ImpossibilityBox @ ImpossibilityBox @lemmy.world

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9

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212

Joined

2 yr. ago

Let me tell you about my 2007 Toyota Yaris Hatchback manual drive.

In my opinion this is nearly as perfect of a vehicle as it is possible to get.

The 1.5 liter engine is small and efficient which means your gas bill is nice and tiny compared to the average vehicle I see on the road. It also has this weird quirk of FEELING really fast and exciting while driving while actually being rather pedestrian. A year after this vehicle was released motortrend came out with an article about the slowest cars they have ever tested: The Toyota Yaris was the 5th slowest. Probably due to the manual gear box, the sharp and agile steering, and the noise it makes, it simply feels a LOT faster than it really is. THIS IS A POSITIVE. It means you can have a good time and enjoy driving it but unless you are trying REALLY hard you won't be speeding all that often and even with your foot to the floor you won't be ripping away from traffic and drawing attention to yourself. That doesn't mean you can't red-line the engine, drop the clutch , and rip a nicely satisfying burnout, because you can... And I have.

Oh BTW... if you want to have some fun you can buy a ready to install everything included SUPERCHARGER kit for the Yaris. It's on my bucketlist.

The cargo space is MASSIVE! because the rear seats fold flat and it's a hatchback with a wide trunk opening and a flat-ish roof (instead of aggressively raked back) the amount of stuff you can fit in it is kind of insane. Several hundred pounds of firewood? Check. Two fully assembled kitchen cabinets to be turned into a kitchen island? Check. 55" TV in box? Check. 6.5' Christmas tree? Check. Just look at that cavernous space!

Shoot, my wife and I regularly go car camping out of the Yaris. If you push the front seats as far forward as they go you can fit an inflatable mattress in the back with only a slight bend in it. It's remarkably comfortable and unless you need to sleep perfectly straight as a log it serves very well as a mini RV. Back when I commuted 26 miles to my full time job and then another further 55 miles to my full time schooling I would often sleep in the back of the Yaris between the two and have very restful and replenishing sleep.

Here we are on Rollins Pass in Colorado at 11,600 ish feet:

At first having the gauges in the center of the dash was a bit weird but it comes with two bonuses. The first one took me a while to notice: You feel more connected to the road and your journey. Putting the dashboard gauges directly in front of the driver actually puts a barrier between the driver and the road ahead of them. It's a wall of information density that permanently exists between you and the world ahead and you have to go through it before you can experience what's before you. It might be a borderline subconscious thing but not having something that constantly wants your attention in front of you really lets your mind focus on the road ahead of you and the journey you are on. If you NEED the information, it's still there, just politely sitting off to the side waiting to tell you whatever you need to know.

The second bonus to the center gauges? MOTHER FUCKING GLOVEBOXES BABY! THIS CAR HAS THREE! There is the standard glove box around the knees of the passenger but there is also one above that and a THIRD one above the steering column on the driver's side. I never would have guessed how excited a grown man could be (me) about the discovery of multiple GLOVEBOXES in a car.

Almost nearly as much as I enjoy the gloveboxes I really am impressed by the setup of the cup holders. You have your standard 2 cup holders down by the hand brake in the center console but the really awesome ones are seamlessly folded into the dashboard near the doors. These aren't your tiny popout cupholders you find in most cars that break the second time you put a big gulp in one. No... these are chunky, heavy duty cup holders that make an audible ca-thunk when deployed. The amount of times I've deployed the cup holder at a driver through and had the teller make a visible reaction or even stop to say something is significant. My words probably do not do them justice so look at these pictures of their location and diagram from the manual and tell me that they don't inspire confidence.

There are only TWO things I would like changes about this car. Give me a Bluetooth enabled head unit with better speakers and a good place to put a chi charger for my phone. That is all.

I could go on for hours about this car but my last point about how epic this vehicle is and how we don't deserve it is this: It's a Toyota. A proper old fashioned bulletproof, reliable, affordable Toyota. Parts are dirt cheap and easy to replace.I've got 266,000 miles on mine and let me tell you, they have not been kind miles. We regularly take this on off road trails bouncing off of rocks and occasionally trees. I've torn the O2 sensor clean off of the car a couple of times and got it stuck up to the bottom of the door in deep snow while driving a dirt road pass in the Rockies. I have treated it like dirt and only done basic maintenance far less than it deserves. I've only had to replace the clutch once and this next summer will be the first time ever that I need to do anything even approaching major service. It's got a water pump leak and a front timing cover leak. Neither of these stop the car from functioning at all but as long as I keep an eye on the fluid levels we are good to go.

