When's the last time it was every six months?

Hint: It was probably sometime back when the release was two CDs, and not 6 CDs and 2 double-sided DVDs.

Where's my pothead hippie atheist science enthusiast candidate? Preferably one that also likes the military.

And yes, one can be a pacifist *and* still carry a wicked weapon. Speak softly, and carry a big stick?

I am frustrated to no end with the current political climate, and by extension the slow steady decline of this nation (usa) in the past 30+ years.

One is the car "key" (that round mini / bmw thing), that has a cast metal enamel Wakko Warner in a rather acrobatic pose dangling from it. Looks great when I'm hard left and he's sticking almost sideways

The other is the rest of the keys, on that i have a piston (complete with connecting rod and piston pin - the whole thing is maybe an inch long), a small pill bottle, a maglite led solitaire, the fob to get into the building i work at, and that's it. The rest is keys.

When I had an RX8 the fob had a working model of a rotary engine -- just one rotor though. But it did make the motions of a real wankel rotary. Great to illustrate to people how they work.

Actually we're building a large scale data collection operation using iPads, Android tablets, smartphones, and the like. We just have to develop the apps. The hardware is taken care of for us!

If their plan is to get more third parties to go along with their DRM, then they haven't really learned a thing yet.

Oh come *on!* It's not too hard to guess, it's the same one in 10 Downing St!

Scr3w7h3pr0le5

Simple - those things have reached a certain degree of maturity - just like microwave ovens, hi-fi, TV/monitors, cars, airplanes, etc. For the most part we're just refining things that existed many decades ago in slightly different forms.

Generally speaking, the only places left to innovate are software ("apps") and integration of All Of The Above -- so really, the only place left for true innovation is the Internet of Things -- and even then.. it's just mashing disparate technologies together using a 40+ year old network.

Every now and then some genuine innovation does come along - smartphones, UCS, SSD, Moonshot, that new intel computer-on-a-usb-stick.

We're doomed. Dooooooomed!

Yeah, when I switched back to iOS that was definitely something that took getting used to. It didn't bother me before I switched to Android, but after coming back to iOS, it was like, "Hey, what's wrong with the shift button?" Neither platform is perfect, though. Android irritated me with some of its quirks, too.

Blind spots don't exist because car design makes for them, blind spots exist because drivers never were taught, or never learned, how to properly set up their car.

I've had old cars and new cars, and none of them have had blind spots. Including the Miata what with it's "huge" c-pillars when top-up, an Rx-8 that people insist had huge blind spots and bad visibility, and a Mini with a small back window and fat c-pillars. All these criticisms are bogus, but people *hate* being told they're wrong.

I could spend many bytes explaining why there is no such thing as blind spots, but you'll likely dismiss my explanation. So here, spend some time educating yourself on the problem and the solution.

One way.

Car and Driver's Way.

This is the one I use, they all mean the same thing anyway.

No, Linus needs to use his finger.

This idea is as ridiculous as the opposite extreme, which is imagining that giving the government more money will lead to better education and other social services.

You're both wrong.

I'll be the first to acknowledge that there are many organizational and institutional issues in government agencies which can blow through influxes of funds without any appreciable improvement in services. Yet it's equally true that there are government agencies and programs which run at efficiency levels which beggar private alternatives in comparison.

Tired aphorisms are never going to be an adequate substitute for an intelligent examination of the actual problems faced and a realistic appraisal of the various strengths and weakness offered by public and private approaches.

Se we should all be mindless sheeple who accelerate so slowly you get passed by a scooter, and corner so peacefully that the keychain barely moves away form vertical?

The insurance industry is suggesting we all drive like scared 80 year olds?

I'd rather die or just give the fuck up and get a driverless car.

You're welcome to your opinion, but I fail to see how taking off smartly from a light is going to confuse other drivers.

Are you thinking about me tearing off with smoke coming off my tires? No man. That's not at all what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about doing 50 in a 40, I'm not talking about being an obnoxious hoon. You seem to confuse brisk driving with mad, crazy driving.

The behavior I'm calling out is hazardous -- literally crawling out of a light, and doing 10 freaking miles per hours on a wide sweeper of a left turn at an intersection, with a column of cars behind. As if the road was ice. As if even slightly putting any G at all is going to make the car slide off into the curb. I'm not exaggerating, that's how people drive here.

It that the kind of driving your advocating?

Is someone who briskly takes off from a light -- not doing burnouts or other kinds of hooning, -- automatically less safe than someone who rolls out at snails' pace?

Is someone who goes around a corner with some amount of G automatically less safe than those who take forever to negotiate the same corner?

At least it should catch those who wait until the last moment to brake when approaching a light or other traffic.

This app is going to penalize people that aren't in fact less safe, and it will utterly fail at detecting some truly dangerous driving: Will it detect someone who follows too close? Will it detect eating a double cheeseburger with one hand while applying makeup with
the other? Will it detect someone who's texting while driving? Reaching back to smack the kiddies around? Taking eyes off the road to fuck with the radio or satnav?

Will it detect all those who have their side mirrors way too far in?

No, it won't detect truly dangerous behavior and will penalize those who like to have a little fun with their cars without endangering anyone. Because, you know, not everyone sees cars as a mere conveyance or appliance.