My comment, for some reason, got scrambled up and part of it removed when I submitted it. Probably because I had a less than sign in there. grrr... Here's what it should be:
Snapper makes a decent mower, but similar quality mowers can be found at far cheaper prices.
Bah! Bah, I say!
I've mowed yards professionally for years. Even thought about going back to it lately, as the exercise and pay is actually better...
But anyway, we used Snapper mowers. Tried a few others, but always went back to the Snappers. They ran. And ran and ran. And then kept running. When they did break, it was easy to fix ourselves. Once per mowing season each one would break the damn spring that controlled the self-propel, but it was a 5 minute fix if we had a replacement ($5) in the truck, or a 10 minute fix (at most) if we had to break out the needlenose pliers and expanded the broken spring and use some bailing wire to rig it all up. Aside from that, it was just usual maintenence, sharpen the blades every month, watch the self-propel belt, keep the filter clean, keep crap out of the gas and oil.
We liked that the body was kept the same for years and years. Made it real easy to mow at the proper height for each yard, didn't have to fiddle around with different heights on different mower brands, or even different models of the same brand, which was a problem with some of the other mowers we'd tried.
We also liked that it was easy to bypass the stupid kill switch crap. It's a pain to have the engine die if you let go of the handle, so we'd rewire that crap. Well, the pain is that you then, usually, have to push the mower onto the sidewalk or driveway to re-start it, which costs time. Not a big deal for home users, but a big deal for us.
I still use one of our old Snappers for my personal lawn mower. In fact, damnit, now y'all have reminded me that I need to use it tonight:)
Snapper makes a decent mower, but similar quality mowers can be found at far cheaper prices.
Bah! Bah, I say!
I've mowed yards professionally for years. Even thought about going back to it lately, as the exercise and pay is actually better...
But anyway, we used Snapper mowers. Tried a few others, but always went back to the Snappers. They ran. And ran and ran. And then kept running. When they did break, it was easy to fix ourselves. Once per mowing season each one would break the damn spring that controlled the self-propel, but it was a
We liked that the body was kept the same for years and years. Made it real easy to mow at the proper height for each yard, didn't have to fiddle around with different heights on different mower brands, or even different models of the same brand, which was a problem with some of the other mowers we'd tried.
We also liked that it was easy to bypass the stupid kill switch crap. It's a pain to have the engine die if you let go of the handle, so we'd rewire that crap. Well, the pain is that you then, usually, have to push the mower onto the sidewalk or driveway to re-start it, which costs time. Not a big deal for home users, but a big deal for us.
I still use one of our old Snappers for my personal lawn mower. In fact, damnit, now y'all have reminded me that I need to use it tonight:)
So, in 14 years, every car currently on the road in Sweden will be obsolete? Illegal? Will they be making outlaws of classic car collectors?
I'd guess that most of the cars and trucks are diesel. They can be converted easily enough to biodiesel. Then the whole country will smell like french fries! mmmmmm...car exhaust...
The other day I was digging through the local used book store. Found a textbook for petrolium engineers written in 1939. In the forward, the author cautioned young petrolium engineering students to make sure they have a back up career, as peak oil had been reached, and "all the oil that exists in the world has been found," and "within 20 years the world will have no oil."
:)
My boss has a text book from the 70s that says the same thing, in 20 years we'll run out of oil.
The Corps of Engineers spent 1.9 Billion USD in Louisiana on the river and levees in the last five years (the time Bush has been in office).
The problem is not money, but the damn corruption in Louisiana.
And as someone else pointed out, what we should be debating is why people were not evacuated. The path of the hurrican was known, there was a state and city evacuation plan, why was it not followed? Why put people into the Superdome or Convention Center when they were not pre-designated disaster shelters (and thus had no pre-positioned food, water, or porta pottys)?
Hurricans are pretty easy to get out of the way of, even if you're poor, as long as there is a good evacuation plan that is followed.
umm.. my pickup is will only hold a half ton. I don't know of any SUVs that hold 2 or 3 tons, unless you count surplus Unimogs or duece and a halfs as SUVs.
