- Feature Articles
- CodeSOD
- Error'd
-
Forums
-
Other Articles
- Random Article
- Alex's Soapbox
- Announcements
- Best of…
- Best of Email
- Best of the Sidebar
- Bring Your Own Code
- Coded Smorgasbord
- Mandatory Fun Day
- Off Topic
- Representative Line
- News Roundup
- Editor's Soapbox
- Software on the Rocks
- Souvenir Potpourri
- Sponsor Post
- Tales from the Interview
- The Daily WTF: Live
- Virtudyne
Admin
:giggity:
Admin
Yep. This was pretty much my first car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Laser#/media/File:1982_Ford_Laser_(KA)Ghia_5-door_hatchback(22643862523).jpg but mine was green and didn't have roof racks.
I think I was taught this as well, but leave the stick in neutral, push into gear immediately as the light goes green. It's been many years since I've driven a manual vehicle. I hired a small truck to move house in 2008 and had already been driving an automatic for a year at that point. I still occasionally have the urge to drop into second going around corners though. :)
My wife has the "automatic only" restriction on her licence so she has only driven a manual a few times as a "Learner".
Admin
Shouldn't there have been some attempt at synchronisation between the wiring? I mean, some electronics that would speed up/slow down the inverter slightly so that when it switched back to "mains" it would not have a nasty jolt? Of course that would be totally less of an impact than reversing direction but it could still cause damage. If there was something like that it would immediately flag that it is abc instead of acb, for example.
Admin
Admin
What I've come to learn is that condescension leads to trouble.
We appear to be on the same frequency.
Admin
looks like Reginald learned what it was like to do without computers for a few days. TRWTF is that there are so many Reginalds out there and so few Mikes.
Admin
Leading to questions like What is the air speed velocity of a fully laden RA80 platter set thrown from its spindle?
http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/physical-object/digital_equipment_corporation_dec/102626588.3.lg.jpg
Admin
Admin
The article is quite clear that the computers are VAXes, which are minicomputers, not mainframes.
Admin
No, I did convince him. He did stop shifting from 5th to 1st after disengaging the clutch and rolling to a stop. I'm quite convinced that he believes I offered him valuable advice that he has now taken.
Admin
There is absolutely no point in putting a hundred shifts' worth of wear on the clutch lift bearing instead of letting the engine idle with the gearbox in neutral.
Any driver who constantly forgets to declutch before trying to put the car in gear is also :doing_it_wrong:.
Admin
If the car is stationary and the clutch pedal is pressed in, then the engine is disconnected from the gearbox and it doesn't matter in the slightest whether the stick is in neutral or not.
Correct procedure is to idle in neutral until just before the light turns green (use experience and the behavior of the cross street's lights to judge this), then declutch and select first gear, then execute a smooth takeoff once the light changes.
Admin
[Insert Darwin Awards JATO-powered car story here.]
Admin
Proud graduate of the Kerbal Driving School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2CS-wtmeWk
Admin
At that time it was not so clear where the boundary was. A mini-computer was a mini-computer only because the vendor called it one.
Sample Vax780: http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/Virtual_Visible_Storage_Photos/physical_objects/minicomputers/no%20number%20VAX%2011-780_src.jpg
We had a 780 and a few 750s (unmistakably minicomputers) the followed our Sigma-7
https://www.uwyo.edu/infotech/aboutit/history/images/sigma7.gif
which by the way SDS (later Xerox) also called a mini-computer.
Admin
My current tactic. Easier on the feet as well. This preparation also allows my advantage of not having the delay of lifting the foot off the brake and then applying the accelerator. I can just be ready to accelerate half a second before the light goes green and then be the first off the line nearly every time (except others who have more powerful cars).
Admin
Well I was hoping from personal experience. ;-)
I think you're right.
Admin
OH SNAP!
Someone got pedantic'd!!!
Admin
I've always idled with the clutch down, but I may want to switch to doing it in neutral at least when I'm not at the front of the line - my new car has an automatic engine stop/start system, so the engine stops when it's in neutral with the clutch up.
If I have to brake while idling on an incline, I use the handbrake.
Admin
Admin
The article's explanation of 3-phase power is one of the stranger ones I've heard. Creating '“dead” moments in the cycle, where no work is being done' is something that hardly noticeable in anything below several 100 kW. 3-phase is more economical because it needs less copper for a given power requirement, and it's also practical in high-voltage transmission lines because you can divide the necessary wire cross section in 3 in such a way that the electric field of all of them all but cancels out. It doesn't get to zero because of the distance between the wires but it's a significant advantage. If you need 3000/3600 rpm, motors are also simpler and more robust designs in 3-phase.
Admin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8gvgISVHak
Admin
There are inclines in the Netherlands? :fire:
Admin
Yes, on the bridges over the canals.
Admin
Got it in one!
Admin
One behind-the-scenes factor in all this: The electricians were probably unionized, and Mike probably wasn't. That means that to protect their own they were likely to close ranks and screw over Mike. Indeed, it's quite possible that Reginald or somebody else in management knew that that was going on, but decided to fire Mike rather than Barry because to fire Barry would risk some sort of union action on the part of the IBEW, and to fire nobody would risk the wrath of upper management.
