Previously...I liked contracting 1099. I could get (even with pretty heavy pre-existing conditions 6 years ago) a high deductible medical plan, for emergencies. It was about $1300 deductible, but I also was able to set up a HSA (Health Savings Account, which is not use it or lose it like FSA) and sock away about $3100 pre-tax for me routine care.
This was pretty sweet...however, I hear that Obamacare has started taxing FSA's...and I'm guessing HSA's now are no longer pre-tax.
I don't understand this move, it seems they'd want to keep this to encourage people to save for their own medical routine needs.
Anyway, that worked out great for me in the past.
I'm seeing, however, all the fallout from Obamacare now...spouses being removed from coverage, and people getting reduced to 28 hours so that they are now part time and not costing employers $$$.
I'm wondering if this move *might* increase employers hiring you on as a 1099 contract employee rather than as a W2 employee (especially if you are incorporated and do 1099 Corp-to_Corp)?
I for one would enjoy a work world where this was easier to do. I'm wondering if this might be another unforeseen trend started by the new act? I'd like this, but I'm wishing they'd NOT tax the HSA's or even FSA's if you want to...so that you can save your own money pre-tax, which should encourage most people to do just that.
Shooting video of your son's hockey games with the Canon SLR will be a disaster unless you are prepared to manually focus all the time; the autofocus systems in SLR's don't work in movie mode.
Funny....that manual pulling of focus hasn't seemed to hurt the movie industry for oh say......forever?
If you have a DSLR and are wanting to shoot video, you know what is required of you. If you want auto focus, then don't use it...but you CAN get extremely high quality video from a DSLR. It is a different shooting style. But it isn't a problem.
I recently shot a video of a party doing some bar hopping...I used my 5D3, and with its extreme lowlight capabilities (along with some VERY fast glass that you'd not gonna get one a consumer video camera), I was able to get some very nice footage. I had my RODE video mic parked on the hotshoe and get some good audio I can use too.
A little more effort, sure....but, after a little magic in post...I should be putting out a very nice final product everyone will enjoy. It will be a cinematic look...with good cuts, background music..etc.
Heck..if you do want something more dedicated...maybe look at the Blackmagic pocket camera that is now starting to come out....VERY nice images from that.
But really...manual focusing isn't THAT hard...and the tv and movie industry have been doing manual focus for generations now.
Besides...how are you going to play with depth of field creatively...if you're depending on the camera computer to figure out what YOU want....?
The point in having dSLR is everybody seeing your dSLR.
Says the person that sounds like they don't make enough money to buy nice things they want...?
I'd say frankly, that in this day in age, most high end DSLR owners don't want to promote the fact they have a $$ piece of equipment around their necks...due to some asshole wanting to rob and steal it from them.
I just don't get the point of so many people these days, spouting off that "They only buy xyz for other people to look at it".
Ok, I'm sure some do, but I don't believe the majority do. I'm of the thought that most of the people bitching about what others buy and why, have serious self image problems themselves because they can't work for and make enough money to buy nice things, and are jealous.
Maybe you should spend less time worry what others buy and own....and spend more time educating yourself and trying to get a better paying job for yourself?
"People who don't make their living from pictures but insist on using equipment this expensive have more money than sense"
And well....some people have a lot more disposable income than others.
To them, $3K is not a lot of money, more like $300.
People seem to forget that a lot of people make a decent amount of money...so, much of it depends on what you have coming in...and what is important to you. Maybe owning a house having 3 kids is what you want. Others may want a smaller house, or just rent...no kids and have more disposable income to buy toys with. Nothing wrong with either one, but doesn't show a lack of "sense".
My first DSLR was a Canon 5D3. it isn't top of the line, but it was a bit pricey, and I've had a blast with it. I've been learning so much on how photography works and what can be done with it (and videography too). I put it on manual about and 2nd day I had it and have been learning since then how to shoot and get the effects "I" want.
Some people like and value nice things. I've never bought anything really that I can think of...as "jewelry" that others can see, with the exception of a couple of actual pieces of jewelry, and even those, like my cars and other toys...have been bought for ME, and no one else.
Nothing wrong with liking nice things...I doubt in most cases it is bought just to show off to others.
A dSLR camera is useless if no one sees your photos.
