Friday's rant

[Avenger]

Can I vote for you in the next general election?

Are you in favour of Ireland becoming a technocracy? If so, gimme your vote

I could live with that.

[Schumi]

People who have those "BABY ON BOARD" signs

Those signs were designed to let other drivers know that the driver was liable to do something stupid as they were being driven mental by their screaming sprog. Now they're just self congratulatory because I guarantee you nobody puts them in their window as a warning to others.

They're the sign equivalent of bores who never shut up about their children.

[Donny B.]

Why do Americans who are so virulently opposed to the metric system describe their handguns in terms of ammo "millimetres"?

[fourthirtythree]

Why do Americans who are so virulently opposed to the metric system describe their handguns in terms of ammo "millimetres"?

Strangely, in hilarious contradiction to how they characterise yurps in general and French in particular, their army is based on the French model, and thus often uses metric e.g. distances measured in "clicks" that is kilometres. This is at least in part because they didn't win a single major land battle in their war on independence without French assistance.

Their navy is based on the English model though and so is the air force (I think they were aligned initially) and thus NASA uses imperial measurement to the confusion of others.

Funnily enough various branches of the US government use very different sizes for some of those imperial measurements, things like acres mean something different in the, say farm department versus the army.
Imperial measurement is on my list: chugs the pipe big time.

[leinsterlank]

Today, I brought a guy with suspected swine flu to the doctor to be checked!So basically I now have swine flu. Great f*ck!n job!

[Schumi]

Their navy is based on the English model though and so is the air force (I think they were aligned initially) and thus NASA uses imperial measurement to the confusion of others.

Didn't they crash a rocket or something because they mixed up inches and centimetres somewhere.

[Sarphil]

So if I stop storing my rants will I become "not bitter and twisted" again?

I think we prefer you the way you are.

Oh another rant: people who cruise in the middle lane of roads like the N7 or M50 or cruise in the overtaking lanes on the motorways.
Read the rules of the road!

We need signs on all these roads with KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING

Well said. I seem to recall that in Australia they have warnings like if you don't keep to the left we will hang you up by your balls at the next flyover.

[fourthirtythree]

Their navy is based on the English model though and so is the air force (I think they were aligned initially) and thus NASA uses imperial measurement to the confusion of others.

Didn't they crash a rocket or something because they mixed up inches and centimetres somewhere.

I was thinking of that, but in that case it was the dumb English scientists. They received some measurements in "mills" from the US. They assumed that meant millimetres. Thing is that mills are an actual unit of measurement: thousandths of inches. They are not short for millimetres.
Wasn't that the Mars lander that hit the ground, dead cat bounced and was never heard of again?

[gfo]

I was thinking of that, but in that case it was the dumb English scientists. They received some measurements in "mills" from the US.

In this case it was dumb American scientists. There's no imperial measurement of 'mils', the only subdivision of an inch is a 'thou' (or thousandth of an inch. why does the imperial system use a very Metric one thousandth? I have no idea). But in America they sometimes call a thou a mil, BUT mil is also used as an informal name for millimetre. Why? Again, I don't know.

Anyway, it was indeed the Mars Lander that crashed. It was due Nasas team in Lockheed Martin using mil to mean thou, and the Californian team using mil to mean millimetre. Not exactly rocket science, is it lads!!!

[Broken Wing]

their war on independence

"Of" surely.

Their navy is based on the English model though and so is the air force (I think they were aligned initially)

When the American airforce was set up in World War I it was a branch of the Army. No idea when or why the Navy got one too.

[CRAZYDAVE]

Sunday Drivers, a.k.a. the "Sacred Cow Brigade"

Coupled with eco-drivers.

Clocking up loadza milage in their Toyota "Pious". Its an eco car but, depending on usage, causes more damage to the environment. In fact it was proven it was more damaging to the environment, when driven a a constant higher speed (i.e. motorway), than a 2.5 litre petrol car.

[gfo]

Clocking up loadza milage in their Toyota "Pious". Its an eco car but, depending on usage, causes more damage to the environment. In fact it was proven it was more damaging to the environment, when driven a a constant higher speed (i.e. motorway), than a 2.5 litre petrol car.

no it wasn't, and no it isn't.

[Slipper1]

Clocking up loadza milage in their Toyota "Pious". Its an eco car but, depending on usage, causes more damage to the environment. In fact it was proven it was more damaging to the environment, when driven a a constant higher speed (i.e. motorway), than a 2.5 litre petrol car.

no it wasn't, and no it isn't.

Without wanting to swing this off topic, I'm with CrazyDave on this one...

In order to fully understand this argument, you need to know the overall architecture of the Prius powertrain. The car consists of two engines, a 1.5L gas engine and an electric motor. The electric motor is capable of propelling the car up to 25mph and from there the gas engine kicks in. Therefore the car saves fuel by turning the gas engine off when it is idling and driving in traffic. The battery for the electric motor is recharged through the braking system.