But an excellent reason to have a SUV is to escape flooded, debris strewn areas. Higher clearence, more power, and greater carrying capability make it much better to flee a hurricane, or it's aftermath, in than, say, a Chevy Caprice or Honda Accord.
Air dropping supplies into flooded areas is dumb. The supplies will sink into the water.
Air dropping supplies onto roofs is also bad, as there is no way to tell which roof will support that kind of activity. You do not want to try and help people and instead cause their building to collapse, killing them. That would be Bad.
Air dropping around the Super Dome or Convention Center is bad because you will hit people.
Right now, boats and trucks/busses are the best way to get supplies into the affected areas.
There are ass loads of busses and trucks, but the drivers are balking at going back into the city, due to the lawlessness. Yes, it's only a few, the vast majority are not doing it, but remember, you are asking bus drivers and truck drivers to risk their lives by just going in.
A co-worker's dad is a truck driver. He was in Baton Rogue when Katrina hit. He's now driving supplies in and people out of NO. He said it's like when he was in Nam, there's water everywhere, and you never know if the folks are friendly or will shoot at you till it's too late.
In order to get the supplies in and the people out, we need to ensure that the people helping, and the victims, are able to be moved safely, and that means hunting down the folks shooting at the aid workers and victims.
Food and water are going in. People are coming out.
Food and water was staged nearby. It could not be staged within the city, or it would be ruined/underwater now. Due to damage to the roads and especially the bridges, we were "slow" going in. Ever been to Louisiana and seen their roads on a good day? Can you imagine what they're like now?
The military bases nearby had to move their helicopters and rotor craft fairly far away so that they were not destroyed by the huricane. They're back now and are ferrying people and supplies.
We can not rescue people with the big (Chinook) helicopters, as the prop wash would injure the people we'd be trying to rescue.
They are using the larger copters to ferry in supplies and to work on the levee breaches.
The people that can, and are able to, need to start walking out. The further they get, the less resources are needed to help get them out. If only half could walk out, it'd help a lot.
Let this be a wake up call to everyone. You need to have personal emergency plan. Know where to go, and how to get there in case of an emergency. Have some supplies, food and water. Have some hand tools, like a hammer, axe, and prize bar, so that if you are trapped in an attic or within a collapsed house you can try to escape. Have a first aid kit. If you require medication, hae a few days extra supply on hand. If you are in a flood prone area, this all needs to be in floatable, waterproof containers (rubber maid and duct tape works). Know where to go to find high ground.
The onus is on us, at least at first, to take care of ourselves, so be prepared.
This is the problem with using photos for evidence, or even videos.
Yes, we see what appears to be a white woman (although she could be hispanic) with some food.
What the picture does not show, and what we do not see, but presumably the photographer did, is how she aquired the food. Did she break in to a grocery store and take it? Did it float out of the store and she grabed it as it was floating?
Notice it says "finding from" not "finding at" which does imply that they found the bread and sodas outside the store, not inside.
But maybe that's just my interpretation. Maybe they did go into the grocery store and take the bread and sodas. Mayhap the difference between finding and looting is in what was taken? Food (bread and soda) vs. liquor? We don't know what the young man took, presumably the photographer does, and maybe that's the difference.
Nah, gotta be racism.
RACISM!
btw, check out the NO newspaper for some interesting stories on the looting. Six foot pallets full of liquor, basketball goals, jewelry, DVDs and more are being looted now.
We've started using pc104 with compact flash for the hard drives on our blenders. Giant, truck mounted blenders that mix sand and water, or some other chemical additives to be pumped down an oil well. They get lots and lots of vibration, so solid state is the only way to go. I'd love 4GB for $100! Damn 1gb compact flash is $1000 (of you can even find them[*])
* watch, now an arse load of folks will kindly point out links to where they're available for $399 or something
I used to live about three miles from where I work. By bus, it was difficult to get there: I could get about a mile away and then walk, after taking three or four buses, and traveling for more than 45 minutes (had to go through the downtown bus area to change over). Cost for riding the bus, about $3 a day.
