Useless Conversation

[Evildrider]

So dump the pain in the ass from your friends list.  Unless she's a crazy you're just trying to keep tabs on, why deal with it?

She hasn't been in my friends list since we broke up, but we do have some friends that are mutual.  So I see/hear it through them.

Don't listen to marketing people and teenagers, FB really is a useless waste of time. I don't know why any sane person would visit it more than once a week or month.

For me this is how I mainly keep in contact with family and friends.  I prefer it over being a phone text junkie.  For what it was made for it's fine for me.  I'm not one of those people that friends everyone  for any reason, my list is pretty small.

[lamaros]

I can understand that, though I use the phone/skype and email for that instead. But that doesn't mean you have to have 500 friends and deal with the pointless updates and the like.

[ghost]

Don't listen to marketing people and teenagers, FB really is a useless waste of time. I don't know why any sane person would visit it more than once a week or month.

I actually find it very useful to keep up with people that I was close with in college as I now live 20 plus hours away and don't get to see them that often.  I honestly think I couldn't do without it. 

[Paelos]

I can understand that, though I use the phone/skype and email for that instead. But that doesn't mean you have to have 500 friends and deal with the pointless updates and the like.

Yeah I keep a circle of friends and family I text/phone/email. I have a FB account for people to post pictures. I never go there, and yet it still tries to find me by email.

[Pennilenko]

Don't listen to marketing people and teenagers, FB really is a useless waste of time. I don't know why any sane person would visit it more than once a week or month.

It does a fine job of allowing me to keep easily in touch with my sisters and their children. Family photos and such are convenient too. I don't use it for anything other than family though.

[Samwise]

So dump the pain in the ass from your friends list.

This.

Unless she's a crazy you're just trying to keep tabs on, why deal with it?

The more crazy she is, the less it's in your best interests to keep tabs on her.

[Merusk]

Unless she's a crazy you're just trying to keep tabs on, why deal with it?

The more crazy she is, the less it's in your best interests to keep tabs on her.

My keep-tabs-on crazy is going in to the police academy this month.  It's in my best interest to find where she winds up and avoid that city the very few times I have to return to the Cleveland area.

So dump the pain in the ass from your friends list.  Unless she's a crazy you're just trying to keep tabs on, why deal with it?

She hasn't been in my friends list since we broke up, but we do have some friends that are mutual.  So I see/hear it through them.

These folks are jumping in with agreement they're not really friends of yours though, right?  For them what you can do is  click the "X" on their post to flag as spam. The post will go away and display an option to block all feed from that person permanently.  This can be undone in options if you ever feel like it in some drunken haze of poor thought.

[NowhereMan]

Have you ever wanted to tell someone to just get over something?  I mean, it was a life changing experience for them (not in a particularly good way) and now said person constantly keeps taking what I'd call childish potshots at the other person involved.  Oh, and person 1's support network of friends joins in on the rah-rah messages and in one case, one friend posted about how they had always thought person 2 was a tool and good riddance and oh, person 1's dad must have thought person 2 was a tool as well, yadda yadda yadda. 

I'm friends with both of them but person 2 hasn't said anything negative about person 1, but person 1 seems to like making the snide remarks or liking photos that have snarky comments.  It's making it hard for me to think positively about person 1.

And yes, this has been playing out in my FB feed for over a year now.

I've had friends do shit like this, it's impressive how quickly someone can go from being the injured party to the douchebag in a situation. If someone did something shitty to them and moved on and they're still being pointlessly bitchy, it's fair to just tag their stuff as spam. If they find out and get pissy explain to them that just seeing constant negative comments is a downer, even if you agree with them, and that seems to be all you see from them. If they're still pissed off about it then I'd say ignore them. People who can't stop being bitchy are just not wort the stress I find.

[MisterNoisy]

If they find out and get pissy explain to them that just seeing constant negative comments is a downer, even if you agree with them, and that seems to be all you see from them. If they're still pissed off about it then I'd say ignore them.

How would they find out?  FB isn't sending notifications about that now, is it?

