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Comment Just like red light cameras (Score 1) 567

In my town they just installed red light cameras, the ones that take your picture if you run a red light. Did this reduce the number of people running red lights?

No.

It increased the number of people slamming on their brakes at a yellow and getting rear ended for fear of getting a ticket.

Comment Re:As a mechanical engineer... (Score 1) 152

I don't recall that baking a loaf of will get someone out of immediate danger given that baking a loaf of bread takes quite a few hours. Most of that is you standing around waiting for it to either a. rise of b. bake in the oven. If you are waiting for either, you are most likely NOT in danger and are probably sitting on your couch watching TV or doing something else that is not as important as changing a flat tire on the side of the road.

and yes I can bake a loaf of bread.

Comment Re:As a mechanical engineer... (Score 1) 152

Mod parent up!!!!

This is so true. I can't count the number of friends that I have that have no idea how to change a flat, check oil levels, check tire pressure or even add windshield washer fluid, or even change a burned out tail-light bulb."

Their response is always, "I'll call AAA, the tires don't look flat, that's what the oil changes are for..."

Comment More things to break... (Score 2) 152

Film projectors that "stuttered"
Paper printers that jammed, ran out of ink etc...
Laptops that get dropped, crash etc..

Nothing like putting something even more complex into a teacher's classroom for them to troubleshoot.

Is 3D printing really going to help kids do math and read better? I don't recall PrintShop running on an Apple IIe making me a better reader, though I did crank out some banners...

Comment Where do you put a massive bank of batteries? (Score 1) 282

Where would you put this set of battery cells? I'm guessing it's not going to be something the size of a car battery... probably won't be able to store it in the basement in case it floods or the attic due to weight. So do German's have a extra space in their garage for something that may take up the floor space of a water heater or furnace?

I keep a very clean and organized garage and I'd have trouble storing another lawn mower or installing another water heater/washer/clothesdryer.

Comment Who browses at a bookstore and then buys via Amzn? (Score 2) 176

I get the model where you go into BestBuy, look at the TV, listen to the stereo and then purchase online.

But what does browsing for the book on the shelves get you over searching Amazon.com? You still get the same 'about the author' and plot taglines on the back...

Maybe there's some nostalgia that people enjoy walking through the stacks and prefer to read via eReader. For those people, the bookstore will die anyhow because no purchase will ever be made via the bookstore.

These bookstores need differentiate themselves from eReader providers just like movie theaters differentiate themselves from watching at home and Netflix. Movie theaters provide a service you don't have at home (a 100ft screen and a huge wattage sound system, and stadium seating).

Bookstores need something as well, book clubs (how do you keep people from joining the club that purchased the book via amazon), social gatherings, something...

All of these businesses died because the physical location couldn't differentiate itself from the delivered direct to home version:

*Arcades
*Video Rental shops
*Computer stores (CompUSA etc..)
*Bookstores

Comment Stickers on the back (Score 2, Informative) 254

He makes a comment about how the stickers are there on the back screws to discourage people opening it up and then he goes on to say you can replace the HD with any standard drive.

Seems they thought of what would happen if people tried to sell their PS4 on the used market. It would be easy/easier for the buyer to tell if the unit had been opened up while still allowing for people to upgrade their systems.

It's not like they dropped some security torx screws in this or other odd screws like others do (Apple).

Comment Re:Define woe (Score 4, Insightful) 200

Let me translate this for you:

I used to do tech IPOs. My money's in broad S&P 500 low cost index funds now.

(yes, I made lots of money from the tech IPOs, and the other IPOs)

Translation from Douche to English:

I made piles and piles of cash during the dot-com bubble. Enough to afford a Tesla and a $1.5m 1500sqft home in Cupertino. However, now that I have all this money, I can afford to diversify. If I didn't have all this IPO cash, then I'd never have the money necessary to send my kids to $20k/yr kindergarten, Challenger Elementary School and then either St. Francis or Bellermine High Schools.

I'm really just writing this to flaunt about how lucky I was to have invested during the dot-com bubble and now I'm telling you to follow my lead, however, you can't since the dot-com bubble is over, so you'll have to get used to taking low digit yr/yr gains of the broader stock market.

Comment Learning the lesson the hard way (Score 0) 453

They'll learn when the 20-somethings get a poor review, smaller bonuses, passed over on promotions because their superiors are 30, 40, 50 and 60 somethings...

I wonder how many of them would do this at a fancy dinner with their significant other... It's a good way to end up sleeping on the couch...

Comment Taking over during emergency... (Score 4, Insightful) 722

So when you're driving today you're in a state of being aware of the situation and are engaged with the surroundings.

If you're letting the car drive, I highly doubt you're paying that much attention. Why wouldn't I let the car drive and I read, do email, surf the web or turn around and talk to the passengers in the rear seats.

In the event where you need to take an emergency action, it's much easy in the first case to go to heightened state than in the second one. Atleast in the first one you aren't completely surprised by the events you're facing before you.

Think of the case of a gravel truck that has a loose load. If I know there's a truck in front of me, I'm not 100% surprised if some gravel comes out, whereby if i'm reading/emailing and I'm forced to take over to avoid gravel, it's more of a surprise and I'm forced to figure quite a bit more out about the situation before I can act. One could also panic because of the amount of elevated emotion or adrenaline dump that would be taking place since you'd go from "reading iPad" to "dodging gravel".

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