Narz
keeping it real
Yeah I like that notjustbikes guy. He makes me want to visit Netherlands
Are you a fan of cars?
- Thread starter QarQing
- Start date
Thorgalaeg
Deity
I didn't even go looking for this image. Some combination of Yahoo and my browser just put it in front of me this morning. (I think the church is circled in red just to orient the viewer's perspective.)
That's Detroit, btw, but I know there are similar scenes all across the country. If anyone has ever visited Boston, you might have been to The North End, our Italian-American neighborhood. There's also a South End. There used to be a West End, until the era of 'urban renewal.' It saw populations of African-Americans and Irish in the 19th C., and Greeks, Armenians, Lebanese & Syrians, and European Jews in the 20th C, and was demolished in 1958. Leonard Nimoy was from there. He said it was crowded, but vibrant. Lots of different languages, lots of different food. Today, there's a highway, a high-rise apartment complex and the campus of Mass. General Hospital.
I didn't even go looking for this image. Some combination of Yahoo and my browser just put it in front of me this morning. (I think the church is circled in red just to orient the viewer's perspective.)
That's Detroit, btw, but I know there are similar scenes all across the country. If anyone has ever visited Boston, you might have been to The North End, our Italian-American neighborhood. There's also a South End. There used to be a West End, until the era of 'urban renewal.' It saw populations of African-Americans and Irish in the 19th C., and Greeks, Armenians, Lebanese & Syrians, and European Jews in the 20th C, and was demolished in 1958. Leonard Nimoy was from there. He said it was crowded, but vibrant. Lots of different languages, lots of different food. Today, there's a highway, a high-rise apartment complex and the campus of Mass. General Hospital.
Very cool.
Here is an brain-meltingly long detective story about why there is a pedestrian bridge over the interstate in Minneapolis that does not seem to go anywhere.
The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge
tylervigen.com
I learned to drive in 1964 and cars culture in the US was just infecting the early boomers. We were surrounded by pop songs about cars.
Spoiler :
EgonSpengler
Deity
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- Jun 26, 2014
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- 11,716
"They also told me they don't eat at Taco Bell. They recommended a better Mexican restaurant on their side of the interstate."The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge
Ajidica
High Quality Person
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2006
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- 22,204
I've driven under that bridge so many times and I just assumed it was there for a reason.Very cool.
Here is an brain-meltingly long detective story about why there is a pedestrian bridge over the interstate in Minneapolis that does not seem to go anywhere.
The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge
In the 80s the I-494 corridor was a booming place*. Minnesota had a lot of computing industry back in the day (Honeywell, CDC, and Cray were based in Minneapolis) and there were hopes to turn the 494 corridor into a Minnesota Silicon Valley. It didn't quite work out but there are still a lot of big corporate offices in the area. Plus there is the single greatest construction in American history, the Mall of America, being the largest shopping mall in America**. I had assumed the bridge was built in the 80s for a project that never panned out.
*Fun fact, the car dealership in Fargo was built along 494 and is currently the Bestbuy headquarters.
**Minnesota is also home to the first modern shopping mall, Southdale Mall, created by an Austrian socialist to combat America's car culture by creating a European style shopping experience.
Plains-Cow
Best Resource; Always Wins
Cars are fun to nap in!
Moff Jerjerrod
Deity
I used to be into cars a lot. Now that it is becoming increasingly harder to find a car with a manual transmission (at least here in the states) I've lost a lot of interest.
If I can't drive a manual, what's the point of driving?
If I can't drive a manual, what's the point of driving?
Thorgalaeg
Deity
I drive an automatic hybrid at work. It is like driving a forklift. Pretty boring but pretty easy. So for going from A to B it has adventages. Wouldnt call that driving though, great part of the fun of driving is to manage the engine rpm yourself.
Narz
keeping it real
Come to UK seems like 90% of cars are manual here.
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2008
- Messages
- 25,121
Really...you basically can't buy a new manual these days in the US unless on high-end sports cars. I learned how to drive on manual and used it for some years. I still find myself putting my hand on the auto shift stick in the middle console without thinking about it.
Remorseless1
Emperor
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- Jan 24, 2022
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- 1,156
What, no Hot Rod Lincoln?
