This may surprise a lot of people in Germany, but in the US the general rule is, you don't have any vacation days and can't afford to take time off of work to see a doctor.
And if you do take time off of work to get well and figure out how to pay a doctor and any treatment they might suggest, it's entirely possible that, upon attempting to return to work, you find yourself jobless.
Therefore, again generally, we tend to take as many over-the-counter drugs as we can to begin feeling half-way human so we can keep working every day even if it kills us and those around us (which, according to TFA, it does).
I bet you use a half a dozen services that quite legally reserve the right to change the terms, give you notice, and interpret your continuing to use the service as acceptance.
Doesn't make it right, just legal.
Are you in the US? If so, go have a look at the Uniform Commercial Code. It's actually a fairly straight-forward document that explains that what you describe is neither right, nor legal.
Honestly, I us the Wii more as a platform to watch movies than anything else. It's actually my most-used console, but I don't use it for gaming. At all.
Watching movies? On a Wii? Which doesn't even support DVDs out-of-the-box? And supports 480p over component video at very best?
An original Xbox with XBMC might be better, and is almost certainly cheaper.
Well that's just it, they are already allowed to search you if they have the suspicion of finding drugs.
Incorrect. They need probable cause, not mere suspicion.
If they take possession of the phone (which they most likely will if they believe something of value is on it) it's not like the phone is going to self-destruct, so they can wait for warrant if their case is strong enough.
Mine can self-destruct. (I haven't actually -installed- a dead man's switch on it, but it's pretty trivial to do, just as it is on any other general-purpose programmable computer.)
And if their case isn't strong enough to get a warrant then they have no business browsing thru the personal data on your phone.
I'm going to be flamed to death for this, but if it doesn't have to be DIY, why not just hire it done and not reinvent the wheel?
It's a "dream house," right? So presumptively this stuff doesn't have to happen for free.
Find yourself a competent Crestron (or similar) installer and programmer. Sit down with them and discuss what your hopes and dreams about home automation. And then let them do it. Get them involved earlier instead of later, so they can coordinate with the other trades on the job.
A well-planned Crestron system can do just about anything. Push one button, dim the lights, close the blinds (if daylight), drop the screen, fire up the projector, set up the AV gear properly, and await your next command? And have it work exactly the same way, every single time? That stuff is -easy- with Crestron.
It sure ain't free, and it's not DIY, but it does actually work...
Maybe it's about profits and the people at Steam aren't on some quasi-crusade to save anything other than their own business interests? Why does everything need to be some modern day jihad to the people around here?
Because we're mostly in the US, where we've been forced to spend our childhood years learning the writewashed details of every past war and conflict, but very little other history, and therefore demand that every competition have exactly one clear victor because that's what we're used to?
A more accurate comparison might be: If it is legal to rent access to a Tivo+Slingbox from your neighbor (which the courts haven't decided anything on because nobody has ever asked them to) then Aereo should be legal.
So if I have a single appliance that uses between 15A and 20A, I shouldn't plug it into my 20A circuit? Huh? How am I supposed to use my vacuum?
An appliance that uses between 15A and 20A uses a different plug -- a 6-20P instead of a 6-15P. The neutral prong is rotated 90 degrees from what you're used to. It will only connect to a 20A outlet (a 6-20R).
Your vacuum, as another poster pointed out, does not draw between 15A and 20A. If it did, it would have a different plug than it does have.
But given a choice in the matter, I'll take a few hundred dollars worth of proper winter tires over an expensive AWD/4WD drivetrain, any day of the week when it comes to winter driving: Having two driven axles instead of one doesn't help me stop and doesn't help me stay on the road. Good tires and driving technique do.
Winter tires are also cheap because while I'm driving around wearing out a set of Blizzaks, one thing I'm not doing is wearing out my expensive summer tires.
The studs/no studs/Blizzaks/chains/something else debate is a different one altogether, and depends on the conditions anticipated, which depends on locality and the typical weather, and the treatments applied to roads.
Around here, for instance, they treat the roads with rock salt. Works great in warmer temperatures to turn the road to deep slush....which Blizzaks aren't actually particularly good at clearing.
Some places treat the road with sand or gravel. Some places use cinders.
