either way I figure that statistics based on Waranty claims are more impartially representative than consumer surveys like the Top Gear one.
Far from it - my colleagues complaint wouldn't get counted in the warranty claim, because door hinges aren't covered in the warranty. It made it into the Top Gear stats though which are indepdently verified. Warranty claims would also be skewed by the types of warranties available offered by each manufacturer.
In addition a letter of complaint sent to the dealers' head office was returned to them!! This isn't an isolated case though as the Top Gear surveys appear to show.
Only if they force competitors out of business by leveraging their power in one market to wipe out products in another market. As MicroSoft did and were convicted of.
c'mon! the title for ugliest car has to go to the Porsche Cayenne!
Damn! I'd almost erased the image of that monstrosity from my mind.
Seriously - what were Porsche thinking of? Surely they must look at these cars when they design them? Surely someone in Stuttgart must have seen what a monstrosity they were creating?
I'm sitting opposite someone who's had both a new Fiat and Alfa in the past few years. Nothing but trouble - Fiat needed a complete respray after two years and the Alfa's door fell off (hinges failed) after a year but they didn't repair it under warranty claiming wear and tear! They're $h!t. Always have been and still are. Customer service and dealer backup leave a lot to be desired.
And they produced the Multipla. One of the ugliest cars to 'grace' our roads for many a year.
Agreed, haemocrit over 50 usually results in disqualification. Some riders do have unusually high levels and training at altitude can also have a similar effect although 50% is still a very high figure.
However this doesn't answer the Millar case. Cyclists like him are regularly taking drugs and are not being detected, despite being regularly tested. Most riders caught are found in posession of needles or drugs or have been informed upon. If Gaumond hadn't have blown the whistle on Cofidis, Millar could have won the prologue, maybe have worn yellow for a couple of days and passed every test.
The fact of the matter is, Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the history of sports and unlike baseball players, he gets NO advanced warning that there's going to be a test. If Lance were doping, he'd have been caught by now.
Heard of masking agents?
Two days before Le Tour started, the British rider David Millar admitted to using EPO. This guy is one of the leading Time Trialists in the peloton and has won many races and was a favourite to win the prologue. He never, ever tested positive for drugs though.
There is a disconnect between the testing and what is being tested for. If Lance were doping, he probably wouldn't have been caught by now.
I live on the other side of La Manche and visit our French neighbours quite often.
I think the whole arrogance thing is overblown. Yes Parisian waiters are arrogant - you expect that. But by and large they're just regular people trying to get by in the world just like most people. You find some friendly people, some @$$holes. Same everywhere you go.
It's no different to American tourists in London. The knee-jerk reaction is that they're just a bunch of fat, loud, obnoxious Yanks. But I bet some of them are really nice friendly people!
You are just so totally right about that - we all know they'd fly those aircraft whether people wanted to travel on them or not.
Supply and demand?
Duh?
Twit.
No, he's promoting the correct use of English which promotes inclusivity. We all know where we stand. By designing (or should I say architecturizing) your own rules you begin to exclude groups of people, such as those whose first language is not English. It's elitism, nothing less.
When the title of the first word begins with some supreme-marketing-drone-with-a-poor-command-of-the -English-language nonsense-word such as 'Strategizing' it's no wonder they went down the pan.
Armstrong's story is frankly, astounding. To come back from his illness to any form of competitive sport must have taken courage and strength which I cannot even begin to comprehend. As a season-long competitive cyclist I believe that he wouldn't hold a light to the likes of Mercxx, Coppi, Hinault or Anqutiel.
Armstrong has a single objective - Le Tour, and rides and trains on the stages from the beginning of the year. His preparation is phenomenal - but whilst other riders are racing in top level events, he is preparing for that one single race. He'll win again this year - Ullrich hasn't been in top form for most of this season and Vinokourov and Beloki will not be there. But come the end of July he'll have hung up his wheels for another season.
Despite what you read we do have surprisingly robust data privacy laws. There is a publically accessible national register of everyone who keeps individuals data (from customer databases to CCTV cameras.) It is a _criminal_ offence not to submit your details to this register even if you have just a single CCTV camera.
