So, I was browsing online for holiday gifts, looking for a novelty motorcycle license plate frame for my husband. I eschewed frames decorated with the naked lady silhouettes popularized by semi-truck mudflaps and settled on a Batman frame instead.
But among the items my search returned was a doodad that allows people to attach their phones to the handlebars of their motorcycle, presumably so they can read (or send!?!) texts and follow maps while driving? WTF?
Speaking of stupid:
LOL, dumb fuck! I hope his Virginia-based Twitter followers take that advice to heart.
Open thread!
Humboldtblue
Here’s a fascinating look at co2 levels and the gradual warming of the planet over the past 40 years.
Vox was the source for that.
Fair Economist
I hope lots of people retweet that to accounts that have lots of conservative followers.
Mike J
Got something against Silver Naked Ladies?
William Matthews
Well, Japan is the other side of the international date line, so the timestamp is accurate and today was ‘tomorrow.’ Not that I doubt for a moment that he wouldn’t understand any of that because there are so very many countries in the world……
tamiasmin
It’s just confusion about that daylight saving time thing. Instead of setting his clock one hour back, he set his calendar one day forward. A man of the future!
axiom42
You put your cell phone on your handlebars so that you can use map apps. Just like the people who hang their cell phone in their car windows.
Brachiator
In Trump Jrs’ case, the stupid fruit does not fall far from the stupid tree.
lgerard
He doesn’t realize that the rest of us haven’t crossed the date line…..because it is always about him
Felonius Monk
And here we thought Carter Page was the moron.
FlipYrWhig
Pretty full parking lot while voting in Virginia this morning.
James E. Powell
We can laugh, we can cry, but I will be shocked if the racist asshole doesn’t win.
Major Major Major Major
Oh, wow, I figured at first that it was probably a just-after-midnight tweet or something, but nope, wow, damn.
Mike J
Starfish
There are legitimate uses for those things. I have one that attaches to a bicycle that I got for free from a project called Mapillary. The point of the project is to take photo sequences of basically everywhere so they can create spatial models of the planet. The pictures are also useful for adding more accurate information to maps. Using many extra rubber bands to secure the phone to your bike or motorcycle is probably a good idea though.
It’s not completely unlike Google Street View. But you could potentially map things like hiking trails that are never going to be mapped by Street View.
Gin & Tonic
I have a doodad to attach my iPhone to the handlebar of my bicycle. I also have a speed/distance/location tracking app that I use with it. No, I don’t send texts. But how is that different from a nav screen in a car? Or a speedometer?
Leto
GPS/Google Maps. It’s a thing. Instead of having to look down at your tank bag, at a physical map, have your phone’s GPS enabled and utilize Google maps. Also helps for traffic warnings and the such.
rikyrah
House Nat Res Cmte holding hearing now on Puerto Rico’s recovery.
21% have no drinking water. 58% have no power. It’s been 48 days. pic.twitter.com/97a0CQIxQ5
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 7, 2017
Watch today’s @NatResources #PuertoRico #HurricaneMaria hearing live stream at https://t.co/jzQcrgJrJC pic.twitter.com/UklkqnwsWj
— NPR’s Latino USA (@LatinoUSA) November 7, 2017
Kay
I was telling everyone here NOT to vote for one school board candidate because I thought he was someone else.
My husband just called me to tell me “you know he’s a completely different person than the person you hate, right?”
NO. I did not know that! How am I supposed to know his first name when it’s not on his signs? Oh, well. Too late! That’ll teach him to have the same last name as a jerk.
Betty Cracker
@Starfish: Does it aim the screen at your face, though? The product I’m referring to does, which seems like a really stupid thing to do. Even if you don’t intend to monitor texts, alerts, etc., while driving, it can be hard to ignore a screen that’s aimed at your face…
sharculese
I was knocking on doors in northern Virginia in 2013. Election day I was there from 10 AM to 8 pm doing last minute GOTV, which lead to this wonderful conversation:
Me: Hi, I’m out here today on behalf of the Terry McAulliffe and Planned Parenthood to talk to you about-
“Voter” (still bleary-eyed and in his pajamas at noon): Yeah, I looked into this and I decided I’m voting for all the Democrats.
Me: Great! Can I ask when you plan on voting?
“Voter”: On election day.
Me: That’s today.
“Voter”: …oh…
The Moar You Know
The old saying at work:
The first generation (Fred) makes it, the second generation (Donald) spends it, and the third generation (Donald Jr.) blows it.
What a choad.
Republicans, voting day is tomorrow!
Aardvark Cheeselog
Jr. is slightly unclear on the concept, and doesn’t realize that this trick works by
1) Pretending to be an advocate for Democrats
2) Telling Democrats to vote late.
bemused
@Mike J:
Ha, ha, love that. On the long list of why I can’t be a Republican is that liberals are cleverly, smartly funny. I suppose Republicans think they are funny but not to me. Just compare protest signs.
