Harry P. Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 I remember just before Segways first came out... there was a huge amount of hype and "teasers" and all sorts of pronouncements on how this was going to be the biggest thing ever! It was going to completely revolutionize the world! The hype was so overblown, we all thought we were going to see some sort of life-changing reset of reality or something. Turns out it was an electric scooter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 I remember just before Segways first came out... there was a huge amount of hype and "teasers" and all sorts of pronouncements on how this was going to be the biggest thing ever! It was going to completely revolutionize the world! The hype was so overblown, we all thought we were going to see some sort of life-changing reset of reality or something. Turns out it was an electric scooter. i was cruizing downtown the other day when i saw a legit cop on one of those things it had the PD marking on it and everything never before have i had such a strong urge to run my car up the sidewalk and put someone out of thier missery he just looked rediculous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Stone Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 this is just rediculous what a waiste of money, technology and time no wonder there is no cure for cancer So you think somebody walked into the cancer research lab and said, "Everybody, stop what you're doing, we have to develop a robot car!" Do you think cancer researchers are educated and trained enough in engineering and electronics to build computer-controlled cars? You think all the research for cancer and robot cars is paid for out of the same grant funding? Really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 So you think somebody walked into the cancer research lab and said, "Everybody, stop what you're doing, we have to develop a robot car!" Do you think cancer researchers are educated and trained enough in engineering and electronics to build computer-controlled cars? You think all the research for cancer and robot cars is paid for out of the same grant funding? Really? no but its simple lets say for the fun of it we decided to only focus growing corn so we cut off all the funding for raising cattle and outlaw cattle farms alltogether sure, the now ex cattle farmers will know nothing about growing corn but 10 years down the road they will have aclimated to the cornfarms and have forgotten about their former cattle life the same principle applies to our topic at hand sure, now we have different scientist working in different fields with different funding but if we were to pull our heads together and maybe realign our priorities then 10 years down the road this whole robot car idea will be forgotten and those who were dedicated to it will be reemployed working on things that actually matter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Seems like that money could have been better spent improving infrastructure, driver's training programs, and public transit as well as curing diseases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc Janssens Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 If driverless cars catch on, will you need a license to "drive" one? I mean, you'd basically be a passenger just sitting there. I wonder how they would deal with that question? You'll need a license for when the computer crashes, or when parameters not fed into the program makes it go berserk, hmmm that sounds like a plot for some blockbuster Hollywood movie... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 im telling you Luc, rent class of "99 and tell me this isnt where we are heading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 i was cruizing downtown the other day when i saw a legit cop on one of those things it had the PD marking on it and everything Was it Paul Blart!!?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Why is it that this commercial comes to mind as I read this thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99zEgBOXAvE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Was it Paul Blart!!?!? no but he had about as much credebility as he did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 no but its simple lets say for the fun of it we decided to only focus growing corn so we cut off all the funding for raising cattle and outlaw cattle farms alltogether sure, the now ex cattle farmers will know nothing about growing corn but 10 years down the road they will have aclimated to the cornfarms and have forgotten about their former cattle life the same principle applies to our topic at hand sure, now we have different scientist working in different fields with different funding but if we were to pull our heads together and maybe realign our priorities then 10 years down the road this whole robot car idea will be forgotten and those who were dedicated to it will be reemployed working on things that actually matter And if we over-focus on one thing like that, we'll never progress. Forcing the hand of science like that will be retarding the advancement of society, not advancing it. Why? Because nothing else will be happening. We'll all be over-focused on one thing. I'm guessing you've had a lot of cancer in your family. So have I. My mother has been a patient for breast cancer. I've lost several very close friends to it. Cancer is a horrible disease; yes, I do agree we should put more into it. No, I don't agree we should be putting the brakes on everything else. And not one of them ever said we need to put brakes on the rest of the world. In addition to which, forcing scientists in other fields away from their own specializations is not just an inefficient use of their talents and skills, but a total waste of them. I hope ideas like self-driving cars aren't forgotten. These are things that will affect all of us in the future. And who knows, perhaps some algorithm they come up with might crack some chemical code an oncology researcher needed to open the door to success in curing cancer. Cross-over discovery happens all the time, and many times from places you'd least expect. Take a moment to read this article; it'll explain things better than I can. http://www.thefreemanonline.org/headline/markets-and-human-excellence/ Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 actually Charly, i feel obligated to tell you i havent had a whole lot of personal experience with cancer one of my grandfathers died of it but i was so young i dont remember him cancer was just a disease i used as an example, with my wife being a pediatrician she comes home with stories of her patients who at times don't even make it to thier first birthday. hearing thier stories makes me wonder at times how our priorities as a scociety are set (along the same train of though i found the whole space race a complete waiste