I could ride my bicycle, but due to crossing two highways, and having to stay on back roads, it would take about 45 minuts to get there. Cost was free-ish, as I already had the bike.
Or I could drive my car. About a 7 minute drive. Cost, even on it's worst day my Caprice got 15mpg, so at most, given current gas prices or $2.25 a gallon, was about $0.90 round trip.
Now I live about 11 miles from the office and there is no way to get there via bus that takes less than 1.5 hours. Versus 20 minutes of driving. Cost is, again using 15mpg and $2.25/gallon, $1.65 each way, or $3.30 round trip. I'm not sure what the bus would cost as I've never ridden it from here, just looked at what the route would be.
For me, public transportation cost the same, or more than driving myself. Plus it takes way more time. And, if I'm on the bus, then if I see someone trowing out a perfectly good PC, or desk, or file cabinet, or 1930s spot welder!, I can't stop and throw it in the bus. But I can stop and load it (except for the spot welder, had to get friends and trailer for that) into my truck.:)
" If that were the case, nobody would buy steak when a perfectly acceptable and much cheaper soy based meal is available."
Sorry, but I've eaten steak, and I've eaten soy based faux steak.
I was sworn to that I would not be able to tell the difference. I should've paid attention to who it was that was telling me that: vegetarians and vegans who'd never eaten steak!
It was crap. Foul. Not steak like at all. Didn't smell like steak. Didn't taste like steak.
Immediatley after the dinner party was over I went to the all night grocer and bought a pound or three of steak, went home, and had a real steak. Much, much better!
interstellar donkey, you may have awesome insights into the problem at hand, but after reading the above statment, I stopped reading. Other than the last sentence, since I can see that here while I'm commenting. And which I will comment upon.
"Let's start building our cities with non-car owners in mind".
Where are we building new cities? We are building new towns or villages, perhaps, but cities are not being built from the ground up, at least not in my neck of the woods. The cities around here are expanding, but they aren't being built anew.
Let's say we do build all new residential areas with pedistrian only walkways. Who'd pick up the trash/recycling? No powered vehicles allowed, remember. How would you get that grand piano to your house? Or that large, stylish sofa? Or pool table? Or the bandsaw that weighs 400 pounds, like is in my garage/workshop? (along with an even heavier milling machine, lathe, two more bandsaws, a freaking heavy as crap spot welder (made in the 30s!), sheet metal brake, welders, and a table saw that weigh at least as much, most weigh more)
Anyway, to sum up. Soy based steak substitute sucks, and we aren't building new cities, so your argument is silly, except in developing countires that might be building new cities.
Am I the only one who mis-read this as "not being eaten when taken into police custody?"
I was so pleasently suprised that the article contained no canabalism, that the sad death of the protester really didn't seem all that bad. At least he was only beaten, not eaten.
I think itd be kinda cool if theyd change it around a bit, maybe one week is an episode of Troops (a Star Wars version of Cops), maybe one week its Jedi CSI (or CSI: Tatooine) then next it's Law & Order: Jedi Elimination Unit (JEU), of course, then you've got your WB-ish episodes, or something like that.
SUVs are popular with soccer moms BECAUSE of the CAFE standards!
If more realistic standards had been done, then we'd still see tons of station wagons(*) on the road, instead of SUVs.
But, because the station wagons didn't get as good mileage, and brought the average down, they were discontinued, and simillar sized SUVs were brought out which get WORSE gas mileage than the station wagons did!
CAFE made it worse!
But you say the problem is that CAFE does not apply to SUVs? Bah!
Oh, and to answer your question (how much oil could we save if they just made the fucking CAFE standands apply to SUVs?), not a lot.
For several reasons:
1) there are already millions of existing cars that would not be affected at all by CAFE standards
2) SUVs don't use that large a percentage of the oil used in the US. Most, I think over half, of the oil we use is burned to make electricity. Of the rest, a small percentage is used by SUVs.
We'd be much better off, as another poster suggested, switching from incandescent light bulbs to fluorescent.
-gandalf23@work
* Full-sized station wagons, like the caprice-based one. Other than Mercedes & Volvo, does anyone make a full sized station wagon anymore?
