[Mediaman_12]

Originally posted by D'Espice:
have a comparable car like my Audi and not a wannabe-car like Kia, Skoda

You do realise that both Audi's and Skoda's are made by the [i]same company[i/] using loads of the same parts don't you?
Audi A3 = Volkswagen Golf = Seat Ibiza = Skoda Fabia
As part of the Volkswagen group Skoda's are nolonger wannabe-car's (they are probbaly better than most Fiats for example).

[D'Espice]

Of course I know that VW is the mother company of Audi and Skoda and some more but these cars have about as much in common as a rock and yogurt.
That's like sayin' "Rolls Royce is like BMW cause BMW bought Royce few years ago". Take a look at any Audi then take a look at any Skoda and you'll notice the difference.

[djohnson]

Originally posted by typoon:
Sure they would. All they need to hear is the word Diesel.

Why is this?

[spiky_dog]

i envy you $1.75/gallon folks. regular is going for around $2.13 in coastal oregon, and $1.99-2.09 in portland. part of the cost must be the fact that drivers can't pump their own gas in this state...

[djohnson]

Originally posted by spiky_dog:
i envy you $1.75/gallon folks. regular is going for around $2.13 in coastal oregon, and $1.99-2.09 in portland. part of the cost must be the fact that drivers can't pump their own gas in this state...

Cant pump their own gas???

[el chupacabra]

Originally posted by D'Espice:
This is outrageous, gas prices have skyrocketed in Germany last week. Right now, the price for gas is 1,239 Euro per liter... PER LITER!!! That's 1/4 of a gallon for US $1,49 and about six bucks for a gallon

This is so bad, that right now I cannot afford to drive my car anymore... I need it tho cause besides being a college student, I'm a self-employed administrator and some of my clients live so far outta town, that going by bus or subway is out of question. And most of'em don't want me to show up on my motorbike which means that my one and only option is going to be the car... that sucks so bad that I wanna throw up and refuel my car with whatever is willing to leave my body

Maybe you guys should take over a country that has oil...

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by Mediaman_12:
You must mean 1.239 per liter, not over one thousand euros?

In most parts of Europe they use commas instead of decimals. 1,239 is correct.

[Mike656]

Originally posted by djohnson:
Cant pump their own gas???

Its illegal for one to pump Gasoline in OR or NJ, pretty stupid I think. In NJ you can still pump your own Diesel by the state law but some stations are not very familar with the rules and just allow truckers to pump.

[Oisín]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
In most parts of Europe they use commas instead of decimals. 1,239 is correct.

Not when you're writing in English it's not...

[Aldert]

Surprised that nobody has brought up this yet...

THIS is the main reason the prices of oil are skyrocketing:

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
http://www.peakoil.net/
http://www.oilcrash.com/
http://www.myimpactengine.com/go.asp?a=1&t=221660 (good flash summary of the problem)

Basically what we are seeing now are signs of things to come.

[memento]

Originally posted by djohnson:
Why is this?

Because groups like Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Earth First, etc have their own agenda. Surprisingly it is rarely about conservations and is more about opposition (to gov't and big business). They relate diesel to "oil" and that's all that matters to them. They don't care that it's more efficient and can be cleaner burning than gasoline - that doesn't fit into their agenda. So they attack it with their political powers (which are strong in NYS). In general they don't take the time to learn, they are reactionary. There are a few terms that trigger that autoresponse: nuclear, oil (and diesel), ATV, landfill.

They haven't earned the monikers "enviro-nazi", "enviro-wacko", and so on for nothing! I consider myself an environmentalist (or conservationist), but I refuse to associate myself with any of those groups because I THINK.

[djohnson]

Originally posted by Mike656:
Its illegal for one to pump Gasoline in OR or NJ, pretty stupid I think. In NJ you can still pump your own Diesel by the state law but some stations are not very familar with the rules and just allow truckers to pump.