When the current Prius was released for the 04' model year, Toyota boasted about the car's estimated 60 mpg in the city and 51mpg on the highway. Consumers ate this information up and flocked to Toyota dealers in droves. Soon after its release consumers began to complain about the fact that their cars were not achieving the claimed mpg. This was due to the out of date EPA tests that the government uses to estimate a car's mpg. (The new tests will be applied to 2008 models) In most real world applications the Prius only manages to achieve 45 mpg, which is not much higher than most subcompact economy cars (Aveo, Yaris, Scion).

That is the first main issue with the current Prius. Second is the issue with the actual production of the batteries for the hybrid cars. It is only slowly being revealed that the nickel batteries that hybrids use are not environmentally friendly. The nickel for the Prius is produced in Sudbury, Ontario. According to Demorro, " This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the 'dead zone' around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles." Toyota produces 1,000 tons annually. The production of the batteries does not end in Canada, the nickel is then sent off to a refinery in Europe and then off to China and finally it ends up in finished form in Japan. This in turn uses more energy to create the batteries since it involves many factories all over the world.

When you factor in all the energy it takes to drive and build a Prius it takes almost 50% more energy than a Hummer. In a study by CNW Marketing called "Dust to Dust", researchers discovered that the Prius costs and average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles (the expected lifespan of a hybrid). On the other hand the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile over an expected 300,000 miles. Which means that the Hummer will last three times as long and use less energy than the Prius. ( I am not sure about the claim that the Hummer will last three times longer...)

This also doesn't take into account the problem with disposing of the used batteries. Most of the hybrids have not been on the market long enough to be disposed of yet, but when it does happen there are going to be more environmental implications.

Basically to sum this up, the Prius and all hybrids for that matter are not exactly what the public perceives them to be. Hybrids for the most part do not have huge gains in gas mileage over their gas powered counterparts. There is also a premium to buy a hybrid and there is a large chance that the premium will not be offset by the time you get rid of the car. According to Demorro, "It takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses." Then there are the issues with the batteries and their effect on the environment.

Basically if you want to save gas and pollute less you should buy a subcompact with a PZEV rated engine. It will save you more money in the long run and the earth will thank you.

This may all change in the coming years as technology gets better and the price of hybrids drop.

Its on the internet, so it must be true.

[Oldschool]

Clocking up loadza milage in their Toyota "Pious". Its an eco car but, depending on usage, causes more damage to the environment. In fact it was proven it was more damaging to the environment, when driven a a constant higher speed (i.e. motorway), than a 2.5 litre petrol car.

no it wasn't, and no it isn't.

Without wanting to swing this off topic, I'm with CrazyDave on this one...

In order to fully understand this argument, you need to know the overall architecture of the Prius powertrain. The car consists of two engines, a 1.5L gas engine and an electric motor. The electric motor is capable of propelling the car up to 25mph and from there the gas engine kicks in. Therefore the car saves fuel by turning the gas engine off when it is idling and driving in traffic. The battery for the electric motor is recharged through the braking system.

When the current Prius was released for the 04' model year, Toyota boasted about the car's estimated 60 mpg in the city and 51mpg on the highway. Consumers ate this information up and flocked to Toyota dealers in droves. Soon after its release consumers began to complain about the fact that their cars were not achieving the claimed mpg. This was due to the out of date EPA tests that the government uses to estimate a car's mpg. (The new tests will be applied to 2008 models) In most real world applications the Prius only manages to achieve 45 mpg, which is not much higher than most subcompact economy cars (Aveo, Yaris, Scion).

That is the first main issue with the current Prius. Second is the issue with the actual production of the batteries for the hybrid cars. It is only slowly being revealed that the nickel batteries that hybrids use are not environmentally friendly. The nickel for the Prius is produced in Sudbury, Ontario. According to Demorro, " This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the 'dead zone' around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles." Toyota produces 1,000 tons annually. The production of the batteries does not end in Canada, the nickel is then sent off to a refinery in Europe and then off to China and finally it ends up in finished form in Japan. This in turn uses more energy to create the batteries since it involves many factories all over the world.

When you factor in all the energy it takes to drive and build a Prius it takes almost 50% more energy than a Hummer. In a study by CNW Marketing called "Dust to Dust", researchers discovered that the Prius costs and average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles (the expected lifespan of a hybrid). On the other hand the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile over an expected 300,000 miles. Which means that the Hummer will last three times as long and use less energy than the Prius. ( I am not sure about the claim that the Hummer will last three times longer...)

This also doesn't take into account the problem with disposing of the used batteries. Most of the hybrids have not been on the market long enough to be disposed of yet, but when it does happen there are going to be more environmental implications.

Basically to sum this up, the Prius and all hybrids for that matter are not exactly what the public perceives them to be. Hybrids for the most part do not have huge gains in gas mileage over their gas powered counterparts. There is also a premium to buy a hybrid and there is a large chance that the premium will not be offset by the time you get rid of the car. According to Demorro, "It takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses." Then there are the issues with the batteries and their effect on the environment.

Basically if you want to save gas and pollute less you should buy a subcompact with a PZEV rated engine. It will save you more money in the long run and the earth will thank you.

This may all change in the coming years as technology gets better and the price of hybrids drop.

Its on the internet, so it must be true.

