians who initiated it though, as
election is coming up. If oil or gas prices doesn't drop, such
initiative won't hurt them. But if prices does drop for whatever
other reason, they can say "See, we made the price drop." |
| 2008/5/16-21 [Transportation/Car] UID:49969 Activity:nil |
5/15 Here's a picture of San Francisco in 1971
http://pic.templetons.com/brad/pano/midpano/sf71.jpg
check out the freeway! - danh
\_ A double-deck freeway along the Embarcadero? Is it fake?
\_ No, it was demolished soon after the 1988 earthquake.
\_ 1989
\_ and a great example of how removal of freeways can make
a city more attractive and liveable. -tom
\_ Only fire would make SF more attractive.
\_ Only a nuke would make LA more attractive. |
| 2008/5/15-16 [Transportation/Car, Industry/Jobs] UID:49947 Activity:nil |
5/15 Tired of CS? become a gopher trapper! (appropos of nothing)
http://www.thegophergetters.com/helpwanted.html
Man, pocket gophers have pretty big heads for their body size.
\_ Gopher Trapper is a terrible place to work at - ex-Gopher Trapper
\_ Gopher trapper is a terrible place to work at - ex-Gopher trapper
\_ I wonder if it's safe to eat your average garden gopher?
\_ I don't understand why so many ex Gopher Trappers are doing
non Gopher Trapping stuff when they stop Gopher Trapping.
\_ Big surprise, Gopher Trapping is better value than
\_ Big surprise, Gopher Trapping is a better value than
\_ I don't understand why so many ex Gopher trappers are doing
non Gopher trapping stuff when they stop Gopher trapping.
\_ Big surprise, Gopher trapping is a better value than
masturbating all day to Cuddy. |
| 2008/4/28 [Transportation/Car, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:49847 Activity:nil |
4/28 Cute: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8XfNoLCbVeU&feature=bz301 |
| 2008/4/27-5/4 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Airplane] UID:49839 Activity:nil |
4/27 Dear dim guru, I need your advice. I have a very good job in
Santa Monica and my fiancee has a very good job in San Dimas.
We've compromised and decided to rent a place in Pasadena to
see how things will work out. However, I'm afraid that
a few months into this trial period we'll both be burned out
by traffic fatique and road rage. What is your advice?
\_ Get a job in Pasadena. -!dim
\_ The commute from Pasadena to Santa Monica will suck more than
anyone can imagine.
\_ My gf commuted from Pasadena to Venice. She did it a year
before she got an apartment on the Westwide (Westwood).
\_ A few things. Venice is a dump. Westside (Westwood) tends
to be expensive, and dumpy as hell. Their major arteries
are Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica Blvd, Pico, Lincoln. It
takes LITERALLY 30 minutes to travel 5 miles. My god, I
can't believe people actually WANT to live on the Westside.
The jobs are ok but the lifestyle sucks. People go to S Cal
because they don't know any better. Fucking dumb S Cal
Hicks -bitter x-S-Cal |
| 2008/4/25-5/2 [Transportation/Car] UID:49828 Activity:kinda low |
4/24 Los Angeles is bleeding with foreclosures:
http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-re-zipforclosures-pg,0,3014082.photogallery?index=12
PS Talking to the trashy ppl there I always knew how dumpy
Lancaster and Palmdale were. At foreclosure rate of 1/59 and
1/67, you have to wonder why people there are so irresponsible
with their finances. On the other hand, it's surprising
to me that a city as dumpy as Venice and Santa Monica have much
fewer foreclosures than Lancaster and Palmdale.
\_ These areas also attract people who love MONSTER TRUCK and
NASCAR. I mean, it's always been known that people who live
far from civilization are lower forms of life. The saddest
thing is that people like you and me end up bailing them out
of their misery.
\_ Santa Monica is pretty much the only place in LA I would
consider living in. Maybe Malibu if I was so rich I didn't
have to drive anywhere. -Liberal SF Elitist
\_ Santa Monica is a shithole, but for a while it was more expensive
than Beverly Hills in terms of median price for a SFR. There
are a lot of wealthy people that live there and demand to live there
is high there so it stands to reason foreclosures would be low
compared to poor, undesirable Lancaster and Palmdale.
\_ If it is a shithole, why do so many wealthy people want to
live there?
\_ A lot of people new to LA think it's where they want to live.
Also, the location has close proximity to lots of high-paying
jobs so it's convenient. SM does have some nice areas in
the north, but those houses costs millions and are out of
the north, but those houses cost millions and are out of
reach of most people. Think of SM like Berkeley. Berkeley
is an expensive crime-ridden shithole, but that doesn't
mean there aren't some nice places in the Berkeley Hills.
\_ Where in LA isn't a shithole?
\_ Lots of places including Pacific Palisades, Palos
Verdes, Bel Air, Malibu, most of the canyons, SF
\_ and yet, you still have to drive through the
shithole freeways like the I-10 and I-405.
You can live in a nice home but if it takes
so much effort to get from A to B, it's still
a shithole.
Valley south of Ventura Blvd, La Canada, San
Marino, Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa
Beach. Almost any place near a beach or the
mountains/hills. Lots of Orange County is nice,
\_ yet you still have to deal with LA traffic.
Lots of traffic in Orange County. You're
confusing nice homes and neighbors and nice
quality of living. Traffic and road rage and
congestions and pollution != quality of living.
You may live in the nicest home in Irvine but
you're still in hell. I guess dimwitted
Angelenos will never get it.
\_ I live 8 miles from work and take the street
to get there. Dealing with traffic, whether
in LA, SF, Seattle, or Des Moines, is a
personal choice. I'd say SF is more congested
\_ LA is a really great place if you never have
to drive the same reason why Las Vegas is a
really great place to live as long as you never
have to leave your huge Vegas mansion.
and I dunno about pollution but it's better
than it was in the 1970s which is more than
can be said about most places. I have a
mountain view, experience lots of wildlife,
enjoy the warm weather, and love being near
world-class shopping, entertainment, museums,
and educational institutions. Last weekend I
hiked in the snow and walked along the beach
in the same day. To me, this (California) is
paradise. It's just that LA is a bit warmer
and has a bit more going for it than SF. SF
and San Diego are nice, too, but much more
provincial in comparison. Maybe I'll retire there.
\_ If everyone in LA lived 8 miles from work,
traffic problem would be less of an issue
today. I've lived in LA 1/2 of my life and
MOST ppl there don't have the luxury of living
so close to where they work, or they simply
don't want to live so close to work given
how shady some of the commercial zones are.
In addition the clear commercial/residential
zoning that was in place decades ago really
segmented everyone in LA, though a lot
of positive changes have happened (e.g.
the trend to push for mixed used developments
like the Redevelopment of LA and the Playa
Vista project). If you live 8 miles from where
you work, enjoy your career choices in the
proximity of where you live, it doesn't
matter where you live. Consider yourself
blessed because you're in a much better
position than 90% of the Angelinos. -x-LAer
\_ Proximity to work is a choice we all
make. Some people in the Bay Area work
in SF and live in Livermore. My sister
lives in Walnut Creek and used to
commute to Tiberon. You can make those
choices anywhere. It's more difficult
if you are a two-income family, since
it's harder to live close to two jobs,
but I don't see this as an issue specifically
related to LA. Even if you work in a
sketchy area there is usually a nice
area not too far away. Else, don't
accept a job in that sketchy area.
People like to blame LA for their own
personal lousy choices. I knew a couple
that moved to LA from Colorado. They
lived in Valencia. The guy worked in
Palmdale on the Space Shuttle and his
wife worked as an EE in Irvine. They
hated it here. Could it possibly be
because of the shitty situation they
set up for themselves involving long
commutes and boring suburbs? I'd hate
it, too. They went back to Colorado
within 2 years. Lots of people do
equally stupid things. A lot of my
\_ Valencia and Irvine is a stupid choice
and they would have done better had
they moved to a place with more nearby
related industries. Just as stock brokers
move to NYC or actors move to LA
engineers should move to N Cal.
I'm an engineer and I've gone through
so many companies like IBM and Intel
and now a startup, and I've never had
to move given how close I was to
endless career opportunities. If I
moved to LA, it would be the end of
my career or my home, since I'd have
much less mobility.
coworkers are fresh-outs who move to LA
for work. Where do they invariably
live? The beach. How far is the beach
from work? 37 miles. That's 50 minutes
without traffic. WHY?! They usually move
away in a few years. The people who
stay on long-term are the people who
chose to live close to work (a very
nice area, BTW, just not near the beach).
I'm better off than 90% of Angelenos
because I realize I control my own
commute with the choices I make in
where to work and live and I don't do
stupid things like accept job offers that
pay 10% more but increase my commute by
an hour a day.
\_ where does your wife work? How long
do you plan to stay at your job? How
secure is it?
\_ Because LA is so poorly planned, it is
hard to find homes near jobs. You fail
to see the connection between low density
single use development and long commutes.
SM -> Downtown is 15 miles, btw and there
are other good job centers even closer.
\_ Most of this was already covered above, but yeah,
I guess I cannot in good conscience call any of
those places shitholes, though I would not want
to live in almost any of them, because they are
too far from jobs and shopping and have no good
rapid transit, which would force me to have to
spend hours a day on LAs congested freeways. I
can imagine a situation where it would be okay
(worked at CalTech and lived in San Marino, for
example) but that would be pretty unique. Parts
of Beverley Hills are pretty nice: ironically
I prefer the part that most people think of as
"not as nice" because it is walking distance
to Santa Monica Blvd. And all those places cost
just as much or more than Santa Monica north
of Montana. -SFer
to Santa Monica Blvd. And those places cost
just as much or more than Santa Monica. -SFer
too, if you want to count that as part of LA.
\_ SF still going strong:
http://www.csua.org/u/lcm (WSJ - video)
\_ At the price point I've been paying attention to SF
has dropped a bit.
\_ Which price point is that, if I may ask. I am kind of
curious. |
| 2008/4/21-5/2 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:49793 Activity:nil |
4/21 Think car. 0 emission and 124 miles per charge:
http://think.no/think/content/view/full/290
\_ It reads "zero *local* emissions." Nonetheless, "an energy
efficiency three times that of a traditional combustion engine
car" is still pretty impressive. |
| 2008/4/16-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:49759 Activity:nil |
4/16 Really cool visualization and statistics site from IBM:
http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/home
\_ Clinton-Obama visualization:
http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SfAuJNsOtha6v8Ud_X0LN2~
\_ LA wasted most fuel in traffic congestion, 2005:
http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SGYEHNsOtha6zaESXFAJN2~
FUCK LA.
\_ Higher density = greater travel time. Any comment, urban lover?
http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SGYEHNsOtha6oaUJ_t9JN2~
\_ ObSuburbsSuck
\_ ObSuburbsSuck. Show me the data broken down by a higher
granularity. The reason SF Bay Area commutes are long is
because of the morons commuting from Tracy and Danville,
not from the people living in Chinatown.
\_ That's "more population", not "higher density." Change the
dot size to "Population Density" and the graph looks a lot
different. -tom
\_ Graph density vs. travel time and it looks even worse for
density. But this data source claims that LA is the
most dense urban area, even more than NYC.
\_ NYC is listed as 4780 square miles, LA as 2285 square
miles. Obviously those are semi-arbitrary boundaries
and probably not comparable ones. -tom |
| 2008/4/15-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:49757 Activity:nil |
4/15 In Bay Area, what percentage of the home (non-condo/townhouse) value should I
expect to pay for home insurance? And are any of it deductible? Just trying
to do a rough number calculation for single family home + insurance vs condo
with HOA.
\_ Insurance for your residence is not tax-deductible.
\_ This whole idea of TAX DEDUCTION to stimulate the
OWNERSHIP SOCIETY is totally stupid. Ditto with tax rebates
that really come from foreign loans that someone will have
to pay back.
\_ No they won't. We're throwing the dollar overboard, and the debt
will go with it. The dollar is "overloaded".
\_ Even with a condo you should obtain insurance for your belongings
and for liability. Insurance will be about .002 of home replacement
cost (deduct the land) if you have a high deductible (>$1K). As
above, the insurance is not deductible.
above, the insurance is not deductible. One thing to note:
condos usually have earthquake coverage included in the HOA
dues, while for a SFR this costs (a lot) extra. |
| 2008/4/9-12 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:49691 Activity:nil |
4/8 Somewhat amusing talk on Urban Design by James Howard Kunstler.
He has some interesting things to say, but he thinks he's more
clever than he is. (video) (anti-suburb rant)
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/121 |
| 2008/4/4-9 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:49667 Activity:nil |
4/4 "Slow Down a Little, Save a Lot of Gas"
http://www.csua.org/u/l7s (finance.yahoo.com)
\_ RIDE A BIKE and save even more gas. Economically it boils down to
what is your time worth? Is driving faster going to save enough of
your time to make up for the extra fuel cost?
Their argument that it saves 'a lot of gas' is week, it pretty much
just saves a little.
\_ It's kind of depressing riding my bike to work and being passed
by hundreds of cars. Especially since many of the cars have
driven an 50 miles to get there...
\_ Change your bike route/time along heavy commute. I used to
pass by cars along Shattuck in Oakland even on my heavy
mountain bike.
\_ Haha. Unfortunately I'm travelling the wrong direction
for that.
\_ PFT! USE FOOT! Ride bike will not help. It just hides the
costs of shipping and processing all that metal, exotic plastics
and other earth destroying by products of the biking craze. If
everyone walked barefoot at all times there'd be no transport
pollution at all. |
| 2008/3/19-21 [Transportation/Car] UID:49506 Activity:moderate |
3/19 Does anyone know a decent pro-bono auto accident type lawyer
in the bay area? I was almost killed, my truck is in a million
pieces, and people are starting to send me bills for
this. I'm thinking of suing my insurance company for
incompetence at the very least.
\_ Excuse me, why do you need a truck in this world? I mean,
are you a construction worker? Do you NEED a truck?
\_ good troll. I think. I'm sorry your life is so boring.
Also... I don't have a truck anymore! see above.
\_ I think the point is you aren't gonna get pro-bono work
for a wrecked truck. It's not that vital.
\_ AND THEN?
\_ Pro-bono? Are you destitute? Try a lawyer on a contingent.
\_ This is not the kind of case lawyers typically take pro-bono.
You can complain to the California Consumer Protection Agency
about your insurance company and also the BBB.
\_ You can probably find an attorney who is willing to take your
case on contingency. Normal contingencies are in the range of
20-35% of whatever recovery you get. |
| 2008/3/15-17 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/Editors/Emacs] UID:49466 Activity:nil |
3/14 Is there any good document composition mode in emacs? auto-fill-mode
is pathetic. |
| 2008/3/12-13 [Transportation/Car] UID:49432 Activity:nil |
3/12 I have really good medical insurance from my company. Is it
still necessary to carry Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist,
(state minimum $15K)? In addition, everyone in my family
is insuranced, is there a reason to get the and Medical
Payments which only covers $500-$2000/passenger?
\_ I don't bother with medical. It only makes things worse, IMO,
because the two insurances fight with each other and delay
payment. I cancelled any auto-related medical I had. Uninsured
motorist covers things other than medical (like loss of future
earning capacity, pain and suffering, and related household
expenses) but that's I risk I live with.
\_ I was sitting at an intersection for about 8 green lights waiting
on these morons. The temptation to use my "right away" and plow
right through the bikers was constantly growing
\_ stupid troll, strike 3 |
| 2008/3/9-12 [Transportation/Car] UID:49401 Activity:kinda low |
3/9 Are ignorant people really happier than overly educated people?
\_ No idea. --happy
\_ educated have more to worry about. They have more to lose, and
they need to work harder to maintain the lifestyle that they're
accustomed to. So, yes, ignorance is bliss.
\- i suspect educated people live in circumstances
where they are exposed to a wider range of life
circumstances [the prof making $150k/yr whose college
where they are exposed to a wider range of affulence
[the prof making $150k/yr whose college
roommate is a doctor/lawyer/baker] so there is more
status anxiety. but a bunch of the first wave of
"happiness" studies didnt really do such a good job
measuring happiness. things like not having healthcare,
not having reliable transportation loom pretty large.
an interesting factoid is: there is a correlation between
the price of a car and how much people "like" their car
when asked a question like "how much do you like your
car", but there is no correlation between price of a
car and how much people like/dislike their commute.
you should try to find daniel kahneman's recent
berkeley lecture on this.
\_ You might be interested in reading "The Geography of Bliss."
The Butahni guy he talks to basically postulates that the secret
to happiness is low expectations.
\_ This is one of the premises of Buddhism.
\_ Url to prove this?
\_ Umm, do you accept wikipedia entries?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanha
\_ I don't see the word "expectation" in this entry.
