...What's next? A guy who uses gasoline for liquid cooling?
Gasoline is only combustible if its vapors are mixed with oxygen. Submerging electronics in gasoline isn't actually a problem (other than it being a really good solvent). The in-tank fuel pump in your car is an electric motor that is submerged in, and cooled by gasoline.
Now wait a minute, how does that work? Thought these things only worked at a very short range. Are they going to be imbedded all the way around the tire so when I run across some kind of sensor it works? Most tires are more than just a few inches across (usually at least 20 inches or so).
The average automobile has a tire circumference of about 6 feet. To ensure reading of an embedded RFID chip, all one has to do is set up a long antenna array buried into the pavement. Make the array 10 - 12 feet long, and you're guaranteed to capture larger commercial and offroad tires at least once in rotation. This process can easily be automated. Time stamping serial numbers won't require any serious amount of storage or processor power.
(In spite of the fact that other Prius owners are modifying their batteries so that they can plug it in, which to me seems pointless and a waste of resources.)
If you live in some areas such as the west coast of Canada, which has abundant hydroelectricity, it makes plenty of sense. Also if your electrical utility cost is less than what you pay for fuel, this may serve as motivation for many people.
IANAL, but it's the owner of the car that is responsible for the maintenance/upkeep of their vehicle. If I go install a set of aftermarket brakes on my car, and botch the install for some reason, I'm still liable for any accidents it might cause. I would even say that the non-availability of replacement parts would place a larger onus of responsiblity on the owner.
GM didn't have to crush these vehicles. They could have allowed their owners to purchase them, perhaps sign a waiver, and be done with them. The handful of EV-1 enthusiasts were a thorn in their side. GM was losing money on every one they ever made. Crushing the whole lot of them, allowed them to simply dispose of the whole program in a final, ego satisfying manner.
Sooner or later someone from out of town is going to drive through your area in a Prius. Even if the vehicles aren't sold there, it's a good idea for the fire department to familiarize themselves with the specifics of a hybrid power systems, and associated rescue procedures. This especially a good idea, as we'll be seeing more of this technology in the future.
Over here in Canada, if you don't have your card, you just quote your phone number. That's it. No other ID or authentication needed. It happens so often people just give their phone number instead of handing over their card.
On another subject Safeway can also be used as a reverse phone directory. If you want to know the identity of a phone number, chances are you'll get it printed on your reciept just by quoting it in the absence of a Safeway card.
The signifigance of this, is that it partially levels the playing field for vehicle vulnerability. With the RFID out of the way, it's now just a bit easier to jam a screwdriver into the ignition of a highend car and make off with it.
Wanna do live webcam shots? Have a look at this: http://www.katkam.ca/katkamc.htm
This is the software that does periodic high quality shots of the Burrard street bridge/False Creek in Vancouver with a web server connnected Olympus digital camera. The funny thing is the author expains the software existance because: ...Olympus is the only camera company offering an SDK for use with their digital cameras...
What are these pop-ups you speak of? People still get them today?! I thought they went extinct around 3 years ago. Hmmm, that would be around when I ran into this piece of software call Mozilla, now that think about it...
Having worked for shop that the electronics installs in taxi cabs, I can tell you that a good paint job won't mean much after the vehicle has been in service as a taxi cab. Here's what a typical taxi goes through during conversion:
North American taxis are typically big, comfy 4 door sedans, so vehicles like Crown Vics, Impalas, Malibus and Centuries are typical. Operators are now starting to use hybrids like the Prius because of the huge cost savings from fuel.
a car that often purchased from auction or is a used police vehicle (with the gunrack/computer/radio mounting holes from it's previous duty)
natural gas/propane conversion for the engine
a $600 paint job by a body shop apprentice (with typical orange peel, over spray and bad masking)
vinyl graphics for signage (vinyl does wonders for destroying paint, because the paint fades around it)
numerous holes drilled through the roof for the toplight, dispatch radio antenna, gps
numerous self-tapping screws to attach the dispatch computer and radio to the dash/interior
frequent drilling of various size holes in the dash/interior and removal of things like air vents to accomodate cabling, and switches
At the end of it's service life, the taxi gear is striped out. You're then left with a high mileage, beatup domestic, with a thrashed interior and bodywork from all the holes made from screws and drilling, as well as bracket indentations on the dash. On top of it, it was driven by a taxi driver! The remaining vehicle will fetch pocket change at auction or sale. Taxis really are disposible vehicles. One of the mantras that was reinforced when I was working at the shop was "It's just a taxi!".