Well, if you have a nice DSLR, you're also likely using some nice tools, like Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture to post process or "develop" your images...and you can easily post to social media (if you're into that type thing) directly from there.
You don't have to send everything you shoot immediately from then and there. Frankly, most images people send out immediately aren't worth looking at...
:)
Personally, I like to shoot pics....and with good ones, I've actually had made into wall sized prints, even cropped in, my 5D3 has good enough resolution to make them look nice on the wall.
Also, what about photo books? Things like that are really nice to give as gifts. They will hang around and be appreciate much longer than a small, crappy, out of focus blurry pic on a Facebook wall.
Depends on the person and the quality they want out of things. To some people, low res mp3's on cheap earbuds are enough....I like good quality sound myself.
I listen to higher quality res mp3's on high end earbuds while at the gym, but for home listening, I play either from CD or flac lossless ripped files, on Klipschorn speakers off a couple of nice tube amps. It depends on if you like quality and thing it is worth the time, price and effort.
If it isn't...go with the cheap crap....
People use to carry much more bulky gear just a few short years ago before digital cameras, and didn't really have much a problem with it...they took billions of pictures before there was social media, and those family albums are still valuable today to those families.
Not everything is only valuable for 20 minutes you know.
Or, in other words, unless you really know what you're doing, you're probably wasting your money.
For myself, I tend to buy the cheapest item available of any category until I understand why the other ones are more expensive.
Well, there's a lot of different mindsets on things.
Me? I've always been one of those that when I set my mind to something or wanting something, a nice camera for instance...I'd research the hell out of it, drive everyone around me mad incessantly talking about it, and then saving and buying the absolute best of xyz I could afford. I never liked much the idea of compromising and buying something 'small' or cheap, learning to use it, then buying slightly better...then upgrading that...etc.
That may work in some cases, but I just never wanted to go that route....I'd much rather put off immediate gratification, and save and buy NICE and QUALITY the first time around, as best I could.
I've been that way on lots of things. My cookware, is mostly All Clad SS. My knives are Wusthof Trident. Yes, each piece can be pretty $$. I didn't buy the whole set at once....but piece by piece as I could afford it. And along with some choice cast iron stuff, I will have cookware that will last my lifetime and is quite good as a kitchen tool.
I've done the same with my camera. I got the bug about a year and a half ago. I ended up on a video shoot I saw them filming with a Canon 5D2...I'd never seen a DSLR used for video and was curious.
I researched and was getting close to pulling the trigger on one, and found the new 5D Mark III was coming out...so, I waited about 6 more mos...saved and bought one in June after their release.
I have been THRILLED with my choice. A whole new world has opened up to me. I'd never had a real digital camera before, aside from phone and one old point and shoot someone gave me a decade ago. But this new 5D3 is amazing. It can shoot in extremely low light conditions.
I've since then, been learning lighting (both video and stills), I've been learning the post processing tools now...I work with Davinci Resolve for color grading. I got the Adobe Production Premium CS6 suite of tools to learn PS, Premier, AE, etc....
So, I think the thing is...if you're really interested in something...research it, find what you really want....save and buy the best you can. Good tools will last you longer, and in some few cases, can save you money in the long run if it is something you will stick with.
I don't generally fritter my money away on crap. I save and when I have enough for something I want, I pull the trigger and buy something VERY nice, once or twice a year usually. I never have buyers remorse either.
At this point, I'm spending even more money (photography *is* an expensive hobby if done right) on lighting equipment for video, flashes and soon strobes for stills. And glass...that is where you DSLR money is best spent. I just rented the Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens, for a video shoot I did recently for charity. I hate sending that lens back, but I know now...next thing I'm saving for, is a copy of that lens for myself.
If you're not into photography, don't bother buying something nice....but for any hobby or any thing you like doing and appreciate quality and being able to do things....save and buy the best.
Ever since I was a young kid, I worked and saved...and have always had nice stereos (still important to me), nice cars, etc...and now cameras.
Countries should give facilities to people to have their own servers in their own home connections, the cloud should be not obligatory to host my own mail/web server, some personal services for my cellphones, or descentralized services like Diaspora. It may not do a lot of difference in US, but in other countries could not force their information to go through points of NSA control. That, and adding/supporting some optional anonimization layers for more or less anonymous browsing (proxies, Tor, Hyperboria, etc) as in some points you must reach the monitored internet.
