ISS was never about science, so much as keeping Russian rocket scientist from selling their skills to evil dictators. Not that those scientists would want to, but when you have no other way to earn money what are you going to do? The international part was all about making sure the Russians didn't feel they are doing it alone.
In other words politics were all it ever was about. If science happens to get done great, but it never was a goal.
According to population experts (as opposed to the lay man...) the world population will peak about 2060. Perhaps in your lifetime! China and most of Europe already does not have enough births to maintain a study population, with Europe only seeing population increases because of immigration.
Write big. And print. Get a good pen (not expensive, most expensive pens are worse than medium priced ones) Its the only thing I've found that helps. If at all possible use the computer.
Back in 6th grade my teachers got frustrated enough at my handwriting to comment to my parents on how lazy I was (New school, the old school didn't care), my parents defended me, I really did write that bad. A few months latter the school put me through a bunch of tests, and concluded that I really could not write neater. When I did my best I wrote like a second grader (this at the peak of my writing ability, in 7th grade reports were written on the computer so I didn't handwrite as much), barely achieving the neatness the others got when they didn't care. I guess my point is there might be physical issues that may be involved, if so you might not be able to do much.
The phone company uses 48 volt DC batteries for all their comptuters. For this reason most equipment intended for the server room has the option of either AC (120/220V,50/60hz), or DC (48 volts) power supplies. Good batteries will last for years in this application. This system when done properly will run for days without any Mains power, and you are connected directly to the batteries at all time so there is no switching issues.
Note that you won't save money in the short run. However if your power is as bad as you say it might in the long run. In any case it is far more dangerious than normal mains power, despite less voltage. Still when 99.999% reliability isn't good enough it is your only choice.
Low power computers are becoming available. Do you really need P4s/Athalons, or can some VIA/Transmeta systems do the same job? Do you really need hard drives everywhere, or can you boot from tiny Flash disks, and only have one big RAID system in the server room? Do you really need desktop computers, or can laptops work better for everyone while drawing less power[1]?
You save several ways, if the above works. First your utility bills go down. Second, environmental impact goes down. Third, you can buy smaller UPSes and generators. After figuring all the above you can get by with smaller air conditioning units. Don't be afraid to buy one big power hungry server that can do the job on less power than the 50 other servers it replaces, if that happens to be the case.
Even if the above doesn't apply today, keep considering it. Maybe tomorrow you can replace power hungry systems for more economical ones.
[1]Laptops draw less power, but I reccomend you put a separate monitor, keyboard, and mouse on everyone's desk.
Care to site a source for that? It seems on face value likely, but per capita I suspect there are about as many candle sales now as there were in the past.
Candles are easy to make, when you live life like they did pre-light bulb, you could save a lot of money by making your own candles. Most farmers did for instance, thus lowering the total candle sales. (Though some make a few to sell)
Then you have lamps of other sorts. Various oil lamps have been known for years. Whale oil was a big industry for many years because of the need to fill lamps.
Don't forget the old "storm the castle where the monster is" torch, while while impractical for indoor use likely accounted for a few uses.
I'm intentionally ignoring the gas light, which is what the light bulb really replaced. Between natural gas from the ground, and coal gas (made by heating coal, basically producing carbon monoxide) many houses were plumbed for gas lights.
I don't claim to know how what sources people used for their lights. I suspect that between people making their own, and all the other sources of light, candles sales are not down a whole lot.
Notice that the original poster said Cingular and T-Mobile, and not AT&T?
Cingular and T-Mobile have roaming agreements. If you have service with one, and the other is the only one with a tower in range, they will tell your phone to automatically switch, at no extra charge, and no interuption of service.
AT&T apparently doesn't not have such an agreement, so even though your phone can see the T-Mobile/Cingular tower, it isn't allowed to use it. There likely is a way to force the phone to use that tower, but if you manage to get it to work you will pay for it.
I have no clue why AT&T wopuldn't want to do this. In the end they all end up better service, meaning they have a better chance to take customers from Verizion/Sprint, and the little guys. Perhaps just that Cingular and T-Mobile do not have licenses for the same area of the country, so there is little overlap between them.
America is such a paradise where only one parent is required to work to support the family.