[typoon]

Originally posted by memento:
Because groups like Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Earth First, etc have their own agenda. Surprisingly it is rarely about conservations and is more about opposition (to gov't and big business). They relate diesel to "oil" and that's all that matters to them. They don't care that it's more efficient and can be cleaner burning than gasoline - that doesn't fit into their agenda. So they attack it with their political powers (which are strong in NYS). In general they don't take the time to learn, they are reactionary. There are a few terms that trigger that autoresponse: nuclear, oil (and diesel), ATV, landfill.

They haven't earned the monikers "enviro-nazi", "enviro-wacko", and so on for nothing! I consider myself an environmentalist (or conservationist), but I refuse to associate myself with any of those groups because I THINK.

Thanks. That was better stated then I could have made it.

[memento]

Originally posted by Aldert:
Surprised that nobody has brought up this yet...

THIS is the main reason the prices of oil are skyrocketing:

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
http://www.peakoil.net/
http://www.oilcrash.com/
http://www.myimpactengine.com/go.asp?a=1&t=221660 (good flash summary of the problem)

Basically what we are seeing now are signs of things to come.

I took a look at the first site. Talk about alarmist. How can they declare predictions about the future as "truth"? It took all of 3 seconds to realize that the info there can't be trusted.

"There are no true alternatives to oil"?

"The power of the sun, the wind, and the atom cannot be harnessed without tremendous and continuous investments in fossil fuels."?

Sounds like a logical and rational site. Oh, wait. I see now. They are pedaling their book! The site is just a promotional tool. It's advertising, not unbiased research and facts.

[Aldert]

Memento,

I agree that the first site is kind of a 'doom scenario' one and is exaggerating a bit.
However, if you read on, you'll see that all the alternatives are investigated and listed on the site.. Problem is that currently less then 1 percent of total energy production in the US consists of those 'alternative energy's' and experts dont expect a big increase in the future.

Most of the other listed sites are all based on reports from highly respected scientists and politicians. Also, Exon has published a report in which it raises a big concern over the oil production in the coming years.

this is NOT another 'doom hoax' or whatever..

[djohnson]

Once I get my house, I am going to develop a solar/wind powered system for it. It may cost money, but it will help out in the long run! Anyone know of a good site that sells wind/solar equipment?

[memento]

Originally posted by Aldert:
Memento,

I agree that the first site is kind of a 'doom scenario' one and is exaggerating a bit.
However, if you read on, you'll see that all the alternatives are investigated and listed on the site.. Problem is that currently less then 1 percent of total energy production in the US consists of those 'alternative energy's' and experts dont expect a big increase in the future.

Most of the other listed sites are all based on reports from highly respected scientists and politicians. Also, Exon has published a report in which it raises a big concern over the oil production in the coming years.

this is NOT another 'doom hoax' or whatever..

You may be right. I couldn't stomach going past the first linked site. And I do strongly agree that we need to get fuel conserving alternatives.

1% is definitely a wrong number for alternative power. I don't know where you got it from, but nuclear power alone is somewhere between 14% and 20% (from memory). I'm a strong proponent of nuclear power. 1% is more like just hydro.

djohnson - home-based wind is a long way off to be economically feasible, plus you really need good steady wind (not to mention local zoning for a structure that tall). But you can search the net for solar. It'll cost you, to cover the demand for a typical house, around $5000 for the equipment. Not including installation. Not including batteries to store it for night/cloudy use. But on the plus side, you can buy and install a transfer switch that will send power OUT to the grid and your power company will pay you. It's like 20% of what you would pay them for power, but it's better than nothing.

[Sven G]

Originally posted by Ois�n:
Not when you're writing in English it's not...

BTW, in the "official" ISO notation, IIRC, a number should be written this way, for example:

12 756,00

or

12 756.00

i.e., decimal commas or points, but only spaces elsewhere (for the thousands).

Now, it wouldn't be a bad thing if we could all agree, on a worldwide level, if we should use the comma or the point as a decimal separator: difficult choice, as both have their advantages (the comma is more "fluid", but the point is better when other comma separators are involved, and so on).

It would also be a good thing if mathematicians could agree between the European and the US interval notation: for example, [0,1[ vs. [0,1) - and so on...

There are many, often apparently small and insignificant, unsolved inconsistencies everywhere - not only in OS X!

