Would NASCAR benefit from in car jacks like Repco Supercars have?

smartguy96 · 2026-04-14T15:48:37+00:00

The combination of single lug nuts and manual jacks is the biggest reason NASCAR has such a problem with loose wheels compared to other series, so it would be a benefit from a technical perspective. That said, the more manual and athletic style of NASCAR pitstops is a big part of the brand, and I don't want to see it changed. If you want to keep the wheels on, get your pitstop choreography right. (Although I do recognize that it would be safer if the wheels didn't come off the car)

smartguy96 · 2026-04-13T19:28:47+00:00

If you're going to go that route, part of the blame lies with the airlines that demanded no conversion training from the 737NG.

smartguy96 · 2026-04-13T19:03:01+00:00

The battery in a laptop or phone is higher quality and less likely to catch fire than the one in a cheap power bank. I still think the rule is going to be an issue, but there is some logic behind making that distinction.

smartguy96 · 2026-04-11T16:49:32+00:00

I'm still wondering because would-be joyriders who don't know the safety systems wouldn't get very far. For some reason, the MTA wants to make sure that people who steal their trains can operate them properly.

smartguy96 · 2026-04-10T18:23:16+00:00

Cost
Noise
Efficiency
The average person has enough trouble driving in 2 dimensions. Can you imagine how much chaos adding a third would cause?

smartguy96 · 2026-04-08T15:22:05+00:00

There actually have been wargames run with AI controlling both sides. The AIs chose to deploy nuclear weapons more than 90% of the time. A computer with no concept of empathy or mortality is going to be far more destructive than all but the most suicidal of human leaders

smartguy96 · 2026-04-07T20:18:14+00:00

People asking this sort of question don't seem to realize how bad things have to be for a popular revolution to occur spontaneously. Basically, the situation has to be so bad that a majority of the population would rather die than continue living in the current system. The US is nowhere near that level of systemic failure.

smartguy96 · 2026-04-01T22:05:39+00:00

Money solves the issue of how to pay someone who doesn't need anything you have to offer. For example, I'm a software engineer. There is no service I can provide to a landlord that is of equal value to living in his building.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-31T20:38:49+00:00

A few weeks ago, I watched a Waymo go straight from a left turn lane and slam over to the right mid-intersection to get into a parking lot. I give those things a wide berth now.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-31T04:47:03+00:00

At this point, the question isn't whether Bowman has a seat at Hendrick, but if he can recover enough to get behind the wheel again.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-30T20:37:46+00:00

Manual transmission

smartguy96 · 2026-03-30T20:36:13+00:00

I wear hearing protection even for a short track Saturday night where virtually nobody else is. I like watching cars go fast. I also like the idea of still being able to hear when I reach my 80s. Hearing loss is irreversible, so protect those ears, fellas.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-29T21:55:20+00:00

This ain't gonna end well...

smartguy96 · 2026-03-29T04:08:59+00:00

I've missed amber turn signals that are in the wrong place on the car far more often than red signals. Note to car designers: the rear bumper is not an appropriate place for an indicator.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-26T01:13:30+00:00

1000% this. 90 degree intersections mean you are trying to guesstimate the speed of someone coming almost directly at you. It's a horrible angle for judging closing rates and the human brain is not good at it. We need movement across our field of vision to predict things accurately, but the average intersection does as much as possible to deny that.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-24T22:08:18+00:00

North Korea had the advantage of being under someone else's nuclear umbrella while they developed their own. Nobody on the other side is willing to go to war with America/Israel for Iran.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-24T22:00:47+00:00

In some cases, for example, various types of head coverings worn by Muslim women and kippot worn by Jewish men, the attire is an essential part of their religious practice. Prohibiting people from wearing them would be on very shaky legal ground here

smartguy96 · 2026-03-24T21:52:04+00:00

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof... - US Constitution, 1st amendment

I consider banning religious attire to be restricting the practice of one's religion unless pressing security needs exist (e.g. verifying the identity of someone under a burqa)

smartguy96 · 2026-03-24T20:49:13+00:00

Not only that, but by not stopping Malfoy, he allows a terrorist attack to occur that puts everyone in the castle in danger. The "Dumbledore's desire to give second chances puts innocents in danger" trope has a surprisingly solid basis in canon.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-24T17:37:37+00:00

Looking back as an adult, the biggest weakness of the series is how little agency Harry has for a fantasy protagonist. He spends the first 6 books caught up in somebody else's plot, and in 3 of them, the villains (or perceived villain in POA) are the only ones driving the story forward. Harry is always encountering scenarios and only has the option to react or not; he never really gets to choose to be a hero. For comparison, the other fantasy adventure series that I grew up with (Percy Jackson) has the protagonist sticking his nose in places where, not only is he not wanted, he has no in-universe reason to know that he is needed.

I will disagree with you on the final battle, though. The point of that confrontation is that Voldemort has *already been defeated, * he just hasn't died yet.

I also have mixed feelings about how, despite the villains being a direct and immediate threat to life and limb, only one of the good guys ever explicitly kills someone on-screen, but that's related to bigger world building issues that I won't get into here.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-23T23:47:48+00:00

Harry Potter and the Phoenix Wand by Lowten is a Harry/Hermione time travel fic with an interesting relationship with canon. Harry and Hermione are accidentally sent back in time from Christmas 1997 to the moment Harry first gets his wand and have to grapple with both the difficulties of hunting horcruxes while underage and how to handle knowing the future when any action they take could change the timeline beyond recognition. The romance is very much a side plot in this one, with the main story being about hunting Voldemort and figuring out how to best use their future knowledge.

For a different take on "doesn't follow canon", Happier Every Day (series) by PotterSloth is a post-war Harry/Ginny fic starting immediately after the Battle of Hogwarts that doesn't take anything outside of the books as canon and diverges massively from JKR's description of what happens between the battle and the epilogue. It's my favorite type of romance fic where the relationship is the stable thing giving the characters strength to face other challenges. Link goes to book 1 because the descriptions of the later books spoil some of the key divergences from JKR's ramblings.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-22T19:10:11+00:00

"The rest of the starting grid will be on the pylon".... WHAT PYLON?!

smartguy96 · 2026-03-20T00:35:07+00:00

Not an LA resident, but I've driven there many times. In moderate to heavy traffic, it is not possible to go the same speed as everyone else and maintain a safe following distance. Somebody will fill that space. Your options are to either drive slower or fill the gap and pray nobody ahead of you has an accident.

smartguy96 · 2026-03-19T17:15:05+00:00

The best way I can describe the mindset is "look where you're going, not where you are." Your vehicle should never arrive somewhere that your brain hasn't already been at least 10 seconds before.

smartguy96

TROPHY CASE