Your unpopular (non-political, non-offensive) opinions!

[Bitter]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

Fair.

 

On a related note, Ube is the perfect Ice Cream flavor.  There are types of people who disagree; those who have never had it, and those who are wrong.

What is it?

[IPD]

16 minutes ago, Bitter said:

What is it?

[Bitter]

12 minutes ago, IPD said:

Hmmm that looks interesting, I do like sweet potato/yam.

[Bombastinator]

After having watched as much of the Munsters as I can stomach my considered opinion is that all rob zombie movies are of the same quality level (very low) regardless of how much budget he has.  More money doesn’t help.  As a director, he just sucks out loud no matter what. Giving him more money doesn’t help.  That was one of the most astoundingly unimaginative unoriginal movies I have ever seen.  He makes more sense than Ed Wood, but the chances Ed Wood would become a reasonable director if given a real budget are higher than for this guy simply because they are above zero.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Bombastinator

[IPD]

StarForge's logo looks like a dick and balls.

[solado]

Quite an unpopular opinion but after observing influencers selling marketing courses, affiliate projects and looking into people complaining online about their financial situation... a large % people aren't financially stable because of poor financial decisions. Plenty of people make a decent salary but don't think about where their money is going and feel the need to spend it rather than invest it in a broad market ETF or save for a rainy day.

A lot of people's debt is unnecessary and in most cases self inflicted.

 

[IPD]

2 hours ago, solado said:

Quite an unpopular opinion but after observing influencers selling marketing courses, affiliate projects and looking into people complaining online about their financial situation... a large % people aren't financially stable because of poor financial decisions. Plenty of people make a decent salary but don't think about where their money is going and feel the need to spend it rather than invest it in a broad market ETF or save for a rainy day.

A lot of people's debt is unnecessary and in most cases self inflicted.

 

FACT.  Preach it.

 

And social media hasn't helped, because it's now easier than ever to see what the Jones' are doing/spending on--and feel jealous about it.

[pythonmegapixel]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

  

4 hours ago, solado said:

Quite an unpopular opinion but after observing influencers selling marketing courses, affiliate projects and looking into people complaining online about their financial situation... a large % people aren't financially stable because of poor financial decisions. Plenty of people make a decent salary but don't think about where their money is going and feel the need to spend it rather than invest it in a broad market ETF or save for a rainy day.

A lot of people's debt is unnecessary and in most cases self inflicted.

 

 

And social media hasn't helped, because it's now easier than ever to see what the Jones' are doing/spending on--and feel jealous about it.

"What laptop should I buy - using it for web browsing, Microsoft Office and Cool Math Games - budget $2000" type posts don't help either. In general, anything that suggests people should buy things they don't need and have no real use for is bad for the people involved, for society and for the environment.

 

There are plenty of people who are genuinely in financial difficulties through no fault of their own, though, and the general contempt for the poor that some seem to have is extremely worrying. Especially (at the risk of getting too political) when in some supposedly developed countries, one can work very hard in a job which is very beneficial or important to others and still barely manage to get by.

[IPD]

That's why Macklemoore's "Thrift Shop" was such a great song.  Thing is though, people still are in this mindset of having to always have the latest/greatest.  No reasons, just "that's what everyone else has".

 

You could drive a car with 5 grand that is 20 years old and you've had for over 10 years--know inside and out and is quite reliable...but if you can't ever extricate yourself from giving a shit about the stigma from those hemorrhaging cash on frivolities--you're doomed.  So instead, people will buy something new, pay 40% value in depreciation alone, and then constantly live paycheck to paycheck.

 

---

 

I don't want to get to retirement age and have to take stock of my income and try and downsize my lifestyle to live within that fixed income.  I'd rather just work harder now, live more frugally, have no debts--and then never have to worry about it a a decade or 2 down the road.

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, IPD said:

That's why Macklemoore's "Thrift Shop" was such a great song.  Thing is though, people still are in this mindset of having to always have the latest/greatest.  No reasons, just "that's what everyone else has".

 

You could drive a car with 5 grand that is 20 years old and you've had for over 10 years--know inside and out and is quite reliable...but if you can't ever extricate yourself from giving a shit about the stigma from those hemorrhaging cash on frivolities--you're doomed.  So instead, people will buy something new, pay 40% value in depreciation alone, and then constantly live paycheck to paycheck.

 

---

 

I don't want to get to retirement age and have to take stock of my income and try and downsize my lifestyle to live within that fixed income.  I'd rather just work harder now, live more frugally, have no debts--and then never have to worry about it a a decade or 2 down the road.