\_ Are you joking? What in the world made you think
the premises of Buddhism would be expressed in
exactly the terminology I used here? Are you really
that dumb? |
| 2008/3/7-11 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:49384 Activity:nil |
3/7 Stuff like this can make the cities even more desireable places
to live. Imagine urban mobility without sharing the bus or
having to hunt for a parking place:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080307/sc_nm/usa_minicar_dc_1
\_ That "stuff" is called the bicycle, scooter, and motorcycle.
Stupid.
\_ ya know, not everyone shares your vision of Liberal Urban Utopia.
Despite the obvious rise and demand of city homes, the number
of people moving to suburbs still outstrip the number of people
moving to cities. The increase supply of city homes still cannot
meet the growing needs of our nation. As long as suburbs are
more affordable, there will be people moving to suburbs.
\_ OMG, now my car would actually be a useless little dink box that
every idiot has drooled over, left their condoms in, used to shoot
up, and I'm going to get busted for the drugs and god only knows
what that some idiot left in it before me. Fortunately I dont have
to carry anything bigger than a water bottle so this vehicle is
just perfect! I'm ready for Urban Utopia!
\_ This is new?? How is this different from the Toyota PM that has
been announced for a while?
http://www.toyota.com/concept-vehicles/pm.html |
| 2008/3/6-7 [Transportation/Car] UID:49364 Activity:kinda low |
3/6 When I run my car heater, am I getting heat for free? Is it
just rerouting engine heat into the inside of my car? Or
am I consuming a lot more fuel, increasing my fuel consumption?
\_ Yes, engine heat. Fancier cars may heat it until the engine warms up.
\_ Yes, engine heat. Fancier cars may heat it until the engine warms
up. |
| 2008/2/28-3/4 [Transportation/Car] UID:49284 Activity:low |
2/28 Looking for that URL where it accepts an address and publishes
all the criminals and offenders who live in your area. What
is that URL? Google failed me.
\_ keywords: crime data crimes criminal offender molester molesters
\_ meganslaw megans law http://meganslaw.com
\_ You cannot find all criminals, only sex offenders. Google
"Megan's Law".
\_ http://www.familywatchdog.us
Only 30 sex offenders within 5 miles of where I live. You?
\_ More interesting is what percentage of the population
is sex offenders. I live in a city, so I am sure that
there are thousands.
\_ No. This is a good example where absolute numerical
number determines how well you child will get exposed
to child molesters.
\_ That could only possibly be true if you interacted
with everyone in a certain radius of your home, no
matter how dense the population was. What is the
percentage of your neighbors that are molestors?
Afraid to share?
\_ Hey dumb ass. I just checked San Jose, over 800+
sex offenders. San Francisco has over 400 sex
offenders. You were saying?
\_ Just answer the question.
\_ Just answer the question, if you are smart
enough to do so "dumb ass."
\_ Wow! 1700+ molesters live withing five miles
of downtown LA!
\_ Exactly, the city's full of molesters and
that's why suburbs are better for kids.
\_ I just checked, Chico CA has 84 molesters
in a city of 71,000. That is twice as many
per capita than San Francisco!
\_ I live in the suburbs so my interactions are very
limited, and it's easy to memorize 30 faces.
Can you say the same thing about... San Francisco?
\_ It is true that misanthropes tend to interact
with fewer people. Why not move to rural Texas
into a compound and only interact with people
that you know? You do know that children are
more likely to be molested in the suburbs than
in the city, right?
\_ I live in Irvine. Check Irvine and click
the red dot right above 405. Even our
sex offenders look professional (in suit)
vs. creepy looking old guys elsewhere.
Suburbs rule man.
\_ Damn.... So child molester count has now
become a city vs. suburb troll. How about
we don't *ever* let child molesters in public?
The NIMBYism is ridiculous.
\_ I'd like to see a link for that. Anyway, the
VAST majority of child molestation is done by
realitives.
relatives.
\_ And where do those relatives live?
\_ In the suburbs, obviously. All bad
people ive in suburbs.
\_ Not all bad people, just a
disproportionate number of them.
\_ Hey, are you the same guy that claims the government takes out
a majority of his take home pay? I just wanna know because this
line of confused thinking sounds suspicious to me...
\_ No that is not me but I do agree with most of what dimwit
has to say. |
| 2008/2/19-21 [Transportation/Car] UID:49181 Activity:nil |
2/18 http://www.theatlassolution.com/how-to-win-money Recessionistas getting you down? Underwater on your mortgage? Wear an "I Support the Economy" sticker and win free cash in a New York shopping mall! Free parking thru May! \_ Reminds me of Ford's "Whip Inflation Now" buttons. <DEAD>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_inflation_now<DEAD> |
| 2008/2/16-18 [Transportation/Car] UID:49167 Activity:moderate |
2/16 LA. what a shithole.
\_ Los Angeles is the left armpit of United States.
\_ A hurricane will do that.
\_ Yes my biggest problem with LA's night club was that it was
great except... you have to drive home.
\_ It drives me batshitinsanewithbellson every time I hear someone
from LA precede a numerical freeway name with "the". The 101.
The 405. The 5. Then they move up here and keep doing it, The
101, The 280. It's unnecessary. It's a careless squandering of
words the same way they squander water and air and land
and culture.
\_ It makes sense to do so. Do you say "Take 5 freeway to 10
freeway"?
\_ No, they don't say "take the 5 freeway either. NC people say
"Take 80 to 5." SC says, "Take the 80 to the 5."
\_ Because it sounds stupid to say "Take 5 freeway". "Take
the 5" is short for "Take the 5 freeway".
\_ No, we say "Take 101 to 280" etc.
\_ But that makes no sense if you are talking about
freeways. It makes sense for "Take Highway 101 to
Highway 43" -> "Take 101 to 43" but "Take the 5
freeway" -> "Take the 5". "Take Highway 101 to 280
freeway (or even freeway 280)" doesn't sound right.
The Century freeway to the Foothill freeway, etc. is
exactly the same and you wouldn't omit "the".
\_ Who says "Take the 5 freeway?" People say "take I-5"
or, "Interstate 5." I've never heard a single person
say "take the 5 freeway." Are you a FOB?
\_ It makes me batshit crazy when I hear people say "hella" as in
"the Bay Area is hella lame for having stupid slang." |
| 2008/2/15-18 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:49161 Activity:moderate |
2/15 Dear LA hater, let's start an LA bashing thread. What is it about
LA you hate?
\_ I've had the opportunity to live in the Bay Area for 9 years
and LA 10 years. It's true that traffic jam exist in both places
but there are degrees of traffic jam. In short, below is my
experience:
I-405 jam: Mon-Sat, 7am-11am, 4pm-8:30pm REALLY bad. Bad
on weekends even at 1AM.
I-10 jam: Mon-Sat, 7am-10am West bad, 4pm-8pm East REALLY bad.
I-60 jam: similar to I-10
I-105 jam: actually pretty nice except getting to/from it sucks
I-210 jam: Mon-Sat REALLY bad near Pasadena, and unbearable
from Arcadia to 57 due to lots of new cheap homes
Bay Area in general: 7-10am kind of bad, 5-7pm kind of bad,
but at least you're moving at 30MPH.
In short, yes both areas have problems but it's a LOT worse
in LA where traffic jam can be extremely unpredictable at times.
LA traffic blows, no doubt about that.
\_ I hate all the SUV and Hummer drivers. And a lot of people are
REPUBLICANS not because they have a strong opinion on religion,
abortion, etc, but simply because they like the idea of TAX CUtS.
\_ That's called "fiscal conservatism". It is one of the
three pillars of the (R) party. Sorry if you don't
understand that all (R) are not bible thumper social
conservatives. You don't understand what a (R) is. Check.
My name is reiffin. Check.
\_ What are the three pillars? Violence, hypocrisy and
greed?
On average the people in LA are much less intelligent than the
people in N Cal. I mean, just look at the way people drive, the
the type of music they listen to, the type of modifications
they make to their cars, and their loud stereos they crank up
to increase their status symbol. Traffic sucks and while it's
a culturally diverse city, there is a lot of self segregation
amongst the ethnics (e.g. blacks vs. Koreans, whites on the
West side vs. Asians in Monterey Park, etc). Everyone's isolated
and you don't even want to talk to your next door neighbor.
I'm not even going to get into smog and traffic jam. The lack of
a centralized tech hub and the sparse density of related jobs
(e.g. immobility of jobs due to spread out geographic locations
of tech jobs) makes it a career suicide.
N Cal has plethora of startups and big companies concentrated
within 10 miles of most single family home in Sunnyvale/San
Jose/Santa Clara/etc. On the other hand the derth of tech jobs
in LA are spread out in 100 miles from Irvine to Santa Monica
to Burbank to Pasadena and even in the suburbs like San Dimas
(what kind of tech talents are you going to attract from SAN
DIMAS? What a joke!) In short LA blows and the people who live in
it are mostly ignorant dim faggots who don't know any better.
\_ A centralized tech hub isn't important to most people.
\_ obviously not the H07 CH1X
\_ Unless you are into ditzy blond girls the whole h0t ch1x aspect
of LA is overrated. Personally I could not stand the congestion
and smog. Oh, and the people are like totally superficial and
annoying.
\_ Like, totally!
\_ Or hot Mexican girls, hot Asian girls, hot Middle-Eastern
\_ Yeah what is it with all the hot PERSIAN girls
who hate to be called Iranian? I mean, their
parents came here in the 80s, they're SUPER RICH
and drive nice cars, and they're SUPER HOT.
girls, etc. However, they are all gold diggers and won't
date you unless you are rich and/or look like a model
yourself. Good for rich ugly guys, though. The superficial
\_ Agree, it's perfect for butt ugly Greek men
who look super wealthy with their cheaply
bought McMansions in the boonies.
\_ Weird. Rich attractive girls want to date rich
attractive men! How unfair is that? This is a
tragedy of the commons! We need a government
program to fix this!
\_ Well, they are attractive but not rich.
So attractive girls want to date rich
guys. That's not so odd to be sure, but
in LA it is the standard.
people live on the Westside and do not represent all of (or
even most of) LA. It's like saying the people in SF are
all superficial jocks and ditzy blondes after visiting a
bar in the Marina District. The smog is not that bad
these days, especially if you live anywhere near the
coast. I find it a non-issue. It was a big deal in the
1970s, though. Congestion sucks, but name an urban area
that is not congested, including SF and Berkeley.
\_ There are congestions everywhere. The difference between
N Cal and LA is that you don't need to drive 30 miles
at 20MPH to go to a decent AFFORDABLE suburb to "tech
hubs" in downtown LA or West Los Angeles.
\_ What is your idea of an affordable suburb in the SF
area that is under 30 miles from a tech job center?
\_ Nobody mention SAN FRANCISCO. N Cal-- San Jose,
Milpitas, etc etc.
\_ Castro Valley, Hayward, Milpitas, Union City, Dublin
\_ LA and San Diego have tons of hot cute gay asian guys and West
Hollywood rocks -- other than that SoCal sucks.
\_ I believe SF is better for this. |
| 2008/2/15-18 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:49151 Activity:high |
2/14 It took me over 2.5 hours to drive from Santa Monica to Arcadia,
a distance of 38miles, or 15MPH. What the hell is wrong with
Los Angeles and why do people actually want to live in LA? God
I can't wait to get out of this shithole the time comes.
\_ Maybe for the H07 CH1X?
\_ Dude, take the 405N to the 118 and it won't take 2.5 hours.
\_ You DUMB FUCK I will still need to get to 210 which will
FUCK IT UP as badly as I-10/I-60. FUCK YOU DUMB FUCK.
\- motd road rage!
\_ There is no traffic eastbound on the 210 between the
118 and 134. After that you are almost there and can even
take the street if you want. And if you are taking the 10
or the 60 from SM to Arcadia at any time other than the middle
of the night you are obviously the dumbfuck. You proved
it with your ridiculous 2.5 hour commute.
\_ No. 210 going through Pasadena towards Azusa is a
total suicide. You obviously haven't driven that part
in the past 5 years where there were plenty of new
homes sprawling in Azusa/Glendora making the commute
a total nightmare. !op
\_ So don't take that part of the 210 and get off in
Pasadena and take the street to Arcadia. Up until
that point (where 210 and 134 meet) there is no
eastbound traffic on the 210.
\_ Are you proposing taking big streets like
Huntington (slow slow) or side streets with
a bunch of stop signs? 15MPH on 210 is actually
faster than Huntington at stop+go @25MPH, and
faster than small streets at stop+go @15MPH.
\_ You aren't going to get to Arcadia without
doing one of either:
1) Taking the 210
2) Taking sidestreets
However, it's a small part of the overall commute.
Personally, I would take Walnut to Foothill.
\_ Why not take the 105 -> 605 and into
Arcadia the back way? Ten years ago this
would have been the fastest way, but I have
not driven in LA in a long time.
\_ This can work depending on time of day.
605 can get traffic. 118 literally
never has traffic ever that I have seen.
\_ Getting onto 118 from 405 is DUMB.
The 405/101 junction fucks everyone
one. In short, LA is one of the WORST
\_ Yes, but you aren't on it long.
Of course you know best because
your way took you 2.5 hours.
planned cities I've ever seen and
I hope it gets nuked so that we can
rebuild it from scratch. FUCK LA.
\_ You are seriously proposing turing the 33 mile trip
into a 57 mile one? Why not take the 134 East through
the Valley?
\_ Traffic. The fastest distance between two points is
not necessarily a straight line. 57 miles at 70 mph
is a lot faster than 38 miles at 15 mph.
\_ Taking your road rage to the motd?
\_ Obviously what's wrong with the LA metro area is it's got
a lot of sprawl and has crappy mass transit.
\_ All traffic problems come down to too many people in too small
an area with insufficient means of transit (all means) to get
from any arbitrary A to any B.
\_ nice tautology. so what is the implication of rail
being able to deliver five times the carrying capacity per
land unit? -tom
\_ 5x the capacity is only useful if there are 5x the number
of commuters who share a similar route and schedule.
You need to solve the real world problem and not a
theoretical one based on non-existent distributions of
commuters. A train from Pasadena to Santa Monica will
be nice, but :
1. It will make so many stops along the way it that won't
be as fast as it seems.
2. Lots of people still need a way to get from the
terminal to their jobs. What we see a lot of in LA
is people buying *TWO* cars and leaving one at each
end of the station. This creates other problems
like parking and gridlock near the stations.
\_ You're being disingenuous; cities all over the world
(including some in the U.S.) have effective rail
infrastructures that reduce congestion. -tom
\_ Rail can reduce a certain amount and most major
cities/regions have some sort of rail system. But
it is not and can not be the primary method of travel
for the majority of people no matter how much you
scream "rail! ride bike!" on the motd.
\_ Do you need me to list the counterexamples? -tom
\_ Sure, go ahead if it makes you feel better, but
no one is going to rebuild our entire country
to fit your sardine fantasy lifestyle. We are
spread out because a) most people want space
and b) life is more than living in an apartment
next to bart so I can get to work. You can't
build a rail system that allows me to get
everywhere in a reasonable time. Please
proceed by posting list of EU cities with
rail systems and insanely high density rates.
\_ Cities all over the world were not built around
the automobile. Given that much of the Western
US was what do you propose other than forcibly
relocating people to create your own utopia? At
this very moment rail does not make sense in
most of this country given the existing situation
and if you build it they may not come for
decades during which you run your rail at a
tremendous loss.
\_ I mostly agree, but if we wait for $10/gallon
gasoline first and then start building an alternate
transportation infrastructure, we are going to
be in a world of hurt. It is not a bad idea to
at least imagine what a post-auto world would
look like. Then again, maybe by then everyone
be driving electric smart cars and we can have
our suburbs and clean air to boot. But I don't
think we should count on that happening.
gasoline first and then start building an
alternate transportation infrastructure, we
are going to be in a world of hurt. It is not
a bad idea to at least imagine what a post-auto
world would look like. Then again, maybe by then
everyone be driving electric smart cars and we
can have our suburbs and clean air to boot. But
I don't think we should count on that happening.
\_ We can always drive smaller cars. Even tiny
motorcycle-like trikes or whatever I think
would be more popular than trains. The freedom
of cars is not something I think people are
going to just give up. We could regulate a
small auto weight/size for use within urban
zones. I would have no problem using tiny
vehicles as long as the safety was there.
\_ I agree. I would have a hard time
giving up the freedom of my vehicle.
I'd rather ride a motorcycle than sit
on a train with smelly people.
\_ Freeways run at a tremendous loss, too. It
would not be significantly more difficult to
put in a rail system than it is to do freeway
expansion; it certainly would be easier to do
a train crossing than the new Bay Bridge for
example. (And the new Bay Bridge won't even
increase capacity!) If we put in real
high-speed rail on the *existing* rail
right-of-ways in the Bay Area, and coordinated
it all under one agency instead of the mishmash
we have now, we'd have a fine system. It's
ridiculous to suggest that it's technically
or financially infeasible; the only problem is
politics. -tom
\_ It's financially unfeasible and I've told
you why, but you keep choosing to ignore me:
You have to keep operating the freeways at
the same time you build out the other
infrastructure and you will probably
always have to operate a major highway
system in addition to mass transit (e.g.