of resources...why try to live on mars when we cant even provide a decent standard of living on this planet) i cant quite remember which one it was but didnt one of the greek philosophers say we measure the richness of a society by how it treats its poor? (i'm on my way to work right now so ill read the articles and comment on them later) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 No More D.U.I. ! ! David G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 No More D.U.I. ! ! David G. Nah, so long as there are riding mowers, there will still be DUI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Welcome. You are riding in the Dresden Firebomb USB/GT. We have now attained a cruising speed of 70 mph. Sit back and relax. This vehicle is computer controlled, and nothing can possibly go wrong- go wrong- go wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cole Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Nah, so long as there are riding mowers, there will still be DUI Yep... the po-po just busted some dude here in Nude Hampster on a go-kart for DUI... his fouth arrest on this charge. http://www.officer.com/news/10287053/nh-man-charged-with-dwi-while-riding-go-kart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Yep... the po-po just busted some dude here in Nude Hampster on a go-kart for DUI... his fouth arrest on this charge. http://www.officer.com/news/10287053/nh-man-charged-with-dwi-while-riding-go-kart What's a po-po? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent G Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 What's a po-po? Five-O, da Po-leece, rollers, smokey, bacon, pigs, cops, etcetcetc G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Five-O, da Po-leece, rollers, smokey, bacon, pigs, cops, etcetcetc G I guess I don't have enough run-ins with the cops to be up on all the slang names for them. Thanks, David G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 you know, i ran into an issue with my 06 passat the other day that reminded me of this thread the wifey has been driving my passat to work and i've been scooting around town in her winterbeater (08 charger) this way she get the better gasmileage on her longer trips anyway, she was complaining about a grinding sound everytime she hit the brakes so i stopped in at the local car parts store and bought some new brake pads the sound was coming from the rear and since i'd replaced the fronts not too long ago i figured just the rear would be fine so i jacked up the car, removed the wheels and took the calipers off, everything fine...so far but then i wanted to spread the caliper so i can fit the new pads in there and guess what? there is an electro motor mounted to each rear caliper that is part of the electronic park brake system when you set the park brake this motor runs in the piston and sets the brake, then when you let of the brake it run the piston back in a certain way so now i need a laptop with VAGCOM and a CAN-BUS connector just to replace my brake pads THIS IS REDICULOUS!!! luckily this is a very basic system where you can change the direction by swapping the polarity on the motor so after i pulled the connecter of the little motor i could use my lawnmower battery and a wire with gatorclamps on them to "hotwire" my brakes to retract the piston i miss the days when the only electrical parts on a car were the headlights and the cigarette lighter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 you know, i ran into an issue with my 06 passat the other day that reminded me of this thread the wifey has been driving my passat to work and i've been scooting around town in her winterbeater (08 charger) this way she get the better gasmileage on her longer trips anyway, she was complaining about a grinding sound everytime she hit the brakes so i stopped in at the local car parts store and bought some new brake pads the sound was coming from the rear and since i'd replaced the fronts not too long ago i figured just the rear would be fine so i jacked up the car, removed the wheels and took the calipers off, everything fine...so far but then i wanted to spread the caliper so i can fit the new pads in there and guess what? there is an electro motor mounted to each rear caliper that is part of the electronic park brake system when you set the park brake this motor runs in the piston and sets the brake, then when you let of the brake it run the piston back in a certain way so now i need a laptop with VAGCOM and a CAN-BUS connector just to replace my brake pads THIS IS REDICULOUS!!! luckily this is a very basic system where you can change the direction by swapping the polarity on the motor so after i pulled the connecter of the little motor i could use my lawnmower battery and a wire with gatorclamps on them to "hotwire" my brakes to retract the piston i miss the days when the only electrical parts on a car were the headlights and the cigarette lighter Funny you mention this, the airbag light on my Jeep keeps flickering and I lost the cruise control and horn a while back. Apparently on the '97-'01 XJ's and the TJ Wranglers use some sort of clock spring wiring harness in the steering column to control all three and they tend to go bad over time Worst part is that this "clock spring" is buried in the column under the steering wheel, which means that airbag and then the steering wheel have to be removed to get at the part. I could live without that airbag being armed, but I would like to have the cruise and horn back, plus I don't know if it will pass Illinois emissions with that being out of spec nothing is cooler than the wail of a V8 at full throttle robot cars remind me of the movie "Demolition man" what a sweet 442. Yea, gotta love the sound of that thing when they hammer it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 i miss the days when the only electrical parts on a car were the headlights and the cigarette lighter Amen. Old School for the win! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit1 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 i miss the days when the only electrical parts on a car were the headlights and the cigarette lighter and if you didnt have the right headers on your car then you dont want to forget about the radio cause you have to have some tunes man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 i miss the days when the only electrical parts on a car were the headlights and the cigarette lighter wipers, horn, ignition (the car won't run without voltage), turn signals, tail lights, brake lights... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit1 Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 wipers, horn, ignition (the car won't run without voltage), turn signals, tail lights, brake lights... and you won't get very far past the D.O.T if you don't have that as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.