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BurntEyes

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Posts posted by BurntEyes

  1. 10 hours ago, tokamak said:

    Anyone used Proton VPN?

    That's what I use. The pay to play version. It's fast, but there are a goodly number of web pages that kick back when in use. Banking is one of them. I've found if I switch to a US first link it works or short term turn it off. Happy to learn of work arounds others might know for this issue, since this now seems to be the VPN thread.

  2. 11 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

    I promise I'm not being glib or facetious here. What would it take for him to get involuntarily committed? The only people I've ever known who have been this reckless and deluded have all ended up on serious psychiatric meds and/or institutionalized.

    Well, my knowledge is dated back to when I worked in the field, but first and foremost a person has to be shown as a danger to themselves or others. Then a court ordered involuntarily commitment can be issued, but it typically requires family members or law enforcement to press for such. In short, again, based on my very dated and incomplete knowledge of the subject, none of the required aspects are present. Even if they were, he would apply a lot of counter pressure with a wrll finanaced legal team and a ton of folks would come to his "rescue". So.. in short, no chance that I am aware of currently.

    I am happy to be corrected by more knowledgeable folks.

  3. 2 hours ago, choripan said:

    I mean, the Catera led to the Alpha-platform cars (CTS-V and ATS-V, and now CT4/CT5), which are one of the few cars you can meaningfully track and put four people in that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

    I hate Musk as much as the next guy, by the way. I'd also add that I'm anti-proprietary just-about-anything, and the closed-off charging network drove me berserk, not unlike Apple's lightning cord or the way they used to do iTunes songs...

    But ... I don't think I agree with the dominant sentiment here that going further down- and mass-market beyond the Model 3 is the play. I follow the auto industry at a distance, and there's a reason that many companies have dropped sedans and cheap cars -- they just don't make enough money per unit of capacity. And while I get the argument about cheap cars bringing customers to a brand for their future loyalty, the data don't indicate that customers are loyal enough to make it worth it and I don't think it's enough to offset making thousands than hundreds per car sold. I think the play for Tesla is not diluting the bread-and-butter of the brand too much by going downmarket, and refreshing their current vehicles.

    But at the end of the day, I think Tesla is a one-trick pony (very-arguably cool tech, big promises, cachet, and fast acceleration set against shoddy build and poor per-dollar performance in anything but a straight line) and others are catching up to their trick while they have no ability to create something "new" again.

    Well, I've long (nearly since Tesla founding) maintained that the biggest issue with Tesla would ultimately be the production scaling ability. Scaling efficiency reduces cost and ultimately leads to a wider market. Further, I was always watching the funding aspect, particularly the subsidy aspect and profit. I long though of shorting, but hey... I didn't. 

    That said, while I agree with your sentiment regarding loyalty to a degree, I don't agree to the extent. There are a goodly number of people that buy a brand. I also think there are car people and people that buy cars. It's pretty clear Tesla created a bit of a hybrid, people that buy Teslas. I think there was a great possibility to get into that market with a lower cost entry. 

    Ultimately, I agree with your one trick pony assessment, but I think the production scaling and lack of a lower cost entry Tesla was the cause. Oddly, I really wanted Tesla to succeed, still want it to. I know the car helped change the market forever. Those are good things. The back end dealing with dead lithium ion batteries and mining for new ones is a bad one, but that's not a Tesla only issue. 

  4. 54 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

    But I remember watching State of Texas or White House press conferences and they'd give some cursory 5 minutes to like a Deputy Attorney General or Secretary of HUD or Air National Guard Colonel...and I just dumbfounded whey the fuck there mucking up the works.  Like "Are we gonna sue the virus, or find it FMAC loan, or napalm it out of existence?  Who the fuck are you people?"  

    I largely agree with the entirety of your post, but this had me cackling and was absolutely quote worthy.

  5. 2 hours ago, chainsaw said:

    Only people who should have Cybertrucks are collectors who intend never to drive it and only to have it on display with other incredibly stupid cars

    A car collection with Cybertruck, Pontiac Aztek, Lincoln Blackwood, GM EV1, Yugo, Cadilac Cimarron, Chevy Citation, Pontiac Fierro, DeLorean, VW Phaeton, Jag X-Type and other similar idiotic blunders by car manufacturers would be worthy. Particularly, if they had narration video/audio of the various surrounding issues and stupidity. I'd visit that museum for sure.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Drool 1
  6. So I grew up in the hood and had some high school friends that weren't exactly law abiding. One of the folks, James, ended getting caught for a home burglary as I was heading off to college. (One of the theives bought a used Porsche 911 with cash that had slight burn marks from opening the safe they took out of the house. Yes, really, and he turned everyone else in.)

    In Huntsville, unbeknownst to me, James upped his game. At one point, while working in Austin, he stopped by with a "co-worker". (He made regular trips from San Antonio back to South Carolina, where he was living but stopped in Dallas to "see friends".) 

    I was pretty sure he was running coke or meth brought in from Mexico. Basically a mule.

    At this stop by, at my work, in Austin, he took me to the back of a van he was driving to show me something.

    It was large bags fulls of hundreds. I told him I wish he hadn't show me that....