Err...there's nothing stopping people now from setting up their own servers at home (email, web, wordpress, etc)....
You might possibly need to get a 'business' account from your ISP and pay a couple $$'s more, but the internet was built as it is, so that every computer hooked to it can be a peer with any other computer on it.
Get with and ISP for the proper TOS for allowing you to host, but that's 100% possible today and has been from day 1 of the internet.
I have mine with a local cable company, $70/mo, and about 10up/10down, with a decent SLA. I run as many servers as I wish, no ports blocked...etc.
The tea party HAS had success. They have caused immeasurable financial harm to the United States through the near total obstruction of the operation of congress.
Well, you talk almost like that is a bad thing?
I don't agree they've caused financial harm, most of them I see are trying to prevent more harm by reigning in the out of control spending by the Feds and lower the budget and lower the Feds power back to a more Constitutional based level.
Frankly, I think we in the US are the most safe when congress is in gridlock, that means at least they can't pass any more laws that curtail our freedoms and raise taxes on us in new and creative ways.
Furthermore, this probably isn't related to our paranoia. Oregon has legalized medical marijuana. I'm going to assume this isn't about fighting terrorism so much as it is relating to the government wanting to know who is taking medical marijuana so they can make more arrests and send more "criminals" to perform slave labor for their campaign donors in the private prison industry.
Ouch...I'd not thought of that, but makes perfect sense!!
I would think this might push the Oregon-ians, to do like CO did, and just decriminalize pot use for recreational use, and therefore bypass the need for a medical prescription?
It's expensive and time consuming to push something like that all the way to the Supreme Court, which is where it would have to be decided. The expensive criminal lawyers specialize on getting their clients released on technicalities or having evidence/testimony thrown out. The cheap criminal lawyers specialize on plea bargaining their clients' cases to lower the penalty. There hasn't been the interest, up to this point.
Now that marijuana has been legalized in Washington and Colorado we may see someone willing to take the principled stand and spend the time/money to fight it. I'm hoping so, anyway.
Well, Timothy Leary got the Marijuana Tax Stamp act thrown out before Nixon signed in the DEA acts.....so, we just need someone else to come up and get the laws for drug scheduling struck down.
I know it takes more money to do that these days, but surely there are some big money types on the left (and maybe some on the right too) that could fund this for some poor sap that is caught up on these draconian laws.
Why not?
We needed one to ban Alcohol, was that previously separately protected somewhere in the constitution?
We don't often see eye to eye on most issues, but on this one, I'm RIGHT there with you!!
I've often been puzzled why Alcohol Prohibition required a full blow Constitutional Amendment to halt and then restart Alcohol legality in the US, but with the swipe of a pen, other intoxicants were banned and criminalized by the Feds and not left up to the States to regulate.
I'm guessing it is also a nice move to allow more tax revenue to be gathered due to be being categorized as a medical device....another nice little by product of obamacare (the increased taxation of medical devices).
My guess is that it has something to do with getting paid to write fake reviews. This likely pushes it into a violation of false advertising laws, or fraud.
But still, a "review" is not an AD. It is an opinion, and I don't know that there are or should be laws regulating an opinion a person posts on on the web or anywhere else, whether paid for or not.
That gets (to me) dangerously close to regulating speech that should not be regulated.
Don't be a dumbass, there has been false advertising laws for years to deal with issues like this in meatspace. Lying out of your ass about products your are selling has nothing to do with free speech.
But here, it is someone else lying about the products of a company, not the company directly themselves.
My bigger question was..."When exactly and how did this become a fucking crime?!?!?"
I write 'fake' reviews and it is now a crime? I'd never heard of this before. Am I now to have to prove that I bought and used a product or was a client of a shop....for any review I do?
Green cars all tend to look the same for a reason - aerodynamics. Lower drag = more miles per charge. Lower drag also means more MPG for a gasoline-powered car but it's easier to just put in a bigger tank to get adequate range.
So, can't they make aerodynamic look more like a Porsche, a Vette...etc? Something that looks sporty and exotic and fun to drive? 2-seater preferred....
The Tesla Model S seems to fit your critera. It's very nice looking, does 0-60 in just over 4 seconds in the fastest model and under 6 seconds in the slowest, it costs roughly the same as a well appointed current model Corvette, and it got the highest road test score from Consumer Reports they've ever given.
