The Clown is Watching

by philrw
198 words - 1 min read
Tech
Lately when I go through the McDonald’s drive-through near my work, they seem to guess correctly on what I want to drink with my breakfast combo meal. I almost always order the same combo and I always order the same drink: a small orange juice. But today they got it wrong. They assumed I wanted a coffee. Why was that? Just an off day? What’s different about today? The only thing I can think of is that I was driving my wife’s car. I will have to test this theory, of course, but I think they use some kind of vehicle recognition, perhaps by scanning the license plate, to determine what you want.
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Crowdfunding Vaporware

by philrw
198 words - 1 min read
Personal Rants and Raves Tech
It would appear to be the golden age of new, innovative products. Companies and startups nobody’s ever heard of promise to deliver technological marvels. Sites like Kickstarter help connect these companies with masses of interested people, who pledge to fund the product if they reach a certain mass. I eagerly await products like WigWag, the Lit Motors C-1, and a bunch of other neat things. Unfortunately, this may all eventually backfire. If enough companies fail to deliver on their promises, the fountain of money from the fickle public will quickly dry up.
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The Problem With Having One Electric Car

by philrw
186 words - 1 min read
Auto Personal
Our EV has been great. It’s cheap to operate; smooth, quiet, and fun to drive; and helps us feel better about our environmental impact. There’s just one problem with having one: you want two. Gasoline is expensive and it pollutes more than electric. So we want to drive the Leaf as much as possible. If we could have two EVs, we would do it (correction: affordable EVs, not the current Tesla offering). But one EV isn’t enough to cover all of our driving: we still need one petro-powered car for longer trips and for when our activities diverge.
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Mind Games, Metric, and Carbon Sequestration

by philrw
60 words - 1 min read
Personal

I just read that Hamburg’s average temperature is 9°C.

And now I just figured out how to get Americans to use the metric system for temperatures. Climate change. As the Earth heats up, Americans will want to use the Celsius scale to make things seem colder. 100 degrees (F) outside? Not a problem! It’s actually only in the upper 30s!

Star Trek TNG + Xmas = ?

by philrw
37 words - 1 min read
Personal

My wife has asked me on more than one occasion why they don’t celebrate religious holidays on Star Trek: The Next Generation (we haven’t gotten to Deep Space Nine yet). This is too funny not to share: