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Comment Utilities (Score 1) 163

I find it amazing that, in the 21st century, the utility we've come to rely on the most is the least reliable. Here in central Florida, we call the power company "Florida Flicker and Flash" because virtually any weather anomaly causes power fluctuations or outages. I can't imagine what it's like in PR.

Comment Re: cause my boss likes us here (Score 1) 422

This is actually a really good idea. I am very good at the technical aspects of my work, but would be a horrible manager. I admit that, and that's why when I was presented with a fork in my career path some 20 odd years ago, I chose the engineering fork instead of going into management. Unfortunately, I limited my potential income by several tens of thousand dollars.

Comment Lost Power (Score 1) 119

Why is it that the utility we rely on most, electric power, is the least reliable? Here in east central Florida, anything more than a brisk zephyr knocks the power out, let alone a hurricane. Any time there is a storm pretty much anywhere, thousands of people lose power. How can we be in 2017 with such a shitty power grid that fails at the slightest adverse weather?

Comment Re: Seattle just closed the I-90 express lanes (Score 1) 245

I can't tell if you're trolling, or are really just an idiot. You do realize that not all loud V-Twin motorcycles are Harley-Davidsons, right? There are loads of morons on excruciatingly loud Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki cruiser type bikes. I dislike loud bikes as much as the next person, but to come out and say that all loud bikes are Harleys is showing how little you actually pay attention.

Comment Re:It's ridiculous this is even a conversation (Score 1) 85

Actually I'm surprised that the congress (or one side anyway) is even concerned about this net neutrality thing. They, collectively, are the reason Comcast, Verizon AT&T et.al are able to do this. By letting these corporations swallow up the smaller competition and becoming all but monopolies in their respective regions, they are responsible for creating this monster. Now they're concerned? Pfffttt... Crocodile tears.

Comment Re:Jeep? Not so much (Score 1) 567

Yes ,but... trucks and SUV's have become soft and squishy because that's what buyers wanted. Women wanted to drive big trucks, but didn't want their delicate bottoms rattled on bumpy roads. As a result, you can't get anything to play off-road in unless you spend an additional bucket of cash in the aftermarket. Shame, but that is how the market works.

Comment Coding != Problem Solving (Score 1) 158

Coding today has become a morass of files sprayed all over the landscape, taking all the fun of logic and problem solving away from "coding". To wit, when I first took up coding for a hobby, it was BASIC on an Atari interpreter. Easy, fast, fun. Then I went on to C with the Borland compiler for DOS based programs. Still relatively easy, but most of all, it was still fun to sit there, solve problems and make things happen with code. Fast forward to today and Visual Studio, QT, NetBeans, etc., spew out such a tangled mass of interwoven crap that it takes more time to figure out where to put a function or include a library than it does to write the damn code. Not to mention the insane verbosity of the languages (looking at you C++ and Java). I gotta say, it's not fun anymore. I can't blame kids for looking at this and walking away.

Comment Re:23% of the company (Score 4, Interesting) 471

Which Beetles are you referring to? The older first gen beetles, with the air cooled flat four chirped because the stock exhaust pipes had perforated baffles that whistled as the exhaust gas flowed through. Replace those tailpipes with, say straight pipe, and the chirp went away. My dad's '61 didn't chirp after he put on some flared stainless pipes. Valves faces and seats aren't lubricated by oil. The valve guides and stems are, but the faces are not. Unless the piston rings are bad. You may be referring to the cylinder behind the oil cooler, which I believe is number 3. It would starve for cooling air and the exhaust valve would eventually fail, popping the valve head off the stem and frag the cylinder. My '70 did that. Good times.

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