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Automakers to Make Diagnostic Codes Available

Rubbersoul writes "As reported on /. a few months ago independent auto repair shops are a bit tense about not having access to car computer diagnostic codes. Well it seems that now the auto makers will share these codes after all. According to an article at CNN the codes will be available to all professional mechanics as well as amateurs working out of their garage at home. Good to see the auto makers came around on this one, even if it did take Congress to help a bit."

10 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    frost piss?

    - Junis From Kabul

  2. Trivia For Nerds, Stuff That Doesnt Matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic


    My Complaint About John Ashcroft:

    Parts of what follows below were actually painful to write.
    However, because of the ongoing misinformation campaigns
    launched by John Ashcroft and his operatives, I feel it is
    my duty to write this. It is worth noting at the outset that
    Ashcroft's eccentricity is surpassed only by his vanity. And
    his vanity is surpassed only by his empty theorizing. (Remember
    his theory that doing the fashionable thing is more important than
    life or liberty?) Although I agree with those who suspect that it
    would be good for the press to start paying attention to things
    like this, nevertheless, I cannot agree with the subject matter and
    attitude that is woven into every one of his confused antics.
    One argument he makes is that it is better that a hundred thousand
    people should perish than that he should be even slightly
    inconvenienced. That's just plain nonsense. The truth is that
    he maintains that either his decisions are based on reason or
    that those of us who oppose him would rather run than fight.
    Ashcroft denies any other possibility.

    If you agree, read on. Common sense and scientific evidence agree:
    I believe I have found my calling. My calling is to address a number
    of important issues. And just let him try and stop me. Your guess
    is as good as mine as to why Ashcroft wants to pass off all sorts
    of clueless and obviously resentful stuff on others as a
    so-called "inner experience". Maybe it's because he plans to
    place what I call pretentious, meddlesome bullies at the top
    of the social hierarchy. I will never give up. I will never
    stop trying. And I will use every avenue possible to shape a
    world of dignity and harmony, a world of justice, solidarity,
    liberty, and prosperity.

    A small child really couldn't understand that the last time
    he reached into his bag of dirty tricks, he pulled out a scheme
    to give expression to that which is most destructive and most
    harmful to society. But any adult can easily grasp that his
    intent is to prevent us from asking questions. Ashcroft doesn't
    want the details checked. He doesn't want anyone looking for
    any facts other than the official facts he presents to us.
    I wonder if this is because most of his "facts" are false.
    I didn't want to talk about this. I really didn't. But last
    summer, I attempted what I knew would be a hopeless task. I
    tried to convince Ashcroft that he is essentially describing a
    situation that does not exist. As I expected, Ashcroft was
    unconvinced. Opposing his high-handed catch-phrases actively
    and earnestly is the moral duty of every good human being. To
    pretend otherwise is nothing but hypocrisy and unwillingness
    to face the more unpleasant realities of life.

    When I say that I speak from experience, I don't just mean that
    he wants to exert more and more control over other individuals,
    that he wants to reopen wounds that seem scarcely healed, or
    that he wants to substitute breast-beating and schwarmerei for
    action and honest debate. Sure, Ashcroft indeed wants all that,
    but he also wants much more. He wants to bowdlerize all
    unfavorable descriptions of his harangues. Let me carry my
    thoughts on this subject a bit further. It strikes me as
    amusing that he complains about people who do nothing but
    complain. Well, news flash! Ashcroft does nothing but complain.
    At first, he just wanted to mold the mind of virtually every
    citizen -- young or old, rich or poor, simple or sophisticated.
    Then, he tried to gain a virtual stranglehold on many facets of
    our educational system. Who knows what he'll do next? People often
    ask me that question. It's a difficult question to answer,
    however, because the querist generally wants a simple, concise
    answer. He doesn't want to hear a long, drawn-out explanation
    about how Ashcroft has -- not once, but several times -- been
    able to slow scientific progress without anyone stopping him.
    How long can that go on? As long as his anal-retentive,
    offensive prognoses are kept on life support. That's why we
    have to pull the plug on them and bring the communion of
    knowledge to all of us.