However most people are not willing for this lifestyle. It means you buy used a car, and keep it running (one, not three or four). It means the kids share a bedroom, girls in one, boys in the other. (Note, compare this to the 1800s where one room cabins smaller than those bedrooms sometimes slept families of 10) It means eating out is a rare celebration, with most meals cooked at home, and even then cheap meals. It means that you never go to the movies, and watch broadcast TV on your free TV from someone who upgraded, and if you can't see the bottom third of the TV because it is broken too bad. It means you books come from the library. It means your clothing is cheap, and not in style.
Note that this is not living in poverty. There is plenty of good food (and healthier than what passes for food at most resteraunts). There are warm clothes, and they don't have holes in them.
As for if it is better? Well that is complex, but if you are not willing to live the above you should not have kids. Love is important for raising kids, somehow you need to keep them out of trouble, while teaching them how to make their own decisions. And a million other things. How you do it is up to the parents, there are thousands of different ways that work. Living on one income can be done, but you can turn out good kids one two if you must. I think it is easier on one income, but either way there are hardships.
It is on the same level as "bugler tools", (such as a lock pick) that are legal except when used to commit a crime. Or many Gun laws, murder is illegal, but if you commit it with a gun instead of a sword you have broken another crime.
No cause have been found for those frogs in MN, other than random mutation. There is no more or less polution in that area then other places where frogs live normally. The mutation doesn't strongly stop the ability of frogs to breed, so you get more of them.
If this was a different discussion you would call them proff of evolution.
I'd disagree. Everyone should speak one language, with no thick accents. By thick I mean hard to understand, I don't care if that means everyone switches to "southern", so long as I can understand them and they can understand me. That way when I have an idea I can communicate with all the experts, whereas today there is a lot of duplication just because of the need to translate
Sure learning another language makes you think. I'd prefer you dedicate all that extra thinking to making the world a better place though. Solve a complex math problem, advance our understanding of physics, even write a novel. Any will make you think, and all are more useful than learning a second language. Second languages are useful only because we have several to choose from. Because we have several, we need people to translate, but it is a waste of resources that could be put to other use.
If you want to learn culture, it is much easier to experience it in full without a language barrier.
We don't another language, but that doesn't mean we know nothing about them. I've personally taken enough German and Spanish that I could at one time hold a simple conversation in either. (In the case of spanish I knew everything needed for a complex converstation except a few words). Lack of practice means that I no longer can speak either one.
Those who speak something other than english as a first language and also speak english generally have reason to use english so they keep it up, and advance in it.
My expirence with Spanish is much the same: most people who speak spanish as a first language (in Spain, and Mexico, I assume other spanish countries but I've never been to them) may have learned another language, but they didn't keep it up so they don't speak it. Expcet for a few hotel workers most of the people I delt with in Spain knew less english than I knew spanish. (though enough people knew english that I could find a translator)
As a coder myself I can respond: reading and understanding someone else's code does not have to be hard. I just did this yesterday when someone asked a question about code I'd never looked at before, within an hour I had his answer. (How to change the font color on KDE's splash screen, there was no GUI configuration, but there is a way to configure it) Mind I've read a lot of complex hard to follow code that I couldn't understand, but not all of it is that bad.
If the argument is that Microsoft will fix the bug in two weeks, open source is a break even. You are right that it often does take that long for someone to find and fix a problem. (not to mention test time...) The argument however is that Microsoft won't fix some bug no matter how much you need it fixed. With open source you have the option of paying someone to spend a month (or 12!) and fixing it. Two hours is unreasonable to fix any bug, expect when you know who wrote it (or have someone who knows that code well) and can hire him on the spot to fix it. Two weeks will solve many of them.
How do you think Microsoft fixes bugs in two weeks? (Though some will point out bugs fixed much faster) If the Samba people are to belived, MS doesn't keep people on projects after it is done, so they have to bring someone up to speed. One of Sambas big advantages is they work on the same code all the time so they understand it better.
The bugs that Open Source does fix in two hours are fixed by someone who works with that code often. They are also critical, and so that person is motivated to get the fix out right away.
As for cars, I know far too many people who work on their own cars to agree that those who are qualitfied are a small minority. Not a majorioty by any means, but still a good factor. There are too many fix your car programs on talk radio to belive the small minority claim.