* Safe meaning free from worrisome strife and confusion by only allowing us to view what is in our best interests. By filtering out the un-truths and lies, they will free us with conformity and the status quo. Pesky innovation will no longer be allowed! Who needs to upgrade their computer every six months anyway? Anarchists and pornographers and other ne'er-do-wells, that's who! And who needs encryption? Only people who have something to hide!
This clearly explains why we've been plagued by Korean, Vietnamese, German, and Japanese suicide bombers. 'Cause we killed shit loads of their parents and grandparents and they're pissed at us and want us all dead.
Actually I used to get checks in the mail all the time that did this. From long distance providers.
They'd send me or my roomate (depending on whose name was on the bill) a check for $20, $25, sometimes even $30. On the back it would say by depositing this check you agree to switching to Crazy Earl's Long Distance Telephony Service and Bait Shop for X number of months at $Y a month, or words to that effect.
Best Buy/Fry's/Uncle Earl's Software Emporium is not the party trying to get you to agree to the EULA, they have _nothing_ to do with the EULA. Why would they waste their time/money printing a EULA?
Remember, you are _not_ buying the software from Microsoft or whoever made the software, you are buying the software from Best Buy/Fry's/Uncle Earl's Software Emporium.
Cuba is doing just that...sorta
on
HIV Vaccine
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· Score: 1
Cuba is quarantining all HIV positive folks (not just "rounding up faqs") . Just read a report about it yesterday somewhere...aha!
Bayer said he was told by Cuban health officials that one-third of the nation's 10.2 million people have been tested so far and that 240 Cubans--171 men and 69 women--have been placed in the camp, where they are required to spend the rest of their lives. They are removed from their jobs but continue to be paid.
What about a recording of gunfire? If I play gunfire records loudly, will that trigger the system? Lots of rap has gunfire sounds in it.
I recently shot a suppresed firearm for the first time. Not at all like Hollywood would have you believe, but it definatly changes the sound, there is no more crack as the bullet goes supersonic. The sound also seemed to last longer to me, vs a regular report. Something to do with the gases swirling about and then exiting later I imagine, but it was a very un-scientific outing. (BTW, check local and state laws, but suppressors are legal in the US, you can even build your own. Just make sure to pay the $200 tax _first_)
I really don't see this system working so well. Sure, it'll probably cut down on celebratory gunfire, since the perpetrators tend to live where they shoot their guns off and stay around after shooting.
But let us say that a guy walks up to someone on the street and shoots him. This system alerts the cops that shoots were fired at 7th and Main. I doubt the shooter will hang around long after the shooting, so how is this any different than someone calling the cops after hearing shots fired? The response time will be the same. The information about the perp will be about the same, especially if the shooter wears a disguise/baseball cap/baggy jacket to be disposed of quickly after leaving the cameras range, which is common around here for robbing 7-11 type stores.
Perhaps a much better use of the money spent would be on...hiring more officers to patrol the area, thus lowering the response time?
Or spending the money on proven community outreach programs?
Wait just a minute!
on
Internet Hunting
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Getting a clean professional quality shot of a deer is thousands times more difficult compared to shooting it. A rifle will shoot through branches and leaves. A camera does not.
Wait just a minute! If you don't have a good view of the target (deer/sheep/tin can/whatever) then you have ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS TAKING THE SHOT!
That's how hunting accidents happen.
If I can't clearly see it, it ain't getting shot at. Otherwise I could shoot cousin Earl or some dumbass wandering around in our woods. Also, if you can't see it, you may shoot a doe with a fawn, which is a no-no, least 'round here.
Damn, people, think about this shit! Hopefully you were just spouting off, but anytime you pick up a firearm you have got to be careful.
1) All guns are always loaded!
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy!
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target!
4) Always be sure of your target!
(Sometimes they're phrased differently, but the content is essentially the same)
It can be done from a distance, and nearly instantaneously
I think you're thinking of Quake2's Railgun:)
I don't know about you, but it took me quite a bit of training with my rifle to get to the point where I could accurately put shots into a deer's killzone. Pistols take even more training, at least at anything beyond contact range.
