Miscellaneous Discussion Thread
Quote: GWAEI am in shock, for the first time ever my auto insurance rates went down. I remember paying a ton when I was 24 for a mustang convertible. Was told when I hit 25 they would go down. Never did. Got a new policy 7 years ago when we bought our house and each year it was gone up. Never had a ticket in my life and never have been in an accident but yet they still go up. Just got renewal and my 6 month policy went from $603 to $511. yay
Really? If you have collision insurance doesn't it always go down as your car depreciates and they are insuring a less valuable vehicle every year? Until you buy a new car and it shoots up again?
If you don't have collision insurance then you do have reason to celebrate.
Quote: SOOPOOReally? If you have collision insurance doesn't it always go down as your car depreciates and they are insuring a less valuable vehicle every year? Until you buy a new car and it shoots up again?
If you don't have collision insurance then you do have reason to celebrate.
I have full coverage. Car hit 5 years old this year so wondering if that was the reason for the drop.
Quote: GWAEI have full coverage. Car hit 5 years old this year so wondering if that was the reason for the drop.
Possible. But lets say your 'full coverage' 5 years ago was for a car worth $30k. 5 years later that car is probably worth $12k, so of course the full coverage should be far less.
Quote: GWAEI am in shock, for the first time ever my auto insurance rates went down. I remember paying a ton when I was 24 for a mustang convertible. Was told when I hit 25 they would go down. Never did. Got a new policy 7 years ago when we bought our house and each year it was gone up. Never had a ticket in my life and never have been in an accident but yet they still go up. Just got renewal and my 6 month policy went from $603 to $511. yay
I really don't know the reason, but I have cheaper car insurance than any of my acquaintances. It is still not cheap compared to other areas of the country but I pay $660 every six months for two 2018 vehicles with 100k/300k full coverage.
Quote: DRichI really don't know the reason, but I have cheaper car insurance than any of my acquaintances. It is still not cheap compared to other areas of the country but I pay $660 every six months for two 2018 vehicles with 100k/300k full coverage.
so weird, I am now paying $511 for 1 2014 ($40k new) car every 6 months with similar coverage. I have excellent credit and live in a very good part of town. no accidents or tickets in my life. This is through All State. I have my home owners policy through them as well and because of that I can not switch. If I switch to progressive it would drop to $391 for 6 months but then my home owners goes up by $465 a year because i lose the multi pollicy discount. I have shopped all around and can not find anyone that is less expensive for both. Such a racket
Quote: GWAEso weird, I am now paying $511 for 1 2014 ($40k new) car every 6 months with similar coverage. I have excellent credit and live in a very good part of town. no accidents or tickets in my life. This is through All State. I have my home owners policy through them as well and because of that I can not switch. If I switch to progressive it would drop to $391 for 6 months but then my home owners goes up by $465 a year because i lose the multi pollicy discount. I have shopped all around and can not find anyone that is less expensive for both. Such a racket
It is a racket but keep shopping it every year. I was with State Farm for 27 years and finally found a cheaper price for combining my house and car insurance with Farmers. Saved me about $200 a year combined.
Based on my insurance companies you might assume there are lots of farms in Las Vegas.
I'd had All State for almost forty years but State Farm came in at $129 for the same amount of coverage. Craziness.
If you go to court and fight hard enough, some say you can always get out of it completely. But, the worst case is you just pay a fine and have it turned into a parking ticket. You can also have a lawyer do this.
A friend of mine is an ex-cabbie and he said he got literally hundreds of traffic tickets, without having any go on his record.
This seems nice. But I wonder if the end result is that the insurance companies just assume everyone has a couple tickets. Or, more accurately, they just distribute that risk randomly across all drivers.
Quote: GWAEso weird, I am now paying $511 for 1 2014 ($40k new) car every 6 months with similar coverage. I have excellent credit and live in a very good part of town. no accidents or tickets in my life. This is through All State. I have my home owners policy through them as well and because of that I can not switch. If I switch to progressive it would drop to $391 for 6 months but then my home owners goes up by $465 a year because i lose the multi pollicy discount. I have shopped all around and can not find anyone that is less expensive for both. Such a racket
The answer to that is to take a personal articles policy with AllState. Costs maybe $100/yr for about $5-6k protection of something valuable to you. Jewelry, art, musical instruments, silverware, whatever. Now you keep your multi policy discount, insure something you care about, and move your car insurance to Progressive. Net savings couple hundred a year for more value.
