I’ve only run out of gas twice in my life (not counting some near misses), both times while working as a vehicle test engineer, and both times in the Mojave Desert.

It must have been at least a decade ago that the Electronic Freedom Foundation was pushing for physical switches on all smartphone microphones, and for this very reason. They must be having a bittersweet "I told you so" moment now. Sigh.

Hear hear. Nanook of the North’s wisdom can’t possibly be limited to the intricacies of US internet service provider policies and coverage capabilities.

Best comment I’ve read today, and one of the best on addiction that I’ve ever read. Bless you and good luck to you.

Please write about how awesome it is to drive your Wrangler over someone’s lawn on the way to your Ethics 1070 class at the UofU because traffic on 1300 East is backed up to 2100 South. Or how every bleach-blonde teenage princess in Salt Lake County has one and can’t drive in a straight line. Or how the SoCal refugees…

As an xBox daily driver, I must concur with Tom’s pick. Sure, they’re not sleek, but they’re as reliable as a telemarketing call at dinnertime, and have you-can-find-enough-gas-money-in-the-sofa fuel economy. Bonus - they’re the easiest cars in the world to park. I’ve had my 2006 Series 3.0 for 10 years and 190k+…

This is one of the rare, wonderful instances where listening to the soundtrack first makes you want to watch the movie, and then listen to the soundtrack again.

Sand casting results in high levels of porosity and still requires post machining. DMLS or quad laser sintering results in over 98% dense parts with almost no post machining. Some surfaces may need polishing, but overall the DMLS process is faster now than sand casting.

I didn’t have to read beyond the headline: having worked at a few car companies and knowing what their plebes’ wages are like, chances are you’ll never be able to afford any new high-end luxury vehicle unless you’re a C-level employee.

With the exception of Dr. Who, of course. :)

I did this recently, and it worked very well. Two quick tips: 1) Buy the cheaper 3rd party baseplates on Amazon, and 2) Use Legos to hold your base plates together while gluing the plates to the shelf unit. That way, the plates are spaced perfectly.

The black helps add visual contrast to the yellow line. You’ll also see black lines behind the white dashed lines - this helps when there’s a lot of glare. Depending on the road surface you may have different colors of asphalt or concrete (and tar) which could make it hard to distinguish.

AFIK, Americans entering the US are not denied entry so long as their passports are valid. Once inside the US though, they can be detained for other reasons (smuggling in contraband, wanted for other charges, etc.).

I hear you there - on some business trips to China I had to access our company’s VPN in order to run licensed software. Much of what I do is considered intellectual property, so keeping it secret is a huge concern.

As someone who has frequently traveled to the US and China, I believe it’s a good idea to keep your mobile devices turned off when going through customs in either country. In the US (esp. at LAX and SFO) you’re not allowed to use your phone in customs, and in China it’s just a good idea.

I’m so glad you’re avoiding our fine nation. Sure, we’re not perfect, nor do we purport to be. But with an attitude like yours, I’m sure you can find some other place to enjoy life.

Yeah, I had to delete someone’s Pandora account because they signed up using my email address. What’s crazy is that he had at least 20 channels saved before I got any notification from Pandora, and even then it was for a “you might like this” email, not a “did you change your address” warning.

BTW, this notebook is great - no lines and it folds flat, which makes it easy to draw or write equations while balancing on a folding desk.

Mechanical Engineering is such a broad field of study and even broader career field, it’s nearly impossible to have a definitive “bag o’ stuff” for it. You’d have just as much luck creating the ultimate fishing tackle box.

If you have small children, disposing of your shredded credit cards in a used diaper (or separate used diapers) should be enough of a theft deterrent.