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Imagined posted:I did this well into 2010 because I worked night shifts at a 7-Eleven. I had a cheap Insignia stereo that could play MP3 CDs. I wasn't allowed to wear headphones, of course. No loving way was I leaving an MP3 player or a smartphone on that loving counter at night, but nobody was going to steal my $30 generic boombox. Each CD cost me about a quarter and usually lasted me for a couple nights. In 2012 someone smashed a window on my brother's car in order to steal a late-90s discman with a burned CD from a local avant guard group. I'm guessing that they saw the wire from the cassette adapter going under a pile of papers and thought they were getting an iPod or a smartphone. He probably could have gotten it back if he just checked the nearby trashcans.
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Nov 10, 2018 17:03
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Trying to explain to my daughter why the face on her new head unit pops out felt like an exercise in obsolete technologies. "Used to be you'd leave your car doors unlocked in hopes when they stole your stereo they wouldn't break your windows." I felt like great-grandma talking about outdoor morgues during the Spanish Flu. Just one of those terrible things that you learned to live with in the olden days.
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Nov 10, 2018 17:34
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Krispy Wafer posted:Trying to explain to my daughter why the face on her new head unit pops out felt like an exercise in obsolete technologies. Was that the rationale for those?  I thought it was so that when the would-be thief looked in to see if your stereo was worth stealing, they'd see that you'd taken off the face plate, and no matter how good the stereo is they'd never be able to sell it without that. So they'd move on and break into the Audi in the next parking spot that had a jacket draped over the center console in such a way as to hide the radio, which must mean it's a good one.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:11
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If you left/leave your car doors open, someone will take a poo poo on the front seats and do drugs in the back seat.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:15
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They call it a soup kitchen.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:18
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Powered Descent posted:I thought it was so that when the would-be thief looked in to see if your stereo was worth stealing, they'd see that you'd taken off the face plate, and no matter how good the stereo is they'd never be able to sell it without that.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:22
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The Kenwood player I mentioned in my last post, it had an automatic face flipping mechanism like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byT9TlHWkn0 I didn't live in an area were car stereo theft was common at all, so it was just a mechanical point of failure for me. I must have replaced that ribbon cable 5 times.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:53
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An ex in high school had a plastic cover that looked like air vents. Because a Honda Accord without a radio looks completely normal. Nope, nothing to see here.Jerry Cotton posted:If you left/leave your car doors open, someone will take a poo poo on the front seats and do drugs in the back seat. Still better than replacing your window. Unless you had fabric seats.
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Nov 10, 2018 20:00
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I had to laugh the other day when I saw a car with one of those bright yellow steering wheel locks installed inside. It was in a pretty new car as well. Someone explain to the guy that immobilizers were invented decades ago, and that you can't just hotwire a car anymore.
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Nov 10, 2018 20:02
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EvilGenius posted:and that you can't just hotwire a car anymore. You would be unpleasantly surprised.
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Nov 10, 2018 20:07
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EvilGenius posted:I had to laugh the other day when I saw a car with one of those bright yellow steering wheel locks installed inside. Immobilizers also really suck. The lock on it is probably a lovely lock that would be easy to shim as people aren't going to buy the expensive ones most of the time. They also aren't all that big so if a car thief really wants your car they just need a bit of time and a saw. Though it's unlikely that'll happen because, well, locks don't actually accomplish much. Really you could probably just cut a little piece off of the steering wheel and slide it off. I think I've only seen two in the wild like ever despite the gigantic ad blitz in the...what was it, the 90's? Car alarms are another thing that comes to mind. They don't actually accomplish anything other than making your neighbors hate you.
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Nov 10, 2018 20:12
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EvilGenius posted:I had to laugh the other day when I saw a car with one of those bright yellow steering wheel locks installed inside. This brings me to rolling code key fobs. Still common and making it easier than ever to get into a car.
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Nov 10, 2018 20:17
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ToxicSlurpee posted:Immobilizers also really suck. The lock on it is probably a lovely lock that would be easy to shim as people aren't going to buy the expensive ones most of the time. They also aren't all that big so if a car thief really wants your car they just need a bit of time and a saw. Though it's unlikely that'll happen because, well, locks don't actually accomplish much. Really you could probably just cut a little piece off of the steering wheel and slide it off. I think I've only seen two in the wild like ever despite the gigantic ad blitz in the...what was it, the 90's? This was one of those ones that covers the whole steering wheel. I was just surprised to see one to be honest. My dad had one in the 80s for his Ford Cortina Mark 5 because they were trivially easy to break into. It had those vertical inside door lock buttons that disappeared years ago. These were especially terrible though, as they flared out at the top, meaning you could easily hook something round one and pull the button up.