Quote: RigondeauxIn Vegas, no remotely savvy person has moving violations on their record.
If you go to court and fight hard enough, some say you can always get out of it completely. But, the worst case is you just pay a fine and have it turned into a parking ticket. You can also have a lawyer do this.
A friend of mine is an ex-cabbie and he said he got literally hundreds of traffic tickets, without having any go on his record.
This seems nice. But I wonder if the end result is that the insurance companies just assume everyone has a couple tickets. Or, more accurately, they just distribute that risk randomly across all drivers.
High percentage of rental cars in Vegas with non-local drivers. Massive distraction zone on LVB and DT. High percentage of pedestrians to hit. Extreme heat. Dense population in a small area. Huge amount of free alcohol served. High percentage of night driving. I would think a LV metro zip code would skyrocket your insurance cost
Quote: beachbumbabsThe answer to that is to take a personal articles policy with AllState. Costs maybe $100/yr for about $5-6k protection of something valuable to you. Jewelry, art, musical instruments, silverware, whatever. Now you keep your multi policy discount, insure something you care about, and move your car insurance to Progressive. Net savings couple hundred a year for more value.
GEEZ never thought about that. I will definitely take a look at that.
Quote: TigerWuDoes anybody know about how long after a gambling trip it takes for new offers to be updated online for both Caesar's Rewards and MLife?
2-3 months
If you are making a u-turn, the wheels will not fall off your car if you go more than 1mph. There's no need to make 8 people miss the light as you inch forward.
Similarly, there are no land mines hidden in speed bumps. Go ahead and gas it up to 4-5 mph and you'll be OK.
Quote: RigondeauxSimilarly, there are no land mines hidden in speed bumps. Go ahead and gas it up to 4-5 mph and you'll be OK.
If you drive a Miata, it’s very easy to damage your bottom on speed humps.
Quote: Rigondeaux
If you are making a u-turn
You know a place where U
turns are legal? It's about the
most dangerous move you
can make. People behind
are not expecting it. nor are
people coming at you in the
other lane.
Quote: EvenBobYou know a place where U
turns are legal? It's about the
most dangerous move you
can make. People behind
are not expecting it. nor are
people coming at you in the
other lane.
They are generally permitted if there’s sufficient visibility and no sigh prohibiting it. Here’s info for the state of NY:
Quote:You can make a U-turn only from the left portion of the lane nearest to the centerline of the roadway, never from the right lane. Unless signs tell you otherwise, you can make a U-turn when you get permission to proceed by a green arrow left-turn traffic signal, provided it is allowed and you yield to other traffic.
You can not make a U-turn near the top of a hill, a curve or any other location where other drivers can not see your vehicle from 500 feet (150 m) away in either direction. U-turns are also illegal in business districts of New York City and where NO U-TURN signs are provided. You can never make a U-turn on a limited access expressway, even if paths connect your side of the expressway with the other side. In addition, it is prohibited for a vehicle to make a U-turn in a school zone.
I make u turns probably every day. It would be quite hard to get around Vegas without them.
Uturn? Why would I
make a u-turn? I haven’t
made a U-turn in 47 years.
Never had a reason to
make one. Don’t think I’ll
see a reason any time
soon.
Quote: RSWhy do I get the feeling evenbob is about to write:
Uturn? Why would I
make a u-turn?
I got 3 tickets for U turns
when I drove cab. Even
if it's not posted here they
can get you for impeding
traffic, or something. It's
ambiguous if not posted,
it's illegal if the cop wants
it to be. U turns do cause
tons of accidents, that's
a fact. You can do one on
a street empty of traffic
and if the cops a prick, get
a ticket.
Quote: Rigondeaux
Similarly, there are no land mines hidden in speed bumps.