Think Sega Dreamcast, IIRC many Sega games had two tracks, one normal CD track, and one higher density track. Build a two part DVD, the inner part normal pressed DVD, the outer part (basically whats left after your game) DVD+rw. All the game save files go on the disk, just like GBA cartrages store saved games. If you want to do game updates, just press only a loader and a couple graphics images, and burn the rest.
This has a good anti-piracy measure: just turn the write laser on in the pressed part, and if there is anything left you know it is a real pressed disk and legitimate.
Microsoft has the money to design such a disk, and setup the manufacturing. Volume sales might never make up for the costs, but they have already prooven they don't care about profit too much yet.
Note that if I were going to design this I'd use a DVD-RAM for the writeable section, both because give more write cycles, and it is rare enough that most people can't write it. Do your lasers right, and even if someone manages copy a game to a rw (+/-), they won't be able to save any of their games.
My point was corrosion and steam can be delt with in a system designed to run with water in the lines, but they can't deal with freezing. Just a matter of different seals, and metals for corrosion. Steam just means you have to push more in, big trucks often have air brakes, so I know they can do breaks despite a compressable transfer medium. (Note that air brakes are complex enough that you need seperate training to drive something with them, I suspect steam would be more complex, but in theory doable)
One of my friends has got his parent's cellphone bill for years. Nobody wanted to let them get a number local to all the people they call (as if local means anything to someone with a no long distance cell phone plan with an RV). Their son still lives in that area though, so they use his address and everyone is happy.
If you want a number local to someplace, odds are very good that you know someone there who can collect your bills, and forward them. With everything online lately, you don't really even need physical bills.
No, I'm claiming that not everyone who is not a professional mechanic is better of paying a mechanic to do the job. I know a large number of people who can succesfully repair their cars. I know very few people who do their own work who can't do it. Most people know when to give up and have someone else do it. Most repairs are easy once you get into them, if you know how to do it.
You of course never hear of the cases where someone gets the 12 year old neighbor to fix his computer and it works afterwords.
So there are idiots in the world? There are bad mechanics too. Check around and you will find plenty of horror stories about computer repair shops. (Most of which automatically re-format a working harddrive without caring what data the fool who brought it in might not have backed up)
I can do the work correct. In fact I generally do my work better than the professional. The pro wants to get the job done and get home. I want to do it right. Ever hear the phrase "the shoemakers son goes barefoot"? It really is true, pros can do a good enough job, but for a really nice job a amateur who knows what he is doing will do better. (Of course if the pro knows there will be an examination he will do better)
I know a builder, he once decided he wanted different plumbers, so he hired a couple companies to do one house. I looked at the results, and I can do a better job than the ones he hired. For that matter I've worked with carpenders before, and they have to yell at the new guys that the job is good enough, move on. Quality is nice, but time is money and they need to make money.
In short you are far too impressed with the abilities of the average pro. Nothing wrong with them if you shouldn't do the job, but they won't do a very nice job, just get by.
If I had water in my break lines today I couldn't drive, because my break fluid would be froozen solid. The tempature outside is currently below freezing.
Corrosion can be delt with by various materials. I wouldn't place it as a major problem for brake lines anyway. I live in the "rust belt", where salt on the roads all winter long destroys cars. Brake line failures are rare around here.
Steam can be delt with too, just keep pumping more water into the lines. Not convient, and a lot harder to control the pressue, but it could be done.
Cost for me to do my timing belt: $20 and 3 hours. Cost for a mechanic: $20 parts, $160 labor. I don't know about you, but I don't make $50/hour so I'm money ahead. And that is before you account for my enjoyment of doing things myself. Sure the mechanic himself takes home less than me, but the shop has to pay rent, insurance, and benefits and that all gets added into wages.
I'll bet that the Audi still has spark plugs that need to be replaced every 100,000 miles. I'll bet it has radiator hoses, and various belts that need to be replaced once in a while. I'll bet it has a starter, alternator, and water pump, all of which need to be replaced (in my expiurence every 120,000 miles) once in a while. I'll bet there are various filters that need to be repalced. I'll bet replacing the PVC valve once in a while is a good thing. For that matter I'll be it has an O2 sensor that could stand a replacement once in a while.
Cars still opperate on the same laws of physics they always have.