Is that anything like Alice’s resteraunt?  I’m just old I guess.  Unfortunately the world changes to fast for that to work with anything like reliability.  It DOES allow a lot more flexibility though which may amount to something very similar.

[IPD]

There's a large contingent of people who still drive 20+ year old cars--and the reasons are usually that they're easier to work on.  So I would argue that reliability is better on some older stuff--especially if you are OCD about preventive maintenance and upkeep.

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, IPD said:

There's a large contingent of people who still drive 20+ year old cars--and the reasons are usually that they're easier to work on.  So I would argue that reliability is better on some older stuff--especially if you are OCD about preventive maintenance and upkeep.

That 20+ is more like 40 or 50+ these days though.  Some of the 70’s stuff is even more of a nightmare than modern computer control because of all the early emissions stuff.  Vacuum hoses like many legged undersea creatures covering the engine.  I forget when OPEC put the hammer down and everything changed.  It was during the Carter administration though. 

Edited October 2, 2022 by Bombastinator

[Quackers101]

chromebooks or their OS could be a really neat thing.

Something that could have opened up new options a better digital world, until it all went crap.

Everything being more locked off, no longer worked on, lack of support and easier "trashware" or e-waste than what it could have been. More so when chrome flex sounded too good to be true, and recent LTT video kind of confirms some of that. also without basic apps for some and not the best UI in some places... makes it not so great and less userfriendly even if the theme wants to be "simple".

[yolosnail]

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

That 20+ is more like 40 or 50+ these days though.  Some of the 70’s stuff is even more of a nightmare than modern computer control because of all the early emissions stuff.  Vacuum hoses like many legged undersea creatures covering the engine.  I forget when OPEC put the hammer down and everything changed.  It was during the Carter administration though. 

 

We have a 10 year old Smart car, and despite all of the Diesel emissions crap they tacked onto the engine, it's been relatively simple to work on when things have inevitably gone wrong. I can just plug in my laptop to it, load up my totally legit copy of the Mercedes diagnostics software and it tells me exactly what the problem is, and how to fix it. 

 

[Bombastinator]

If the car companies had their way that software would be secret and only run on special machines owned by dealerships.  Right-to-repair is not new.  This all happened with cars many years ago.

[IPD]

I think the sweet spot is about the first 5 years or so of when OBD II hit the market.  Computers before that were sketch (most everything 80's), and by the mid 2000's--shit started getting stupid with head units you can't replace, and all sorts of other crap that makes it difficult to work on stuff.

[IPD]

Autopilot is not safe, never will be safe, and is a dangerous means to encourage complacency.  Killing off motorcyclists is its specialty.  Musk is only partially responsible.  The idiots who bought the damn Tesla's and then decided to use the autopilot feature--rather than being competent drivers themselves--they should have their pants sued off.

[Takumidesh]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

Autopilot is not safe, never will be safe, and is a dangerous means to encourage complacency.  Killing off motorcyclists is its specialty.  Musk is only partially responsible.  The idiots who bought the damn Tesla's and then decided to use the autopilot feature--rather than being competent drivers themselves--they should have their pants sued off.

How come nobody complains about these features that are on other cars? I got a Camry rental a while back that had dynamic cruise that would come to a complete stop if the car in front stops (and would start up again with a tap of the gas pedal), it had lane change assist, and would keep you in the lane (auto steer). I would consider that a mild feature set in modern cars.

There is a lot of stuff I hate on tesla for. mostly build quality and the pushing of FSD betas out to the streets.

 

Driver assists are always improving, things like backup cameras & warnings, blind spot indicators, and auto braking fall into the same category of

 

1 hour ago, IPD said:

rather than being competent drivers themselves

yet, they are demonstrably shown to improve road safety.

 

I think that FSD is not safe as it stands and the moral component of forcing other drivers on the road to participate in the beta testing of automotive features is pretty slimy, but it does require that you demonstrate to tesla that you are a safe driver (I don't know what the criteria are) and requires the camera to be on to monitor your attention to the road (privacy arguments aside) but the autopilot features are barely a step higher than you will see from other cars in the same class.

[IPD]

 

The fact that they are relying 100% on cameras and not using FLIR, LRF, Radar and optical--as checks/balances against each other--only speaks of how scummy it is.  It's about saving $$$, and they don't give a shit.