Unless you're in a combat zone.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/camels-testicles-woman-louisiana-truck-stop-zoo-authorities?fbclid=IwAR1c1cCtXJr-bUZ0M0UfyKMo3TFjGOO1hyY0vVGfMyWzwSFQzW7Ot27R81A
A woman bit a camel’s testicles at a Louisiana truck stop petting zoo -- and was cited for criminal trespassing, according to reports.
The woman, a Florida resident, was chasing her dog when she crawled into Caspar’s enclosure at the Tiger Truck Stop on I-10 in Grosse Tete, The Baton Rouge Advocate reported Sunday.
She told deputies she bit the 600-pound camel when he sat on her. It happened Thursday.
“She said: ‘I bit his b---- to get him off of me, I bit his testicles to get him off of me,’” Iberville Parish Deputy Louis Hamilton Jr. told the paper.
I wasn't able to find much of an answer to this question. Will it eventually become very easy to make nuclear weapons?
You now for sure have an FBI tracking program on whichever device you were using to google that question.Quote: RigondeauxThere are some smart sciency people here.
I wasn't able to find much of an answer to this question. Will it eventually become very easy to make nuclear weapons?
Quote: RigondeauxThere are some smart sciency people here.
I wasn't able to find much of an answer to this question. Will it eventually become very easy to make nuclear weapons?
If I can make meth from buying all my ingredients at Walmart and using the shake n bake method....then yeah, making nukes should be pretty easy down the road.
Quote: RigondeauxThere are some smart sciency people here.
I wasn't able to find much of an answer to this question. Will it eventually become very easy to make nuclear weapons?
I'm pretty sure they're "easy" to make now. The hard part is actually getting the material.
from what I know, which is minimal and from someone talking about it quite a while ago, the hard part is getting the fissile material. Unprocessed uranium has too much of the wrong isotope. Once you have enough of the right stuff, anyone can make a bomb of sorts almost from the get-go. This person reminded those who saw the 1989 movie "Fat Man and Little Boy" of the part of the movie where 2 spheres of ready-to-go material just touched each other. It wasn't an explosion but it was a reaction that killed people. So a bomb maker has to just do a better job of intermingling instantly the stuff; a crude bomb would fail to make much of an explosion, maybe, but release a lot of radioactivity. Much experimentation needs to take place, if it all has to be learned from scratch; what is wanted is intelligence from those who have done it before, .Quote: RigondeauxThere are some smart sciency people here.
I wasn't able to find much of an answer to this question. Will it eventually become very easy to make nuclear weapons?
They use centrifuges to process uranium, how to do that has got to be pretty hard to learn from scratch I'd think.
Recently have been trying to read up a little on Fermi, said to be quite unusual in that he was good not only at theoretical physics but also a good experimental scientist, able to put things together to actually work, the combination is hard to find evidently.
Of course. If you need construction instructions, consult the 1952 edition of the Encyclopedia Britanica.Quote: TigerWuI'm pretty sure they're "easy" to make now. The hard part is actually getting the material.
The Pope made revealing the formula for gun powder an excommunication offense so many scholars enciphered the data. And I can't recall whether it was long bows or cross bows that the Pope tried to outlaw, he obviously did not succeed. Remember that archers made bows, they did not use them in battle, bowmen did. Arrows were made by fletchers. "I've Shot My Bolt" was an expression used by one firing a cross bow.
Oh, and William Tell did not exist and no such incident seems to have taken place. Bowman were not paid to become accurate, just fast enough to dim the sunlight with the high number of arrows they fired.
In that case, Pu 239 and Pu 241 appear to be more plentiful. Just be careful of Pu 240 and its spontaneity.Quote: odiousgambit"The hard part is getting the fissile material. Unprocessed uranium has too much of the wrong isotope.
Not an expert on the matter, but isn't plutonium what you get from reactors that generate it, not from mining? In other words, Pu requires some advanced technology to be in place already. I think the Iranians, who, considering the news, I presume prompted the OP, are stuck at the processing of uranium stage.Quote: SanchoPanzaIn that case, Pu 239 and Pu 241 appear to be more plentiful. Just be careful of Pu 240 and its spontaneity.
