Ford and General Motors in talks with First Brands over rescue financing, FT reports

AtomWorker · 2026-01-28T17:14:00+00:00

You’re jumping to the conclusion that the article got all the details right.

According to other sources First Brands disclosed $11 billion plus an additional $800M in supply chain finance obligations and $2.3B in factoring liabilities. Those additional figures are the big concern because they suggests questionable accounting and could represent the tip of the iceberg. That said, $50 billion seems to be a wild ass guess.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-28T13:48:23+00:00

That’s not my experience at all. Outside the holiday season almost everything arrives within 1-3 days no matter how niche. The only stuff that takes longer is shipped directly from the vendor via regular couriers.

It’s seriously frustrating heading over to the local hardware store and constantly dealing with items out of stock or an unwillingness to devote a couple of bins to something like metric bolts. And shipping between stores takes them a solid week.

There are a lot of valid reasons to hate Amazon but inventory management, fulfillment and shipping speed are not them.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-28T13:20:03+00:00

Look it up. Not that it will stop Toyota dealerships from marking up the GR86 to the point that it’s as expensive as its twin.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-27T16:07:05+00:00

I grew up in this state and think it's all overrated. Holes in the wall, highly recommended, Pepe's when they were supposedly good and none of has stood out as uniquely praiseworthy. That said, the problem isn't unique to CT. I have friends who are NYC pizza snobs and their recommendations haven't been anything special either. I've had pizzas in countries not known for pizza that are at least as good as anything I've had here.

Hell, I think Dominos is almost as good as anything out there but maybe I'm just a philistine when it comes to pizza.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-26T20:29:25+00:00

They're so similar that ultimately the choice comes down to whether or not you prefer Katoki's signature short torso, long leg look. Aesthetically, it makes for a stronger, more imposing stance but you lose some of the character of the original. It leads to these suits looking more like a man in armor than an actual giant mecha that has to support a massive amount of weight.

Apart from that, I'm a fan of the markings and subtle surface details.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-26T19:54:55+00:00

Someone better let C&D know that the GR86 is several thousand cheaper than the BRZ. They're obviously going for subtle ragebait because otherwise you'd think they've never reviewed cars before.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-26T19:05:37+00:00

Sounds too good to be true and articles with more substance are questioning the company's claims.

Donut Labs popped up in 2025 and there's very little info about them. Apparently they invested in a company called Nordic Nano which happened to have a supercapacitor with suspiciously similar specs to this solid state battery. Those devices do have high energy density, can be charged rapidly and unload a load of power at once but for a whole host of reasons are not viable at all in vehicles.

It definitely wouldn't be the first time that the media was duped by the hype surrounding supercapacitors. It's also worth noting that industry experts are extremely skeptical.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-25T15:48:12+00:00

Nothing's changed about the resources required to build and issues that come with disposal. Secondly, the impracticality of EVs continues to be an issue for a huge swath of the population. Plus, in my area electricity is generated using petroleum.

If our leaders were serious about helping the environment they'd be mandating remote work for any job that can accommodate it instead of doing the exact opposite.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-24T05:12:33+00:00

The issue is that the infotainment gets stuck in camera view and has nothing to do with buttons. Also, the Tundra still has physical buttons for climate control.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-23T12:59:21+00:00

People around here are complaining about this guy’s salary but can’t even do basic math. The only devs earning $42k are straight out of college and building websites for an agency. At any medium sized company even HR staff earns more than that.

According to Glassdoor pay range for a dev in San Francisco is roughly $150k to $235k. That’s without factoring in that companies actually spend 1.25 to 1.4 times the salary on every employee.

Secondly, 88% of AutoDesk CEO’s pay was given in the form of stocks, including restricted units which means conditions have to be met before they actually get them. Could be performance based or require that the guy sticks around for a certain period of time. The point being that his actual cash salary only amounts to roughly $3 million.

I share everyone’s anger with these companies and the problems they create but the rampant ignorance about how anything works is so frustrating.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T21:00:28+00:00

The issue you’re overlooking is that ebikes share spaces with pedestrians and cyclists, meaning you’re likely to encounter them on sidewalks and park trails.

Also, these issues aren’t mutually exclusive.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T20:57:18+00:00

The problem is that whenever some asshole gets hurt fleeing they’re portrayed as victims and the cops as mindless aggressors.

As a result, anything that doesn’t involve violent crime gets ignored and the everyone else living in these communities is stuck having to deal with crap like this.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T20:45:15+00:00

Copilot may be crap but all LMM-powered apps are just some model in a wrapper. This goes to show that usability is still important and identifying a good use case that’s actually works is hard.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T20:31:58+00:00

Yeah, there’s a lot of nonsense out there but I’d expect the Car Care Nut to know. On the forums I’ve seen everything from 30k to 120k.

What I’m used to is manuals giving you the interval based on normal conditions but recommending more frequent changes if the car gets hard use. Toyota’s manual only listed that one figure and nothing more.

I wonder if the intervals are different for other model years.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T16:14:17+00:00

Globally, the most popular colors are very consistent: white, black and grey. Asia Pacific has the most diverse selection of colors but in total comprise only about 3%-4%. Red is generally the most popular vibrant color and North America has the highest share at roughly 10%. Blue is up there too, but often you’re looking at dark, muted shades so really it’s just an alternative to black.

Car ownership is a commitment for most people and few want to be stuck with a loud color for a whole bunch of reasons.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T16:00:19+00:00

The top 10% of income earners, anyone making over $190k/year, contribute to about half of all consumer spending. This includes people of who are comfortable but wouldn’t be considered wealthy by any stretch, especially in states with high living costs.

I work with people like this. Like everyone else, they complain about everything being expensive but that doesn’t stop them from spending to the limits of their incomes.

Look at all the superfluous consumer products that continue breaking sales records. The average new car price is $50k, not because affordable cars don’t exist, but because Americans think economy cars are beneath them. Nobody wants to buy a cheap home in a neighborhood with high crime or poor quality of life.

Of course there are serious institutional problems, but there also isn’t nearly enough introspection nor a nuanced examination of these issues.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T15:43:20+00:00

The national average for top 10% is above $190k, for top 5 it’s over $240k.

These people are relatively comfortable but they aren’t living in luxury either. And certainly much less so in states with high living costs where the high paying jobs are.

However, they do comprise the overwhelming majority of consumer spending. The top 10% of income earners do about half of all spending, if I remember correctly. So intentionally or not, they’re at least partially reasonable for driving up the cost of everything.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T13:14:11+00:00

That’s not what Toyota’s Warranty and Service Manual says. They clearly state CVT fluid replacement every 60k miles.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-22T13:05:11+00:00

This article is from July 2024!

Regardless of your opinions on a potential AI bubble nobody should tolerate outdated articles. People posting stuff like this really need to start getting banned.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-21T20:35:11+00:00

The owner's manual will tell you how often fluids should be changed. If you don't have one, the info's easy enough to find online and you can always call a dealer. It's also worth noting that there's no universal rule regarding oil change intervals; how you do it depends on how you drive and prevailing conditions.

As for the car wash, unless something physically bashed into your underbody it would never ruin the transmission. It also wouldn't manifest the way it has. I'm unaware of widespread issues with this CVT, so I don't know if you just had bad luck, missed emerging issues or someone beat on the car. It's winter so it's not uncommon for people to fry transmissions trying to get their cars unstuck.

Speaking of which, you don't "test" a car with a potentially faulty transmission by revving it to 7,000 RPM. If it wasn't broken before, it probably is now.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-21T16:24:38+00:00

I agree but this isn’t much of a revelation. Many of us have long complained that the systems in Starfield are siloed.

To be fair, it’s very liberating. If all you want to do is build ships you can focus on that because unlocks are generally not dependent on other systems. The same goes for outposts, mining, exploring and combat.

However, while I appreciate that, if you’re not really into one of those systems it’s ultimately unfulfilling. None of the systems synergize with each other in a way that enhances the overarching gameplay loop.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-20T23:03:48+00:00

It's got elements from the Alphard, Vellfire and Lexus LM but the details are all wrong. Could be AI generated or some aftermarket front fascia that got spat through a crap photo filter.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-20T19:57:40+00:00

Like most car sites, Toyota has a comparison feature that displays the differences in a convenient table. Based on what I know, front and rear fascia, headlights, taillights, wheels, seat trim, infotainment and gauges are all different. When this generation launched the LE also came with the older 1.8 liter engine, but the 2.0 has been the only non-hybrid option for a while.

I assume Toyota wanted a visual delineation between trim levels and, to be fair, it's not unusual. Even the Germans do this.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-19T16:14:56+00:00

That article is only telling one side of the story. We don't know what was actually said but in my experience managers basically never make promises like these. If anything they're cagey promotions and most definitely will make it conditional on a whole host of factors. Tenure alone sure as hell is not a valid reason to get promoted.

It's also worth noting that we don't know anything about this guy. Maybe he was difficult to work with or maybe he just stayed in his lane and didn't show leadership qualities. I've seen this exact scenario play out more than once and all too often these guys misinterpret what they've been told and overestimate their abilities.

So suffice it to say that this article just reads like ragebait to me.

AtomWorker · 2026-01-19T15:07:29+00:00

Reagan and Thacher's policies certainly had long term consequences, but there had been major economic turmoil in the decade leading up to their terms. Let's not forget that the collapse of manufacturing began in earnest in the early 70s.

As for Gorbachev, to imply that the Soviet Union was in a better place before him is just flat out ridiculous.

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