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Comment Re:They're obsolete. (Score 1) 203

by fahrbot-bot (#66245410) Attached to: The 'Death of the Stick Shift' is Almost Here for Americans

Automatics are ... more fuel efficient (have been for at least ten years now),

This is a straight up lie. A lie promulgated by auto manufacturers to meet fuel efficiency standards, as well as to increase their revenues.
The truth: manuals get better mileage, last longer, and are cheaper to buy or replace the transmission.

Which manuals are more efficient than Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive?

I don't know of any hybrid vehicles ever available with a manual transmission, so you're trying to compare the efficiency of ICE vehicles vs. hybrid vehicles not manual vs automatic/CVT transmissions. Engine/motors and transmissions aren't the same things. :-)

Comment Re:I'll die with my standard transaxle (Score 1) 203

by fahrbot-bot (#66245400) Attached to: The 'Death of the Stick Shift' is Almost Here for Americans

You can tell he's aware of the fact that stick driving results in more distractions, otherwise he wouldn't have typed out a whole paragraph with an irrelevant anecdote trying to convince himself otherwise.

Stick driving might make you feel "connected to the car" but it does distract you from the road.

I'm 63 and have always owned vehicles with a manual transmission and have never found it distracting, though perhaps a bit tedious in stop-and-go traffic. In any case, other may not be (more) distracted either. From Manual transmission enhances attention and driving performance of ADHD adolescent males: pilot study

Results: Subjectively, participants report being more attentive while driving in manual transmission mode. Objectively, participants drive safer in the manual transmission mode.

Conclusion: Although in need of replication, this pilot study suggests a behavioral intervention to improve driving performance among ADHD adolescents.

Referencing that study and pre-clinical reports ADHD and the Adolescent Driver: A Guide to Promoting Safety Behind the Wheel (bottom of article):

Teenagers with ADHD receive more moving vehicle violations (in particular, speeding tickets) than their non-ADHD counterparts. ... [but] ...

There are studies demonstrating that driving with a manual transmission is more stimulating than with an automatic transmission. One pilot study involved 10 adolescents with ADHD who drove a virtual-reality driving simulator in both the automatic mode and the 4-speed manual mode at 8 pm and 11 pm.12 These participants reported being more alert when driving in manual mode; objective measures showed they drove more safely than with an automatic transmission.12

The pilot study was preceded by clinical reports of adolescents with ADHD who said they were less able to daydream when driving a manual transmission. For example, an adolescent reported, "If I don't pay attention to what I'm doing, the car will jerk and stall, and, boy, is that embarrassing."

I guess it really just depends on the person/driver...

Google: adhd manual transmission

Comment Honda models w/manual (Score 1) 203

by fahrbot-bot (#66245250) Attached to: The 'Death of the Stick Shift' is Almost Here for Americans

Even Toyota, Honda, and BMW have all reduced the number of cars for the U.S. market with a manual transmission, the article points out — leaving stick shift-loving Americans with a total of about 24 new-vehicle models to choose from.

I checked recently and Honda only has 2 models available with a manual transmission: Civic Type R ($47.400) and Civic Si ($31,500). The rest of their ICE vehicles are now only available with a CVT. Their hybrid vehicles come with their Two-Motor Hybrid-Electric Powertrain - which uses the electric propulsion motor at low-speeds and adds the ICE at highway speeds via a lockup clutch so there isn't really a transmission. The second (generator) motor and also ICE are used for charging the battery.

While I'd probably really enjoy the Civic Type R or Si, if I ever need/want to replace my 2001 Civic Ex (136k miles) or 2002 CR-V Ex (62k miles) - both manuals and in excellent condition - with another Honda, I'd probably get one of the hybrids as a dislike CVTs and their hybrid power-train seems better.

Comment The Daily Show finds fatal flaw with this scheme (Score 1, Troll) 81

Betting on what Trump is going to say, even with the exact teleprompter text, is an iffy bet.
From ‘Daily Show’ Finds Fatal Flaw in Trump Aide’s Teleprompter Scheme

“I know people are going to say it’s cheating if he knows what words are in the prompter, but with Trump, that’s not a sure thing,” explained the Daily Show anchor [Michael Kosta]. “For example, let’s say he puts a bet down that Trump is going to read the word 'magnificent' in a speech..."

Kosta panned to footage of the president attempting to pronounce that word in remarks about the proposed golden arch in front of the Arlington Cemetery. Instead, Trump pronounced the word as “magnici” and, eventually, decided to give up and used the phrase “really beautiful.”

Comment Re: Can I pay him not to post? (Score 1) 210

You are so wrong. Our entire system is purpose built to be robust, damage tolerant, and function even when humans behave like humans ie imperfect, egotistical, capricious, self centered and self serving. Separation of powers. Checks and balances. The federalist system. The multiple levels of democracy. The separation between federal and state militaries. The free press. And that's just the start of the list. Our system is probably the MOST resistant to would-be dictators and the people who want to have a one-man rule government.

Good points and you're correct, but politicians have to actively participate in those checks and balances and honor the separation of powers, federalism and free press, etc..., and most importantly honor their oaths which are to the Constitution and country, not their parties or people - I think this is currently their biggest failing. They have to be willing to recognize that every little thing they could/couldn't do has *not* been spelled out in detail because it shouldn't need to be if they are honoring those oaths and doing their jobs properly. Personally, I wish the Founders had been a little more specific, if less flowery, about certain things.

Comment Re:Can I pay him not to post? (Score 5, Insightful) 210

Before Trump, it was a cultural norm that a President of the United States was expected to follow ethical and moral guidelines as well as laws; not only because anything less would be dishonorable and a disservice to his country, but also because otherwise he would pay a steep political price for his unethical behavior. Trump's most significant political innovation has taken the form of figuring out how to convince a plurality of the American public that the only real standard for Presidential behavior is "whatever you can get away with".

The Constitution and the proper functioning of our government assume people of good moral and ethical character who will at least try to abide by the spirit, not just the letter, of the law and do what's best for the country -- you know that whole "oath" thing. No administration is perfect, but we really don't have that with this Administration, who actively tries to get away with whatever they can in furtherance of their self interests and agendas, even if it's not what the people want or is in the best interest of the country.

Comment Re:GPL is software herpes (Score 4, Informative) 131

by fahrbot-bot (#66240216) Attached to: FreeBSD 16 Retires the Last of Its GPL Code

Oh, that explains why BSD which predates Linux is an also-ran, while Linux is the world's most popular operating system and many major contributors told us in so many words that they chose to contribute to Linux instead of BSD specifically because of the license.

Some of it is the licensing, with the BSD license having fewer restrictions on reuse, but a lot of it was the early fighting over Unix copyrights, including between AT&T and BSD, when Unix proved to be a viable commercial OS, like with 386BSD (which I used - yes, I'm old :-) ), rather than just a research and university item. While companies were fighting over who would control and profit from Unix, Linux got a head start actually being used. Both have their pros and cons and places where one may be a better choice than the other.

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