Too many seats....looks like a family car.
I want a 2-seat sports car.
Hell, I wouldn't want most BMW's if they gave them to me...except for the Z4....
Girls code. Girls hack. This is not news, and contributes to an incorrect societal marginalization of people sans Y chromosome in jobs like this.
What's more, you imply a team like this would only have such a woman on their payroll as a sex object.
You would probably say, indignantly "it was just a joke, all in fun!" Joking in this way is not OK. It needs to be shut down and shunned by society, and I'm calling it out everywhere I see it.
I'm a member of the Y-chromosome club, and I condemn alen's message.
You would probably say, indignantly "it was just a joke, all in fun!" Joking in this way is not OK. It needs to be shut down and shunned by society, and I'm calling it out everywhere I see it.
I don't understand how people call "improving civility" legitimate. It's literally the exact opposite. The first amendment exists because you can offend people and/or not be civil. If you disallow that, you're saying people don't have a right to speak freely.
Yep, pretty much by definition, the right to "free speech" negates the ability to have the right to "not be offended". It pretty much *has* to trump it.
Sadly, with all the political correctness....which seems to now be being somewhat enforced by force of law, words are quickly becoming almost criminal.
Unpleasant things must be said...or the world grows quickly silent.
Either way....the first one of them that get a performance electric car, that isn't fugly as all the current "green" cars....sporty looking (like the Tesla Roadster was) for the price range of a low end Vette...gets all my money.
Why do they make these cars so fugly? Geez, what happened to car design that wasn't simply utilitarian and looked fun and sexy?
Slashdot Mirror
Previously...I liked contracting 1099. I could get (even with pretty heavy pre-existing conditions 6 years ago) a high deductible medical plan, for emergencies. It was about $1300 deductible, but I also was able to set up a HSA (Health Savings Account, which is not use it or lose it like FSA) and sock away about $3100 pre-tax for me routine care.
This was pretty sweet...however, I hear that Obamacare has started taxing FSA's ...and I'm guessing HSA's now are no longer pre-tax.
I don't understand this move, it seems they'd want to keep this to encourage people to save for their own medical routine needs.
Anyway, that worked out great for me in the past.
I'm seeing, however, all the fallout from Obamacare now...spouses being removed from coverage, and people getting reduced to 28 hours so that they are now part time and not costing employers $$$.
I'm wondering if this move *might* increase employers hiring you on as a 1099 contract employee rather than as a W2 employee (especially if you are incorporated and do 1099 Corp-to_Corp)?
I for one would enjoy a work world where this was easier to do. I'm wondering if this might be another unforeseen trend started by the new act? I'd like this, but I'm wishing they'd NOT tax the HSA's or even FSA's if you want to...so that you can save your own money pre-tax, which should encourage most people to do just that.
For instance, I did not know that "P" was the professional setting on my camera..?!?!.
Funny....that manual pulling of focus hasn't seemed to hurt the movie industry for oh say......forever?
If you have a DSLR and are wanting to shoot video, you know what is required of you. If you want auto focus, then don't use it...but you CAN get extremely high quality video from a DSLR. It is a different shooting style. But it isn't a problem.
I recently shot a video of a party doing some bar hopping...I used my 5D3, and with its extreme lowlight capabilities (along with some VERY fast glass that you'd not gonna get one a consumer video camera), I was able to get some very nice footage. I had my RODE video mic parked on the hotshoe and get some good audio I can use too.
A little more effort, sure....but, after a little magic in post...I should be putting out a very nice final product everyone will enjoy. It will be a cinematic look...with good cuts, background music..etc.
Heck..if you do want something more dedicated...maybe look at the Blackmagic pocket camera that is now starting to come out....VERY nice images from that.
But really...manual focusing isn't THAT hard...and the tv and movie industry have been doing manual focus for generations now.
Besides...how are you going to play with depth of field creatively...if you're depending on the camera computer to figure out what YOU want....?
Says the person that sounds like they don't make enough money to buy nice things they want...?
I'd say frankly, that in this day in age, most high end DSLR owners don't want to promote the fact they have a $$ piece of equipment around their necks...due to some asshole wanting to rob and steal it from them.
I just don't get the point of so many people these days, spouting off that "They only buy xyz for other people to look at it".