Starfish
@Betty Cracker: It’s more like a handlebar attachment as opposed to those rearview mirrors that people attach to their heads when they are cycling.
Joyce Harmon
“Wait, isn’t Election Day always Nov 8th? It was last year!”
sam
@Gin & Tonic: yep – me too. I ride such a small-framed bike that it’s actually hard to fit a proper handlebar bag/routemap holder onto mine – mounting a phone is much more convenient. Not to mention that spoken turn-by-turn directions can be a real lifesaver if you’re lost.
Steeplejack
@Kay:
Ha! Mistaken identity. Honest mistake. That’s what you underhanded ratfuckers always say.
prufrock
Could be worse Betty. Last night my wife was looking at squeezable stress balls with my seven year old daughter on Amazon. In the middle of a list filled with smiley faced balls, monster balls, etc, there was one shaped like a dick and balls.
Now my mouse needs a new scroll wheel.
JDM
@Betty Cracker: it’s down by the gauges, you know, the things you’re supposed to be glancing at as you drive or ride. And yes, it’s basically for maps, just as we’re using Google maps in our rental car in Europe right now. You could, of course, use it as a hands off phone via cord or Bluetooth, just as people do in a car, but overwhelmingly it’s for maps.
Kay
The little weasel shoulda just told the truth. He’s not like Trump. They’ll dog him until they get him and they can reach him. Disclose, disclose, disclose. Almost always the better of two bad options.
Major Major Major Major
@Betty Cracker: Having a map right there in your face reduces time spent looking down. I don’t remember if studies bear this out but it’s a popular concept that reducing time with your eyes totally off the road is worth the tradeoff.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Here’s a relevant Dilbert strip.
http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-03-14
Yeah, I know Scott Adams is a complete loon. But Dilbert was once a reliable source of workplace LOL humor for me, albeit tinged with bitterness for its accurate cynicism.
Am I going to have to put disclaimers on all my entertainment recommendations now? “Yeah, I know X is a sex offender/murderer/felon/Trump supporter/scout for the alien invasion, but I really like this movie because…”
Brachiator
An interesting Gizmodo article about the possible future of self-driving cars.
One thing I like about this is that you can link to and download a free ebook of the RAND study.
I think that the idea of self-driving cars is very cool, but I’m not sure that I would want to be one of the early volunteers.
raven
The Bohdi got in a fight with a female black lab this morning and had to be kicked out to repair the damage over his eye. We’re pretty lucky that the eye itself is not damaged but now we get to see how the doggie health insurance pays off.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
About linking your phone to the vehicle: I remember similar thoughts a few months ago when I saw a new car poster that was advertising its ability to link to your phone and send text messages via the dashboard. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they mean using hands-free voice input, but it still seems like a not terribly good idea.
Amir Khalid
Is General Stupidity the commanding officer of Major Blunder? I’m wondering what time Tuesday night (Wotan’s day morning, in Malaysia) the election results start coming in, so that I can celebrate/commiserate as appropriate.
Oh, and I need a box of toothpicks, to fix a loose strap button on The Girl. I already have the superglue.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Joyce Harmon: My birthday. Suffice it to say that this year was not the birthday present I was expecting Election Day to deliver. I am hoping for a happier birthday this year. More than hoping, I honestly expect to wake up grinning at the news of upsets all over the country, unless Putin is actually able to get his grubby hands on the vote counting.
Knowing how the Republicans multiplied their damage by taking over governorships and state houses, those are where I really am watching for the good news.
@Amir Khalid: East coast results will typically start coming in about 10 pm eastern, which will be 3 am GMT. There may be some early reporting before that, but it will be very preliminary.
trollhattan
That Trump tweet is out of the Karl Rove playbook but of course, aimed at the rong party’s voters. Donny, he so smaht.
Mike J
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I like having the phone synced to the car for phone or texting. Nice just to say, “I’m on the way” and not have to worry about the phone.
I’ve never seen a car that handles music well if you have more than seven songs on your phone.
Another Scott
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: My cue to repost the link (first posted here by someone else) to How to be a fan of Problematic Things.
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who really liked Hitchens’ skill in writing, even though his logic was too often more than a little problematic…)
Kay
I’m wondering if he’ll do the offended honor act again. Only so many times one can do that. The thing about them saying “everyone knows I’m honorable” is we don’t know that. None of the congressional interrogators will ever say “well, actually, no one who has worked with you thinks you’re all that honorable”.
Ruckus
@Felonius Monk:
Morons can be a plural concept. As proved every day by the current crop of conservatives.
Honus
I was working the second (7-9) shift at the democratic table outside my voting place this morning. I wondered why there was no republican table or signs. Apparently they had set up at the church down the road where we used to vote. As of 10:30, that site was broken down but still no republicans at the correct polling station. Nice to see them emulating our usual disarray.