For that matter you can get OBDII readers and see everything the dealer can see. (Knowing what to do with that is a different matter, but typically a net search will help)
Last time I paid to have my oil changed it was $40, with synthetic (Mobil 1) oil. $20 with normal oil. Note that some cars (VW TDI) need special synthetic oil that is even more expensive (Mobil 1 is not good enough for that engine, read the specs) so depending on your engine you might or might not have paid too much.
Change it yourself one time and compare. Labor should be no more than $10, and you can guy oil and filters for only pennies more than they pay. See if the deal is worth it.
If the oil light comes on and the car is under warrintee, downshift to a lower gear and floor it! The damage has already started by the time that light comes on, if you stop right away they can just put new oil in, and things will still sort of work. If you downshift and floor it to the next exit you will hopefully ruin the engine enough that they have to replace it. (Make sure that it isn't your fault that there is no oil of course)
I can post this because I buy only used cars that are out of warintee. (If the previous owner hasn't managed to get 100,000 miles on it I figgure there is something wrong) In my case when the light comes on I shift to neteral, turn off the engine, and turn on my hazzards. I attempt to coast to the sholder of the road, but if not the police can stop traffic to get me there.
If you have a car fire you have two choices: call the fire dept and hope they get there soon, but most likely the car will be destroyed in the fire. Or, if you have a tiny fire extinguisher you can open the hood and put the fire out in just seconds and drive the car again.
I know a guy who for a week had to stop every 3 miles to put out the fire under the hood, until the new hose came in. If he had called the fire department the first time there was a problem he wouldn't have had a car left.
Cars manufactures have changed over the years. At one time Honda really was significantly more reliable than Ford. Many people have let Honda slide on this reputation for years, paying for more, for a car that isn't really any better than something that others can give.
Hondas have problems too. Fords have problems. I don't know who builds the better car this year, and we can't know for 20 years. Until then it is just a guess. Some years Honda builds good cars, some years they don't. People are willing to forgive Honda for a bad car because "everyone has a few problems", but Ford with just as many problems just adds to their reputation of not building good cars. It isn't right.
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ISS was never about science, so much as keeping Russian rocket scientist from selling their skills to evil dictators. Not that those scientists would want to, but when you have no other way to earn money what are you going to do? The international part was all about making sure the Russians didn't feel they are doing it alone.
In other words politics were all it ever was about. If science happens to get done great, but it never was a goal.
According to population experts (as opposed to the lay man...) the world population will peak about 2060. Perhaps in your lifetime! China and most of Europe already does not have enough births to maintain a study population, with Europe only seeing population increases because of immigration.
Write big. And print. Get a good pen (not expensive, most expensive pens are worse than medium priced ones) Its the only thing I've found that helps. If at all possible use the computer.
Back in 6th grade my teachers got frustrated enough at my handwriting to comment to my parents on how lazy I was (New school, the old school didn't care), my parents defended me, I really did write that bad. A few months latter the school put me through a bunch of tests, and concluded that I really could not write neater. When I did my best I wrote like a second grader (this at the peak of my writing ability, in 7th grade reports were written on the computer so I didn't handwrite as much), barely achieving the neatness the others got when they didn't care. I guess my point is there might be physical issues that may be involved, if so you might not be able to do much.
The phone company uses 48 volt DC batteries for all their comptuters. For this reason most equipment intended for the server room has the option of either AC (120/220V,50/60hz), or DC (48 volts) power supplies. Good batteries will last for years in this application. This system when done properly will run for days without any Mains power, and you are connected directly to the batteries at all time so there is no switching issues.
Note that you won't save money in the short run. However if your power is as bad as you say it might in the long run. In any case it is far more dangerious than normal mains power, despite less voltage. Still when 99.999% reliability isn't good enough it is your only choice.
As my dad always said, good ideas cost money.
Low power computers are becoming available. Do you really need P4s/Athalons, or can some VIA/Transmeta systems do the same job? Do you really need hard drives everywhere, or can you boot from tiny Flash disks, and only have one big RAID system in the server room? Do you really need desktop computers, or can laptops work better for everyone while drawing less power[1]?