Hot Rod songs were not as cool as Cobras, Stingrays, and T-birds.
Thorgalaeg
Deity
Cobra is my favorite car. Had the chance to get one (a replica obviously lol) but the ones under my reach were pretty underpowered. So to get an underpowered falsification I better got my current little beast and even saved a few grands.
Even a 289 Cobra would be pretty awesome even if not very pc today.
caketastydelish
Deity
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- Apr 12, 2008
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- 9,571
I’m saving up for an electric one to reduce my carbon footprint.
Perfection
The Great Head.
Nah I prefer Toy Story
Thorgalaeg
Deity
The one under my budgetary limits was a 1987 Pilgrim Sumo Cobra replica with 3 liters V6 150 hp engine and like 80,000 km. It was nice and all and felt solid but still they are terribly overpriced for that they really are imo. So i got my more modest Opel with half the kms, twice the power and considerably cheaper, and I can use it to go to the supermarket and all (can't buy too much though specially If I want to be able to retract the roof
)
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Mozilla calls cars from 25 automakers 'data privacy nightmares on wheels'
Privacy-invading data harvesting by smartphones, wearable devices, smart doorbells, and reproductive health apps are well known, but the Mozilla Foundation has found the worst threat to your privacy may be parked in your driveway.
The foundation, the Firefox browser maker’s netizen-rights org, assessed the privacy policies and practices of 25 automakers and found all failed its consumer privacy tests and thereby earned its Privacy Not Included (PNI) warning label.
In research published Tuesday, the org warned that car manufacturers may collect and commercially exploit much more than location history, driving habits, in-car browser histories, and music preferences. Instead, some makers may handle deeply personal data, such as – depending on the privacy policy – sexual activity, immigration status, race, facial expressions, weight, health, and even genetic information, the Mozilla team found.
Cars may collect at least some of that info about drivers and passengers using sensors, microphones, cameras, phones, and other devices people connect to their cars, according to Mozilla. And they collect even more info from car apps – such as Sirius XM or Google Maps – plus dealerships, and vehicle telematics.
Some car brands may then share or sell this information to third parties. Mozilla found 21 of the 25 automakers it considered say they may share customer info with service providers, data brokers, and the like, and 19 of the 25 say they can sell personal data.
More than half (56 percent) also share consumer information with the government or law enforcement in response to a "request." This isn't necessarily a court-ordered warrant, and can also be a more informal request.
And some – like Nissan – also use this private data to develop customer profiles that describe drivers' "preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes."
Yes, you read that correctly. According to Mozilla's privacy researchers, Nissan says it can infer how smart you are, then sell that assessment to third parties.
"Why does a car company need to make an inference about my intelligence? It gets creepy really fast," PNI program director Jen Caltrider told The Register.
Nissan, according to the research, is "probably the worst car company we reviewed, and that says something because all car companies are really bad at privacy."
"Please people, if you care even a little about privacy, please stay as far away from Nissan's cars, apps, and connected services as you possibly can," it continues.
According to the Nissan USA privacy notice, the automaker may collect and share a ton data for targeted marketing purposes, including:
"Nissan's privacy policy stands out as one of the most amazing things I've ever read," Caltrider said. "They aren't shy about saying they could collect all of this stuff."
But Nissan isn't the only brand to collect information that seems completely irrelevant to the vehicle itself or the driver's transportation habits.
"Kia mentions sex life," Caltrider said. "General Motors and Ford both mentioned race and sexual orientation. Hyundai said that they could share data with government and law enforcement based on formal or informal requests. Car companies can collect even more information than reproductive health apps in a lot of ways."
The Mozilla Foundation also called out consent as an issue some automakers have placed in a blind spot.
"I call this out in the Subaru review, but it's not limited to Subaru: it's the idea that anybody that is a user of the services of a connected car, anybody that's in a car that uses services is considered a user, and any user is considered to have consented to the privacy policy," Caltrider said.
Opting out of data collection is another concern.