ETA We had brownies, coffee, egg sandwiches, apples and a nice tent to keep off the freezing rain.
Mike J
But kneeling is the problem.
Yarrow
@raven: Oh, no! How did that happen? Is Bodhi okay?
Roger Moore
@Felonius Monk:
Who ever said there was just one?
MattF
Welp, there’s a (high-end) Honda motorcycle that connects to Apple’s CarPlay, which normally connects an iPhone to your car’s ‘entertainment’ system.
debit
I understand the GOTV push but for fuck’s sake. My phone has been blowing up all fucking day. WTF people, I vote every damn election and am as reliable a D vote as the sun rising in the east. STAAAAAAHP.
Roger Moore
@Kay:
But if he had been honest up front, he never would have been confirmed. Think of all the
damagegreat things he will have done in the time before he gets indicted, which obviously makes the lies worthwhile.MattF
@debit: You’re on the list.
But her emails!!!
@Brachiator:
Everyone is an early volunteer. Even if you’re not the one in the self driving car, you’re sharing the roadway with it.
Starfish
@Brachiator: We bought a new car this week with the spendy safety add-on package. It’s cruise control definitely drives more efficiently than we do. It detects when we have crossed the lines. It beeps if the car in front of you has moved, and you were staring out into space enjoying the sunset. The amount of time people spend focusing on the road is much smaller than most people expected. There are lights that flash to warn you of obstacles in your blind spots. It’s wild. Some of these cars auto-brake for you so some people who are stupid are accelerating behind other people waiting for these systems to auto-brake for them.
Miss Bianca
@raven: where are you getting your doggie health insurance from? Thinking of investing in it for my puppers.
debit
@raven: Woah! I hope both dogs are okay
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Oh, the poor Bohdi! Hope he recovers quickly and the insurance is generous. Any damage to the other dog?
woodrowfan
To be fair to Betty I have followed a kid on his motorbike texting away while in motion. So it’s not unheard of.
eclare
@raven: Good luck with the insurance and a full recovery!
Starfish
@Starfish: I meant “year” but I wrote week. Sorry.
SFAW
@Mike J:
It would not surprise me to hear that the estate of Freddie Gray is being sued because of all the pain-and-suffering his behavior caused those pore public servants.Maybe I should have included Tamir Rice’s estate in that?
TenguPhule
FOX ADS ARE NOW POPPING UP AS VIDEO HERE.
MAKE IT STOP!!!
rikyrah
@debit:
Hey debit…be happy that they are actively trying to get voters :)
eclare
NPR interview with Pete Souza.
Photos made me misty.
rikyrah
@Roger Moore:
Truth.
He was THISCLOSE to living out his White Supremacist fantasies. You think he was gonna let a little thing like THE TRUTH get in his way?
Nope.
SFAW
@Roger Moore:
Right. Because his former colleagues can always be counted on to do the right thing.
Betty Cracker
So some of y’all think it’s okay to look at screens while you’re driving? We’ll have to agree to disagree on that. I use Google maps extensively and have a navigation system in my car. I don’t look at the map while driving because that would be dangerous.
debit
@rikyrah: I am. It’s just that they should be contacting voters that don’t always vote instead of wasting time with me.
Villago Delenda Est
I, for one, have no problem with Uday encouraging Rethugs to go to the polls tomorrow to vote for Gillespie.
Mnemosyne
@William Matthews:
Why is Junior in Japan? Is it his turn to babysit his dad?
TenguPhule
@SFAW: To be fair, a lot of them hated him.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator: The question is are we going to be okay with spending thousands more on a car that’s only 10% safer?
I mean, fuck it all, I can’t afford even a dumb car at this point.
Brachiator
@But her emails!!!:
I thought that the tracks/roads where the vehicles were allowed were limited. But good point, sharing the road makes you part of the experiment.
@Starfish:
Sounds like a great add-on. I guess that in some ways, a self-driving car includes these incremental improvements.
Patricia Kayden
@James E. Powell: I’d be surprised if Gillespie won since Northern Virginia has been pretty good to Democrats for the last few elections. That means that we’ll be up late tonight until those votes are counted and they’re usually counted last.
Miss Bianca
@eclare: OMG.. from best POTUS of my lifetime to the POS…and those photos…I can’t even.
I mean, it’s not necessarily that being incredibly photogenic means you’re a good person, but a really good photographer captures something about you – some essential quality that comes out – whether it’s the person you are or the person you aspire to be. Pete Souza is a hell of a photographer, and PBO is a hell of a human being.
Just compare to photos of POS Trump. Even the best photographer in the world can’t make a silk purse out of that particular sow’s ass.
Another Scott
@Miss Bianca: Raven’s experience may differ, but the “adoption councilor” at the place where we’re (fingers crossed) getting our new dog said that pet insurance really doesn’t pay until the dog is 10 years old (and at that point the rates start to go up). So, getting it just before they turn 10-ish may make sense.
