You can't make this shit up:
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2014...-suicide.html/
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You can't make this shit up:
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2014...-suicide.html/
Good lord.... there's been too many shootings lately.Quote:
Originally Posted by OZMDD
That gas station shooting in garland last week was only 1.7 miles from my house.
Nah, guns make us all safer!!
(cue the fightin' music!)
I say we make murder illegal instead.Quote:
Originally Posted by OZMDD
That's crazy talk. Do you mean for everyone, or are celebrities excluded as always?Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMonkey
I think there should be at least a couple celebrity exclusions. Like Justin Bieber... It should be legal for anyone to murder Bieber.Quote:
Originally Posted by mtrx804
I figured this post was going to be about the recent adventures of our own OZMDD but surprisingly it wasn't..... ;-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Titus
I would vote for that. But can we throw in Lindsey Lohan as well?
Only if we can throw in Lady Gaga, and Kanye.Quote:
Originally Posted by HudsonHawk
More McFail:Quote:
James MacPhail, the Farmers Branch police officer who investigated the accident, said Pete was scheduled to referee a soccer game and was looking at his phone for directions.
“Driver of Unit 1 reports that he was traveling at 35 mph and became distracted by his cellphone GPS,” MacPhail wrote in the accident report. “Driver glanced down to view the phone and as he looked back at the road, he saw the cyclist. Unit 1 struck the cyclist causing injury.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/commu...nclick_check=1
What fantasy world are they living in? People bitch about self-driving cars but I think a good majority of drivers would be safer with it. At least have auto braking sensors.Quote:
Some traffic safety experts say education eventually will reduce cellphone use among drivers. The theory is that people will stop risky behavior once they understand the damage it causes.
Others believe tougher laws are needed. A $200 fine will get your attention
Kids are stupid and do stupid shit while they're behind the wheel, even if they're taught otherwise. My folks gave me an old brick cell phone in high school, but 1) it wasn't any fun to play with, 2) reception sucked, and 3) it was stupid expensive to use. I learned to drive without my face in a phone. I actually enjoy driving. I actually don't like talking on the phone while I'm driving - I'd much rather listen to the radio or drive in peace and quiet.
The only thing I can think of that might be a root cause of this problem is that kids these days (here I go) are raised with some sort of damn device in their face practically from birth. When I go out with friends or family that have kids, they gotta have the stupid Nintendo DS or DVD player or iPad to play with. They can't just fucking sit in the car for 15 minutes and go somewhere. This, as I see it, is a HUGE problem. When I went on road trips, my dad kept me quiet by doing fun things such as 1) sitting on his lap and letting me steer the car down the highway, 2) calibrate the speedo and calculate our average speed using a stopwatch and the roadside mile markers (yes, this was fun to me), and 3) reading the map, figuring mileages, and calculating our ETA like I was the co-driver in a rally. Is it dorky? Hell yes it is. Was it fun? I still do it in my head. Sometimes I even carry a scratch pad to keep track of trip averages...
Anyhow, self driving cars might be fine for some, but I won't be caught dead in one. Ever. The problem is that self-driving cars will become what all the cool kids want, so the infrastructure will evolve to accommodate them, and then you may find that honest-to-god real cars will be slowly relegated to the scrap heap. Enjoy that utopia. I think any form of transportation that requires no driver involvement should be in the form of train or bus or cab. If you want to use your own personal transportation but don't want to drive, hire a live driver. End of story.
Having said all that, I've been more focused that ever on training drivers I see texting and driving. Brake checking them is lots of fun, for starters. Letting them drift into my lane until they almost hit me is also fun. Hell, just a well-timed, extended blast of the horn is pretty awesome. So I invite you all to try this yourself - preferably if you have a truck or something you don't mind getting hit eventually. I can't wait for the day that some stupid sonofabitch rear ends me in the old F150 so I can get out and see how fucked up and disabled his car is, collect from his insurance, and mosey on down the road.
I have no qualms with either, given proven technology. I'm glad to see Hyundai is deploying real auto-braking in the US market. Anything manufacturers can do to save me (and William) from getting hit (again) is fine in my book.Quote:
Originally Posted by black roadster
Im with Tailchaser on this one. I'd prefer that the morons let the car do the driving and be less likely to lose a threat to me. Honestly, I won't object if the car wants to pay attention while I read some email on my next 9 hour interstate road trip.