Congratulations for living in a transit utopia. Let me tell you a little about the transit system in the Lower Mainland of BC. The transit system here consists of a bus fleet, an elevated rail system (Skytrain)and a few community shuttles. You know something, it only works if use it for commutiing to a 9-5 job in Vancouver. If you do shift work, need to carry cargo, equipment or tools or just live anywhere that isn't Vancouver, the utility you get from transit ranges from frustrating to useless. If you're out in Surrey or Langley, expect 30 - 60 minute waits for service that ends from 8PM - 11PM. Need to be somewhere early at 5AM? Too bad, the first buses only start rolling around 6. The Skytrain system was an expensive abomination that was only done as a business favor to Bombardier. Despite being a fully automated electric train system, service stops at 1 AM. WTF!? Translink (the entity that runs the transit service) complains about fare evasion, yet despite 19 years of service, they still haven't installed turnstiles at any of their stations. To compensate for lack of ridership, Translink tries to fix things by periodically elevating transit fares. It now costs more for a 3 zone monthly pass than it does for car insurance! I did the math a few years ago, and it was actually cheaper to drive than take transit. Since that time transit fares have increased, and I now pay less for insurance. I just reviewed my math with todays figures and driving is now on-par with transit, personal cost-wise. That math was based on the costs of vehicle that consumes the now much more expensive 94 octane fuel. I remember seeing a study that someone did of the total cost to society comparing the expense of a public transit infrastruction to the costs of automobiles and their infrastructure. The study concluded that it was far more cost effective to have everyone driving as opposed to building a transit system. I myself would pay a premium for the luxury of being able to travel at any time of day or night at a moments notice, in my own private climate controlled environment, where I'm free to sit on a comfortable upholstered seat with a seat belt, listen to high quality music as loud as I want, eat or drink whatever I want, and the freedom of transporting any size cargo. Why on earth would I want to pay the same or more to suffer out in the cold/rain/snow (remember this Canada) for up to an hour waiting for a bus, only to be crammed like sardines in a drafty bus next to rude, smelly people with no place to sit, no protection in a collsion, and in a vehicle that suffers even worse in gridlock, because it has to stop every few minutes! The math alone is enough to convince me. I'll keep my car thank you.
We all know that Steve Jobs killing the Newton was a stupid business decision. I'm sure he hates being reminded of it now as Tablets are catching on. If you guys ever wanna see a MacTablet, quit rubbing it in the guy's face and give him a break. If Apple does choose to release a Tablet computer, I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to test the waters of Tablet computing by releasing an iBook or Powerbook with a reversible screen. It would allow Apple portables to function like Tablets, but retain enough notebook form factor so Jobs wouldn't have to admit he was wrong.
There's plenty of reason why you don't want some flunky changing your oil for you. Do you know what kind of filter is being fitted on your car? "America's favorite oil filter"-- Fram, has the shittiest internal construction as far as oil filters go. Do you know what keeps dirty oil from coming back out a Fram? A lousy piece of cardboard! How about the oil? The shop probably has a discount on some Quaker State oil. I sure as hell don't want all that ash and wax in *my* engine. Overfilling your oil can mess up your lifters, not to mention it looks pretty stupid when it comes spitting out your PCV valve, making your car produce blue smoke. But does the guying doing your oil change care? Why should he? He's only making $8/hr anyways.
You can't buy a good oil change for $20 anywhere. $20 is just not quite enough to pay for 4 liters of Mobil 1, and a K&N ProGold oil filter. I do my oil changes for piece of mind knowing that it's done right.
An oil change is not hard to do, it only takes 10 minutes to do, and you spend most of your time waiting for the oil to drain out!
* Get some gloves if you want to keep your hands clean.
* As soon as you park your car (the oil drains faster when it's still hot), slide a drain pan under it and open the drain valve. I install a drain valve on every vehicle I own. I've only ever fussed with the stock drain plug during the drain valve installation.
* Loosen your oil cap and wait 10 minutes or so for the oil to drain out. Now's a good time to take the groceries in the house, detail the car or clean the garage.
* Remove your old oil filter.
* Slide drain pan out from under the car, and pour it into an empty paint bucket for oil disposal.
* Close your drain valve.
* Install new oil filter. put a thin film of oil on the gasket, partly fill the oil filter with oil, spin on until it presses against the block, then add another full rotation to seal.
* Insert a funnel into the oil filler on your valve cover.
* Pour fresh oil down the filter. your owner's manual will specify how many liter you should add. You can also just wait a couple minutes until it flows to the drain pan and check with the dipstick.
* Replace the oil cap.
* Disconnect the fuel injection fuse, and crank engine over until it builds oil pressure. This ensures that the oil is distributed without the stress of combustion. (I bet your lube shop doesn't do this!)
* That's it! you're done. When you get good at it you won't even get a drop of oil on your hands.
* The paint bucket will hold several oil changes worth of oil. Before it gets full, take it down to the lube shop for recycling.
For the record, I don't have a lawn, and if everyone takes some person responsibility with the bathroom, it should never get messy.
I presume this thing will function like an inductive heater if any large piece of metal comes in contact with this. Might be good for cooking some noodles though.
Oh boo hoo... So your pointing device needs a little occasional maintenance. You can scrape the crud off the rollers AND wipe them down with alcohol in less time than it take to do an oil change in your car. Lemme guess, you don't do your own oil changes either?
Think of yellow as a "malfunctioning" color channel on your printer. When you need to cleanly print yellow, put the yellow toner in to one of the cyan, magenta or black cartridges and make the appropriate adjustments to the CMYK layers in Photoshop.
Also to make detection easier, couldn't you just print a blank test page on black paper?
Or take the driver who races his Miata one weekend and files a warranty claim the next. What are the chances that his data recorder will rat him out to the manufacturer who then voids the warranty?
If you're a car manufacturer, you can do the smart thing and encourage your customers to participate in sanctioned racing events. Subaru gives you a free membership in the SCCA when you buy a WRX.
On the other hand, if you try to champion any races, in an EVO, Mitsubishi will just void your warranty.
Any vehicle on the road today can have its ECU replaced by a standalone engine management system. Once it's installed, you can then genuinely hack your car's engine as well. If you don't like expensive propretiary systems, there's even "open source" alternatives like MegaSquirt
Slashdot Mirror
...What's next? A guy who uses gasoline for liquid cooling?
Gasoline is only combustible if its vapors are mixed with oxygen. Submerging electronics in gasoline isn't actually a problem (other than it being a really good solvent). The in-tank fuel pump in your car is an electric motor that is submerged in, and cooled by gasoline.
Now wait a minute, how does that work? Thought these things only worked at a very short range. Are they going to be imbedded all the way around the tire so when I run across some kind of sensor it works? Most tires are more than just a few inches across (usually at least 20 inches or so).
The average automobile has a tire circumference of about 6 feet. To ensure reading of an embedded RFID chip, all one has to do is set up a long antenna array buried into the pavement. Make the array 10 - 12 feet long, and you're guaranteed to capture larger commercial and offroad tires at least once in rotation. This process can easily be automated. Time stamping serial numbers won't require any serious amount of storage or processor power.
(In spite of the fact that other Prius owners are modifying their batteries so that they can plug it in, which to me seems pointless and a waste of resources.)
If you live in some areas such as the west coast of Canada, which has abundant hydroelectricity, it makes plenty of sense. Also if your electrical utility cost is less than what you pay for fuel, this may serve as motivation for many people.
IANAL, but it's the owner of the car that is responsible for the maintenance/upkeep of their vehicle. If I go install a set of aftermarket brakes on my car, and botch the install for some reason, I'm still liable for any accidents it might cause. I would even say that the non-availability of replacement parts would place a larger onus of responsiblity on the owner.
GM didn't have to crush these vehicles. They could have allowed their owners to purchase them, perhaps sign a waiver, and be done with them. The handful of EV-1 enthusiasts were a thorn in their side. GM was losing money on every one they ever made. Crushing the whole lot of them, allowed them to simply dispose of the whole program in a final, ego satisfying manner.
Sooner or later someone from out of town is going to drive through your area in a Prius. Even if the vehicles aren't sold there, it's a good idea for the fire department to familiarize themselves with the specifics of a hybrid power systems, and associated rescue procedures. This especially a good idea, as we'll be seeing more of this technology in the future.
r ius_erg_1.pdf,
r ius_erg_2.pdf
Toyota makes publicly available, a guide detailing the operation and technical data of their hybrid power system:
http://www.toyota.com/web/vehicles/prius/safety/p
as well as another guide specifically on emergency procedures: http://www.toyota.com/web/vehicles/prius/safety/p
My gnomes all turned into cement golums. They all seem to happy out on the front lawn though.
Over here in Canada, if you don't have your card, you just quote your phone number. That's it. No other ID or authentication needed. It happens so often people just give their phone number instead of handing over their card.
