Warning! If You Buy a New Car, Read This

[no4mk1t]

Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives

dnyuz.com

 

[Bobster]

Big Auto Brother has been watching you for years...

 

[Bongo Lewi]

If I recall correctly, in a court case involving a congressman the 'black box' that's in nearly all modern cars now was used to refute his testimony. His actual speed, when he applied the brakes, etc. was in utter contrast to his version of the story. I believe he t-boned some guy at an intersection and either injured him or killed him. I cant recall the specifics. Just that his car ratted him out.

In related news, I see more and more people with dash cams these days. That can work in your favor. Or not. I believe it was Machiavelli who wrote, "Don't be your own assassin." Or it may have been my cousin Sal.

 

[Stephen G]

I had a Freightliner cargo van that sent me a text everytime it exceeded a user determined speed. There were more options available. It was cool tech for the time. In the end all it really accomplished was pissing everyone off.
My cousin was offered a HUGE discount on auto insurance if he installed??? Dongel , gps ???? In all his work trucks. Their driving was so bad the company canceled him 60 days in lmao.

 

[GuitarmanNick]

I drive an '03 Grand Marquis that is safe from hackers and spies. The only way to get data about my driving is by wire, and they will need a warrant! Just turned 90K and is in great shape other than a few spots of peeling paint.

It is easy to work on, and parts are readily available so it will likely be my last car. It has proven to be relatively inexpensive to own and maintain and I cannot imagine ever buying another new car with the prices being so ridiculously high.

 

[One Ping Only]

With maybe an exception or two, I'm moving very strongly towards the restomod world...

I'm thinking there will be, at some point, a way to "foil" that tattle tale. maybe even with a nice little faraday cage around said transmitter. If they can find a way to crack the programming for these idiot boxes for aftermkt tuners, there is a way to thwart this as well, methinks.

Keep in mind that if you have a cellphone on you, it too can track your speed and movements to a large degree...without giving the particular vehicular brake applications, etc.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

A former colleague of mine who at one time was involved with all manner of electronic countermeasures is very good at staying off the radar. He does not live like a hermit in a shed in Wyoming. Or in a former ballistic missile silo in Kansas.

One of his tricks was to buy the least expensive smartphone he could find. Just so he could have a phone number. Then turn it off and hardly ever use it. He conducted his daily affairs with cheap burners. He would use them for a while, then toss them out. He would buy the cheap 20-30 dollar variety. Some would ask... How do people get in touch with you when your number keeps changing? His reply was that people who know me know how to reach me.

It is true that a mobile phone is a tracking device in many ways. I change my phone number every two years. I occasionally change carriers. It drives people crazy. They ask why I do this and my answer is simple. It's my way of eliminating all the people who would not have my phone number in the first place. If you looked me up on one of those intrusive data scrapers that do fake background checks on people, you would find a dozen phone numbers and at least that many different street addresses.

I also use VPN extensively and often route my ip traffic thru a couple of countries or minimally different parts of the US. Nobody can easily figure out where I am. That can be a real PITA when you buy things online. Shipping, taxes, is never right and some deny you the sale because you appear to be located in East BongBong Egypt.

Safeway thinks my name is Mr. Potatohead. Yelp thinks I live in Boston. Home Dept insists I am in Yonkers. Now and then I use a modified web traffic generator that randomly visits web sites all day, all night. In a 24 hour period it hits thousands of web sites. Totally random. Any trackers that foil my anti-tracking efforts will find that I have diverse interests in subjects like organic horse feed, candy pants, the weather in Uzbekistan, Ted Williams' frozen head, radical feminism, mink farming, etc... and yes, gun control.

It's not practical for the average Joe to be a ghost. But if you do a few simple things, you can make it harder for some nefarious entity to build an accurate profile of you. For me, it's more of a hobby than a concern.

 

[Bobster]

I keep just about EVERYTHING turned off on my phone. Data, wifi, bluetooth, location, all OFF... Sure, they could triangulate me with the cell towers but that is about it. A side benefit is my battery lasts for days.

I also have my number blocked and occasionally have to turn it on to call a vendor who doesn't accept blocked calls. I often get voicemail because some people don't pickup unlisted numbers but they probably weren't worth talking to anyway... I communicate via text a lot but none of this conversation shit! Cut and dry, yes or no. If I want to talk to my kids I'll text them to call me. I have ONE person who I have blocked notifications from and that is my cousin who thinks nothing of texting me at 3am! Meaning the phone vibes on the nightstand. With noti. off, he NEVER interrupts my sleep. A common complaint from him is "how come you never reply to my texts?"

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I have ONE person who I have blocked notifications from and that is my cousin who thinks nothing of texting me at 3am! Meaning the phone vibes on the nightstand

Guilty as charged. I only txt. I don't want to talk to anyone on the phone unless it is a very close friend, it's about personal business, or it's immediate family. I also just turn off notifications at night.

