Learned'd VIII: Less Bewbs, Same Nonsense

[frapjap]

Ugh, you reminded me that the trans fluid needs to be done on the Miata and the Firebird. Though, I could probably skip the bird again this year since I barely drove it the last couple of years. Its still cherry red.

I haven't changed a single fluid on the Subaru aside from the engine oil. I'm waiting for one of those big 20% off your entire online order with free shipping from The Zone before I spend big bucks on fluids.

[Kompresshun]

We're actually getting a date night tonight and then have plans most of the day tomorrow, so I probably wont' be working on anything this weekend.

I got those headrest speakers hooked up last night though, so that was one thing off of the list. I need to do brakes on my Miata soon and I need to change the trans fluid too. Then of course I need to get to the timing belt i've been putting off too. I guess I may plan most of that stuff for next weekend since we have no plans.

[frapjap]

I guess I may plan most of that stuff for next weekend since we have no plans.

That you're aware of yet!

[WDRacing]

Man, I remember when I changed out my headrest speakers. The ones installed when I bought it were entirely blown. I don't even remember what size or brand they were, something from the BX....probably Pioneer. Anyway, it was a wow moment. Actually hearing the music while ripping through the mountains on Okinawa just made the entire drive that much better.

I'd say those 4 years I spent on Oki are going to be pretty difficult to eclipse. Man I wish I never left that place...I totally understand why some guys never leave.

[frapjap]

Would you suggest Oki as a vacation spot, Brian?
You'll have to tell me more about it at Carlisle.

Speaking of- the Miata is no longer janky and has been thoroughly upgraded from bucket status this year.
- Just finished up the brakes- new Napa blank rotors and Hawk HPS pads (courtesy of Mark)
- New KYB AGX suspension. Adjustable dampening, but nothing special; though better than the blown stockers I had last year.
- No more cracked turbo manifold. Full boost, bishez.
- Fluids all changed out, aside from transmission.
- Proper alignment.

Bring your game faces.

[Kompresshun]

Fancy s***.

I'll be finally tackling the timing belt next weekend on mine, then hopefully i'll be moving on to boost soon. Everything else seems to be solid enough on the car and I don't think i'm gonna bother with paint this year.

I ended up not having to do the transmission fluid in mine, because I hung out with the previous owner this weekend and he told me he went through all of the fluids in the car already right before he sold it to me. WOOOO!

[MinisterofDOOM]

I just ordered one of these:

My old 1st-gen G15 is failing. It's got responsiveness issues, intermittent dead keys, and the LCD support is mostly nonexistent under Linux. It also takes up a LOT of desk space.

In the meantime I'm using a cheapass Razer Arctosa I have laying around...it sucks balls but the "a" key works 100% of the time so it'll do for now.

[float_6969]

I don't think I could hack the blank keys, but I like the volume and media keys, and it looks like a pretty badass keyboard!

[Kompresshun]

Mornin' gents.

Man the weather was awesome around here this weekend. Spent most of the weekend cruising in the Miata. I even got the wife to ride in it on our date night Friday

Untitled by chris_longino, on Flickr

[WDRacing]

Would you suggest Oki as a vacation spot, Brian?

Yup!

If you're going to cough up the coin to fly oversea's though, it really depends on what your goals are while on vacation. If you want awesome snorkeling and things like that, Oki is a good place to go.

[frapjap]

Mornin' gents.

Man the weather was awesome around here this weekend. Spent most of the weekend cruising in the Miata. I even got the wife to ride in it on our date night Friday

Untitled by chris_longino, on Flickr

How's that muffler sound? Does it drone?
The top looks awesome man, really dresses up the car. Nice solid chassis, too. Smooth sides, doesn't even look like you have any door dings. Those tires look pretty cool, too. Man, you're making me want to take good photos of my car, too.

What are the other two badges left of the license plate?

Yup!