If the deer is moving, you do have to lead it, the bullet does not just magically appear in the deer the moment you shoot it (unlike the Railgun). You also have to account for wind.
No consequence of action? Obviously you've never shot a living creature.
The point is that with a gun, it is supremely EASY to kill someone.
Nah. According to a Department of Justice report several years ago (IIRC, could've been DOD), using civilian data as far back as it was available, and using battlefield casualty data from the Civil War through the Vietnam War, you've got an 80% chance of surviving a gunshot wound. 80%! Seems to me that it's rather HARD to kill someone with a gun.
The Three Strikes laws have made this worse. If you, the criminal, know that the next time you get caught you're getting life in prison NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO then you're more inclined to not leave witnesses behind, since it can't add much to a life sentence.
Slashdot Mirror
Snapper makes a decent mower, but similar quality mowers can be found at far cheaper prices.
Bah! Bah, I say!
I've mowed yards professionally for years. Even thought about going back to it lately, as the exercise and pay is actually better...
But anyway, we used Snapper mowers. Tried a few others, but always went back to the Snappers. They ran. And ran and ran. And then kept running. When they did break, it was easy to fix ourselves. Once per mowing season each one would break the damn spring that controlled the self-propel, but it was a 5 minute fix if we had a replacement ($5) in the truck, or a 10 minute fix (at most) if we had to break out the needlenose pliers and expanded the broken spring and use some bailing wire to rig it all up. Aside from that, it was just usual maintenence, sharpen the blades every month, watch the self-propel belt, keep the filter clean, keep crap out of the gas and oil.
We liked that the body was kept the same for years and years. Made it real easy to mow at the proper height for each yard, didn't have to fiddle around with different heights on different mower brands, or even different models of the same brand, which was a problem with some of the other mowers we'd tried.
We also liked that it was easy to bypass the stupid kill switch crap. It's a pain to have the engine die if you let go of the handle, so we'd rewire that crap. Well, the pain is that you then, usually, have to push the mower onto the sidewalk or driveway to re-start it, which costs time. Not a big deal for home users, but a big deal for us.
I still use one of our old Snappers for my personal lawn mower. In fact, damnit, now y'all have reminded me that I need to use it tonight :)
Bah! Bah, I say!
I've mowed yards professionally for years. Even thought about going back to it lately, as the exercise and pay is actually better...
But anyway, we used Snapper mowers. Tried a few others, but always went back to the Snappers. They ran. And ran and ran. And then kept running. When they did break, it was easy to fix ourselves. Once per mowing season each one would break the damn spring that controlled the self-propel, but it was a We liked that the body was kept the same for years and years. Made it real easy to mow at the proper height for each yard, didn't have to fiddle around with different heights on different mower brands, or even different models of the same brand, which was a problem with some of the other mowers we'd tried.
We also liked that it was easy to bypass the stupid kill switch crap. It's a pain to have the engine die if you let go of the handle, so we'd rewire that crap. Well, the pain is that you then, usually, have to push the mower onto the sidewalk or driveway to re-start it, which costs time. Not a big deal for home users, but a big deal for us.
I still use one of our old Snappers for my personal lawn mower. In fact, damnit, now y'all have reminded me that I need to use it tonight :)
I'd guess that most of the cars and trucks are diesel. They can be converted easily enough to biodiesel. Then the whole country will smell like french fries! mmmmmm...car exhaust...
My boss has a text book from the 70s that says the same thing, in 20 years we'll run out of oil.
The problem is not money, but the damn corruption in Louisiana.
And as someone else pointed out, what we should be debating is why people were not evacuated. The path of the hurrican was known, there was a state and city evacuation plan, why was it not followed? Why put people into the Superdome or Convention Center when they were not pre-designated disaster shelters (and thus had no pre-positioned food, water, or porta pottys)?
Hurricans are pretty easy to get out of the way of, even if you're poor, as long as there is a good evacuation plan that is followed.