All this and it takes it like an absolute champ. It trucks along being the best little car it can be. The snow, dirt, and mud, and neverending miles of cross country journeys this car has never failed me. I will not part with my beautiful little car for anything less then total destruction. The day that happens I will remove the logo from it's sad lifeless carcass, frame it and hang it on my wall for all to know what an amazing being was part of our lives for so long and yet not nearly long enough.

I love my car.

Holy shit, an actually reasonable take on Lemmy regarding subscription services. I genuinely couldn't believe what I was reading and was waiting for the "LOL, JK! Pirate everything, they don't deserve my money and fuck every ad and paid service ine the universe."

Thank you!

oh man this actually pisses me of so much. I've been using the swiftkey keyboard long before it was bought by Microsoft, back when it was a paid app, and I swear it has gotten significantly worse at word prediction , key detection, and swipe accuracy.

I'm finding that I have to type letter by letter if I want any kind of garuntee that it will choose the right words. Swipe has become a waste of time because I am constantly going back to fix words it got wrong. And B instead of space is a constant!

Trump Derangement Syndrome?

I'm literally giving evidence AGAINST the things the lunatic tried to put into effect as well as pointing out slightly irrelevant information about that fact that one of the people he directly helped was a child molester and rapist. In what way did I come across as a worshiper of Trump?

The previous commenter mentioned SCOTUS and the only SCOTUS (that I am aware of) that was touched anything related to 3D printed firearms is Trump. That's the only reason he got brought up.

If you want to read it, here is the legislation that explicitly states online posting of plans for 3D-printed firearms requires a license under the Export Administration Regulations issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security. Note the section where it says ANY file in ANY format is included in the legislation and that you can receive up to 20 years imprisonment and $1 million in fines.

https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/documents/policy-guidance/2572-faqs-for-the-commerce-category-i-iii-firearms-rule-posted-on-bis-website-7-7-20/file

Because you probably won't read all 69 (nice) pages here relevant information under the section of "3D Printing of Firearms"

Under section 734.7(c), such “technology” or “software” may not be posted on the Internet without authorization from the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).

Q.34: I am planning to post technology or software that meets the criteria in section 734.7(c). Do I require a license or other prior approval from BIS before posting the “technology” or “software” on the Internet?

A.34: Yes, a BIS license is required under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) prior to posting on the Internet of “technology” or “software” that meets the criteria under section 734.7(c). No EAR license exceptions are available for such postings.

Q.35: I understand that section 734.7(c) applies to Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) files, such as in G-code or AMF format, as executable code to produce the items described in paragraph (c). However, can you confirm whether the criteria in section 734.7(c) would also to apply to Computer Aided Design (CAD) files?

A.35: Section 734.7(c) covers “technology” and “software” for the production of a firearm frame or receiver or complete firearm, controlled under ECCN 0A501, that is made available by posting on the Internet in an electronic format, such as AMF or G-code, and is ready for insertion into a computer numerically controlled machine tool, additive manufacturing equipment, or any other equipment that makes use of the ‘‘software’’ or ‘‘technology’’ to produce the firearm frame or receiver or complete firearm. Any file meeting that criteria is covered regardless of name, including CAD files. Moreover, this includes any file, including any CAD file, that can be processed by a software program into an electronic format, such as a CAM file, with no or minimal additional information or manipulation from the operator(s), and that the file once converted will be in an executable code for the production of a firearm frame or receiver or complete firearm.

Q.36: If I do not obtain a BIS license prior to posting “technology” or “software” that meets the criteria in section 734.7(c), will I be subject to penalties under the EAR? A.36: Yes. This would be a violation of the EAR and may result in significant administrative and criminal penalties under the EAR. Under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, criminal penalties can reach 20 years imprisonment and $1 million per violation. Administrative monetary penalties can reach $308,901 per violation (subject to adjustment in accordance with U.S. law, e.g., the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114 -74, sec. 701)) or twice the value of the transaction, whichever is greater. Violations of the EAR may also lead to the denial of certain export privileges, potentially for a lengthy period of time.

If by SCOTUS you mean Trump, then he did say it was okay.

in 2015 Defense Distributed sued the government for the right to sell their blueprints for their 3d printable guns. They lost in the federal courts and their appeal failed under the ruling that it was a violation of current firearm export laws.

