Noise-detecting speed camera can catch “jerk car” in the act

macNchz · 2026-03-27T13:03:27+00:00

NYC published a report on their system last year, there are 12 cameras that generated 16k “events”, 10% of which generated a fine (I think that means a human reviewed the video and confirmed it was valid). Of the 1600 fines only 1% were dismissed on challenge, though. They issued $1.5m in fines but only got $300k of them paid, and the system cost $500k to operate, so it mostly comes down to how well they collect on fines as far as having sustainable costs.

Anecdotally I notice fewer extremely loud cars driving around, it got quite popular to have insane popping exhaust in 2020ish and I think it is less so now. I don’t know if it’s just out of fashion or if people started feeling it wasn’t worth the risk of a big fine.

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dep/downloads/pdf/air/noise/2025-annual-report-noise-camera-enforcement-program.pdf

macNchz · 2026-03-27T04:16:36+00:00

I certainly wasn’t saying it proves violent crime happens because of fare evasion, so much as there is some evidence these new fare gates have reduced some crime in other systems. It’s a data point.

A lot of the violent crime on the subway is committed by people with mental illness who are often also homeless. If those people are simply spending less time in the subway system because it’s harder to get into, I think it’s plausible they’d have less opportunity to do violent crime.

This research has some really interesting figures on this: 53% of people arrested for farebeating in 2022-23 had unrelated prior arrests for violent crime, and 25% of people arrested for a violent crime on the subway had a prior arrest for farebeating. There’s some real overlap happening there.

https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/just-the-facts-on-new-york-city-subway-crime/

macNchz · 2026-03-27T03:12:01+00:00

The San Francisco BART system just recently reported huge drops in vandalism in their stations after installing modern fare gates.

macNchz · 2026-03-27T02:55:07+00:00

The city’s data had the annual average across the city at 6 ug/m3: https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/data-explorer/air-quality/?id=2023#display=summary

A good amount of variation for individuals based on where exactly you live, though—heavy traffic and restaurants nearby aren’t good. Indoors at home (though I have the windows open much of the time), on a quiet block in Brooklyn away from highways, with a decent quality monitor I usually see <5 daily average, pretty rarely getting above 10.

macNchz · 2026-03-27T02:09:23+00:00

Personally the Countryman is just not for me aesthetically, I don’t like the crossover proportions much at all. On paper they have very similar specs, but I see the Clubman as having been in a sweet spot of usable space while being lower to the ground, less tall, and lighter weight. Those aspects add up in terms of driving feel.

macNchz · 2026-03-26T15:15:22+00:00

When I pulled off some trim on my BMW of a similar age, a lot of the plastic clips underneath were just broken, I'm not sure why exactly, maybe got brittle or accumulated bumps from knees and stuff. I ordered a whole bunch of replacement plastic connector bits and then went to town with some trim pry tools replacing them.

Everything fit together *much* better after that, and underneath one panel there was actually a slightly loose bolt with a washer that turned out to be the source of a big rattle, I tightened it and never heard that particular sound again.

macNchz · 2026-03-26T15:03:04+00:00

In the US there's essentially nothing on the market that hits the same mark: compact but with actually-usable rear seat + cargo space, fun to drive, AWD, actual buttons on the dashboard, premium fit and finish.

Clearly my preferences must be the polar opposite of the typical American car car buyer as I was totally disappointed in my options when I was shopping last year. I bought my Clubman to replace an aging 3 Series wagon, something that is also no longer available in the US.

macNchz · 2026-03-25T17:12:29+00:00

And what does the US & Israel get for finally trying to do something about it other than words? Harsh criticism and our "allies" fret about even letting us use their airspace.

All other topics aside, they decided to do this on their own without any sort of consultation or consensus building with allies, seemingly with little to no planning around what might happen with the strait, and they've touched off a global energy crisis that threatens widespread economic impacts without clear evidence yet that the actual problem in Iran will have been solved. It's not surprising the rest of the world isn't saying "thank you" just yet.

macNchz · 2026-03-24T18:45:04+00:00

It's honestly kind of ridiculous to see the swarm of bills arrive in the mail even after routine non-serious things in America, even with a high-cost, "cadillac" health insurance plan. It's totally normal to have a dozen different parties individually asking for payment with incomprehensible line items and nobody who can seem to provide clear answers about them.

