Yearly Archives: 2012


The first accurate headline I've yet seen for this story 2

The first accurate headline I've yet seen for this story

Slowly Is How You Get A Tesla To Go 425 Miles On A Single Charge
The Tesla Model S is the most important car of 2012. And with the largest battery is officially rated at a 265 mile range from the EPA while Tesla claims a 300 mile range. But what if you drive with a…

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Apparently the Republican legislators in Michigan have heard the message from voters… 14

Apparently the Republican legislators in Michigan have heard the message from voters in the most recent election

The voters stated pretty clearly that they are no longer buying the message of the contemporary GOP, so the Michigan legislature is ramming through every bit of retrograde legislation they can before they get booted from office. 

Protecting us from the non-existant threat of Sharia Law, putting guns in classrooms, restricting reproductive health care access for women, and resurrecting an Emergency Manager law that the people o…
Do you remember, a week or so ago, when we were discussing the anti-abortion omnibus bill (HB 5711)… often referred to in the national press as “the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion bill”? W…

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Unfortunately not all of our "leaders" see 1984 as a caution 2

On the plus side, because we all have access to technology (at least for now) we have some ability to fight back by recording those that would monitor us. Recall 47 percent, macaca, don't tase me bro and so many others

Reshared post from +Daniel Suarez

Just to clarify: Orwell's 1984 was a cautionary tale — not a frickin' how-to manual…

"Transit authorities in cities across the country are quietly installing microphone-enabled surveillance systems on public buses that would give them the ability to record and store private conversations, according to documents obtained by a news outlet."   Wired Article:  http://bit.ly/QVHiqN  

h/t +Wade Aaron Inganamort 

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There were many poorly written and researched reviews this year and here's a…

There were many poorly written and researched reviews this year and here's a small sample

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The Ten Worst Car Reviews Of 2012
Car reviews are easy to write. Interesting car reviews are quite difficult. Our Jalopnik readers put together the ten worst they’ve seen from this year. More »

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Patent battles between non-practicing entities (aka trolls) and people that actually…

Patent battles between non-practicing entities (aka trolls) and people that actually make stuff has been going on for well over a century

Dennis Simanaitis give a wonderfully concise overview of the battle between Henry Ford and George Selden over the latter's patent on cars. Selden got an overly broad patent on the basic idea of the automobile without ever building one (sound familiar?) and Henry Ford refused to pay up. After a 7 year legal battle, Ford ultimately prevailed and the auto industry thrived.

None of this of course excuses the much later behavior of Ford and other automakers in the case of Robert Kearns and the intermittent wiper. Kearns actually built and demonstrated a system that he offered to sell to Ford. The automakers all proceeded to copy the idea and it took Kearns many years in court before he finally got paid for his work. 

GEORGE B. SELDEN VS HENRY FORD
IN 1879, GEORGE B. Selden patented the automobile. Selden wasn’t an engineer. He was a tinkerer, though, and more important, a patent attorney. Selden recognized the value of delaying the … …

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Frankly the only surprise about this is that Coda hung in as long as they did

Frankly the only surprise about this is that Coda hung in as long as they did

I spoke to Coda back in early 2009 http://greenfuelsforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=715

Huge Layoffs Reportedly Hit Tiny Electric Car Maker Coda
Coda Automotive, the wee little electric car maker that could, sounds like it can’t. Reports are coming in that the small California based company laid off 50 people last Friday, including the company…

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