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Nov 10, 2018 20:37
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ToxicSlurpee posted:I think I've only seen two in the wild like ever despite the gigantic ad blitz in the...what was it, the 90's? Everyone bought one and proceeded to use it twice. If you look under the front seat of any car from the 1990's you'll probably find one guarding some crusty french fries.
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Nov 10, 2018 20:48
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Krispy Wafer posted:Everyone bought one and proceeded to use it twice. From memory, these tended to stay under the seat even in the 90s, because people couldn't be hosed to put them on every time they parked their car.
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Nov 10, 2018 21:05
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EvilGenius posted:From memory, these tended to stay under the seat even in the 90s, because people couldn't be hosed to put them on every time they parked their car. I think another side of it is people realizing about the rampant plague of cars not being stolen.
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Nov 10, 2018 21:07
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My contribution to car theft chat: some years ago my ex-girlfriend's car was stolen. It was a fairly ho-hum Honda Civic, whose only unusual feature was that it was a stickshift. The car was found abandoned a few weeks later, with no wheels, no windows, no seats... and a brand-new air intake and exhaust system installed. Racer-boy stuff, like a high-flow intake and a fart-can muffler. Our best guess was that it was stolen by someone who started modifying it into a street racer (this car was presumably selected for this because stickshift!), but it was then re-stolen by someone else who works on a more industrial scale, who didn't give a poo poo about the crappy aftermarket junk and just stripped the usual parts at a chop shop. All of which is to say, we can blame the decline in popularity of manual transmissions for her car being stolen. (Clutches for life, yo... or at least for as long as cars keep burning gasoline.)
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Nov 10, 2018 21:20
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Lowen SoDium posted:The Kenwood player I mentioned in my last post, it had an automatic face flipping mechanism like this one: Hah, my MSP had one like that, different model but still a Kenwood. Replaced the ribbon cable like 4 times in 3 years, finally got fed up around 2012 and replaced it with a fixed-faceplate model that I'm still using 6 years and 2 cars later with no issues.
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Nov 10, 2018 21:54
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ToxicSlurpee posted:Immobilizers also really suck. The lock on it is probably a lovely lock that would be easy to shim as people aren't going to buy the expensive ones most of the time. They also aren't all that big so if a car thief really wants your car they just need a bit of time and a saw. Though it's unlikely that'll happen because, well, locks don't actually accomplish much. Really you could probably just cut a little piece off of the steering wheel and slide it off. I think I've only seen two in the wild like ever despite the gigantic ad blitz in the...what was it, the 90's? I'm guessing that the OP meant immobilizers in the sense of electronic ones that require chipped keys and won't let the car start unless it can communicate with it. GM started doing this in the 90s by putting resistors in their keys. The computer would read the value of this resistor and disable the vehicle for 15 minutes (I think) if the circuit was open or the wrong value was detected. Modern electronic countermeasures rendered wheel locks like The Club™ obsolete over 20 years ago. The main reason why older Chrysler minivans are still such popular theft targets is because they didn't add any electronic theft prevention measures as standard equipment until the mid-00s. The old days of being able to steal a car with a screwdriver and slide-hammer are long gone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2RFOJCJx88 The_Franz has a new favorite as of 22:07 on Nov 10, 2018 |
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Nov 10, 2018 22:05
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ToxicSlurpee posted:I think another side of it is people realizing about the rampant plague of cars not being stolen. It's funny, at some point as an adult you learn what media hysteria is, then you're able to look back to when you were a kid and realise that it happened back then to. I vividly remember the news constantly talking about 'joy riders' in the 80s or early 90s, as if it was a hip new trend that all 15 year olds (always 15 year olds for some reason) were doing. I wonder if that was partly responsible for the boom in steering wheel locks.
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Nov 10, 2018 22:57
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On minidisc chat: I still have mine and it still impresses me. 1 AA battery is good for like 8-10 hours in that thing. I recall reading on these forums way back that they were popular with reporters for voice interviews.