[Oisín]

Originally posted by Sven G:
It would also be a good thing if mathematicians could agree between the European and the US interval notation: for example, [0,1[ vs. [0,1) - and so on...

Huh???

[0,1[

vs.

[0,1)



What's that supposed to mean???

BTW, in the "official" ISO notation, IIRC, a number should be written this way, for example:
12 756,00
or
12 756.00
i.e., decimal commas or points, but only spaces elsewhere (for the thousands).

Hehe... try telling that to the Chinese... they mostly prefer to write them as 1 2756.00 because that's how they count: "one ten-thousand, two thousand, seven hundred, fifty six point zero zero"...

[Sven G]

Originally posted by Ois�n:
Huh???

[0,1[

vs.

[0,1)



What's that supposed to mean???

As an example, the range of real numbers greater than or equal to 0, and smaller than 1, in poor words. Mathematicians call it an interval: in my high school years, we learned to use the first notation, but afterwards I realized that US books tend to use the second one: not even in mathematics is there unity!

[Oisín]

Originally posted by Sven G:
As an example, the range of real numbers greater than or equal to 0, and less than 1, in poor words. Mathematicians call it an interval: in my high school years, we learned to use the first notation, but afterwards I realized that US books tend to use the second one: not even in mathematics is there unity!

Aha... well, I know I learned about them sometime back in school (must have been in 9th grade or something), but I don't think we used either of those two ways of writing them, 'cause they both look completely unfamiliar to me...

Maybe there's a special Danish way to do that?

(Screw unity, we have confusion!)

[Sven G]

Originally posted by Ois�n:
Aha... well, I know I learned about them sometime back in school (must have been in 9th grade or something), but I don't think we used either of those two ways of writing them, 'cause they both look completely unfamiliar to me...

Maybe there's a special Danish way to do that?

(Screw unity, we have confusion!)

See here (last lines of the page)...

http://www.formel.dk/symboler/aritmetik_algebra.htm

[djohnson]

Originally posted by memento:
djohnson - home-based wind is a long way off to be economically feasible, plus you really need good steady wind (not to mention local zoning for a structure that tall). But you can search the net for solar. It'll cost you, to cover the demand for a typical house, around $5000 for the equipment. Not including installation. Not including batteries to store it for night/cloudy use. But on the plus side, you can buy and install a transfer switch that will send power OUT to the grid and your power company will pay you. It's like 20% of what you would pay them for power, but it's better than nothing.

From my research, you do not always need a strong wind gust. There are some shapes, especially around houses, that will channel the air, compressing it into a smaller space, and thus increasing the speed of the air. It would not be feasible for a large scale operation, but for a house or even a barn/garage/storage shed, it would be enough.

Solar power is becoming more advanced all the time. The price doesn't bother me that much, as I know I will make it back saving on the $300+ in electricity each month.

Also, I have looked into geothermal power generation. Neat stuff... Especially if you consider selling it back to the power company!

[PB2K]

I live in Holland, I have seen prices rise so incredible last few weeks :

1 januari : 1.10 euro a litre
1 may : 1.28 euro a litre

I just drove to France and back, in France it's 1.15 euro a litre, and they calculated roadtaxes within that.

The only happy place I can imagine now is luxembourg, it's the only place where the PRICE gauge goes slower than the LITRE gauge

[Oisín]

Originally posted by Sven G:
See here (last lines of the page)...

http://www.formel.dk/symboler/aritmetik_algebra.htm

Oh... well, guess we probably just learned it the kiddy way then

(And why on earth is that page entitled "The Greek alphabet"???)

[King Bob On The Cob]

If we weren't so worried about Russia becoming a world power again, Siberia has enough oil in it to totally replace the Middle East in terms of oil-flow. Or if we drill more in Alaska. Environmentalists are super worried, I on the other hand am not due to a few recent advances in hybrid cars and notably some theoretical fusion (Once again though, the problem is how to get hydrogen...)

