Posts by My other car WAS an IAV Stryker

Re: Rights

There is, depending on the locale. Just ask a bunch of Detroit homeowners whose houses have been taken over. Not much they can do aside from hire "squatter hitmen" who also move in -- squatters can't kick them out -- and make life absolute H-E-double-hockey-sticks for the squatters who leave after a time. Guaranteed results; usually takes a week.

Re: Next up....

I've always wondered why we couldn't marry a recharging dock with dialing keypad and physical handset -- the kind we could balance on a shoulder and not have to stick things in our ears -- for the various slab-phones, especially the "Fruit Factory Jesus phone" (as El Reg used to call it). Wouldn't need a separate display since the phone's own screen could activate and provide you the caller ID, mute, speakerphone, conference and other options. I would take this over any Bluetooth earbud/headset any day -- old-school interfaces to newest tech.

Requirements: 1) hold phone at working angle similar to laptop screen; 2) charge phone; 3) provide dialing capability from physical buttons; 4) provide audio interface via old-school handset (with the smaller-than-RJ11 jacks so you can swap in your favorite or change colors, or change the cable when it got too twisted); 5) hold the handset when not in use (and hang up the call -- nothing like a good SLAM). Only a power supply required since the phone has the call & Wi-Fi radios. Bonus for a separate audio-out stereo jack (3.5 mm) for playing music (when not on a call) to my existing desktop speakers.

Re: Vardøgr

That noise... from the conference room Polycom phones circa 2005-2007 during teleconferences (especially when calling into WebEx) when I first started my "career" job back at Styker/Abrams HQ. Everyone was told to turn their cell phones OFF -- not just "silent" -- for meetings. (As cell phones evolved and old models were retired, it got better. The older Polycoms were eventually replaced also.)

Re: Three ways to make this idea even better

Oh, I'm not rural -- I'm firmly in the suburbs, less than 25 miles away from the center of downtown of a major city. But you're both right -- 1) lack of competition and 2) not easily fiber-cabled.

As my top post says -- and I've repeated time and again, I pay $60 for 25 Mbps. Less than twice the price for 48x download speed (and 40x upload)? I'm sold; shut up and take my money as long as you aren't Xfinity (or similar cableco from other states).

Re: "best in the US"

> I guess, tables and chair excepted.

Doesn't count in the US -- the legs aren't usually attached while still in the box. The consumer -- or furniture store's cheap contracted delivery grunt -- does that part.

Re: Passengers unharmed?

The article said it struck the "wing flap". Without having seen the video, I find this to be highly likely. With the flaps fully extended for takeoff, the parts are low enough to get hit with a piece of engine cowling. If so, a few rows behind would make the flap damage the most visible to a passenger.

Re: Teaser text error

I've said it before: I pay for just better than that (25/5). It's the max the legacy phone company copper wires can do, but that's here in some relatively affluent suburbs, not long-distance rural.

My only non-wireless option for more bandwidth is the "cable" company whose uptime is horrendous. You'd think that for what my neighbors pay them (a lot) that the phone company could easily suck in all that dosh with a fiber rollout. But no... phone company want to push me to wireless home "broadband" without any mention of bandwidth (max speed and/or stability), uptime (connection stability), or cost -- just "no added cost", but there's no obvious benefit.

These new targets might still be satisfied in our neighborhood, but only for customers of brand "X" when it's actually working (and they're all paying out the nose).

The lack of choice is the problem. Open the market -- more choices would make all providers offer more performance for lower cost.

Re: Except

"In the Age of AI people will have to grow up. Most won't like growing up and it won't happen until reality smacks them in the face enough times."

In the last "few" years (ranging from 3 to 10), many folks have instead embraced the lies that make them comfortable, honestly believing them to be truth, calling truth "lies" and surrounding themselves with folks who believe the same to further insulate them from reality. And it happens at *both* extremes of any/every spectrum/facet of society.

IMHO, AI is going to reinforce this and further insulate people from reality rather than confront them with it. Society isn't "growing up" -- it's well past maturity and descending into child-like dementia (the kind where rational suppression fades and the old racist/sexist ideas come out at random).

Re: The phone company DOES care (spoiler alert)

At least, they sure did in The President's Analyst (1967 American satirical black comedy film -- description is from Wikipedia, where the link goes).

