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Car Glass Rules Could Impair Cell, GPS and Radio Signals In CA
An anonymous reader writes "The California Air Resources Board (CARB) just passed a new regulation that requires glazed glass in automobiles that is supposed to reduce the need to use air conditioning. The catch is that the same properties that block electromagnetic sunlight radiation also block lower frequency electromagnetic radio waves. That means radios, satellite radios, GPS, garage door openers, and cell phones will be severely degraded. Even more surprising is that it requires this glass even for jeeps that have soft covers, plastic windows, and no air conditioning.'"
I know when they passed legislation requiring motorcycle helmets to be worn, they didn't specify "where", so people were strapping one to their knee or hanging it from an elbow.
Perhaps you can do the same thing, and sell glazed drinking glasses, stick one in your cup-holder, you're golden?
"Flame away, I wear asbestos underwear"
[places pinky finger to mouth]
An .. Aerial !!!!
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I've spent the past several years designing and prototyping a new type of eco-friendly air conditioning for automobiles that solves both these problems. By using the intrinsic velocity of an automobile and cutting-edge gas dynamics, I've discovered that the inside of a car can be cooled merely by adding an additional aperture to the side of the vehicle. This aperture can even be temporary, thanks to an innovative sliding glass mechanism that preserves visibility and allows a variety of different settings to suit the user's preference. A slight decrease in aerodynamics and therefore fuel efficiency, as well as a tendency for papers to blow around in the back seat, is the only downside.
...my Jeep has air conditioning: the TD2-50 A/C system
(using it is pretty easy, too: take off the top and both doors, then go 50mph).
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Not sure this really effects Detroit all that much. I think they only sold 6 cars last year.
Now the "foreign" manufacturers that set up shop south of Michigan? They might actually care.
Not a problem. The glass will be scattered in you lap, permitting excellent reception again.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
That's a good example of tight coupling. Clearly, the antenna and windshield should have been communicating over a well thought out interface. Instead, the implementation of one was entirely dependent on, nay, entrenched in, the implementation details of the other.
OR they'll roll down the window to make the call, heating up the car in the process, then run the AC on full blast to level it out afterwards.
Then turn on the blender to make margaritas because they're still hot and now thirsty.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
If cars were computers: