[hogcowboy]

In high school I actually made money on bets with my 57 Plymouth. I'd bet anyone I could throw it into reverse at 70mph and they couldn't in their car but they would have to try their car first if they accepted the bet. Didn't last long. Everyone soon learned my push button automatic would just go into neutral. But I did win a few bucks and only 1 guy had to repair his. Kids and what they do!!!

 

[Pineknot71]

In high school I actually made money on bets with my 57 Plymouth. I'd bet anyone I could throw it into reverse at 70mph and they couldn't in their car but they would have to try their car first if they accepted the bet. Didn't last long. Everyone soon learned my push button automatic would just go into neutral.

Reminds me of a couple of sucker bets I used to use in friendly situations.

1) Say "Take a $ bill out of your pocket, throw it up in the air, and I bet it will land face up." Most people are in the habit of stacking their bills face up and folding them in half with the face facing them. Even if you hold the bill flat face down at eye level and let go, most of the time it will land face up. Aerodynamics.

2) Let someone shuffle a deck of cards as much as they want to. Then tell them to count out 25 cards in a stack face down on the table. Bet them you can arrange those 25 unseen cards into five pat hands (Pat is defined as flush, straight, full house, or four of a kind with 10 or better). With a little practice you can do it 995 times out of 1000. It's even more amusing when you tell them to take two random cards out of the 27 that are still in their hand and offer to do it again with the 25 cards still in their hand. Or for the second bet, let them choose any 25 cards they want you to use. It's almost impossible for them to select 25 cards you can't rearrange into 5 pat hands.

 

[hogcowboy]

I’ve not done it but I’ve seen the card trick one work.

 

[mike721]

Variable ratio according to speed means lots of electronics and complex mechanisms involved where should be just an axis and two levers and maybe some hydraulic aid... this is an example of over engineering for no reason and planned obsolescence that comes with it. I could argue that it is also dangerous but it's not my business. I just could never buy something like that.

Everyt vehicle nowadays relies on electronics and software literally runs just about everything in the world these days. You'd have to go back to the 1960s to buy a car that runs without lots of electronics and even back then they had some very complex mechanisms, ever see what it took to control an automatic transmission or the fuel/ air flow in a carburetor before computers took over? Elelctroincs and software have made a lot of things less complex mechanically actually.

 

[powertardlord]

Everyt vehicle nowadays relies on electronics and software literally runs just about everything in the world these days. You'd have to go back to the 1960s to buy a car that runs without lots of electronics and even back then they had some very complex mechanisms, ever see what it took to control an automatic transmission or the fuel/ air flow in a carburetor before computers took over? Elelctroincs and software have made a lot of things less complex mechanically actually.

You guys bring examples of good tech like injection which if it is good quality improves the reliability of the engine.. but let's look at CVT and automatic transmission are they improvements over manual for real? lets look at the electronic handbrake and the replacement of the most simple buttons and handles with a touchpad in the infotainment system... infotainment system? really? and electronic keys... just to name a few

Those are not machinery, they are toys. No product from this era will become vintage, just garbage that fail to serve the original owner 1 day after the expiration of the warranty. Pollution is our legacy

edit
If they had only one virtue, honesty (but they have none) they should put a timer for self-destruction in every component of their products and display the time in plain sight, but it is cheaper to be less precise and deceptive than to be honest.

 

[Pineknot71]

Elelctroincs and software have made a lot of things less complex mechanically actually.

Yeah. Electronics and software made things real simple on the 737 Max Airplanes. And 346 people died because of it.

 

[hogcowboy]

That's exactly what I was aiming at in the first post. What happens when these Smart vehicles hiccup? Or you're riding along on your electric motorcycle and you are hit with one of these geomagnetic storms. This could happen well before any expiration dates.

 

[mike721]

Yeah. Electronics and software made things real simple on the 737 Max Airplanes. And 346 people died because of it.

Imagine how many airplanes have NOT crashed because the computers kept them out of trouble... a whole lot more than 2.

There were clearly mistakes made and lessons learned in that 737 Max mess, but it's no different if an airplane crashed because of a software problem or because an engine fell off, or a wing folded up, or a fuselage cracked and blew out under pressure, or...all the other things that have happened when there were mistakes made in engineering.

 

[hogcowboy]

I suppose someone thinks trains are safer. Not hardly. Not even when they were wood or coal burners way before the high tech age. So maybe walking is the best option for many.

 

[Unkle Krusty]

I suppose someone thinks trains are safer. Not hardly. Not even when they were wood or coal burners way before the high tech age. So maybe walking is the best option for many.

Not for my Aunt Margaret. One day she tripped crossing the rail way tracks. She was picked up and removed before a train came. And she did not spill a drop. Must have put the cap back on, before crossing. UK

 

[hogcowboy]

Not for my Aunt Margaret. One day she tripped crossing the rail way tracks. She was picked up and removed before a train came. And she did not spill a drop. Must have put the cap back on, before crossing. UK

Maybe this is why so many snowflakes just stay parked in their parents basement playing video games or virtual reality crap. Much safer than the real world.

But back to Smart bikes or vehicles, what will happen if you are riding or driving one and we get hit by a geomagnetic storm? Can't happen? Bet it does...

What are the hazards of magnetic storms?

Our technology-based infrastructure can be adversely affected by rapid magnetic-field variations. This is especially true during “magnetic storms."

www.usgs.gov

Geomagnetic storm - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Pineknot71]

There were clearly mistakes made and lessons learned in that 737 Max mess, but it's no different if an airplane crashed because of....

The 737 Max mess is just the most obvious example of technology gone wrong.

The point is, if a technological change isn't a clear and necessary improvement, it should always be an optional add on, if it exists at all. And if a change can't be certified 100% failproof, it should have a backup system that is at least as reliable as whatever the "improvement" replaced.

That isn't always practical, but for any system that could cause injury or death, having a bypass and backup should always be the rule until the new way of doing things is totally proven. I don't want my motorcycle fighting me for control of the steering or balance because of a glitch or my cruise control jumping up to 90mph with no way to turn it off. That's just plain common sense.

 

[Unkle Krusty]

Changing to smart TV.
Shirley's new TV is not a smart TV. For $35 we just bought a gizmo that changes it to a smart TV. We are still playing with all the options. It plugged in to an HDMI port, has its own remote. Must get its signal thru the router / wifi. So far we have tried Netflix and Global TV news. There is much more available. UK

 

[Critter]

Roku, Amazon Firetv, or something else.

 

[hogcowboy]

Roku, Amazon Firetv, or something else.

Or maybe Apple TV.