The city and state really screwed the pooch here.
umm.. my pickup is will only hold a half ton. I don't know of any SUVs that hold 2 or 3 tons, unless you count surplus Unimogs or duece and a halfs as SUVs. But an excellent reason to have a SUV is to escape flooded, debris strewn areas. Higher clearence, more power, and greater carrying capability make it much better to flee a hurricane, or it's aftermath, in than, say, a Chevy Caprice or Honda Accord.
Air dropping supplies onto roofs is also bad, as there is no way to tell which roof will support that kind of activity. You do not want to try and help people and instead cause their building to collapse, killing them. That would be Bad.
Air dropping around the Super Dome or Convention Center is bad because you will hit people.
Right now, boats and trucks/busses are the best way to get supplies into the affected areas.
There are ass loads of busses and trucks, but the drivers are balking at going back into the city, due to the lawlessness. Yes, it's only a few, the vast majority are not doing it, but remember, you are asking bus drivers and truck drivers to risk their lives by just going in.
A co-worker's dad is a truck driver. He was in Baton Rogue when Katrina hit. He's now driving supplies in and people out of NO. He said it's like when he was in Nam, there's water everywhere, and you never know if the folks are friendly or will shoot at you till it's too late.
In order to get the supplies in and the people out, we need to ensure that the people helping, and the victims, are able to be moved safely, and that means hunting down the folks shooting at the aid workers and victims.
Food and water are going in. People are coming out.
Food and water was staged nearby. It could not be staged within the city, or it would be ruined/underwater now. Due to damage to the roads and especially the bridges, we were "slow" going in. Ever been to Louisiana and seen their roads on a good day? Can you imagine what they're like now?
The military bases nearby had to move their helicopters and rotor craft fairly far away so that they were not destroyed by the huricane. They're back now and are ferrying people and supplies.
We can not rescue people with the big (Chinook) helicopters, as the prop wash would injure the people we'd be trying to rescue.
They are using the larger copters to ferry in supplies and to work on the levee breaches.
The people that can, and are able to, need to start walking out. The further they get, the less resources are needed to help get them out. If only half could walk out, it'd help a lot.
Let this be a wake up call to everyone. You need to have personal emergency plan. Know where to go, and how to get there in case of an emergency. Have some supplies, food and water. Have some hand tools, like a hammer, axe, and prize bar, so that if you are trapped in an attic or within a collapsed house you can try to escape. Have a first aid kit. If you require medication, hae a few days extra supply on hand. If you are in a flood prone area, this all needs to be in floatable, waterproof containers (rubber maid and duct tape works). Know where to go to find high ground.
The onus is on us, at least at first, to take care of ourselves, so be prepared.
-gandalf23@work
Yes, we see what appears to be a white woman (although she could be hispanic) with some food.
What the picture does not show, and what we do not see, but presumably the photographer did, is how she aquired the food. Did she break in to a grocery store and take it? Did it float out of the store and she grabed it as it was floating?
Notice it says "finding from" not "finding at" which does imply that they found the bread and sodas outside the store, not inside.
But maybe that's just my interpretation. Maybe they did go into the grocery store and take the bread and sodas. Mayhap the difference between finding and looting is in what was taken? Food (bread and soda) vs. liquor? We don't know what the young man took, presumably the photographer does, and maybe that's the difference.
Nah, gotta be racism.
RACISM!
btw, check out the NO newspaper for some interesting stories on the looting. Six foot pallets full of liquor, basketball goals, jewelry, DVDs and more are being looted now.
See, I knew someone would point out my mistakes :)
We've started using pc104 with compact flash for the hard drives on our blenders. Giant, truck mounted blenders that mix sand and water, or some other chemical additives to be pumped down an oil well. They get lots and lots of vibration, so solid state is the only way to go. I'd love 4GB for $100! Damn 1gb compact flash is $1000 (of you can even find them[*])
* watch, now an arse load of folks will kindly point out links to where they're available for $399 or something
I could ride my bicycle, but due to crossing two highways, and having to stay on back roads, it would take about 45 minuts to get there. Cost was free-ish, as I already had the bike.
Or I could drive my car. About a 7 minute drive. Cost, even on it's worst day my Caprice got 15mpg, so at most, given current gas prices or $2.25 a gallon, was about $0.90 round trip.
