Did The Car Call?

[Rick]

I am watching my neighbors $60K SUV being loaded onto a $150K flatbed truck. My neighbor is nowhere around. Either it's being stolen or the car called the flatbed itself. I would totally believe that latter. There's probably nothing wrong with it. It just needs a sensor tune up. The driver was on the phone. He must have called the SUV and had it pay for the tow. I hope they get it to the garage before midnight. It might turn into a pumpkin.

[hunter63]

Most likely the Repo man......?
Then might not have long, but they get them early.....

[LowKey]

My brand new car sent me an email telling me the security alarm went off today at 5:04am. No kidding. Yeah, cuz in order not to wake the neighbors with the double beep from the fob, I used the key to unlock the door. What kind of car thinks it's being stolen when the door is unlocked with the key, and turns on all the lights, sirens and whistles waking the whole freekin neighborhood?????
Salesman mighta maybe shoulda thought to mention that little "feature."

Maybe your neighbor's car emailed for a tow.

[hunter63]

My brand new car sent me an email telling me the security alarm went off today at 5:04am. No kidding. Yeah, cuz in order not to wake the neighbors with the double beep from the fob, I used the key to unlock the door. What kind of car thinks it's being stolen when the door is unlocked with the key, and turns on all the lights, sirens and whistles waking the whole freekin neighborhood?????
Salesman mighta maybe shoulda thought to mention that little "feature."

Maybe your neighbor's car emailed for a tow.

If you don't make payments...It takes it's self back?

Now that is funny, I don't care who you are.....LOL

[Batch]

My brand new car sent me an email telling me the security alarm went off today at 5:04am. No kidding. Yeah, cuz in order not to wake the neighbors with the double beep from the fob, I used the key to unlock the door. What kind of car thinks it's being stolen when the door is unlocked with the key, and turns on all the lights, sirens and whistles waking the whole freekin neighborhood?????
Salesman mighta maybe shoulda thought to mention that little "feature."

Maybe your neighbor's car emailed for a tow.

I haven't played too much with my new truck. But, I bought a doohickey that plugs into the dataport and connects to your phone or computer. With the right app, it's supposed to let you change a lot of things. One of those was the beeping when you lock you truck with the fob.

My truck doesn't beep when you unlock it. It locks all 4 doors and the tailgate with the first click and then it beeps the horn if you press the fob lock button twice.

A lot of bells and whistles available on the new vehicles. Some are handy and some seemed like they would be. But, the aren't. Feels kinda funny connecting your truck to your home WIFI for system updates though.

[hunter63]

I looked at at $50K F-150, 4X4 crew cab.......I could not see what size motor it has....the whole window sheet was all electronics stuff.
It appears they are just rolling media centers, with software you don't own....

I will be driving the 2008 diesel 4 X 4 for a while yet 60k miles on it most all highway miles.
Daily driver is still the 1999 F-150...130L miles on it...
Tires, batteries, brakes.....filters.

One plug/coil wire unit changed, plugs at 100K.....all injectors cleaned.

Worst problem was a heat sensor cause be a radiator leak.......sensor under the intake manifold.
That was an expensive repair......but they gave me a break as I bought the new 2008 in 2009....so the cut the price on the repair as they thought I would trade it in........HA.....

Were gonna give me $2000k trade...I had $1600 in repairs...they cut that $500 bucks...to $1100K..
They had others with more miles on the used lot for $4500 at the time.....
Then I kept it.......Bohahahaha

[Batch]

My F150 stickered at 56K and change and I got it for 41K and change. 4X4 crew. I was going to buy used. But, everything worth looking at seemed to be around 30k for a used truck. I plan on taking my time and looking for a older truck also. Well, I been looking. I just still plan on buying one when I find it.

[Rick]

My F150 has more stuff on it than I have yet to figure out. I was searching through the menu on the steering wheel a few weeks back and found a feature. Hmmm. Turned it on. Now when I turn the key off the seat slides back. Well, yeah. Works for me. Now all I need is to figure out if it has one of those oil dispenser gizmos like Bond had. That would be handy for tailgaters.

[hunter63]

Soooo..Did you find out why it was hauled off?

[Rick]

Nope. It hasn't made it back yet. Don't think it was repo'd. They are in pretty good shape. Young couple in their 30s doing pretty well. Her dad is a mason and built the finest stone BBQ grill in the backyard I've ever seen. I told him if he had any spare time he could consider me an older son and put a similar one in my yard. He hasn't showed up yet. Not holding my breath either. I'll keep an eye out for the SUV.

[kyratshooter]

I suppose I am in real trouble if I have to buy a newer model vehicle equipped with the ability to call a tow truck and run away from home all by themselves!

[WolfVanZandt]

So, they're making cars with radios so integrated into the car's computer that people can hack them through the radios to steal them. Bright ideas from science. And people are looking forward to self driving cars. I will be like Will Smith's character in I, Robot.