Right now, it's ridiculously cold out for these parts. The (18-year-old) BMW won't even start. But if it did start, I'd want studded tires instead of Blizzaks because the road surface is hard, compacted, polished snow (ie: ice).
But these are unusual circumstances. If every winter were like this, I'd have facilities in place (block heater, battery heater, etc) to keep this from being an issue. And I'd still strive to have season-appropriate tires.
Your WRX would be happier (both safer, and more fun), too.
I disagree with this on several counts. AWD/4WD is super helpful for accelerating in sloppy conditions. Having 4 drive wheels gives a much better chance of gaining traction when one or more of the drive wheels inevitably spins. Most FWD cars do not have a limited slip diff so if one drive wheel loses traction the car will be unable to accelerate.
Accelerating is only a small part of the equation. I spend more time turning and braking than accelerating. In normal, non-spirited driving, AWD does not (cannot) help with turning or braking.
Meanwhile, such niceties as traction control are standard on many newer vehicles. Indeed, starting with MY 2012, standard stability control is required for new cars sold in the US, which implies the inclusion of basic traction control.
It ain't no locking diff, Torsen, or even clutch-based Positraction. But it will allow a 2WD vehicle to accelerate, even with an open differential, even with one wheel having zero traction, by selectively applying braking to the driven wheel that is spinning using little more than existing modern ABS systems and software.
In most cases AWD makes it much easier to get the vehicle moving in the direction you want when conditions are icy. There is a reason most rally cars have 4 drive wheels but the same reason applies to passenger vehicles. After a good set of winter tires, AWD/4WD is the next option I typically want on a vehicle when available for winter driving. (other stuff like ABS etc comes standard)
There are a number of good reasons why I don't commute in a rally car. Remember the context. I will not dignify this line of reasoning with any more response than this sentence.
You also do need decent handling for sloppy conditions but the type of handling you need is different than that for dry pavement. You need a car that will tend to keep the nose of the vehicle pointed where you want it, that will not remove traction from wheels due to suspension dynamics, etc. Cars that handle off-road driving well tend to do well in snowy conditions too and handling is an important part of that.
What you describe is neutral handling. It is something that driving enthusiasts crave, and is something that your Xterra is incapable of.
And you're wrong. Most drivers (given the poor state of driver's education in this country) are better prepared to deal with understeer, than a neutral-handling car which may just as easily oversteer as do anything else.
Suspension dynamics play little part in winter driving on normal roads: Due to the coefficient of friction being approximately crap, there simply is not enough dynamic force applied to the suspension in a turn accelerating/braking for things to change much. Keeping the car in a straight line on a road covered in washboard-like packed snow is more a function of toe angle than anything else....and toe does not change as a function of suspension dynamics.
What was I going on about again? Oh, yeah: Tires. Having tires that are appropriate to the task is important on any vehicle, whether it be a Prius or an articulated loader. Without friction, none of the rest of this even matters.
But you can keep arguing if you want. I'm here all night.
Not at all. You could put the best winter tires possible on it and I would still have plenty to complain about. No AWD, pathetic power, shitty handling, borderline ugly looks, bizarre dashboard, cheap materials, very limited battery only range, etc. This is not a car I would chose to go winter rallying in regardless of the choice of tires. At best you'll make it reasonable for commuting but it never is going to be more than bearable in the snow.
But "reasonable for commuting" is what a Prius is *for*: It's a purpose-built car, and it does only one thing well (commuting in city traffic). Winter driving doesn't need AWD or lots of power or terrific handling: It just needs enough traction to operate at a reasonable speed.
With correct tires, I maintain that it would be a very useful vehicle on snow and ice. (Remember, context: We're talking about "Polar Vortex Sends Life-Threatening Freeze to US" and what that means to a driver.)
I mean, sure: I wouldn't be caught dead owning a Prius....for many of the same reasons you mention. But to those that it is a useful vehicle most of the year, having a set of winter tires to swap on would be a great idea for making it useful the rest of the year.
Dude: You mentioned winter tires, but it needs mentioning again. Blizzaks FTW. Every complaint you make about the Prius is actually a complaint about the tires.:)
When it's snowing and nasty outside, do you wear smooth-soled open-toed sandals, or proper boots?
