Random Thoughts Thread

[G. David Felt]

Seems GM is willing to let software companies battle for their right to build the ultimate auto interface versus current GM interface that is across all four brands. As such, GM has NOT currently stated who will build the next generation interface / HUD for Buick or Chevrolet, but they have committed to two companies.

• Cadillac will have their all new interface, Retina Quality based AR interface with HUD from Envisics
  • https://envisics.com/
  • https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/envisics-ar-windshield-technology/
  • https://electrek.co/2020/10/19/gm-cadillac-lyriq-electric-suv-crazy-head-up-display/
• GMC will have their new auto interface / HUD built by Epic Games using the unreal engine.
  • https://fossbytes.com/epic-games-to-develop-ui-ux-of-electric-hummer-using-unreal-engine/
  • https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gmc-hummer-ev-will-use-fortnites-gaming-platform-epics-unreal-engine/
  • https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/20/gms-official-run-for-tesla-starts-with-its-electric-hummer-debut-tuesday-night-.html
  • https://www.bgr.in/gaming/hummer-ev-to-run-on-fortnites-unreal-engine-reveals-epic-games-918745/
  • https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gmc-hummer-ev-will-use-fortnites-gaming-platform-epics-unreal-engine/

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

[USA-1]

On 10/20/2020 at 5:23 AM, A Horse With No Name said:

Yeah, I sold an Astro/Safari van with over 200K, next owner put another 200K on it. 

Bulletproof. Seriously. 

I put 200K also on an Astro Cargo van, and 175 on another passenger van. Never left stranded, ever. Pulled trailers, did all kinds of crazy stuff, overlaoded the work van with ladders on a ladder rack....they kept chugging along. 

Nice!

Yeah, we had 3 S10 4.3L pickups in our electrical contracting fleet of 14 service and install trucks at one time including full-size vans and other trucks in the early to mid 90's. Ladder rack, canopy and a ton (literally) of weight in tools and parts on the S10's. They were well maintained and just kept going with well over 150k mi. on the odo, no down time ever, always kept the business crankin'. 

[trinacriabob]

Any ideas on these as additional browsers for Windows on a home desktop computer? (Pros and cons of these)

Epic?

Opera?

Safari?

Every once in a while, you might be in a hotel lobby's business center and see that they have Opera or Safari as a browser.

[Robert Hall]

I use Safari everyday on my Mac, it's the default browser on the Mac...don't think there is a Windows version of it anymore.   I have to use Chrome occasionally as I find some websites that don't work well w/ Safari.

As far as Windows, I use Windows 10 for work and I do have to test the corporate applications/websites I build with a variety of browsers--MS Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.  And occasionally with IE (though it is obsolete and no longer supported).   The other fringe browsers like Brave or Opera have so little market share that they are pretty much ignored. 

My favorite browser on Windows currently is the latest version of Edge, which is Chrome-based but performs better than Chrome. 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Any ideas on these as additional browsers for Windows on a home desktop computer? (Pros and cons of these)

Epic?

Opera?

Safari?

Every once in a while, you might be in a hotel lobby's business center and see that they have Opera or Safari as a browser.

Avoid Opera and Epic, seems to have way too much advertisements to help pay for their development. Safari is as far as I know a Mac only browser now.

I agree with Robert, I use on both home and work systems the latest MSFT Edge browser, works way better than Firefox and chrome even though it is a chrome based browser.

[daves87rs]

I think Edge tends to work best at the moment.....

[trinacriabob]

I have Windows on the HP I bought a while back.  So far, I have really liked their home computers.  It's the only brand I've ever owned.  *keeping my fingers crossed.*

I have read that Microsoft has done a really good with the current Edge browser and it is giving Chrome and Mozilla some stiff competition.

I'll look again to see if Safari is Mac only.  I was doing a quick glance of the articles and I think I pulled one up that said it was also available on a PC, but that article could be stale dated by now.

[trinacriabob]

I cannot buy cartons of ice cream at the store anymore.