Autobahn in Germany). Where is the cost
savings in this? What you get is a savings
in time in exchange for the increased cost.
If that's the situation then toll roads
are a better solution because only those
whose time is most valuable are contributing.
Besides, I don't think SF is really the issue.
It's small and BART works fine for what it is
(getting people to<->from downtown). I want to
know what you do in Orange County or Ventura
where most people are not commuting to<->from a
downtown.
\_ It's not financially infeasible; it's been
done all over the world. Per
passenger-mile, trains are less expensive
than roads, so any investment you make in
trains instead of roads reduces your
overall costs. Oh and by the
\_ You are missing my point. You want
to add rail to the existing roads
infrastructure. This is a net expense.
Whether it has been done elsewhere
is irrelevant. Your suggestion will
cost taxpayers more money. I am not
debating whether it will be
beneficial or not. However, it will
be expensive because you cannot
make investments in trains
instead of roads. You will have to
make investment in trains IN
ADDITION TO roads and trains are not
cheap. How much they cost relative
to roads is not relevant because you
still need the roads.
\_ Here's a hint: A huge amount of
money will be spent on NEW ROAD
CONSTRUCTION in the Bay Area in
the next 30 years. That money
could be spent on rail instead
and provide MORE CAPACITY for the
same amount of money. -tom
\_ How much new road construction
can there be? It's pretty much
all built out. Is it enough
money to build and maintain a
rail system? How many people
will the rail serve versus the
highway? Capacity is not really
an issue.
\_ What planet are you living on?
There are lanes being added
all over the Bay Area and
they're digging a new bore
of the Caldecott. -tom
\_ Is it enough to build
and maintain a rail system?
How many people will be
served versus the highway?
\_ Yes, and more. At least,
that's true everywhere
else in the world and
there's no reason to
expect the Bay Area would
be different. -tom
\_ I challenge your
claim that more
people would be
served by spending
road expansion
funds on rail than
on roads, but if
it's true I support
your position. I
just highly doubt it.
\_ Rail serves more
passenger-miles
per dollar, more
passenger-miles per
land unit, more
passenger-miles per
energy input and
carbon output.
What other measure
would you use for
serving people? -tom
\_ Because roads are more useful than
trains. The invisible hand has
chosen freedom over socialist
utopia.
\_ Well, no, actually the U.S.
government has heavily
subsidized auto travel, while
requiring the train system
to pay for itself. If
it hadn't been for government
regulation and intervention,
U.S. cities would still have
decent rail systems. The hand
was the hand of self-interested
auto-makers, not the market.
And everywhere the government
hasn't heavily subsidized roads,
people choose trains. Not for
100% of their trips, but for
more than enough to pay off
on the investment. -tom
\_ BART doesn't pay for itself.
And when rail is installed
people don't use it if
they can avoid it. Most
people prefer to drive
if given a choice. If
rail was a good idea
then it would be able to
pay for itself. I have
no doubt that roads could pay
for themselves. In fact,
the toll roads in OC do
pay for themselves.
Maybe some day in the
future there will be so
much traffic that more
people will turn to rail
but we're not even close
to that day yet so why
bother with it? Should
we install infrastructure
for flying cars now, too?
\_ Actually, where decent
rail is installed people
do use it; do you have
evidence that they don't?
-tom
\_ Gold Line. It takes an
hour by rail to
get where it takes
20 minutes by car.
Of course you used
"decent" as a
weasel word,
because any rail
that people don't
take is clearly
not decent.
\_ Is it high speed?
No. -tom
\_ You aren't
going to have a
bullet train
serve closely
spaced stations,
are you? Your
list of
requirements is
growing.
\_ Once again
with the
strawman. -tom
way, the Bay Area was built out on rail
infrastructure. My house was built in
1916, and it's a block from what used to
be a train station. Trains went all the
way through the east bay flatlands and
through a tunnel (now closed) to the
further East Bay. Almost all of SF,
Oakland and Berkeley were built before
the advent of the single-occupant auto.
The trains are gone due to a combination
of perverse incentives and criminal
conspiracy, but it's absurd to suggest
that it's impossible to have rail transit
in the Bay Area. -tom
\_ Not impossible, but unnecessary and
expensive. And most existing development
in the Bay Area was not done based on
rail. I mean, LA was built on rail
also (Henry Huntington) but let's be
realistic about then vs. now in
terms of existing distribution of
housing, jobs, and retail. Most of
that came post-WW II and was based
on the auto.
\_ Are you interested in the facts at
all? San Francisco, Oakland, and
Berkeley all hit their population
peaks in 1950, at a time with
relatively low car ownership.
The outlying suburbs would be
much better served by high speed
rail than by, say, driving on 80
through Berkeley. -tom
\_ Served to do what exactly? Your
trains are intended for universal
transport without requiring any
auto transport for the general
population?
\_ Why do you keep coming back to
this straw man? Oh, right,
because you have no facts and
no argument. -tom
\_ LA needs more freeways!
\_ L.A. people check traffic first, then drive: http://sigalert.com
\_ We also know to stay the hell off of certain freeways at
certain times (and some all of the time) if we can help it.
My girlfriend used to manage runners for the film industry
and they rarely even took the freeways - even during the middle
of the day.
\_ Like I said it's a mystery why people fucking love to
live in LA. Smog, rude drivers, traffic. What a shithole.
\_ Because weather is overrated.
\_ I guess it depends on what's important to you. People
from small towns would say the same about SF or any
other city and people from cities scoff at people who
live in rural areas. Both have advantages, but cities
represent more opportunity. LA has a lot more going
for it than most cities in many ways. Traffic and parking
are issues, same as they are in SF and NYC. I really like
SF but to me it's very provincial compared to LA and
the weather *does* matter a lot to me.
\_ Great cities of the U.S.:
New York City, Los Angeles ... and that's about it.
\_ NYC >> SF > Chicago >> LA
\_ San Jose
\_ SF is a footnote of a city. Chicago is a great
city, but the weather is terrible. Not that the
weather in NYC is great either, but if you have
to choose then NYC has the edge.
\_ http://www.csua.org/u/ken
Who is the Global City here?
\_ No idea what that means, but on your
same web page you will see Chicago
scored 10 points and SF scored 9. In
reality that's too high, too, but I'm sure they
are lumping "Northern California" together
into "San Francisco".
\_ I totally agree. I absolutely hated LA/UCLA and couldn't
wait to move back up here.
\_ What you hated was your own situation, not the city.
\_ Actually there is some truth to this b/c I totally
did not like UCLA. But the fact that LA was always
congested, the drivers were rude and the smog did
little to help. I just can't imagine why anyone
would want to live in LA. The Bay Area is a much
nicer place to live (even Fremont).
\_ The drivers here are not rude and stupid? I want
to know where you're driving so I can drive there
too.
\_ I'm in Cupertino/SJ but I live like 2 miles
so I only take local roads during off hours
and never see anyone on the streets.
from work so I only take local roads during
off hours and never see anyone on the streets.
When I was driving to Menlo Park via 85-101,
I used to have flashbacks to the 405. Still,
I much prefer the bay area, at least the
traffic moves most of the time.
\_ You prefer the yucky fart of Prius loving hippies?
\_ To the smog and congestion of LA, yes.
\_ If you hate it so much why don't you move now? |
| 2008/2/12-14 [Transportation/Car] UID:49125 Activity:nil |
2/12 "Man's '91 pickup passes the 1M-mile mark"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_fe_st/odd_million_mile_truck
What's the big deal? Wasn't there a Volvo that reached 2M-mile mark
on its original engine?
\_ People like round numbers. |
| 2008/2/6-7 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:49083 Activity:nil |
2/6 Does it cost a lot to replace tires on a Prius? Do the low-rolloing-
resistance tires cost more than ordinary tires?
\- according to my prius associates, it was $600 to replace theirs.
\_ http://priuschat.com/forums/fuel-economy/41166-tire-replacement-dilemma-2.html
\_ http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/34100-tires-michelin-destiny-s.html
\_ http://preview.tinyurl.com/yvl7zt (priuschat.com)
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yv6l4c (priuschat.com)
Get the ComforTreads, comfy and nice, just 2-3MPG less. |
| 2008/1/24-31 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:49005 Activity:nil |
1/24 Some hybrid car models shut down the engine when the car is not moving.
How do you warm up such a car in the morning?
\_ the car does it for you. |
| 2008/1/8-11 [Transportation/Car] UID:48908 Activity:nil |
1/8 "Cell phone users tie up traffic: study"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080102/us_nm/usa_phones_traffic_dc
Note that the subjects in the study are already using hands-free
devices, not holding the phones with their hands.
\_ Even hands free cell drivers are obviously worse drivers. It
makes sense. A conversation with a phone takes a lot more
concentration (voice only means less information being passed
so you need to pay closer attention) and the person you are
talking to doesn't have any cues as to when to halt the
conversation so you can pay attention to navigating that
ton+ of steel.
\_ Agreed. I feel the same when I use my Bluetooth headset while
driving. So I mostly limit my conversation to "Hi. Whatsup?
I'm driving right now. Can I call you back?" -- OP
\_ I have sort of the opposite problem--I turn into a bad
conversationalist when I'm driving. "What? Sorry, didn't
hear that...", long pauses when I don't say anything...
It's just better not to drive and talk at the same time
if your situation is at all demanding. |
| 2007/12/25-2008/1/4 [Transportation/Car] UID:48859 Activity:low |
12/25 Are NHTSA crash tests reliable? A crappy car like the 1991 Ford Escort
without any airbags got 5-star ratings for both driver's side and
passenger's side!! (http://www.safercar.gov/Cars/1151.html Could
that be true!!?? (In contrast, the 2000 Honda Accord with two airbags
got only 4 stars each.)
\_ Let's just say that throughout the history of government
run programs, government agencies are most effective during
the first decade of their creation. |
| 2007/12/21-29 [Transportation/Car] UID:48847 Activity:nil |
12/21 Anybody know of a web site that list all the cars and their final
assembly location? I cannot believe how hard it is to find this
information online. Car makers do not list it on their web sites
and it's very hard to find this information. Thanks.
\_ It's a bit tedius, but http://edmunds.com does list manufacturing
locations. You have to pick a car, model, and navigate to
"Reviews & Specs" -> Specs |
| 2007/12/18-20 [Transportation/Car] UID:48827 Activity:nil |
12/18 I just learned that there is such a thing as a car "roof scoop."
Basically, an air intake you put on the roof. They all appear
to be fake. Is there any car that actually uses a roof scoop to do
something useful?
\_ Yes. One of the race cars I drive has one. When I drove it at
Altamont this summer, we were grateful for every last bit of
ventilation we could get. I understand it's quite common on rally
cars. |
| 2007/12/14-20 [Transportation/Car] UID:48802 Activity:nil |
12/13 Fake parking tickets story:
http://www.csua.org/u/k8u (SF Gate)
\_ Wasn't someone on the motd complaining about a quasi legal parking
ticket? Here's more:
http://www.marinij.com/ci_7706352
\_ This is actually more relevant to that Regional Parking Inc.
thing than I previously thought. Thank you; I'm definitely _not_
paying them now. |
| 2007/12/11-14 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:48784 Activity:high |
12/11 Are vehicle crash test results reliable? Looking at the crash test
video at http://www.ConsumerReports.org/crashtest it looks like the
dummies bounces around randomly. Is it reliable to conclude, based on
one test run, that a certain vehicle is or is not safe during crashes?
\_ I believe they do multiple test runs. Between the auto, legal,
insurance and medical industries, car wrecks are a multi-billion
dollar event every year. They can afford to wreck a few. Instead
of looking at a single video clip and deciding for yourself based
on dummies bouncing around, check out the final stats for each
vehicle. Or just buy a large SUV if you just want to be sure.
\_ Thanks. I already have an SUV. I'm trying to buy a small car
to burn less gas. -- OP
\_ If you want 'safe' you can't drive a small car. "Kept'n!
I kanna break tha lawsuv physics!"
\_ If mass was all there were to it, then pickup trucks
would be the safest vehicles around, but they aren't.
Nowadays, it is more important to have good braking
sytems, full surround air bags, etc. Mass helps, but
is not the only answer. Don't SUVs roll over alot and
kill their occupants that way?
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/safety/articles/106748/article.html
\_ There is this paragraph:
"Clearly, larger cars tend to have fewer fatalities.
But remember to put these figures into perspective.
These figures are comparing the differences **per
million registered vehicles**."
What is it saying? I don't get it.
What does it mean by putting the figures into
perspective? I don't get it.
\_ I think they mean that the most important piece
of safety equipment is an alert, capable driver.
The smallest car, driven by a skillful driver
is safer than a huge SUV driven by an idiot. |
| 2007/12/7-13 [Transportation/Car] UID:48762 Activity:nil |
12/7 Parked in the Kwik Way parking lot to do some local shopping, and
came back to find a sort of ticket on my car: "Invoice Parking Fee
Imposed." The ticket specifically says "This parking charge is not
issued by the City." Has anyone here ever had one of these, and do
I have to pay or can I just blow it off? It has my license plate
number on it. The issuing company is http://regionalparking.com.
\_ I've heard both sides. Some said that they can't really do anything
unless you park there again (get it towed) while others say they
can sick collection agencies on you, possibly ruining your credit
\_ [sic]
record.
\_ Sounds to me like you trespassed on their property and now they
want you to pay. How much is the fine?
\_ $35.
\_ Answering my own question: jury's out on whether they can pursue
the charges. Some information:
http://csua.org/u/k7b (EastBay Express, look for Gordon story)
http://csua.org/u/k7f (SFGate)
I think I'll take the risk. |
| 2007/12/2-6 [Transportation/Car] UID:48731 Activity:high |
12/2 Is there a big difference in quality of gas sold between brand name and
generic gas stations?
\_ Not enough to pay extra for it.
\_ Supposedly not, but my car runs like crap when I put cheap gas
in it. I prefer Chevron if given a choice. I go out of my way
to avoid Arco/BP if I can help it and I never buy true generic
gas (like Costco or Thrifty or whatever). Next time you buy
something at the grocery store compare the ingredients in the name
brand with those in generic brand. Sometimes they are identical,
though not usually. Once in while the generic is actually superior.
Most of the time the generic is inferior. Why would you assume
any differently about any other product, including gas?
\_ So, are you saying that he bas sold at BP brabded gas stations
is not as good as say Shell?
\_ It seems not based on how my car runs. YMMV.
\_ You can STFW, but gas stations are all basically supplied the
same gas (you can't really build a budget oil refinery),
with the difference being the proprietary additives.
\_ Yes, and the additives make a difference. So, too, might
storage (lots of gunk in the tank) or other variables.
\_ Well, now, that's not so clear. But you certainly hope
they do if you're willing to pay for them.
\_ I go by what my manufacturer (BMW) recommends:
http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html
Notice BP and Exxon are not recommended. If you do
research you will see Chevron (who holds a lot of
patents for this stuff) and Shell (supposedly just
released a new product) recommended over and over
again. I also read that the EPA uses Chevron for
its tests, going so far as to bring it in especially
from Kentucky because it's not sold in Ohio.
\_ Who operates this web site?
\_ The gas companies who are members.
\_ That speaks for its credibility.
\_ Huh? The gas companies that choose to meet
the standards set by certain auto
makers call themselves "Top Tier".
Companies may meet the standards and
not participate or they can choose not
to meet the standards. Participation is
voluntary, but that doesn't mean the
standards and participants are not credible.
\_ Is there more background behind this
certification? A website run by
Denny, Jim (ynnedj@aol.com) seems
slightly less than professional.
\_ Why? Do you know him?
If you look at the address of the
registered company (National
Products Group in Tulsa, OK) you
will see it is QuikTrip.
\_ AOL is so early 90s and screams
one-man job, and incompetent
one-man job at that. I don't see
how you connect QuikTrip to this
outfit, nor why I should consider
QuikTrip to be an unbiased source.
\_ Look at the postal address. Who
said QuikTrip needs to be
unbised? I don't understand
your skepticism. A few
automakers joined together
and came up with some
standards. Gas companies
(including QuikTrip) can
choose to meet them or not
in a self-certifying process
that does involve random
3rd party testing. Exxon
claims they meet the standard
but they don't want the hassle
of certifying. That's fine,
so they aren't on the list.
The companies that *are* on
the list meet the automakers'
standards. Other ones may or
may not. What are you
concerned about here?!
\_ It think there's a few issues.
1) use of alcohol in the gas: most stations now use up to
10% ethanol, but some don't (e.g. I think Chevron often
doesn't). Ethanol gives you worse mileage and runs worse.
\_ I thought the ethanol percent was mandated by law?