You save several ways, if the above works. First your utility bills go down. Second, environmental impact goes down. Third, you can buy smaller UPSes and generators. After figuring all the above you can get by with smaller air conditioning units. Don't be afraid to buy one big power hungry server that can do the job on less power than the 50 other servers it replaces, if that happens to be the case.
Even if the above doesn't apply today, keep considering it. Maybe tomorrow you can replace power hungry systems for more economical ones.
[1]Laptops draw less power, but I reccomend you put a separate monitor, keyboard, and mouse on everyone's desk.
Care to site a source for that? It seems on face value likely, but per capita I suspect there are about as many candle sales now as there were in the past.
Candles are easy to make, when you live life like they did pre-light bulb, you could save a lot of money by making your own candles. Most farmers did for instance, thus lowering the total candle sales. (Though some make a few to sell)
Then you have lamps of other sorts. Various oil lamps have been known for years. Whale oil was a big industry for many years because of the need to fill lamps.
Don't forget the old "storm the castle where the monster is" torch, while while impractical for indoor use likely accounted for a few uses.
I'm intentionally ignoring the gas light, which is what the light bulb really replaced. Between natural gas from the ground, and coal gas (made by heating coal, basically producing carbon monoxide) many houses were plumbed for gas lights.
I don't claim to know how what sources people used for their lights. I suspect that between people making their own, and all the other sources of light, candles sales are not down a whole lot.
Notice that the original poster said Cingular and T-Mobile, and not AT&T?
Cingular and T-Mobile have roaming agreements. If you have service with one, and the other is the only one with a tower in range, they will tell your phone to automatically switch, at no extra charge, and no interuption of service.
AT&T apparently doesn't not have such an agreement, so even though your phone can see the T-Mobile/Cingular tower, it isn't allowed to use it. There likely is a way to force the phone to use that tower, but if you manage to get it to work you will pay for it.
I have no clue why AT&T wopuldn't want to do this. In the end they all end up better service, meaning they have a better chance to take customers from Verizion/Sprint, and the little guys. Perhaps just that Cingular and T-Mobile do not have licenses for the same area of the country, so there is little overlap between them.
America is such a paradise where only one parent is required to work to support the family.
However most people are not willing for this lifestyle. It means you buy used a car, and keep it running (one, not three or four). It means the kids share a bedroom, girls in one, boys in the other. (Note, compare this to the 1800s where one room cabins smaller than those bedrooms sometimes slept families of 10) It means eating out is a rare celebration, with most meals cooked at home, and even then cheap meals. It means that you never go to the movies, and watch broadcast TV on your free TV from someone who upgraded, and if you can't see the bottom third of the TV because it is broken too bad. It means you books come from the library. It means your clothing is cheap, and not in style.
Note that this is not living in poverty. There is plenty of good food (and healthier than what passes for food at most resteraunts). There are warm clothes, and they don't have holes in them.
As for if it is better? Well that is complex, but if you are not willing to live the above you should not have kids. Love is important for raising kids, somehow you need to keep them out of trouble, while teaching them how to make their own decisions. And a million other things. How you do it is up to the parents, there are thousands of different ways that work. Living on one income can be done, but you can turn out good kids one two if you must. I think it is easier on one income, but either way there are hardships.
I agree it is a bogus crime.
It is on the same level as "bugler tools", (such as a lock pick) that are legal except when used to commit a crime. Or many Gun laws, murder is illegal, but if you commit it with a gun instead of a sword you have broken another crime.
No cause have been found for those frogs in MN, other than random mutation. There is no more or less polution in that area then other places where frogs live normally. The mutation doesn't strongly stop the ability of frogs to breed, so you get more of them.
If this was a different discussion you would call them proff of evolution.
I'd disagree. Everyone should speak one language, with no thick accents. By thick I mean hard to understand, I don't care if that means everyone switches to "southern", so long as I can understand them and they can understand me. That way when I have an idea I can communicate with all the experts, whereas today there is a lot of duplication just because of the need to translate
Sure learning another language makes you think. I'd prefer you dedicate all that extra thinking to making the world a better place though. Solve a complex math problem, advance our understanding of physics, even write a novel. Any will make you think, and all are more useful than learning a second language. Second languages are useful only because we have several to choose from. Because we have several, we need people to translate, but it is a waste of resources that could be put to other use.
If you want to learn culture, it is much easier to experience it in full without a language barrier.
