No, but on the other hand, after about 80,000 miles you'll have to replace the batteries,
Do you? I thought I've heard reports of Priuses in commercial service with 200,000+ miles on the battery packs. Toyota's power management software is very good, AFAIK. With 100,000 mile powertrain warranties being de rigeur in the US, I doubt that Toyota would build a car that's a throwaway after 80,000 miles!
Personally, I just see Craiglist as a web emulation of Usenet, with a few enhancements like the ability to easily include pictures, edit your posts (cancels haven't worked on Usenet in a long time,) flag offensive posts, a web interface (which makes it easier to use for the non-technically inclined) and management that's all together in one place so things can be changed (for good or bad) a lot quicker and easier than they can on Usenet.
The only problem with CL is that it's too regionalized. There are no national and world forums equivalent to the alt.* and rec.* groups, and there's no way to read posts in a single forum for multiple regions. Plus, adding forums is kind of difficult since the CL management rather than a user vote decides what forums are available.
Things like Yahoo! groups aren't really a replacement for the wide-scale groups on Usenet - they're too slow and require login, whereas anyone with a ISP providing news services could use Usenet. Google groups is just another interface to Usenet. The closest thing is probably Livejournal (and ilk) with interest groups. Certainly a bit higher on the food chain than MySpace...
When you think about CraigsList is the original successful social networking site.
It and livejournal with its communities are basically USENET for the 21st century. Not that USENET is dead, BTW, but they're a more user-friendly replacement.
If you like that, you ought to play with the Tiptronic gearboxes that come on some of the newer VW models. It's an automatic, but move the stick sideways and you can change gears without a clutch. It's not perfect - you have to go through the gears rather than directly to a gear - but it works smoothly. My Touareg has one and it's a bunch of fun.
I personally don't. I like the control of a third clutch pedal. Maybe I'm just reactionary.:) But for those who want it, the DSG is an ideal gearbox since it's as efficient as a manual, provides as good (if not slightly better) acceleration, and has only two pedals since Americans seem to be phobic of having a 3rd pedal. BTW- the Tiptronic isn't the same thing since it has the same design as most other "automatic" transmissions - it just has a lever-operated switch for manual selection of gears.
Also, with attempts at reducing the number of dash switches, you get abominations like BMW's iDrive system where almost all auxilliary functions of the car are controlled using a rotary knob/joystick controller and a central computer. Yes, they've made the UI better than in 2001. But good luck fixing the thing in 10 years when something breaks. The ultimate in disposability. I like engineering where systems are (as much as possible) discrete. If the rear defroster doesn't work, you should be able to trace the circuit and replace the switch or coil as appropriate, not worry that the "body control module" is no longer providing power. At least if you're going to have devices talking over a multiplexed buss, make the components more or less standardized like relays are today.
Put all these things on the steering wheel so they don't have to grope for them on the dashboard.
Far better to put those functions on a pod of buttons directly behind the steering wheel. It doesn't move when you turn the wheel, and you don't need "clockspring" wiring that breaks if you look at it wrong. Also, frontal airbags (airbombs?) have become required (or at least extremely common) in USA cars. If you have your hand in front of the steering wheel rather than on it, and the bags go off, you're liable to end up with a badly broken hand. Modern airbags are less powerful than the old ones, but they're still not perfect. It would be far better to install frontal 4-point belts in all new cars and leave airbags for the sides of the car where they are really needed (since there's only about 6" of crush space there.
And just more things to break. Honestly. The more crap you shove into a compact space the higher chance something's going to break, fail and cost hundreds in repairs.
Cheers! What we need is a modern equivalent of the Volvo 240. Rugged, simple without being cheap, and capable of carrying the kitchen sink, too. The closest thing on the market is probably the Subaru Legacy Outback series. If only they sold it with a hybrid powertrain or diesel engine and it made over 45 mpg, I'd buy on in a second. And, no, hybrid drivetrains don't have to be more complicated than "normal" powertrains - if you look at the Prius, it has only a single (planetary) gearset for the transmission and no clutch or automatic clutchpacks to wear out.
I have manual windows. I wouldn't trade em at all. (I do wish I had automatic doors though; at least those can be used manually...for now)
The doors that automatically lock at over 5 mph and then don't unlock until you manually unlock them really annoy the living shit out of me. I can understand the motivation - fear of lawsuits if someone carjacks you at a stop, but please provide an easy way to turn this misfeature off!
Outside of wanting cell phones that are not delicate mini-computers, I'd say people are rarely clamoring for things that "do one thing well". Simplicity IS being "easy to use" (and learn).
