Age and the internet.

Sounds to me as if it's to do with spinning huge brass wheels and opening and closing valves...


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We had this happen last week:
Foxbat said:
During lockdown, my mum was visited by two people in face visors telling her they could get her a cheaper energy deal. She had the good sense not to let them in. My thoughts when I found out were why the hell were they doing this in the middle of lockdown? I
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I was napping(been doing that a lot as of late)someone came to the door knocking and the wife answered it and as soon as my slumbering mind caught hold of the words 'we're making sure that you are paying the correct price for gas' I came awake and muttered rather loud "nope, nope, nope, nope"
My wife said,'sorry we are not interested," and she closed the door and then said.
"Sure am glad we installed that outernet security system." with an added bit of chuckling.

Now to get back:
I'm almost 70 now and I'm pretty versed in computer; however I've always been slow to adopt things and usually have computers at home that are a bit behind the times and the same goes for my phone--which gets us to the most important part.

I was watching the news, they were showing people checking in somewhere--using smartphones, held against a screen, while they waved their arm or wrist past a sensor that registered the temp and somehow synched that to the phone and id of the individual and I thought about my non-smart flip phone and how much fun it would be for me to have to do that. However this takes us to the fact that my service At&T has already informed me that when they dump 3G my phone will become a small bit of brick--so, I'm thinking with both those, I will have to join the rest of everyone who has a bit of the internet in their pocket all the time with multiple incentives around to cause everyone to use the internet in someway on their phone.

Perhaps we should worry about that ole number of the beast thing. SmartPhone app 6.6.6--making life easier.
 
Dave said:
(My educated guess is that it is something to do with ABS breaks and stopping wheelspin).
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Bingo! I'd assumed that everyone knew what it was and it was a kind'a joke. Out here where some roads are gravel, some are dirt, and all can be piled deep in snow, traction control is a very important feature.
 
5G is the killer of old phones. The old phone was great. Flip out physical keyboard, only got text and phone. It took 30 minutes to load any internet page so it never got any data. %G comes along and had to upgrade to a smart phone. If I look at the search results on a laptop and look at the results on the smart phone, I see a lot less on the smart phone. Turn everything off and it still is forever trying to turn stuff on and hey did you know you can do this? The worst bug is the one that randomly turns on Do Not Disturb. I thought I had it beat by making a time rule that says turn on do not disturb only from 6 am to 6:05 am. It didn't pay attention. I would drive stake through the phone's heart but the battery would probably explode.
 
I hate traction control. As a skilled driver; when traction breaks one feathers the throttle until one regains traction.

This is something I've been doing automatically, for half a century; driving through mud, snow, steep loose gravel, hill and dale, bogs, swamps and black ice. I trained myself by practicing driving slideways on any available mud pit or snowy expanses. (Kids-these-days call it "drifting.")

Knowing, reflexively, how to handle a skid has saved my life on numerous occasions.

Traction control starts counteracting my instinctual throttle adjustments, kills the power and starts random, counterproductive braking activities.

It's an idiot's response to something I know how to do better.
 
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Alex The G and T said:
I hate traction control. As a skilled driver; when traction breaks one feathers the throttle until one regains traction.

This is something I've been doing automatically, for half a century; driving through mud, snow, steep loose gravel, hill and dale, bogs, swamps and black ice. I trained myself by practicing driving slideways on any available mud pit or snowy expanses. (Kids-these-days call it "drifting.")

Knowing, reflexively, how to handle a skid has saved my life on numerous occasions.

Traction control starts counteracting my instinctual throttle adjustments, kills the power and starts random, counterproductive braking activities.

It's an idiot's response to something I know how to do better.
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I agree 100%. Though it likely doesn't work the same now with all of the electronics, all it took before was a brush of the brakes to get torque to both tires, a little gas here, a little brake there. Meaning, not gunning it or stomping on the brakes...little adjustments. Past that, 99.9% of my crashes avoided--be it in a car or on a motorcycle--came from 'driving' out of and around the situation. NOT screeching to a halt or jamming on the gas to beat the train ;)

K2
 
Alex The G and T said:
Traction control starts counteracting my instinctual throttle adjustments, kills the power and starts random, counterproductive braking activities.
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This would be true for me as well. But would it be true for a 16 year old? or an 87 year old? A driver from Miami? --- I had a buddy from northern Florida tell me that the people to look out for when the rare ice hit that area were the people who had moved from New York 10 years ago and thought that they knew how to drive on slippery roads.
 
I started "drifting" when I was 16 years old. :cool: I always thought that it should be a mandatory part of driver training and licensure. (Though, I gather that in some snowy areas, it is.) At 87, I'll still have the instincts; or shouldn't be driving. My Dad's 88, always a more passive driver than I. He's terrified by the way other people drive. He's still driving the windy mountain roads where I learned to drive. I always thought they were fun. Like, a lot of fun. A really, really lot of fun. Dad should have spent more time learning to drive slideways.

****
It's traditional to state that people from other states don't know how to drive. Reminds me of a time, driving into Oregon, being nearly killed by random idiocies perpetrated by Oregon drivers. "They don't know How to Drive," I shouted.
We stopped for a meal, and overheard folks at a neighboring table complain, "California drivers, They don't know how to drive!"

****

Ah, well @-K2- hints at the point that the electronics and algorithms might improve with time. I was grousing about the traction control in an '02 Mercury, that used to drive me nuts. My 2010 Tacoma has traction control that has never manifested itself. It's too smart to mess with the likes of me.
 
Alex The G and T said:
Ah, well @-K2- hints at the point that the electronics and algorithms might improve with time. I was grousing about the traction control in an '02 Mercury, that used to drive me nuts. My 2010 Tacoma has traction control that has never manifested itself. It's too smart to mess with the likes of me.
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Though they may, that wasn't what I was suggesting... I was stating how a little bit of skill, experience, knowing the vehicle, and most of all, knowing how to drive out of a situation instead of just rely on some automated safety stop is what I believe in. I loathe ABS and feel I can stop better. ABS is for people who panic and jam on the brakes. Traction control? I want control...if I'm gunning the gas when it's slippery, I'm doing it WRONG. What I hate most on the newest of vehicles is automatic braking. You're backing up, you can see everything, but the sensors note some little bump and jam on the brakes, kill the throttle, and sounds a warning tone...I need frigging depends undergarments to drive with that dang thing on.

Anywho...I'll stop there, I could rant all night on this subject and i haven't even gotten around to drivers who have no idea how to check their oil or change a tire...

K2
 
So, the electronics and algorithms have worsened over time....
Sounds likely. Those things do have an off button, don't they.

I'm with you, -k2- many people shouldn't be allowed to drive at all.

And here's what else I hate: uppity cars that beep at you when you don't have your seat belt on. I spend a lot of time working around the homestead, in and out, and driving slow, off-road. "Shut the... up. I' know when to put the seat belt on. And I effing know when I want to leave the key in the ignition. Shut the eff up! And... and... I learned to put the gear shift in neutral, before I start the engine, a hundred years ago. I don't need to be baby-sat by a clutch-pedal starter-kill switch. And cars that talk?!? Grrrrrrrr.
 
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