[A Horse With No Name]

21 hours ago, USA-1 said:

Nice!

Yeah, we had 3 S10 4.3L pickups in our electrical contracting fleet of 14 service and install trucks at one time including full-size vans and other trucks in the early to mid 90's. Ladder rack, canopy and a ton (literally) of weight in tools and parts on the S10's. They were well maintained and just kept going with well over 150k mi. on the odo, no down time ever, always kept the business crankin'. 

I had a co worker with 430K on an S10 Blazer that was lifted running big tires since new....IIRC he sold it just short of half a million miles, no real issues other than suspension parts. 

In all fairness on the suspension parts he did wheel the truck. Was the second gen, more rounded S10 Blazer. 

Notice how they almost dump the 4 runner at the 9 minute mark, good wheeling video. 

 

Kind of an epic video, love how the newer fullsize Chevy and older F150 make Cameo appearances, and get to go out and play with the Jeeps. Also, the term, "I will love you till the wheels fall off" reflects how I feel about my wife. 

I do need to get rid of the front mount externally mounted spare tire though....she would like that. 

And Blu has helped me in keeping thirty pounds off...on Facebook...he jokingly told me I would never keep it off...every time I think of eating something I shouldn't, Blu's ghost shows up....reminding me of that...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

I love how calm this guy is when his jeep catches fire....he literally pulls up an chair and watches it burn, when he realizes there is nothing else he can do. 

 

 

[trinacriabob]

I wish peak autumn color could hang around for two MONTHS instead of just two WEEKS ...

[A Horse With No Name]

44 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I wish peak autumn color could hang around for two MONTHS instead of just two WEEKS ...

Out hiking a good bit, colors really beautiful a few places here in Ohio. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Nice Tacoma Review

 

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I cannot buy cartons of ice cream at the store anymore.

Explain please, this seems crazy as I just got a few cartons of ice cream at my local Fred Meyers.

EV in the ICE Thread!

Tesla of China is recalling 30,000 plus Tesla S and X from 2013 to 2018 imported from California due to suspension issues. OUCH

https://www.ibtimes.com/tesla-recall-30000-cars-china-over-suspension-defects-3068441

[Robert Hall]

Was a nice, sunny afternoon...took a drive to see the fall colors.. a drive through the woods can be very relaxing...

[daves87rs]

7 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I love how calm this guy is when his jeep catches fire....he literally pulls up an chair and watches it burn, when he realizes there is nothing else he can do. 

 

 

Scary.....Glad he got home....

[trinacriabob]

3 hours ago, David said:

Explain please, this seems crazy as I just got a few cartons of ice cream at my local Fred Meyers.

It's not that it's on the market or in the market.

It's that I keep going back to the fridge saying, "I'll just eat a few more spoonfuls," and it's gone way too soon.  And then you don't feel that great afterwards.  I keep telling myself that I won't buy ice cream cartons (in some form of chocolate) anymore and then I repeat this mistake every 2 months or so.

Tonight, I learned that I can't buy Trader Joe's water crackers, either.

[balthazar]

Still hangin on; Oct 23rd : 

[ocnblu]

My rosebushes have not done well, this was their third yerr.  This summer, in a bid to shore them up, I applied Miracle Grow rose food every 2 weeks, with surprisingly limited success.

In the same bed, I have two weigelas.  One is fantastic, the other is puny.  They were planted together about 10 yerrs ago.

Now I am thinking of yanking them all out with a tow strap and eliminating that side bed altogether.  Ass, Grass or Gas, no one rides for free.

[regfootball]

4 new phones for the family.  didn't necessarily want, but all were eligible to trade in and get close to free or free with bill credits and trade in of old devices.

the 2020 version of what they did in the early 2000's, incentivize the phones but do it in such a way that you renew your 'plan' and while technically not a contract, your 'free' phone is tied to staying in the plan / service to accumulate all your bill credits to make it free.

anyone even slightly thinking of the new iphone, seriously this a good time to upgrade.  I put it off for near 5 years and was just fine keeping what i had but these are easily the best iPhone deals i have seen in the last 5 years.  Maybe best deals since the iphone 5c era.

