In an article about the giant slalom, the following:
jeff 16 minutes ago
Thanks Yahoo for putting this on the main page, and being a spoiler. Since most of us don't get to watch the olympics until the evening, I guess you think it's best if you take all the mystery out of delayed Olympic broadcasts and just telling us who won, without giving Yahoo users the option of deciding if they want to click on an Olympics news link.
Stupid Yahoo.
Is that really Yahoo's fault? I'd venture to say that it is NBC's ineptitude that is the root cause of all this. After all, with the Olympics being held in Vancouver, it's not like there is a significant time difference for the people living in the United States. It could have broadcast the event on the NBC main channel, but instead, they decided a repeat of The Martha Stewart Show would be more interesting.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Mrs. Smith
Rhonda Smith of Tennessee testified that her Lexus accelerated to 100mph and continued to do so even when she
-hit the brake pedal with both feet
-pulled the handbrake
-shifted to neutral
-shifted to reverse
Right. Let's assess this.
Stepping on the brake pedal with both feet:
I drive a Toyota. The brake pedal is not wide enough that both feet will actually fit on the pedal. If one is not careful it's actually more likely that the right foot will come in contact with the accelerator pedal, but let's just say it was an action in desperation.
Pulling the handbrake:
Pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of stopping the car. No, wait. What I meant to say was, pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of locking the rear wheels and spinning wildly out of control, resulting in a terrifying experience. It's a front-wheel drive car, too.
Shifting to neutral:
Mrs. Smith apparently has an incredible car that accelerates even when the engine isn't in gear. If this is the case then Toyota will need to reassess the problem, because it's obviously a transmission defect, not an engine one. Which is odd, because no one has mentioned that possibility.
Shifting to reverse:
Shifting to reverse while moving forward at close to 100mph will surely destroy the transmission. Instead, Mrs. Smith claims the car continued to accelerate. Again, this suggests a transmission problem.
From the above evidence, we can conclude that there are four possibilities:
-User error. Mrs. Smith is deeply confused about the events that transpired.
-Mrs. Smith is lying.
-Toyota has created a car that does things that are physically impossible.
-Act of God. The (foot) brakes, handbrake, transmission, and accelerator simultaneously malfunctioned, and then mysteriously fixed itself moments later.
It was also mentioned that while doing all of this at 100mph, she was able to phone for help.
The Wall Street Journal has revealed that the car was later sold and has performed flawlessly for the past 27,000 miles. This raises more questions:
-The ethics of the Smiths. Did they fully disclose what they claim to have happened? Complete with tears like in Congress?
-The mentality of the buyers. If full disclosure had taken place, the buyers are either crazy or rational. They don't care that the car supposedly almost killed someone, or they have deduced from the evidence that Mrs. Smith is the crazy one and they're getting a good deal on a Lexus.
"She said 'neither Toyota nor NHTSA' took her seriously when she reported the incident."
I don't blame them.
-hit the brake pedal with both feet
-pulled the handbrake
-shifted to neutral
-shifted to reverse
Right. Let's assess this.
Stepping on the brake pedal with both feet:
I drive a Toyota. The brake pedal is not wide enough that both feet will actually fit on the pedal. If one is not careful it's actually more likely that the right foot will come in contact with the accelerator pedal, but let's just say it was an action in desperation.
Pulling the handbrake:
Pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of stopping the car. No, wait. What I meant to say was, pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of locking the rear wheels and spinning wildly out of control, resulting in a terrifying experience. It's a front-wheel drive car, too.
Shifting to neutral:
Mrs. Smith apparently has an incredible car that accelerates even when the engine isn't in gear. If this is the case then Toyota will need to reassess the problem, because it's obviously a transmission defect, not an engine one. Which is odd, because no one has mentioned that possibility.
Shifting to reverse:
Shifting to reverse while moving forward at close to 100mph will surely destroy the transmission. Instead, Mrs. Smith claims the car continued to accelerate. Again, this suggests a transmission problem.
From the above evidence, we can conclude that there are four possibilities:
-User error. Mrs. Smith is deeply confused about the events that transpired.
-Mrs. Smith is lying.
-Toyota has created a car that does things that are physically impossible.
-Act of God. The (foot) brakes, handbrake, transmission, and accelerator simultaneously malfunctioned, and then mysteriously fixed itself moments later.
It was also mentioned that while doing all of this at 100mph, she was able to phone for help.
The Wall Street Journal has revealed that the car was later sold and has performed flawlessly for the past 27,000 miles. This raises more questions:
-The ethics of the Smiths. Did they fully disclose what they claim to have happened? Complete with tears like in Congress?
-The mentality of the buyers. If full disclosure had taken place, the buyers are either crazy or rational. They don't care that the car supposedly almost killed someone, or they have deduced from the evidence that Mrs. Smith is the crazy one and they're getting a good deal on a Lexus.
"She said 'neither Toyota nor NHTSA' took her seriously when she reported the incident."
I don't blame them.
Excuses, Just In Case
I feel particularly sorry for Elena Glebova of Estonia, the figure skater whom Korean are blaming for "interefering" with Kim Yu-Na's practice.
In fact, Korean media have listed three roadblocks to a possible gold medal for Kim:
-Interference from other competitors
-Unfair judges
-Poor ice conditions
Please stop complaining and blaming others for your own shortcomings. And don't think everyone else skates on a different ice surface.
While we're on the subject, perhaps you should try a triple axel rather than going for points for something so vague and subjective as "musical interpretation"? Figure skating is a sport, right?
In fact, Korean media have listed three roadblocks to a possible gold medal for Kim:
-Interference from other competitors
-Unfair judges
-Poor ice conditions
Please stop complaining and blaming others for your own shortcomings. And don't think everyone else skates on a different ice surface.
While we're on the subject, perhaps you should try a triple axel rather than going for points for something so vague and subjective as "musical interpretation"? Figure skating is a sport, right?
Monday, February 22, 2010
Toyota's Future
How would Congress like it if Toyota said, "okay, in order to ensure our products are of the highest quality, we're going to close our factories in the U.S. and move them all back to Japan"? After all, the U.S.-sourced parts and assembly seem to be the cause of their problems. I'm sure the UAW lobby would love it, but does anyone else benefit?
Do they not understand that bashing Toyota is not going to cause Ford, GM, or Chrysler's products to be any better in quality?
I don't want to pay taxes if it's going to fund General Motors. Shouldn't there be a civil suit against them? Hasn't the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Wall Street in general led to worldwide financial crisis causing families to fall apart, and lives to be destroyed? Instead the government just throw lots of money at them. Maybe they should give Toyota lots of money and the problem will go away.
Do they not understand that bashing Toyota is not going to cause Ford, GM, or Chrysler's products to be any better in quality?
I don't want to pay taxes if it's going to fund General Motors. Shouldn't there be a civil suit against them? Hasn't the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Wall Street in general led to worldwide financial crisis causing families to fall apart, and lives to be destroyed? Instead the government just throw lots of money at them. Maybe they should give Toyota lots of money and the problem will go away.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Preventing Climate Change
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, signaling six weeks of winter to come. This is great news.
If he had not seen its shadow today, spring would have come early. This would not bode well with environmentalists.
In fact, in an effort to prevent global warming, each year the groundhog should be lit with a bright spotlight so that it always sees a shadow. It's the environmentally responsible thing to do.
If he had not seen its shadow today, spring would have come early. This would not bode well with environmentalists.
In fact, in an effort to prevent global warming, each year the groundhog should be lit with a bright spotlight so that it always sees a shadow. It's the environmentally responsible thing to do.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
