Had my first driving lesson
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
As an apostrophe an indicator of feet or inches?
You can't be serious? :~ Apostrophe is feet and double apostrophe / quote is inches. E.g. I'm
5'10".
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
I'm perfectly serious. I am 173cm tall and weight 105Kg (I need to lose some weight). I occasionally use imperial units when it is an amount I just happen to know but some of the finer points of the notation simply escape me.
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
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Computafreak wrote:
I don't really like this business of a 'biting point'
It is one of these things that you get used to. I'd completely forgotten about it. I guess it is something I just deal with automatically these days. Also, for the first few years of my driving I had the annoying (to my dad at least, as it was mostly his car I was driving) habit of driving with my foot resting on the clutch. This can wear out the clutch as I found to my cost when I finally got my own car - It was the first thing to go. Note for those who have only ever driven automatics: The "biting point" is the point at which the gears start to re-engage after the clutch has been depressed. In other words you get it as you are pulling your foot off the clutch. As the gears are engaging the power starts to get transferred from the engine to the wheels and for a learner it can be a juddery moment.
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
The problem I have with a biting point is that I need to concentrate to feel the difference in the engine tones, and I concentrate best with my eyes closed. Obviously, that's a problem when driving. I'm glad that it comes instinctively in time - I don't want to have to think about it all the time! :-D
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Obviously you haven't been driving illegally in the past.
The European Way of War: Blow your own continent up. The American Way of War: Go over and help them.
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That's an excellent idea. If I made the flashy, spinning thing a little lower, I could probably power that from a high-capacity, high-output battery connected in series to the car's standard battery
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
Computafreak wrote:
high-capacity, high-output battery
Car batteries are designed for a completely different situation. I.e. they're only meant to be used to deliver a substantial current for a short amount of time. To put this in perspective the average house in the UK has ~220V@30A coming into the house, a large lead acidic battery can deliver up to and in excess of 120A to turn the starter motor (basing this on diesel engines which I have more familiarity with). Perhaps I've approached this the wrong way but basically what you need for the electricity to jump like from a Tesla is a massive voltage. And by massive I mean 1kV will typically (depending hugely on factors such as humidity, temperature etc) jump about 1cm in air (from what I remember). So to jump a few metres you can imagine the voltage required. While it is possible to "convert" current into voltage and vice-versa it's just not feasible from a car battery for the voltage required (negating the fact that it's a current supplier rather than voltage). You'd be better off using a bank of fast-discharging capacitors (which are expensive) and if something goes wrong (as I've witnessed first-hand) they go off with an almighty bang. Another interesting tit-bit while I'm at it is that high voltages don't kill you, small currents do. 30mA is fatal to a human when passed near the heart, the "good" news is that usually when you receive an electric shock from mains or something similar the voltage isn't high enough to cause it to jump across your heart. So although you might actually be touching a 30A (1000x greater than is required to kill you) line it'll only penetrate a short distance into your skin at "low" voltages. If you only touch one side (e.g. the live) and are well insulated from an earth (i.e. the ground, e.g. by wearing wellies) then there's no circuit so no current and thus no voltage.
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
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Miszou wrote:
You will find that the presence of "L" plates on your car causes everyone around you to act like a complete asshat.
I just try to stay well clear. I was once sitting at a set of traffic lights, on a hill, behind (a couple of feet more than I'd usually stop) a learner. When the lights changed to go the reverse light came on. I think the instructor realised in time and used the dual controls to stop the car going too much further as my car and his only had minor bump. Mostly a transfer of dirt which was easily cleaned off - thank goodness. It could have been much worse.
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
When the lights changed to go the reverse light came on.