\_ I don't know, I guess maybe it will be. Which is
FUCKING STUPID of course. Fuck US agribusiness
subsidies.
2) turnover. sometimes low-priced popular gas stations are
actually better because the gas doesn't sit around as
long when they sell more than the expensive place across
the street.
3) proprietary additives, which I can't really comment on
(Techron, blah blah) |
| 2007/11/29-12/6 [Transportation/Car] UID:48713 Activity:low |
11/29 http://landroller.com The next generation skates on land. Skates (50s) -> Rollerblade (80s) -> Landroller (21st century) \_ see also http://freelineskates.com \_ Looks pretty rough on the ankles. BTW, in-line skates existed before quad skates--they were modeled after ice skates. \_ how is this rougher on the ankles than say, rollerblades? \_ With the support point off to the side, I'd expect a torque, but maybe the support boot puts that on the leg instead of the ankle. \_ The point where the wheels make contact with the ground is below the center of the feet, not to the sides. So this should be no different from rollerblades as far as torque is concerned. \_ Uh no. The point that they connect to the foot is on the side, so regardless of where they go after that, it's the side of the foot that's holding you up. \_ Wait, now that I look more closely, it looks like the the support point is in the middle. My bad. \_ So, does this fact support of dispute the idea that it is better/worse for your ankle -not a skater, no idea what all this means \_ I retract my concerns about ankles. \_ I thought so too, but the testimonials page says otherwise: "the out-of-line design seems to take the strain offf my ankles [no wobbles]..." \_ Look at that hot chick in white bikini and white helmet!! \_ Look at that hot busty chick in white bikini and white helmet!! Er ...... ankle? What? What did you say? |
| 2007/11/11-15 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:48602 Activity:nil |
11/11 "A century ago, automobiles were viewed as friends of the environment;
they were much cleaner than horses. In 1900, for example, New York
City horses deposited over 2.5 million pounds of manure and 60,000
gallons of urine on the streets. About 15,000 dead horses also had
to be removed from the city streets each year. The motorcar promised
to eliminate such animal waste."
Save the environment, drive a car!
http://www.commondreams.org/views/070900-104.htm
\_ Why didn't anybody win the Nobel Prize for taking carriages around,
and lecturing on the Dangers of the Coming Horse Shit Crisis?
\_ There was no Nobel Peace Prize back in 1900.
\_ It's a good thing our society found a way to recognize
prescient Malthusians like Al Gore. Without them, we would
all be drowning in horse shit now.
\_ Cars today are still much cleaner than horses today. They are just
not clean enough. |
| 2007/11/7-9 [Transportation/Car] UID:48567 Activity:nil |
11/6 GM lost $39B dollars.
\_ Damn! Someone needs to get at least a $500 million severance
package for that! Where do I sign up?
\_ Clearly, there's a libural conspiracy to increase public
transportation and to increase oil prices. GM lost $39B
thanks to liburals. |
| 2007/11/7-9 [Transportation/Car] UID:48563 Activity:nil |
11/7 Why are there so many police pursuits in S Cal?
\_ I was going through Oakland when some guy being chased by 6 cops
tried to hide in traffic. It was just like TV. Except for the
part where his car didn't fly off a cliff and explode in mid-air.
\_ Huge freeways, poor public transport, and a lot of meth.
\_ You're missing blacks and hispanics. -racist but true |
| 2007/11/1-5 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:48516 Activity:moderate |
11/1 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/31/BAUIT3FBN.DTL&tsp=1 "Each car costs about $15,000 to convert. The program is being funded by the California Energy Commission and the state Air Resources Board." God damn idiots. \_ Dude it's a test. Those things cost more. Moving to all electrical power means you have centralized power production. Which means less waste, less emissions and less spillage. (If you fill up a tank of gas and spill a few drops that's as much pollution as burning the whole thing given our good smog regulations.) In the scheme of things 10 cars at 15k each is nothing. Start caring about stuff that matters. \_ laugh.. batteries are the dirtiest things on the planet it also takes a lot of energy to make batteries, to make eletricity, tons of nasty chemicals to make computer chips to control these things. \_ Can you point me to research on the effects of batteries and chips in aggregate vs. the effects of fossil fuels in aggregate? It's a nice bit of devil's advocacy there, but where's the beef? -dans \_ Chips? Or Crisps? Or French Fries? \_ Freedom Fries \_ That's a huge cost. There are much more cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. There's no reason to test this, it's nothing new: it's just using really expensive batteries. Total waste. It's 100 cars, not 10. How about just simply buying modern, cost-effective, efficient small cars with conventional diesel technology? Offer people high trade-in deals for their old polluting cars. \_ No, it's not a huge cost. Seriously. The tests are expensive. The batteries are expensive. Tech goes down in price. And read the article. 10 cars. 100 families. 8 weeks each. \_ Ok fine, I didn't see that. Still an utter waste of effort if you ask me. What will we learn from this program? Why should CA funds be used for this rather than say Toyota's? \_ Because it is in California's long range interest. As I said, the money involved is pretty damn minor. Start actually looking at what is spent where and start caring about things that actually matter. Let me give you a hint. In general state funded grants are a benefit to society. \_ Really? Where do I sign up for my grant? I would like to benefit society. \_ You welcome to write all the grant applications you want. However you'd better have a good explanation of what the money will be spent on, as grant fraud is frowned upon. Oh wait, you are just talking out of your ass aren't you? \_ Gee being frowned upon would be horrible. Anyway, I'd like to hereby frown upon this hybrid grant. \_ I frown upon your frowning upon their frowning upon the general frowning upon. \_ Grant proposal to give me lots of cash to provide benefits to society: You (the gvt) give me (the recipient) lots of other people's money you don't care about (tax payers) to live a life of luxury and slack. Goal: one less grumpy tax payer. Improvement to society is lessening of grumpiness among citizens. Why do you think my grant proposal requires me to commite fraud? You're so cynical. commit fraud? You're so cynical. \_ for that same extra $15k you could buy a small electric NEV like say Xebra to use instead of the prius for 'short trips'. And then still have the prius. \_ Yes, if the tech never gets cheaper than $15k it will never be a real solution. However the tech WILL get cheaper than $15k. \_ or 100 cheap bikes! And none of them would use any gas or electricity at all. RIDE BIKE!!! \_ You're an anti-environmental terrorist! If you truly cared about the environment you wouldn't ride a bike. You'd walk. Do you have any idea how much energy went into designing, marketing, producing, and shipping your bike? Then there will be repairs and the entire industry behind the spare parts mill. And then you'll eventually get a new one and the cycle of death continues! If you loved this planet you would walk. \_ Are you walking bare-foot, or are you walking with shoes and socks that also required energy for designing, marketing, producing, and shipping? \_ Duh, no of course not. That's why your feet will get tougher over a short period of time. Before the modern era you think cavemen wore Nike's? Sheesh, get over your big bad modern environmentally destructive self. Ride Bike! if you want to rape the Earth. USE FEET! if you're at one with the planet's life energies. \_ everyone already has shoes and clothing so it's an overlap \_ The more you walk, the faster the shoes wear out. -- PP \_ ditto with bikes but less parts to repair \_ But which one costs less per mile? \_ probably the bike, if you're trying to optimize for cost/resource saving. A cheesy racing bike is expensive to maintain, but a good touring bike is quite cheap. -tom \_ earth hater. \_ The more you live, the faster you will die. \_ the more you drive, the less intelligent you are. - Miller, the Repo Man. \_ http://www.edrivesystems.com has been building the same thing. \_ yes, but in Los Angeles. \_ yes, but ONLY in Los Angeles. |
| 2007/10/16-17 [Transportation/Car] UID:48336 Activity:moderate |
10/16 My car's gas light came on as I approached my company's parking
lot this morning. My home is 14 mils away. Do I have enough
gas to drive to the gas station near my house? It's all
highway. I hate to drive around my company after work to look
for gas station... Thanks!
\_ If you have a newer car (>1999) it will tell you approximately how
many miles 'range' you have left and you don't have to guess.
You can probably make it 14 miles, but I'd stop and get gas.
Use this Internet thing to find the closest gas station.
\_ Or the low-tech way -- stop at a grocery store and ask.
\_ most cars have quite a bit of gas left when the low fuel indicator
light comes on. however it varies from car to car. Check your
manual to find out. From my experience, you should have plenty
of gast to make 14 miles, unles you waste it along the way (stop'n'
go traffic, running AC, etc). But, as always, YMMV -ERic
\_ My gas light in my 2003 toyota corolla goes on when 10 gallons
of the 12 or 13 gallon tank are used up. Assuming that last
2-3 gallons are accessible, I have between 30-90 miles of range.
of the 13.2 gallon tank are used up. Assuming that last
3.2 gallons are accessible, I have between 30-90 miles of range.
\_ The ONLY thing that really matters is your oil level.
Check your oil, and if you have enough, go ahead and drive.
If not, then you'll get a piston melt-down and you'll need
to spend $3000 to replace then engine.
\_ Cars tend not to move too well when they don't have gas.
\_ Oh you're right, I thought he op was refering to the
"CHECK ENGINE" light. Nevermind. Yeah in most Jap cars
you've got AT LEAST 25miles left when the light is on. |
| 2007/10/14-17 [Transportation/Car] UID:48310 Activity:nil |
10/13 http://youtube.com/watch?v=1l_fy0NgR_A Skating on Nissan Qashqai Commercial. Pretty interesting. \_ I like to imagine car commercials with their subject replaced by a Yugo. Usually it still works as the ad has nothing specific to the subject. Cars driving across water, cars sliding slow motion through mud, someone driving it around corners with a grin on their face, driving it at night in a city with techno music playing, skating on it, successful-looking businessman driving it... all works with a Yugo. \_ A Yugo would fall apart halfway through most of those shots. \_ But imagine the guy taking the tight corner in a Yugo with a grin on his face as it falls apart around him and he's left in the grass with just a seat belt and steering wheel, like bad slap stick. |
| 2007/9/28-10/3 [Transportation/Car] UID:48209 Activity:high |
9/28 Remember, Thugs on Wheels today! Be sure to be armed if you're driving
in SF.
\_ Ride bike!
\_ if you are driving, you already are armed with a perfectly effective
weapon.
\_ So if it is acceptable for a bike rider to smash my windows and
break my car in other ways, is it ok for me to get out of the
car and as a pedestrian, kick in their spokes and break their
handlebars? As a pedestrian I'm far more green than any bike
rider. Just curious. ;-)
\_ The first is not acceptable. It follows, then, that the second
is also not acceptable.
\_ The last time it came up on the motd all sorts of people
defended smashing a minivan. You think the smashers and
the motd posters were wrong?
\_ The last time it came up, all sorts of people pointed
out that the Matier+Ross version of the story made
no sense, and that what obviously happened is that
the driver drove into a group of bicyclists and hit
one and they retaliated. That's not the same as
saying it's OK to smash a minivan. -tom
\_ Where "all sorts of people" = tom
\_ Assuming your version is correct: do you think it
was OK for the bikers to retaliate (your word) and
smash the minivan?
\_ I think as long as there is still the threat of
dangerous and violent behavior on the part of
the driver, the victims are justified in
fighting back.
fighting back. -tom
\_ *laugh* Thanks. I've had a long day but you've
just brought some unintended humor to it. I'm
sure that soccer mom came into the city with
killin' on her mind and blood on the wheels!
Yeehaww, *squick!* another biker down, Paw!
\_ Yeah, that's what the Thugs say.
\_ You didn't get breast fed enough, right?
\_ Perhaps, but it's not terribly selective. If someone is smashing
in your windshield, it'd be nice to target him, rather than
everyone in front of you.
\_ You got beat up a lot in high school and still feel the
need to prove to the world how hard you are, right?
\_ Nope.
\_ Huh?
\_ I would think that if they were smashing in your windshield,
it was because you had targeted them and hit a little too hard.
\_ If you hit them with a car they're not getting back up so
easily.
\_ one of the points of Critical Mass is that there's more
than one of them.
\_ that is why bumpers are wide. squish.
\_ If you plan on coming to The City to commit crimes, please stay
in your own community and do it there. Thanks. -SF Citizen
\_ yeah, especially all you people parking illegally and speeding
on the freeways.
\_ Yes, we *would* like Critical Mass to stay out of SF. Defending
yourself against thugs on wheels isn't a crime. Nor is carrying
a weapon if you have a permit.
\_ Oh you are SO hard. Can I please have sex with you right now?
\_ yeah, so car drivers should beware when they do stupid shit
like try to drive through a pack of cyclists.
\_ which gives us the right to smash their minivans attacking
old people and moms with kids who clearly came in to the
city looking for trouble. next time we'll kill their dogs
too. stay off our streets, we own them! woot!
\_ actually, yes, I think it is completely reasonable
to take physical action against someone who
intentionally ran over multiple people and is trying
to run over more (as was captured on video in the
Berkeley case). -tom
\_ Oh you mean that edited video where you have to really
imagine hard to see that? Only the real kool-aid
drinkers came to that conclusion.
\_ The video was not edited. The van wound up
on top of two bikes with the van wheel off the
ground.
But, forget it, you're just trolling. -tom
\_ The report said, "gave us this edited video."
Which flavor do you prefer, grape or cherry?
\_ The video of the incident is continuous.
-tom
\_ So you've seen the part where the car
enters the group, and the part where the
biker smashes the windshield? Link
please.
\_ http://youtube.com/watch?v=bo4MpO3kBRE
The windshield smashing wasn't captured
by the video because the camera was
pointed elsewhere, but it clearly
happened after the van driver
intentionally ran over two bicyclists
in front of him. -tom
\_ "Get em! Get em now! We've got
soccer practice back in the burbs
in 45 minutes!"
\_ Nice dodge. -tom
\_ Wasn't it a Ford?
\_ Do *you* actually live in San Francisco? -SFC
\_ This all reminds me of the toxic comments on the articles on
http://SFGate.com . There is no way 90 percent of those people live
anywhere near San Francisco. |
| 2007/9/21-24 [Transportation/Car] UID:48148 Activity:nil |
9/20 This couldn't possibly go wrong
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/nyregion/18mbrfs-REEF.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
(dumping subway cars to create artificial reefs)
\_ This is a good example of how the carbon credit system is kind of
a scam at this point; there's no regulation, so companies can get
paid "carbon credit" money for dumping iron in the ocean because
it might encourage plankton growth, and other sorts of questionable
tactics. -tom
\_ Dumping iron filing rust did indeed create a plankton bloom in
iron-poor areas. The advantage with plankton is that when they
die, they sink to the bottom, sequestering away the carbon.
Unfortunately, who knows what else it might cause. Oh, and of
course methane and water vapor are far worse than CO2.
\_ Well, that's the thing; the things done in the name of
carbon reduction haven't necessarily been researched in terms
of the entire cost/benefit. Yet companies can get money
for doing environmentally dubious things. -tom
\_ Actually, dumping iron filing rust did indeed create a plankton
bloom in iron-poor areas. The advantage with plankton is that
when they die, they sink to the bottom, sequestering away the
carbon. Unfortunately, who knows what else it might cause. Oh,
and of course methane and water vapor are far worse than CO2.
\_ It worked great with tires! |
| 2007/9/19-22 [Transportation/Car] UID:48113 Activity:low 78%like:48100 |
9/18 http://www.life-act.com Rather than getting a taser (which requires background check which I will spray instead. Totally kick ass. \_ Uh, hostile liquid projectile that shoot out at 270MPH is not safe, is it? At that speed, a liquid is as hard as concrete is for law enforcement only; this thing is too deadly for civilian use. \_ Nice liberal sheep - must let others protect me from me. \_ I once accidentally pepper sprayed myself. Just the littlest bit. That stuff fucking SUCKS. \_ How did you accidentally pepper spray yourself? \_ Ooh, what's this on your keychain? Hey look it has a button like thing on it! Tap button. Curse a lot. What can I say, sometimes I'm not too bright. \_ I was pepper sprayed by police once in a night club parking lot...that shit hurts! -sky \_ Why were you sprayed? Were you acting like a jerk? \_ I suppose. Someone parked his M3 in front of my friends car preventing us from leaving, so we all picked up his car to move it, then the other people came out and there was a huge fight. I couldnt open my eyes for about an hour. \_ Why wouldn't you pass a background check? Are you sure you should be carrying pepper spray? \_ Uh, speeding tickets? Two unpaid parking tickets? And a domestic dispute on record. And also a restraining order but that was 10 years ago so I'm not sure how much they'll take it into account. What do you guys think? -op \_ I think 10 years ago is long enough. I assume you are sure you won't go ballistic with it, right? -pp \_ No of course not! I just need to pay someone a visit that's all. Thanks for your advice I'll go ahead and pay $10 for the background check and let you know how it goes. |
| 2007/9/17-18 [Transportation/Car] UID:48087 Activity:nil |
9/16 Buick commercial I just saw:
"Subtitle: Faster than Mercedes 280"
"Subtitle: More spacious than BMW 318i"
"Subtitle: Cheaper than Lexus LS430"
"Subtitle: More options than Altima"
This is such a stupid commercial, why the hell would anyone buy
a Buick?