For my landline, I still use a 2500 phone that's about 25 years old. It's a bit more advanced than in the picture since it has redial, hold, and flash buttons, but it's not complicated. However it *is* rugged (dropped it off a table a few times with no ill effects), sounds better than most "modern" phones, and is easy to use. Not to mention having a really cool sounding mechanical bell in the base.
As you add more features, you have to skimp on quality to get the price point of the product the same. That 2500 phone would probably cost $100+ on the market today - there are cheaply-made phones with more features selling for $20 now.
MySpace seems to encourage bad UI design. Not sure why, it might have to do with the default page layout and the type of n00bs that it attracts. If you want to see a *well-designed* social networking interface, look at LiveJournal. 5 years older and *much* cleaner and less annoying to use.
Perhaps the best compromise is a complex design with a simple UI...?
Since TFA mentions cars, I'll mention things like VW's Direct Shift Gearbox. Basically all the advantages of a stick shift (it *is* a manual gearbox) with auto-like shifting smoothness since shifts are done by releasing one clutch while engaging the other one. A simple interface, too - 2 pedals.
If anything, cars are getting *simpler* to drive. Automatics are available on more models (unfortunately, I *like* manual cars). No more manual chokes or carburetors. It's the auxilliary features that are getting more complicated, but driving itself is getting easier.
He was a POW. Prisoners, especially those under conditions of deprivation and torture, first grow to hate their captors and rebel. Then they grow to identify and empathize with them. Basically, the guy may have been effectively brainwashed without him knowing it. Pity him rather than hating him.
It's also hosted by Yahoo, who would necessarily have an interest in keeping themselves out of trouble.
So get hosting outside the USA, like on 1&1 (Schlund). Or you could even host on your own servers - for a text site, fast connections are sufficiently inexpensive now.
And would it be just a local one for a state, or for the whole country?
Since he's a senator to the national Congress, it'll be a national law. The Federal government doesn't have the manpower to enforce every Federal law, so the level of actual enforcement will probably be up to state and local police. Obscenity has also been deemed by the Supreme Court to be defined by local social mores, so what's obscene in the South isn't necessarily so in NYC. And vice versa.
Obscenity has been defined to include a far greater range of things in the US.
Well, there's precedent for it to be defined by local community standards. Does that mean that a gay (all models over 21) porn website can be visible in NYC but not in, say, Texas? Should we implement geographical IP blocking? (Hey, possibly more $$$ in my pocket working on implementation!)
You might not agree with him but damn... wishing that somebody should be MIA because you don't agree with him is just plain stupid.
If his actions result in people who have done little if anything wrong getting stiff jail sentences, I'd say that it *would* have been better had he never come back. Unjust jail sentences in total could easily amount to more than one man's lifetime.
Sure, paedophiles exist and when they're caught then impose the stiffest possible penalties on them - but the fact is that there are simply *NOT* hordes of them cyberstalking children on the Internet.
If someone forcibly rapes a child, and shows a repeated pattern of the offense, I'm all for a mandatory death penalty. That would get the *really bad* offenders out of society permanently.
My usually trustworthy local newspaper informed me today that in Texas a four years old boy was suspended from preshool for sexual harrassment because he hugged a woman and happened to touch one of her breats while doing so.
If the kid breast-fed until age 2 or so he might well remember a breast as a source of comfort, not of food. And, yes, breastfeeding after teeth erupt is both possible and (according to some drs at least) desirable for the child's health.
That sounds like a case of a stupid religious zealot principal, not an institutional problem or policy.
says that if you're 24 or older and have sex with someone 16/17 you have to register. If you were just 23 then it's OK and you weren't a sex offender.
That's actually more-or-less reasonable if you support registration at all since it excludes the "18-yo has sex with his 17.5yo girlfriend and daddy gets pissed" situations.
But why should someone be branded for life if they sleep with a 17 year old? Are we to believe that she didn't know what she was doing when she lied about her age? I'm all for light rehab when needed, something in the ilk of "Look, you're 28 years old, good rule of thumb, make sure they can legally drink at a bar with you", and imprisonment of the true predators, but those are really few and far between. (If I had mod points, I would have just modded you way up.)
Or judges and juries showing some common sense. A felony requires "mens rea" - essentially foreknowledge that you're going to do something wrong. If the girl *looked* over 18 (or whatever the age of consent was in the state since they vary from 15 or so to 18), then the jury should show common sense and acquit the defendant, especially if no harm is evident to the girl. Besides, the whole "marked for life" thing should be restricted (if it's used at all!) to serious sex offenses like forcible rape, sex with a small child (say, under 12) - things like that.
The social pressure for a trial is in fact at the root of their early release (because neither a judge nor a jury is a qualified MD).