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Nov 10, 2018 23:12
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My dipshit ex-brother in law once claimed he chased someone after they tried to steal my sister's car and was this close to catching up to the car going, like 50 miles per hour, dude. He weighed 300 pounds and got winded going up stairs. He applied to be a cop and got turned down due to illiteracy, and was repeatedly caught jerking it to child porn. He was a pathological liar and used to lose arguments to a child on a regular basis. And he voted for Trump. Hopefully I'll piss on his grave soon. 
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Nov 10, 2018 23:27
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T-man posted:My dipshit ex-brother in law once claimed he chased someone after they tried to steal my sister's car and was this close to catching up to the car going, like 50 miles per hour, dude. He weighed 300 pounds and got winded going up stairs. He applied to be a cop and got turned down due to illiteracy, and was repeatedly caught jerking it to child porn. He was a pathological liar and used to lose arguments to a child on a regular basis. And he voted for Trump. Repeatedly? And nobody reported the fucker?
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Nov 10, 2018 23:34
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There's a reason I go to therapy and take a lot of antidepressants. My childhood would make for a frankly unbelievable autobiography.
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Nov 10, 2018 23:47
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T-man posted:There's a reason I go to therapy and take a lot of antidepressants. My childhood would make for a frankly unbelievable autobiography. be well, goon-friend
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Nov 11, 2018 00:20
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Lowen SoDium posted:Also, the were feature heavily in this stupid rear end movie Strange Days is wonderful except for one single dumb thing. Almost everything in it is put together perfectly, and Angela Bassett is even more of a badass than Linda Hamilton is in that other James Cameron movie.
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Nov 11, 2018 00:27
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EvilGenius posted:This was one of those ones that covers the whole steering wheel. I had to search the web for these as I'd never seen or heard of them before, I'd only seen ones like The Club (TM (too lazy for Unicode)) - in fact I think I saw one recently! Well this would certainly be harder to just stick under your seat when you get tired of using it (after 2 uses): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJiJ711zzGQ
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Nov 11, 2018 00:49
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I had a version with a latch that went around the gear lever and a tube that went over the handbrake. It felt more secure than the steering-wheel ones, and it fitted in the glovebox too. It was useless once I bought a car with actual styling inside, but nobody ever stole my '88 Corolla! Edit: While trying to find that picture I came across an old thread where somebody pointed out that that hinge joint was ridiculously easy to cut, and in plenty of cars you could just unscrew the gear knob. Mine didn't unscrew, but gee, maybe there's a reason those were less common after all. uvar has a new favorite as of 01:32 on Nov 11, 2018 |
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Nov 11, 2018 01:19
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Krispy Wafer posted:An ex in high school had a plastic cover that looked like air vents. Because a Honda Accord without a radio looks completely normal. Nope, nothing to see here. Back in the late 90’s, my cousin installed the first impressive system I’d ever seen at 11 years old into his CRX. First CD changer I’d ever seen (in the trunk/hatch of course), crazy fosgate amps and subs (back when that was impressive), a remote (in 91!), the whole package. He had a Pioneer deck and graphic equalizer installed in the dash, but he had a plate that mounted over the dash components that truly made it look like his CRX never had a factory stereo installed. I wish I had pictures of it, because I’ve never seen anything like it since. It really was and is the cleanest looking install I’ve ever seen due to the simple fact that it all looked factory, even with the panel removed. All of the dash kit was custom made, none of that Scosche poo poo. empty baggie has a new favorite as of 03:06 on Nov 11, 2018 |
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Nov 11, 2018 02:58
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Mister Kingdom posted:Then you'll appreciate Techmoan's tribute (a bit longer than his usual videos). I like the video (and it reminded me that I still have an MD player/recorder!), but holy poo poo, dude needs to realise it's OK to pause between sentences or topics for a breath. If his video was a post here it would be a forty-page wall of text in a single paragraph. I have to stop it every minute or so just to get a change to process what he's been talking about.
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Nov 11, 2018 11:57
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What? His narration is borderline perfect. Criticise him again and I will fight you.
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Nov 11, 2018 12:28
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Yeah I like Techmoan partly because he actually speaks at a normal conversational pace. With a lot of other youtubers I have to turn the video speed up to 150% to avoid being lulled to sleep by their presentation.