\_ Ask someone in China.
\_ Because it's faster than Mercedes 280, more spacious than
BMW 318i, cheaper than Lexus LS430, and comes with more
options than Altima? :^)
\_ Dumb cars attract dumb people.
Case in point FORD TRUCKS BIGGER LOCKNUT THAN TOYOTA
TUNDRA, THINK BIG THINK BOLD!!! and Mustang, all muscle
no brain. |
| 2007/9/15-22 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:48080 Activity:nil |
9/15 I have a rc car from about 2 -3 years ago, the "Vertigo Super Top".
The battery pack is shot and I can't find the manufacturer or
any hobby store online that sells a 4x2 hump pack. Are there any
rc fans here who can point me to a reputable hobby shop, online
instructions for building my own, or anything else that might get
my car going again? Thanks!
\_ link:www.cheapbatterypacks.com
\_ They didn't have a pre-build that fits and I'm not sure enough
of what I need to have them custom build it. I found the
manufacturer in China and sent them an email. Maybe I'll get
lucky and they've still have some sitting around. Thanks.
\_ An RC fan friend of mine says http://stormerhobbies.com is good if this
is for racing, otherwise, he recommends ebay.
\_ I ended up buying a second car of the same model from ebay
which is supposed to be new-in-box with the charger and more
batteries. With the new charger I hope I'll be able to charge
the old batteries and have 2 cars. If not, I've got the one
car at least. Thanks and tell your friend thanks, too. |
| 2007/9/12-14 [Transportation/Car, Industry/Jobs] UID:48033 Activity:nil |
9/12 Woz sells 350Z to raise money for Cal
http://www.hotswap.com/products/view/13e9b64bad82 |
| 2007/9/8-10 [Transportation/Car] UID:47954 Activity:nil |
9/8 Any good comments regarding the new VW Rabbit? Or should I
avoid VW altogether (due to previous VW bashing on motd)? |
| 2007/9/1-3 [Transportation/Car, Health] UID:47870 Activity:moderate |
8/31 People of Earth, I encourage everyone to to report
handicapped parking placard abusers. I really loathe them
http://www.handicappedfraud.org/index.php
\_ I know someone who, as a result of an old car injury, often is
in debilitating pain when he walks. He's a bit of a stoic and
you probably would never realize how much pain an extra block or
two of walking can cause him. He has a handicapped placard, and,
when things are bad, uses it. Assholes like you have screamed at
him for being a horrible person abusing the system. So please,
go fuck yourself.
\_ If he can put up with debilitating pain, he can put up with
people screaming at him.
\_ There are much more important things to worry about, like the
gay people problem, tax rate too high and I don't want to support
poor and lazy people, and state sponsored abortion clinics.
\- the individual case isnt a big deal, but the aggregate
\_ that's hysterical- the "gay people problem?" Is the problem
that they exist? Because you may have just become an entertaining
dinosaur that people torment for fun.
that they exist? Because you may have just become an
entertaining dinosaur that people torment for fun.
\-exist the individual case isnt a big deal, but the aggregate
makes a difference. i believe in SF there are more handicapped
placards issued than there are parking meters ... not that
those number should be magically related, but the number is
SF seems crazy: around 50k for a city of 750k pop. i think the
city should spend more resource on this compared to say street
sweeping tickets. serious question: do you think anybody over
say 75 or 300lbs should be able to say "i am old/fat, give me a
handicapped placard"? --not OP
\_ Passable troll there... but really, people who park
all day in the handicap zone with a placard they dont
deserve anger me more than abortion, homos, libtards,
and YOU. |
| 2007/8/24-27 [Transportation/Car] UID:47745 Activity:low |
8/24 If only I had an extra $250k sitting around:
http://www.motorauthority.com/index.php?s=wiesman
\_ If only you had an extra several million sitting around.
If you had only a spare $250K and spent it on a fucking car
your patheticness would be legion.
\_ If it was an extra 250k it would be "extra". Maybe your idea
of extra is different than mine.
\_ I just have a lot better things to blow my extra 250k on than
a car. Several million dollars worth of better things even.
\_ Oh yeah? Like what? I'm going to drive my $250k around
my island. What are you doing with yours? |
| 2007/8/23 [Transportation/Car] UID:47717 Activity:nil 73%like:47712 |
8/22 There are car insurance companies. There are car insurance
brokers. Is there any reason for me to go through a broker (and
Why not just go directly to the car insurance
company site? Opinions?
\_ I guess it's the same as mortgage companies vs. mortgage brokers. |
| 2007/8/22-23 [Transportation/Car] UID:47712 Activity:kinda low 73%like:47717 |
8/22 There are car insurance companies. There are car insurance
brokers. When I go to the car insurance broker office, she
pulls up a little web interface to search for rates.
Is there any reason for me to go through a broker (and
per her fee)? Why not just go directly to the car insurance
company site? Opinions?
\_ I guess it's the same as mortgage companies vs. mortgage brokers. |
| 2007/8/21-23 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:47679 Activity:low |
8/21 Wow, all I can say is "fugly"!
http://jalopnik.com/cars/new-cars/2008-honda-accord-revealed-291565.php
\_ Interesting. The Accord and Camry did a flip-flop. It used to
be the case that the Accord appealed to the younger crow. The
new Camry has an aggressive style to appeal to the younger
generation while pushing older crowd to their Lexus lines,
while the new Accord has gotten a much more mature look.
Interesting.
\_ It seems to me that for more than a decade, Camry's look has
always been following the Lexus sedan's look from one or two
model year earlier.
\_ V-6 6-sp manual coupe gets 16/25mpg. Gee, this is worse than my
2004 Toyota Sienna 8-passsenger van!
\_ As usual the couple looks much better than the sedan.
\_ Will people think I am gay if I buy a mini? -- ilyas
\_ Mark Wahlberg drove one in The Italian Job, and he played John
Holmes in Boogie nights. |
| 2007/8/20-21 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:47674 Activity:nil |
8/20 http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1771556 |
| 2007/8/19-20 [Transportation/Car, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:47659 Activity:high |
08/20 I drive a 90s Japanese automobile, and I live in the
bay area, where the weather just isn't that bad. What
sort of motor oil should I be using?
\_ weather is irrelevant in the Bay Area where temperature
and humidity swing are minimal. More importantly, you should
be CONSISTENT with the motor oil you use (stick to one brand,
one type, and change on a consistent schedule). 90s car require
oil change every 3K miles. A decent brand 10W/30 does the job. |
| 2007/8/7-12 [Transportation/Car] UID:47556 Activity:nil |
8/7 Servlet question. Let's say my servlet creates a session, and
after timeout the servlet engine automatically invalidates the
session. Is there a way to hook up the invalidation so that it'll
call something like "MyOwnDataStructure.cleanup(session)" when
the session has timed-out/invalidated? Thanks.
\_ servlet spec 2.3 has HttpSessionListener interface. Then it's
up to the servlet engine to how you register this listener. |
| 2007/7/30-8/3 [Transportation/Car] UID:47472 Activity:nil |
7/30 Wiimote used to measure car's performance:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3362586&page=1 |
| 2007/7/24-28 [Transportation/Car] UID:47403 Activity:low |
7/24 Looking to buy a new car. I'm going to buy a luxury car this time
to replace my 10 year old Toyota Camry. Thinking of spending around
40-50K. I'm looking at Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, and Acura. I know the
reliability and quality of Lexus and Acura cars, but I don't have much
info on Mercedes or BMW. Have their quality improved in the past
10 years? I keep hearing about problems with the lower end MB or
BMW cars like the C class or the 3 series. What about the MB E series
or the BMW 5 series? Also I've been reading the discussion forum
messages on Lexus RX and GS series. A lot of people have problems
with rattle noises or other small problems. How much should one
believe those stories? Can one dismiss those messages as coming from
vocal minorities? I really liked the GS series but some of the
messages I read are worrisome. Thanks.
\_ Get a Lexus SC430. Why? Because if you're looking for a luxury
car and have had your oh-so-boring family car for a while,
chances are, you've been married for a while, had kid(s), and
stopped having sex. You're looking for a luxury car to spice up
your life, ya? Get a SC430, you're guaranteed to get attention
from mature women (late 20s) and upwards.
\_ They should all be ok. I think safety, handling, looks, resale
value all outweigh reliability concerns with these cars. I would
expect MB to have more problems related to electronic doodads
(based on hearsay).
\_ Fuck Lexus. get this
http://www.dovebid.com/assets/display.asp?ItemID=xjd3207
\_ Which luxury car model has the best gas mileage?
\_ I have a 2006 Lexus IS350 and a 2000 BMW 3 series. The Lexus needed
a new transmission after just 3 months of driving. It had 2800 miles
on it. It's a nice car that gets good mileage, but it's
worrisome to have such a major problem so soon. The BMW hasn't
had such a major problem, but it has had a litany of small
problems like window regulators. I have put 100K miles on it.
Stay away from Audi and MB. That leaves Acura. Only problem with
Acura is that it's a rather boring car. Is this a car you are going
to keep another 10 years or a car you will get rid of once the
warranty expires?
\_ Just stay away from MB. I know a foreman who runs a dealership
repair shop and according to him, they're crap. They have too
many electrical problems.
\_ They were the best cars made 15-20 years ago, but not anymore.
My mother-in-law has an S-class and my sister's bf has a CLS
and they constantly have problems. Latest is that the air
conditioning stopped working. In a 2004 car! It was fixed
under warranty, but what a PITA. What happens when the
warranty runs out?!
\_ Then you pay $2k to fix it just like any other car.
\_ Hah! Dude, you pay $2K to fix something small and like
$6K to fix a real problem - and there are going to be
more of them than for the average car. I once took my
Accord in and had everything done to it - water pump,
radiator, CV boot, plugs, brakes, timing belt, etc. It
cost $1K. For a BMW you will spend $450 just to fix a
window regulator. I am sure Mercedes is the same. A
typical car is not $1-2K every time you bring it in,
but a BMW or Mercedes sure is.
\_ In the last few years, MB has been battling it out with Volkswagen
for the very lowest spot in the Consumer Reports Reliabilty survey.
BMW is better. My 2000 MB E320 has been uber reliable (now at
84,000 miles) but I treat my cars very gently. Note that 2000 was
the one of the last years MB had good reliability. Both BMW and
Lexus are going to get clobbered by Acura and Lexus in reliability.
BMW has the "iDrive" system which is universally loathed.
\_ Have you looked at Infinity G and M series? |
| 2007/7/18-20 [Transportation/Airplane, Transportation/Car] UID:47325 Activity:high |
7/18 Can we put anti-lock brakes on airplanes? This may prevent landing
accidents in rainy weather.
\_ You would think most of the braking comes from the reverse
thrusters.
\_ Then the crash in Brazil shouldn't have been caused by the rain.
\_ http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/php/risks/search.php?query=thrust+reversers
You'd be surprised that this hasn't exactly been perfected.
\_ would it surprise you to hear that anti-lock braking systems were
originally developed for use on airplanes?
\_ By SUPERiOR German engineers?
\_ Yes I'm surprised. How come commercial airliners don't have it?
\_ Antilock brakes help when your tires are your main braking
force. Commericial airliners do not brake via tire friction.
There isn't nearly enough tire to slow down a big ass 747.
\_ Yeah, but it's not just about brakeing. It's also about
\_ Yeah, but it's not just about braking. It's also about
controling the direction. When the tires skit the plane can
veer off the runway. These accidents have been on the news
before. |
| 2007/7/16-19 [Transportation/Car, Consumer/Camera] UID:47299 Activity:moderate |
7/16 Is there a place to report people who illegally laminate license
plates of their vehicles trying to avoid being caught by red light
cameras?
\_ Is there a place we can complain about the poor timing of
traffic lights that would cause people to run red lights?
\_ Some engineer who was ticketed by the traffic light camera at
Alvarado Niles Rd cross H St in Union City actually won the case
in court and got someone to change the timing of the light. I
don't know who was responsible for the timing though.
\_ Ditto. Northbound Shattuck turning onto University light seems
to have gotten much shorter since they installed the camera.
I see the flash going off almost every time I'm driving through
it (on someone else, not me.) I wonder what percentage of those
flashes actual end up being ticketed?
\_ Not a central place, no. You could contact your local DPT.
\_ You could just shoot them. Why do you care?
\_ I just think that a speedning Mustang with a laminated plate
\_ I just think that a speeding Mustang with a laminated plate
probably tends to run red lights. I just want him/her to get
caught when he/she actually does.
\_ Mythbusters tested various techniques. The camera gets you
anyway.
\_ Good to know. Thanks.
\_ That is between the cops, the driver and the dmv. The last I
checked the legal system in this country still had a
presumption of innocent until proven guilty not "you're in a
mustang and i don't like your plate so the State needs my
help to bust you". And no I don't own a mustang, have
laminated plates or run red lights. Do you drive exactly 65
in the fast lane to keep people from speeding, too?
\_ I'm trying to report a violation of laminated plate which
I am a witness, not trying to report a possible violation
of running red light which I'm not (yet) a witness.
\_ You think the cops don't have better things to do?
\_ In my mind there's a huge difference between running
a red light and speeding a bit on the freeway. The
former is very likely to result in harm. I think every
instance of red light running is serious and should
be punished. I mostly don't care about speeding.
\_ In this case the driver hadn't done either. They have
a laminated plate. They haven't sped or run a red
light that anyone knows of.
\_ I would agree with you if everything was as simple as
you make it out to be. In reality, it's not that
simple. In the vast majority of cases, most red-light
violations are more accidental than anything else.
When you subtract the reaction time of a perfect
driver without any kind of hesitation, it requires
the driver to execute a violent emergency stop
(straight line braking with ABS kicking in) in
order to stop before the light turns from yellow
to red. At that point, the driver runs the risk of
being rear-ended. This is the problem with many
intersections. They don't design the length of yellow
lights or the time between a red light to green light
transition to account for these kinds of things.
\_ In your scenario, the party which should be
punished is the city for having unsafe yellow-
light timing! It is still very serious and
should be punished! Just not necessarily the
driver, if he's not at fault. I say again,
*every* instance of red-light running is serious
and should be punished.
\_ I see assholes in SF running the red light,
nearly barreling into pedestrians, all of the time,
it's certainly not a case of breaking distance,
it's driver assholism. Maybe a few stiff red
light tickets will cure them of Chronic
Asshole.
\_ they absolutely do design the length of yellow
lights and the time between a red light and green
light based on human reaction times. What makes
you think they don't?
\_ Oh they do. To insure that you run the red.
\_ The light on the left turn around the corner from
me goes yellow when the first car gets 3/4s
through the intersection and the timing is really
short so the last car or two *always* run the
red even though they entered on green.
\_ Those cameras snap only if you enter on red.
I know because I enter on yellow all the time
at an intersection with a working camera,
and I haven't gotten any tickets. |
| 2007/7/13-15 [Transportation/Car] UID:47278 Activity:nil |
7/13 The Ultimate Unicycle:
http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=808
\_ I have a larger version of this; a 700c ultimate wheel is easier
to ride than a 20". -tom
\_ Compared to a unicycle, how much harder is riding an ultimate
wheel?
\_ Depends how you define "riding." To get comfortable on an
ultimate wheel takes a lot more practice than getting
comfortable on a unicycle. But getting 10 feet for the
first time might be as fast or faster on the ultimate wheel.
Although I've never seen anyone try to learn UW who wasn't
already a unicyclist, so I don't know what it would be like
for a non-unicyclist. -tom
\_ Doesn't seem like you'd get much mechanical advantage
from the ultimate wheel.
\_ It's enormously strenuous to ride one. -tom |
| 2007/7/9-11 [Transportation/Car] UID:47233 Activity:low |
7/9 One more carpool toll booth crossing at the San Mateo Bridge starting
today. Yeah!
\_ I drove the SMB years ago so YMMV but the toll booth wasn't the
problem, it was just too many cars and the interchange on the
east side of the bridge sucked big time too.
\_ What time and in which direction did you drive? I drive in the
carpool lane around 8:30am every morning, and having two toll
booth crossing made it smoother.
\_ Both directions. About 9am in and 8pm home. The bridge and
toll booths were the easy part then. But like I said that
was years ago.
\_ How long have you done this, and are you going to move across the bay?
I've been doing this for 10 months and I'm thinking of moving.
Give me strength, fellow environment-hating, toll-loving motd readers.
