Car Glass Rules Could Impair Cell, GPS and Radio Signals In CA 762
An anonymous reader writes "The California Air Resources Board (CARB) just passed a new regulation that requires glazed glass in automobiles that is supposed to reduce the need to use air conditioning. The catch is that the same properties that block electromagnetic sunlight radiation also block lower frequency electromagnetic radio waves. That means radios, satellite radios, GPS, garage door openers, and cell phones will be severely degraded. Even more surprising is that it requires this glass even for jeeps that have soft covers, plastic windows, and no air conditioning.'"
Re:! surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
The thing is, Jeep (and others, like GEM) are appealing to CARB for a waiver, and will probably get one. It was an oversight, not something deliberate.
While I disagree with the state requiring it... (Score:2, Interesting)
perverse incentives (Score:1, Interesting)
But it's California so it's got to be a good idea since the intentions of the populace are correct.
Re:You mean ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:You mean ... (Score:3, Interesting)
That's what I'm trying to figure out... If you reflect 60 percent of the "sun's energy," doesn't that mean that only 40% of light from outside is let in? And if it's dark... doesn't that make night driving pretty damn dangerous?
Re:If I lived in Cali... (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem is, this is how California effectively legislates for the entire nation. The auto industry won't sell 2 different versions of their cars (that would cost too much money, having to have different assembly lines to satisfy the laws of a single state), they will just change the assembly line and install this glass on all new cars regardless of where they are destined. So in effect California is going to create a nationwide mandate and degrade wireless signals inside of cars nationwide. Also, they will raise the cost of cars nationwide, for something they admit has a 12 year ROI. The fact that it costs $250 but takes 12 years to save $250 in gas is pretty insane.
Re:! surprising (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:CARB, necessary evil (Score:3, Interesting)
>(My luxury car gets 30 mpg
A 1908 Ford model T got 25 mpg.
Doesn't that sound really wrong to you?
Blocks Radar Detector too? (Score:1, Interesting)
Curious if this new coating also interferes with radar detectors?
Re:Oh no! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:the thing is.... (Score:5, Interesting)
..marijuana really isn't illegal at the federal level
NO, that's wrong. It's a SCHEDULE I drug along with opium, Heroin, LSD and a long list viewable here:
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/812.htm#c [usdoj.gov]
The complex litany of penalties is viewable here:http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/841.htm#a [usdoj.gov]
There was a Marihuana Tax Act... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marihuana_Tax_Act_of_1937 [wikipedia.org]:
Excerpt From Wikipedia
In 1969 in Leary v. United States, part of the Act was ruled to be unconstitutional as a violation of the Fifth Amendment, since a person seeking the tax stamp would have to incriminate him/herself. In response the Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The 1937 Act was repealed by the 1970 Act.
Re:! surprising (Score:3, Interesting)
Works great in Canada though. If my car's been sitting in the hot sun on a cold winter day it might warm up almost to 0C. No need for a jeep, just open one window and the "air conditioning" will take it right back to -20C in no time. Much more comfortable.
Seriously though, I consider solar heating for my car an advantage for at least 7 months a year (and for as many as 6 hours a day when the sun is actually high enough in the three coldest months). And I rarely use the A/C in the summer, and then only for highway driving.
Re:CARB, necessary evil (Score:4, Interesting)
Economically speaking, a high tax on gasoline is the best way of increasing fuel efficiency. But like we've seen time and time again, the technically best solution is confounded by social issues. Fuel economy standards are the next best thing. Consider:
Better CAFE-style standards than nothing at all.
CARB is synonymous to SCO (Score:4, Interesting)
CARB "scientists" aren't really considered as scientists by real scientists.
Shoot, even one of the "scientists" from CARB faked his credentials [signonsandiego.com].
CARB's also behind MTBE which nationally was mandated by the Federal Clean Air Act of 1990 but was predated by California's own state law, California Clean Air Act of 1988.
And as early as 1986, there was a scientific report that stated that MTBE was a "bad cookie" (finding the exact copy is a tad difficult but it is referred by the USGS in a 1993 report [usgs.gov])
A major local (to the Bay Area) opponent to CARB is Dr. Bill Wattenburg [kgoradio.com] (an older version of his site is here [kgoam810.com])
And apparently, CARB wants to require particular" paints [ca.gov] (PDF) and barring any scientific/engineering breakthrough, that probably means dark colored cars (black, dark blues, etc.)
And dang, CARB's budget for 2009-2010 is over 600 million [ca.gov], just the imagine how many teachers would have been spared lay-offs...or how many professors, TAs, faculty at UC/CSU schools would have been spared from furloughs.
Not to forget the CARB vs Diesel fiasco [signonsandiego.com]
Re:Put down chairman Mao's little red book (Score:3, Interesting)
He has nothing on a tank. An M1 Abrams takes ten gallons of fuel [wikipedia.org] just to start. Of course, that's not all that much when you have a 500 gallon tank.
An M1, at current market prices, would cost $1300 [doe.gov] to fill up. Compared to that, a Hummer looks like a scooter.
Re:! surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
When seconds count, the police are always minutes away.
