Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[themadhippy]

Those laws are stupid. A person ought to be free to import any car they want from anywhere in the world regardless of what it is or when it was made

But your supposedly  the land of the free

[PlainName]

cmake and ninja. Nothing but trouble and take forever to get almost working (that is, they still don't work properly). Make was so much simpler and Just Worked.

[james_s]

Those laws are stupid. A person ought to be free to import any car they want from anywhere in the world regardless of what it is or when it was made

But your supposedly  the land of the free

Some of us try to be, but it's a constant battle against others that wish to control people. New laws and regulations are passed all the time, old laws are very rarely wiped, we get less free all the time.

[SilverSolder]

Yes, but meanwhile he was lobbying the US Congress to pass the 25 year and "Show and Display" rules so he could get his imported Porsche out of quarantine. Gates is basically personally responsible for our ability to import otherwise non-US-marketed vehicles. The EPA and NHTSB are hyper-sticklers about non-US-marketed cars, even if those cars are identical to those sent to other countries (example: Canada). Spare some thanks to Gates and his resources for making some of those vehicles kinda accessible to the "free" citizens of this country.

Those laws are stupid. A person ought to be free to import any car they want from anywhere in the world regardless of what it is or when it was made. Obviously it's going to need to have things like compliant lighting if it's going to be driven on public roads but the amount of rules and limitations that exist are just ridiculous. There are relatively very few people that are even going to want to go through the effort to import some random car, it's pretty much only collectors and enthusiasts.

The car companies have the global car market stitched up very carefully, to avoid people importing vehicles from region A to region B when cars are more expensive in region B.   

Not just car companies do this, of course...  they are pretty much all "at it".  (Remember region coded DVDs?)

There is no such thing as a free market,  just different mafias in control of different regions and divvying up the takings between them...

[IDEngineer]

Those laws are stupid. A person ought to be free to import any car they want from anywhere in the world regardless of what it is or when it was made.

I'm OK with the car having to pass USA emissions. Stick a sensor up the tailpipe and confirm it's compliant with the laws in effect for its model year. That affects everyone else. Make the buyer pay for that test. Totally reasonable.

Your point about headlights, etc. is also appropriate. Things which could affect other people should be compliant to the model year. Again, require the buyer to pay for an inspection which generates paperwork acceptable to the DMV in your state.

But they ALSO demand that it conform to NHTSA passenger safety standards at the federal level. That affects ONLY the buyer and any subsequent purchasers. So, have a disclaimer form which the buyer must submit wherein they acknowledge the unknown interior safety situation and accept liability associated with it. No one external to the car is affected.

I can speak from personal experience on this one. I wanted to buy a 2009 British car in Canada and bring it back to the States. The manufacturer didn't want to have separate versions for the two markets so they exported the same car to both USA and Canada. The cars were so identical that this Canadian car had a United States EPA sticker on the engine certifying that it passed US EPA requirements! But Canada has its own version of the NHTSA, so it had a Canadian "safety" sticker instead of a USA one. Bang - case closed, the feds say you cannot bring it into the USA for ownership.

You may be able to get it here, and some states will even title and license it. Some people have done that and just take the risk. But if the feds find you driving it they will seize and crush it. That's the law. Never mind that the car is identical to US safety standards for 2009. Never mind that the only people affected by any potential substandard safety situation were the people INSIDE the car. Nope, your only real course of action is to wait for 25 years to elapse.

By the way, Canada's "25 year rule" is just 15 years. Still too long, but hey... lots of people point to Canada as an example of a better way to run a government, so how about we start with this?

Grrrr.

[IDEngineer]

Some of us try to be, but it's a constant battle against others that wish to control people. New laws and regulations are passed all the time, old laws are very rarely wiped, we get less free all the time.

If I were granted one Constitutional Amendment of my choice, it would be this: Every law past or future has an automatic and compulsory 10 year sunset clause. This would automatically retire bad laws passed as knee-jerk overreactions to short-term events. If the need continues, future Congresses can review the situation and pass either the same, or an updated version of the law.

Yes, this would chew up some of Congress's time revisiting old legislation. That's not a bug, that's a feature. As you noted, we have lots of old laws that remain on the books long after they're useful, needed, or in some cases even in context anymore. It's exceedingly difficult to get rid of old laws, old taxes, and other such waste products. Think of this as "term limits for legislation"... lacking any forceful advocates, bad laws just drift away without overt effort.

[Bud]

People, this thread has gone off the tracks, please discuss that stuff elsewhere. 

[james_s]

But they ALSO demand that it conform to NHTSA passenger safety standards at the federal level. That affects ONLY the buyer and any subsequent purchasers. So, have a disclaimer form which the buyer must submit wherein they acknowledge the unknown interior safety situation and accept liability associated with it. No one external to the car is affected.

I can speak from personal experience on this one. I wanted to buy a 2009 British car in Canada and bring it back to the States. The manufacturer didn't want to have separate versions for the two markets so they exported the same car to both USA and Canada. The cars were so identical that this Canadian car had a United States EPA sticker on the engine certifying that it passed US EPA requirements! But Canada has its own version of the NHTSA, so it had a Canadian "safety" sticker instead of a USA one. Bang - case closed, the feds say you cannot bring it into the USA for ownership.