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Nov 11, 2018 12:33
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I'm not talking about his speaking speed, just the complete lack of gaps between his sentences and topicsNo sooner has he reached what would be a full stop if written than he begins the next oneI just want half a second to digest what he was sayingIt makes it kind of tiring to listen toOtherwise his videos are good.
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Nov 11, 2018 12:37
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That’s kinda the trend with YouTube now a days though, fast cuts etc.
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Nov 11, 2018 14:10
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Millenniums don’t really watch videos they just look at them and if something catches their eyes they’ll turn on sound. It’s why stuff is cut fast now so if the first thing doesn’t interest them the immediate next will. 
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Nov 11, 2018 14:11
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EvilGenius posted:It had those vertical inside door lock buttons that disappeared years ago. Current Chevy Spark features those on the passenger door. uvar posted:
My instinct was to hit it in the hinge with a hammer. Is the hinge stronger than the mechanisms locking the parking brake and the shift handle? Who knows! Who cares? It’s not your car. Platystemon has a new favorite as of 14:52 on Nov 11, 2018 |
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Nov 11, 2018 14:46
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EvilGenius posted:The above was in the Idiots on Social Media thread, and I confused it for this one. I'll post it here anyway as it's relevant. Welcome to my life. I'm old (had an atari 2600 in 1980 as a gift and a bought a s/h c64 with saved up pocket money in 1984), never had a PC until 2000 when I enrolled into uni to study computer science. I begrudgingly use a smartphone but I have no data plan - so wifi or telstra air only.. My 6 y/o kid loves using my old n64 and wii. He's happy enough that he can use my 10 y/o desktop and laptop PC occasionally for youtube music videos or abc kids cartoons and shows. Because he's only 6 I sold all my playstations as he's a bit young for most of those games, and let him mainly use the n64 carts for easy games and easy loading. I just won a boxed beetle adventure racing N64 cart for $15 on ebay. Cruisin USA was $8 and superstar soccer was also $8. I kept the n64 because I have so many games bought back in the day as well. He likes wii sports too (about the only thing I have for it though it's half arsed hacked I haven't got anything for it installed except kidspaint I think - the USB drive and external HDD I had for it are screwed up). I wish I still had my c64, wish I bought an amiga when they were cheap. Most of the time we're just playing in the backyard or at the local park, talking about cars and streets, or I buy him action figures, toy vehicles and lego. E: I used to buy him soldier action figures but with all the gun violence these days I started buying wrestling figures - they don't sell well in australia as WWE isn't on free to air tv so they're on clearance a lot, cheaper than USA prices. Anyone got a n64 PAL wrestling cart cheap?  I did have a CRT, but I sold it with my playstation with time crisis game and gun. I had to get rid of a lot of adult stuff too due to relationship breakup meaning I don't have my own house anymore, just a rented bedroom in a sharehouse. So many shed/car/workshop tools and PC/electronics had to go  I have kept a 32" SD LCD because it does everything (badly)
Fo3 has a new favorite as of 15:42 on Nov 11, 2018 |
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Nov 11, 2018 15:27
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Do any of you guys have a HI-MD device? I am curious as to how the mass storage/data mode on it works. I see ones that do not have line in, but that do have USB, relatively cheap on eBay because they are essentially totally useless. Wondering if I could cobble an MP3 player onto it, if it actually works as mass storage like I have heard it does.
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Nov 11, 2018 22:50
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Phanatic posted:Strange Days is wonderful except for one single dumb thing. Almost everything in it is put together perfectly, and Angela Bassett is even more of a badass than Linda Hamilton is in that other James Cameron movie. I will be honest, I haven't seen it since I was stupid teenager and just remember that I was disappointed by it at the time. I am now a stupid adult and might think differently about it if I saw it again.
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Nov 12, 2018 06:06
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Krispy Wafer posted:An ex in high school had a plastic cover that looked like air vents. Because a Honda Accord without a radio looks completely normal. Nope, nothing to see here. Perhaps slightly more convincing is this:  fake pushbutton radio. I remember these being in every car accessory shop in the 90s. Amazingly, while googling for a picture of one, I found that they still make them, but to hide your double DIN touchscreen: 
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Nov 13, 2018 04:02
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