[Ironwood]

These folks are jumping in with agreement they're not really friends of yours though, right?  For them what you can do is  click the "X" on their post to flag as spam. The post will go away and display an option to block all feed from that person permanently.  This can be undone in options if you ever feel like it in some drunken haze of poor thought.

A Million Times This.

My sister in law was being a cunt, trying to get everyone to buy her e-book, so she got squelched.  I could go and LOOK if someone told me she said something interesting, but otherwise, I wouldn't be  bothered.

I haven't looked yet, thanks for asking.

[Paelos]

The e-book was on being a cunt?

[bhodi]

Also, if you block the person instead of just unfriending them, it's like they magically don't exist. Your friends comments on their posts won't show up in your feed, nor will pictures that have them tagged in it, it's pretty good at isolation.

[Cyrrex]

Considering buying a new car.  I know we have talked in the past in this thread about the generally fuel efficiency of cars in the US and all that stuff.  Hybrids, electric cars, and whatnot, the gross inefficiency of the giant SUVs, etc.

Now that I have moved back to Europe and am looking at what's available over here versus what is in the US...it's just sickeningly obvious that Americans just don't give a fuck (not necessarily you people specifically).  The Prius is being held up as the gold standard for fuel efficiency, but most other mainstream cars in the US achieve nothing like that sort of effiiciency.  Here where I live now, that kind of fuel economy is the NORM.  You don't actually see many Priuses over here, because you can actually get way sweeter cars that are essentially just as efficient.  Most of the new cars I see driving around me are rather close to that same level of mpg/kml, and often times in a far more attractive package.  I am looking at a little BMW 1 series car.  Tiny little 2.0 liter diesel engine.  It will get about 50 mpg on average (by the way, Diesel fuel is about 20% cheaper as well).  And it will go aught to 60 in about 7.3 seconds (which may not be blazing fast by US standards, but is a relative rocket over here).  It is also far cooler and better to drive than a Prius in virtually every imagineable way.  Oh, and the car is cheaper.  Now granted, this is probably the bleeding edge of performance vs. efficiency for a car that is in reach of the average consumer, but jesus fuck.  There are tons of other options I could consider if I was willing to sacrifice a bit of performance. 

They really have the right idea over here of how to do this shit, and my smoldering rage over American excess just burns a little hotter.  Diesel still seems to have a bad rep, but the technology appears to be at a place now that the carbon footprint and overall emissions from these engines are now better than their gasoline counterparts.  And they are squeezing much more performance out of them as well - with many of those on the cutting edge, the diesel option is actually the performance option.  In other words, there are no more excuses.  It is totally reasonable to expect a minimum of 40 mpg out of a car and still get good performance without even having to resort to hybrid or other fuel technologies.  I am not advocating that we drop the search for alternative fuels by any stretch...just saying that until such time that we find those alternatives, there are much better ways of using the current technology.

My rage aside, I find it a rather interesting subject.  I was rather surprised when I started looking at cars over here just how far they have come.

[NowhereMan]

I think the latest model of BMW 3 Series 2.0L diesels boast something like 70MPG with everything else being a fuck lot nicer than a Prius. For a regular driver or someone wanting 4x4 type hauling power a turbo diesel makes a lot more sense than a petrol engine. Friend of mine has one of the Mitsubishi pick-up style things and gets 25-30MPG while towing a 5m boat. The only reason I can see for going for a petrol car is 1) You're super into your driving, have a high performance car and use it on the track or similar and will definitely notice the difference or 2) You live in the States and don't think you'll actually be able to refuel it any petrol stations.

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, that 1 series BMW I was talking about probably maxes out at around 70 mpg...it is probably the exact same engine.  When you read about the ways they have managed to squeeze efficiency out of those engines, it is really quite interesting.

In the US, it would probably realistically require a government mandate requiring Diesels to be manufactured and for the fuel itself to be available at the pumps.  For that reason alone, it will probably never happen.  Because American consumers are selfish retards.  Yay free markets.

[Murgos]

Eh, you can get those cars here.  It's just that few people buy them, especially outside of the blue states.  I have seen quite a few TDi VW's and Audi's around Boston though, and considered getting one myself before I decided that 10 MPG wasn't worth the amount of fun I would have with a GTI.