Even on your Xterra: Put some decent rubber on the thing that's made for the conditions, and just go for it.
My old RWD BMW 325i with a skinny set of Blizzaks goes, turns, and stops like an unstoppable force on ice and snow and sun-polished packed snow and.... This, despite having only a bit more than 5 inches of ground clearance.
The only time it has issues is on fresh snow up to 8 or 9 inches deep. Beyond that, it starts floating on the floor pan and there isn't enough weight on the tires for them to grip anything. Adding 80 or 100 pounds of ballast over the rear axle helps, but there are limits.
In the 7 or 8 years I've owned this car, it has been stuck once. And that was on 13 inches of newly-fallen snow. The rest of the time, I carry a tow strap to help other vehicles out of ditches....much to the amazement of several FWD sedan drivers, and one or two 4WD Jeep owners.
But it's not the car (well some of it is -- the weight distribution is quite good, and there is a lot of weight to distribute), it's the tires.
It will compound the problem because people currently don't set up their lights correctly and so dazzle other drivers.
Because education and legislative sanity is hard, and stuff.
As an aside, in hilly areas you get dazzled by oncoming traffic with bright lights regardless of how well they're set up.
This is not a new problem.
Car lights are often too bright now.
I suggest you look into BMW and Audi's advances in lighting technology. Audi, in particular, has LED headlights available which automatically a great deal of light in all forward directions except at traffic.
Seeing a new Audi on the road around me of me is a little bit strange. The technology is sufficiently advanced that they look more like parking lights than headlights to other drivers, yet upon further study is is plain that the car is illuminating the roadway very well indeed while completely eliminating and glare or dazzle on my own part.
Let's leave them be. This isn't a problem that needs solving.
Because nobody ever hits a deer or a moose or a rock or a pedestrian or a disabled car, because headlights have been plenty good enough for the last half a century and there are no improvements to be made. Right?
Laser lights will significantly compound this problem.
How?
They should not be allowed.
Why? (And no, "because lasers!" doesn't count.)
I honestly believe that we should ban HID lights and go back to 55W halogens being the brightest lights available.
As if nobody could ever aim a halogen headlight improperly....or design a reflector for them that allows for very sharp cutoffs that produce a pattern of light similar to that of HIDs aim for.
I bought my 1920x1200 15" laptop because if I wanted to game on it, it's generally easy enough to make a game run at 960x600...which is fast, adequate, and eliminates the normal pitfalls of scaling by being an integer ratio.
In common culinary parlance, there is a term for this. It is called "deep frying," not boiling.
Boiled potatoes (wherein the potatoes are submersed in water that is boiling) are a very, very different thing from deep-fried potatoes (wherein the potatoes are submersed in hot oil or fat that is not boiling).
It seems to me that these are simple, exclusive, and adequately descriptive terms.
Slashdot Mirror
As a stupid American, I can only speak English.
This may surprise a lot of people in Germany, but in the US the general rule is, you don't have any vacation days and can't afford to take time off of work to see a doctor.
And if you do take time off of work to get well and figure out how to pay a doctor and any treatment they might suggest, it's entirely possible that, upon attempting to return to work, you find yourself jobless.
Therefore, again generally, we tend to take as many over-the-counter drugs as we can to begin feeling half-way human so we can keep working every day even if it kills us and those around us (which, according to TFA, it does).
Are you in the US? If so, go have a look at the Uniform Commercial Code. It's actually a fairly straight-forward document that explains that what you describe is neither right, nor legal.
Watching movies? On a Wii? Which doesn't even support DVDs out-of-the-box? And supports 480p over component video at very best?
An original Xbox with XBMC might be better, and is almost certainly cheaper.
Incorrect. They need probable cause, not mere suspicion.
Mine can self-destruct. (I haven't actually -installed- a dead man's switch on it, but it's pretty trivial to do, just as it is on any other general-purpose programmable computer.)
"through."
I'm going to be flamed to death for this, but if it doesn't have to be DIY, why not just hire it done and not reinvent the wheel?
It's a "dream house," right? So presumptively this stuff doesn't have to happen for free.