Tesla, for example, appears to give users the choice between protecting their data or protecting their car. Its privacy policy does allow users to opt out of data collection but, as Mozilla points out, Tesla warns customers: "If you choose to opt out of vehicle data collection (with the exception of in-car Data Sharing preferences), we will not be able to know or notify you of issues applicable to your vehicle in real time. This may result in your vehicle suffering from reduced functionality, serious damage, or inoperability."
While technically this does give users a choice, it also essentially says if you opt out, "your car might become inoperable and not work," Caltrider said. "Well, that's not much of a choice."
Privacy-invading data harvesting by smartphones, wearable devices, smart doorbells, and reproductive health apps are well known, but the Mozilla Foundation has found the worst threat to your privacy may be parked in your driveway.
The foundation, the Firefox browser maker’s netizen-rights org, assessed the privacy policies and practices of 25 automakers and found all failed its consumer privacy tests and thereby earned its Privacy Not Included (PNI) warning label.
In research published Tuesday, the org warned that car manufacturers may collect and commercially exploit much more than location history, driving habits, in-car browser histories, and music preferences. Instead, some makers may handle deeply personal data, such as – depending on the privacy policy – sexual activity, immigration status, race, facial expressions, weight, health, and even genetic information, the Mozilla team found.
Cars may collect at least some of that info about drivers and passengers using sensors, microphones, cameras, phones, and other devices people connect to their cars, according to Mozilla. And they collect even more info from car apps – such as Sirius XM or Google Maps – plus dealerships, and vehicle telematics.
Some car brands may then share or sell this information to third parties. Mozilla found 21 of the 25 automakers it considered say they may share customer info with service providers, data brokers, and the like, and 19 of the 25 say they can sell personal data.
More than half (56 percent) also share consumer information with the government or law enforcement in response to a "request." This isn't necessarily a court-ordered warrant, and can also be a more informal request.
And some – like Nissan – also use this private data to develop customer profiles that describe drivers' "preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes."
Yes, you read that correctly. According to Mozilla's privacy researchers, Nissan says it can infer how smart you are, then sell that assessment to third parties.
"Why does a car company need to make an inference about my intelligence? It gets creepy really fast," PNI program director Jen Caltrider told The Register.
Nissan, according to the research, is "probably the worst car company we reviewed, and that says something because all car companies are really bad at privacy."
"Please people, if you care even a little about privacy, please stay as far away from Nissan's cars, apps, and connected services as you possibly can," it continues.
According to the Nissan USA privacy notice, the automaker may collect and share a ton data for targeted marketing purposes, including:
Sensitive personal information, including driver's license number, national or state identification number, citizenship status, immigration status, race, national origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, sexual activity, precise geolocation, health diagnosis data, and genetic information.
"Nissan's privacy policy stands out as one of the most amazing things I've ever read," Caltrider said. "They aren't shy about saying they could collect all of this stuff."
But Nissan isn't the only brand to collect information that seems completely irrelevant to the vehicle itself or the driver's transportation habits.
"Kia mentions sex life," Caltrider said. "General Motors and Ford both mentioned race and sexual orientation. Hyundai said that they could share data with government and law enforcement based on formal or informal requests. Car companies can collect even more information than reproductive health apps in a lot of ways."
The Mozilla Foundation also called out consent as an issue some automakers have placed in a blind spot.
"I call this out in the Subaru review, but it's not limited to Subaru: it's the idea that anybody that is a user of the services of a connected car, anybody that's in a car that uses services is considered a user, and any user is considered to have consented to the privacy policy," Caltrider said.
Opting out of data collection is another concern.
Tesla, for example, appears to give users the choice between protecting their data or protecting their car. Its privacy policy does allow users to opt out of data collection but, as Mozilla points out, Tesla warns customers: "If you choose to opt out of vehicle data collection (with the exception of in-car Data Sharing preferences), we will not be able to know or notify you of issues applicable to your vehicle in real time. This may result in your vehicle suffering from reduced functionality, serious damage, or inoperability."
While technically this does give users a choice, it also essentially says if you opt out, "your car might become inoperable and not work," Caltrider said. "Well, that's not much of a choice."
One of several reasons why my no-data-collecting '07 Mustang is still in my driveway.
The others are things like V8, stick shift, ragtop, relatively inexpensive to insure, and very very paid off.