[Link]

Time to stop driving your hummers and hop into SportKas

[Stratus Fear]

Originally posted by spatterson:
I remember those days when I lived in germany and gas prices were around .96 EUR... But 1.23... Damn thats $4.... Were outraged in Atlanta paying 1.69 a gallon.... but 4 bucks... I choose not to remember those days... and people wonder why europe drives mostly small cars.

It costs almost 1.80 at one of the Shell gas stations on Piedmont Ave...

[Gene Jockey]

Originally posted by typoon:
While that maybe true, you still have people in the States like the Sierra Club, Green Peace and groups like that complaining that Diesel is too polluting so they would fight any major push for diesel here in teh States even if they could make it less polluting and even though you get better gas mileage from it.

It will be less polluting. Current sulfur specs allow 500 ppm total sulfur content, effective mid 2006 it will be 15 ppm. Lots less sooty crap will result. The spec is designed to reduce soot emmissions from truckers and the like, but could spur more diesel passenger vehicles.

[Link]

I can hardly wait for biodiesel... if that ever comes out.

A hybrid biodiesel based car could be damn interesting.

[Powerbook]

Originally posted by Link:
I can hardly wait for biodiesel... if that ever comes out.

A hybrid biodiesel based car could be damn interesting.

Both are already out. You can get e.g. VW cars certified for biodiesel fuel.
As for the hybrid cars, there are several offerings, cars driving an e-motor through an efficient combustion engine http://www.hondacars.com/models/mode...rDetected=True or cars with a "dual" motor system, where you can switch systems. E.g. Fiat with their gas/petrol hybrid Multipla. http://www.fiat.de/obs/configurator/...lMethod=erdgas

Regards,
PB.

[memento]

Originally posted by Gene Jockey:
It will be less polluting. Current sulfur specs allow 500 ppm total sulfur content, effective mid 2006 it will be 15 ppm. Lots less sooty crap will result. The spec is designed to reduce soot emmissions from truckers and the like, but could spur more diesel passenger vehicles.

Agreed, except that I think it already has spurred more diesel cars. I think that the reason D-C is developing diesel as opposed to hybrid is because of the new 15ppm diesel. They are getting the Jeep out now in limited quantities, but I think they'll be in full production in 2006/2007. I also read that they are going to have a diesel PT Cruiser and maybe a couple other models.

I'm really crossing my fingers that diesel will get here and stay. Especially for passenger cars.

Powerbook - Link was talking about hybrid electric/diesel. That's not Honda and I don't know what the other link you posted was for, but I'm sure it's not available in the US. Not many Fiat's here.

[typoon]

Originally posted by memento:
Agreed, except that I think it already has spurred more diesel cars. I think that the reason D-C is developing diesel as opposed to hybrid is because of the new 15ppm diesel. They are getting the Jeep out now in limited quantities, but I think they'll be in full production in 2006/2007. I also read that they are going to have a diesel PT Cruiser and maybe a couple other models.

I'm really crossing my fingers that diesel will get here and stay. Especially for passenger cars.

Powerbook - Link was talking about hybrid electric/diesel. That's not Honda and I don't know what the other link you posted was for, but I'm sure it's not available in the US. Not many Fiat's here.

Yeah I really like diesel cars. Imagine the gas mileage that could be had on a Hybrid diesel Car.

[djohnson]

Originally posted by typoon:
Yeah I really like diesel cars. Imagine the gas mileage that could be had on a Hybrid diesel Car.

How about trucks though? Lots of people need trucks and do not want to spend big bucks getting a diesel. Though diesel provides enough torque, but I dont see where the electric part would ride in.

Oh yeah gas just rose $0.20 yesterday... Now up to $1.82/gallon I think I am going to fix my bike and start riding to work. It is less then a mile away... Too bad it is already over 90F here now. In the mornings it is around 60, so its not that bad then, but lunch would suck. Eating at work is not the most fun. It would beat my 12.5mpg crap truck now though!

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by D'Espice:
Yes, real men do own bikes

But still, I can't go to work by bike (neither normal nor motor), some of my clients have ridiculous dresscodes meaning that I gotta show up in a suit, and believe me, suit and bike (neither normal nor motor) don't mix. Plus, I can't show up all sweaty and smelly
And sometimes, I have to take one or two of the computers, take'em home and fix'em there cause it'd take too long otherwise.