Email is not only dead as means of communication. It is starting to smell funny. Email persists because of SPAM, marketers, and old people. Kids don't do FB or email. Hell... I'm not a kid yet hate email and FB.

What a cauldron of idiocy FB became. When your 80 year old Aunt Edna asks if you got her friend request you can get sense of why nobody under 40 uses FB. Instagram... more popular but also fading with younger people. Kids have been opting out of social media for years, preferring short messaging. Especially preferring the auto delete service type. SnapChat, other newcomers.

My final word on FB is I don't have any grandchildren and could care less about news and updates regarding someone else's grandchildren. No thanks, Aunt Edna! We have made other plans for Thanksgiving. Besides, I'm allergic to dry turkey and tasteless stuffing. It's like colon spackle.

Oh, and the first person to say... my kids use Facebook ... will make me laugh out loud. Unless of course your kids are 60 years old and you are in your 80s. I acknowledge that exception. Just like when a parent proclaims "my daughter tells me everything". Uh huh. Sure she does. Here's a dose of reality: Nobody tells anybody everything. Unless they are being interrogated at GITMO. If your daughter is at GITMO, you may have failed as a parent!

 

[One Ping Only]

I ditched FB about 10 yrs ago or so. Don’t miss it a bit.

Me- I despise text communication, unless it’s very brief and necessary. It’s so inefficient and a minefield for misinterpretation otherwise.

Burner phones. Yep. We have a few of those onhand as well. Great strategy.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

It's fascinating how many times Sirius tries to get me to enable the 'important' features of my Jeep Gladiator. I had a free trial period and let it expire. They cant believe I don't want it. Letters, email even phone calls with all kinds of offers. I dont need any of that garbage. I also have zero interest in Sirius music, shows, etc. I could give a shit what Howard Stern and all the others have to say and I rarely listen to music while driving. During my free trial I did get a good laugh out of the porn channel. Porn on radio. Imagine that! Who knew such a thing existed? It's ridiculous. I wondered who takes that seriously and subscribes.

My Jeep is far from a Ferrari, but I agree with Enzo that while driving "the only music you need to hear is the sound of my beautiful engine" The Ferrari founder said that regarding the pressure from US buyers to put radios and sound systems in Ferrari's.

 

[One Ping Only]

All 12 glorious cylinders…

 

[Bongo Lewi]

This is my kinda porn!

830 HP. A work of art.

I read that Ferrari has an electric supercar in development. The acceleration curve was dramatically described as a near vertical line. The seating design was described as unique. It wrapped around the driver slightly. Sort of like a g-suit. Imagine having a car so fast that it can hazardously make blood rush into your head or out of your head on acceleration/deceleration.

This of course begs the question where one would drive such a car. Then again, Ferrari isn't interested in designing cars for Joe Schmudlap to drive to work every day.

 

[Racer88]

I also have zero interest in Sirius music, shows, etc. I could give a shit what Howard Stern and all the others have to say and I rarely listen to music while driving.

I've had it before and I have it again on trial subscription in my new Outback. I like it a lot... for the commercial-free music. I also like the themed (by genre) music stations. And I like TRULY "no static at all" and that I can drive across the entire USA and not lose reception on any of the channels.

During my free trial I did get a good laugh out of the porn channel. Porn on radio. Imagine that! Who knew such a thing existed?

I have the "platinum" (max) plan on 3-month trial right now, and I didn't know about a "porn" channel. LOL! Is it just moaning, slapping, and squeaking sounds?

I do plan on renewing it. I'm waiting for them to make me "an offer I can't refuse."

I agree with Enzo that while driving "the only music you need to hear is the sound of my beautiful engine"

I would certainly agree, if the car has an engine and exhaust worth listening to. That was the case with my 2004 Subaru STI. I had a turbo-back (catless) exhaust. It has a great sound.

No radio in the car. I don't mean that I didn't listen to it. I mean there wasn't one. The car didn't even come with one from the factory. No floor mats from the factory, either. I did buy some floor mats, though!

But yeah... I listen to music on my 45 min commute each way. With XM radio, I also enjoy listening to the comedy channels (stand-up comics instead of songs).

 

[Bongo Lewi]

It's a noisy world. My car is a sanctuary of silence. There is no greater joy for me than the sound of nobody talking.

The porn channel... really weird. Like a talk show (the hosts were two chicks) and also some sound effects like you mentioned. People called in. All men of course. How big of a loser does one need to be to call a porn line? Pathetic. I'm not a prude in any way and what people do to get their nut off is really none of my business. But there are some sick-ass people out there.

 

[Racer88]

It's a noisy world. My car is a sanctuary of silence. There is no greater joy for me than the sound of nobody talking.

The most noise I hear are the voices in my head. Really. Not "those voices." My own voice. Lots of "brain chatter" for me. TONS of it. So, I need the distraction. I'm a rock guy.... so "Big Hair Nation," "Classic Rewind," "Ozzie's Boneyard," "Classic Vinyl," and "Lithium" are great channels.