You may be able to get it here, and some states will even title and license it. Some people have done that and just take the risk. But if the feds find you driving it they will seize and crush it. That's the law. Never mind that the car is identical to US safety standards for 2009. Never mind that the only people affected by any potential substandard safety situation were the people INSIDE the car. Nope, your only real course of action is to wait for 25 years to elapse.

By the way, Canada's "25 year rule" is just 15 years. Still too long, but hey... lots of people point to Canada as an example of a better way to run a government, so how about we start with this?

Grrrr.

The safety thing is ridiculous, you can still buy a motorcycle so any arguments about safety are pretty much invalid, an individual should have the right to take whatever risks to themselves they are comfortable taking.

The rest makes my blood boil, it's an example of the federal government being out of control and trampling the rights of the individual for no obvious reason. Anyone willing to go through and scrub these laws or neuter whatever entity is responsible for enforcing them will earn my vote.

[AndyBeez]

Economics 101 states if you buy more, you save more. Which is why we have price breaks. Well just be sure you've done the math before you click checkout

[james_s]

If I were granted one Constitutional Amendment of my choice, it would be this: Every law past or future has an automatic and compulsory 10 year sunset clause. This would automatically retire bad laws passed as knee-jerk overreactions to short-term events. If the need continues, future Congresses can review the situation and pass either the same, or an updated version of the law.

I would partially agree with this, but I don't think it should apply to laws against things like murder, rape, burglary, etc. There are not enough resources to even look at *all* of the laws on a regular basis and I don't want to end up with a situation where a government shutdown or oversight results in murder or child exploitation or something being legal for some period of time.

[IDEngineer]

People, this thread has gone off the tracks, please discuss that stuff elsewhere. 

Well, to be fair, obsolete laws are definitely a pet peeve! But message received, sorry.

[Circlotron]

Alright I'll get the ball back in court.

Tell me whats wrong with this picture?

Brand new tube of Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste, 10 gram size.

Surely it can't cost them that much more to fill it all up.

My guess is that if the paste is somewhat difficult to push out then there would be an advantage to having the plunger halfway down the tube so that it would be somewhat braced from bending sideways under pressure.

[Zeyneb]

As long as the volume specification is correct I wouldn't mind they deliver it in a halfway plunger position.

[james_s]

There may be other packaging considerations. A narrower syringe that would require less pressure is also going to be longer. Perhaps the short squat half filled syringe fits better in the packaging and shipping cartons.

[IDEngineer]

There may be other packaging considerations. A narrower syringe that would require less pressure is also going to be longer. Perhaps the short squat half filled syringe fits better in the packaging and shipping cartons.

Exactly.

I've heard slower-thinking people complain "potato and corn chip bags have all that air inside, all that does is take up space and waste packaging". Yeah, except that it ALSO helps protect the product inside! They would be just as fast to complain if the bags contained nothing but chip dust upon arrival.

Sometimes seemingly dumb choices have sound reasoning behind them. The longer my career, the slower I am to immediately question odd choices made by others more familiar with their industry.

[james_s]

That said, there is a LOT of BS with packages deliberately engineered to appear larger than they are. Shrinkflation is absolutely a thing, not one product ever proclaims "New smaller package for the same price!" If they point it out at all they'll try to spin it as fewer calories.

[IDEngineer]

Pizza Hut is still available in the States. We have one in our little town of ~12K population, in fact. A Domino's too. And a Taco Bell. And a Dairy Queen. And a McDonald's.

Now that I'm listing them off, I'm realizing that our town is full of junk food!

[SilverSolder]

I've heard slower-thinking people complain "potato and corn chip bags have all that air inside, all that does is take up space and waste packaging". Yeah, except that it ALSO helps protect the product inside! They would be just as fast to complain if the bags contained nothing but chip dust upon arrival.

Sometimes seemingly dumb choices have sound reasoning behind them. The longer my career, the slower I am to immediately question odd choices made by others more familiar with their industry.

Yeah you keep telling yourself that Mr Fellow Potato Chip enthusiast.

Its not like packaging doesn't get damaged it does but most likely the packaging will get damaged as a result of catastrophic bursting of the bag via a lorry reversing into a crate of them. Think about it. Aint nothing gonna protect you against that.

What would you tell your customers if they thought that they were getting conned, you'd tell them that "yeah but the bag is filled with air because it CUSHIONS the potato chips from getting broken and damaged!".... Its exactly what they want you to think.

You see I have this thought that if the bag of potato chips is impacted from the side, the potato chips are all at the bottom and forced up against the edges due to gravity anyway, so there isn't any air gap between them is there? So where is this magic air cushion thats going to make the potato chips safe from damage? Its no where to be seen. End result is broken potato chips everywhere.