[Takumidesh]

Yea driver aids can fail. Yes tesla could use lidar and other technologies to improve their driver aids. Autopilot is not much more than adaptive cruise control and the fault lays entirely on the driver of the car if the driver aids fail. Why has the goalpost been moved to say that if this driver aid has less/more technology that makes it less or more at fault.

 

My car has basic cruise control, which is a driver aid. It doesn't have any external sensors for monitoring neighboring traffic, does that make my car scummy for not having lidar and radar and a whole host of other technologies? Of course not, it's just cruise control. If I don't hit the brakes when someone is in front of me, it is my fault. Additional driver aids would help proactively, but they don't reduce my liability.

 

Unless a driver aid is mandated and therefore has a minimum implementation requirement (e.g. backup cameras) it really should never be considered as something to be relied on. This is a consumer education issue and these are problems that can be fixed by legislation; requiring additional testing, instruction, and verification of the efficacy of the aids themselves.

 

FSD is a different story all together, which I already stated I dislike. FSDs intention is to be a driving replacement though, which is an important distinction.

 

Again I ask, when a Toyota or Nissan's driver aids fail why is it not worthy of making youtube videos about? Really, complaining about autopilot is like complaining about cruise control, auto-on headlights, or blind spot indicators. All of these are supplemental tools. The complaints, in my opinion should be directed at lawmakers.

 

(fyi, I am basing this on the United States)

[IPD]

I see a difference between tools that will aid drivers in better awareness and deciphering of their surroundings (eg. turn-signals.....for you BMW drivers, those are those arrows that point left and right indicating your intention to go in one of those directions).

 

OTOH, i see things like blindspot cameras as potentially beneficial--but also enabling manufacturers to create even bigger blindspots in their vehicles.  If you can't safely back up by putting your arm around the passenger headrest and looking over your shoulder--your car sucks.

 

I guess it's most irritating that the standards for licensing drivers in the USA have always sucked to begin with--and now that it's possible to go full retard with all the hand-holding your vehicle can do, there's no hope.  We should be increasing the stringency of driver's tests--not keeping them lax.  Does anyone know how to parallel park--let alone do it without a backup camera?  WTF do Americans lose their damn minds at a roundabout?  WTF does no one know how to read a roadmap anymore?

[WhitetailAni]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

WTF do Americans lose their damn minds at a roundabout?

As an American I don't understand this either. It's a circle, with clearly defined movement via arrows and how your car is facing.

Come to a stop (or simply slow if the sign is yield), and go around the roundabout until you end up at the turn you want.

1 hour ago, IPD said:

Does anyone know how to parallel park--let alone do it without a backup camera?

Backup cameras are on every car, no reason to not allow use. They're very VERY helpful when doing parallel parking.

And yes I do know how.

[Bitter]

You parallel park by feeling the curb with your rim, then bumping both cars to help you find the center of the space.

[Donut417]

6 hours ago, Takumidesh said:

gain I ask, when a Toyota or Nissan's driver aids fail why is it not worthy of making youtube videos about?

I think its because Tesla calls it full self driving or auto pilot. Most people hear those terms and think the car can drive itself. Now when you use the term Driver Aid then that means its just suppose to aid in driving. I can confirm that others have issues, my Nissan has had issues with radars used for the auto braking system, generally in heavy rain or in snow it will have issues. 

 

6 hours ago, IPD said:

WTF do Americans lose their damn minds at a roundabout?

I got my license in 2004, I went thru drivers ed. Roundabouts were not discussed. Take my dad who is 65 and been driving forever, roundabouts were not even a twinkle in the eye when he got his license. You are also assuming people read signs, they dont. 

 

6 hours ago, IPD said:

WTF does no one know how to read a roadmap anymore?

In the world of GPS, nope. 

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

I think its because Tesla calls it full self driving or auto pilot. Most people hear those terms and think the car can drive itself. Now when you use the term Driver Aid then that means its just suppose to aid in driving. I can confirm that others have issues, my Nissan has had issues with radars used for the auto braking system, generally in heavy rain or in snow it will have issues. 

 

I got my license in 2004, I went thru drivers ed. Roundabouts were not discussed. Take my dad who is 65 and been driving forever, roundabouts were not even a twinkle in the eye when he got his license. You are also assuming people read signs, they dont. 

 

In the world of GPS, nope. 

Heh. Drove on my second roundabout last week.  Screwed it up bad.  Roundabouts are actually quite old, but they didn’t and still don’t exist in most of the US.  There are more lately though.  They’re generally done as an alternative to stop signed intersections.  They are faster but can be very confusing to the uninitiated.