Ok, I'm sure some do, but I don't believe the majority do. I'm of the thought that most of the people bitching about what others buy and why, have serious self image problems themselves because they can't work for and make enough money to buy nice things, and are jealous.
Maybe you should spend less time worry what others buy and own....and spend more time educating yourself and trying to get a better paying job for yourself?
And well....some people have a lot more disposable income than others.
To them, $3K is not a lot of money, more like $300.
People seem to forget that a lot of people make a decent amount of money...so, much of it depends on what you have coming in...and what is important to you. Maybe owning a house having 3 kids is what you want. Others may want a smaller house, or just rent...no kids and have more disposable income to buy toys with. Nothing wrong with either one, but doesn't show a lack of "sense".
My first DSLR was a Canon 5D3. it isn't top of the line, but it was a bit pricey, and I've had a blast with it. I've been learning so much on how photography works and what can be done with it (and videography too). I put it on manual about and 2nd day I had it and have been learning since then how to shoot and get the effects "I" want.
Some people like and value nice things. I've never bought anything really that I can think of...as "jewelry" that others can see, with the exception of a couple of actual pieces of jewelry, and even those, like my cars and other toys...have been bought for ME, and no one else.
Nothing wrong with liking nice things...I doubt in most cases it is bought just to show off to others.
Well, if you have a nice DSLR, you're also likely using some nice tools, like Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture to post process or "develop" your images...and you can easily post to social media (if you're into that type thing) directly from there.
You don't have to send everything you shoot immediately from then and there. Frankly, most images people send out immediately aren't worth looking at...
Personally, I like to shoot pics....and with good ones, I've actually had made into wall sized prints, even cropped in, my 5D3 has good enough resolution to make them look nice on the wall.
Also, what about photo books? Things like that are really nice to give as gifts. They will hang around and be appreciate much longer than a small, crappy, out of focus blurry pic on a Facebook wall.
Depends on the person and the quality they want out of things. To some people, low res mp3's on cheap earbuds are enough....I like good quality sound myself.
I listen to higher quality res mp3's on high end earbuds while at the gym, but for home listening, I play either from CD or flac lossless ripped files, on Klipschorn speakers off a couple of nice tube amps. It depends on if you like quality and thing it is worth the time, price and effort.
If it isn't...go with the cheap crap....
People use to carry much more bulky gear just a few short years ago before digital cameras, and didn't really have much a problem with it...they took billions of pictures before there was social media, and those family albums are still valuable today to those families.
Not everything is only valuable for 20 minutes you know.
Well, there's a lot of different mindsets on things.
Me? I've always been one of those that when I set my mind to something or wanting something, a nice camera for instance...I'd research the hell out of it, drive everyone around me mad incessantly talking about it, and then saving and buying the absolute best of xyz I could afford. I never liked much the idea of compromising and buying something 'small' or cheap, learning to use it, then buying slightly better...then upgrading that...etc.
That may work in some cases, but I just never wanted to go that route....I'd much rather put off immediate gratification, and save and buy NICE and QUALITY the first time around, as best I could.
I've been that way on lots of things. My cookware, is mostly All Clad SS. My knives are Wusthof Trident. Yes, each piece can be pretty $$. I didn't buy the whole set at once....but piece by piece as I could afford it. And along with some choice cast iron stuff, I will have cookware that will last my lifetime and is quite good as a kitchen tool.
I've done the same with my camera. I got the bug about a year and a half ago. I ended up on a video shoot I saw them filming with a Canon 5D2...I'd never seen a DSLR used for video and was curious.
I researched and was getting close to pulling the trigger on one, and found the new 5D Mark III was coming out...so, I waited about 6 more mos...saved and bought one in June after their release.
I have been THRILLED with my choice. A whole new world has opened up to me. I'd never had a real digital camera before, aside from phone and one old point and shoot someone gave me a decade ago. But this new 5D3 is amazing. It can shoot in extremely low light conditions.
I've since then, been learning lighting (both video and stills), I've been learning the post processing tools now...I work with Davinci Resolve for color grading. I got the Adobe Production Premium CS6 suite of tools to learn PS, Premier, AE, etc....
So, I think the thing is...if you're really interested in something...research it, find what you really want....save and buy the best you can. Good tools will last you longer, and in some few cases, can save you money in the long run if it is something you will stick with.