I agree with you for the most part that the really dangerous, ill, offenders shouldn't be released until they are treated - HOWEVER - what do you propose we replace trials with? We can't just replace judges and juries for mentally ill defendants because who's to judge how ill the defendant is in the first place and if he's not malingering. Catch-22.
1. Prosecutors who do things like destroy evidence get fired and disbarred.
Not only that. In NJ, and I suspect other states as well, perjury or deliberate misconduct resulting in execution is a capital offense. So the prosecutor might actually find himself on the other side of the walls.
That's saying that you don't have to comply with the will over the democratically elected government. It's saying that if you don't like the law, yu're going to become a terrorist. That you would rather just become a terrorist than elect people who are going to protect your rights in the first place.
If a democratically-elected government chooses to violate the Constitution, even with the will of the majority of the People, it is the job of those who care to fight this. First in court. Then with a gun if needed. The whole purpose of the Constitution was to prevent the government, whether democratically elected or not, from trampling upon the rights of the citizenry.
It sucks if your credit is not perfect as it gives employers an assumption I *could* steal because I chose not to use credit cards when I was in college.
No credit != poor credit.
If you didn't borrow money, you may not have *any* credit rating. This isn't the same as borrowing money and not paying back in time, which would cause actively *poor* credit... But if you paid utility bills, phone bills, college loans, etc, in time, chances are your credit rating is fine. Credit cards aren't the only way to build a good rating. I didn't have one until recently and I had no problem getting approved for things like cell phones, nor getting work (though I doubt anyone checked my credit).
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Do you? I thought I've heard reports of Priuses in commercial service with 200,000+ miles on the battery packs. Toyota's power management software is very good, AFAIK. With 100,000 mile powertrain warranties being de rigeur in the US, I doubt that Toyota would build a car that's a throwaway after 80,000 miles!
-b.
The only problem with CL is that it's too regionalized. There are no national and world forums equivalent to the alt.* and rec.* groups, and there's no way to read posts in a single forum for multiple regions. Plus, adding forums is kind of difficult since the CL management rather than a user vote decides what forums are available.
Things like Yahoo! groups aren't really a replacement for the wide-scale groups on Usenet - they're too slow and require login, whereas anyone with a ISP providing news services could use Usenet. Google groups is just another interface to Usenet. The closest thing is probably Livejournal (and ilk) with interest groups. Certainly a bit higher on the food chain than MySpace...
-b.
It and livejournal with its communities are basically USENET for the 21st century. Not that USENET is dead, BTW, but they're a more user-friendly replacement.
-b.
I personally don't. I like the control of a third clutch pedal. Maybe I'm just reactionary. :) But for those who want it, the DSG is an ideal gearbox since it's as efficient as a manual, provides as good (if not slightly better) acceleration, and has only two pedals since Americans seem to be phobic of having a 3rd pedal. BTW- the Tiptronic isn't the same thing since it has the same design as most other "automatic" transmissions - it just has a lever-operated switch for manual selection of gears.
-b.
-b.
Far better to put those functions on a pod of buttons directly behind the steering wheel. It doesn't move when you turn the wheel, and you don't need "clockspring" wiring that breaks if you look at it wrong. Also, frontal airbags (airbombs?) have become required (or at least extremely common) in USA cars. If you have your hand in front of the steering wheel rather than on it, and the bags go off, you're liable to end up with a badly broken hand. Modern airbags are less powerful than the old ones, but they're still not perfect. It would be far better to install frontal 4-point belts in all new cars and leave airbags for the sides of the car where they are really needed (since there's only about 6" of crush space there.
-b.
Cheers! What we need is a modern equivalent of the Volvo 240. Rugged, simple without being cheap, and capable of carrying the kitchen sink, too. The closest thing on the market is probably the Subaru Legacy Outback series. If only they sold it with a hybrid powertrain or diesel engine and it made over 45 mpg, I'd buy on in a second. And, no, hybrid drivetrains don't have to be more complicated than "normal" powertrains - if you look at the Prius, it has only a single (planetary) gearset for the transmission and no clutch or automatic clutchpacks to wear out.
I have manual windows. I wouldn't trade em at all. (I do wish I had automatic doors though; at least those can be used manually...for now)
The doors that automatically lock at over 5 mph and then don't unlock until you manually unlock them really annoy the living shit out of me. I can understand the motivation - fear of lawsuits if someone carjacks you at a stop, but please provide an easy way to turn this misfeature off!
-b.
For my landline, I still use a 2500 phone that's about 25 years old. It's a bit more advanced than in the picture since it has redial, hold, and flash buttons, but it's not complicated. However it *is* rugged (dropped it off a table a few times with no ill effects), sounds better than most "modern" phones, and is easy to use. Not to mention having a really cool sounding mechanical bell in the base.
