Complete Randomness

[ender1]

I noticed your absence and *gasp* missed you and all your nonsense. If you had some IM way to be reached, I would have harassed you there.

What's with you and wanting to harass people now? Not that you're a bad person to be harassed by, but still.

[Jeesh_girl15]

Oh, well, I guess I'm glad someone missed me while I was gone. Haha, I can't imagine you harassing anybody, Alea. (it feels weird using your name...)

[BonitoDeMadrid]

I still feel like a little kid who is trying to fit in with the grown ups, and that I don't really belong here...

I second that (referring to myself, of course, not you).

[Jeesh_girl15]

You've still been here longer than me.

[Gravity Defier]

I noticed your absence and *gasp* missed you and all your nonsense. If you had some IM way to be reached, I would have harassed you there.

What's with you and wanting to harass people now?

What's with you not wanting to let me harass you and/or others?

No, it's really a matter of there being a new or soon to be new vacancy -my current...former? transitioning harassee doesn't have the time for the position, so lucky you all get even more of me. Yikes.

[ender1]

What's with you not wanting to let me harass you and/or others?

Nothing at all. I just wish you'd follow through on your promise.

No, it's really a matter of there being a new or soon to be new vacancy -my current...former? transitioning harassee doesn't have the time for the position, so lucky you all get even more of me. Yikes.

See above.

[Gravity Defier]

I just wish you'd follow through on your promise.

Excuse you, who the hell hung up on me the other night? Hmm? YOU. When I was harassing you. (Do you remember what is was about even?)

I may not harass over IM so much but I've called something like 4 or 5 Pwebbers in the past 2 weeks, which is up from 1 I regularly called for months before that.

And don't even get me started on how I spend entirely way too much time on Pweb itself and how I don't ever show restraint, even when I absolutely should. Don't follow through on harassing, my arse.


PFFFT!

[Jayelle]

Man, I almost want to take off for a bit just so Alea will harass me.

[neo-dragon]

But who harasses the harasser? (I wish I knew how to say that in Latin).

[Dr. Mobius]

Me. Although I'm not sure it can really be considered harassment if she likes my never ending supply of short jokes.

[Gravity Defier]

*harasses Jan* Didn't even have to leave, which is how I like it.


And um, Josh, I don't think it counts when I seek you out every single time.

[VelvetElvis]

Man, I almost want to take off for a bit just so Alea will harass me.

I was gone for months and was not harassed once. Not even a little.

[Gravity Defier]

Obviously I thought the bear got you, so your dose of harassment was forwarded to him/her.

[VelvetElvis]

But I ate the bear!

[Gravity Defier]

How's that working out for you? Any nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, or diarrhea? Any new carpets in the house? Inquiring minds want to know!

[locke]

Chevy Volt to get approximately 230 mpg in city, or precisely ten times the mpg of my current vehicle. I need to get on a waiting list for this or something. :-p
The story

General Motors Co. said today that its long-awaited Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is expected to achieve fuel economy of 230 miles per gallon in city driving.
...

The Volt is expected to get much better mileage in city driving, where it can take full advantage of its all-electric capability. GM said it has calculated a highway mileage estimate for the Volt, but didn't release the figure. The automaker said it was confident the car's combined city-highway fuel economy "will be in the triple digits."

"The 230 city mpg number is a great indication of the capabilities of the Volt's electric propulsion system and its ability to displace gasoline," said Frank Weber, global vehicle line executive for the Volt.

"Actual testing with production vehicles will occur next year, closer to vehicle launch," he said. "However, we are very encouraged by this development, and we also think that it is important to continue to share our findings in real time, as we have with other aspects of the Volt's development."

The company said today it has produced about 30 Volts and is making 10 a week at its pre-production facility in Warren, Mich. GM is expected to announce later this week that the Volt's nearly 400-pound lithium-ion battery will be assembled at a plant in the Detroit area. The production version car will be built at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

As the pre-production vehicles are road-tested, estimates of the cars' all-electric range and their eventual fuel economy rating could change. Volts currently are being road-tested in Yuma, Ariz., to gauge their performance in hot weather conditions.

GM has staked much of its technological reputation on the Volt, and has touted the vehicle relentlessly for more than two years. Some critics have derided the vehicle as an expensive piece of "vaporware" that would never achieve significant sales, but the automaker has consistently maintained that it is committed to the Volt.

"Right now, there are no foreseeable roadblocks to the program and the program's timing," GM spokesman Rob Peterson said.

Although GM has not released pricing information on the Volt, industry analysts estimate it will cost about $40,000, though the automaker says the car's list price would likely be lowered by federal tax credits and other incentives. Peterson said Volt owners would be eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit provided on electric vehicles.

[mr_thebrain]

yeah, unfortunately as i was reading in the june 2009 discover magazine article that i read the batteries dont last very long, cost 16000 dollars to replace, and as they're lithium-ion batteries if they overcharge they can start on fire. just thought i'd mention the massive shortcomings.

btw i like hydrogen cars. while there needs to be an infrastructure in place to support them, they are probably going to be our best bet. they want to make car charging parking lots and add on to gas stations to accommodate electric cars anyway, so giving gas stations hydrogen isn't that far-fetched. plus there's the ability to convert existing gas cars into hydrogen cars so people with classic cars or cars that they love could keep them running (if they mass produce the conversion kits the cost will only be a few thousand. which is better than having to buy another car or get rid of a classic)

not to mention in a decade or so we'll have a bunch of vhtr nuclear power plants giving us tons of cleanly made hydrogen.

the biggest hurdle is getting the mpk of hydrogen into acceptable levels.

plus more efficient home hydrogen converters could happen. so we could see inexpensive hydrogen plants in our garages.

electric cars may be sooner in dominance of the clean car market but the lack of quality batteries will be its demise.