We don't another language, but that doesn't mean we know nothing about them. I've personally taken enough German and Spanish that I could at one time hold a simple conversation in either. (In the case of spanish I knew everything needed for a complex converstation except a few words). Lack of practice means that I no longer can speak either one.
Those who speak something other than english as a first language and also speak english generally have reason to use english so they keep it up, and advance in it.
My expirence with Spanish is much the same: most people who speak spanish as a first language (in Spain, and Mexico, I assume other spanish countries but I've never been to them) may have learned another language, but they didn't keep it up so they don't speak it. Expcet for a few hotel workers most of the people I delt with in Spain knew less english than I knew spanish. (though enough people knew english that I could find a translator)
As a coder myself I can respond: reading and understanding someone else's code does not have to be hard. I just did this yesterday when someone asked a question about code I'd never looked at before, within an hour I had his answer. (How to change the font color on KDE's splash screen, there was no GUI configuration, but there is a way to configure it) Mind I've read a lot of complex hard to follow code that I couldn't understand, but not all of it is that bad.
If the argument is that Microsoft will fix the bug in two weeks, open source is a break even. You are right that it often does take that long for someone to find and fix a problem. (not to mention test time...) The argument however is that Microsoft won't fix some bug no matter how much you need it fixed. With open source you have the option of paying someone to spend a month (or 12!) and fixing it. Two hours is unreasonable to fix any bug, expect when you know who wrote it (or have someone who knows that code well) and can hire him on the spot to fix it. Two weeks will solve many of them.
How do you think Microsoft fixes bugs in two weeks? (Though some will point out bugs fixed much faster) If the Samba people are to belived, MS doesn't keep people on projects after it is done, so they have to bring someone up to speed. One of Sambas big advantages is they work on the same code all the time so they understand it better.
The bugs that Open Source does fix in two hours are fixed by someone who works with that code often. They are also critical, and so that person is motivated to get the fix out right away.
As for cars, I know far too many people who work on their own cars to agree that those who are qualitfied are a small minority. Not a majorioty by any means, but still a good factor. There are too many fix your car programs on talk radio to belive the small minority claim.
Think Sega Dreamcast, IIRC many Sega games had two tracks, one normal CD track, and one higher density track. Build a two part DVD, the inner part normal pressed DVD, the outer part (basically whats left after your game) DVD+rw. All the game save files go on the disk, just like GBA cartrages store saved games. If you want to do game updates, just press only a loader and a couple graphics images, and burn the rest.
This has a good anti-piracy measure: just turn the write laser on in the pressed part, and if there is anything left you know it is a real pressed disk and legitimate.
Microsoft has the money to design such a disk, and setup the manufacturing. Volume sales might never make up for the costs, but they have already prooven they don't care about profit too much yet.
Note that if I were going to design this I'd use a DVD-RAM for the writeable section, both because give more write cycles, and it is rare enough that most people can't write it. Do your lasers right, and even if someone manages copy a game to a rw (+/-), they won't be able to save any of their games.
My point was corrosion and steam can be delt with in a system designed to run with water in the lines, but they can't deal with freezing. Just a matter of different seals, and metals for corrosion. Steam just means you have to push more in, big trucks often have air brakes, so I know they can do breaks despite a compressable transfer medium. (Note that air brakes are complex enough that you need seperate training to drive something with them, I suspect steam would be more complex, but in theory doable)
One of my friends has got his parent's cellphone bill for years. Nobody wanted to let them get a number local to all the people they call (as if local means anything to someone with a no long distance cell phone plan with an RV). Their son still lives in that area though, so they use his address and everyone is happy.
If you want a number local to someplace, odds are very good that you know someone there who can collect your bills, and forward them. With everything online lately, you don't really even need physical bills.
No, I'm claiming that not everyone who is not a professional mechanic is better of paying a mechanic to do the job. I know a large number of people who can succesfully repair their cars. I know very few people who do their own work who can't do it. Most people know when to give up and have someone else do it. Most repairs are easy once you get into them, if you know how to do it.
You of course never hear of the cases where someone gets the 12 year old neighbor to fix his computer and it works afterwords.