I absolutely agree with your premise that the Prius is a shitty car for the money from both a technology and a fuel economy standpoint.  Especially if you consider environmental factors, thousands of pounds of toxic heavy metals for the battery aren't just going to clean themselves up when you are done with the car in a few years.

[Selby]

Eh, you can get those cars here.  It's just that few people buy them, especially outside of the blue states.

It's SO hard to get a diesel in California.  And most of the best diesel setups from Europe won't meet smog requirements in the US so we can't get them here =(

[Chimpy]

I saw advertisements for cars on TV while in the UK that made me certain that the UK calculated MPG differently. The one that was most obvious was one saying a Mazda 3 getting 80 MPG. Even conceding that a british gallon is larger than an US gallon, there is no way that they are using the same formula as that car rates about 40mpg here in the states. If they got the same performance with double the mileage manufacturers would be selling them here too because it would make it a lot easier to raise their fleet averages by the federal deadline.

[Cyrrex]

Eh, you can get those cars here. 

Yeah, well, I guess that is sorta the point.  Probably depends on where you are, but where I was last in the US, they were so rare that I wasn't even aware of their existence.  Maybe they were all hiding behind the massive SUVs?  Also, I suspect that some of the really efficient models with the super tiny engines are largely unavailable in the US.  In fact, I just looked, and the only model of the VW TDI that seems available in the US is the 2.0 liter with 140 bhp.  That is the BIG engine over here.  They come in far more efficient models than that one.  So really, no, you can't get them over there.

[Cyrrex]

I saw advertisements for cars on TV while in the UK that made me certain that the UK calculated MPG differently. The one that was most obvious was one saying a Mazda 3 getting 80 MPG. Even conceding that a british gallon is larger than an US gallon, there is no way that they are using the same formula as that car rates about 40mpg here in the states. If they got the same performance with double the mileage manufacturers would be selling them here too because it would make it a lot easier to raise their fleet averages by the federal deadline.

Protip (and see above post):  it isn't the same car.  80mpg might be a stretch, but then again...I just looked at the Mazdas I can get here, and they are getting 60 mpg mixed, so 70 on the highway is not out of the question.

[Numtini]

Eh, you can get those cars here.

The Germans sell Diesels, but nobody else does. Look at the UK sites for Honda or Toyota to see the differences. The Honda Accord is a perfect example. The US gets a 2.4 4 cylinder gas or a 3.5l 6 cylinder gas. The UK gets a 2.0l gas and a 2.0l diesel. Even the Corolla and Civic have a diesel options.

[Sky]

I live 4 minutes from work and normally fill my tank once a month. Obviously, everyone should move closer to work and stop being selfish assholes for living further away.

[Hammond]

The fuel efficiency is a combination of things. When I was shopping for my Audi I really wanted one of those European diesels that get the amazing mileage.  They just do not sell many of them in the US due to smog requirements.  Audi for example sells the A3 and the Q7(SUV) the A3 has the 2.0 TDI diesels in it.  The A3 is the smallest and it gets around 40 miles to the gallon on the highway according to the EPA.  In Europe they say it can go up to roughly 70 mpg (same engine).  Part of the reason you see the difference is that the mileage testing in Europe is done far differently than the US.  They also tweak the engine a bit to help the mileage because they have lower smog requirements.
 
Long story short,  they are introducing the diesels back into the US and over the next few years and we should see more choices.   Unless of course the EPA changes the rules again on pollutants which is why the European diesels disappeared the first time...

[Polysorbate80]

It's SO hard to get a diesel in California.  And most of the best diesel setups from Europe won't meet smog requirements in the US so we can't get them here =(

Don't get me started on smog requirements.  I'm in the market for a new pickup, but the changes made in the last few years to meet the 2010 emissions standards have seriously nerfed their mileage (which wasn't stellar to start with).