[hunter63]

I still think a 1968 Dodge Power Wagon 4 X 4 parked but ready to go in the shed would be good insurance.

[WalkingTree]

It's a bit humorous to me that when I magically get filthy rich...My choice of vehicles will be things that I build with 1970's technology. And not much else.

The frog in lukewarm water...won't jump out while you slowly turn it up to boiling. Everything's getting hacked and I.D. thefted, like it was normal and ok or something; Software and apps are backed by a weird absentee-responsibility, and very little can really be verified except via the same construct. C.S. types in person know less and less; Somehow we need to keep getting more and keep getting updated, like it was really protection money or just to get us in deeper and deeper, more dependent like a hostage is...

...And nobody seems to be very concerned.

Like...who's idea was it to have some 'cloud' in which everybody puts all their stuff anyway? People are really so comfortable with that?? Wow.



Ok, while I'm at it - There is this thing called exchange active sync policies broker. About 2 or 3 months ago it showed up on my computer, and asked me if I want it. I clicked no. It showed up again. I clicked no again.

It offers no options for dealing with it, like being able to click something which says "stop showing up on my computer already", or to ask it what the heck it even is.

It doesn't understand that no means no. I need to take it to court and get a restraining order for it. It's stalking and harassing me. It shows up a dozen times a day. Pops up, I either click no or click the 'x', then it pops right back up a second and maybe third time immediately. Then it'll show up down at the bottom in that toolbar whatchamacallit, and just starts glowing on and off, trying to get my attention. I hover over it, to 'x' it out. And it shows up again.

Been doing that every day for about 2 or 3 months now.

So I google it. It seems to be a thing that wouldn't apply to me in any way whatsoever. Don't need it. For anything. Let alone want it. I also don't see anything telling me how to stop it harassing me. There might be such a thing, but I didn't look long enough to find it. Most importantly though...the real point...how much time did I spend already looking into it? Why doesn't it include just one little thing to click on to give me some info on it, or some 'advanced options' where I can learn how to tell it to go away? I might be able to learn about it and fix it...but somebody should be punished for the time I spend having to do so. I don't care if I can fix it myself...I shouldn't have to. I clicked 'no' a hundred times. And there's no culpable entity which I can face in person and slap them so hard that they take a minute to remember their own name for designing this crap the way that they do.

You see...this is only one thing. And there's always lots of these design details which are begging for someone somewhere to get the crap beat out of them. I have a life already. Don't want to spend an hour every time I get onto my computer looking into some worthless crap or setting and fixing it yet again for the hundredth time.

My computer speakers, for example. Now and then, they stop working. Not the speakers, but some driver business in my computer. But...why does it keep having to get 'fixed' occasionally? How does it keep forgetting how to run my speakers? How does that happen??? Is this what we call advanced technology? So now and then, after starting everything up, I have to trouble shoot then restart. Even though I just did that. A few dozen times before. They're just speakers...when evolving your software, you somehow lose the ability to run my speakers? And don't update that with the other updating that happens? My god man...somebody somewhere is STUPID.

[DSJohnson]

I have a 1975 Toyota FJ55 Landcruiser Wagon that is pretty non-electronic and basic. Matter of fact you can actually start it with a hand crank. It's straight line 6 cylinder is a close copy of a Chevy 235. I like that it has a choke knob and a hand throttle. You can open all teh doors and take a water hose and hose it out. I have two additional engines(used, one is rebuildable, the other is simply for salvage) sitting in storage along clutches, pressure plates, u-joints, rod bearings, fuel pumps, fan belts, hoses, fuses, and some other spare stuff (like a brand new radiator I found on Craigslist not long ago). It was my every day driver for about 12 years. I parked it with the intent to give it to my first born child when he turned 16. I got a 1985 FJ60 in 1988. It had 22,000 miles on it when I got it. I rolled it(really long and very sad story) when it had almost 400,000 miles on it in 2008. I still miss that truck today. My every day driver nowadays is a 2004 Chevy Z-71 Crew Cab 1/2 ton. It is a nice ride. It has electric everything pretty much. Automatic transmission, power brakes and power steering. I am sure it will die if a "Y2K" happens or an EMP really does get us. My wife drives a 2015 GMC Yukon XL. Leather interior, it talks to her all the dang time. You can plug an MP3 player or a USB flash drive or your smart cell phone into it and have "hands free" access to the world I guess. We drove it out to Yellowstone last year and to Massachusetts the year before that. It rides as good or better than any Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac I have ever been in. But, I do not "trust" it I call the computer voice that keeps telling me I left my blinker on or that I have not buckled up or that the passenger has not buckled up or the gas cap is loose or that the right front tire is two pounds low HAL.... I like driving a standard, and I really do enjoy using a big steering wheel because I don't have power steering. I really LIKE being able to "push start" my vehicle. So I keep that old 1975 FJ55 charged up, filled up and take it out about once a month or so...rarely do I let it sit more than 6 weeks. All 9 of my grandchildren love it and they all learned to drive in it. They call it the Land Tank. It needs some body work and a new tail gate...I keep looking for parts and salvage treasures. Pretty sure it can not call anyone or send any e-mails or texts.....