So there are idiots in the world? There are bad mechanics too. Check around and you will find plenty of horror stories about computer repair shops. (Most of which automatically re-format a working harddrive without caring what data the fool who brought it in might not have backed up)
I can do the work correct. In fact I generally do my work better than the professional. The pro wants to get the job done and get home. I want to do it right. Ever hear the phrase "the shoemakers son goes barefoot"? It really is true, pros can do a good enough job, but for a really nice job a amateur who knows what he is doing will do better. (Of course if the pro knows there will be an examination he will do better)
I know a builder, he once decided he wanted different plumbers, so he hired a couple companies to do one house. I looked at the results, and I can do a better job than the ones he hired. For that matter I've worked with carpenders before, and they have to yell at the new guys that the job is good enough, move on. Quality is nice, but time is money and they need to make money.
In short you are far too impressed with the abilities of the average pro. Nothing wrong with them if you shouldn't do the job, but they won't do a very nice job, just get by.
If I had water in my break lines today I couldn't drive, because my break fluid would be froozen solid. The tempature outside is currently below freezing.
Corrosion can be delt with by various materials. I wouldn't place it as a major problem for brake lines anyway. I live in the "rust belt", where salt on the roads all winter long destroys cars. Brake line failures are rare around here.
Steam can be delt with too, just keep pumping more water into the lines. Not convient, and a lot harder to control the pressue, but it could be done.
Cost for me to do my timing belt: $20 and 3 hours. Cost for a mechanic: $20 parts, $160 labor. I don't know about you, but I don't make $50/hour so I'm money ahead. And that is before you account for my enjoyment of doing things myself. Sure the mechanic himself takes home less than me, but the shop has to pay rent, insurance, and benefits and that all gets added into wages.
I'll bet that the Audi still has spark plugs that need to be replaced every 100,000 miles. I'll bet it has radiator hoses, and various belts that need to be replaced once in a while. I'll bet it has a starter, alternator, and water pump, all of which need to be replaced (in my expiurence every 120,000 miles) once in a while. I'll bet there are various filters that need to be repalced. I'll bet replacing the PVC valve once in a while is a good thing. For that matter I'll be it has an O2 sensor that could stand a replacement once in a while.
Cars still opperate on the same laws of physics they always have.
For that matter you can get OBDII readers and see everything the dealer can see. (Knowing what to do with that is a different matter, but typically a net search will help)
Last time I paid to have my oil changed it was $40, with synthetic (Mobil 1) oil. $20 with normal oil. Note that some cars (VW TDI) need special synthetic oil that is even more expensive (Mobil 1 is not good enough for that engine, read the specs) so depending on your engine you might or might not have paid too much.
Change it yourself one time and compare. Labor should be no more than $10, and you can guy oil and filters for only pennies more than they pay. See if the deal is worth it.
If the oil light comes on and the car is under warrintee, downshift to a lower gear and floor it! The damage has already started by the time that light comes on, if you stop right away they can just put new oil in, and things will still sort of work. If you downshift and floor it to the next exit you will hopefully ruin the engine enough that they have to replace it. (Make sure that it isn't your fault that there is no oil of course)
I can post this because I buy only used cars that are out of warintee. (If the previous owner hasn't managed to get 100,000 miles on it I figgure there is something wrong) In my case when the light comes on I shift to neteral, turn off the engine, and turn on my hazzards. I attempt to coast to the sholder of the road, but if not the police can stop traffic to get me there.
If you have a car fire you have two choices: call the fire dept and hope they get there soon, but most likely the car will be destroyed in the fire. Or, if you have a tiny fire extinguisher you can open the hood and put the fire out in just seconds and drive the car again.
I know a guy who for a week had to stop every 3 miles to put out the fire under the hood, until the new hose came in. If he had called the fire department the first time there was a problem he wouldn't have had a car left.
Cars manufactures have changed over the years. At one time Honda really was significantly more reliable than Ford. Many people have let Honda slide on this reputation for years, paying for more, for a car that isn't really any better than something that others can give.
Hondas have problems too. Fords have problems. I don't know who builds the better car this year, and we can't know for 20 years. Until then it is just a guess. Some years Honda builds good cars, some years they don't. People are willing to forgive Honda for a bad car because "everyone has a few problems", but Ford with just as many problems just adds to their reputation of not building good cars. It isn't right.