She also said that they don’t cover common (genetic) diseases in “pure-breds”, so that may be a consideration (mutts supposedly are less susceptible to may things).
We’ve never had insurance on our pets, but the little girl we’re getting may need to have her right-rear leg amputated (the femur was broken near the ball joint and may not have healed up well enough), so we may look into it more seriously.
HTH a bit.
Cheers,
Scott.
CaseyL
General Stupidity (British Division): Boris Johnson just got a British National in Iran sentenced to five additional years in prison by opening his dumb yap and saying she was in Iran to do some teaching. Foreign nationals are not permitted to teach in Iran, hence the additional five year prison term. Unclear whether Johnson just spoke off the top of his head, or was briefed and did the opposite of what he was told to do.
I don’t know what it is about RWNJs in the US and UK. Along with the other requirements, such as greed and bigotry, is utter boneheaded witlessness also a requirement?
eclare
@Miss Bianca: I know, well said.
raven
@Miss Bianca: Embrace is our company. Here’s a pet insurance comparison site. We had a claim a couple of years ago and when I wrote a positive review they really made sure it was legit. I liked tha.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: I don’t think so. It was most likely my fault. He has always run free at Big City and he was this morning. A young lady who works there (she was not on duty) came up with her doggie and I went to give her a treat. Bohdi came up and stuck his nose in and they lit it up. Everyone felt awful but my famous saying is, “he’s a good dog but he’s still a dog”. I need to be more careful.
Patricia Kayden
@TenguPhule: Ad Block is your friend, mate.
Miss Bianca
@raven: @Another Scott: thanks for the info!
CaseyL
@Starfish:
Fascinating. I wonder how many accidents will now be caused by people anticipating, and trusting too much in, the automated safety features. Or whether there will be accidents caused by people trying to override the safety features.
ETA: Is there a limit on how fast the car can be going for the auto-braking to work? I mean, if you’re doing 60+, auto-braking would be like hitting another car in terms of inertia impact, wouldn’t it?
raven
@Another Scott: We spent upwards of $50,000 on Raven’s cancer treatment. We decided to get it on Bohdi but Lil Bit is uninsurable. We also say we won’t put another dog through that kind of treatment so we’ll see.
catclub
@Brachiator:self driving cars:
The neat thing to me about the Tesla was the mode in which it would record what the self driving software would do – so Tesla can collect lots of real world driving experience – to put into the software (if they can figure out how to do that).
TenguPhule
@Patricia Kayden: Can’t use it.
Brachiator
@CaseyL:
Wait. I’m confused about this. From BBC news:
Training journalists is a little more specific than just “teaching.”
However, Johnson is the goddam foreign secretary for the UK, not just a right wing Tory hack. So the stupidity of his remarks is inexcusable.
catclub
@CaseyL:
I wonder if driving into a bridge abutment will no longer work to kill oneself. Or you have to make sure to pick an old car to get the job done right.
Citizen Alan
@Brachiator:
I’ve always thought that the biggest obstacle to self-driving Vehicles would eventually be the Insurance liability question.
geg6
@Brachiator:
Pittsburgh has been a test city for some time now. People are getting pretty used to them. I can only think of one accident so far. We are actually the place for self-driving cars:
http://www.govtech.com/fs/5-Reasons-Pittsburgh-is-Still-Tops-in-Autonomous-Vehicles.html
JCJ
@CaseyL:
Here is a video that claims to show the Tesla system anticipating a crash. You can hear the beeping that I believe indicates the automatic braking has come on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FadR7ETT_1k
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@raven: Our lab suffered an unprovoked attack from a neighbor’s Akita. I was walking her and the Akita came charging out of the back yard as we walked by her house (the gate had been accidentally left open) and just started biting.
The injuries required stitches. I wasn’t going to get into a screaming battle with neighbors over something like this, but I did want them to make it right. And they did, reimbursed me with no argument, sweet and agreeable as you could want. And, in fact, so was the Akita, who I got acquainted with while sitting in their living room. The dog seems perfectly nice to humans, but really hates all other dogs, and the owners are well aware of that and make an effort to walk her at times when other dogs aren’t around. She’s never been loose again as far as I know aside from that one incident.
So I ended up making new friends, human and dog, out of this incident. I’ll meet them on the street and my hand will be petting the Akita unconsciously and getting a lick before I remember “oh yeah, this is the supposedly-mean dog”. (Our lab died years ago and we are currently dogless).
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
To be fair, a lot of them hate Shitgibbon, too — and yet they vote with him, because they hate Demonrats, Obama, and America even more.
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
To cut the side deals for the Trump Organization.
TenguPhule
@Citizen Alan:
Not the Skynet secretly plotting to kill us all issue?
Roger Moore
@different-church-lady:
Of course the thousands of extra dollars is paying for more than safety; self driving cars are going to be way more convenient than ones with human drivers. Having a robot chauffeur is going to be really, really nice for a lot of reasons.