Re: Not sure his plans to fix it are realistic

"The problem is that ...people would still go to McDonalds. Why?" Because they're addicted to it, exactly the way Big Biz has chemically engineered it.

And the same addiction exists in social media, if not worse since there is no biological "fullness" to urge you to stop consuming (for the moment).

"How do we fix that?" Education will never fix addiction, and the users will not seek their own path out -- "I can quit whenever I want" being one of the biggest lies ever. Trying to regulate these industries and put limits on the measures their greed will utilize seems like the only option.

Re: click bait

Full circle between reality and art...

Michael Crichton's "Airframe", set at a fictional aircraft assembler in southern Cali (pre-Boeing McD?) has discussions between engineers that make clear maintenance is not their problem, especially with regards to certain elements, in this case an engine. In a "breaking news" incident unrelated to the main plot, an engine fan disk bursts, spewing shrapnel through its housing and into the wing and lower fuselage. The "powerplant" engineer gets irate, saying he told that airline not to buy those "piece of s***" engines (from another fictional company) because they had -- you guessed it -- early cracks, but the airframe maker has to install whatever engines the customer wants. As the news names the airframe company, he doubles down screaming THEIR airframe saved everyone from that bad engine, and the smoke was not due to fire (fuel) but hydraulic fluid spewing on to a hot, exposed engine from hydraulic lines in the wing being cut by the shrapnel.

As someone else mentioned bad parts down below: the main story is a combination of a counterfeit (and unreliable -- broken before usual lifetime) part and procedures not being followed (nepotism) combined with lack of proper training. Mix in some airline coverups, vengeful media, and a young VP out to find the truth even if it kills her and it's my favorite Crichton book that I keep coming back to, mainly because it's so grounded in reality, referencing both real and fictional-copies-of-real airline incidents and leveraging heavy on the technology that millions use every day for travel. You'll never look at wing flaps and slats the same way again. (And yes, it's mentioned how the FAA can't keep the airframe certifications lest the competition walk in and take a peek at proprietary design.)

Re: Not just Intuit / Turbo Tax

"Cash App Taxes". From their help pages: "Cash App Taxes is always free to prepare and file federal and single-state income tax returns, regardless of adjusted gross income." They do admit there are limitations, "like if you lived and worked in different states, or had foreign income over $600" (and other situations) -- they still won't charge, because they can't handle those at all.

It used to be "Credit Karma Tax", part of the credit-watch firm Credit Karma, but when their credit-bureau owner (Transunion or Experian) sold Karma off to Intuit, they naturally had to spin the Tax portion off to someone else.

The downsides are 1) you have to sign up for Cash App, and 2) Cash App (parent/subsidiaries/etc.) will have your tax info, and may actually do things with it, so read the Ts&Cs.

Caveats: I never use Cash App for anything else, IANAL, and I'm not paid to advertise.

"...cars that allow people to run their high-beams during the day..."

True of just about every car I've driven, including owned, leased, or rented, and I've been driving since 1995. I don't use the high-beams often (quite rarely, actually), but I could if I wanted, because in the past cars had less smarts and fewer controls on user behavior. I remember back when there wasn't even a safety check that the driver's belt was buckled. If anything, a high-tech company like Tesla would be the kind of opportunity to introduce such a feature to override the user input and keep the high-beams off for daytime safety's sake. (Some cars already have auto high-beams for nighttime, making me think it's tied into the situational awareness sensors; a daytime override wouldn't be a big addition.)

And to your other point: Comcast? Really? Only if the gov't can get them to stop the predatory price hikes that make "customers" (victims) call and change plans every year (or worse, 6 months). And they need to improve their reliability also, based on the reports of my neighbors. In the capitalist tradition, I'll stick with any company -- even ignoring politics -- that gives me what I actually pay for as long as I'm getting a fair deal, and everyone I know says Comcast ain't it.

Options and settings

* Some require you to confirm/save/apply, and some don't (immediate action).

I prefer the former -- it lets you check for something stupid before committing.

Having options to NOT apply, either temporarily (cancel instead of confirm but keep showing the intended changes) and/or revert to previous settings are sometimes necessary and always appreciated.

Re: Not an Engineer

It's (mostly) a matter of state licensing. Many can call themselves engineers* based on the job/role, but you can't use the suffix "professional engineer" (PE) without having a valid state license, and many projects -- notably civil engineering, construction, and the like -- require a PE to sign the drawings, change orders, et cetera.