Find yourself a competent Crestron (or similar) installer and programmer. Sit down with them and discuss what your hopes and dreams about home automation. And then let them do it. Get them involved earlier instead of later, so they can coordinate with the other trades on the job.
A well-planned Crestron system can do just about anything. Push one button, dim the lights, close the blinds (if daylight), drop the screen, fire up the projector, set up the AV gear properly, and await your next command? And have it work exactly the same way, every single time? That stuff is -easy- with Crestron.
It sure ain't free, and it's not DIY, but it does actually work...
Hey, you know: Last time anyone forced me to learn about history, I was just a kid.
Is it a kid's fault that their interpretation of the lessons before them is broken and flawed, or is it the lessons' fault?
Meanwhile, I agree: We've all got bigger issues to deal with.
Because we're mostly in the US, where we've been forced to spend our childhood years learning the writewashed details of every past war and conflict, but very little other history, and therefore demand that every competition have exactly one clear victor because that's what we're used to?
Sorta, kinda.
A more accurate comparison might be: If it is legal to rent access to a Tivo+Slingbox from your neighbor (which the courts haven't decided anything on because nobody has ever asked them to) then Aereo should be legal.
An appliance that uses between 15A and 20A uses a different plug -- a 6-20P instead of a 6-15P. The neutral prong is rotated 90 degrees from what you're used to. It will only connect to a 20A outlet (a 6-20R).
Your vacuum, as another poster pointed out, does not draw between 15A and 20A. If it did, it would have a different plug than it does have.
I'm not buying a self-driving car until I can sit in the back seat and drink a beer.
And it would do even better with winter tires.
Srsly, folks. It is not a difficult concept.
It's a matter of degrees.
But given a choice in the matter, I'll take a few hundred dollars worth of proper winter tires over an expensive AWD/4WD drivetrain, any day of the week when it comes to winter driving: Having two driven axles instead of one doesn't help me stop and doesn't help me stay on the road. Good tires and driving technique do.
Winter tires are also cheap because while I'm driving around wearing out a set of Blizzaks, one thing I'm not doing is wearing out my expensive summer tires.
The studs/no studs/Blizzaks/chains/something else debate is a different one altogether, and depends on the conditions anticipated, which depends on locality and the typical weather, and the treatments applied to roads.
Around here, for instance, they treat the roads with rock salt. Works great in warmer temperatures to turn the road to deep slush....which Blizzaks aren't actually particularly good at clearing.
Some places treat the road with sand or gravel. Some places use cinders.
Right now, it's ridiculously cold out for these parts. The (18-year-old) BMW won't even start. But if it did start, I'd want studded tires instead of Blizzaks because the road surface is hard, compacted, polished snow (ie: ice).
But these are unusual circumstances. If every winter were like this, I'd have facilities in place (block heater, battery heater, etc) to keep this from being an issue. And I'd still strive to have season-appropriate tires.
Your WRX would be happier (both safer, and more fun), too.
Accelerating is only a small part of the equation. I spend more time turning and braking than accelerating. In normal, non-spirited driving, AWD does not (cannot) help with turning or braking.
Meanwhile, such niceties as traction control are standard on many newer vehicles. Indeed, starting with MY 2012, standard stability control is required for new cars sold in the US, which implies the inclusion of basic traction control.
It ain't no locking diff, Torsen, or even clutch-based Positraction. But it will allow a 2WD vehicle to accelerate, even with an open differential, even with one wheel having zero traction, by selectively applying braking to the driven wheel that is spinning using little more than existing modern ABS systems and software.
There are a number of good reasons why I don't commute in a rally car. Remember the context. I will not dignify this line of reasoning with any more response than this sentence.
What you describe is neutral handling. It is something that driving enthusiasts crave, and is something that your Xterra is incapable of.
And you're wrong. Most drivers (given the poor state of driver's education in this country) are better prepared to deal with understeer, than a neutral-handling car which may just as easily oversteer as do anything else.
Suspension dynamics play little part in winter driving on normal roads: Due to the coefficient of friction being approximately crap, there simply is not enough dynamic force applied to the suspension in a turn accelerating/braking for things to change much. Keeping the car in a straight line on a road covered in washboard-like packed snow is more a function of toe angle than anything else....and toe does not change as a function of suspension dynamics.