    I recently received some mail in which the writer stated,
    "Ashcroft must have known that his campaigns would cause
    high levels of outrage and would generate many letters
    in response (like this one)." I included that quote not
    because it is exceptional in any way, but rather, because
    it is typical of much of the mail I receive. I included
    it to show you that I'm not the only one who thinks that
    Ashcroft's apologists are too lazy to advance a clear,
    credible, and effective vision for dealing with our
    present dilemma and its most wretched manifestations.
    They just want to sit back, fasten their mouths on the
    public teats, and casually forget that even when Ashcroft
    isn't lying, he's using facts, emphasizing facts, bearing
    down on facts, sliding off facts, quietly ignoring facts,
    and, above all, interpreting facts in a way that will
    enable him to reap a whirlwind of destroyed marriages,
    damaged children, and, quite possibly, a globe-wide
    expression of incurable sexually transmitted diseases.
    Ashcroft must think that being lascivious entitles one
    to put a malign spin on important issues. The limitation
    and final abolition of particularism presuppose the
    elimination of innumerable preconditions. It's a pity.
    So maybe those who fight against his insidious stratagems
    are inevitably branded as scummy and crotchety by his
    underlings. Big deal. What's more important is that he
    should clarify his point, so people like you and me can
    tell what the heck he's talking about. Without
    clarification, his principles sound lofty and include
    some emotionally charged words but don't really seem
    to make any sense.

    Many people respond to Ashcroft's sanctimonious ideals
    in the same way that they respond to television dramas.
    They watch them; they talk about them; but they feel
    no overwhelming compulsion to do anything about them.
    That's why I insist we shed the light of truth on the
    evil that is Ashcroft. As I mentioned before, he has
    neither honor nor integrity, nor even knows what those
    words mean. But let me add that I receive a great deal
    of correspondence from people all over the world. And
    one of the things that impresses me about it is the
    massive number of people who realize that if you were
    to try to tell his shock troops that his readiness to
    call me unimaginative has to be the most egregious example
    imaginable of the pot calling the kettle black, they'd
    close their eyes and put their hands over their ears.
    They are, as the psychologists say, in denial. They
    don't want to hear that Ashcroft has commented that
    fanaticism can quell the hatred and disorder in our
    society. I would love to refute that, but there seems
    to be no need, seeing as his comment is lacking in
    common sense. Admittedly, when it comes time to take a
    stand, Ashcroft invariably dives for cover. But that's
    because Ashcroft just reported that he is omnipotent.
    Do you think that that's merely sloppy reporting on
    Ashcroft's part? I don't. I think that it's a deliberate
    attempt to regulate isolationism.

    He exhibits an overweening sense of entitlement and a
    predilection for depreciating others. Okay, that's a
    slight exaggeration, but you get the general drift. To
    Ashcroft's mind, we ought to worship presumptuous,
    pestiferous kleptomaniacs as folk heroes. So that means
    that he is a perpetual victim of injustice, right?
    No, not right. The truth is that Ashcroft will probably
    respond to this letter just like he responds to all
    criticism. He will put me down as "pernicious" or
    "disloyal". That's his standard answer to everyone
    who says or writes anything about him except the
    most fawning praise.

    He labels anyone he doesn't like as "disgusting".
    That might well be a better description of Ashcroft.
    He coins polysyllabic neologisms to make his doctrines
    sound like they're actually important. In fact, his
    treatises are filled to the brim with words that have
    yet to appear in any accepted dictionary. For better
    or for worse, Ashcroft claims that violence and
    prejudice are funny. That claim is preposterous
    and, to use Ashcroft's own language, overtly
    mawkish. No history can justify it.

    He does not tolerate any view that differs from his own.
    Rather, Ashcroft discredits and discards those people who
    contradict him along with the ideas that they represent.
    In the end, we have to ask, "Why can't he simply enjoy
    the fruits of his own labors and let other people enjoy
    the fruits of theirs?" A complete answer to that question
    would take more space than I can afford, so I'll have to
    give you a simplified answer. For starters, I have to
    wonder where he got the idea that it is my view that
    cultural tradition has never contributed a single thing
    to the advancement of knowledge or understanding. This
    sits hard with me, because it is simply not true, and
    I've never written anything to imply that it is. It has
    been said that Ashcroft's thralls fail to recognize that
    you and I have a lot more class than Ashcroft. That makes
    sense to me. I believe it's true. But it decidedly implies
    that when I first realized that Ashcroft's primary
    motivation is self-enrichment at our expense, a cold
    shudder ran down my back. End of story. Actually, I
    should add that whenever there's an argument about his
    devotion to principles and to freedom, all one has to
    do is point out that by an odd twist of fate, his
    apparatchiks like having a stamp of assurance from
    him that what they're doing is fashionable, or at
    least acceptable. That should settle the argument
    pretty quickly.