* I do, to be blunt. I once took the Engineer in Training (EIT) entrance exam in my birth state -- where I also got my highest degree -- which enabled me for official apprenticeship, but only got a career position many months later, in a different state, in a job that doesn't require PE for most of the staff. I could have "imported" my EIT for a fee (state reciprocity) and requested PE mentoring, but I'm not sure they even had an electrical PE to oversee my continuing education or sponsor me for the full detailed PE exam. Regarding organizations, I was a student member of IEEE but let it lapse shortly after starting that job. In my current position, I know the customer requires a PE to sign drawings, but we're only a subcontractor; the prime contractor has a PE who rubber-stamps them.

Re: 01/100 a US thing?

I agree, it's a thing.

Here's a related thing to the reply to the post asking the question (not to detract from said reply, sorry): I just recently wrote my first check in months [1] [2] for an "even dollar" amount, and per custom -- as learned from my parents -- added "and no/100" to make it clear that "no" (zero) cents are to be added to the dollars involved. Using "00/100" could easily be hand-modified to be "100/100" or more.

As the other reply alluded to, filling up the line prevents even worse manipulation.

1. I pay most everything via direct EFT (mortgage, credit payments, and utility bills) or debit when necessary. Even my weekly charitable giving (church), which was the last one to transition, uses EFT.

2. Coincidentally, it was the last check in the current "book". I may have more books in a "check box" somewhere but can't be bothered to look right now. Let's see how long it takes until I need another physical check!

Re: Just

It was designed specifically for that one-off custom-designed rover and likely built at the same time, but still "bespoke" since test equipment from a different rover certainly wouldn't work!

With a ring of solar panels around its equator for power all month long!

Any gov't that contributes to that massive project gets to tap the resulting power for free.

Re: Good use

And I thought my series of Chevrolet Traverses were bad. Jack up front corner; pull off front wheel (you do have a decent X-wrench, right?); unscrew underside/wheel-well liner (requires laying on ground, so hope you have a clean, heated garage); reach in blindly; try to do everything with one arm (requires superhuman finger strength and dexterity); reverse all steps (there's the ground and dirty wheel again).

If it meant I could see what I was doing, and the fasteners were accessible, I would have gladly removed pieces from the front.

Re: Musk universe is Twitter

That's no joke.

It seems through my adult life that those whose perceptions twists reality the most appear to control it for the rest of us. The only option is to ditch those relationships, or, often enough, let those "crazy" ones ditch us -- we get the blame either way.

Re: " “pay almost nothing for data transport in our networks.”

"Maybe a similar idea (where the service company is disconnected from the company that owns the local cable, and is forced to be impartial) would work in America?"

Probably not.

Anecdote: I remember a coworker trying just that back in 2005-06, but when the service didn't work the two companies just pointed the finger at each other, plus there were billing issues between them. They both wanted to get paid as if they both provided the whole package but without taking responsibility for the lack of actual service.

Practice: our major providers differ in terms of technology. Until that is sorted -- probably requiring legislation at state level -- they will maintain independent systems and not work together at all. (My local duopoly gives you a choice of copper coax or copper twisted pair; neither has upgraded to fiber-to-the-premises yet, and using cellular for home internet is a joke unless 5G actually works but I haven't tested that yet, and there are supposed drawbacks to that.)

Re: How dare Honda have fun with an idea?!

Stickers. Lots of stickers. Especially those made for car bumpers.

I would have wanted one ~20 years ago back in grad school at a major public university. Big monogram logo on one side, smiling mascot on the other. (Would also need a wagon-trailer to haul groceries -- I could have rigged an interface to the seat post.)

Re: Why?!

The US politicians who claim to pray to God the most, actually don't; they pray to the idols of money, power, and corporate greed. Can't fix a planet with that attitude -- instead of being good stewards of it like God intended, it's more like rape and pillage the planet for all its resources, then burn them.

(Remember, kids, "pillage then burn". Better return on investment than vice versa.)

Re: Plus ca change....

Too late to change all the test kit related to CAN bus by various vendors. (CAN is technically serial, but not RS-232.)

Re: "Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars"

"Hopefully governments will grow some balls and stand up to him instead of funding him."

Have you seen who was running the US federal government from January 2017 to 2021? (Not to mention influencing it, mostly via media, both before and after.)