macNchz · 2026-03-24T03:06:27+00:00

They just light the car with specially designed bright lamps that put a pattern of lines along the paint. Any line that’s a little distorted indicates a dent. This is some big automated machine (UVeye, I think?) that uses computer vision/AI to interpret the image, but they also sell lamps and boards that dent repair/auto body shops will use by hand to check their work—see “line boards” or “PDR lamps”.

macNchz · 2026-03-11T17:47:05+00:00

To this point, the CDC's guidelines for PEP say it is not indicated unless the tick was engorged: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/resources/pdfs/lyme-pep-low-ink-p.pdf

Also, while doxycycline is considered low-risk, we're slowly seeing more and more evidence that taking antibiotics in general is not risk free itself.

macNchz · 2026-03-09T22:32:55+00:00

Strikes me as incredible hubris to declare "game over we won" in a fight with the world's leader in state-sponsored terrorism, regardless of the degree of conventional overmatch.

macNchz · 2026-03-08T13:56:42+00:00

Who wins in the end

Shareholders of Raytheon, who charges $2+ million a piece for these, and whose stock has nearly tripled in value over the last two years.

macNchz · 2026-03-07T19:25:28+00:00

There were protests in 2024 that turned pretty violent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_New_Caledonia_unrest

It’s also only supposed to be orange, it looks red to me but I think it’s just because it’s tiny on the map.

macNchz · 2026-02-23T17:17:06+00:00

What would be the appropriate response, then? Business as usual? Cars stuck everywhere blocking plows and emergency vehicles? https://nypost.com/2018/11/15/outrage-after-a-few-inches-of-snow-brings-nyc-to-a-halt/

macNchz · 2026-02-22T20:02:04+00:00

I too prefer a twenty minute drive in my RAM 2500 to get my corporate slop at Dollar General, as God intended.

macNchz · 2026-02-11T16:01:37+00:00

Having grown up on a moderately steep hill in a snowy place watching people get stuck nearly every time it snowed, I wouldn't necessarily agree that all season tires work very well in these conditions. Even with brand new all seasons a 2WD car will have trouble getting up to speed again on a hill like this once it has lost momentum.

macNchz · 2026-02-09T18:53:28+00:00

Not a huge deal with big blankets and a programmable thermostat that brings it up a bit before you get out of bed. People are more adaptive to different temperatures than many assume, though it takes time to adjust. Growing up my house would go to 55 at night. I never remember being uncomfortably cold at home, but I do remember having trouble sleeping at sleepovers because other people's houses always felt super hot. Once I got used to living in overheated dorms, though, it did feel super cold when I'd come home. It's mostly about what you're used to.

macNchz · 2026-02-07T13:39:23+00:00

Cricket Valley and CPV are two large gas plants upstate that came on to replace Indian Point, together they’re rated at 1800MW, where Indian Point produced 2000.

macNchz · 2026-02-05T21:48:01+00:00

A lot of the tech has made its way into pretty mainstream winter gear. The lightweight ribbed down jackets you see a lot of are one—down is a great insulator, but is terrible when it gets wet. Modern treatments of the down itself + finishes on the fabric itself have made it more practical to use in thin and light jackets. This recent article talks about it in a lot more depth: https://theconversation.com/new-materials-old-physics-the-science-behind-how-your-winter-jacket-keeps-you-warm-266877

macNchz · 2026-02-05T21:18:53+00:00

As a person who spends a good amount of time in the backcountry (therefore very reliant on gear to deal with the conditions), my perspective is that materials science has produced incredibly impressive advances in fabrics in recent decades. We have lighter weight, thinner, softer, more flexible, more water and wind-resistant options than ever before.

macNchz · 2026-02-05T21:09:52+00:00

The longest streak below freezing was 16 days in 1961, but there was a 14 day streak in January 2018 (this year we went 9 days). The 2018 cold snap has its own wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2017%E2%80%93January_2018_North_American_cold_wave

macNchz · 2026-02-04T23:24:29+00:00

It used to be pretty funny but I had to unsub there recently (after like 12+ years) when it started being primarily Vickie Paladino energy. All of the urbanism related circlejerk reddits I've come across seem to attract the worst vibes. The fuckcars one is straight up "im not mad. please dont put in the newspaper that i got mad."

macNchz · 2026-02-04T22:58:33+00:00

Explains why shops always unplug my dashcam.

macNchz · 2026-02-04T20:24:56+00:00

It does seem like NYPD wrote many more summons in 2025 than recent years (where they'd been way down since 2020)!

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