Another Scott
@raven: Ouch. :-(
Our Sophie was rather expensive from the get go (jumped out of my moving car to try to chase a squirrel on the way home from an obedience class about 3 weeks after we got her – ~ $1500 surgery; ate half a loaf of raisin bread she stole from the counter ~ $1500 for 3 days of IV fluids and boarding; etc., etc.), but nothing like your experience with Raven.
We know the dog we’re in the process of adopting was given up by the owner (in SW Virginia), we suspect it was because of the potential vet bill. She’s a sweetie.
So much of this is (still) just blind luck. Good luck, everyone!
Cheers,
Scott.
Mnemosyne
@Roger Moore:
Don’t tell me that Dolt 45 is in a foreign country without a babysitter. I have enough nightmares already.
Brachiator
@CaseyL:
Some good questions. You might want to check out the RAND study at comment 33 and look at related links. I think the theory is that the more automated cars on the road (and the fewer dumber human drivers) the safer everyone will be. So, for example, if the traffic lines are filled with automated cars capable of communicating with each other about their driving decisions, the risk of accidents would be reduced. But I think it obviously useful the more people think about and challenge the assumptions going in to self driving cars.
Another good question.
JustRuss
@CaseyL:
Not even close. Have you ever heard of a car being destroyed because the driver hit the brakes too hard and crashed into….nothing? Feel free to try it yourself if you’re skeptical. Buckle up first.
StringOnAStick
@Betty Cracker: Betty, I’m with you on the screens in cars. Before he died my brother in law gave me his 2007 Prius, which I love in every way except I really, really wish the way you control the heat or air wasn’t a damned touch screen. I’m like any other late 50’s person – I can’t see crap up close if I’m wearing even mild correction for distance vision. I can’t quickly glance at the touch screen to see where to touch to get some heat or AC, and I think that’s dangerous. Other than that, I super enjoy this car and how fun it is to drive.
I’m sure some car designers took a look at how the youngs love their screens and aren’t all that thrilled as a group about cars and had a “eureka!” moment, “we’ll put touch screens in cars!”. Yeah, great idea. Ergonomically stupid; how many of us can find a control knob or button in a car and twiddle it without even looking at it, and wonder of wonders, get the result we are seeking? When the bright sun is hitting the touch screen I can’t even read it since I use polarized sunglasses, required here in the land of high altitude and 330 days/year of sunshine.
Heidi Mom
@Miss Bianca: It’s happened before — from Chernow’s Grant: “Abraham Lincoln was rudely snatched away just as many Americans had learned to appreciate his benevolence and farsighted wartime leadership. Nobody could have served as a fit successor to Lincoln, but the rise of Andrew Johnson to the presidency was an especially cruel stroke to the nation.”
different-church-lady
@Roger Moore: I see. And where will these thousands of extra dollars be coming from?
Brachiator
@different-church-lady:
Actually, if the technology is truly useful, self-driving cars may become cheaper. The “thousand dollar” iPhone is an exception to the general rule.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator: Yes. I’m sure. The flying pigs will eventually be cheaper too.
catclub
@Brachiator: Not only that, if you can reliably summon a self driving car from a pool of them, you don’t need to own an entire car. If this worked, would it depress car sales and wages? Who knows.
Brachiator
OT: Call for an new open thread soon.
If it has not already been talked about, this might be a worthy issue. From WaPo
Trump is a despicable nativist. His agenda goes far beyond the already questionable and despicable desire to round up and deport illegal aliens. His agencies have consistently gone after people who have been here for years, who have roots and who have contributed to the country.
But his message is clear. There are people who simply do not belong here. They are not the right kind of people.
And it is equally clear that not even nonwhite American citizens are secure. In Trump’s America, the Confederacy was not a traitor state, but just good old Southern white folks who failed to come up with the right deal with their Northern white brothers. Here is the bottom line for Nicaraguans.
America has become a “sundown” town for those who are not quite right. Get out of town by sundown, January, 2019.
Miss Bianca
@Heidi Mom: Actually, that’s weirdly comforting. It’s strange to draw comfort and courage from the Civil War era, perhaps, but just knowing that our country went through something even worse than what we’ve got going on right now…literally being ripped apart and forcibly put back together…and that we’ve had to deal with “might have beens” just as agonizing, is…weirdly comforting.
Of course, the fact that 150 years later we’re STILL dealing with the goddamned Confederates is *not* so comforting. Does this mean we’ll have to go through Reconstruction again? And if we do, can we actually do it RIGHT this time?
SFAW
@Mnemosyne:
Oh, come on! What a drama queen! What could possibly go wrong?
ruemara
@sharculese: head + desk. And these are our good allies. Said voter is probably aces, but I am very tired of my side being so clueless at the wrong time.
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: possibly
@Brachiator: My green cards expires that year too.
