Random Chit Chat

[Smart_Guy]

I'm already lost with all those States' differences

I failed smog test at first try and had to take another. Had to adjust the fuel distributor (old injection system but at least not carburetor) to pass. First try costs ~$20 USD and all other next tries if that fails cost ~$6.5 USD. Registration renewal is $40 USD sharp for a three years validity.

That fuel distro adjustment actually fixed a problem I've been facing for a couple of years; intermittent shaking engine. The center that did it (was next to the inspection facility) had a smog tester, something the industrial area thinks not needed. Inspection turned out to be a good thing, see?

 

[Celery]

No, you didn't "loose" me.

 

[Wallaby Dan]

No, you didn't "loose" me.

Good, you are one of few that knows what rving fulltime is all about. Its a lifestyle. we have been doing this since 1997. Haven't traveled that much lately but still do some.

 

[Celery]

Yeah, I know about RVing and it is cool.

By the way, it's "lose" not "loose".

 

[Wallaby Dan]

Thats what happens when you use a quote.....

 

[root]

Here in the uk...
Cars are registered for life.
New cars do not require inspection for three years,
After that cars are required to have a minimum safety test and smog test every year.
The test is referred to as an MOT, even though that achronym actually means ministry of transport. Old people may refere to it as a ticket.
You can sell a car with an MOT, so the date that the inspection is fine does not change.
It is illegal to drive a car without a valid MOT unless you are driving it to get inspected. (The test included, brakes, effectiveness and balance, lights, function colour and aim, horn working, seats in place, and secure, seat belts location anchors etc, tacho/speedo function and accuracy, checks for chassis condition (I.e rust or holes within a certain distance, and of course the smog test, or hydrocarbon test if it is petrol driven.

We have to pay a road tax to drive or keep a car on the road, as that tax is based on how much that car polluted when first made, though older cars are taxed based on engine size.
You can sell a car with existing tax "on it" but it actually does not transfer, you get refunded for each full month of tax remaining in the year, and the new owner needs to buy tax for the car, -that's a recent change, you used to be able to sell cars with tax and ticket, now you cannot transfer the tax.

You must be insured with at least third party insurance.

Not having any of these three things would make it illegal to drive on the road.

Worse still we have a continuous notification requirement where you have to declare the vehicle off road (and not use it on the road) or have tax, you can't just stop using a car and let it rust, you either must have tax and insurance on the car, or not use it or even park it on the road.

Though, weirdly the law in the uk just changed, now cars of a certain vintage do not need an annual safety inspection/mot.

I guess the one cool thing about the uk is that, whilst most cars are type approved. We have a scheme called SVA (single vehicle approval) this is a one off test for cars, or a test for one off cars, basically, I can build a car in my shed and get it registered on the road, simply following some basic safety guided, and booking an appointment for a test that's a few hours long. (That's how we have so many small manufactures like Morgan, Nobel pro drive, carterham etc, a lot of these started as a man in a shed building a vehicle registering it and selling it... It is still easily possible to do this in the UK.
And unlike the US we are able to import any car we like.

 

[root]

TL:dr, there are a stupid amount of requirements and tests in the UK, but also a surprising amount of freedom.

 

[Celery]

Any exotic car like a Pantera or Lamborgini imported to the US gets detuned by an agency before sale to the public.

I can't see paying 100,000s of dollars for a car that run like a Volkswagen.

 

[root]

Tuning, de-cat, upgrade, engine swap etc are all perfectly legal in the uk.

You're absolutely right, what is the point of buying a supercar if they making it just a car at the border?!

 

[root]

Strange question, and I cannot really find an answer online.

Does anyone know how the Chrome cast works.
Something is weird about it, I'm just not sure what...

here is the situation, I bought a chrome cast, plugged it in, it appears on the TV as something like Chromecast1234, there is a separate 4 digit code, and says "go to chromecast.com/setup to setup the device.

I did this on my PC, when you get to the website, it says:
is" chromecast1234 your device, does the 4 didgit code match"

and yes, it did.
Then you enter your wireless password onto the webpage, and that is somehow transmitted to the Chromecast device,


but here is the weird bit, I understand that a not yet setup chrome cast acts as an access point. but, my computer never joined that access point, at a guess until the end of the setup (when an interruption in my existing connection disconnected my work VPN.)

Either the Chromecast has some way of communicating with the google web servers, that I don't know about, to get the device information online, (seems unlikely)
or the chrome cast setup page has some code that can use your wireless adapter to scan for networks, and connect to networks (i.e the chromecast AP) and send information, then reconnect your existing WIFI, - without you knowing about this...