    For the time being, this is not a major issue. Of course,
    it's not that simple. If Ashcroft thinks that he can make
    me wind up in a straitjacket and locked in a padded cell,
    then he's barking up the wrong tree. My job now and for
    the immediate future -- our job -- is to shed a little
    light on some of the ignorant prejudices that reside
    within his pea-sized brain. What are the lessons for
    us in this? First, it's that it's unconscionable
    slackers like him that destroy the natural beauty of
    our parks and forests. And second, the acid test for
    his "kinder, gentler" new platitudes should be, "Do
    they still portray uneducated scum as clowns?" If
    the answer is yes, then we can conclude that there
    is a proper place in life for hatred. Hatred of
    that which is wrong is a powerful and valuable tool.
    But when Ashcroft perverts hatred in order to deny
    citizens the ability to draw their own conclusions
    about the potential for violence that he may be
    generating, it becomes clear that given a choice
    of having him attack the critical realism and
    impassive objectivity that are the central
    epistemological foundations of the scientific
    worldview or having my bicuspids extracted sans
    Novocaine, I would embrace the pliers, purchase
    some Polident Partials, and call it a day. Our
    goal must now be to restore the world back to its
    original balance. If you believe that that's a
    worthwhile goal, then I can really use your help.
    Let me hear from you.

    1. Re:Trivia For Nerds, Stuff That Doesnt Matter by Tadghe · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      May I ask what the hell this has to do with the Automakers making Diagnostic codes avaliable?

      --
      Bugs Bunny was right.
    2. Re:Trivia For Nerds, Stuff That Doesnt Matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      You must be new here.

  3. Visit ablabla.org!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    [09:03:03] Scabies Vector: Do you hate the white man?
    [09:03:37] ciaograzioso: what did you say?
    [09:03:45] Scabies Vector: The white man. Do you hate him?
    [09:04:16] ciaograzioso: no
    [09:04:20] Scabies Vector: Oh.
    [09:04:29] Scabies Vector: Then what do you hate? AZNs?
    [09:04:53] Scabies Vector: They have super kiki-pride in their rice, women, and slow but stupid looking automobiles.
    [09:04:56] ciaograzioso: AZN?
    [09:05:12] Scabies Vector: You know, AZN PRIDE!!##%#
    [09:05:26] Scabies Vector: LOLOLOROOFLES
    [09:05:45] ciaograzioso: no i don't know what you're talking about

    [09:06:28] Scabies Vector: OK, well if you had to pick a race to hate, what would it be? Messicans?
    [09:06:34] Scabies Vector: Those bastards are LAZY.
    [09:06:36] ciaograzioso: no..
    [09:06:40] ciaograzioso: they are you not
    [09:06:54] ciaograzioso: you obviously don't live around farmers
    [09:06:56] Scabies Vector: I had one try to wash my windshield at an intersection.
    [09:07:08] ciaograzioso: so
    [09:07:10] Scabies Vector: He didn't get out of the way quickly enough when the light turned green, so I ran over his foot.
    [09:07:11] ciaograzioso: they're not lazy
    [09:07:15] ciaograzioso: i don't hate any race
    [09:07:24] ciaograzioso: that was mean
    [09:07:32] Scabies Vector: Well, he didn't get out of the way...
    [09:07:46] ciaograzioso: well, you coulda been patient
    [09:07:49] Scabies Vector: Messicans are almost as lazy as canadians, when you get down to it.
    [09:08:04] ciaograzioso: they are not, they're very good workers
    [09:08:12] ciaograzioso: where are you getting your information
    [09:08:13] Scabies Vector: But canadians don't even get out of my car's way...
    [09:08:26] ciaograzioso: what do you just plain run them over
    [09:08:34] Scabies Vector: sometimes
    [09:08:40] Scabies Vector: Not out of spite.
    [09:08:45] Scabies Vector: Well, ok, sometimes out of spite...
    [09:09:32] Scabies Vector: Have you never run anyone over?
    [09:09:36] ciaograzioso: no
    [09:09:38] ciaograzioso: that's mean
    [09:10:01] Scabies Vector: The first time I did, it tore the crap out of my tire.
    [09:10:07] ciaograzioso: good
    [09:10:12] Scabies Vector: One of their bones lodged in it, and popped it really badly.
    [09:10:17] Scabies Vector: not good!
    [09:10:20] ciaograzioso: that's sick
    [09:10:27] ciaograzioso: i don't wanna know all that
    [09:11:00] Scabies Vector: I had to pay like 130$ for a new tire...
    [09:11:04] ciaograzioso: good
    [09:11:12] Scabies Vector: Well...
    [09:11:16] Scabies Vector: I found the guy's wife.
    [09:11:17] ciaograzioso: well what?
    [09:11:26] Scabies Vector: and beat her until she gave me the money for the tire...
    [09:13:42] Scabies Vector: That was satisfying.
    [09:13:55] ciaograzioso: i don't wanna know all that stuff
    [09:14:00] ciaograzioso: i don't think it's funny either

    [09:37:10] Scabies Vector: People are generally worthless...
    [09:37:17] ciaograzioso: they are not
    [09:37:26] Scabies Vector: Prove it.
    [09:37:26] ciaograzioso: people have a lot of value
    [09:37:36] Scabies Vector: OK, all I ask is you to prove it to me.
    [09:38:06] ciaograzioso: if people were worthless, Jesus Christ wouldn't have died for them, not for you, for me, or for anyone else, but He did
    [09:38:23] Scabies Vector: Jesus was a fag!
    [09:38:31] ciaograzioso: prove it
    [09:38:34] Scabies Vector: OK
    [09:38:48] Scabies Vector: He told everyone that a man should never have relations with another man.
    [09:38:50] Scabies Vector: You know why?
    [09:38:57] Scabies Vector: So HE COULD HAVE ALL THE MEN FOR HIMSELF!

    [09:39:56] ciaograzioso: so you're saying that Christ was gay
    [09:40:11] ciaograzioso: you need more than logical reasoning to present something as a fact
    [09:40:12] Scabies Vector: Well, he sure wasn't interested in the womenz.
    [09:40:23] ciaograzioso: He was without sin....
    [09:40:41] Scabies Vector: He was just desperate as hell to get laid, but nobody would do him.
    [09:40:44] ciaograzioso: which means He couldn't have been a homosexual or heterosexual
    [09:40:53] Scabies Vector: So he went gay.
    [09:41:03] Scabies Vector: Gay guys will do anything... women have standards.
    [09:42:03] ciaograzioso: men have standards too
    [09:42:09] Scabies Vector: Not gay men.
    [09:42:17] Scabies Vector: Fags will bone anything with an anus.

  4. Re:Guess What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    McDonalds? Remember the old saying "Eat shit, go to McDonalds!". That is *SO* true! McDonald's food is SHIT in my opinnion! And the salary! Oh my fucking dick! Only really desperate losers are willing to waste their life there!

  5. IF only software makers did this on the desktop by Billly+Gates · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Of course with apps like MS-word, its microosft's advantage to not share anything and use drm to monopolize the market and force users to pay outrageous prices for their software and to make them pay and agree to the eula for Windows. Its all in the file formats.

    MS-OFFICE pro $900!! Literally $900 for this. How much does a new computer cost?

    I expect it to go way up after drm and encryption becomes standard in the next version of Office. After that expect to pay $1200! After all your boss may email you some documents and expect an answer. ITs silly to pay these outrageous prices just to stay in contact with the rest of the world. I remember back in the good old days when MS_Office Pro was $179. HHmmmm wonder why the price sky rocketed up?

    I bet if Microsoft was in this atuo bussiness, they would not only hold the codes secret but would us the dmca to force independant auto shops under and make users only go to their own shops.

  6. Re:Guess What? by GigsVT · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    FYI- Neon lights on cars are illegal in many states.

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
  7. Re:Oh boy, open source cars!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Too bad you can't click on a link that tells you WHO moderated down your message. I imagine michael is the one who moderated down your message and as an author doesn't need any mod points to do it. Lame.

  8. Re:Parent is spreading FUD by cybermace5 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Loser.

    I bought Office XP at my school for $15. Educational license that turned into a permanent license when I graduated.

    $15, and it was worth every penny.

    --
    ...