Just Saying -- the soapbox thread

[Govmnt_Lacky]

(Jacob puts moderator hat on)

Alright everyone. I think that's stepping over the line far enough. I understand how it's easy to make a quip about someone online, but when typing is involved it's hard to say if someone is joking or attacking.

If you were my kids, I'd ask you to apologize to each other, forgive and move forward in kindness. You're not my kids, you're grown men whom I hope don't need to be told to do that.

(Jacob takes moderator hat off)

Jacob

No problem Jacob. You are correct. It's really not worth it.

[jkokura]

Thanks Greg!

Jacob

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Thanks Greg!

Jacob

No problem. And, I apologize to Jon for making the rude comment. Uncalled for.

[midwayfair]

Thanks Greg!

Jacob

No problem. And, I apologize to Jon for making the rude comment. Uncalled for.

Sorry everyone.

I would have deleted my comments but I can't anymore.

[madbean]

It's okay. We all are capable of losing our tempers and making a bad post. I've edited the original comment.

Please, (for all), remember that this is not Fark or Reddit.

[juansolo]

    PUPPIES!   

[TheDude]

If you were my kids, I'd ask you to apologize to each other, forgive and move forward in kindness.

Sent from my LM-X410PM using Tapatalk

[alanp]

The thought occurred to me today that Toyota, Nissan, and the other major car manufacturers (like Suzuki, etc) need to bring out electric sports cars.

Not a hotted-up Prius or Smart, but a case where the Nissan Skyline team are given carte blanche to come up with an Electric Skyline. Something fast, sexy, and with a historical name behind it. Tesla have made a good one, but... they aren't wellknown as a carmaker, more as having a CEO who has a sideline of agent provocateur.

Because, IMO, just selling electric cars as 'eco-friendly' isn't going to get you the kind of market share it needs. You need aspirational cars -- both superfast voomvoom cars, and also luxury (with two g's... luggxury) of the kind that Maybach can pull off. As well as the greenies, the wider populace needs to buy into this on a mental level, rather than seeing it as being an 'eco-mentalist thing'.

This was brought to mind by some photos of New Delhi, before and after lockdown, and what a difference no cars made to the polluted skyline.

[nzCdog]

Dem fluffy puppies! 

In other news I just had a horrible math test.    Everything is online for the time being, and we had to do it via Möbius/Maple TA 

[Muadzin]

I reckon I must have missed something. Like in cute kittens. 

I don't think the cure will be worse, but it's not going to be good.

Ever watched somebody go through cancer treatments? Trust me it's not pretty, but when the alternative is dying then the choice is a little less difficult, but honestly, not always that clear.

Oh, I think it will be very bad. You can't have the economy shut down, businesses collapse and then after the lockdown pretend like nothing has happened. Shit will be hitting the fan on a scale similar to 2008, if not 1929. And if its not that bad, good, glad to be wrong, but it never hurts to be prepared.

And yes, I have watched people die slowly from cancer. Both my mother and one of my grandmothers. It's not a fate I wish for everyone. But if the choice is between having some people die horribly from a disease or the majority suffer from hunger, I think most people will take their chances with corona and start to loot. The economy has to restart again because when there's no food to buy you can't eat money.

The thought occurred to me today that Toyota, Nissan, and the other major car manufacturers (like Suzuki, etc) need to bring out electric sports cars.

Not a hotted-up Prius or Smart, but a case where the Nissan Skyline team are given carte blanche to come up with an Electric Skyline. Something fast, sexy, and with a historical name behind it. Tesla have made a good one, but... they aren't wellknown as a carmaker, more as having a CEO who has a sideline of agent provocateur.

Because, IMO, just selling electric cars as 'eco-friendly' isn't going to get you the kind of market share it needs. You need aspirational cars -- both superfast voomvoom cars, and also luxury (with two g's... luggxury) of the kind that Maybach can pull off. As well as the greenies, the wider populace needs to buy into this on a mental level, rather than seeing it as being an 'eco-mentalist thing'.