If you're going to cough up the coin to fly oversea's though, it really depends on what your goals are while on vacation. If you want awesome snorkeling and things like that, Oki is a good place to go.

Is it a naturist place? Lots of hiking and cultural stuff to see?

[WDRacing]

Lots of stuff to see bro. Lotta history there. I love the water, so snorkeling was something we did often. There are places where the water is waste deep for huge area's, makes for great snorkeling. Ocean is bathwater warm.

If you have a week, you won't be bored if you plan ahead. Not sure how driving will work for you...maybe TMS will let you borrow something!

Let me know if you're serious.

[Kompresshun]

How's that muffler sound? Does it drone?
The top looks awesome man, really dresses up the car. Nice solid chassis, too. Smooth sides, doesn't even look like you have any door dings. Those tires look pretty cool, too. Man, you're making me want to take good photos of my car, too.

What are the other two badges left of the license plate?

The muffler is okay for what it is, but I think it drones too much when you're just cruising. It's a cheap eBay system though I think but it's decent sounding I guess for a 4-banger exhaust. I will be replacing it soon with the '06 Miata stock axle back I bought because I want it to be quieter than it is.

Thanks! The small dents in the rear bumper and the trunk lid were actually caused by a semi-truck backing into it. I was really surprised it didn't cause more damage than it did. The rest of the body is surprisingly solid though.

I really like the tires on it a lot. They're cheap too... Nitto NeoGen Ultra High Performance All-Season tires. They're less than $100/ea and they're quite sticky for what they are.

Would you believe those pics were just snapped with my iPhone? I've been shocked at how good it takes photos.

One of the emblems is just the Miata emblem, then the other is this one which is my favorite feature on the car:

image by K0MPRESSHUN, on Flickr

[frapjap]

Fancy! Now you are obligated to build a turbo car!
You're gonna love it man.

The iphone photos are pretty damned awesome. Lindseys Galaxy takes some pretty good photos, too. It lacks the zoom, but will get the point across on a screen pretty well.

We have iphones coming in the near future. I'm going to need a person under 20 to show me how to use it. There hasn't ever been an Apple product anywhere near my home, ever.

[Kompresshun]

I'm stoked about starting to piece together a turbo car. It may not get done this year, but i'm gonna try at least.

I had a 13MP camera in my LG G2 Android phone I just traded in and the iPhone's 8MP camera whoops it's a** in every single way. The G2's camera was supposed to be one of the best out there and I never was very impressed by it. Especially in low light conditions and it seemed to over-saturate everything.

If you can use a Blackberry you can use an iPhone. They're probably easier honestly.

[Bubba1]

Fancy! Now you are obligated to build a turbo car!
You're gonna love it man.

The iphone photos are pretty damned awesome. Lindseys Galaxy takes some pretty good photos, too. It lacks the zoom, but will get the point across on a screen pretty well.

We have iphones coming in the near future. I'm going to need a person under 20 to show me how to use it. There hasn't ever been an Apple product anywhere near my home, ever.

FWIW, both my wife and son have Apple iphones and they love 'em.

[Kompresshun]

I was an anti-iPhone guy for years and I wish I would've made the switch long ago. They're easy to use and can do about anything you want, but it won't overwhelm you if you just want to make phone calls, take pictures, and send messages. The simple greatest feature is this though: It just works.

They don't get all flaky after a year like most phones. They stay solid until you're ready to upgrade and rarely seem to get bogged down by anything. Kristen's iPhone 4S she just traded in still worked just as flawlessly as it did when she got it nearly 2 years ago.

[frapjap]

Thats good news to my ears. Granted, mine will be company sponsored, but would rather have a reliable phone than aggravating problems. It seems most folks have issues when they try to jailbreak them or whatever. That stuff isn't important to me, but I'm not a huge tech nerd.

