My last LiveJournal entry (the one about Beetles and t-bone collisions) raised an interesting discussion about Smart cars. There are folks saying they’ll never play in the US, and there are folks pointing out how immensely popular they are.

To the safety concerns, I’d like to point out that a Smart car is safer than a motorcycle. Is this a fair comparison? Yes, because the Smart has what is essentially a motorcycle engine, and gets mileage comparable to a motorcycle. Why is it safer? Well… other cars can SEE you. Motorcycles often fall into a psychological “blind spot” for drivers, who will pull out in front of them, sideswipe them, or otherwise pretend they’re not there. Smart cars look enough like cars that this won’t happen.

Re: popularity… I’d love to have one. I saw them all over in Nuremburg and in Holland, and they’re too cool for words. I don’t live in a big city, and I don’t commute anymore, but I still think they’re REALLY neato. If I DID live in a big city (it’ll never happen, but let’s pretend) then I’d pine for one unhealthily. I would obsess.

–Howard

Link!

Upshot: The New Beetle from Volkswagen got a “poor” rating on side-impact tests. This means the accident they simulate (31 mph side impact from a pickup truck) would result in serious, life-threatening injury.

My Take: I kind of figured as much when I bought the car. It’s a compact, after all. There’s little enough crumple-zone in a front or rear collision. From the side, though? If my car door were any closer to me, I’d be sitting outside the car. My solution, therefore, is to spend as little time as possible in front of cross-traffic — especially when running stop signs, red-lights, or cutting across the freeway. In these situations I just go as fast as possible, in the hope that if there’s a collision, it’s ME hitting THEM.

–Howard

I beat* Fable. This is amazing for several reasons:

1) I seldom “beat” video games. I lose interest about the time they get difficult enough to actually challenge someone who plays them well.
2) I didn’t use any cheats or walkthroughs past the first half of the game. Granted, the cheats I DID use landed me a superweapon early in the game, and shloads of extra experience points via the “Hero Save” trick (Take the Arena quest, fight all the way to the stone trollls, then DON’T continue fighting. Save your game. Exit. Load your game. You have all the XP from the Arena, and you get to start it over)
3) I killed both Maze (the penultimate Boss) and Jack of Blades (the final Boss) with no Will potions left. My tactic of “slow time, enflame, and then pound the crap out of anything still standing” got replaced with actual PARRYING. Oh, and my ranged weapon skill was pretty much maxed out, so when Jack levitated (“clue to player: use your bow now”) I pretty much murdered him. Had I figured out the bow thing BEFORE he levitated (or read a cheat telling me what to do) the fight would have been over MUCH more quickly.
4) My XBox didn’t crash until the credits. Granted, this means I’ll have to beat the game *again* if I want to run around getting experience and buying property and whatever else you get to do if you sit through the credits, but that’s okay. In the last week my XBox has acted up horribly, but this evening I got a few hours of constant game-play out of it.

With Fable put to bed, I can get back to work. I had a nice, relaxing weekend, so I should be all fired up to crank out the comics first thing tomorrow.

–Howard

*Note: My definition of “beat” is “played all the way through the story one time”. Not “unlocked every secret, played in the hardest-of-the-hard mode, then hacked into the game and made it my prison bizzatch.” True gamers will sneer at me, but I ignore their tauntings. In my world, video game difficulty settings run as follows: Way Too Hard, Too Hard, Still Too Hard, This Is Supposed To Be EASY?, How Can A Beginner POSSIBLY Beat This?, and Middle-Aged Dad In Comfy Chair. That’s me, right there at the bottom. Taunt away. The chair is made of real leather, and I’m comfy.

Here’s the Belated Birthday Report. Live Journal readers get to see it entire HOURS before run-of-the-mill, schlockmercenary.com Schlockers.

Thanks everybody!

–Howard