Forgot your password?

Comment: Re:Computers (Score 1) 205

The fully automatic modes have to be much better than humans before people will accept them. If you ride in the front train of a Chicago CTA train, you can hear the overspeed warning beeping from the operator cabin about every 10 seconds. If the operator ignores it, the train will automatically shut down to prevent the train from derailing.

Comment: Re:Flawed "Think of the Children" as usual (Score 1) 750

by bigtrike (#43787663) Attached to: House Bill Would Mandate Smart Gun Tech By U.S. Manufacturers

I consider myself to be pretty liberal, and while I'm not an advocate of gun control (aside from the fact that it's a guaranteed right, gun control wouldn't work), I would welcome education. According to the numbers, most people are far more likely to hurt themselves by having the gun in their beside table than they are be able to prevent personal harm from an intruder. The intruders are far more likely to wait until you're gone, and if you're a total idiot that does not properly secure your weapons, they'll steal your gun from your bedside table and use it for crimes or gang violence.

Comment: MPG is low based on more than just safety reqs (Score 1) 157

You know what else keeps fuel efficiency low? Big engines. Consumers have demanded them instead of efficient vehicles in part because we make driving artificially cheap by subsidizing road construction with more funds than we take in from gas taxes. Consumers are typically horrible at acting rationally in their own self interest and are far more likely to act on emotion and misinformation, although I don't think the government should necessarily take the nanny role in those situations.

Comment: Would you prefer private roads? (Score 1) 307

by bigtrike (#42932409) Attached to: Tax Peculiarities Mean Facebook Paid No Net Taxes For 2012

Without any income, there could be no government and no shared resources. While I certainly see benefits to reducing government in some areas, it sounds like you're advocating no government. I'm genuinely curious, would you prefer the times when there was no tax, no public resources, and each individual was responsible for negotiating rates for each bridge and road they traveled? Would you prefer to drink only well water, which could not be evaluated for safety because no testing body existed to validate the marketing claims of the water testing products you traded your precious metals for? How would this be different from the lawless days of the wild west or a failed state such as Somalia?

Comment: If you can't telecommute, live closer to work (Score 1) 609

by bigtrike (#42909789) Attached to: NY Times' Broder Responds To Tesla's Elon Musk

Not everyone can telecommute, but traditionally people have lived much closer to work, whether it be on a farm, above their shop or in row homes near a factory. I've lived within a mile of my job for the past 12 years and it has saved me quite a bit of money. Public transit and zipcar work for when I need to go a little farther. With the average cost of car ownership around here being $8,000 a year, it's more than enough to pay for the higher cost of living. Yes, there are many jobs this doesn't work for, but if the average office worker didn't have to clog up miles of roads to get to work, the occupations that do need to travel would have a much easier time commuting between job sites.

Professional wrestling: ballet for the common man.