On another subject Safeway can also be used as a reverse phone directory. If you want to know the identity of a phone number, chances are you'll get it printed on your reciept just by quoting it in the absence of a Safeway card.
The signifigance of this, is that it partially levels the playing field for vehicle vulnerability. With the RFID out of the way, it's now just a bit easier to jam a screwdriver into the ignition of a highend car and make off with it.
Wanna do live webcam shots? Have a look at this:
...Olympus is the only camera company offering an SDK for use with their digital cameras...
http://www.katkam.ca/katkamc.htm
This is the software that does periodic high quality shots of the Burrard street bridge/False Creek in Vancouver with a web server connnected Olympus digital camera. The funny thing is the author expains the software existance because:
What are these pop-ups you speak of? People still get them today?! I thought they went extinct around 3 years ago. Hmmm, that would be around when I ran into this piece of software call Mozilla, now that think about it...
- North American taxis are typically big, comfy 4 door sedans, so vehicles like Crown Vics, Impalas, Malibus and Centuries are typical. Operators are now starting to use hybrids like the Prius because of the huge cost savings from fuel.
- a car that often purchased from auction or is a used police vehicle (with the gunrack/computer/radio mounting holes from it's previous duty)
- natural gas/propane conversion for the engine
- a $600 paint job by a body shop apprentice (with typical orange peel, over spray and bad masking)
- vinyl graphics for signage (vinyl does wonders for destroying paint, because the paint fades around it)
- numerous holes drilled through the roof for the toplight, dispatch radio antenna, gps
- numerous self-tapping screws to attach the dispatch computer and radio to the dash/interior
- frequent drilling of various size holes in the dash/interior and removal of things like air vents to accomodate cabling, and switches
At the end of it's service life, the taxi gear is striped out. You're then left with a high mileage, beatup domestic, with a thrashed interior and bodywork from all the holes made from screws and drilling, as well as bracket indentations on the dash. On top of it, it was driven by a taxi driver! The remaining vehicle will fetch pocket change at auction or sale. Taxis really are disposible vehicles. One of the mantras that was reinforced when I was working at the shop was "It's just a taxi!".My friend bought a new car.. and the paint is already peeling off!
Is it a Dodge?
Congratulations for living in a transit utopia. Let me tell you a little about the transit system in the Lower Mainland of BC. The transit system here consists of a bus fleet, an elevated rail system (Skytrain)and a few community shuttles. You know something, it only works if use it for commutiing to a 9-5 job in Vancouver. If you do shift work, need to carry cargo, equipment or tools or just live anywhere that isn't Vancouver, the utility you get from transit ranges from frustrating to useless. If you're out in Surrey or Langley, expect 30 - 60 minute waits for service that ends from 8PM - 11PM. Need to be somewhere early at 5AM? Too bad, the first buses only start rolling around 6. The Skytrain system was an expensive abomination that was only done as a business favor to Bombardier. Despite being a fully automated electric train system, service stops at 1 AM. WTF!? Translink (the entity that runs the transit service) complains about fare evasion, yet despite 19 years of service, they still haven't installed turnstiles at any of their stations. To compensate for lack of ridership, Translink tries to fix things by periodically elevating transit fares. It now costs more for a 3 zone monthly pass than it does for car insurance! I did the math a few years ago, and it was actually cheaper to drive than take transit. Since that time transit fares have increased, and I now pay less for insurance. I just reviewed my math with todays figures and driving is now on-par with transit, personal cost-wise. That math was based on the costs of vehicle that consumes the now much more expensive 94 octane fuel. I remember seeing a study that someone did of the total cost to society comparing the expense of a public transit infrastruction to the costs of automobiles and their infrastructure. The study concluded that it was far more cost effective to have everyone driving as opposed to building a transit system. I myself would pay a premium for the luxury of being able to travel at any time of day or night at a moments notice, in my own private climate controlled environment, where I'm free to sit on a comfortable upholstered seat with a seat belt, listen to high quality music as loud as I want, eat or drink whatever I want, and the freedom of transporting any size cargo. Why on earth would I want to pay the same or more to suffer out in the cold/rain/snow (remember this Canada) for up to an hour waiting for a bus, only to be crammed like sardines in a drafty bus next to rude, smelly people with no place to sit, no protection in a collsion, and in a vehicle that suffers even worse in gridlock, because it has to stop every few minutes! The math alone is enough to convince me. I'll keep my car thank you.
We all know that Steve Jobs killing the Newton was a stupid business decision. I'm sure he hates being reminded of it now as Tablets are catching on. If you guys ever wanna see a MacTablet, quit rubbing it in the guy's face and give him a break.
If Apple does choose to release a Tablet computer, I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to test the waters of Tablet computing by releasing an iBook or Powerbook with a reversible screen. It would allow Apple portables to function like Tablets, but retain enough notebook form factor so Jobs wouldn't have to admit he was wrong.
Jeez guys, this was only a week ago:2 0/2240209&tid=191&tid=14
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/
There's plenty of reason why you don't want some flunky changing your oil for you. Do you know what kind of filter is being fitted on your car? "America's favorite oil filter"-- Fram, has the shittiest internal construction as far as oil filters go. Do you know what keeps dirty oil from coming back out a Fram? A lousy piece of cardboard! How about the oil? The shop probably has a discount on some Quaker State oil. I sure as hell don't want all that ash and wax in *my* engine. Overfilling your oil can mess up your lifters, not to mention it looks pretty stupid when it comes spitting out your PCV valve, making your car produce blue smoke. But does the guying doing your oil change care? Why should he? He's only making $8/hr anyways.
You can't buy a good oil change for $20 anywhere. $20 is just not quite enough to pay for 4 liters of Mobil 1, and a K&N ProGold oil filter. I do my oil changes for piece of mind knowing that it's done right.
An oil change is not hard to do, it only takes 10 minutes to do, and you spend most of your time waiting for the oil to drain out!
* Get some gloves if you want to keep your hands clean.
* As soon as you park your car (the oil drains faster when it's still hot), slide a drain pan under it and open the drain valve. I install a drain valve on every vehicle I own. I've only ever fussed with the stock drain plug during the drain valve installation.
* Loosen your oil cap and wait 10 minutes or so for the oil to drain out. Now's a good time to take the groceries in the house, detail the car or clean the garage.
* Remove your old oil filter.
* Slide drain pan out from under the car, and pour it into an empty paint bucket for oil disposal.
* Close your drain valve.
* Install new oil filter. put a thin film of oil on the gasket, partly fill the oil filter with oil, spin on until it presses against the block, then add another full rotation to seal.
* Insert a funnel into the oil filler on your valve cover.
* Pour fresh oil down the filter. your owner's manual will specify how many liter you should add. You can also just wait a couple minutes until it flows to the drain pan and check with the dipstick.
* Replace the oil cap.
* Disconnect the fuel injection fuse, and crank engine over until it builds oil pressure. This ensures that the oil is distributed without the stress of combustion. (I bet your lube shop doesn't do this!)
* That's it! you're done. When you get good at it you won't even get a drop of oil on your hands.
* The paint bucket will hold several oil changes worth of oil. Before it gets full, take it down to the lube shop for recycling.
For the record, I don't have a lawn, and if everyone takes some person responsibility with the bathroom, it should never get messy.
Do not operate on any metal surfaced table
I presume this thing will function like an inductive heater if any large piece of metal comes in contact with this. Might be good for cooking some noodles though.
That's because slashdoters live their lives in darkness.
Oh boo hoo... So your pointing device needs a little occasional maintenance. You can scrape the crud off the rollers AND wipe them down with alcohol in less time than it take to do an oil change in your car. Lemme guess, you don't do your own oil changes either?
Does this also apply to software keystroke recorders? Perhaps ones that also provide backdoors into ones computer...
Prepare to don your tinfoil hats people: Even cash now has serial numbers on them! There is no escape!
Think of yellow as a "malfunctioning" color channel on your printer. When you need to cleanly print yellow, put the yellow toner in to one of the cyan, magenta or black cartridges and make the appropriate adjustments to the CMYK layers in Photoshop.
Also to make detection easier, couldn't you just print a blank test page on black paper?
Did you ever consider that the use of a 12" x 16" paper may have been to deter reproduction of the maps?
Or take the driver who races his Miata one weekend and files a warranty claim the next. What are the chances that his data recorder will rat him out to the manufacturer who then voids the warranty?
If you're a car manufacturer, you can do the smart thing and encourage your customers to participate in sanctioned racing events. Subaru gives you a free membership in the SCCA when you buy a WRX.
On the other hand, if you try to champion any races, in an EVO, Mitsubishi will just void your warranty.
Any vehicle on the road today can have its ECU replaced by a standalone engine management system. Once it's installed, you can then genuinely hack your car's engine as well. If you don't like expensive propretiary systems, there's even "open source" alternatives like MegaSquirt