[locke]

yeah, unfortunately as i was reading in the june 2009 discover magazine article that i read the batteries dont last very long, cost 16000 dollars to replace, and as they're lithium-ion batteries if they overcharge they can start on fire. just thought i'd mention the massive shortcomings.

They have to add some shortcomings to cars. Planned obsolescence is much more important to their bottom line than consumer safety. So batteries that catch on fire and have to be replaced sounds like a good way to make sure consumers continue to pay for expensive servicing of their cars. It's actually kind of encouraging they have big problems like that, big problems make them more attractive to construct to the car companies.

[mr_thebrain]

if you say so. i think planned obsolesence sounds like an excuse for shoddy craftsmanship. even then, general maintainence is p.o.. your car catching fire is insurance risk or death trap.

[zeroguy]

Automata. A little video derived from Penny Arcade's "Automata" thing. It's an alternate history where... eh, I'll just use Tycho's words:

...Automata, nineteen-twenties crime fiction which unfolds in a time where "machine intellect" has been outlawed. It wasn't always, certainly, and the problem of what to do with the existing "stock" of fully sentient, mechanical citizens endures. Detective Regal and his stenophone Carl Swangee traverse the margin where these worlds overlap.

Not much to say about it; I just thought it was cool. Also related: the Teddy Thursday radio show.

[mr_thebrain]

i like the automata storyline. the video helps a bit, but i think i was hoping for more out of it.

[Gravity Defier]

I heard this by word of mouth, so don't ask for links to prove it but I hear, up in Phoenix, the teens are using anal beer bongs and vodka soaked tampons to get the alcohol into their systems faster. To which I say, what the hell is wrong with people?


Oh, my mom told me this after work.

[neo-dragon]

I've heard of at least one case of someone dying from doing that. The alcohol completely bypasses the stomach and liver and goes straight into the blood. Very dangerous.

[Eddie Pinz]

That just seems stupid.

From someone who likes to drink quite a bit, half the enjoyment comes from the fact that I like the way beer tastes. Now, beer bongs can be fun in their own right. But I have to say, I never once thought about putting in my ass.

Ok, maybe once...

[buckshot]

What an insane waste of good suds and boose!

[Young Val]

What. The. f***.

[neo-dragon]

That just seems stupid.

From someone who likes to drink quite a bit, half the enjoyment comes from the fact that I like the way beer tastes. Now, beer bongs can be fun in their own right. But I have to say, I never once thought about putting in my ass.

Actually liking the way beer tastes is almost as mind boggling to me.

[Luet]

Maybe you either have the gene that allows beer to taste good or you don't. My husband and I both can't stand the taste of any beer.

[starlooker]

I've always found half the enjoyment comes from the actual process of gradually getting sloshed. No method of getting drunk super fast has ever made much sense to me.

But that's just -- wow.

[Jayelle]

I heard this by word of mouth, so don't ask for links to prove it but I hear, up in Phoenix, the teens are using anal beer bongs and vodka soaked tampons to get the alcohol into their systems faster. To which I say, what the hell is wrong with people?


Oh, my mom told me this after work.

I don't know... this seems a lot like "rainbow parties" and whatnot.

But it may be true. People are idiots.

ETA: Ah, it was on "the Dr's"

[Gravity Defier]

The Walking Thought of the Day: If I had to pick a store to spend the night in, what store would I pick?

Easy peasey, lemon squeezey: Target. They have furniture displayed, which could be used for sleeping or reading (they have books and magazines for that), they have an electronics section (dvds and cds, I'm looking at you), they have food, they have school supplies, and if I got really and truly bored, they have enough clothes and jewelry to play dress up.

[elfprince13]

My mom thinks my first word was "dada," but she's not certain.

The only thing she is certain of is that I learned to say "Lea boob!" awfully fast/young because I was a chunker who constantly wanted breast-milk. To this day, milk is my favorite drink, though not from any human's breast.

hehe, my first full sentence was "cha-cha want hot fudge too" (because I couldn't say Thomas)

I even got a fantastic Lego story out of it this last time.

Strictly speaking....it wasn't about Lego's so much as being very much about things that are "NOT LEGOs"

[zeroguy]

Actually liking the way beer tastes is almost as mind boggling to me.

Likewise. The enjoyment of alcohol for me is the burning sensation, which is why I usually stick to hard stuff. The taste and getting drunk (and getting occaisionally hungover) I find to all be unpleasant things that just come along with it.

[Wind Swept]

I always considered "acquired taste" to be a bullshit concept. However, beer has only become something I find palatable over time. I still can't stand the ubiquitous Miller, Bush, etc. but I like to try a microbrew from time to time and I have gone from enjoying the experience maybe once in ten tries to something like three out of four.

That said, more often than not I prefer a cocktail to beer. Or the wonderfully warm feeling of a straight bourbon and the like.

[locke]

my favorite is probably the repulsively delicious flavor of Lagavulin or Laphroaig or other peat-based Scotches--sort of like kerosene stirred with a charred stick, mmmm.

Beer, I've kinda switched and drifted on. I like the less heavy, less dark less hoppy beers, and the ones that have a lot of dancing complementing flavors, in general I only find beers like this when they're on tap at some specialty place that has a ton of beers on tap. New Castle used to be my default favorite, now I've moved on more or less to Fat Tire. For whatever bizarre reason my buddies have taken to purchasing Coors Light instead of regular bud or miller, Coors Light is like drinking beer flavored water, it's almost pleasant because it's so smooth, but it's also quite disappointing all at the same time, perhaps because it's so inoffensive and lacking in character?