The porn channel... really weird. Like a talk show (the hosts were two chicks) and also some sound effects like you mentioned.

LOL!

How big of a loser does one need to be to call a porn line?

Bigger than me, for sure! LOL!

I'm not a prude in any way and what people do to get their nut off is really none of my business. But there are some sick-ass people out there.

LOL! Yeah... some weird shit. And they want to "normalize" all manner of.... ummmmm.... "lifestyles."

 

[Bobster]

I do plan on renewing it. I'm waiting for them to make me "an offer I can't refuse."

My cousin is on welfare. Real useless piece of shit he is... He gets satellite radio for a "discounted" fee because he is a deadbeat. Shows up at my shop blasting Stern with his windows open at which point I break out the leaf blower and blow out the shop in his direction! I'm not a fan of Stern and believe him to be a communist pinko fag. BTW, your subscription helps support these people...

Deadbeat cuz also gets a discount on Priime, cable internet, phone service, etc. AFAIAC, he and millions (billions?) of other deadbeats should receive NONE of these things.

How big of a loser does one need to be to call a porn line? Pathetic. I'm not a prude in any way and what people do to get their nut off is really none of my business.

I'm in middle school and we're on a field trip to the Bronx Zoo from RI. We're in a coach bus somewhere on I-95 and one of the chaperone teachers starts yelling "Don't look out the windows! Don't look out the windows!" which of course we ALL then attempt to do. The bus is passing a man in his car vigorously spanking the monkey for all the tweens to see.

So that begs the question: is yanking the crank more dangerous than texting while driving?

 

[Racer88]

BTW, your subscription helps support these people...

My subscription is for me. Everything I do supports these people, the foremost of which is paying taxes.

"Don't look out the windows! Don't look out the windows!" which of course we ALL then attempt to do. The bus is passing a man in his car vigorously spanking the monkey for all the tweens to see.

What did they think was going to happen?!?? LOL!

 

[Bongo Lewi]

@Bobster , I'm sitting in my office one day and hear a commotion. I get up and go to the doorway and I see uniformed officers taking custody of a guy I see nearly every day but didn't really know. An analyst of some kind.

The scuttlebutt afterwards was that he was caught driving around the DC beltway with no pants on. He exposed himself to a school bus full of plaid skirted, teen Catholic girls on their way to school. It was said he did this more than once. The bus driver finally got his tag number and turned him in to the state police.

I was chatting about this with a co-worker, a woman, who told me he would arrive in the morning with his shoes untied and looking like he got dressed in the car. She assumed he was having marital issues, maybe sleeping in the car and decided to not to pry.

Now... that was a big no-no in our line of work. Any sort of behavioral change in a co-worker had to be reported. Not optional. I told her to not tell anybody else that story because they would fire her in a heartbeat. We often dealt with very sensitive information. Most of the time not related to defense or military but diplomatic secrets and confidences are just as important and cannot be compromised. That world, as you can imagine, is full of spies ... foreign agencies and agents gathering whatever intelligence they can. Or to blackmail diplomats who have a secret, sexual proclivity.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

The most noise I hear are the voices in my head. Really. Not "those voices." My own voice. Lots of "brain chatter" for me. TONS of it. So, I need the distraction.

Everybody has an inner voice. Some more than others. I was obsessed with this for a while... how to turn it off and seek an altered state. Meditation is the answer. I even tried isolation tanks. There was a movie about this but my motivation was not to get in touch with some buried, primal consciousness. It was to free my mind of noise and distraction. This goal is ancient and there are centuries of hogwash associated with trying to achieve it. Some seek enlightenment. I was interested in focus and concentration.

I'm very OCD and perfection is an obsession. It's also impossible to achieve. Attention to detail is both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you manage it. I struggled in industrial engineering situations because there's an aspect to it where you have to declare something 'good enough'. I left every successful project thinking it wasn't. Even though everybody else was happy.

This is probably why I was drawn to security because it is such a chess game. Thinking ahead, planning for contingencies, imagining what could go wrong and what to do if it does. Being good at that isn't about predicting the future. It's mainly painstaking observation and visualizing what your opponent may do if things go according to his plan or if they don't. And how to respond. The proverbial "what if". The rest is applied tactics and experience. The most important skill in armed security is anticipating a gunfight then avoiding it. If that is not possible, you have only your training to rely on.

A lot of people think security is akin to law enforcement. Not really. Criminals are most often stupid and violent. Although there are exceptions. A terrorist or enemy can be stupid and certainly violent, but their effort tends to be planned and organized by people who are not. Then there's the murderous psychopath with his own twisted agenda. Even the crazy psycho or stalker who is not an enemy of the state usually has a plan. Some of them are very clever.

I found meditation, even yoga to be useful in freeing the mind of clutter so I could better concentrate on what I was doing.

Goonga Galoonga!