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
One I’d like to challenge is the security of having the cars communicate with each other. I’m very worried about two things:
1) Will the cars be secure against hackers who try to take them over through inter-car communications? This is more than a trivial worry. There have already been worrying signs that car makers have not taken security seriously enough, including at least one case where hackers could take control over a car through the cell network and another where they could hack one that was supposed to be secure through its wireless tire pressure sensors. Having a deliberate car-to-car communication system seems like it’s asking for trouble.
2) Will people be able to spoof car-to-car signals to get ahead in traffic? For example, an obvious use of car-to-car communications of this type is to let emergency vehicles force cars out of their way so they can get where they’re going. There will be people who try to use that to get through traffic, and there need to be both technical and legal protections in place to prevent them from doing so.
SFAW
@Miss Bianca:
Only if there is actually a Just God, and He smites all the Rethug members of Congress, and a significant portion of their voters. Outside of that, not bloody likely.
[Note: I made God a “He,” because were God a “She,” She would have enough sense to have already smote those evil motherfuckers.]
Brachiator
@different-church-lady:
OOOH. Let’s rumble on this one. I remember when some good folks wondered whether we needed to subsidize the cost of computers so that poor people could afford them.
But if you look at the price of key technology, radios, TVs, DVRs, computers, low end phones, the price declines and adoption by a majority of people increases quickly.
Even in automobiles, seat beats, passive protection, braking systems, catalytic converters were opposed by conservatives and others, who claimed that these devices, often first seen in expensive cars, would be too prohibitively expensive to include in all vehicles.
The naysayers have been consistently wrong.
raven
Here’s the Bohdi with his stitches.
Brachiator
@catclub:
The streets might become flooded with self-driving vehicles, that might be like a combined taxi and bus fleet. I don’t know who would own them or where excess cars might be stored. But consider:
A family of 5. Everyone, including the nine year old, and 80 year old grandma, orders their own separate car. The kid and grandma don’t need to know how to drive. The cars take the kid to school and grandma to the doctor. The parents use separate cars to go to work. Do they need to own any of the vehicles? No. But maybe they have one car as their primary vehicle.
Also, the self driving future is now:
Rasputin's Evil Twin
@The Moar You Know: As Andrew Carnegie said of the Vanderbilts, shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations. I can imagine the look on Baron Trump’s face as the lawyers explain to him the family “empire” is kaput. It should happen by the time he’s 21, or sooner.
SFAW
@Brachiator:
Just because some things eventually get cheaper (due to economies of scale, for example) does not mean that the “half-life” to get there is very short. The former aphorism that “The computer you REALLY want costs $5000” pretty much held up for 20 or so years, for example.
And it’s not clear that applying historical price-reduction curves/models for pieces of electronics can be apples-to-apples applied to highly complex systems, with significantly more systems and interface types, such as motor vehicles used in non-closed environments.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator: EXPLAIN TO ME HOW CARS ARE NOW CHEAPER THAN THEY WERE BEFORE SEATBELTS. SHOW YOUR WORK.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
First time for everything.
different-church-lady
@Roger Moore: A future where our cars are used by Russian hackers to elect Homer Simpson president of the United States is one that I look forward to with great delight, yes.
People, Daffy Freakin’ Duck had this figured out over fifty years ago.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
Say that after it experiences the real world for a year.
Chaos theory comes to mind.
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
Except when it’s “Lying Littledick intentionally told the truth,” that is.
different-church-lady
DEAR EVERYBODY: NEXT TIME YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT AUTO-CORRECT, YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHT TO ENTHUSE ABOUT SELF-DRIVING ANYTHING.
Gravenstone
@Starfish: I opted to have zero of those advanced “safety” features on my new car explicitly because I didn’t want shit beeping at me. I figured I’d get more confused trying to sort out which doodad was telling me what and actually end up getting into more trouble due to the resulting inattention to the world outside my car. And for the new ones that tout “assisting” steering in addition to applying the brakes to avoid a collision – fuck to the no! You are NOT touching MY steering, tyvm.
different-church-lady
@Gravenstone: I’m sure there are studies that prove that because other people are enthusiastic about it, that means that you will not have the reaction that you in fact have.
Then again, people like us who actually pay attention to things have always been seen as aberrations…
Another Scott
@Brachiator: OTOH, one could buy a new Ford Pinto in 1971 for $2100. The Federal minimum wage was $1.60 in February 1971 – about 33 weeks to buy a Pinto (ignoring taxes, etc.).
In 2017 the cheapest new car is the Nissan Versa S at $12,900. The Federal minimum wage is $7.25, or about 45 weeks to buy a Versa (ignoring taxes, etc.).