\_ How long have you done this, and are you going to move across the
bay? I've been doing this for 10 months and I'm thinking of
moving. Give me strength, fellow environment-hating, toll-loving
motd readers. [formatd] |
| 2007/7/6-8 [Transportation/Car] UID:47192 Activity:nil |
7/5 Grand Theft Auto: Lego City
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jF-kELmmvgA |
| 2007/7/5 [Transportation/Car, Reference/Tax] UID:47179 Activity:very high |
7/5 "All we really want is to get paid and get laid."
http://www.csua.org/u/j35 (Yahoo Business)
\_ "How much money buys happiness? A wide body of research suggests the
number is approximately forty thousand dollars a year." Uh, the
poverty line in SF is $60K/year. Maybe 40K a year will buy you
everything you need in hick states.
\_ No the poverty line is not 60K.
\_ Maybe you don't need what you think you need.
\_ Start with $40k. Tax it (fed, state, sales, etc): $25k.
Subtract rent for $1k/month dump: $13k.
Subtract $1k/month for Food+utilities+life misc: $1k.
Cool. You now have $1k in your pocket at the end of the
year. Way to live the good life. How's that retirement
plan going?
\_ 1. You are way off on your taxes.
\_ Ok, give us your numbers then. All taxes.
\_ 30K or so. Sales tax isn't fair cause it's
not part of your rent and you are counting that
into the daily living expenses.
\_ Ok fine sales taxes are in other things. Adding
5K/yr back isn't that much. I had you in a
$1k/month rental. That rental could easily and
fairly be a lot higher, it would still be a dump
and you'd be at the same post-rent level.
2. 40k in the city, you are going to need to budget, yeah.
If you are spending 1k/month on general stuff you
are probably overspending.
\_ Food+utilities+clothes+transport+whatever else you
do with your life not adding to $1k? Ooookkaaaayy.
\_ Dude right now I'm at about 1K/month for life
expenses. I get out. I do stuff, I eat out
at nice places. 1K/month is plenty for general
happiness. That goes double when outside of
the Bay Area. You do realize that people outside
of the BA buy houses with incomes around 40k.
\_ So how's your retirement plan going? What
happens if you lose your job and it takes a
month to find a new one? 3 months? 6+ months?
\_ You know that median income in the Bay Area is
less than $40k/yr, right? Somehow most people
manage to get by on an income you think is
impossible.
\_ The other person below says it is $60k.
\_ Median per capita income is $30k, household
(family) income is $62k.
http://www.csua.org/u/j3d
3. Yeah, living in the second or third most expensive
area in the country you probably need to add a bit
to the numbers given in a fluff journalism piece.
\_ I wasn't the one who said you could do it in SF for
$40k. I was only responding.
\_ 40k is journalism fluff for no frills middle
class. Not having to worry how you will pay
rent. Not having to worry about every dollar
you spend. It doesn't mean being able to buy
anything you want.
\_ I didn't say it did. I don't know where you're
going with this line of reasoning.
4. One of the points of the article is that having that
extra money, while nice, generally doesn't make
people happier. It buys people nice toys but that
doesn't really lead to long term happiness.
\- having to worry less about "if my car/kid needs
$2k/$10k in repairs" does make life better.
\_ I've lived for a long time on a lower middle
class wage. You know what, I didn't spend my
time worrying about what if my car broke down.
The only real sacrifice that I had to make that
ever bugged me was lack of health insurance for
a year, and that was something I porbably could
have gotten if I was willing to make a few cuts
in my spending.
\_ If your car or your leg broke you would have
worried a lot more about it.
\_ As I said, health insurance worried me.
The car, on the other hand, was a <5K
beater. It got me from A to B. If it
needed 5K in repairs I would have just
gotten another car. That I could afford.
\_ So you have no health insurance, a
broken leg would ruin you and when your
car breaks you're wiped out. Maybe
that's ok when you're 23 and can live on
a friend's couch for a while or your
mom's basement but that's not living.
We haven't even talked about marriage or
kids and you skipped my comments on
retirement. I don't think working until
the day you die is living. Maybe that's
ok for you, but count me out of that
plan, thanks.
\_ As I said before, lack of health
insurance WAS something that bothered
me. It just wasn't something I dealt
with. Instead I let it bug me until
I got a better job that had health
insurance.
\_ Median household income in the Bay
Area is $62k. That is how most people
have to live. Count yourself blessed.
\_ You read the part where we're
talking about $40k in SF, not $62k
in the Bay Area, right? Also, the
above person says it is below
$40k. Can you two get together on
this? I'm not going to respond to
two drastically different numbers
at the same time as if both were
true.
\_ Do you know the difference
median and average?
\_ Sorry, should have said median
fixed.
\_ In the City of SF, median
household income is even lower.
Don't get confused between
per capita and household income. |
| 2007/6/29-7/2 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Dating] UID:47123 Activity:nil |
6/29 "Roadshow: Mark your calendar: Drive Speed Limit Day June 29
JOIN MR. ROADSHOW AND YOUR NEIGHBORS IN SAVING GAS, MONEY"
link:www.mercurynews.com/ci_6183621
`When Phil Palmintere of Cupertino drives solo, he moves into the far
right lane at 50 to 55 mph. "I can get 27 mpg this way on the
freeway," he said, "and there sure is less stress."
`When his wife is with him, "she gets annoyed that everyone passes us,
so after a brief argument which she invariably wins, it's back to 60
to 65 mph."
`And his mileage is back down to 18 a gallon, he says.'
This sounds so much like my wife and me.
\_ My wife usually wants me to slow down. This seems true of
women in general. What kind of pussy must you be if your wife
actually wants you to speed up?
\_Are you talking about driving?
\_ It's funny that my wife doesn't even have a driver's license.
--- OP
\_ My wife gets mad at me for a similar reason: she wants me to
tailgate, which I refuse to do. I drive much faster than her
on the open road, but in traffic I am too defensive for her
tastes. |
| 2007/6/29-7/1 [Transportation/Car] UID:47114 Activity:nil |
6/29 so what are you all doing today?
getting an iphone:
watching that pixar French rat movie:
going to see Sicko:
feeling vaguely uneasy someone ALMOST managed to
light off a big car bomb in the middle of Picadilly
Circus in Oakland:
helping Hans Reiser find the real killers:
proving that Libby was railroaded by Hillary and the 9/11
conspiracy crowd: .
\_ Picadilly Circus in Oakland?
\_ Not Oakland, it was London.
\_ Yeah, seriously.. And really, car bomb? The guy had two
full 25 gallon drums of gas... Liquid gasoline doesn't explode
big boy...
\_ shhhhh dont tell anyone
\_ Liquid gasoline doesn't explode? What blew up the MacArthur
Maze connector a while ago? OTOH liquid diesel doesn't
explode.
\_ I didn't say it doesn't burn. Burn != explode.
They found the car full of smoke. The guy probably
tried to light it, closed the door, ran, and the fire
used up the oxygen in the car and went out.
\_ That's why there are 'fuel air bombs'. you have to
spray the fuel over a wide area, THEN light it.
\_ Note that this trick also works with flour.
\_ Don't tell the TSA, or we won't be allowed to
bring crackers on flights either.
\_ I'm actually kind of glad in a grim way they don't
teach hardcore physics in those madrassas.
\_ The description I'm reading also talks about "gas cansiters."
Assuming that's propane, I suppose you could light the gasoline
to heat up the propane, which would then explode...
helping Hans Reiser find the real killers:
proving that Libby was railroaded by Hitlary and Karl Rove: . |
| 2007/6/28-30 [Transportation/Car, Uncategorized/Profanity] UID:47091 Activity:low |
6/28 You know what I hate most about S Cal? Cal Worthington's
annoying commercials. Long Beach cow boys buying trucks.
Fuck cowboys, fuck trucks, fuck Cal Worthington's commercials.
\_ and his dog Spot
It isn't Spot's fault. He's just a rental. _/
\_ that guy must be dead by now. he had a car lot in Sacramento
too. My dad says cal would sell sailors cars in long beach
50 years ago.
\_ I was confused for a bit as I grew up in Central Valley watching
Cal Worthington commercials. Now I at least know I'm not
totally crazy.
\_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_Worthington
He's still alive, apparently he's 86 years old.
\_ Is Larry H. Parker still doing ads? |
| 2007/6/18-19 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:47002 Activity:kinda low 92%like:46994 |
6/17 http://preview.tinyurl.com/2gcco8 (okcupid.com) Interesting. This test says I should live in the suburb. Yay! \_ 0 out of 40 in both metrics? Did you do that on purpose? \_ The test says I should live in a "small town". Any example of a small town in the Bay Area? Also, under what classification are the Sunset and Richomd districts in SF? Thanks. \_ I don't think so. The existence of any large city nearby subverts any small town into a suburb. Livermore tries, but it doesn't really work. You can't have a small town economy when everyone works in San Jose. Also, the small town it recommended to me was La Junta, CO, which has a population of < 8000. \_ Livermore isn't a small town, it is a sprawl. Small towns don't sprawl. \_ As I said it didn't, doesn't, work. \_ Not because of San Jose, because they overbuilt it with suburban sprawl. \_ There are plenty of true small towns in the Bay Area. Probably the most notable is Canyon. Sunset and Richmond, I would consider streetcar suburbs. -tom \_ Plenty of small towns on the coast between SF and Santa Cruz \_ And along the Marin coast and in Napa and Sonoma... |
| 2007/6/18 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:46994 Activity:kinda low 92%like:47002 |
6/17 http://www.okcupid.com/tests/describescore?testid=16534455155473404923&category=5 Interesting. This test says I should live in the suburb. Yay! \_ 0 out of 40 in both metrics? Did you do that on purpose? \_ The test says I should live in a "small town". Any example of a small town in the Bay Area? Also, under what classification are the Sunset and Richomd districts in SF? Thanks. \_ I don't think so. The existence of any large city nearby subverts any small town into a suburb. Livermore tries, but it doesn't really work. You can't have a small town economy when everyone works in San Jose. Also, the small town it recommended to me was La Junta, CO, which has a population of < 8000. \_ Livermore isn't a small town, it is a sprawl. Small towns don't sprawl. \_ As I said it didn't, doesn't, work. \_ Not because of San Jose, because they overbuilt it with suburban sprawl. \_ There are plenty of true small towns in the Bay Area. Probably the most notable is Canyon. Sunset and Richmond, I would consider streetcar suburbs. -tom |
| 2007/6/16-18 [Transportation/Car] UID:46979 Activity:low |
6/16 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070615/ap_on_re_us/buried_belvedere ".. and the contents of a typical woman's handbag placed in the glove compartment: 14 bobby pins, a bottle of tranquilizers, a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ \_ Maybe it was the equivalent of today's antidepressant drugs. lipstick, a pack of gum, tissues, a pack of cigarettes, matches and $2.43." Maybe feminism was a good idea after all. \_ Hmmm...my dad's got the exact same car. They don't make them like that any more. -scottyg |
| 2007/6/15-19 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:46972 Activity:low |
6/15 Urban sprawl said to create pushy drivers:
http://www.csua.org/u/ixm
\_ I'm an urbanite myself. Almost every single woman I've met in
my life prefer the suburban lifestyle. My mom, my sister, my
x-gf, x-x-gf, x-x-x-gf, female co-workers, etc prefer the sense
of safety and serenity suburbs provide. I have from time to time
debated with them why the urban lifestyle is better-- better
utilization of space, more efficient use of energy, more
convenience, better community, so on so forth. In the end, I
realized that it's pretty pointless telling them my point
of view. Most of them grew up in the suburbs and they've long
made up their mind that the city is a dump. So go ahead and
list top 10 reasons why the city is better. No one is going to
change his/her mind.
\_ My wife and x-gf both live in Noe Valley. My x-x-gf lives in
Rockridge. Most people are just ignorant, not close minded, so
if you show them otherwise they might change their minds. My
parents thought everyone in San Francisco was stuck up, but
after visiting for a while in Noe, they realized that at least
in my neighborhood, people are quite friendly. It is also
cleaner, safer and quieter than Riverside. Now they are hinting
that they would like to move here. This is not necessarily
a good thing....
\_ But SF is really a dump. It's too cold even during summer,
and too wet. There are too many hills to climb and parking
is impossible. If Amerika invests and builds nice cities
and better mass transits like the ones in Europe maybe
more people would actually want to stay in the city. Until
that happens, suburban lifestyle will be prefered in
Amerika.
\_ Hint: putting a "K" in "American" is not clever. Putting
in three of them doesn't make you 3x clever. Carry on.
\_ Maybe you should meet women somewhere other than your geek job. |
| 2007/6/15-19 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:46963 Activity:nil |
6/15 Gas Prices Expected to Rise at Pump
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070615/oil_prices.html?.v=13
\_ Gas prices will go up and down but the long term is always up now
since there are no oil supergiant discoveries to save our behinds
left such as the North Sea in the 1970s.
\_ There's oil on the moon, I'm sure.
\_ No way! Don't you know that it was the Democrats, not the
Republicans, who took the country to the moon?
\_ Interesting graphs comparing the price of gasoline around the world
with per capita GDP. The results may surprise you.
http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/2653#more
Another data point from the same site is that US "average miles
driven" is so much higher than other countries that our
gas price advantage gets wiped out:
http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2005/10/22/235239/89 |
| 2007/6/12-15 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:46922 Activity:moderate |
6/11 UNC attacker says he's sorry, asks to be released.
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/1491807/?d_full_comments=1&d_comments_page=0#last_comment
\_ Automobile drivers go berserk and run people over all
the time. I can think of half a dozen in the last year
in San Francisco alone. Why does this particular
example of insane car driving behavior pique your
interest so much?
\_ You can name 6 events in the last year in just SF where a driver
has "gone berserk and run people over"?
\_ Because he asks to be released even thought he claims he's sorry?
\_ Yep. Fremont guy who drove around Pac Heights mowing people
down last November; the guy who flipped a U-turn after
arguing with a guy at 16th and Valencia and then drove up
onto the sidewalk, mowing down two people; two different
"homicide by automobile" in Bayview and a similar one in
The Western Addition. Add to that at least two other
hit and runs where the driver mowed someone down and
then took off.
Oceanview. And at least one more in The Mission back in
March 2006 (okay I guess that was more than one year ago)
Add to that at least three other hit and runs where the
driver mowed someone down and then took off and it is
unclear whether the fatality was an accident or deliberate.
\_ ok the guy who got ran over in the mission had an altercation
with the car owner. but the random ass Fremont dude from
really did randomly run over people in pac heights. !op
\_ These all look like cases of people who got into fights
about something else and used their car as a weapon. If
they'd not had a car they'd have used whatever else was
at hand. This says nothing about car drivers, but ok.
\_ Bullshit.
\_ Keep making excuses for homicidial car drivers,
that's ok. Why are car vs. pedestrian fatalities
in The City up 100% over the last five years, but
gun fatalities are not? It must be all those
pedestrians "provoking" them, right? They don't call
it "road rage" for nothing.
\_ Because guns are not easily available while cars are.
When you say fatalities are up 100% in the last five
years the question should be "What has changed in
the last five years?". "Drivers have suddenly all
turned insane" is not the likely answer. The term
road rage dates back at least to the late 80s when
people in LA were shooting each other on the highway.
But you'll note they used guns, not their vehicles as
weapons. I guess it is easier to just say drivers
are all assholes and killers than actually take a
series look at the problem. It may even be that the
absolute numbers are so low (6 in a year?) that a
100% increase is just a statistical anomaly given how
few events there are to count.
\- above poster: do you have any ungoogled guesses
for how many guns are in private hands in the US?
(re: guns not easily avail). i'd appreciate it
if you'ld post what your first guess it ... surely
doing so anonymously wont cause any embarassment.
\_ nothing to do with anything but feel free to
continue this line of debate on your own.
\_ No one said or even implied that drivers are all
assholes and killers. I am glad you are willing
to at least consider the possiblity that the
25+ deaths and 1000+ injuries of pedestrians
per year at the hands of automobile drivers
might be a problem. Acknowledgement of the problem
is always the first step. I am kind of amused
that you think that multiple homicide by automobile
is crazed, but individual target homicide is
per year in SF alone at the hands of automobile
drivers might be a problem. Acknowledgement of the
problem is always the first step. I am kind of
amused that you think that multiple homicide by
auto is crazed, but individual target homicide is
normal.
\_ Ok so it is 25 a year. How does that compare
with other cities? I never said anything like
your last line about multiple vs single target
murder. I have no idea where you came up
with that.
\_ "The City has the fourth-highest rate of
pedestrian deaths in the United States
for cities of more than 100,000 people."
\_ Because he asks to be released even though he claims he's sorry?
Yeah, he's really sorry, really.
\_ Okay, he is obviously nuts, but so are at least half of
people who do this kind of thing. He is kind of amusing,
I have to admit.
\_ BTW, what happened to the guy who struck and killed a pedestrian in
Fremont (which happened to be at walking distance from my home) and
then ran over 14 more people in SF?
\_ In jail, awaiting trial. one of the women he paralyzed
is suing his family.