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by regfootball

[trinacriabob]

On 10/22/2020 at 12:16 PM, balthazar said:

This looks like something out of a Disney flick or a poster from the hippie days.

[riviera74]

3 hours ago, regfootball said:

4 new phones for the family.  didn't necessarily want, but all were eligible to trade in and get close to free or free with bill credits and trade in of old devices.

the 2020 version of what they did in the early 2000's, incentivize the phones but do it in such a way that you renew your 'plan' and while technically not a contract, your 'free' phone is tied to staying in the plan / service to accumulate all your bill credits to make it free.

anyone even slightly thinking of the new iphone, seriously this a good time to upgrade.  I put it off for near 5 years and was just fine keeping what i had but these are easily the best iPhone deals i have seen in the last 5 years.  Maybe best deals since the iphone 5c era.

 

Which iPhones did you get? iPhone SE or the 11 or newly released 12 series?

[balthazar]

Finished railings... except at house. Replacing double window with slider door. Except for concrete; the entire deck’s materials were transported in my 2500 HD. 

Edited October 24, 2020 by balthazar

[regfootball]

19 hours ago, riviera74 said:

Which iPhones did you get? iPhone SE or the 11 or newly released 12 series?

Just got them set up.  got (2) 12's, a 12 Pro for me (i still might want to return for the Pro Max), and an 11.

Three of the phones have an 800 trade credit each, and the other was a 350 credit vs the 11.

I get that everything is way overpriced to begin with, but if this plays out as sold to me, and the cost of my plan is to drop about 40-50 bucks a month as well, i mean, we'd been stupid to pass all this up, i think.

[balthazar]

Seen on the 'webs : 

[trinacriabob]

15 hours ago, balthazar said:

Finished railings... except at house. Replacing double window with slider door. Except for concrete; the entire deck’s materials were transported in my 2500 HD. 

Thank you for using the word concrete.  Meh ...  I know you know the score on this topic.  Quite a few learned people tend to use the word cement for it.  It's probably even the most common way to refer to it.

However, it is okay to use if you're the Clampitts and have a "cement pond."

[balthazar]

Kinda like the steel / iron thing. One is a component of the other, but folk mix the terms up all the time.

[Robert Hall]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

Kinda like the steel / iron thing. One is a component of the other, but folk mix the terms up all the time.

Yeah...I think to think of steel as smooth and relatively thin, like a car body.   Iron I think of as  thick and rough textured like the giant beams under a bridge or I-beams, big industrial looking bolts, etc. 

 

 

13 hours ago, regfootball said:

Just got them set up.  got (2) 12's, a 12 Pro for me (i still might want to return for the Pro Max), and an 11.

Three of the phones have an 800 trade credit each, and the other was a 350 credit vs the 11.

I get that everything is way overpriced to begin with, but if this plays out as sold to me, and the cost of my plan is to drop about 40-50 bucks a month as well, i mean, we'd been stupid to pass all this up, i think.

I've been reading about the 12, sounds nice..I just upgraded back in the summer to an iPhone SE, so not upgrading again anytime soon.  I don't like the larger form factors, I like how the SE fits in my hand and can use one-handed.. 

[ocnblu]

Went to the dump yesterday with my old mattress and a few other things, backed up next to guy in a late model orange Tacoma.  His truck wouldn't start when he was ready to leave.  He asked me for a jump start, so I pulled up and popped the hood, he had cables.

 

BUY AMERICAN

[G. David Felt]

10 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Went to the dump yesterday with my old mattress and a few other things, backed up next to guy in a late model orange Tacoma.  His truck wouldn't start when he was ready to leave.  He asked me for a jump start, so I pulled up and popped the hood, he had cables.

 

BUY AMERICAN

Seen that with so many GM, Fords, FCA, etc.

Democracy and freedom is the ability of choice. Buying American does NOT insure you get a quality product as American products of the 70s to 2000s has proven. 