Interesting. Cars here don't have those installed. How are they different from brake lights?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link -
The problem I have with a biting point is that I need to concentrate to feel the difference in the engine tones, and I concentrate best with my eyes closed. Obviously, that's a problem when driving. I'm glad that it comes instinctively in time - I don't want to have to think about it all the time! :-D
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
Computafreak wrote:
I'm glad that it comes instinctively in time
Lots of things become instinctive over time. Like what gear to be in... My dad was always telling me I was in the wrong gear. This from a person who overtook a slower moving car while in second gear at 70MPH. He had a Toyota Carrena E at the time, the engine made a wonderful roaring noise but I did notice that various warning lights I never knew even existed also lit up his dashboard. Probably because he was 1500RPM past the red line. I tried the same on my Yaris. Pfft... The engine just cuts out. No fun at all!
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
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Good luck with that. Tesla coils work on high voltage AC, and aren't exactly efficient. I'm not sure how much power one that small would draw. The ones I've seen in operation were 7' tall, with a 2'ish disk on top. They ran on power cords as thick as an average persons thumb as opposed to the normal out doors type.
The European Way of War: Blow your own continent up. The American Way of War: Go over and help them.
So I could theoretically mount it in the centre of the car, so that it would run through the middle? It would still stick out a bit, but would be short enough for the car to to go through a tunnel. If it helped, I could even paste a note on the back of the car: "Impatience fries cars" As for the power source, I don't know. Maybe an array of capacitors around the wheel arch, and a magnet on the axle. Wouldn't that charge them enough during driving to be able to power the coils for a short burst (maybe a few seconds - enough to ward those other motorists off)?
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
When the lights changed to go the reverse light came on.
Interesting. Cars here don't have those installed. How are they different from brake lights?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com linkNishant Sivakumar wrote:
How are they different from brake lights?
They are white.
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
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Computafreak wrote:
high-capacity, high-output battery
Car batteries are designed for a completely different situation. I.e. they're only meant to be used to deliver a substantial current for a short amount of time. To put this in perspective the average house in the UK has ~220V@30A coming into the house, a large lead acidic battery can deliver up to and in excess of 120A to turn the starter motor (basing this on diesel engines which I have more familiarity with). Perhaps I've approached this the wrong way but basically what you need for the electricity to jump like from a Tesla is a massive voltage. And by massive I mean 1kV will typically (depending hugely on factors such as humidity, temperature etc) jump about 1cm in air (from what I remember). So to jump a few metres you can imagine the voltage required. While it is possible to "convert" current into voltage and vice-versa it's just not feasible from a car battery for the voltage required (negating the fact that it's a current supplier rather than voltage). You'd be better off using a bank of fast-discharging capacitors (which are expensive) and if something goes wrong (as I've witnessed first-hand) they go off with an almighty bang. Another interesting tit-bit while I'm at it is that high voltages don't kill you, small currents do. 30mA is fatal to a human when passed near the heart, the "good" news is that usually when you receive an electric shock from mains or something similar the voltage isn't high enough to cause it to jump across your heart. So although you might actually be touching a 30A (1000x greater than is required to kill you) line it'll only penetrate a short distance into your skin at "low" voltages. If you only touch one side (e.g. the live) and are well insulated from an earth (i.e. the ground, e.g. by wearing wellies) then there's no circuit so no current and thus no voltage.
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
When the lights changed to go the reverse light came on.
Interesting. Cars here don't have those installed. How are they different from brake lights?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link -
I'm perfectly serious. I am 173cm tall and weight 105Kg (I need to lose some weight). I occasionally use imperial units when it is an amount I just happen to know but some of the finer points of the notation simply escape me.
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
Fair enough, I used to be the same but recently due to working on the Land Rover (built in 1983) most (annoying not all) of the stuff is in Imperial so got used to it fairly rapidly.
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
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IIRC great big caps are a standard part of the coil design.
The European Way of War: Blow your own continent up. The American Way of War: Go over and help them.
Yeah, the problem being they're normally bigger than the car. Actually most of the classic Tesla coils I've seen use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_de_Graaff_generator[^]. Some (was going to say several but it's more than that) stories tall. Largest capacitors I've seen that are commercially available (at least a few years ago) were 1F (farad) and were roughly 3"x3"x8" blocks. Someone dropped a screwdriver across the terminals of one of these when it hadn't been fully discharged and the majority of the screwdriver (not a small one) vapourised.