[Rick]

It's back home. Either it got home sick or it just went for a joy ride on the back of the flat bed.

[hunter63]

It's a bit humorous to me that when I magically get filthy rich...My choice of vehicles will be things that I build with 1970's technology. And not much else.

The frog in lukewarm water...won't jump out while you slowly turn it up to boiling. Everything's getting hacked and I.D. thefted, like it was normal and ok or something; Software and apps are backed by a weird absentee-responsibility, and very little can really be verified except via the same construct. C.S. types in person know less and less; Somehow we need to keep getting more and keep getting updated, like it was really protection money or just to get us in deeper and deeper, more dependent like a hostage is...

...And nobody seems to be very concerned.

Like...who's idea was it to have some 'cloud' in which everybody puts all their stuff anyway? People are really so comfortable with that?? Wow.



Ok, while I'm at it - There is this thing called exchange active sync policies broker. About 2 or 3 months ago it showed up on my computer, and asked me if I want it. I clicked no. It showed up again. I clicked no again.

It offers no options for dealing with it, like being able to click something which says "stop showing up on my computer already", or to ask it what the heck it even is.

It doesn't understand that no means no. I need to take it to court and get a restraining order for it. It's stalking and harassing me. It shows up a dozen times a day. Pops up, I either click no or click the 'x', then it pops right back up a second and maybe third time immediately. Then it'll show up down at the bottom in that toolbar whatchamacallit, and just starts glowing on and off, trying to get my attention. I hover over it, to 'x' it out. And it shows up again.

Been doing that every day for about 2 or 3 months now.

So I google it. It seems to be a thing that wouldn't apply to me in any way whatsoever. Don't need it. For anything. Let alone want it. I also don't see anything telling me how to stop it harassing me. There might be such a thing, but I didn't look long enough to find it. Most importantly though...the real point...how much time did I spend already looking into it? Why doesn't it include just one little thing to click on to give me some info on it, or some 'advanced options' where I can learn how to tell it to go away? I might be able to learn about it and fix it...but somebody should be punished for the time I spend having to do so. I don't care if I can fix it myself...I shouldn't have to. I clicked 'no' a hundred times. And there's no culpable entity which I can face in person and slap them so hard that they take a minute to remember their own name for designing this crap the way that they do.

You see...this is only one thing. And there's always lots of these design details which are begging for someone somewhere to get the crap beat out of them. I have a life already. Don't want to spend an hour every time I get onto my computer looking into some worthless crap or setting and fixing it yet again for the hundredth time.

My computer speakers, for example. Now and then, they stop working. Not the speakers, but some driver business in my computer. But...why does it keep having to get 'fixed' occasionally? How does it keep forgetting how to run my speakers? How does that happen??? Is this what we call advanced technology? So now and then, after starting everything up, I have to trouble shoot then restart. Even though I just did that. A few dozen times before. They're just speakers...when evolving your software, you somehow lose the ability to run my speakers? And don't update that with the other updating that happens? My god man...somebody somewhere is STUPID.

I hear ya......
Got a notice from my bank telling me I have new CC/debit card as it may have been hacked.....
So took the letter to the bank to ask about it....

Lady says, "You know you can do all your banking on line....."
I guess she didn't see the irony of that statement.

Added Google Chrome as I was getting "green screen" on video's and a lot of "long running script...on IE....
Now video may or may not start...and half the time the is no sound.???

So to watch , I find in on Chrome...copy address the open IE, past the IP...and wait.

[Rick]

Yeah, I went through that last week. I had to call the security department of my credit card. They said did you order something from Home Depot. Yes. Did you order something from some place else? Yes. Did you order something from someplace else? Yes. They are all mine. Let me ask you something. Was all the stuff that got ordered being sent to my house? We have no way of knowing that. Well, you might try to figure out how to know that so you don't block the card when I buy stuff and let that guy in Kuwait charge stuff to it. They didn't find that amusing but it's the truth. Some schmuck in Kuwait charged to my card last year and it went through just fine. I try to order stuff to my own home and they block it. Go figure.

[WalkingTree]

Got a notice from my bank telling me I have new CC/debit card as it may have been hacked.....
So took the letter to the bank to ask about it....

Lady says, "You know you can do all your banking on line....."
I guess she didn't see the irony of that statement.

(I cannot think of an expression to write here in response which is sufficient.)

[hunter63]

(I cannot think of an expression to write here in response which is sufficient.)

Nor is a response required.......It's plain scary.