@dan@weird.autos
@dan@weird.autos avatar

dan

@dan@weird.autos

Just a guy who likes fixing up old Volvos and reading about cars. Other interest include analog photography and STEM education.

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Dylan, to random
@Dylan@weird.autos avatar

Jayden and I took an introductory dance class today. We learned the basics of several different steps and it was tough! I don’t have two left feet, but I have a lot to learn. It’s looking like we’re going to buy a handful of classes.

dan,
@dan@weird.autos avatar

@Dylan Not to discourage you because it is a fun and rewarding experience but I do have a story.

My partner and I took dance classes to prepare for our wedding dance. We worked very hard, it really does feel like a sport!

It was great! Then I saw the wedding video. No one would know we took lessons, it was so anticlimactic.

Have fun!

dan, to random
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A fairly large percentage of student's chromebooks have broken track pads. They still move and click, but they won't drag and drop.

This comes up in my class because you need to do that to use the software I am teaching. I have USB mice for the kids with broken trackpads. Today I asked how they take their state mandated test with a broken trackpad.

Turns out the testing software has a workaround built it. Which, FairPlay to to testing giant Pearson, thats pretty smart.

wheeljack, to random
@wheeljack@weird.autos avatar

#QOTD

Scenario: all your currently owned cars have been vaporized in a microwave/non-dairy creamer accident. John Wick will eliminate you and everyone you've ever made eye contact with unless you buy a BRAND new off-the-lot car from a local brick'n'mortar dealership (local here meaning within your state or whatever the analogue to state is for your country). To make this purchase you have your current finances and credit.

What new car are you buying?

dan,
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@Dylan @wheeljack If I was just buying a car for myself the Integra A spec manual is just about perfect.

Except for the price. It needs more power to justify that price. Or be $5k less.

dan, to random
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Maddy really wanted the original Japanese only n64 cart for her 9th birthday.

We had to reset the game so we can start fresh. Or “reset the unevenness” as the translator app said. Then the digital characters begged for their lives. “Even the scent from the room will be gone”.

Cool cool.

dan,
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@Dylan My daughter could probably explain better than me, but I believe the n64 and GameCube versions are essentially the same.

Except the n64 version is in Japanese only. There are buggy aftermarket English translations.

I watched her play for like 30 minutes yesterday and I was impressed with how little the game has changed in the last 24 years.

dan, to random
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I know this is old man yells at cloud shit, but 48 hours between me turning off the heat and turning on the AC is entirely too short.

dan, to random
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Behold a Nissan Murano Cross Cab towing a full sized trailer in the NJ Turnpike.

Checkmate Atheist

dan, to random
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I can't believe I've gotten to the point where I am super thankful for software you can pay for once and use infinitely.

Pixelmator Pro -- IDK how you can keep producing updates for already good software for a one time app store price of 49.99 but thanks

VueScan -- how do you run my ancient Minolta 35mm film scanner?? I use you 3 times a year you always update and get slightly better and never ask me for more money. Thanks

dan, to random
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Came upon some real off-road conditions with the Subaru Outback on a washed out national park service road today.

We promptly put it in X-Mode ...... and backed slowly down the hill and turned around to find pavement.

Dylan, to random
@Dylan@weird.autos avatar

Taking Jayden to her family home is a pretty fun drive by Long Island standards since most of the trip is on the more "technical” half of the Southern State Parkway. We usually head back later in the evening when there isn't any traffic. It also means that I can (very safely & very legally) hustle down the road a little bit.

On my way home last night I cruised alongside a red GR86 for a few exits. What a cool-ass car. The driver was chill too. We kept up with each other without racing.

dan,
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@Dylan Enjoying all those Robert Moses roads designed for people leisurely driving jalopies at 40mph, but coincidentally also perfect for Miatas. Assuming everyone else isn't slowing you down.

dan, to random
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Apparently some big Fortnight update or whatever is coming out soon. Imagine the futility of trying to teach an algebra lesson Christmas morning with the presents just sitting there under the tree.

Thats what it's like trying to teach a middle school boy today.

dan,
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@Dylan This reminds that how in my suburban not quite beach town growing up there were always rumors that more rural schools got off for the first day of deer season (true) and the really salt air beach towns would get a day off to surf (99% sure urban legend).