\_ But has he apologized and asked to be released yet? |
| 2007/6/10-13 [Transportation/Car] UID:46899 Activity:nil |
6/10 Honda Fit-- Excellent vehicle, fun to drive, decent ride, and
priced just right. If you're a bit more budget conscious than
typical Accord or Civic buyers, consider the Fit. It is COOL.
\_ I want "Mitsubishi i"
\_ How is it compared to the Toyota Yaris?
\_ Neither the Fit nor the Yaris is "COOL". Just FYI.
(But, the Fit is pretty cool... for an economy car. It
handles well and stuff. I'd get it over the Yaris.)
\_ My understanding is Fit >> Yaris. If I had to buy a new car
today I'd put some serious thought into the Fit. |
| 2007/6/7-10 [Politics/Domestic/California, Transportation/Car] UID:46888 Activity:low |
6/7 Can sun reflections, like from the windows and chrome of cars on a
California freeway, cause permanent eye damage?
I think I might be developing a blind spot in one eye. But
it kind of comes and goes so it's hard to be sure.
\_ yes, definitely.
\_ Wear some polarized sunglasses. It should get rid of the glare.
\_ Agreed. Even a cheap ugly clip-on worked for me. It also
improves visibility over non-polarized sunglasses, even if not
for preventing eye damage.
\_ unless the reflection is a focused sunray, I don't think so.
Go get a ritina test for blind spot. |
| 2007/6/6-7 [Transportation/Car] UID:46866 Activity:high |
6/6 I got the following notice from my apartment managers the other day:
"Dear Valued Resident,
CALVAC Paving, Inc. is scheduled to perform an Asphalt Seal Coating
to all paved driveways, permit and underground parking areas. Work
will begin on 6/6/07 through 6/12/07, between the hours of 8am-5pm.
Please do not park your vehicles in these areas on the dates
specified. If your car is not moved on the specific data for your
area we will have to tow your vehicle to an open space. This space
will be located onsite. We apologize for any inconvenience this may
cause. Please contact the office if you should have any questions.
*Please see attached map for your areas specified date.*
Thank You for your assistance!
-Archstone Management"
It was such short notice that this morning, I woke up to a tow
truck company dragging cars around the parking lot (not even
carefully, I might add). Is this even legal? I would imagine
they would get in some legal trouble dragging cars around
without giving people sufficient warning.
\_ It sounds like you got sufficient warning.
\_ I think you need something like 48 hours. I had a motorcycle
that got caught by something like this (parked over weekend,
came back on monday, no bike!) and it was legal. Shitty but
legal. If it happened where I lived (and it was only say 2 days
warning) I'd probably give the property managers lots of shit for
not giving me more warning and try to at least have them pay for
some of the tow fees. Especially considering they should know
whose car is whose and how to contact those people.
\_ Apparently, a lot of other people didn't. Many people
take vacations or business trips. To tell people that
their cars are going to be towed the next morning
really isn't sufficient.
\_ At first I thought they were impounding the cars. They were
just moving them locally. You need to get a grip.
\_ I guess if you just bought that expensive new car and
some slimey dude slim-jimmed your car, hooked it to
his tow truck, and just dropped it somewhere random
without paying attention to body scratches and stuff,
you'd be fine with that?
\- i'd think if your car was actually damaged, you might
be able to ask for compensation [which they would probably
not give you] and then take them to small claims court
if under the amount for your location. if it just annoyed
you, i think you are SOL. how short was the notice?
\_ A little over a day. Not enough for people who
happened to be vacant during that time.
\_ There's always going to be someone out of town or
whatever. A judge would look at whether a day is
reasonable or not. Here in CA, where renters rule,
I think he'd side with you and say they had more
opportunity to give you notice. However, that
doesn't excuse that you knew about it and decided
to ignore it.
\_ I didn't ignore it. The ones who got their cars
towed never knew about it.
\_ How do you know that and why do you care
if you moved your car like told? And I
misstated. It would be a jury who would
decide if the time period was reasonable,
unless you went to small claims.
\_ I was scheduled to be out-of-town this
week but "lucked out". I don't like the
idea that my car will be broken into
or damaged while I'm away.
\_ Nothing you can do about it. You
didn't suffer any damages.
\_ They should have provided you with more time, but unless they
damaged your vehicle you have suffered no harm and nothing to
really bitch about in court. Bitch at your landlord for more
notice for future events and get over it. If they did damage
your vehicle then ask them to pay damages (they won't) and then
file in small claims. |
| 2007/5/28-31 [Transportation/Car] UID:46777 Activity:low |
5/28 For the clue impaired, total cost of ownership of a typical
American car:
http://tinyurl.com/38gveq
Note that it is double the purchase price, over just the
first five years.
\_ Proving the point that if you look at TOC, buying a crappy car
is hardly much savings over a new car, since most of the
expense over, say, 10 years is fuel and insurance anyway.
If you're trying to prove that it's cheaper to walk to work,
then - DUH.
\_ Insurance on my crappy car was much less than on my new car.
And even 6 years later things would still be less. Plus on
a crappy car things like theft insurance are silly, it would
cost less to buy a new one than pay for theft insurance for a
few years. Hell, probably the same deal with comprehensive.
\_ Comprehensive (which covers theft) is cheap. As I said
before, most of the cost of insurance is liability, which
is the same on a cheap or expensive car.
\_ You were wrong the first time you said it, too. The only
time that is true is when your car is either not worth
much, or you have really expensive liability insurance,
due to too many accidents or tickets, or being very young.
\_ I just looked at my policy again. Collision (which
is entirely optional) is less than 50% of my cost.
That's for an expensive car. For my cheaper car,
the collision is even less. I have no accidents or
tickets and have been licensed 16 years. I carry
100/300K coverage for liability.
\_ Sure, if you carry 10X the required liability coverage
your liability cost is higher. How much would it be
if you carried 1M/2M?
\_ I have assets I want to protect. With all the
expensive cars on the road in CA and the cost
of medical care, I even feel 100/300 is a
little low.
\_ Why not get 1M/2M then? Then you could
justify driving any car you wanted, because
your insurance costs would swamp all other
costs.
\_ License fee is lower too.
\_ True.
\_ Proving that is costs much more than $256/mo to own and operate
a car. -OP
\_ Which was never an issue to be debated. The issue was
whether $25x/month is worth it over an old beater. |
| 2007/5/28-31 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Bicycle] UID:46774 Activity:kinda low |
5/28 Extreme commuters travel 50-100 miles EACH way to/from work, and
the trend is increasing 5X as fast as the general growth in
commuting. Asked if it's worth sacraficing 2-4 extra hours a
day of your life for your piece of the AMERICAN DREAM, where there's
lots of room, lots of space, the answer is YES.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/24/sunday/main2849455.shtml
\_ I commuted 50 miles each way for a year, it was hell. Soul crushing
hell. Now I work close enough that I can bike to work in almost
the exact same time as driving would take. Never again.
\_ in other news, most Americans identify Rwanda as "a kind of fruit"
\_ in other news, most Americans still prefer big McMansion
homes and GWB over bike ride and Al Gore. You Californians
are very much out of touch with core American values.
\_ Except Bush didn't get a majority over Gore and his approval
ratings always suck.
\_ "core American values" change all the time. The suburb
as we know it has basically existed for only 50 years,
less than that in most places. Americans changed before,
and they'll change again. (In fact, are changing.) -tom
\_ if GWB's policy reflect core American Value, he would of
instated the draft and expect popular support.
\_ Made up phrases like "core American values" make me laugh.
No such thing. Get a clue.
\_ It's funny to me that you read the same article as me and got
a 180 degree opposite conclusion from it. |
| 2007/5/26-30 [Transportation/Car] UID:46766 Activity:nil |
5/26 I'm watching Nascar Fox. Can someone please explain to me what
the appeal is about a bunch of fast noisy cars going in circle
over and over again? -Nascar ignorant
\_ Watch this video and you'll see why you'll never understand
why people watch it and hold it dear to them:
http://www.devilducky.com/media/57748
\_ Most of these people also voted for GWB
\_ Think you wouldn't get the same response with a few 'special
phrases' painted on your car in SF?
\_ Well, here's a reason to like auto racing in general:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQOnOXXc-ps
Note he goes from about 12th to 1st in one lap. This doesn't
happen much in the pros because they are all at the same high level.
Also, you can see the whole track at an oval, instead of just a pack
of cars wizzing by you at 150 mph. All auto racing is best watched on TV. |
| 2007/5/25-28 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/Apps/Media] UID:46751 Activity:nil 66%like:46744 |
5/24 The Pinkberry song
link:tinyurl.com/a9ab4
\_ Speaking of Pinkberry, I'm the op who posted the following:
http://csua.com/?entry=46690
After talking to a bunch of people it appears that no one seems
to be sympathetic to the traffic congestion it has caused. On
the bright side I see a bunch of attractive looking college
women waiting for their pinkberries.
\_ Ask them about their pinkberries. |
| 2007/5/23-28 [Transportation/Car] UID:46735 Activity:high |
5/23 is leasing better than buying, thinking of leasing
a new 2007 tundra for $236 a month for 3 years
plus $2k up front... thanks soda gods.
\_ Which one is better depends on your situation and the terms.
I bought my first two cars and leased my last two. I eventually
bought one of the cars I leased and now own it outright. For
my own situation, I would never "buy" again. I would always
lease and then only buy the car if I like it. It turns out
that in one lease I came out ahead by leasing (versus buying)
and in the other one I would've come out ahead by buying.
The interest rate, money factor, and residual will make one
better than the other financially (there are other
non-financial factors) but the difference in my experience is
relatively small compared to the price of the car. By the way,
I wouldn't put any money down on a car if you can help it
(lease or buy) but especially if you lease, unless doing so
somehow helps the interest rate.
\_ if i buy used, do you use the Kelly blue book value
to haggle with? i see people selling like $2k mroe than
KBB
\_ Just don't pay more than it is worth to you. You can
offer less if you want. They will sell if they want
and they won't if they don't.
\_ Just out of curiousity, what is your situation? I find buying
a used car my far the cheapest option. I'm still driving
a car I bought for $600 3 years ago. However, I know some people
used the cheapest option by far. I'm still driving a car I
bought for $600 3 years ago. However, I know some people
require a new car, like Real Estate agents.
\_ I think they don't have to be new cars, but they have to be
luxury cars.
\_ I think it doesn't have to be a new car, but it has to be a
luxury car. My ex-gf's father was a real estate agent in LA,
and he has two Mercedes. When he met the weathier clients, he
drove the higher-end and newer one. When he met the clients
that were less wealthy, he drove the older and lower-end one.
that were less wealthy, he drove the lower-end and older one.
-- !OP
\_ I should have mentioned that of the four cars I leased
one new, bought two used, and leased one used. Buy vs.
lease is the relevant question here, not new vs. used.
I personally would prefer a new car, because it should
last longer. My first cars were 2-3 years old and I saved
money up front, but in the end I wish I had paid $6-7K
more for a new model and gotten 3 more years out of the
car. That is why I bought the latest car brand new. It
is worth the extra $150/month to have the car an extra
3 years. As for reason, I hate having an old, unreliable
car that I am embarrassed to take anywhere. I keep my
cars about 10 years, which I think is reasonable.
\_ You are not your car. If it gets you from point A to
B there is no reason to be embarrassed by it.
\_ When you are standing by the side of the road
waiting for a tow truck, yes that is embarrassing.
I also like to have a nice car. I do not own a
car to get me from A to B at the lowest possible
price, but also in style and comfort. You might
have your own preference. Owning a 1981 Yugo
does not appeal to me. On the other hand you
probably spend money on crap that doesn't interest
me at all (e.g. most electronic gadgets).
\_ If it gets you halfway between A and B and then
breaks down it doesn't get you from A to B now
does it? And how did you decide that I spend
money on gadgets?
\_ It was just an example. Every car will get
you from A to B, but some do so more reliably
and safely (or even faster). My first car
got me from A to B, say, 99% of the time. Is
that good enough? For me, it was not. For
you, maybe it is. For a woman it is
definitely a big issue. I am a guy, but my
car overheated once at 11:30pm near an exit
that had nothing open but a grocery store 1/2 mile
away. (There weren't even any houses.) This
was before cell phones were common. If
that happens 3x over the life of the car
(say) that's too much for a lot of people. I
haven't had that happen to me in 6 years now,
because I actually bought a nice car. Imagine.
\_ "reliable" != "nice". There are luxury cars
that are pieces of junk, and inexpensive cars
which are reliable.
\_ Do you have a point? I am guessing a
$600 car is neither luxurious nor
reliable.
\_ Uh, I didn't write the above, although
he is correct. I have a reliable car
for my wife. -$600 car guy.
\_ Besides, for the price of a nice car you'd
have to buy insane amounts of gadgets to make
the difference. Unless expensive TVs are
considered gadgets.
\_ Sure, why not? People spend a lot of money
on whatever their passion is. Photography,
video games, eating out, whatever. The
point is that I can spend my money how I
wish and maybe I think what you spend your
money on is silly. I think some people
easily spend $500-1000/month eating out,
for example. My old coworker took his
girlfriend to Cheesecake Factory (ugh!)
almost every day at $40 a pop, because he
couldn't cook or didn't want to. The
payment on a nice car really is not that
much. OP says he can get a new truck for
$236/month. I think that's totally worth
it and would ditch the $600 car above in 3
seconds if I could afford that $236/month,
even if it cut into other aspects of my
lifestyle.
\_ You aren't thinking about total cost of
ownership. The $236/mo car probably has
an additional $1000/yr insurance cost and
an additional $2000/yr depreciation cost
over the old junker. I prefer to own no
car at all and put my money into savings.
Now I could buy the nicest car in the world,
but I prefer to save and take a cab when
I really want to live it up.
\_ "Depreciation cost?" I'm not writing
anything off. I buy the car and keep
it until the resale is $2-3K. So the
price difference is mostly the
purchase price. As for insurance,
most of the cost is liability, which
is the same either way.
\_ There is a huge difference between
liability and full coverage insurance
cost, especially for a new car. What
is the yearly depreciation cost? Do
you even know how to calculate this?
Take the amount you paid for the car,
subtract what you get for it when you
sell it and divide by the number of
years you own the car. For most cars
it is $2-3k/yr, if you buy them new.
\_ I've taken accounting and I know
what straight-line and double
declining deprecation are, but
they are not germane here. Just
look at the sale price and the
residual price to get an idea
of costs. There is no need to
amortize to compare expenses.
As for insurance, as I said
before, the main cost is
liability. For my new $45K car
I pay $300/year more for
collision than I did on my
1993 car. Almost all of the
cost of my insurance is my
liability coverage. In fact,
for a BMW and a Lexus my total
insurance bill is $600 more than
it was for my old Nissan and
Honda - and that was with no
collision coverage on the Nissan.
\_ So what is your total cost
of ownership for your $236/mo
car. I am looking at a quote
right now for $228/yr for
liability only vs. $851 for
full coverage. That is more
than a 3X difference.
\_ $228/year for liability?!
That's crazy low. In
fact, I don't believe you.
\_ Sorry. I have a good
driving record and am
married. That is what
we pay. I also noticed
that you don't understand
what the word depreciation
means and that you don't
\_ Sorry that is a quote
for $228/six months, so
$456/yr. And $1700/yr
for full coverage. If you
are older, married and with
a good record, that is
what you pay. Do you
know how to calculate your
total cost of ownership, so\
I think it is a waste of
time to try and continue.
car. Have you even bothered to
figure this out? I pay 3X for
full covereage vs. liability
only.
total cost of ownership, so
I think you are kind of
boring and stupid and a
waste of time to talk to.
Sorry about that.
total cost of ownership?
\_ Buy vs. lease is mostly about: how long do you expect to keep the
car, and how many miles do you drive? If you're going to drive
the car into the ground over 10 years then buy it. If you're going
to want to trade up every 2-3 years then lease. YMMV (heh). |
| 2007/5/20-22 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Activities] UID:46708 Activity:nil |
5/18 VW GTI rocks:
http://urltea.com/l9h (autoblog.com) |
| 2007/5/18-22 [Transportation/Car] UID:46690 Activity:kinda low |
5/18 Help. A new Pinkberry opened up across from where I live and
it has increased traffic jam. How will this adversely affect
my property value? It's 1.5 blocks away from my condo. I'm thinking
of petitioning, with the help of HOA, to get them pay for a new
parking structure, or better yet, kick them out.
\_ What the fuck is a Pinkberry?
\_ I'm boycotting them just for the obnoxiousness of their website..
OP, you've chosen to live in LA. No sympathy.
\_ google it and read "the taste that launched 1000 parking tickets."
\_ Dude, Angelenos are just plain weird.
\_ Generally, desirable business near your house increase your
property value.
\_ Check Cashed Now!, Aladin Bail Bonds, Joe's Pawn Shop,
Buba's Super Stereo World, Mo's Sports Bar, Crazy Horse
Gentlemen's Club, Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen's Club, y Larry
Flint's Husler Casino are extremely desirable too. Will
they raise surrounding property values?
