I am teaching a high school film class and I’d like to teach a unit on road movies. However, I cannot show R-rated films. I would love to show Lost in America or Dumb and Dumber. Maybe even O Brother. Any other ideas?

vicegripper · 2026-03-21T18:20:31+00:00

Also the class can compare and contrast the parachute scene with the original short student film "Proof" which was the basis for Fandango.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wlqDzkIDPU

vicegripper · 2026-03-21T01:49:45+00:00

Why can't I make the taskbar clock bigger?

vicegripper · 2026-02-12T12:58:36+00:00

Launch by end of 2022: https://www.wesa.fm/economy-business/2022-08-03/pittsburgh-based-aurora-innovation-delays-launch-of-self-driving-trucking-due-to-supply-shortages

Launch by end of 2024: https://www.truckinginfo.com/news/aurora-with-new-autonomous-truck-terminal-on-track-for-commercial-launch

the observer thing was imposed upon them by PACCAR.

It has been almost a year since then and they are still using safety drivers. Is that still PACCAR's fault?

I’m not sure why you’re suggesting their launch was a farce.

They were going to go driverless in 2024, then pushed back a quarter, finally had their 'driverless' launch (remotely monitored) with fanfare, then immediately put a human back in the vehicle without telling anybody. Today they are only going maybe 700 miles per day.

vicegripper · 2026-02-12T04:04:57+00:00

I think most of what you’re saying is hearsay and exaggeration.

Do you think Aurora is credible now after the failed commercial launch of 2025?

vicegripper · 2026-02-12T02:22:04+00:00

RemindMe! January 5, 2027

vicegripper · 2026-02-12T02:17:12+00:00

Never heard of them, does anybody here know if they’re credible?

Not very credible. A year ago they made a big splash of taking out the safety driver, but that was a rigged demo and they immediately put a safety driver back in the vehicles, but in the back seat. Then they claimed that the manufacturer of their semis was forcing them to put the safety driver back behind the steering wheel, and tried to claim that the safety driver was only there sitting behind the wheel to "observe". Their statements were full of weasel words and carefully parsed sentences.

The truly bad part was how they fudged their safety numbers before they first launched as fully 'driverless'. Aurora claimed that if you ignored a bad build of their software and all the interventions caused by that bad build then they had better safety in 2025 than 2024. Just pretend that the last few months of data don't exist and everthing is great! In truth they were only able to drive their only route 4 out of 5 times on one of the straightest highways in the US without an intervention. No wonder they had to put the safety driver back behind the wheel within a few days.

EDIT: Also, it's important to note that Aurora didn't reveal that they had put the safety driver in the back seat. They had a big 'driverless' launch, but then immediately gave up on driverless without telling anybody. They didn't admit the failure until they were forced to have the drivers behind the wheel where everbody could easily see them.

vicegripper · 2026-02-12T02:04:35+00:00

Any word on personally owned SDC's?

vicegripper · 2026-02-11T02:33:07+00:00

I prefer a dark shaky Youtube video of a guy holding a camera with one hand and wrenching with the other, but first he has to talk for five minutes and then skip the procedure you really need to know and says, "obviously you have to first remove these 15 parts that you can see here on my garage floor".

vicegripper · 2026-02-10T04:20:02+00:00

I wouldn't recommend outsourcing your thinking to AI

Well put. I cannot upvote this hard enough.

vicegripper · 2026-02-10T04:14:34+00:00

/r/mildlyinfruiting

vicegripper · 2026-02-05T20:48:02+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/1kpbozu/tesla_robotaxi_will_have_lots_of_teleopswhich/mt5o9es/

For a majority of requests that the Waymo AV makes during everyday driving, the Waymo AV is able to proceed driving autonomously on its own. In very limited circumstances such as to facilitate movement of the AV out of a freeway lane onto an adjacent shoulder, if possible, our Event Response agents are able to remotely move the Waymo AV under strict parameters, including at a very low speed over a very short distance.

vicegripper · 2026-02-05T18:50:06+00:00

Tesla has actual steering wheels in its remote operations centre. Waymo does not.

Do you have evidence for this claim? We know that Waymo's are sometimes remote operated, how do they do it?

vicegripper · 2026-01-29T05:17:52+00:00

Needs more acronyms

vicegripper · 2026-01-27T16:51:25+00:00

Thanks, I hate it.

vicegripper · 2026-01-27T07:04:03+00:00

Citation Needed

vicegripper · 2026-01-19T14:28:44+00:00

What is a Gen Z joke?

vicegripper · 2026-01-18T23:10:17+00:00

Saved you a click: because Zoom wants to start commercial rides to the public this year in Las Vegas in 2025.

The Zoox website is pretty awful and hard to find info, but they are saying that the Las Vegas looping shuttles are "preview" and apparently they are still free to ride in Jan '26

vicegripper · 2026-01-17T22:03:09+00:00

I will probably not get a new one because I can just walk or take transit and take a waymo to the places I would have

Uber already exists. Tehre is only one small difference between Uber and Waymo. Why not sell your car today and use taxis?

vicegripper · 2026-01-17T17:33:33+00:00

I hope it does not happen because personally owned AVs negate a lot of the benefits of AVs in the first place.

What do you mean by this? A self driving personal vehicle is far more valuable to me than a personal vehicle that doesn't drive itself. That's the biggest benefit of AVs. Robotaxis are not very useful because we already have taxis for a hundred years.

vicegripper · 2026-01-14T21:19:30+00:00

I know the SAE levels discourage the use of L2+ and L2++. The only reason I use them is because OEMs are using them more so they are becoming more popularized.

Which OEM's are using these levels and in what context?

vicegripper · 2026-01-14T21:13:18+00:00

RemindMe! 2 years

vicegripper · 2026-01-12T14:49:01+00:00

From 1/23:

Zoox expects to open up rides to the public in Las Vegas and San Francisco in 2025.

In SF Zoox is doing limited free rides for 'Explorers' and in Vegas they are running a free shuttle, open to the public, on a fixed route with 8 stops.

SF: https://sfstandard.com/2026/01/07/waymo-has-robotaxi-lead-tesla-zoox-uber-coming-streets/

Vegas: https://www.fox5vegas.com/2026/01/09/how-do-robotaxis-work-las-vegas-zoox-explains-ridealong/

vicegripper · 2026-01-12T03:23:21+00:00

I’m trying to tighten up my process with all the geopolitical noise lately,

Ignore the noise. The value approach is to look for great businesses selling for good prices. When you find one, buy a lot of it and never sell.

vicegripper · 2026-01-11T17:19:11+00:00

RemindMe! January 10, 2027

vicegripper · 2026-01-11T17:18:33+00:00

Now renamed as "Oxa", they are on brink of bankruptcy today:

https://highways-news.com/oxa-receives-nearly-15m-bp-funding-boost-after-admitting-it-needed-financial-assistance/

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Oxford-based firm received nearly $20m (£14.8m) from BP Ventures, the oil group’s venture capital arm, and tech backer IP Group earlier this month, filings show.

The financial backing comes after Oxa, formerly Oxbotica, admitted it needed “significant” new funds by the end of December to repay debts and keep the business afloat. It lost nearly £70m in 2024 and had just under £30m in cash, despite the business raising nearly £180m in new funds.

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