My choices are to live with 25% reduced fuel economy, buy a pickup made before 2008 that doesn't have the exhaust gas recirculation/particulate filter, or illegally modify the new vehicle.  Which is a $2000+ fine if it's caught, but at current prices it wouldn't take *that* long to more than make up for that in savings....

Decisions, decisions.

[MisterNoisy]

Long story short,  they are introducing the diesels back into the US and over the next few years and we should see more choices.   Unless of course the EPA changes the rules again on pollutants which is why the European diesels disappeared the first time...

GM did diesels a huge disservice back in the 70's and 80's, largely by trying to adapt existing gasoline engines without any sort of changes to account for the much higher compression ratios in diesel powerplants.

[Sky]

I had a pretty decent diesel rabbit back in the 80s, that thing was a mini tank; it was the road trip vehicle of choice due to the awesome mileage. I wouldn't really be able to get by with it today, but it would be a decent second vehicle.

These days I see diesel all the time at the pump, but I use Sunoco exclusively which might skew that if it's some kind of franchise thing.

[Merusk]

There's diesel at nearly every gas station because it behooves them all to try and cater to the fleet vehicles and delivery trucks that have propagated over the years.   I see plenty of box vans and local delivery trucks at my local stations filling-up all the time.  It's not like there's truck stops in most places for them to pull-in to and top-off if it's running low after a particularly lousy day on the road.

[Xanthippe]

Whatever happened to using liquified natural gas as a fuel for cars/trucks? What's the downside?

I seem to recall that was one alternative fuel being developed but then it went nowhere.

I hate Prius drivers. There are way too many of them where I live.

[Ingmar]

Well we hate you right back then!

[IainC]

Whatever happened to using liquified natural gas as a fuel for cars/trucks? What's the downside?

I seem to recall that was one alternative fuel being developed but then it went nowhere.

I hate Prius drivers. There are way too many of them where I live.

It's quite common over here as a fuel for buses and short-ranged commercial vehicles (trucks that deliver within cities for example). It's not so common in passenger cars because the network of refilling stations doesn't really exist outside of a few localised areas.

[MisterNoisy]

I hate Prius drivers. There are way too many of them where I live.

I don't hate Prius drivers, but I hate hypermilers with the intensity of a thousand exploding suns.  Prius drivers do tend to engage in this behavior more than other drivers, largely because they have the little 'video game' display that shows them if they're 'winning'.  If they're driving like a normal commuter, who cares what car they're in?

[Salamok]

I hate Prius drivers. There are way too many of them where I live.

I don't hate Prius drivers, but I hate hypermilers with the intensity of a thousand exploding suns.  Prius drivers do tend to engage in this behavior more than other drivers, largely because they have the little 'video game' display that shows them if they're 'winning'.  If they're driving like a normal commuter, who cares what car they're in?

That game is the best, I love trying to get to the corner store and back to my house w/o triggering the engine at all!

[Hammond]

Whatever happened to using liquified natural gas as a fuel for cars/trucks? What's the downside?

I seem to recall that was one alternative fuel being developed but then it went nowhere.

I hate Prius drivers. There are way too many of them where I live.

It's quite common over here as a fuel for buses and short-ranged commercial vehicles (trucks that deliver within cities for example). It's not so common in passenger cars because the network of refilling stations doesn't really exist outside of a few localised areas.

All the buses in my city run on natural gas.  It all really depends on the area you live in.  When my uncle lived in San Diego he had a truck that ran on natural gas.  It was a fun truck to drive and it with a 45 gallon tank it went forever.  There are so few filling stations in the US though that it makes it fairly difficult to use though.

Nice little website lists alot of CNG refilling stations.    http://www.cngnow.com/stations/Pages/information.aspx

[ghost]

Whatever happened to using liquified natural gas as a fuel for cars/trucks? What's the downside?

I seem to recall that was one alternative fuel being developed but then it went nowhere.

I hate Prius drivers. There are way too many of them where I live.

The only downside that I'm aware of is that apparently the engines are a lot more expensive.  That would obviously go down some as the production levels of those types of engines increased.

[Sjofn]

The NJ Transit buses were all natural gas when I moved, I have no idea if they've been changed to something else (although I kinda assume they have not).