I dunno. People who love thus luxury cars love them for their looks, and that glorious sound you make as you rev up the engine. You won't get that with an electric car. It's always going to be a case like with digital vs. analog. Some people will ALWAYS prefer the sound of analog over digital, so why would that be any different with fast flashy cars?

Besides, those cars are just a tiny tiny fragment of the total car market. If you want to end polution from cars you have to do like Ford did, not design high end cars, but one for the common man. The regular Joe may lust after a Ferrari, he's never in a million years going to be able to afford one. But he still needs something to drive from A to B, one that is affordable, reliable and economic. You're never going to get the masses to drive electric by designing electric super cars that they could never afford anyway. But build something that is cheap, reliable and cheaper to drive then gasoline and if you build it they will come. I for sure would.

This was brought to mind by some photos of New Delhi, before and after lockdown, and what a difference no cars made to the polluted skyline.

New Delhi is like the most polluted city on the planet? That or Beijing. Or Tehran. In the latter you can taste the pollution. I reckon this may be one of the good things to come out of this crisis. People having to work at home and not commute. And discovering that they may actually like it. And companies discovering you can operate that way. I reckon if after this crisis is over, and provided the economy hasn't melted down, a lot more working at home will take place. If only on average we'd all work 1 day per week at home that alone would probably be a big savings for the environment.

[matmosphere]

Sorry for your loss Muadzin. I guess I was trying to make the point that sometimes the treatment is almost as bad as the illness.

It's a difficult issue for sure.  the thing that I keep going back to is that if I decide it's an acceptable risk to do something that's potentially dangerous to overcome some hardship that's fine. But in this case by the nature of how viruses work I am not only taking on that risk myself, I'm forcing everyone else around me to take it on as well, which is far more complex. Put simply taking a personal risk is one thing, but behaving in a way that puts those around me at risk is completely different.

Yes we should stay diligent about disruptions in the food supply but there are ways to manage those issues, and the problems that are arising are from people at plants getting sick. Those issues will just get worse if we let this thing explode again because their will be more sickness circulating.

[TheDude]

But if the choice is between having some people die horribly from a disease or the majority suffer from hunger, I think most people will take their chances with corona and start to loot. The economy has to restart again because when there's no food to buy you can't eat money.

Frankly, with the prevalence of guns in the US, if things got to the point of looting in small towns then this country would likely turn into the complete anarchy of The Walking Dead.


Also, I've been advocating for growing/raising your own food for about 6 years now, and I could go on for hours about it, but essentially the current situation is a great example of why everyone who can, should be doing so. All it costs is a bit of time and space, and even a narcissist can admit that at minimum they get better tasting food as a result. The benefits go far beyond that, but just sharing the basic idea.

Sent from my LM-X410PM using Tapatalk

[jkokura]

The thought occurred to me today that Toyota, Nissan, and the other major car manufacturers (like Suzuki, etc) need to bring out electric sports cars.

Not a hotted-up Prius or Smart, but a case where the Nissan Skyline team are given carte blanche to come up with an Electric Skyline. Something fast, sexy, and with a historical name behind it. Tesla have made a good one, but... they aren't wellknown as a carmaker, more as having a CEO who has a sideline of agent provocateur.

Because, IMO, just selling electric cars as 'eco-friendly' isn't going to get you the kind of market share it needs. You need aspirational cars -- both superfast voomvoom cars, and also luxury (with two g's... luggxury) of the kind that Maybach can pull off. As well as the greenies, the wider populace needs to buy into this on a mental level, rather than seeing it as being an 'eco-mentalist thing'.

This was brought to mind by some photos of New Delhi, before and after lockdown, and what a difference no cars made to the polluted skyline.

Didn't Ford just do this with the Mustang?

Jacob

[alanp]

I'm starting to think that if I ever do upgrade to a soldering station (this would mean that the cheap pencil iron is dead, and the spare even cheaper pencil iron is also dead), I'm going to have an OCD meltdown over setting the temperature.

Partly because that's exactly what happens every time I haul out the hot air station.

[thesmokingman]

I'm that degen that cranked the temp on mine all the way up and left it there ...