Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Heebie Jeebies

There is a downside to getting these brand-new cars to test drive all the time. I know what’s coming before you do. A hint, the leading edge. The camel’s nose under the tent. It’s just a whiff, sometimes. But the aroma is unmistakable. The smell of Uncle. His filthy presence, spoiling all the fun.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just get an older car. Or someone will know how to disable then or hack them. Just pay the someone to do that.

FedUp said...

If you're using GPS while driving, you can't object to your GPS device knowing what road you're on.

How can you object to the GPS knowing what the speed limit is?

What I'd like to see is a GPS that warns you 'stop sign in 1/2 mile', instead of cresting a hill and finding out you have to brake for the stop sign you didn't know was coming up.

I got my first GPS to assist with a long trip. I quickly found out that
1: Driving 72mph and never stopping or slowing meant you lost time on your predicted ETA, because the GPS assumed you'd be averaging 74-75mph.
2: Driving 73mph got you the red number warning for going too fast.

Anonymous said...

An interesting post, but with some inaccuracies. User segment GPS recievers are Rx only, like a car radio. They don't communicate with the satellites. They triangulate a user's position based on signals received from 4 or more satellites. Some models have a beacon, but those are for emergency use only. For the vehicle to communicate with a tracking system it will need a different onboard system. It is assumed that such a system would have various interfaces for power, antenna, and sensors. Those could be unplugged or a user could install an attenuator in place of the antenna.

Anonymous said...

I drive older cars for the most part. They are exempt from most of this crap. But rest assured that a market will emerge, albeit it an underground market, that will center around the "assisted malfunction" of such devices. All it will take is a computer hack to find a way to disable and/or erase the memory on these 4th and 5th amendment violating gadgets, and replace that data with manufactured data that is more "user friendly". It was done with catalytic converters and economy based, low emissions biased engine management computers. It will become fun, satisfying and profitable to fuck with big brother's electronic control mechanisms.

Dakota said...

I have a very similar system in my 18 wheeler. It tells you several things, It tells speed limit, (except in construction zones), how fast you are going, if you are five or more MPH over it will beep and give an audible warning. Tells you what road you are on and what streets & roads you are going past. The boss can find out where his truck is sitting any time he wants to know. He can send messages to me. If I over rev the engine or 15 MPH over speed limit it informs him and calls safety director 24/7. We aren't using the paperless log system which keeps track of your hours of driving, off duty, sleeper berth, etc. When they hook that system up I am quitting, I have informed my boss of this and he understands.

skybill said...

Hi Mike,
'Never ceases to amaze me at the number of people I run into that can't navagate their way out of a wet paper bag!! Even with their GPS they are still lost! Anyone remember the old stand by,"Gas station road maps!!" How about go fly an airplane with "No Radio" from point A to B by "Pilotage" that is refering to ground referrences on a "Aeronautical Chart!" (another fancy name for a Texaco road map!" Any old Aviators out there know what an "Iron Compass" is??
BSBD,
III%,
skybill-out

Anonymous said...

It occurs to me that if I am not driving my car - driverless- then I cannot be at fault for anything driving related.

So why would I need insurance against driving mistakes?

Hoisted on their own petard.

Anonymous said...

Best takeaway from the comments:
"But your question “what are we going to do about it?” deserves a serious answer. I don’t have the technical savvy to do it, but I believe we need a national registry of federal functionaries. Something like wiki-leaks; decentralized and untouchable by the PTB, where we are able to update and pull up a database that shows the home addresses, personal cell phone numbers, email addresses, GPS coordinates, job title and chain of command, etc. of every armed member of the bureaucracy from deputy sheriffs to the U.S. Marshals service, and all the alphabet soup agencies in between. Instead of “If you see something, say something”, how about “Know your neighbors”? Because if they hold “public office”, it’s at our expense and they are our employees. Therefore we have the right to know who they are, what they do and where they live as a matter of “public record.” If they want privacy then they need to go get honest productive jobs in the “private sector.”