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
-
So I could theoretically mount it in the centre of the car, so that it would run through the middle? It would still stick out a bit, but would be short enough for the car to to go through a tunnel. If it helped, I could even paste a note on the back of the car: "Impatience fries cars" As for the power source, I don't know. Maybe an array of capacitors around the wheel arch, and a magnet on the axle. Wouldn't that charge them enough during driving to be able to power the coils for a short burst (maybe a few seconds - enough to ward those other motorists off)?
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
Computafreak wrote:
(maybe a few seconds - enough to ward those other motorists off)
Not going to work, although I will say what http://images.pooredesign.com/nde2.jpg[^]. Leave the dents in the bodywork and everyone steers clear, on the plus side if someone does hit you then a) they're going to come off worse and b) you can get a hammer and fix the damage (sometimes not even that's required, fixed a substantial dent after a friend "accidentally" drove it into a tree on the farm just by pulling it back into shape by with my hands). In fact that photo was after the event (hit the driver side wing to push it in to touch the wheel).
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
When the lights changed to go the reverse light came on.
Interesting. Cars here don't have those installed. How are they different from brake lights?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com linkAdding to what was said below they're there to warn people you're reversing plus provide some light for when you're reversing in the dark. Trust me on this you don't realise how useful these little things are until you go into a car with none and have to reverse in the dark.
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
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I've just got back in from my first driving lesson; it was quite good. I don't really like this business of a 'biting point', but overall it was enjoyable. The major thing I noticed was the proliferation of absolute IDIOTS on the roads. I was practising some push and pull turns, doing figures-of-eight in a car park and some person decided that they would prove that they can drive well by doing about 35 mph through the car park. Apparently I had a good sense of humour, because I asked if I could mount a machine gun and targeting sights on the bonnet of my driving instructor's car. It would appear that he thought I was joking. On a related note, is there any way to completely electrify the outside of the car on demand?
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
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Miszou wrote:
You will find that the presence of "L" plates on your car causes everyone around you to act like a complete asshat.
I just try to stay well clear. I was once sitting at a set of traffic lights, on a hill, behind (a couple of feet more than I'd usually stop) a learner. When the lights changed to go the reverse light came on. I think the instructor realised in time and used the dual controls to stop the car going too much further as my car and his only had minor bump. Mostly a transfer of dirt which was easily cleaned off - thank goodness. It could have been much worse.
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
They have saved me causing a minor fender bender a few years back. I was stopped at work at a gated booth and the guy inside could not reach me to give me a ticket to enter a different lot. Anyways in the 10 seconds I pulled up to the booth and saw that I was not close enough someone squeezed in behind me. I did not expect that being that only 1 car can fully fit between the booth and the road. Anyways the driver that was behind beeped the horn when they saw my backup lights come on so I did not cause the accident. Now I always check before attempting to back up...
John
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I've just got back in from my first driving lesson; it was quite good. I don't really like this business of a 'biting point', but overall it was enjoyable. The major thing I noticed was the proliferation of absolute IDIOTS on the roads. I was practising some push and pull turns, doing figures-of-eight in a car park and some person decided that they would prove that they can drive well by doing about 35 mph through the car park. Apparently I had a good sense of humour, because I asked if I could mount a machine gun and targeting sights on the bonnet of my driving instructor's car. It would appear that he thought I was joking. On a related note, is there any way to completely electrify the outside of the car on demand?
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
Computafreak wrote:
some person decided that they would prove that they can drive well by doing about 35 mph through the car park
I was only driving by to wish you well :(
Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p
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I've just got back in from my first driving lesson; it was quite good. I don't really like this business of a 'biting point', but overall it was enjoyable. The major thing I noticed was the proliferation of absolute IDIOTS on the roads. I was practising some push and pull turns, doing figures-of-eight in a car park and some person decided that they would prove that they can drive well by doing about 35 mph through the car park. Apparently I had a good sense of humour, because I asked if I could mount a machine gun and targeting sights on the bonnet of my driving instructor's car. It would appear that he thought I was joking. On a related note, is there any way to completely electrify the outside of the car on demand?