Last time I got burglarized, there were PRINTS ALL OVER THE PLACE that were too large to have come from anybody that lived in my house. The cops didn't bother to even lift them to see if they belonged to a known fucking criminal.
As far as I can see, police have no benefit unless it's a drastic situation. They rarely follow traffic laws that they're supposed to be enforcing, and they selectively enforce those, as well. There are the few good officers out there, and they actually try to do a damned fine job, but the majority are just useless.
And don't even try to report a CRIME IN PROGRESS (Ponzi Scheme) and have the evidence to go with it, even despite the fact that at least one court ruled that said company was an illegal pyramid scheme (nevermind the fact that unsolicited sales in parking lots is prohibited in CA, some of the same people sucked in got fines in court for it.) They simply do not want to hear about it.
I think I've heard this before....listen up (Score:3, Interesting)
I think, perhaps, its time you grow up and start thinking about the real role of government nowadays and quit taking notes from your 7th grade civics class. The role of government in ordinary lives is FAR larger than it has been at any point in our country (sans WWI and WWII). I got news for you kid, it ain't just roads, schools, and police they are getting into....
Re:! surprising (Score:3, Interesting)
Federal law does not outweigh state law in all cases. For example, if you commit first-degree murder in a state without the death penalty, you cannot be charged with murder and have the death penalty applied under federal law if you did not commit the crime in certain very narrowly-defined locations or conditions.
While the Supreme Court found that federal law applies even in cases where the marijuana was grown, harvested, packaged, sold, kept, and consumed entirely with the state, it's notable that in the 6-3 decision, two of the dissenting justices were Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Thomas, two of the most conservative justices then on the Court and both well-known for having little tolerance for law-breakers. The dissenting opinions noted that one of the points of federalism was for a state government to be able to experiment with new laws without the federal government having to allow it; by applying interstate commerce in such a way, it effectively shut down a large portion of this where an existing federal law opposed the new law.
The White House announced this morning a change in the policy surrounding pursuit of medical marijuana users. It will not be prosecuted in states that have medical marijuana laws. It will be interesting to see how it is handled should California take the next step beyond its current decriminalized status (simple possession just gets a citation and a fine) and actually legalize it, a concept which is under active discussion and may be put to the voters in the next year or two.
Re:! surprising (Score:1, Interesting)
If we're being honest about things--I'd like to question your assumptions. They're all...better than nothing. But that doesn't mean they add much value or are beneficial enough to be worth it.
I've been in states with private toll roads--they're often much better maintained than public roads--and *ARE* cheaper than the NYS toll thruway. Schools--I went to public school--I wish it was private. For that matter, I wish my parents could've taken their property tax and spent it on a private school education for me. Public schools may be better than ignorant slobs--but not by much--and I see no reason why they deserve subsidies. No child left behind has turned education into a giant test-orgy that IS functionally worthless. No education would be *BETTER* than that by many standards--I've seen the byproduct of that, and it's idiots that can memorize facts but not solve a problem without an algorithm to save their life. This is /. I'm a programmer--people that can only solve a problem with an algorithm-to-solution provided to them are worthless to me.
Finally--Police. Yeah...I like them--but they've actually never even shown up when I've called them, with a SINGLE exception in my entire life. I got assaulted by two people and nearly killed one of them defending myself--and they didn't even send somebody to take a report. WTF? So as far as I'm concerned--a S&W is a better investment than a police department--and costs a lot less than their weekly salary.
Now look--I *GET* that anecdotal evidence doesn't beat statistics. But if we're going to be completely honest--I can say that I don't get get huge immediate benefits from most of those. In theory--I get some benefits by proxy...social stability, more employed people, the ability to have educated co-workers. But it is pitifully apparent that the private sector can and does do all of them better--and would provide the exact same benefits.
You want people to grow up--you could start by being academically honest in your arguments. No intelligent individual in the real world cares if something is beneficial--they care about getting a decent return on their investment. And the government fails pitifully at providing that in most of the examples you cited.
Re:Or any committee (Score:3, Interesting)
Just because the CRA loans were higher quality than the sub prime loans made with falsified information does not mean that they were high quality.
The sub prime loans made using falsified information were complete junk. The CRA loans made with real information where low quality. A non-conforming 30 year mortgage (say a jumbo loan) is of average quality. A conforming 30 year mortgage gotten with no falsified information is a high quality loan.
The banks were forced to make low quality loans under the CRA; it just so happens that they were not the lowest quality loans.
(And yes this is mostly semantics, but semantics are important)
Re:! surprising (Score:3, Interesting)
"I don't understand the mind of anyone who doesn't instinctively grasp the fact that government is the absolute worst way to accomplish a goal."
Maybe they come from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway...
Re:Attention People of California (Score:3, Interesting)
Although it should be noted that California has term limits, and they haven't really helped.
Re:! surprising (Score:3, Interesting)
Fittingly, the guy who writes an anti-police screed on Slashdot has a signature that reads: "Interested in Deep Water Culture hydroponics? Just ask me!" Yes. Let's ask Khyber what that's all about.