What was I going on about again? Oh, yeah: Tires. Having tires that are appropriate to the task is important on any vehicle, whether it be a Prius or an articulated loader. Without friction, none of the rest of this even matters.
But you can keep arguing if you want. I'm here all night.
But "reasonable for commuting" is what a Prius is *for*: It's a purpose-built car, and it does only one thing well (commuting in city traffic). Winter driving doesn't need AWD or lots of power or terrific handling: It just needs enough traction to operate at a reasonable speed.
With correct tires, I maintain that it would be a very useful vehicle on snow and ice. (Remember, context: We're talking about "Polar Vortex Sends Life-Threatening Freeze to US" and what that means to a driver.)
I mean, sure: I wouldn't be caught dead owning a Prius....for many of the same reasons you mention. But to those that it is a useful vehicle most of the year, having a set of winter tires to swap on would be a great idea for making it useful the rest of the year.
Yes.
Dude: You mentioned winter tires, but it needs mentioning again. Blizzaks FTW. Every complaint you make about the Prius is actually a complaint about the tires. :)
When it's snowing and nasty outside, do you wear smooth-soled open-toed sandals, or proper boots?
Even on your Xterra: Put some decent rubber on the thing that's made for the conditions, and just go for it.
My old RWD BMW 325i with a skinny set of Blizzaks goes, turns, and stops like an unstoppable force on ice and snow and sun-polished packed snow and.... This, despite having only a bit more than 5 inches of ground clearance.
The only time it has issues is on fresh snow up to 8 or 9 inches deep. Beyond that, it starts floating on the floor pan and there isn't enough weight on the tires for them to grip anything. Adding 80 or 100 pounds of ballast over the rear axle helps, but there are limits.
In the 7 or 8 years I've owned this car, it has been stuck once. And that was on 13 inches of newly-fallen snow. The rest of the time, I carry a tow strap to help other vehicles out of ditches....much to the amazement of several FWD sedan drivers, and one or two 4WD Jeep owners.
But it's not the car (well some of it is -- the weight distribution is quite good, and there is a lot of weight to distribute), it's the tires.
Because education and legislative sanity is hard, and stuff.
This is not a new problem.
I suggest you look into BMW and Audi's advances in lighting technology. Audi, in particular, has LED headlights available which automatically a great deal of light in all forward directions except at traffic.
Seeing a new Audi on the road around me of me is a little bit strange. The technology is sufficiently advanced that they look more like parking lights than headlights to other drivers, yet upon further study is is plain that the car is illuminating the roadway very well indeed while completely eliminating and glare or dazzle on my own part.
Boring, non-dramatic demonstration video.
Because nobody ever hits a deer or a moose or a rock or a pedestrian or a disabled car, because headlights have been plenty good enough for the last half a century and there are no improvements to be made. Right?
How?
Why? (And no, "because lasers!" doesn't count.)
As if nobody could ever aim a halogen headlight improperly....or design a reflector for them that allows for very sharp cutoffs that produce a pattern of light similar to that of HIDs aim for.
Doesn't that require that the person be intelligent enough to recognize that they are, in fact, spouting off lies and half-truths?
It's funny that you know so much about my laptop. (Except for the fact that, you know, you don't.)
You're a bit over-the-top and flippant. It does nobody any service to be so reactionary.
Good day.
It gets plugged in for gaming. Is electricity scarce where you are?
I bought my 1920x1200 15" laptop because if I wanted to game on it, it's generally easy enough to make a game run at 960x600...which is fast, adequate, and eliminates the normal pitfalls of scaling by being an integer ratio.
And the rest of the time, the fonts are better.
Parent said "boiled in oil"
In common culinary parlance, there is a term for this. It is called "deep frying," not boiling.
Boiled potatoes (wherein the potatoes are submersed in water that is boiling) are a very, very different thing from deep-fried potatoes (wherein the potatoes are submersed in hot oil or fat that is not boiling).
It seems to me that these are simple, exclusive, and adequately descriptive terms.
Trust? Why is trust necessary? Because it's hard to look at the address bar and see that you haven't wound up at an affiliate link?