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
Computafreak wrote:
On a related note, is there any way to completely electrify the outside of the car on demand?
I have a vague recollection that a few years back the South Africans developed something to combat car hijacking, can't recall details but I think it may have involved electrification or flame throwers. Just did a quick search couldn't spot anything, maybe someone from SA can remember.
Multi famam, conscientiam pauci verentur.(Pliny)
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Computafreak wrote:
I don't really like this business of a 'biting point'
It is one of these things that you get used to. I'd completely forgotten about it. I guess it is something I just deal with automatically these days. Also, for the first few years of my driving I had the annoying (to my dad at least, as it was mostly his car I was driving) habit of driving with my foot resting on the clutch. This can wear out the clutch as I found to my cost when I finally got my own car - It was the first thing to go. Note for those who have only ever driven automatics: The "biting point" is the point at which the gears start to re-engage after the clutch has been depressed. In other words you get it as you are pulling your foot off the clutch. As the gears are engaging the power starts to get transferred from the engine to the wheels and for a learner it can be a juddery moment.
User group: Scottish Developers Blog: Can Open... Worms? Everywhere! Quote: Man who stand on hill with mouth open wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
The "biting point" is the point at which the gears start to re-engage after the clutch has been depressed.
Not technically true, unless you've short-shifted the gears should already be engaged! The biting point is when the two plates of the clutch begin to touch, therefore begin to generate friction between them. By generating friction between them then the gearbox side of the transmission begins to rotate with the engine side. By riding the clutch you're letting the two pads slip against each other without enough friction to move in sync thus that "slipping" begins to rub away at the clutch. Of course there are different kinds of clutches, many powerful tractors / farm vehicles are now moving towards electromagnetic clutches thus no frictional parts and therefore greater longevity. Of course two downsides are a) greater weight (at the moment) and b) something else to go wrong (which I know many farmers near me would prefer older, more basic tractors that have less to go wrong. Surprisingly they'd even be happy with less than 40 gears!).
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
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I've just got back in from my first driving lesson; it was quite good. I don't really like this business of a 'biting point', but overall it was enjoyable. The major thing I noticed was the proliferation of absolute IDIOTS on the roads. I was practising some push and pull turns, doing figures-of-eight in a car park and some person decided that they would prove that they can drive well by doing about 35 mph through the car park. Apparently I had a good sense of humour, because I asked if I could mount a machine gun and targeting sights on the bonnet of my driving instructor's car. It would appear that he thought I was joking. On a related note, is there any way to completely electrify the outside of the car on demand?
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow
Having just noticed that you're in the UK there's plenty of advice that I can give you (seem to be covering a huge mileage at the moment) but one thing I do implore you is: When you get to drive on the motorway PLEASE don't hog lanes. Seriously driving down the M4 I've been in 7 mile queues all because of one car who refuses to drive in the outside lane and the majority of other drivers would prefer to overtake legally and safely on the inside lane. The lanes on motorways don't have "speed-limits", by this I mean it doesn't matter what speed you are doing, if the lane to the left of you is free then use it. Just because you're doing more than 60mph doesn't mean that the left-hand lane is out of bounds. This holds true more so in heavy traffic and 9 times out of 10 you'll see the left-hand lane moving faster than the right-hand side because everyone's trying to get into it. Also (this might be slightly biased) but the people who typically drive in the outside lane are lorries and "proper" 4x4s (i.e. Defenders, Shoguns, basically anything that isn't capable of high speeds for a 4x4) and we/they prefer not to have to change gear the whole time so because we can see further will keep moving along at a consistent pace rather than stop/starting the whole time and usually move through the queues better. Also a pet-peeve, be considerate to lorry drivers (well I'm speaking for the native ones), the majority of them are far better drivers than you'll ever be. After all they spend most of their lives on the road. I usually find, especially in heavy traffic, if you're considerate to lorry drivers all the ones around you become considerate to you.
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