\_ You're throwing in a lot of different things there. I
don't think anyone would consider check cashing or pawn
shops as "desirable." A sports bar could easily raise
property values, as could a casino.
\_ Move as far out into the suburbs as you can. That is the only
\_ wilderness
\_ A shack in Montana far off the grid.
way you can be sure to be safe. |
| 2007/5/18-20 [Recreation/Activities, Transportation/Car] UID:46689 Activity:nil |
5/18 VW GTI rocks:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/17/worthersee-2007-vw-shows-off-monster-golf-gti-w12-650-concept |
| 2007/5/18-22 [Transportation/Car] UID:46686 Activity:nil |
5/18 Obi Wan Kenobi buys a used car (from last year)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpJOn5rgSFA |
| 2007/5/18-19 [Transportation/Car] UID:46683 Activity:moderate |
5/17 Man with no arms and 1 leg eludes police in high-speed chase.
http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/103431.html
\_ I wished most people who had two arms and two legs could
drive that well.
\_ "Come back here! I'll bite your legs off!"
\_ "He spent time in prison for kicking a Florida Highway Patrol
trooper after an accident in 1996." This is one guy who won't
let his disability affect his performance! |
| 2007/5/17-19 [Transportation/Car/Hybrid, Transportation/Car] UID:46679 Activity:moderate |
5/17 GTI wanting person, have you looked at the honda fit?
\_ How in the world does the focus go from GTI to Fit? A Mini
Cooper S, Mazdaspeed3, Impreza WRX, etc. would make more
sense. Golf->Fit makes some sense, too, but not GTI->Fit.
Nothing wrong with Fit, of course. I have a friend who
went from Jetta VR6 to Fit. His only problem is that it's
a bit weak. I blame his unwillingness to drive manual.
\_ I know the fit's a little underpowered but it seems like
it is still a fun car to drive, and it is about the same
size as the mini, costs a lot less, and has better cargo
potential thanks to well designed seats. Shrug. Seems like
an interesting car in the small hatchback category.
\_ small cars are dangerous. Get the Accord, you can't go wrong.
\_ Camry Hybrid.
\_ Spoken like a true american. |
| 2007/5/17-19 [Transportation/Car/RoadHogs, Transportation/Car] UID:46671 Activity:very high |
5/17 What happened to Toyota's Tercel, Paseo and Echo? They all failed?
Seems like Toyota's compact models never last long, while the Corolla
lasted three decades AFAIK.
\_ Toyota == new GM. Look what they just did to the xB. :(
\_ Link? What did they do to the xB?
\_ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=3729
short version: 650 lb weight increase, 6 mpg
efficiency decrease, cheapened interior, messed up sightlines
\_ Wow, that's a pretty damning review. And the price
seems really high. Wasn't the whole point of those
things to be dirt cheap?
\_ Ironically enough, the debacle of the 2nd gen has
the prices for the 1st gen models on the used market
rising. I think some low mileage models are now going
for over asking new.
\_ but still as fugly as ever
\_ Huh, that DOES sound like GM. I have a theory that much
of this trend has to do with lame customer surveys. I'm
sure people alwasy say, "It's great, but I wish it was
a little bigger." This is my guess as to why the Civic
seems to grow every year.
\_ Although they keep changing the name every few years, Toyota
never seems to stop producing a sub-compact (currently they
have the Yaris), so the must still be making money in that
market segment.
have the Yaris). Perhaps in that market segment one has to
keep refreshing models quickly.
\_ #t the cheap small/compact car segment aims at young people who
will outgrow their ego in 3-4 years for a more luxurious vehicle
so while it's important to create a new car that's hip and cheap
it's even more important to change their looks and their names
every 3-4 years.
\_ So the majority of people grow more wasteful as they grow
older? I'm not so sure. Though the xB was targetted at
"youth," the people I knew that were buying them were
elderly or new 30ish families with 1 to 2 children.
\_ I am thinking about getting the BRABUS Biturbo coupe.
\_ I'm thinking about getting the BRABUS SV12 S Biturbo coupe.
Does anybody have one and care to share their experience?
\_ Are you talking about Smart? the 2007 model is just
out and no one has experience on it.
\_ They don't grow more wasteful. They grow up. Things
like safety, cargo capacity, and comfort start to count.
\_ Yeah, I have three of them, but my garage only fits
two so I left it parked on the street, so City Tow
got it for having too many parking tickets.
\_ they got replaced by yaris |
| 2007/5/17-19 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:46669 Activity:moderate |
5/17 link:www.csua.org/u/ipp "Nationally, for every dollar a working family saves on housing, it spends 77 cents more on transportation." And this does not include the time lost to commuting. Just another reason to live near where you work. \_ Nationally, homes are 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of homes nearby SF, Sunnyvale, San Jose, LA, and pretty much every CA city with jobs. I can move closer to Silicon Valley but I will have to pay 1.2mil for the same home that I can get in Union City for only $695K. CA is totally utterly fucked up. \_ The mentality of the average American Joe/Dim: Why the FUCK would I want to spend $3500/month on rent in the city when I can *buy* a nice suburb home, country living, 3X the size WITH A BACKYARD where kids can play, for only $2500/month mortgage? GO RAIDERS! COSTCO! RIDE SUV!!! \_ You make that sound like a bad thing. It isn't. \_ Damn and here I am willing to pay significantly more for housing AND more for transportation. \_ So the average American makes their money go 23% further by spending less on housing. That is smart. Saving on transportation is the sucker move if your numbers are correct. \_ Factor in "time lost to commuting" and it's a losing proposition. Time spent in a car is time spent getting fat and unhealthy. Thanks to not having a commute, I can work out at least an hour per day, and thanks to that, I'm not fat. Even further, the true cost of carbon emissions during transport are not measured, but probably far exceed your 23%. \_ You are making a big assumption on what transportation costs are going to be like in the future. I am betting that gasoline prices will continue to escalate. |
| 2007/5/15-17 [Transportation/Car] UID:46645 Activity:kinda low |
5/15 Thanks to all for the GTI (and VW) feedback. I had a hunch they weren't
great, but I didn't realize it was this bad. I know this was all
anecdotal, but still. Am no longer considering VW!
\_ It's too bad, cause as form factor goes they are awesome cars.
\_ There are plenty of other cars that are similar but don't break
down like the GTI. Check out Civic SI, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo,
Subaru WRX Impreza, Mini Cooper S.
down like the GTI. Check out Civic SI, Mazdaspeed3, Subaru
Impreza WRX, Mini Cooper S.
\_ Plus Matrix and Yaris hatchback.
\_ Civic sucks, impreza is a bit too big (and ugly), Mini is a
bit more than I'd like to spend. No idea about the mazda,
but at least a while back mazda reliability was lacking.
Not saying there aren't other options, but if the GTI didn't
like to break it would be at the head of the pack.
\_ I am actually looking at the Mini now. -op
\_ Plus Matrix and Yaris Liftback.
\_ Plus Matrix.
\_ You left out Lancer Evo. Personally I'd get a WRX or a
Legacy GT/Outback XT if you can afford it. -Subaru fan boi
\_ invisible hand | motd |
| 2007/5/14-16 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Bicycle] UID:46630 Activity:high |
5/14 Hey, Mark is this you running over cyclists?
http://www.csua.org/u/ip2
\_ Of course not. Though this is utterly predictable, and I wouldn't
have a problem defending that person. Being attacked like that in a
mob, I think it's reasonable to flee to safety, and CM's total
disregard for laws seems to remove them from the safety of law.
Amusingly, I've biked or bussed for most of the last 10 years. It's
not cyclists I have a problem with (I am one), it's the CM mob.
-emarkp
\_ Actually, it looks like the car driver hopped a curb to
deliberately provoke a confrontation with the cyclists.
Isn't that how you see it?
\_ Your complete insistence on ignoring evidence to fit your world
view is incredible. This video does not show bikes breaking any
laws at all, and they're not even blocking the car; he just
intentionally ran into a legitimate road user because he
wanted to. To defend actions such as that is completely
ridiculous. -tom
\_ Again we have an edited video. The car hopped a curb, but it's
unclear what caused it. The lane on the other side of the
median is going the other way, so it wasn't just driving down
the lane and suddenly decided to jump the median. My guess
would be that it swerved to avoid a bike or turned into the
lane wide to avoid a bike and was pissed at the cyclists. But
that's just a guess. Tom will jump in with a guess that he'll
declare to be The Truth, but of course we don't know without
the full story. -emarkp
\_ Your complete insistence on ignoring evidence to
fit your world view is incredible. This video
does not show bikes breaking any laws at all, and
they're not even blocking the car; he just
intentionally ran into a legitimate road user
because he wanted to. To defend actions such as
that is completely ridiculous. -tom
\_ So he was clearly not "fleeing to safety" right? I think
we can at least agree on that, right? Go back to 00:32
in the video and tell me again how the car driver was
fleeing for safety.
\_ Note that the driver is trying to get out of the way of
ONCOMING TRAFFIC. I don't know how it got there, nor do
you. But it was trying to get out of the way of a car
coming right at it. -emarkp
\_ And then it was stuck behind some bicylists, so
clearly "fleeing to safety" by running over them.
Wow, you really do have an odd worldview...
\_ So these cyclists are hogging the entire road for no reason
other than to slow down traffic (thus being assholes) and
you think it's the car provoking a confrontation? Then the
guy runs over and props his bike against the car's front
you think it's the car provoking a confrontation? Then a
guy runs there and props his bike against the car's front
bumper and acts surprised when it gets run over.
\_ They're not slowing down traffic, they *are* traffic. -tom
\_ ^traffic^other traffic
\_ how does that modification change anything? Traffic
always slows down other traffic; certianly Critical
Mass slows down other traffic a lot less than a
similar number of cars does. -tom
\_ Maybe but so what? They are moving slower than
the cars, purposefully taking up all the lanes...
basically inconveniencing people just to "make
a statement" (which is what?) They are there
basically for the express purpose of annoying the
car drivers.
\_ Critical Mass doesn't have an "express"
purpose for anything. I think most people
who do it do it because riding in a big
group with loud music is fun. -tom
\_ This is typical car driver attitude: anything in front
of me going slower than me is "provoking a confrontation"
with me. Unfortunately, many people are killed and
maimed every day because of this hostile, selfish and
immature attitude on the part of automobile drivers.
It does not matter who or what is in front of them:
another car, a cyclist or a pedestrian, if they are
in the drivers way, they are "provoking" them.
\_ Actually the average driver is not hostile but
apathetic and just trying to get somewhere. CM is
hostile and childish and looking for confrontations.
If it keeps up expect to see the PD coming down on
them for everything in the book starting with the
red light violations.
\_ It is the apathetic drivers that run over pedestrians
and cylists every single day in San Francisco? Good
to know they are not angry when they do it, just
indifferent. And if you think the automobile holds
the balance of political power in Berkeley and
indifferent. And if you think the automobile drivers
hold the balance of political power in Berkeley and
San Francisco, you haven't been paying attention.
\_ No, it doesn't extend to "anything in front".
Nice strawman.
\_ You obviously have never tried driving the
speed limit in the fast lane.
\_ Why would I do that?
\_ Oh, I don't know, maybe because that is
what is legal, perhaps. Maybe because you
might want to see first hand the maniacal
hostility of your fellow drivers, which the
rest of us have to put up with every single
day. |
| 2007/5/14-16 [Transportation/Car] UID:46621 Activity:nil |
5/14 I'm strongly considering getting a new VW GTI (based on looks,
performance, price), but I'm unsure about its long term
reliability and maintenance costs, as the reason I'm ditching
my current car is because of very high maintenance. Does
anyone have any information on VW's (or a GTI's) reliability
information? Thanks.
\_ Needs premium gas.
\_ I have a GTI, and I'll never buy a VW again.
\_ Why? Can you explain a little more please? -op
\_ I know a bunch of people who bought VW. Every single one
of them broke down, and most in a major way (tranny gone on
two, fan coming off shaft, alternator going, etc.). I
haven't been in touch with most of them for a while, but
two of them now drive Honda. And no, I never had a VW. I
drive a Mazda (< 3000 miles per year). YMMV.
\_ I owned a VW Golf before my current car. I, too, would never
buy VW again. Broke down a lot. VW is the auto equivalent of
IKEA furniture- inexpensive and looks nice, but poorly made and
not build to last.
\_ I'm strongly considering getting a new girlfriend (based on looks,
performance, price), but I'm unsure about her long term
reliability and maintenance costs, as the reason I'm ditching
my current g/f is because of very high maintenance. Does
anyone have any information on a woman's reliability
information? Thanks.
\_ STFW for information on that make/model.
\_ I have a friend w/ a GTI and the routine maintenance is pretty
expensive. Also everyone I know w/ a VW has had problems w/ the
electric windows. One guy at work drove around w/ a clear plastic
bag for his right front window for nearly a year b/c he got tired
of replacing it whenever electrical failed and the window fell
into the door.
\_ Check out the April issue of Consumer Reports. Volkswagen is pretty
much the bottom of the barrel reliability wise, along with Mercedes. |
| 2007/5/14-16 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/Database, Computer/SW] UID:46615 Activity:nil |
5/14 Compare old and new MPG estimates for 2007 and earlier model years:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorSelectYear.jsp |
| 2007/5/9-14 [Transportation/Bicycle, Transportation/Car] UID:46573 Activity:low |
5/9 motd, help. I have a cursed front wheel. I changed my front
MTB tire to skinny road tires and it went flat in 2 weeks.
Right after I patched up the hole (pin size) and pumped it back
up, there was yet another leak and I patched up again. Three days
later, it's flat again. This time I'm tempted to get a new tire.
However, I'm afraid the same thing would happen again. What
the heck is going on?
\_ Maybe you should ask one of the Mormon boys. One thing I like
about them is that they bike (in nice shirts & slacks). It's
really making a strong eco-conscious statement about the
earth, life, God, etc.
\_ I had this problem a while back. I replaced the tire, trued the
wheel, then tried a solid tire (which sucked). Replaced the wheel,
and finally replaced the bike. Much better now.
\_ Have you checked for possible causes of the holes within the tire
and rim. It sounds to me like you either still have a piece of
sharp material embedded in your tire, or your rim is causing the
problem. Run your finger around and see if anything feels sharp
or cuts you (careful). I'd say that you may be installing the
tube incorrectly, but you mentioned "pin" size holes which doesn't
sound like it's due to pinching. A good way to ensure that a tube is\
seated correctly is to inflate the tube partially (10-20 lbs) and
problem. Run your finger around and see if anything feels sharp or
cuts you (careful). I'd say that you may be installing the tube
incorrectly, but you mentioned "pin" size holes which doesn't sound
like it's due to pinching. A good way to ensure that a tube is
seated correctly is to inflate the tube partially (10-20 lbs) and
message it a bit around the bead making sure that the tube sits
inside of the tire. Then let out all the air and re inflate it a
second time, let it out again and reinflate. This doesn't take more
than a few extra seconds and insure that the tube isn't going to get
pinched. -scottyg
second time, let it out again and reinflate. This doesn't take
more than a few extra seconds and insure that the tube isn't going
to get pinched. -scottyg [formatd]
\_ THANK YOU. I found the culprit. I ran my finger through the
tire and there was a little thing protruding out that you
can barely see. Anyways it's the size of a pin (though it's
not a nail) and I flattened it with my tools and everything's
cool now. THANKS.
\_ You should remove it, not just flatten it. A dull bit of wire
embedded on the inside of your tire will still give you flats,
just not quite as often. If it's difficult to pull it out,
bend the tire to open up the crack in the rubber it's embedded
in, and grip it with the tip of a pair of needlenose pliers.
--alawrenc
Actually I just added the plastic green slime liner thing in -/
between the tire and tube. I was actually tempted to get
MTB tires because they seem more reliable. Oh well. Thanks.
\_ I had a similar problem once. The cause was that the tape on inside
of the rim had slid a bit to the side exposing a portion of the
opening that the spoke is inserted through. I re-did the tape and
that solved the problem. I of course didn't recognize the source
until I'd had two flats within several weeks of each other... |
| 2007/5/7-9 [Transportation/Car, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:46549 Activity:kinda low |
5/7 730 Cars burned in France b/c Sarkozy won:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/28kczw (nytimes.com)
\_ Pictures of the riots:
http://boklm.livejournal.com/8072.html
\_ typical cry baby liberals
\_ Told you the Left is violent. :-)
\_ that's why we need guns, to keep the psycho left in check
\_ Cheese eating surrender ... oh.
\_ I wonder what the carbon footprint of 730 burning cars is
\_ Clearly we need greener riots. |
| 2007/5/1-4 [Transportation/Car] UID:46488 Activity:nil |
5/1 Get cash for carpooling:
http://rideshare.511.org/rideshare_rewards/rewards.asp |
| 12/24 |