Yep - Beware the "Green Bubble".
ie The next/current sexy investment opportunity.
Too much "wind" being spouted about it.
Big question, of course, will it be just our clowns
(and they're already well on the way to mucking it up, if they're not careful,
Ireland is already investing and committing to investing too much money in Wind Energy.)

or will it be the whole world.

There are mind boggling amounts of money being invested in wind power, in particular, worldwide.
I just hope our bankers are a bit more careful and astute this time round.

Watch out for sentences with "soft landing" in them and
"If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now."
It's a few years away but as my mawmaw used to say.
"Son, what goes up, always comes down."

[gfo]

the Dust to Dust report on the Prius v Hummer was conducted by a group called CNW, a market research group. They found that American 2005 model Priuses (ie not available in Europe) were more expensive to run (not more environmentally friendly) than H2 and H3 Hummers, but based the cost on the actual cost of production of the Prius v Hummers AND the average distance driven per user over the cars lifetime.

They found that unsurprisingly Hummer users drove a lot more than Prius users, and used this to lower the cost to run of a Hummer. Obviously an absolutely stupid thing to do, they should be researched using equal mileage, not 'user averages'. They claimed they were trying to reflect the 'social cost' not the cost for the end owner to run. ANd Toyota have been recycling all their batteries for about 20 years now. If their own research is true, the Prius is more environmentally friendly, albeit more expensive to run

After the report was published, it was rubbished by scientists and automotive experts. CNW Market Research just didn't know what they were doing. Their findings are the opposite of the usual results found through testing, and they were never willing to disclose their full results or testing methods. The report was never checked or peer reviewed.
here's a few credited professionals rubbishing the findings.
http://www.pacinst.org/topics/integrity ... _prius.pdf
http://www.evworld.com/library/rmi_hummerVprius.pdf
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/our- ... -view.aspx (toyotas own response)
http://www.sae.org/technical/papers/2006-01-0375
http://lfee.mit.edu/public/el00-003.pdf

Of course, none of this matters since the latest Dust to Dust report shows that the Prius is cheaper.


I know you really, really want to believe that the Prius is actually a piece of sh!t and that Toyotas engineers somehow managed to spend millions researching low-cost, environmentally friendly cars but somehow managed to end up with something more expensive to run than a hummer.
I'd be willing to discuss it further, provided you can obtain something more substantial than the CNW report, or unfounded opinions from "someone's blog"

Let me spell it out for you:

The Prius is more fuel-efficient and more environmentally friendly than a Hummer.

which leads me nicely on to my rant, when people who really want to believe something is true, they'll argue their point even though they know absolutely nothing on the subject matter

[meinster]

That there is check-mate! Nicely done!

[Slipper1]

which leads me nicely on to my rant, when people who really want to believe something is true, they'll argue their point even though they know absolutely nothing on the subject matter

I know you really, really want to believe that the Prius is actually a piece of sh!t and that Toyotas engineers somehow managed to spend millions researching low-cost, environmentally friendly cars but somehow managed to end up with something more expensive to run than a hummer.
I'd be willing to discuss it further, provided you can obtain something more substantial than the CNW report, or unfounded opinions from "someone's blog"

No I dont

I never professed to know dick about the subject, and I really couldnt give a sh!t, a quick google search brought up the quoted info I remember gearing a number of months ago. - I like neither car, I leave the tap running when I brush my teeth and only sometimes rinse bottles before I put them in the green bin. I do however enjoy the fact that a company looking to produce a green car, ships the incredibly not green batteries all around the world.

and they sponsor munster, so I wouldnt buy one if they were the best cars on earth.

[gfo]

alright, fair enough, i was just putting the arguement to rest.

anyway, i'll have a whiny b$&%@#d day, one more thing that vexes me:

"I'm a huge Munster fan, I've been going to Thomand Park all my life. Ever since I was a little boy, and i'd hop the wall into Thomand Park and watch the games. Thats how much of a huge fan I am. Its such a great stadium, that Thomand. The new Thomand Park is great, every team that plays there is intimidated by the famous Thomand Park atmosphere. blah blah blah, Thomand Park is great, blah blah I love Thomand Park etc."

Yeah, you're such a huge fan, I just wish Donnybrack was as good as Thomand Park. Maybe I'll drive down one day in my Handa Civic.
I wouldn't even fooking worse when people it ThomAND out loud. You don't even know the name of your own stadium, ye joke!

[Leinsterman]

Prius owners

[gERI]

My rant is at myself. I stupidly pulled a muscle in my lower leg and while out doing sprints on the track about a week ago. I've had to attend physio and I'm not allowed back running yet and have to keep putting an ice pack on my leg to try and help the muscle.

If I put the slightest bit of pressure and run my finger up the muscle, it hurts like helll grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! I have to go back to the physio on Wednesday who will be able to give me a better time frame of when I can go out running.

I still havent figured out how I could have pulled it since I had been doing 5 100 mtr sprint sessions before that but I'm a week pissed off at myself for having done it and now I cant go out until I get the green light from the physio.

Mind you, I have to say she is very good so that is one good thing

Geri