[geeks] [rescue] Computerfests (was: first real server hardware) -OT

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Mon, 26 Apr 2004 @ 16:19 -0600, Dan Duncan said:

> > otoh, mech trans are -very-compact-, and i don't know if a gen/motor
> > could be as small.  but they should be working on it.
> 
> Size isn't that big a factor anyway except where it relates to weight.

Also, I thought they could put a motor in each wheel. 4wd, and fairly
small.  It seems at least one hybrid show car was like that.

> > this may be a us-mkt phenom - diesel cars are a hard sell, vw and
> > mercedes [possibly] excepted.
> 
> Manual transmissions are going the same way, alas.   :(

Quite a few cars now have a manual only as a special order, or don't
have it at all.

For example, Honda sells them with 4-cyc engines, but not their six.

Gah!

> Biodiesel is nice.  I still want to strangle every drooling cretin
> who suggests hydrogen or ethanol as a currently viable fuel.  They're
> essentially storage mediums at this point.

What is wrong with ethanol besides lower mileage?

Hydrogen bothers me, as does natural gas.

> Right now, I'm leaning towards diesel because the only change needed
> is to use the green handle instead of the black one when I fuel up,
> and I think people will manage.

Diesel doesn't really solve the problem though.

You mean as a temporary solution?

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["That which is overdesigned, too highly
specific, anticipates outcome; the anticipation of outcome garantees, if
not failure, the absence of grace." -- William Gibson, All Tomorrow's
Parties]