Now I live about 11 miles from the office and there is no way to get there via bus that takes less than 1.5 hours. Versus 20 minutes of driving. Cost is, again using 15mpg and $2.25/gallon, $1.65 each way, or $3.30 round trip. I'm not sure what the bus would cost as I've never ridden it from here, just looked at what the route would be.
For me, public transportation cost the same, or more than driving myself. Plus it takes way more time. And, if I'm on the bus, then if I see someone trowing out a perfectly good PC, or desk, or file cabinet, or 1930s spot welder!, I can't stop and throw it in the bus. But I can stop and load it (except for the spot welder, had to get friends and trailer for that) into my truck. :)
-gandalf23@work
Sorry, but I've eaten steak, and I've eaten soy based faux steak.
I was sworn to that I would not be able to tell the difference. I should've paid attention to who it was that was telling me that: vegetarians and vegans who'd never eaten steak!
It was crap. Foul. Not steak like at all. Didn't smell like steak. Didn't taste like steak.
Immediatley after the dinner party was over I went to the all night grocer and bought a pound or three of steak, went home, and had a real steak. Much, much better!
interstellar donkey, you may have awesome insights into the problem at hand, but after reading the above statment, I stopped reading. Other than the last sentence, since I can see that here while I'm commenting. And which I will comment upon.
"Let's start building our cities with non-car owners in mind".
Where are we building new cities? We are building new towns or villages, perhaps, but cities are not being built from the ground up, at least not in my neck of the woods. The cities around here are expanding, but they aren't being built anew.
Let's say we do build all new residential areas with pedistrian only walkways. Who'd pick up the trash/recycling? No powered vehicles allowed, remember. How would you get that grand piano to your house? Or that large, stylish sofa? Or pool table? Or the bandsaw that weighs 400 pounds, like is in my garage/workshop? (along with an even heavier milling machine, lathe, two more bandsaws, a freaking heavy as crap spot welder (made in the 30s!), sheet metal brake, welders, and a table saw that weigh at least as much, most weigh more)
Anyway, to sum up. Soy based steak substitute sucks, and we aren't building new cities, so your argument is silly, except in developing countires that might be building new cities.
-gandalf23@work
I was so pleasently suprised that the article contained no canabalism, that the sad death of the protester really didn't seem all that bad. At least he was only beaten, not eaten.
-gandalf23@work
-gandalf23@work
If more realistic standards had been done, then we'd still see tons of station wagons(*) on the road, instead of SUVs.
But, because the station wagons didn't get as good mileage, and brought the average down, they were discontinued, and simillar sized SUVs were brought out which get WORSE gas mileage than the station wagons did!
CAFE made it worse!
But you say the problem is that CAFE does not apply to SUVs? Bah!
Oh, and to answer your question (how much oil could we save if they just made the fucking CAFE standands apply to SUVs?), not a lot.
For several reasons:
1) there are already millions of existing cars that would not be affected at all by CAFE standards
2) SUVs don't use that large a percentage of the oil used in the US. Most, I think over half, of the oil we use is burned to make electricity. Of the rest, a small percentage is used by SUVs.
We'd be much better off, as another poster suggested, switching from incandescent light bulbs to fluorescent.
-gandalf23@work
* Full-sized station wagons, like the caprice-based one. Other than Mercedes & Volvo, does anyone make a full sized station wagon anymore?
Every single one.
No, we won WWI and II, amongst other wars that we've fought with Canada.
Or did you mean every war we've fought against Canada?
We need the UN to take over the Internet!
Only the folks who were in charge of Oil For Food, who stood idely by in Rwanda, who rape children and goats in Timor, and who rape women and children in the Congo are ideally suited for regulating the Internet.
Only they can keep us safe(*)!
-gandalf23@work
* Safe meaning free from worrisome strife and confusion by only allowing us to view what is in our best interests. By filtering out the un-truths and lies, they will free us with conformity and the status quo. Pesky innovation will no longer be allowed! Who needs to upgrade their computer every six months anyway? Anarchists and pornographers and other ne'er-do-wells, that's who! And who needs encryption? Only people who have something to hide!