[Dattebayo]

The only problem with Android before now has been that it has just now gotten good enough where it can compete against iPhone in reliability terms...

iPhone is purpose-built and that's why it does what it does well. But saying it "just works" is missing the point, because android "just works" for what it's supposed to also. The majority of android phones are cheap because they're made that way. The good ones aren't made cheap and do work just fine.

[Kompresshun]

I'm not missing the point, I can promise you that. I've never bought a cheap Android phone. Every single one I've owned has been a top of the line model.

Android does just work, but not nearly as long as iOS and isn't anywhere near as reliable for day to day use. For some people they don't notice the things that bother me but for me it's unacceptable flaws that have been there through every single version. It lacks stability still to this day.

[MinisterofDOOM]

If I want "stability" I'll buy a 1993 Corolla.

If I want to enjoy myself I'll buy a modified 1995 Q45 that needs attention every weekend.

One of them makes me smile. The other bores me to death.

iPhone is a 1993 Corolla.

My Nexus 5 is a modded Q ship. Not only is it damn reliable, but battery life is wonderful and it does everything I WANT, not just everything I "need."

"Does everything I need" is just an evasive way of saying "I settled for less." It's what Camry owners tell you when they justify their $40k beigemobile. You'll never hear an AMG or R-type Jag or BMW M owner attempting to justify their purchases with "it does everything I need." You just hear them smiling like obnoxious jackasses from a thousand miles away because their cars are $%^*ing amazing (and eccentric and finnicky--and amazing).

The day I want "just works" is the day I stop being a geek/gearhead/perfectionist.

I run Android and Linux rather than iOS and Windows for a reason. I'm not interested in somebody else's idea of "how things should work." Yes, both are more work than their counterparts. But both do more things more effectively (for less money) with the tradeoff of requiring some additional effort and dedication from the end user. The upside is the more I apply, the more I learn, and in turn the more I can apply, until my Android phone is running circles around anything else on the planet in terms of everything but camera quality (because let's face it, no Android phone has ever had a good camera).

I realize I'm in the vast minority, but the "just works" argument has always confused me, even back in the pre-iPod days of multimedia Macintosh elitists (Back when I myself owned a Mac with OS7 which was a pile of complete scatalogical refuse). If all that matters is "just works" then why aren't we all living in gray concrete cubes with soviet-era beige cars and a lawns that could survive a nuclear apocalypse? "Just works" is not what matters in life. "Excels at what it does" is what matters. Mediocrity is a waste of my time. Give me an attempt (even a failed one!) at excellence or GTFO.

[Kompresshun]

I will agree with you that it's limited in some peoples eyes, but I always thought that the same things you are saying above. It will only do what I need, not what I want which is a complete pile of crap that I convinced myself of for years. The reason I never bought one is because I never thought it would be good enough and I would be limited in what I can do. There are a few very minor limitations I will admit, but none of them have come anywhere close to being a deal breaker because they're stupid little things. Like my cheap a** OBD II bluetooth adapter than I paid $9 for isn't compatible with the iPhone, but I don't care because I still have two Android tablets in the house and I never really used my phone for it before anyways. Torque is far more enjoyable on a tablet anyways. Honestly that's the only thing i've even slightly cared about.

The little things most people worry about don't matter one bit because it makes everything else work so smooth and flawlessly that you don't need to use a billion other apps to do it. I don't need every widget, camera app, keyboard app, root capability, and everything under the sun because it's silly to me. Android's endless customization capabilities are great but I always found myself never happy with it. I'd waste hours on end trying to make it work like something else and for a phone I just simply don't care.

What I WANT it to do is simple: Make phone calls, send text messages, send AND receive MMS messages from any platform(Android fails HARD at this), play music without hiccups and interruptions, browse the web, social media, and take high quality photos. I have never been happier with a phone, because it DOES do what I want and does it very well. I don't buy crap because i'm the typical sheep and i'm giving up my manhood or am settling for less.