The hint about "you’ve got to learn a little about what it’s like to work for a living" also strongly suggests that this was a unionized-blue-collar white-collar issue.
And I'm normally a pro-union guy: And of course, if Mike had a union too, it might have turned out differently.
Admin
It wasn't Mike's job to give them an accurate, exhaustive list of every possible thing that could go wrong if the electricians somehow fucked it up. So no, he did not deserve to be fired.
Shifting down to 2nd is fun for those times when you want to very rapidly decelerate to 20 MPH without those pesky brake lights warning the person behind you...
It's really bad for the clutch - it puts a ton of unnecessary wear on the bearings. Just press it briefly to shift into neutral, then release it until you're ready to shift back into first.
That engine can't possibly be running... are they rolling the car with it in gear?
Admin
Maybe they're driving it off the starter motor? You can certainly hear revving sounds, so who knows what's going on.
Admin
You can clearly see a tow cable.
Not sure what's going on with the engine noise, it's either dubbed in later or the noise from the towing truck? (Which looks like it's just a pickup.)
Admin
Might be just all that moving metal vibrating because the engine isn't in one piece or lubricated. Mind you, it's a Rover so it's an utter pile of :shit:; that noise could just be what it sounds like anyway.
(I remember for decades how you used to have to try to avoid getting cars that were fabricated on a Friday, as the build quality always dropped a lot on the last day of the working week. This was true of all the big UK manufacturers. Then the Japanese moved in, and never allowed that sort of ridiculous stuff in their plants…)
Admin
I already knew your reading comprehension was terrible, but I think this is the first time I've ever encountered somebody with terrible video comprehension.
Admin
Do explain, then, how the engine sounds like it's being run without spark plugs.
Admin
Seriously? What part of
is too hard for you?
Or are you truly too mechanically challenged to understand that when a manual-gearbox car is in gear, there's a deterministic relationship between the rotation of the road wheels and the movement of the pistons in the engine?
Or if none of that is the source of your confusion: what kind of noise did you expect from four fully exposed pistons operating at (allegedly, per video title) 167Hz?
Kids these days.
Admin
One of the things that struck me in the video is that, as they're towing it down the road with the engine spinning, the oil pump is spewing whatever is left in the crankcase all over the road. There is clearly less of during the second, higher speed run, resulting in the engine seizing up at the end.
Admin
And all over Colin!
Admin
No, Corporal Crazypants, I don't drive manual, as I've said many times here, because it's not a valuable skill to me in the exclusively-city driving I do. so I didn't know that. But I guess a stalker like you who can't be bothered to read what others have written.
Admin
Nothing wrong with this. It wears the thrust bearing a little more but that's not really a problem given the likelihood that something else will fail first.
The advantage is that when you see somebody behind approaching quickly and unable to stop, you're already in gear ready to get out of the way.
Motorcycle training has the rider put the left foot on the ground when stopping. The left foot is the gear-changing foot. You sit at a stop in gear all the time. In fact, you should always be in an appropriate gear for a "get the fuck outta here" maneuver, which means you should be down-shifting as appropriate the whole time you're slowing down.
Admin
... except the aforementioned "get the fuck outta here" maneuver.
Or an automatic driver, which is also :doing_it_wrong:
Admin
Exposing your ignorance again? You should just pipe down when people are discussing anything mechanical.
Admin
Another stalker heard from!
Admin
http://i.imgur.com/H3GyU.jpg
Admin
No, that'd be cool.
Admin
That only applies when you're at the front of the queue and it's the vehicle immediately approaching from behind that is unable to stop. Otherwise, you either won't see them or you won't be able to get out of the way. And having been actually in this situation (just ended up with a light bump, absorbed by the tow bar, but the vehicles behind were wrecked) there's really nothing you can do; the reasons for not going tend to still be there even if there's trouble from behind.
Fortunately, modern cars are way more survivable for their occupants in a crash of this sort than any motorcycle ever could be.
Admin
Admin
Or when you've planned ahead and left yourself an emergency escape route.
Depending on the bike, motorcyclists often sit higher than most cars, giving better visibility. It's true that having a vehicle behind does give a little inertial protection so it's less critical.
My vehicle is also higher than most cars so I can still see behind them.
Very very true. A rider who doesn't remain alert and aware of his surroundings is a dead rider.
Admin
One might be correct on that point, but one might not consider that the right foot is required on the rear brake to avoid inadvertently performing the maneuvre sooner than intended. Also, using the rear brake while accelerating is a common technique for smoothly modulating acceleration on a motorcycle, or to control wheelspin or wheelies.
Admin
Admin
There's usually somewhere to go, even if it's not ideal or not very far. Riding between the cars in front even if you don't properly fit is better than being squished into the boot of the car in front. Or mount a kerb or traffic island, or onto the opposite side of the road if you're really desparate. Just about anything that removes you from the path of the car about to hit you or puts something between it and you or even just increases the distance, however small, is going to be helpful.
Admin
I don't think you realise just how cramped some of our roads are
Admin
Cramped, you say? [image]