As you add more features, you have to skimp on quality to get the price point of the product the same. That 2500 phone would probably cost $100+ on the market today - there are cheaply-made phones with more features selling for $20 now.
-b.
MySpace seems to encourage bad UI design. Not sure why, it might have to do with the default page layout and the type of n00bs that it attracts. If you want to see a *well-designed* social networking interface, look at LiveJournal. 5 years older and *much* cleaner and less annoying to use.
-b.
Since TFA mentions cars, I'll mention things like VW's Direct Shift Gearbox. Basically all the advantages of a stick shift (it *is* a manual gearbox) with auto-like shifting smoothness since shifts are done by releasing one clutch while engaging the other one. A simple interface, too - 2 pedals.
If anything, cars are getting *simpler* to drive. Automatics are available on more models (unfortunately, I *like* manual cars). No more manual chokes or carburetors. It's the auxilliary features that are getting more complicated, but driving itself is getting easier.
-b.
He was a POW. Prisoners, especially those under conditions of deprivation and torture, first grow to hate their captors and rebel. Then they grow to identify and empathize with them. Basically, the guy may have been effectively brainwashed without him knowing it. Pity him rather than hating him.
Mod parent +1 insightful.
-b.
So get hosting outside the USA, like on 1&1 (Schlund). Or you could even host on your own servers - for a text site, fast connections are sufficiently inexpensive now.
-b.
Since he's a senator to the national Congress, it'll be a national law. The Federal government doesn't have the manpower to enforce every Federal law, so the level of actual enforcement will probably be up to state and local police. Obscenity has also been deemed by the Supreme Court to be defined by local social mores, so what's obscene in the South isn't necessarily so in NYC. And vice versa.
-b.
Well, there's precedent for it to be defined by local community standards. Does that mean that a gay (all models over 21) porn website can be visible in NYC but not in, say, Texas? Should we implement geographical IP blocking? (Hey, possibly more $$$ in my pocket working on implementation!)
-b.
If his actions result in people who have done little if anything wrong getting stiff jail sentences, I'd say that it *would* have been better had he never come back. Unjust jail sentences in total could easily amount to more than one man's lifetime.
-b.
If someone forcibly rapes a child, and shows a repeated pattern of the offense, I'm all for a mandatory death penalty. That would get the *really bad* offenders out of society permanently.
-b.
If the kid breast-fed until age 2 or so he might well remember a breast as a source of comfort, not of food. And, yes, breastfeeding after teeth erupt is both possible and (according to some drs at least) desirable for the child's health.
That sounds like a case of a stupid religious zealot principal, not an institutional problem or policy.
-b.
That's actually more-or-less reasonable if you support registration at all since it excludes the "18-yo has sex with his 17.5yo girlfriend and daddy gets pissed" situations.
-b.
Or judges and juries showing some common sense. A felony requires "mens rea" - essentially foreknowledge that you're going to do something wrong. If the girl *looked* over 18 (or whatever the age of consent was in the state since they vary from 15 or so to 18), then the jury should show common sense and acquit the defendant, especially if no harm is evident to the girl. Besides, the whole "marked for life" thing should be restricted (if it's used at all!) to serious sex offenses like forcible rape, sex with a small child (say, under 12) - things like that.
-b.
I agree with you for the most part that the really dangerous, ill, offenders shouldn't be released until they are treated - HOWEVER - what do you propose we replace trials with? We can't just replace judges and juries for mentally ill defendants because who's to judge how ill the defendant is in the first place and if he's not malingering. Catch-22.
-b.
Not only that. In NJ, and I suspect other states as well, perjury or deliberate misconduct resulting in execution is a capital offense. So the prosecutor might actually find himself on the other side of the walls.
-b.
If it stays in the scabbard unless good reason to draw it is given (threat to life) I doubt the cops and DA would have a legal leg to stand on.
-b.
If a democratically-elected government chooses to violate the Constitution, even with the will of the majority of the People, it is the job of those who care to fight this. First in court. Then with a gun if needed. The whole purpose of the Constitution was to prevent the government, whether democratically elected or not, from trampling upon the rights of the citizenry.
-b.
Extremely dangerous. You don't want cars limited to 50 mph sharing the same road with cars zooming along at 80. Speed differential kills!
-b.
No credit != poor credit.
If you didn't borrow money, you may not have *any* credit rating. This isn't the same as borrowing money and not paying back in time, which would cause actively *poor* credit... But if you paid utility bills, phone bills, college loans, etc, in time, chances are your credit rating is fine. Credit cards aren't the only way to build a good rating. I didn't have one until recently and I had no problem getting approved for things like cell phones, nor getting work (though I doubt anyone checked my credit).
-b.