Help us UN! You're our only hope!
This clearly explains why we've been plagued by Korean, Vietnamese, German, and Japanese suicide bombers. 'Cause we killed shit loads of their parents and grandparents and they're pissed at us and want us all dead.
-gandalf23@work
They'd send me or my roomate (depending on whose name was on the bill) a check for $20, $25, sometimes even $30. On the back it would say by depositing this check you agree to switching to Crazy Earl's Long Distance Telephony Service and Bait Shop for X number of months at $Y a month, or words to that effect.
Best Buy/Fry's/Uncle Earl's Software Emporium is not the party trying to get you to agree to the EULA, they have _nothing_ to do with the EULA. Why would they waste their time/money printing a EULA?
Remember, you are _not_ buying the software from Microsoft or whoever made the software, you are buying the software from Best Buy/Fry's/Uncle Earl's Software Emporium.
Cuba's AIDS Quarantine Center Called 'Frightening'
Will firecrackers be detected as well?
What about a recording of gunfire? If I play gunfire records loudly, will that trigger the system? Lots of rap has gunfire sounds in it.
I recently shot a suppresed firearm for the first time. Not at all like Hollywood would have you believe, but it definatly changes the sound, there is no more crack as the bullet goes supersonic. The sound also seemed to last longer to me, vs a regular report. Something to do with the gases swirling about and then exiting later I imagine, but it was a very un-scientific outing. (BTW, check local and state laws, but suppressors are legal in the US, you can even build your own. Just make sure to pay the $200 tax _first_)
I really don't see this system working so well. Sure, it'll probably cut down on celebratory gunfire, since the perpetrators tend to live where they shoot their guns off and stay around after shooting.
But let us say that a guy walks up to someone on the street and shoots him. This system alerts the cops that shoots were fired at 7th and Main. I doubt the shooter will hang around long after the shooting, so how is this any different than someone calling the cops after hearing shots fired? The response time will be the same. The information about the perp will be about the same, especially if the shooter wears a disguise/baseball cap/baggy jacket to be disposed of quickly after leaving the cameras range, which is common around here for robbing 7-11 type stores.
Perhaps a much better use of the money spent would be on...hiring more officers to patrol the area, thus lowering the response time?
Or spending the money on proven community outreach programs?
Wait just a minute! If you don't have a good view of the target (deer/sheep/tin can/whatever) then you have ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS TAKING THE SHOT!
That's how hunting accidents happen.
If I can't clearly see it, it ain't getting shot at. Otherwise I could shoot cousin Earl or some dumbass wandering around in our woods. Also, if you can't see it, you may shoot a doe with a fawn, which is a no-no, least 'round here.
Damn, people, think about this shit! Hopefully you were just spouting off, but anytime you pick up a firearm you have got to be careful.
Let's recap the rules for safe gun handling, shall we?
1) All guns are always loaded!
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy!
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target!
4) Always be sure of your target!
(Sometimes they're phrased differently, but the content is essentially the same)
-gandalf23@work
I think you're thinking of Quake2's Railgun :)
I don't know about you, but it took me quite a bit of training with my rifle to get to the point where I could accurately put shots into a deer's killzone. Pistols take even more training, at least at anything beyond contact range.
If the deer is moving, you do have to lead it, the bullet does not just magically appear in the deer the moment you shoot it (unlike the Railgun). You also have to account for wind.
No consequence of action? Obviously you've never shot a living creature.
The point is that with a gun, it is supremely EASY to kill someone.
Nah. According to a Department of Justice report several years ago (IIRC, could've been DOD), using civilian data as far back as it was available, and using battlefield casualty data from the Civil War through the Vietnam War, you've got an 80% chance of surviving a gunshot wound. 80%! Seems to me that it's rather HARD to kill someone with a gun.
-gandalf23@work
The Three Strikes laws have made this worse. If you, the criminal, know that the next time you get caught you're getting life in prison NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO then you're more inclined to not leave witnesses behind, since it can't add much to a life sentence.