North Koreans probably have Pu.
Quote: RigondeauxThere are some smart sciency people here.
I wasn't able to find much of an answer to this question. Will it eventually become very easy to make nuclear weapons?
The thing that's hard to do with nuclear weapons is have a perfect reflecting surface, perfectly shaped and sealed, to contain the reaction long enough to reach critical mass. Otherwise it starts with the detonator and either fizzles because the atoms aren't aimed at each other, or burns a hole through the container and stops. Then you just have a small, dirty bomb that throws radioactive slag in the vicinity, rather than an annihilating blast.
I would think it's going to get harder to find the components rather than easier, because machinists of that skill level are disappearing. Maybe a robot can do it to the specification needed.
Basically I was talking with friends about how long until we are exterminated, or close to it.
Will it eventually be like making a jet plane is today? Will it become so easy nuclear war becomes inevitable?
Similar to Bull's "oil pipeline equipment' (That is what the paperwork said) but the Mossad knew they were segments of a super-long gun barrel because they had an informer on their payroll at each company capable of machining to those tolerances. Persons unknown poured acid into the equipment during transit and persons unknown administered acute lead poisoning to Bull as he was unlocking his front door.Quote: beachbumbabs, because machinists of that skill level are disappearing.
Using the implosion, shaped charge method would require Klystron switches and those are carefully monitored. Using two shotgun pieces fired into a third piece would be easier.
Quote: RigondeauxI'm not really talking about Iran. More like 50 years from now, or 100.
Basically I was talking with friends about how long until we are exterminated, or close to it.
Will it eventually be like making a jet plane is today? Will it become so easy nuclear war becomes inevitable?
I’m just pontificating here but I don’t actually think the nuclear part is that difficult. If you look into how they work, it’s not really all that complex.
The hard part is delivering the missile to the target. My understanding is that engineering a functional ICBM is extraordinarily complex.
The GPS system has a built in limitation to stop working at 60,000 FT altitude or over 1200mph, specifically to prevent ICBM navigation.
Quote: RigondeauxI'm not really talking about Iran. More like 50 years from now, or 100.
Basically I was talking with friends about how long until we are exterminated, or close to it.
Will it eventually be like making a jet plane is today? Will it become so easy nuclear war becomes inevitable?
Climate change and starvation are going to kill us before there are too many uncontrolled nukes.
3/10 of the birds from 40 years ago are gone. 40% of the animals. 60% of the bees. We'll be lucky to reach 2050, the way it's going.
Quote: RigondeauxI'm not really talking about Iran. More like 50 years from now, or 100.
Basically I was talking with friends about how long until we are exterminated, or close to it.
Will it eventually be like making a jet plane is today? Will it become so easy nuclear war becomes inevitable?
In 1980 people may have thought that’s how 2020 would be
Seen that cartoon sequence: a bee buzzes inside a man' house and he yells to his son "quick get me a rolled up newspaper" and placing the newspaper to his mouth says 'Thank you for all you do for the planet".Quote: beachbumbabs. 60% of the bees. We'll be lucky to reach 2050, the way it's going.
Quote: FleaStiffJust think of electric eels generating over 700 volts and ten days ago we didn't even know the species existed.
Huh?
I was just watching a fear factor episode from 2004 where they had to grab electric eels.
Quote: gamerfreakHuh?
I was just watching a fear factor episode from 2004 where they had to grab electric eels.
They discovered a new more powerful one two weeks ago
Nah, that precision is what is required for efficient nuclear weapons.Quote: beachbumbabsThe thing that's hard to do with nuclear weapons is have a perfect reflecting surface, perfectly shaped and sealed, to contain the reaction long enough to reach critical mass. Otherwise it starts with the detonator and either fizzles because the atoms aren't aimed at each other, or burns a hole through the container and stops. Then you just have a small, dirty bomb that throws radioactive slag in the vicinity, rather than an annihilating blast.