In 2018 the Trump administration settled with Defense Distributed and allowed them to share their blueprints as well as giving them $40,000 in compensation for previous legal fees. Side note: The founder of Defense Distributed left 3 months after the payment and was then arrested in Taiwan after having sex with an underage minor in Texas.

in 2019 the attorney general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and the federal courts reversed the Trump decision once again making it illegal to share files without a license.

As far as I am aware, I am not aware of any changes since then.

You can buy the plans as long as they are sold by a licensed company. That's where the buying part comes in but yes the sale or even transfer of the physical item is illegal.

A couple of things regarding this:

Federally there is no law that says you can't print and carry your own gun, no serial number required.

However several states have strict laws and there are weird caveats. It has to be for personal use, cannot be sold or transferred and under the Undetectable Firearms Act any firearm that cannot be detected by a metal detector is illegal to manufacture, so legal designs for firearms such as 3d printed guns require a metal plate to be inserted into the printed body. Also online posting of plans for 3D-printed firearms require a license under the Export Administration Regulations issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security.

So if you design your own gun, or get one from a company that has an export license, print it and then ensure that it has enough metal in it to be detectable... Go for it, should be legal.

Ghost guns are unregulated firearms that anyone — including minors and prohibited purchasers — can buy and build without a background check.

3D printed guns fall solidly into this category.

I got 17 out of 20. I pegged the bezerk drawing as generated because the bottom part of the armor lacked symmetry and didn't make any sense. I got the other three line drawings incorrect.

I have spent WAAAAY to much of my freetime generating images and apparently have picked up an eye for the weird types of artifacts that these generators produce. The hardest one to articulate is that generated images have a very specific type of noise. Images create a very nice grainy type noise while digital images get more of the blocky jpeg artifacts and banding. Generated images get this weird hybrid of the two that isn't consistent across the whole image.

Here you go degenerate, NSFW obviously.

!spaghettihentai@lemmynsfw.com

well... there is the one guy posting an image of porn made out of spaghetti LITERALLY every single hour.

oh no... foaming filaments!?! I have not heard of these and I can hear my wallet crying out from the other room.

Not for a second do I believe that thing would fly.

For crying out loud 3d printed stuff is HEAVY for anything headed into the skies. The control surfaces look absolutely borked, and what the heck is even going on with that tiny ass propeller.

Go invest in some foamcore and some cheap servos. Use 3d printing for stuff like payload delivery systems or creating molds for fiberglass body layups.

Genuine question. What part of what I said makes me a sucker?

I only have so long to live on this earth. I'm not going to expend excessive amounts of energy on things that are unlikely to have any REAL effect on my life. I don't give a shit if they listen in on me. I talk about work as a delivery driver (not Amazon), my wife's work as a hotel front desk help, trackmania and Baldur's Gate. Lots of state secret stuff there for me to be worried about.

Again as I said... find me an easy to use plug and play FOSS voice assistant system and I will throw Alexa in the trash.

I enjoy the home I have set up and I feel relaxed when I return from a long day at work. The Alexa system has helped make that a reality.

I have 7 in my house. I have my lights, plant humidifier, TV, air filter, Aquarium equipment, and others all hooked up to them. You can run almost anything you need to just by using your voice.

Getting ready to watch something on TV? "Alexa it's movie time." Turns on the TV and Switches the input to the Shield and opens up our go to media app. Shuts off all lights in the house except the living room. Dims those to 10% and changes them to red. Just enough light to see your snacks and the remote by. Turns off the sump filter for the Aquariums in just the living room but leaves the in tank bubble filter going for better silence. All with 4 spoken words and no need to work with multiple remotes and apps in your phone.

That's just one example. We have an obscene amount of routines setup for nearly ecery scenario we have run across and adding new ones is easy.

Hell... We even have a routine where if you say "Alexa, do you know Desi naach?" It plays Naatu Naatu from every speaker in the house at full volume.

Show me a FOSS system as plug and play, powerful, and as EASY to use as Alexa and I'll drop Alexa in the trash tommorow and switch.

I brings me joy when I tell her "Alexa, shut up you dumb bitch" and then she responds with that sad minor tone dejected sound.

I would love to get rid of my smart devices from amazon/Google but I have yet to find a single plug and play device that allows me to control all my lights, plant humidifiers, aquariums, TV, and whole house music by voice that isn't from them or even better FOSS.

Man, Moon is such a good movie. Sam Rockwell absolutely killed it which I was quite impressed by considering the last thing I saw him in was as Zaphod Beeblebrox in Hitchhikers. Quite a different set of acting chops he exercised.

yeah don't hit kids in the face. Face hits are to visible. Go for the torso instead. /s