    About 3 months later someone in our mutual "network" informs me that James died of a cocaine overdose. That checked the box for me. I was very sad at the loss but it made sense.... until...

    The FBI field office in Austin called me, asked me if I knew James and then asked me to come in for a chat.

    Yeah... I agreed, and was too stupid not to get a lawyer first.

    I showed up and it they were shocked to learn I left work, where I worked and that I was a Texas grad. I guess they just assumed I was a criminal buddy. They then asked me if I knew about James ODing. Asked if knew what he was doing and why the trips to San Antonio.

    I said I guessed it was drug transport, but I never asked and never wanted to know.

    He and a crew were breaking into banks in San Antonio at night, going through the roof. They were looking for the "buddy" James was with when he met me. Basically ended up cutting me lose when I explained my distant relationship back from High School.

    I won't ever defend James' choices, but he was never cruel or mean to anyone. He was a thief, which is bad, but he wasn't evil, just a criminal. RIP homie. 

     

    • Hook 'Em 1
  7. On 4/3/2024 at 4:37 PM, BabaYaga said:

    Lower level of 35 in Austin near 38th 1/2 will pucker you up quite nicely.  The onramp is....spicy.....vertical wall to your right, speeding traffic on the left, and a short ass merge lane.  

    This immediately came to mind. It has always been... an interesting challenge.

    • Rage+1 1
  8. On 4/1/2024 at 9:09 PM, DixonHur said:

    I grew up when the on ramps on Central were like 10 ft long, so I understand the sentiment.

    They were 15 ft long... but you couldn't see the traffic until the on ramp ended because the pillars. So... 1 ft in total.

  9. 2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

    I just saw a still of that dashcam video on Twitter without looking at the headline or anything.  And it's absolutely amazing to me how I could tell in an instant that the wreck was on North Central Expressway.  

    Seriously--is there any more distinctive highway in America (speaking here of the highway itself and not any surrounding buildings/landmarks)?

    Outside of some very specific famous roads, 410 in LA and 40 through Nashville just south of downtwon are only 2 that come to mind. A lot of that might be surrounding area on 410 though. Outside the US probably Autoban. Going to the Sun Road, Bear Tooth Pass and Washington 20, but again like 410 surrounding likely creates my delusion. I knew it immediately before even starting the video.

    • Like 1
  10. 8 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

    lulz at you johnnie come lately motherfuckers. late 90s cable access ftw. alex went down to dps with a camera and it was glorious. then puppetose.

    Pffft. Early 90s they shot in the same building as Raw Time hosted by Dave who prompted local bands, had them perform on his show and had a relationship with several live music venues and got the ones he liked shows on 6th. Cichlid was a curious fish obsessed guy who had a show with what I recall was a smoking hot female co-host and Alex was doing his shtick there too.

    Yeah, 1990s Austin Public Access could be it's own thread, probably is somewhere.

    Edit - found this list on Reddit

    Show With No Name

    The Reel Deal

    Alex Jones (when he was just a crazy local yelling about fingerprint scanners at the sheriff's office)

    The Atheist Experience

    Ol Bitty/Clown Time

    Magic Video

    Capzeyez

    Kevin Booth's random videos

    What's On Your Mind w/ Granny

    Perry Logan

    Sail Hatan

    Mystic Kids Fun Time

     

    Catharsis

    https://youtu.be/FjuqkpAMjLk?si=NDLA3AAvP4ZtKsbr

    /thread derail

    • Hook 'Em 5
  11. 18 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    yeah.  That's what held them back.  They just hadn't ordered enough tacticool gear from compensatingforasmallpenis.com.  That's totally what did it.  Look at these guys, they were practically NAKED!

    new-uvalde-video-03-kvue-jef-220712_1657

    Look carefully at the fuck stick facing the camera on the right.

    Carefully.

    Because he sure as fuck isn't. That guns a low rest. NOT low READY. The barrel might not be directly pointing at his hero buddy's leg, but it's very close if not.

    1) All guns gun are always loaded. (Check)

    2) Never point your gun at something/someone you're not willing/want to destroy/injure/kill (check)

    3) Never put your finger on the trigger until your firearm is down range on target. (CHECK)

    4) Confirm your target (I guess check???)

    Those are the 4 fundamentals of gun safety and in the process of not protecting innocent people during and active shooting, that fuck head is violating all of them.

    I'm not anti-police, nor anti-gun but I'm sure as fuck anti dumb fucking cowards with guns.

     

    • Like 1
  12. Anything John Cusack, including Say Anything. 

    Anything Billy Bob Thorton.. mmmhmmm.

    Anything John Hughes

    Anything movie John Goodman is in. 

    Anything with Penelope Cruz, particularly Open Your Eyes (which is better than Vanilla Sky) and Jamon Jamon because I'm a pervert.

    Am I doing this wrong? I know there are some good movies in that mix above and some great ones, but they aren't all winners.

  13. 2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    I’ve said it so many times, but him being an angst-ridden teenaged 1990s BBS SysOp is only reinforced by having fake accounts that post good things about him.

    Holy shit. Afterhours... BBS, based in Austin Texas. 

    Angry gay owner with serious drug problems and angsty control issues. 

    Wow... that's the best comparison I've ever seen. It's insanely accurate regarding Elon. 

    • Haha 4
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