Yes, the Versa is orders of magnitude better than the Pinto. But those improvements weren’t free – the cheapest car increased about 50% in (real) price (for those making minimum wage) over that time.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Starfish
@Gravenstone: We played with the assisted steering on long highways. I thought it was a little weird. My spouse enjoyed it.
different-church-lady
@Another Scott: Four years ago I had $70 thing in my pocket that cost me $10 a month to use. It made phone calls.
Today I have a $600 thing in my pocket that costs me $50 a month to use. It doesn’t do hardly anything that my computer doesn’t do . I didn’t want the thing — it was forced upon me to do my work, because everyone AROUND me insisted that they must be able to contact me at the last minute with one of the crappiest methods of communication ever invented.
And it probably had a very large role in Donald Trump becoming president.
I’M SO DAMN HAPPY ABOUT ALL ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY!!! PLEASE, TAKE ALL MY MONEY!!!
(ETA: that was a really really weird way of saying “Thank you for your post!”)
Starfish
@CaseyL: There is a vehicle detection feature in the adaptive cruise control so the cruise control will slow down when it sees a car in front of you. I was not comfortable with how closely the car was following at 65 or 70 mph on the interstate so there was an option to follow less closely.
Another Scott
@different-church-lady: :-) Glad to help!
Cheers,
Scott.
different-church-lady
@Starfish:
Isn’t the whole utopian vision of self-driving vehicles based on the idea of packing vehicles in as closely as possible?
Starfish
@different-church-lady: Clearly you are bitter that you don’t have the $1000 new iPhone.
different-church-lady
@Starfish: I WAS BITTER ABOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THE $70 DUMB PHONE!! YOU DO THE MATH!!!!
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
There are a lot of links and graphs that look at the cost of cars v wages, worker output, etc. (how long must someone work to be able to afford a new car). They come up to different conclusions, but note that you get a lot more bang for your buck than the Model T days.
As always, your mileage may vary. Also, folks need to factor in the generally lower cost but often good reliability of used cars.
Starfish
@different-church-lady: I miss the rugged dumb phones that could be dropped without breaking as easily. I also miss phones that fit in pockets and small hands.
I also have no clue how to use predictive texting so I send gibberish messages to people because I can’t be bothered to check whether my phone changed my child’s name to “artistic” again.
SFAW
@different-church-lady:
Umm … not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s not the reason.
@different-church-lady:
I’m the only one in my family that does not have/use a smarty-pants ‘phone. Apparently that means I am a Luddite.
different-church-lady
@Starfish: Everyone complains about auto-correct, but nobody turns it off.
@SFAW:
Well, I know it’s not my extensive collection of roadside restaurant salt and pepper packets from the 50s, so I don’t understand what you’re getting at here.
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: They have a strategy, increase the number of undocumented immigrants and then use that as a bargaining chip to slash legal immigration. It was outlined in summer when Kelly was the head of the DHS by more than one news organization.
1. Revoke DACA
2. Revoke TPS
3. Make it difficult to renew H1-Bs and other long term visas.
4. Make GC approval harder than it already is
catclub
@Another Scott: Interesting comparison. I bet the Versa will last twice as long, and gas may cost less now than then when inflation is counted in. Interest cost for financing could be a wash. Not sure on Insurance.
Given Versa is half again as expensive in initial purchase price, the rest tends to make them about equal.
SFAW
@Brachiator:
And a TI-84 can do a lot more than a turn of the century (i.e. 1900s) adding machine. And LeBron James would (probably) tower over Goliath of Gath. So?
Scott was talking about baseline products, or products generally available in the particular time period. Comparing today’s technology to that of the early 1900s is cute, but doesn’t mean much, outside of showing how far things have advanced.
Miss Bianca
@different-church-lady: Hey, *I* turn off ott-correct! And eye dont miss it at all!
SFAW
@catclub:
I think DCL’s point was that the “but think how long it will last” justification does not translate into more affordable at the time of purchase. If one does not have the cash/funding available, life-cycle cost does not help much.
SFAW
@Miss Bianca:
Well, it’s not as if we could tell, based on your previous riting
Miss Bianca
@SFAW: Kwality with a Kapital K!
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
Come sit by me.
I hate all the new generations of cell phones ever since they invented texting.
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
And then watching them all explode like Pintos during the first natural disaster.
Gin & Tonic
@different-church-lady:
Many (too many) years ago I read a short story in one of those pulp SF magazines that was based, at least in part, on that premise, understanding that trucks (freight) were really the key to this, as I assume is the goal now with the self-driving stuff. The trucks traveled at much higher rates of speed than cars, and had their own dedicated lanes down the middle of the highways. This led to a climactic chase where the protagonist, in a car, got himself into the high-speed truck lane after, I think, a tax evader or something. Don’t recall much of the plot except for the high-speed automated or semi-automated trucks.
But freight is key to all this.
different-church-lady
@Gin & Tonic: Soon we will be able to ship freight across the country at high speeds in large vehicles with hardly any space between each one.
We shall call them “trains.”
SFAW
@Miss Bianca:
Kareful! People will think yore channeling Jefferson Fauxregard Sessions Ay-yi-yi.
Gin & Tonic
@different-church-lady: Page me when trains go everywhere that trucks do.
The Moar You Know
@catclub: Not to put too fine a point on it, but you are FAR less likely to die or be seriously injured in the Versa than you are in a Pinto, or any 1970s car. We never factor in those savings, and should.
catclub
@The Moar You Know: I agree.
jl
Trump spelled ‘tomorrow’ correctly. So, what’s the problem? Seems like he’s upping his game.
different-church-lady
@Gin & Tonic: Do trucks go “everywhere” on interstate highways?
No?
Okay. Then the kind of technology we’re talking about in this example doesn’t help.
Back in the day there were railroad sidings everywhere. Rail was efficient for moving long distances. Depots covered the last few miles.
The key to the shift was the Interstate Highway System. Why should a company pay for all that rail infrastructure when the government will do it for you? (Same thing. happened to trolleys).
Trucks on roads have the advantage of not needing to load and unload into and out of smaller units — they can go right to their destination. Basically we’re talking about recreating a train model using semis instead of rail. In the meantime, we still have trains. Apparently we’d rather figure out new technology to avoid the loading/unloading thing than simply use the technology we have.
SFAW
@different-church-lady:
If Shitgibbon sees that, he’ll write an EO forbidding “trans” from crossing
the gender linethe country.Brachiator
@SFAW:
Why are you using a tablet or computer at all?
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady: Some of us don’t live on the Continental USA, just saying.
different-church-lady
@TenguPhule: So boats then.
SFAW
@Brachiator:
Did I say I refuse to use a cell ‘phone? Just wondering, since that seems to be the functional equivalent or your riposte.
ETA: Amazingly enough, there are persons in this world who do not feel the need to have the latest, whiz-bangiest technology all the time, in all things.
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady: Still need trucks to make the final deliveries.
Davebo
@Gin & Tonic: It doesn’t matter.
Trust me, shipping by train is a nightmare and expensive as hell unless you have vast quantities to ship on a regular basis.
No Drought No More
In the Los Angeles basin when the Santa Anna winds blow, women stare at the back of their husbands necks while running their thumbs along the blades of sharp knives. In Florida women buy their husbands handlebar attachments for their phones for Christmas. I’m kind of surprised you didn’t know that.
Brachiator
@SFAW:
Actually, no
Actually I was thinking about the Luddite thing. Not even sure it was your remark. It’s quite arbitrary. People love the tech they grew up with, which was the marvel of an earlier age, but draw a line in the sand when it comes to New tech. Funny.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator: Some of us just don’t believe in getting locked into phone contracts that cost more then simply buying a complete computer system.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator:
I AM STILL NOT FOND OF THE CLOSE N’PLAY. NO, I AM NOT.
Brachiator
@different-church-lady:
Of course, one of the keys to modern innovation here was the container car. From Smithsonian Mag
Brachiator
@TenguPhule:
I’m with you here. Big time.
SFAW
@Brachiator:
Yes, I was the one who used “Luddite.” Interesting that you didn’t notice that in your blockquoting of my comment using it. Well, as you-users-of-all-“new”-tech-but-not-old-farts-who-still-use-buggy-whips-and-abaci would say, “whatever.”
But thanks for sharing your wisdom on what technology people will or won’t use, what tech they do or don’t like. Perhaps you can write about tech trends in some highly-respected “magazine” (not that anyone reads paper versions anymore, of course).
different-church-lady
@Brachiator:
Who would later use his riches to become the impresario behind the Sex Pistols.
different-church-lady
@SFAW: It’s my fault, really — I dared to crap in the oatmeal of a techno-utopist.
different-church-lady
@TenguPhule: And I can’t even run Photoshop on the damn thing!
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady: My cellphone is 14 years old, a flip and is a pay as you go. It costs me $10 a year to keep the minutes current. Its only for emergencies. If I want games, I will play them on a big computer monitor like they were intended for.
Brachiator
@different-church-lady:
Did not know that!
different-church-lady
@TenguPhule: NOW WE ARE MAKING SOME SENSE AS A COMMUNITY!
Brachiator
@SFAW:
No problem. I salute your perspicacity in comprehending my wisdom. It’s the most wisdom ever.
SFAW
@different-church-lady:
Good one! Such a kidder you are.
SFAW
@different-church-lady:
‘Sokay, don’t beat yourself up about it. (Yes, I know you’re not.)
SFAW
@Brachiator:
I didn’t know you were from Queens.
Brachiator
@SFAW:
Not even. Got some friends in the Bronx, though.
different-church-lady
@SFAW: Hell, I’m proud of it!
John McCann
@Fair Economist: Say, isn’t there this funny little dotted line on this map here? This one called the “international date line”. Isn’t it weird a map can help you get a date?