People have called my motorcycle a “killer donorcycle”, but can’t imagine getting seriously hurt on a scooter. Here’s a news flash: A scooter IS a motorcycle. Sure, it’s slower, cuter, and has an automatic transmission with no clutch, but it is a motorcycle. That means that the scooterist has all the same safety considerations and faces all of the same risks that a motorcyclist must contend with. The state of California recognizes this fact by requiring a motorcycle endorsement to ride a scooter. Unfortunately, most scooterists, around here at least, only get their learner’s permit to be somewhat legal, then wobble off wearing nothing more substantial than a helmet — and that’s only because of the helmet law. This is bad.
If you purchase that Vespa or Metropolitan, I would ask that you do the following:
- Get training. Check out the Motorcycle Safety Foundation to find a class near you.
- Wear your gear. Helmet, gloves, riding jacket, riding pants, boots. Not like this person.
- Have fun! I harp on safety to everyone I can not to be a killjoy, but because many motorcycle injuries are preventable. Nothing spoils the ride more than a trip to the ER!
I stopped by the local BMW dealer to take a look at the new 1 Series yesterday. (Yes, I fit! I don’t think I can bring myself to pay $35k for one though.) I was also curious about any certified pre-owned E46s on the lot (since that’s about the only BMW I’d actually buy at this point in time).
So, I asked the salesman, “What E46s do you have on the lot?”
He asked, “What are you looking for, a 335i?”
The 335i is an E90, dumbass, not an E46. Now, I don’t expect most of the snobs and yuppies who buy BMWs to know the difference between an E46 and an E90, but some of us actually care about driving rather than posing, and we know the difference between the two. Is it too much to ask for the dealer to know the difference?
In pursuit of my Team Fortress glitching, I’ve added a PCI slot cooler to my computer — the Antec VCool. In general, a PCI slot cooler mounts into one or two PCI slots (the VCool occupies two), and either draws air into the case or exhausts hot air out of the case. The VCool, positioned directly below the video card, draws cool air into the computer and blows it directly onto the video card. So far, I’ve measured about a 10°C drop in video card temperatures under both idle and load.
With the extra cooling, will the X800XT behave? We shall see.
Well, I replaced my old router with a Linksys WRT54GL. I immediately flashed it with Tomato, and it’s running quite nicely. Hopefully this router will last for more than 2 years.