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LA to Oregon at Mach 9

Kallahar writes "Last April I hooked up a video camera to my front bumper and drove from Los Angeles to Oregon. The video is finally done; it's sped up 95x which makes the trip a mere 6 minutes long. To do the recording I hooked up a VCR inside the car and recorded in real time, then captured the entire thing to the hard drive and changed the framerate of the avi. The camera and VCR only cost about $50 total, which makes for a fairly affordable hobby/art project."

19 of 569 comments (clear)

  1. I want to see an around the globe trip! by pixel.jonah · · Score: 1, Insightful

    cool nonetheless.

  2. Ads? by Johnathon_Dough · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Maybe this is all a big marketing ploy?

    1. Send thousands of people to download a huge .avi

    2. Make sure your ad for a "great web host" is in plain text at the top of the page.

    3. Listen to the collective gasp as your site actually manages to keep up with the downloads (as of 11:20pm pacific)

    4. Profit?

    Of course the whole thing goes out the window if the server actually does crap out in about 5-6 hours when the east coast get's to work and collectively hits the download link in one giant spasm of excitement at the chance of seeing the %$&%-ing highway 5.

    weee?

    --
    If you are one in a million, then there are six thousand people who are just like you.
  3. Re:More interesting route. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    no doubt. driving the 5 to Oregon is about the most boring trip I can think of, nothing but trucks and more trucks for the most part... I'd prefer taking the 101 at least part of the way up just to break the monotony. the scenerey is better, at least.

  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. Thanks by BitHive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I enjoyed watching your video. Thank you for making it!

  6. Re:Pretty groovy... by tarunthegreat2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well the roads are a lot wider because they do have pretty much a whole continent to themselves, and only about 260 Million people to populate it with. Some people have all the luck. Try driving in India. 1/4 the area of USA, and 4 times the population, and yes, they do own cars in India.

  7. Re:Big file by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    should have used freecache

  8. Re:65MB videos? by binaryspiral · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >Why does the Slashdot Effect not affect
    >Slashdot, of all places?

    Because smart people setup this website.

  9. He seems a dangerous driver (serious) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You made a good joke, but having watched the video, the guy does appear to be a very impatient driver. Time after time after time, he runs right up to someone's bumper in the left lane, follows very closely for some time, then winds up passing them on the right.

    I spend a lot of my time doing interstate driving. As such, I realize that there are plenty of assholes out there doing 65mph in the passing lane where the speed limit is 70. But drivers who tailgate in the passing lane (or any lane, really) are IMO just as much of a risk for accidents.

    When you're in the far left lane, and you're gaining quickly on the car in front of you, you should either move to the immediate right lane and complete your pass at a safe distance, or if conditions don't allow this, slow the fuck down and back it off. Riding the bumper of the person in front of you because they're driving too slowly is NOT the proper response. Nine times out of ten, the driver in front of you is not going to "get the message" and yield his position.

    This is a great video, I just wish it didn't depict so many examples of poor and unsafe driving.

    1. Re:He seems a dangerous driver (serious) by ComaVN · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Thank you for making the road a more dangerous place.

      What, it hurts your ego to be passed by someone?

      --
      Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
    2. Re:He seems a dangerous driver (serious) by RichardX · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That really makes you a bit of a twat then, doesn't it. You realise you're just increasing that driver's frustration, making it more likely an accident will occur?

      And be very careful. Should an accident occur while you're pulling this stunt, even if it's through no fault of your own, you may end up taking the blame, as you were deliberately blocking another driver. The "Yeah, but he was being an asshole!" defence doesn't tend to stand too well

      --
      Curiosity was framed. Ignorance killed the cat.
    3. Re:He seems a dangerous driver (serious) by revmoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If anyone flashes me (UK) in this fashion I deliberately make their task of passing as difficult as possible.

      Hey, why do you suppose it's called the passing lane?

      People accidentally loiter in the passing lane all the time, it's easy to drift off and not realize where you are, but when you are reminded nicely to get out of the way(flashing lights), and you not only refuse, but start being an asshole about it you deserve be pulled over and fined.

      Being passed in the passing lane is illeagal here, and for good reason. How would you feel if you were being taken to the hospital with a critical illness, only to be held up on the way by some idiot with a sore ego and something to prove?

      --
      I would expect such blatant racism on Fark, but on Slashdot? Mods please ban this asshole.
    4. Re:He seems a dangerous driver (serious) by Bellyflop · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not a god-given right. It's a law-given privledge. I think people in the US seem to forget that driving is a privledge, not a right. Society is allowing you to put the rest of us at risk by allowing you to operate a machine that weighs several thousand pounds at high speeds. You pose a significant risk to MANY other people and as such, you have no right to make it even more risky by driving too fast.

  10. Re:More interesting route. by Our+Man+In+Redmond · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Route 66 would be cool, but unfortunately large tracks of it (primarily between Arizona and Oklahoma, from what I remember) no longer exist.

    I remember a book that was funded by the WPA (I think -- I haven't seen the book in years) that documented the highways of Texas as they existed in the 1930s, including landmarks (drive 0.3 miles west and turn left at the red barn). Imagine if the technology had been in place to put frame-per-second camera on cars and document the highways of the time on film. In fact maybe we should do something like this now. Our cities and highways will probably look as quaint and antiquated to the people of 2074 as the highways of 1934 look to us.

    --
    Someone you trust is one of us.
  11. Hook up a GPS too... by rediguana · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What would be fun is to hook up a GPS as well, and overlay a moving map on the video as well. I must try this in New Zealand, as we have some awesome highways through the Southern Alps and lovely driving road... mmmmm...

  12. Mirror by kaltoft · · Score: 2, Insightful

    http://kaltoft.linux.dk/2004Apr23_trip.avi
    http:/ /kaltoft.linux.dk/2004Apr23_trip_small.avi

  13. passing on the right by turbosk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm glad somebody brought this up. The one thing that incites me to "road rage" is the mf'ers in the "passing lane" who aren't passing anybody, just cruising. There is a special PLACE IN HELL for ppl who drive slow in the left lane.

    Where you live, is driving slow in the passing lane also a 5-point infraction, as it should be for parity's sake? If you're caught driving in the left lane and not passing anyone 20 times, do you lose your license? If not, there's no farking way right-side passing should be illegal.

    geez that felt good.

    fred

  14. Pride in Road Rage by handy_vandal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If anyone flashes me (UK) in this fashion I deliberately make their task of passing as difficult as possible. The flashing is normally accompanied by excessive speed, and tailgating.

    This is a profoundly Bad Idea. You're setting the stage for a deadly accident -- perhaps involving you, perhaps involving others.

    Pride in road rage is the Devil's work -- you're making the world a worse place for everyone to live. The world is bad enough already, without such needless provocation. Please think about the dreadful consequences of your actions.

    -kgj

    --
    -kgj
    1. Re:Pride in Road Rage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      True, that. I'm guilty of behaving that way myself. Any time I gave in to such behavior it was followed by profound guilt and disbelief as to what I had done. It's never worth it. As bad as it feels to have someone "get the best of you" it will feel a million times worse if you kill someone getting your "revenge".