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Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

popularmechanics.com

281–290 of 535 posts

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A free market has no morals, it's up to the participants to instill some.

That is much easier to do when there is real competition and transparency. Unfortunately my only high speed ISP is Comcast and I had no idea that parts of my phone were made by slaves until just recently. Until business has less power, we cannot instill morals in a meaningful way.

I'm sitting here on my couch looking around my living room, and it occurs to me that a significant % of my belongings could have been made under labor conditions illegal within the US. It's a bit chilling to consider that.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#283
post #87

Now if we could just disable the feature that causes the horn to honk when locking the vehicle with the key fob... As someone who lives on a residential street, but with a hospital at the far end, we have tons of patients, families, doctors, and nurses that park on our street to avoid paying for the garage. I get to listen to horns honking at all hours. A few cars (Acura comes to mind), do a bit better, in that they…

It's not just locking, but unlocking too. And even worse if you need all your doors unlocked, you have to hit the unlock twice. It's not a honk on my toyota, but it's still super annoying for everyone. I end up having to walk to the driver's side door and manually unlocking my car all the time. There isn't a key hole on any other door. This is the price we pay for 0 feedback avenues.

Modern Toyotas, at least my wife's, let you switch between only opening the driver's seat or opening them all. It lets you disable or enable the horn too. https://toyota.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7729/~/i...

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It amazes me that, in wealthy countries, there are significant homelessness problems due to economic displacement. I consider it an existence-proof of the idea that a free market cannot solve all problems. I think homelessness due to other causes-- mental health for example-- are more complex but similarly demonstrate fundamental flaws in the framework of society. Only once was I able to give a homeless person a meal…

they are Homeless by choice. my cousin was one.

That is a loaded claim. Perhaps you could provide a more detailed support for it besides an anecdotal data point. Along with details of your cousin's situation to better classify his status (i.e., if your cousin was couch surfing for a while, or living on the street, or in a shelter, or in a car, etc)

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It prevents the fuel pump in the engine from working (I had to add an electric fuel pump because the original one isn't doing very well). Yes on the hot meal. I've been homeless and it stinks.

It amazes me that, in wealthy countries, there are significant homelessness problems due to economic displacement. I consider it an existence-proof of the idea that a free market cannot solve all problems. I think homelessness due to other causes-- mental health for example-- are more complex but similarly demonstrate fundamental flaws in the framework of society. Only once was I able to give a homeless person a meal…

> It was Chipotle, so I hope I didn't do any lasting damage.

You are killing me, too funny! I also have given money to people, not knowing how they would use it. I figure if there is a chance it will do them good, who am I to say how they use the gift

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#287
post #268
post #87

Now if we could just disable the feature that causes the horn to honk when locking the vehicle with the key fob... As someone who lives on a residential street, but with a hospital at the far end, we have tons of patients, families, doctors, and nurses that park on our street to avoid paying for the garage. I get to listen to horns honking at all hours. A few cars (Acura comes to mind), do a bit better, in that they…

Mine only honks if it's fully locked - i.e. all the doors are closed. If you leave a door open and lock it it's silent, I guess to tell you it failed. So it's not a useless feature, although it doesn't have to be an annoying honk, a quiet chime would work as well.

My Ford Transit is the other way around (UK).

It only sounds the horn if you remote lock it and a door is open, otherwise it's silent.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It prevents the fuel pump in the engine from working (I had to add an electric fuel pump because the original one isn't doing very well). Yes on the hot meal. I've been homeless and it stinks.

It amazes me that, in wealthy countries, there are significant homelessness problems due to economic displacement. I consider it an existence-proof of the idea that a free market cannot solve all problems. I think homelessness due to other causes-- mental health for example-- are more complex but similarly demonstrate fundamental flaws in the framework of society. Only once was I able to give a homeless person a meal…

This is only my American perspective and wouldn't pertain to all wealthy countries, but I don't think it would be fair to categorize the US as having a free market. We have a market that has been increasingly weaponized to continue the old traditions of Jim Crow and segregation. Lots of people will ask "WTF happened in 1971?" ( https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ ), but I find it impossible to do that without considering its implications around the Fair Housing Act of 1968 or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974. Modern America uses the economy to make the population segregate itself.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they are Homeless by choice. my cousin was one.

Speaking as someone who has closely known struggling and recovering addicts, that's a callous and haughty simplification. Don't let addicts drag you down, but to judge them as if they simply choose worse than other people is radically unkind to a fellow human who is struggling.

It is a throwback to the Prosperity Gospel and, before that, the Protestant concept of predestination-- unfortunately prevalent ideas in the early settlers & founders of the US. Basically it says that God favors the faithful & devout with prosperity. Therefore prosperity is a sign of God's favor, and anyone who is not prosperous is therefore immoral/bad/lesser etc. Such things are more complicated than a simple analysis, but it's one of the root causes behind the idea that "poor people are poor by choice"

Perhaps more perniciously, since this doctrine says that the prosperous are those blessed by God, then becoming prosperous is the main goal: the means by which that happens are irrelevant. Cheat/Lie/Con etc., but become prosperous? It must be okay, because the prosperous are blessed by God.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#290

I have an older RV that people sometimes try to steal (it's usually meth heads wanting to live on it; I've taken to leaving a plaque on the dash saying that if they want a hot meal instead, just knock on my door). The alarm is aftermarket, and silent. All it does is make the fuel pump go in reverse. (The fuel pump is also aftermarket) It's been hilarious a couple times.

> The alarm is aftermarket, and silent. All it does is make the fuel pump go in reverse. Would you mind disclosing what brand/model this alarm is? This would be great for a couple of “issues” I’ve been having. If you aren’t comfortable saying publicly, could you send me a message with the info? And Amazon/Aliexpress/eBay link?

Seems like a really complicated kill switch.
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