Modern problems require modern solutions?

dan, to random
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Look I know you are paying for it, and I am sure plenty of people have stories of incompetent employees, but the level of service you receive when you walk into an Apple Store is commendable.

WhyNotZoidberg, to random
@WhyNotZoidberg@topspicy.social avatar

When society collapses because corporations as well as authorities have fired everyone and replaced them with AI that then starts hallucinating results is now popping up on all my bingo cards.

Atm I would call it a 50/50 chance.

dan,
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@WhyNotZoidberg maybe I’m just a hopeless optimist but I just don’t think the current versions of AI being forced upon us are going to collapse society. It’s 100% going to ruin the internet though.

For some reason this doesn’t bother me

dan, to random
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I don' get too excited about concept cars, especially from Mazda, who probably don't have the resources to make anything too interesting these days.

But folks, IT HAS POPUP HEADLIGHTS!

https://youtu.be/mxc-moAbid8?si=Ft_bKk5ehYCJLt-f

dan,
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@rootwyrm I need Torchinsky over at the Autopian to do an investigative deep dive into this, because I will never understand how popup headlights became illegal, but the Ford F-250 child crusher edition is okay.

dan, to random
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George Washington did not kick the King of England’s ass just to have the tyranny of the government telling us what direction to park our cars.

dan,
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@Basmitharts @makesubarugayagain This makes a lot more sense — At first I thought they were claiming that parking in reverse was freedom of expression😂

Basmitharts, to Motorsports
@Basmitharts@weird.autos avatar

Morning friends.


Today is qualifying day for the Daytona24 which marks the start of sportscar season so we are doing a racecar thread.

Show me your favorite racecars or liveries.

dan,
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@Basmitharts I’ll be honest I know next to nothing about racing and motorsports. Yet I think this picture has single handedly delayed the extinction of the wagon. So I will choose it.

dan, to random
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A 1970’s concept sketch by Volvo of an off road SUV.

Via Jalopnik and the Volvo Heritage site.

austincnunn, to random
@austincnunn@weird.autos avatar

People who don’t have a smart speaker in their house for “privacy reasons” but also use social media from their smartphone make no sense to me.

dan,
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@austincnunn Ehh we all have our lines and they are not entirely logical. I’m not a fan of smart speakers.

Yet use a few apps/services that are almost certainly “worse” privacy wise.

pseudonym, to random
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My million dollar idea I want someone to steal and do, so I can be a customer.

"Dumb Stuff" we sell electronic appliances that aren't Internet connected. That's all.

That's it. That's the pitch. I would buy the <bleep> out of this company if their electronic gadgets were even half way decent, and repairable.

Electronic, no wifi, regular screws to open it up. That's it. Do those three things, and you can be sold by this store.

I will pay this business to curate and find these devices for me.

dan,
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@pseudonym It’s not just that things are “smart” they are also often crap. A few years ago we bought a cabin, it came furnished everything was from 1985.

The Sharp microwave that came with the cabin might be the best I ever used. Even my wife noticed it. We are on our second microwave in our main home (one was fairly expensive the other cheap) and they both sucked.

dan, to random
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I went to top up my tires today at a gas station. As I am waiting for the person in the next stall to finish filling their tires I notice they are filling each of their ford escapes tires to 50 psi.

They also had a sticker on their hatch that said “it will buff out”.

dan, to random
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I have always enjoyed the pairing of this fading Italianate mansion with its older Lexus ES in the driveway.

Mark, to random
@Mark@weird.autos avatar

One thing I don’t see in the discourse much is how much time US citizens spend trying to figure out their medical bills.
This Christmas we are visiting my in laws. Every few times we get together my wife spends about an hour or two with her mom explaining her bills to her, highlighting dates and sorting them. We could be making memories but we are stressed out about money.
My MIL is retired and is covered by government insurance, but spends a lot of time on extremely complex paperwork.

dan,
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@Mark My wife is a therapist and on a few insurance boards and does all her own billing.

From the provider side insurance is a hellish mix of clunky systems that overlap and often break. It’s a black box and no one understands how it works. Least of all the insurance company employees.

I call it the great money machine in the sky.

You get the feeling that more sophisticated billers are doing their best to game the system.

And we choose this as a country

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