Nationalist Propaganda does not insure quality.

Taking accountability to read the owners manual, follow scheduled maintenance gets ya closer but even then does not insure quality.

On another note, many of us can respect this man's welding project that my sister sent me today since she knows I grew up making models.

[balthazar]

WIDE-TRACK 

[daves87rs]

On 10/23/2020 at 9:31 PM, regfootball said:

4 new phones for the family.  didn't necessarily want, but all were eligible to trade in and get close to free or free with bill credits and trade in of old devices.

the 2020 version of what they did in the early 2000's, incentivize the phones but do it in such a way that you renew your 'plan' and while technically not a contract, your 'free' phone is tied to staying in the plan / service to accumulate all your bill credits to make it free.

anyone even slightly thinking of the new iphone, seriously this a good time to upgrade.  I put it off for near 5 years and was just fine keeping what i had but these are easily the best iPhone deals i have seen in the last 5 years.  Maybe best deals since the iphone 5c era.

 

Impy whole family is trying to talk me into an IPhone right now.....

[ocnblu]

6 hours ago, balthazar said:

WIDE-TRACK 

'60 Pontiac is SIMPLY FABOLOUS

[A Horse With No Name]

On 10/24/2020 at 8:39 AM, balthazar said:

Finished railings... except at house. Replacing double window with slider door. Except for concrete; the entire deck’s materials were transported in my 2500 HD. 

I find owning a truck hugely helpful. I have yet to run a tank of gas where I didn't use the truck bed multiple times. 

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

'60 Pontiac is SIMPLY FABOLOUS

In this we agree completely. 

[A Horse With No Name]

This is an intelligent review. I wish everyone was as intelligent about discussing actual issues as this dude.

 

 

The Awesome chocolate cake I had for desert yesterday. 

Me out hiking....Robert isn't the only guy enjoying Ohio fall colors. 

Patina, I love this. 

My wife, out on the trail with me....

Bringing home another big old saw to restore....this one is 2300 pounds. actually belongs to my friend Dustin. 

From my trip to the Corvette Museeum at Bowling Green. My favorite car of the whole bunch!

 

[A Horse With No Name]

My favorite pic from my trip south looking at Civil war battle fields...This is Stone River in Tenneseee....

 

 

From my Recent Trip to Nashville...

 

Ranger is very busy....hauled a similar load for a friend yesterday. 

 

Just re posting a bunch of Random pics I really like...but I think this is fantastic. 

 

Lunch on the trail with my wife...

 

Workshop....

 

[A Horse With No Name]

This is badass...

 

As is this....Guys wife was buying a VW Tiguan, back when I still ahd the Beetle and it was in for service. 

 

Love this vintage Kenworth...

 

Still having lots of Bonfires in my fire pit..

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Asking for a friend...

I really want to visit this city...Sorry the video is in Spanish...neat video though. 

 

I want to do more hiking...been doing a bunch...

 

 

Portions of this could be done with the Ranger. Want to have a talk with Robert about his Grand Cherokee, as I am interested in buying a 4WD vehicle to replace the aveo at some point. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

More badass vintage american iron

 

Best new car introduction in 30 years, honestly. Not since the Original maita came out has something spoken to me like this. And you all know how much I loved both of my Miatas. this is 58-62 Corvette, 65-70 Mustang Fastback level goodness in a modern car I can buy new. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

One more pic from the trail hiking I ahve been doing for good measure. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Neat Patriotic paint job on these trucks out front of Campus this morning. 

 

Plus a bit of Ohio fall color...

Neat cover of this song...

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

Random cool pic of dogs. 

Obviosuly an EV semi Running at full capacity....good morning, 'blu...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Last one for today, cool vintage iron. 

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

 

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

You can't make this stuff up. 

 

[Robert Hall]

I remember seeing that Uranus Fudge Factory on Rt 44 in MO when I was driving from Phoenix to Cleveland in June '17.  Got a chuckle out of the sign..