I don't generally fritter my money away on crap. I save and when I have enough for something I want, I pull the trigger and buy something VERY nice, once or twice a year usually. I never have buyers remorse either.
At this point, I'm spending even more money (photography *is* an expensive hobby if done right) on lighting equipment for video, flashes and soon strobes for stills. And glass...that is where you DSLR money is best spent. I just rented the Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens, for a video shoot I did recently for charity. I hate sending that lens back, but I know now...next thing I'm saving for, is a copy of that lens for myself.
If you're not into photography, don't bother buying something nice....but for any hobby or any thing you like doing and appreciate quality and being able to do things....save and buy the best.
Ever since I was a young kid, I worked and saved...and have always had nice stereos (still important to me), nice cars, etc...and now cameras.
In many cases, you get what you pay for.
Err...there's nothing stopping people now from setting up their own servers at home (email, web, wordpress, etc)....
You might possibly need to get a 'business' account from your ISP and pay a couple $$'s more, but the internet was built as it is, so that every computer hooked to it can be a peer with any other computer on it.
Get with and ISP for the proper TOS for allowing you to host, but that's 100% possible today and has been from day 1 of the internet.
I have mine with a local cable company, $70/mo, and about 10up/10down, with a decent SLA. I run as many servers as I wish, no ports blocked...etc.
Well, you talk almost like that is a bad thing?
I don't agree they've caused financial harm, most of them I see are trying to prevent more harm by reigning in the out of control spending by the Feds and lower the budget and lower the Feds power back to a more Constitutional based level.
Frankly, I think we in the US are the most safe when congress is in gridlock, that means at least they can't pass any more laws that curtail our freedoms and raise taxes on us in new and creative ways.
Ouch...I'd not thought of that, but makes perfect sense!!
I would think this might push the Oregon-ians, to do like CO did, and just decriminalize pot use for recreational use, and therefore bypass the need for a medical prescription?
Well, Timothy Leary got the Marijuana Tax Stamp act thrown out before Nixon signed in the DEA acts.....so, we just need someone else to come up and get the laws for drug scheduling struck down.
I know it takes more money to do that these days, but surely there are some big money types on the left (and maybe some on the right too) that could fund this for some poor sap that is caught up on these draconian laws.
We don't often see eye to eye on most issues, but on this one, I'm RIGHT there with you!!
I've often been puzzled why Alcohol Prohibition required a full blow Constitutional Amendment to halt and then restart Alcohol legality in the US, but with the swipe of a pen, other intoxicants were banned and criminalized by the Feds and not left up to the States to regulate.
I'm guessing it is also a nice move to allow more tax revenue to be gathered due to be being categorized as a medical device....another nice little by product of obamacare (the increased taxation of medical devices).
But still, a "review" is not an AD. It is an opinion, and I don't know that there are or should be laws regulating an opinion a person posts on on the web or anywhere else, whether paid for or not.
That gets (to me) dangerously close to regulating speech that should not be regulated.
But here, it is someone else lying about the products of a company, not the company directly themselves.
Reviews are not ads....
I write 'fake' reviews and it is now a crime? I'd never heard of this before. Am I now to have to prove that I bought and used a product or was a client of a shop....for any review I do?
Their updated motto on their squad cars:
"To Collect and Serve..."
So, can't they make aerodynamic look more like a Porsche, a Vette...etc? Something that looks sporty and exotic and fun to drive? 2-seater preferred....
Too many seats....looks like a family car.
I want a 2-seat sports car.
Hell, I wouldn't want most BMW's if they gave them to me...except for the Z4....
It has too many seats...it is a "family car".
I want a high performance 2-seater sports car, that looks like one.
Hmm...let's see if you like this one any better.
You know what the definition of a woman is?
-- A life support unit for a cunt.
Hmm...I think you just disproved that.
Hey, grow a pair...and enjoy the joke.
Yep, pretty much by definition, the right to "free speech" negates the ability to have the right to "not be offended". It pretty much *has* to trump it.
Sadly, with all the political correctness....which seems to now be being somewhat enforced by force of law, words are quickly becoming almost criminal.
Unpleasant things must be said...or the world grows quickly silent.
Why do they make these cars so fugly? Geez, what happened to car design that wasn't simply utilitarian and looked fun and sexy?