I would think it's going to get harder to find the components rather than easier, because machinists of that skill level are disappearing. Maybe a robot can do it to the specification needed.
The hardest thing is creating/stealing enriched nuclear material. The actual mechanics of achieving a nuclear detonation can be simple - they didn't even do a test of the gun-type uranium weapon ("Little Boy") before using it on Hiroshima.
Birds are fake. They are all government drones used to spy on us.Quote: beachbumbabsClimate change and starvation are going to kill us before there are too many uncontrolled nukes.
3/10 of the birds from 40 years ago are gone. 40% of the animals. 60% of the bees. We'll be lucky to reach 2050, the way it's going.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_catastrophic_risk#Likelihood.
Some of them don't really count imo. Like, if we get hit by an asteroid that's just getting unlucky. I'm more interested in how we will destroy ourselves. Some of us discussed it at dinner a couple weeks back, but I think it's possible that intelligent life almost invariably wipes itself out if and when it discovers fossil fuels. Apart from the risks posed by the fuels themselves, that seems to be when technology really takes off. Maybe thousands of intelligent species have come and gone throughout the universe in this fashion.
There are some underrated environmental issues that might not cause every person to die, but could cause the deaths of billions and who knows what that would set off. Things like unsustainable agriculture, over fishing and the depletion of the water supply.
Other interesting candidates include AI. Hawking famously worried about that, as have others. A poll of experts in the field put the chance of AI more or less destroying humanity at 5%, which I found surprisingly high.
Nano tech is another. Same basic idea. It could fall out of our control and be devastating.
There are other tech snafus that could cause the machinery of civilization to grind to a halt.
Of course, you have pandemics. This is another one where I wonder about the future. Knowing nothing about the subject, it seems like it could become fairly easy for people in the future to develop horrible viruses, like in 12 monkeys. Only takes one.
Nobody knows for sure what would happen in a nuclear war, but some theorize that even a small one could be devastating. A war between India and Pakistan using a few dozen Hiroshima sized bombs could trigger environmental changes that could lead to a famine causing billions of deaths. Again, who knows what else that would set off in terms of war and insurrection.
On the whole, it seems like we are dogs to make it much further, at least as modern societies. There have always been people who thought the world was about to end, but usually, they feared some sort of supernatural occurrence. I think these things are a lot more plausible.
What about a good ole fashioned economic collapse? What happens when governments can't borrow any more? The great depression helped set off WWII. A worse collapse is easy to imagine and our weapons are far more powerful now.
With everything else though, I imagine a worse case scenario is probably scattered groups of survivors, with billions dead.
So, don't worry, be happy.
Too few survivors and it leads to species extinction. See the dinosaurs. See the so many species we caused the extinction of.Quote: rxwineI don't think humans will be wiped out completely in all but a planet killing scenario, like a large planetary collision, or suprise suprise, our sun explodes.
With everything else though, I imagine a worse case scenario is probably scattered groups of survivors, with billions dead.
So, don't worry, be happy.
Quote: kubikulannToo few survivors and it leads to species extinction. See the dinosaurs. See the so many species we caused the extinction of.
Though I haven't known any dinosaurs, I did actually consider the dinosaurs' coping ability vs a human and decided we might have more of an advantage in a dire situation to adjust better than they did. Though I might concede there is no advantage with the loss of survival skills through modern living.
Quote: kubikulannToo few survivors and it leads to species extinction. See the dinosaurs. See the so many species we caused the extinction of.
I just read a little bit about population bottlenecks and way back in human history, like tens to hundreds of thousands of years ago, it is theorized the human population in Africa at one point dropped to 2,000 people, and just 70 in North America. We don't need many people to survive a catastrophe to continue the species, as long as they can sustain themselves.
Quote: michael99000In 1980 people may have thought that’s how 2020 would be
I remember being a kid in the '80's and not being able to fathom what 2020 was even going to be like. Kind of disappointing that it's almost exactly the same except everyone has computers now and cars look a little different. The inner child in me is looking around and saying, "Huh... is this it?" (Obviously things like medicine and other sciences are light years better, but I'm talking about more everyday living scenarios.)