The only place where an air cushion is created is on the very top of the bag and vertical. But since the introduction of cardboard packaging the potato chip bags are heavily protected from vertical compression of any object on top of them, in fact you can even stack multiple boxes of them on top of one another!. So why is there an air gap at the top of the bag of potato chips?

And if you think that there must be some kind of cushioning force, its a bag of air! yeah... well.... its a bag of air, it has no internal bladder to spread out the force of any impacts, and if there is an impact that bag is gonna burst. On top of that the potato chips are gonna end up following gravity, so they will always be compressed up against the sides of the bags and then stuck inside of cardboard boxing. Some chips will make it to the top of the bag if the bag is turned upside down and some wont. All of that moving around surely does some damage to the chips.

Tell me please what you think about that?

Boom, conspiracy confirmed!

Sometimes I pack my ties in Ziploc bags, with a bit of air, so they don't get crumpled when packed in my suitcase.  The principle works great, so I think @IDEngineer may be on to something!

[Ranayna]

Alright I'll get the ball back in court.

Tell me whats wrong with this picture?

Brand new tube of Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste, 10 gram size.

Surely it can't cost them that much more to fill it all up.

I don't know how much is in the tube that was included with my Noctua heatsink. For sure not 10 grams, i think something like 4?
I barely used a quarter of it when i built my pc last year. I see no need yet to repaste, i did not do that in the entire 6 years i had the previous PC, so i have no idea how long it would take to use it all up. I suspect it will dry out before then, or i lose the tube
So more paste seems totally superfluous to the main customers of Noctua, and i'm sure as an OEM you can get larger batches.

[bookaboo]

Finding a neat little display that would suit a quick project in the spares box..... but the manufacturer has no markings to indicate what their part number or chipset is. Guess they don't want me to ever use it or buy more from them.

[PlainName]

And if you think that there must be some kind of cushioning force, its a bag of air! yeah... well.... its a bag of air, it has no internal bladder to spread out the force of any impacts, and if there is an impact that bag is gonna burst. On top of that the potato chips are gonna end up following gravity, so they will always be compressed up against the sides of the bags and then stuck inside of cardboard boxing. Some chips will make it to the top of the bag if the bag is turned upside down and some wont. All of that moving around surely does some damage to the chips.

The air in a bag is enough to stop the chips being crushed even if they are all at one end. The entire thing is one big bladder and won't collapse at one end because the other won't stretch. Try it some time - you won't end up with lots of crumbles in a bag. The exception is if the force is enough to make the bag burst, and then it won't sell anyway (contaminated and not fit for sale).

[Kim Christensen]

I've heard slower-thinking people complain "potato and corn chip bags have all that air inside, all that does is take up space and waste packaging". Yeah, except that it ALSO helps protect the product inside! They would be just as fast to complain if the bags contained nothing but chip dust upon arrival.
Sometimes seemingly dumb choices have sound reasoning behind them. The longer my career, the slower I am to immediately question odd choices made by others more familiar with their industry.

But then there are "chip" manufacturers like Pringles who have managed to cram as many chips into a small space as possible.
I think it's a little bit of both. Sure the extra air helps protect the chips from being crushed, but it also helps to make it look like the bag contains more product than it really does. Plus, it makes shipping much more expensive due to higher volume of the containers required vs the Pringles tube method.

Probably the worst offenders are vitamin and pill manufacturers who put their product in a bottle that is only 1/4 full. This serves no useful purpose at all, costs more in materials to make the bottle, and there is all the added cost of the extra cotton wool needed to fill the empty space. Yea, and there's no valid excuse of "standardized bottle sizes" when I see the same manufacturer also sell other products in smaller bottles.
 

[james_s]

Pringles are an exception as they come in a rigid container. This is possible because they aren't real potato chips, they're the particle board equivalent, synthetically made and uniformly identical so they stack neatly in a rigid tube. If you tried this with regular potato chips it wouldn't work, you'd never get them to stack neatly enough to fill the volume and not move around and bash each other to crumbs.

[james_s]

Finding a neat little display that would suit a quick project in the spares box..... but the manufacturer has no markings to indicate what their part number or chipset is. Guess they don't want me to ever use it or buy more from them.

There's a number printed right on the flex cable of the display itself. Is this it?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804798112820.html

[Kim Christensen]

Pringles are an exception as they come in a rigid container. This is possible because they aren't real potato chips, they're the particle board equivalent, synthetically made and uniformly identical so they stack neatly in a rigid tube. If you tried this with regular potato chips it wouldn't work, you'd never get them to stack neatly enough to fill the volume and not move around and bash each other to crumbs.

That's true about real potato chips. The air filled bag is the best for those IMHO. My main beef is that the air/chip ratio is too lean.
But corn chips could also be properly formed, and placed in a tube just like the Pringles, but I've never seen that done. Especially those formed corn chips that are marketed as "scoops" and packaged in an overinflated bag. The one saving grace that the bag has over the tube is that the materials are cheaper. The bags might have a lower enviro impact too, but not sure on that due to the chip/air ratio not packing as many chips onto a transport as tubed chips could be.