As far as real cars becoming obsolete - so nlong as there are KenOs left in the world, there will still be drivable cars being made and sold, and places to drive them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tailchaser
If you're worried about self driving cars, watch the pilot's right hand as this F-18 is catapulted off the boat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpozIzjuYKc
Sorry Jim,
It is cool but not the same thing. Airplane autopilot does not have to stay between lines on a road. Does not have to avoid up to 8 other cars driving within feet of you. Does not have to react to that incapacitated driver who falls asleep at the wheel and bounces off of a highway divider (happened right behind me). Does not have to adjust its speed suddenly because the car in front of you just slammed on its brakes and spun out on the icy bridge.
I will never trust a self drive car. After working in the computer industry as long as I have, I just can't do it. That being said I am all for the electronics that yell at a driver everytime they do something stupid.
I think the autopilot is a good example, actually. The number of variables that must be monitored to keep a modern jet fighter airborne, not to mention the much greater consequence for an error, far exceed the challenges of close proximity of a vehicle to other vehicles, reaction to sudden changes, etc. Different programming, but I'd wager its simpler.
I'm all for the person in the next car having a self-driving car, I just don't want one. Tricky has a point though about technology making basic stuff obsolete.
While you can still buy a Cobra replica that's almost like the original (no radio, no heat, no windows, just a manual transmission, a big V-8, and a gorgeous lightweight body), you can't buy a manual transmission in an increasing number of supercars. I don't care if a PDK transmission IS faster on the track, I don't want it. If you could buy a self-driving Veyron and be faster than every single car out there, I still wouldn't want it. I like to actually drive.
We are different than most people. We like to drive. The general population just wants to get from A to B. If they can do that more safely in a Google car, power to them.
My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about.
He says it used to be a farm,
Before the Motor Law.
And on Sundays I elude the Eyes,
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire,
Where my white-haired uncle waits.
Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the Borderline.
Run like the wind,
As excitement shivers up and down my spine.
Down in his barn,
My uncle preserved for me an old machine,
For fifty-odd years.
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream.
I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car.
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better, vanished time.
I fire up the willing engine,
Responding with a roar.
Tires spitting gravel,
I commit my weekly crime...
Wind-
In my hair-
Shifting and drifting-
Mechanical music-
Adrenalin surge...
Well-weathered leather,
Hot metal and oil,
The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome,
The blur of the landscape,
Every nerve aware.
Suddenly ahead of me,
Across the mountainside,
A gleaming alloy air-car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide.
I spin around with shrieking tires,
To run the deadly race,
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase.
Drive like the wind,
Straining the limits of machine and man.
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I've got a desperate plan.
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside.
Race back to the farm, to dream with my uncle at the fireside
Stop. Stop it now.
To all of those "you'll pry my manual transmission from my cold dead hands" types out there - how many of you have really driven a good single or dual clutch automatic manual on the track at 10/10ths?
I used to feel the same way, but over the last couple of years I've spent a lot of time demoing and instructing in cars with all manner of transmissions - including some new generation torque converted automatics - and I disagree that they're any less involving to drive. Are they different? Absolutely. Are some better than others? You bet. But I personally find the good ones every bit as challenging to wring a good lap out of.
In other words, don't knock it until you've tried it.
I don't think that anyone (intelligent) will argue than a manual is "better" (and definitely not faster) than the dual clutch jobbers out there.
I think it's more about personal achievement. I've always said that regardless of my times (because honestly, there's no way I'm going to be as fast as other people), if I can execute good heel toes, use the throttle and brake and gearing selection to balance the car, and feel connected to the car (ie. have fun in what I consider fun) then I feel like I've done a good job and had fun doing it.
If I was out there trying to set lap records or trying to win more than a 4"x4" plaque and some bragging rights then I'd want any piece of technology that I could afford (and a few that I couldn't).
I agree that DCT's are not the numb slushbox experience that many expect them to be, and driving is no less challenging or exhilarating at 10/10ths with flappy paddles. I won't be shy to own one when the good stuff trickles down to my price range. I will, however, still always want to own a true manual transmission vehicle. Much like my throwback 47 chevy truck with its crappy carb, points, hydraulic lever shocks, etc, I embrace the experience for what it is: the connection to the vehicle and the unique way it is driven.
Not all that different from the current single speed hardtail MTB trend. Its not necessarily the best, but it has its own merits.