If they make you stick to their ridiculous dress codes, they should be able to stick to your reasonable price increase.

[memento]

Originally posted by djohnson:
How about trucks though? Lots of people need trucks and do not want to spend big bucks getting a diesel. Though diesel provides enough torque, but I dont see where the electric part would ride in.

Oh yeah gas just rose $0.20 yesterday... Now up to $1.82/gallon I think I am going to fix my bike and start riding to work. It is less then a mile away... Too bad it is already over 90F here now. In the mornings it is around 60, so its not that bad then, but lunch would suck. Eating at work is not the most fun. It would beat my 12.5mpg crap truck now though!

If I lived less than a mile away from work, I'd ride my bicycle or walk. I wish I could do that.

What size trucks are you talking about? Around me there are a lot of diesel full-sized pickups. Like the Dodge Ram. I'm not a pickup person so I don't know exactly what they are. But I know a diesel with 500+ ft-lbs of torque when it drives by! But people use these for serious work and they know they need diesel.

I was thinking hybrid diesel would be good for passenger cars, not trucks. Imagine the mpg.

[djohnson]

Originally posted by memento:
If I lived less than a mile away from work, I'd ride my bicycle or walk. I wish I could do that.

What size trucks are you talking about? Around me there are a lot of diesel full-sized pickups. Like the Dodge Ram. I'm not a pickup person so I don't know exactly what they are. But I know a diesel with 500+ ft-lbs of torque when it drives by! But people use these for serious work and they know they need diesel.

I was thinking hybrid diesel would be good for passenger cars, not trucks. Imagine the mpg.

The mpg on a car would rock! I would be looking for a smaller truck. Sometimes, you gotta carry stuff that wont fit in a car. That and I am a truck guy. Well, Jeep will have the Liberty(?) in diesel form. Maybe they can put the same engine in a truck? Hopefully the other manufacturers will follow suit eventually... Now to find a good bike repair shop or a new bike.

[memento]

The Liberty is being sold in other countries as we speak. It will be available this summer as a 2005 model with limited production of 10,000. I think it's already sold out though. It's a "common rail diesel" engine. 2.8l 4-cylinder. Check it out herE:

http://www.jeep.com/crd/index.html?c...39;&type=promo

Also I see from www.edmunds.com "Dodge will also try its hand at a hybrid pickup, pairing an electric motor with its Cummins turbodiesel inline six-cylinder.".

[djohnson]

Originally posted by memento:
The Liberty is being sold in other countries as we speak. It will be available this summer as a 2005 model with limited production of 10,000. I think it's already sold out though. It's a "common rail diesel" engine. 2.8l 4-cylinder. Check it out herE:

http://www.jeep.com/crd/index.html?context='+context+'&type=promo

Hmm... I am looking for a 4wd truck to replace my blazer. This Liberty looks pretty cool. I like the diesel engine in it. If they are putting it in an everyday use vehicle, I am guessing they got the ppm count of the diesel down pretty low... Gotta think about this now. Too bad they dont have a truck though.

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by Ois�n:
Huh???

[0,1[

vs.

[0,1)



What's that supposed to mean???

In Peru, my highschool teachers taught me to use [0,1>. We also used comma for the decimal separator and SPACE for the thousands/millions/thousandths/millionths separators.

I never use the space, since I prefer to display my results with only 3 digits of accuracy, with the appropriate power-of-ten prefix before the unit or scientific notation if necessary.

For example: 6.1 metric ton elephant, 1.23 billion US dollars, 20E22 kilometers away.

I use period as the decimal separator, because that is what the C and Basic compilers will accept.

[vcutag]

Originally posted by djohnson:

Yeah, that took some getting used to, driving through Jersey on the Turnpike up to New York last winter... I got out of the car (habit) and was told to get back in the car. Never bought gas in Jersey again.

[Link]

*awaits a hybrid biodiesel driven H2* oooh more MPG than a jetta.. hahahahahaa

In meh dreams. By the time that happens there will probably already be hybrid biodiesel jettas...