Do you notice now that the vast majority of SWAT raids are conducted by masked functionaries? It’s not much different than a bank robbery; faces covered to protect the perps. The only thing that will keep people like that “honest” is to strip them of their anonymity. There’s a lot of power in the fear that their fellow countrymen would know where they live if they abuse their office. A lot of them would simply quit. The others would have to be a lot more careful about keeping their oath of office. That’s one practical way I can see to pull some of the beast’s teeth without violating the NAP."

Anonymous said...

For Anon at 3:02 PM on May 14, 2014

But you are, if not the vehicle's owner (renter, leaser, whatever), the human occupying the vehicle. Therefor you are at least partially liable. Of course so would the manufacturer be as well. Remember who makes the rules - lawyers. They're gonna make the laws/rules to make sure lawyers have work and that at least some of 'em get rich.

I also expect that non-robotic vehicles will either be regulated out of existence or relegated to such back roads as to make travel more than a few miles impractical. What's to stop a city from prohibiting vehicles incorporating technology below a specified level from most of the city streets? What if you had to travel a couple of hundred miles (under 3 hours at the 75 mph we are allowed on some parts of the interstate in Texas) solely on Farm-to-Market roads? You know? The roads that follow section lines, sometimes barely have 2 lanes and a speed limit of 60, maybe 65 (except that you can only sustain that speed for a couple of miles before you have to slow down for a square corner at the next section line junction)?

Of course it's liable to be a tad difficult to find fuel to burn for such vehicles after the greenie-weenies get all internal combustion engines regulated out of existence (existing vehicles graciously grandfathered by the benevolent pols) and the oil companies stop distributing/selling gasoline and diesel. Have to go cross country farther than your little electric urban commuter box can go without another 8-hour charge? No problem. Mass transit has had a resurgence. Just let the perverts from the TSA feel you up and ogle your effectively naked body then hop on the train or airship (fast, heavier than air craft will be too expensive to operate for anyone but armed forces). But you won't get to do that often, I'm afraid. People of your class/caste/socio-economic station aren't allowed to flit around the country at will. What? You want to make it easy for terrorists to get to their intended targets?

Welcome to the progressive utopia that I am glad I wont live to see.

Anonymous said...

You can get a GPS signal jammer and turn it on when needed.

http://www.thesignaljammer.com/products/GPS-Jammer.html#reviews

skybill said...

Hi Mike,
I hereby post a bet. A case of Beer to the first poster who accurately describes what is and its' relevance to navigation is from the word "Mercator."
You flunk if you have to use a GPS!!
BSBD,
III%,
skybill-out
PS we'll have to arrange a convenient bar to carry this off, but I'm game, R-U?? IF YOU are an old fart and were in the Civil Air Patrol back when men were men and sheep were nervous and you got your Certificate of Proficiency then "You know the Answer!!!!!!!!"

Any takers??

skybill said...

Hi Mike,
'Figured I'd have an answer by now. 'Guess they're too busy with their GPS's. Well if the power goes out, so does the GPS! Break out the old road map! More than likely it's a "Mercator Projection." Following roads is one thing but which way is "North?" The neat thing about a Mercator map is that "Any straight line drawn on it is a 'Constant Compass Heading!!'" Hopefully when your GPS goes out ya' can find yer way to the next Bar!
BSBD,
III%,
skybill-out

Anonymous said...

Know your vehicle!

OBD-1 is a pretty good compromise of tech advantages (EFI, diagnostics), too bad you have to get a pre-1996.

"no electronics" is the other way, using vacuum control/feedback like a MBZ OM61x engine. IDI Diesel is very fine, 'specially the OM617A in a 300 wagon chassis or Land Cruiser.

Camera and audio recorder is a good idea, but only when you own/control and have deniability of such recordings. Tachyon HD OPS helmet cam serves me well. IR (low-light) version available.