Additionally you are entitled, for a nominal fee of about 10-20GBP to get the data held on you by a provider. This includes CCTV footage. The holder of the data should reply within 28 days. Failure to comply is, again, a criminal offence.
The selling on of personal data without that persons consent is also now a criminal offence.
Slashdot Mirror
I believe the legal age for this sort of stuff is 16 in the UK. Quite how this pans out over international borders I don't know.
Far from it - my colleagues complaint wouldn't get counted in the warranty claim, because door hinges aren't covered in the warranty. It made it into the Top Gear stats though which are indepdently verified. Warranty claims would also be skewed by the types of warranties available offered by each manufacturer.
In addition a letter of complaint sent to the dealers' head office was returned to them!! This isn't an isolated case though as the Top Gear surveys appear to show.
Fiat and Alfa are the bottom of the surveys. The surveys are from around 40,000 owners of cars between 1 and 4 years old. Maybe you're just lucky?!
Damn! I'd almost erased the image of that monstrosity from my mind.
Seriously - what were Porsche thinking of? Surely they must look at these cars when they design them? Surely someone in Stuttgart must have seen what a monstrosity they were creating?
And they produced the Multipla. One of the ugliest cars to 'grace' our roads for many a year.
However this doesn't answer the Millar case. Cyclists like him are regularly taking drugs and are not being detected, despite being regularly tested. Most riders caught are found in posession of needles or drugs or have been informed upon. If Gaumond hadn't have blown the whistle on Cofidis, Millar could have won the prologue, maybe have worn yellow for a couple of days and passed every test.
The fact of the matter is, Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the history of sports and unlike baseball players, he gets NO advanced warning that there's going to be a test. If Lance were doping, he'd have been caught by now.
Heard of masking agents?Two days before Le Tour started, the British rider David Millar admitted to using EPO. This guy is one of the leading Time Trialists in the peloton and has won many races and was a favourite to win the prologue. He never, ever tested positive for drugs though.
There is a disconnect between the testing and what is being tested for. If Lance were doping, he probably wouldn't have been caught by now.
When did Stephen King die?
I think the whole arrogance thing is overblown. Yes Parisian waiters are arrogant - you expect that. But by and large they're just regular people trying to get by in the world just like most people. You find some friendly people, some @$$holes. Same everywhere you go.
It's no different to American tourists in London. The knee-jerk reaction is that they're just a bunch of fat, loud, obnoxious Yanks. But I bet some of them are really nice friendly people!
No, that wasn't a troll. Don't mod it as such.
Is this an April fool dupe or something? ;-)
Shall I RTFA for you to find out? ;-)
Isn't it actually illegal in France NOT to help someone who needs medical assistance? Not sure how well applied the law is though.
Just a coincidence that this system is being developed by France Telecom. C'est la vie!
Unbelievably it's actually worse than their coffee.
Oh, wait a minute...
You are just so totally right about that - we all know they'd fly those aircraft whether people wanted to travel on them or not. Supply and demand? Duh? Twit.
Since then it's all gone decimal. 100 pence to the pound.
Don't use google for your homework kids!
There's nothing unwrong about prescriptivisationism.
No, he's promoting the correct use of English which promotes inclusivity. We all know where we stand. By designing (or should I say architecturizing) your own rules you begin to exclude groups of people, such as those whose first language is not English. It's elitism, nothing less.
When the title of the first word begins with some supreme-marketing-drone-with-a-poor-command-of-the -English-language nonsense-word such as 'Strategizing' it's no wonder they went down the pan.
Armstrong has a single objective - Le Tour, and rides and trains on the stages from the beginning of the year. His preparation is phenomenal - but whilst other riders are racing in top level events, he is preparing for that one single race. He'll win again this year - Ullrich hasn't been in top form for most of this season and Vinokourov and Beloki will not be there. But come the end of July he'll have hung up his wheels for another season.
Because a multi-national corporation is hardly likely to lie to us now, is it. Oh, hold on...
I'll get my coat...
Additionally you are entitled, for a nominal fee of about 10-20GBP to get the data held on you by a provider. This includes CCTV footage. The holder of the data should reply within 28 days. Failure to comply is, again, a criminal offence.
The selling on of personal data without that persons consent is also now a criminal offence.