I gave Android a good 5 years to impress me and for a phone it still has done nothing for me. I had my LG G2 for 3 months and didn't do a thing to it - I didn't even root it. I was ready to get rid of it 3 months in because it was doing the same garbage Android always does. The quirks were ridiculous and unacceptable. One example is it couldn't accomplish playing music via bluetooth. The stock music app sucked hard and third party music apps didn't get along with the device. It would randomly stop playing, wouldn't advance tracks, would get a mind of it's own and so on for no reason. Unacceptable and unreliable.

Now, I don't hate Android altogether. My Nexus 7 tablet is still a great device and I still plan on keeping it until it dies. The reason it doesn't annoy the holy fack out of me though is because I don't have to use it for hundreds of tasks throughout the day. I don't have to rely on it.

I'm a perfectionist too - which is exactly why I can't stand Android phones. They're imperfect. You get awesome power, cameras, displays, and ect depending on which one you choose but you sacrifice them for the things that make it a solid daily driver. Again, to some the things that bother me don't matter - obviously to you they don't and that's fine.

I'll never be an Apple fanboi, but I have yet to find a person to explain to me, even before me getting an iPhone why iPhones preform better on a consistent basis than Android models that blow them away in benchmarks. No one can explain it - neither can I. My father in law and myself both have been die-hard Android guys for years and both are big geeks, but we both have switched to iPhones now and haven't even thought about switching back. It may be mediocrity to some, but i'm not convinced that anything about an iPhone is mediocre so far. I'm not trying to launch space shuttles and conquer the universe(yet) though, so maybe that's what i'm missing out on.

[MinisterofDOOM]

And this is why it's so great to have mobile OSs exploding right now. SO many options. Everyone has a different set of expectations for their phone, and with iOS, Android, Ubuntu Touch, Firefox OS, Tizen, Meego, Maemo, WinPhone, Sailfish...you've got a lot of options. My favorite thing is having the ability to play with multiple options. I dual booted Ubuntu Touch on my N5 and N7 for a while, but it's just not there yet (and I don't like the late-to-the-game iPhone-copycat aesthetic, which doesn't manage to feel "at home" to me as a Unity desktop user).

I'm very much NOT sold on the FirefoxOS vision of a "webapp" future. Non-native apps have some significat drawbacks that are hard to excuse. If they didn't, we'd be seeing MS and Apple go that way, too (who doesn't want to encourage their app ecosystem to flourish???).

Very excited to see where the mobile market goes in the next 5 years. The big drawback to being in the US is that many of these latecomers to the mobile OS arena are targetting "emerging markets" with a focus on lower-end affordable hardware. So we won't see a lot of real competition from them in terms of fighting for a slice of the Apple/Google pie (pun genuinely not intended, but it works I guess). But that doesn't mean we can't flash them and play around with what they have to offer.

[frapjap]

Morning fellas. Took 4 beers to mow the lawn yesterday. FOUR!
Granted, I only drank 2, but would have easily been more.

[Nicodomeus]

You're doing something wrong, because mowing the lawn requires at least 6.

So it looks like i've gotta start compiling a boost parts list for the Miata. I finally bought a turbo for it.
.... i've found a cast iron manifold for the turbo already, and i'll need to figure out all of the piping.

Mazdaspeed MX5 piping SHOULD help you a bunch. At least 60% of the piping will work.

[Dattebayo]

Seriously, my new HTC is stable as fu*k. I rooted it and added some battery saving stuff, but it turned out I didn't need the battery stuff. I only changed the kernel once so I could get uncompressed pictures from the camera. It goes almost three days without a charge! And that's talking frequently on it and playing games, surfing the web and texting a lot.

[sx moneypit]

Good morning!

[snwbrdr435]

Morning!

[frapjap]

What beachside town is that, Marco?

[Kompresshun]

Mornin' Gents!

The Miata got a new shift knob last night. Not bad for a Ford Fiesta shift knob. It's even leather wrapped.

https://flic.kr/p/nsHu2Q by K0MPRESSHUN, on Flickr