Search results

  1. D

    Portable Jump Starter experience?

    Unless, of course, you own an Elantra (2012, for ex.) where its infotainment system sucks 0.3 amps! We can't leave the car in a long term parking for more than 4 days without its battery being drained. The dealer denies anything wrong with it ("we are supposed to drive it daily" to maintain the...
  2. D

    The 2014 Annual Anandtech Tax Time Thread!

    At my work in SAP portal we can manage our own W-4 withholdings for Feds and state. Among other options there are filing status "single, married, married both spouses working, head of household or a family, married with multiple employers". I guess each of these options offers a different...
  3. D

    The 2014 Annual Anandtech Tax Time Thread!

    CPA, thanks for the encouraging words :-) Last question: what is the tax difference (%) between the withholding of "Married" and "Married with both spouses working". I tried searching for details on this, but failed. If there is a link to an IRS wording, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
  4. D

    The 2014 Annual Anandtech Tax Time Thread!

    It is a Private Retirement Account. A lot of teachers have this option setup vs Social Security.
  5. D

    NAS, server, and/or USB drive

    doubledeluxe, check out Synology boxes. I have a small 211j and pretty happy with it. You can use it as your home 'cloud' storage device, stream music/videos from, use it as a video camera surveillance station etc. There are a lot of cool apps for it. My box has 2 mirrored 2TB drives, the...
  6. D

    The 2014 Annual Anandtech Tax Time Thread!

    My employer collects Social Security taxes. My wife's work opted out of it years ago and manages its own PRA. So no Social Security taxes on her paycheck. Every time I do taxes, my wife's W-2 kills me - we end up owing to the state of CA, because she underpays the taxes. Both of us claim...
  7. D

    selling a car, KBB, edmunds, and nada are all off

    Carmax is awful. Example: for our 2002 mazda mpv they offered us $400, I sold it to a private party for $2300. I'd avoid that place if possible.
  8. D

    anyone watch the Galavant TV show?

    Watched it and didn't like it. There were a few jokes (not enough). The commercials for this show created some high expectations that it didn't deliver. I also wondered if someone was trying to make another "Robin Hood - Men in Tights"?
  9. D

    Report: Mazda RX-7 Returns for 2017 with 450-hp Turbo Rotary

    Passing smog here in CA was a bitch when I owned a 1986 n/a and a 1988 TT model. Judging by the abundance of 'failed smog' posts, RX-8 has the same issues as earlier models. On a side note, I wish Mazda would bring their turbo diesel powered cars faster to the States.
  10. D

    04 Mazda3 Hatchback

    Bad engine mounts. Mazda issued a recall. Check the engine at idle and at higher RPMs, does it vibrate more than normal?
  11. D

    Anyone wanna help me figure out this use car dealer scam?

    I like nerp's idea. Let your local newspaper/TV channel investigate the story. Give them some tips on the VIN manipulations, titles crossing state lines to get washed etc. You and your business do not even have to be mentioned there. If your local DA office sees it, they might launch their...
  12. D

    In Defense of the Minivan!

    When my daughter was little, my wife took her girl scout friends on field trips like Disney land. We traveled a lot around CA visiting places, now we have about 200k miles on our '02 MPV. I remember when I took the automotive class at the local college, I pulled in driving the van. The kids...
  13. D

    Breaking Bad Season 5 - Official Discussion Thread

    What about this? Aryan brothers find out where Walt's money is hidden. Walt gets pissed off, gets an M-60 and claims it back :-) while taking care of the Aryan threat.
  14. D

    The Last of Us

    Finished the game last night. Excellent. My wife, who overall never plays games, was sitting next to me reading her book. When a scene came up, where in Winter part Ellie is by herself fighting the thugs, she started watching me play and giving pieces of advice :-) When I finished, she didn't...
  15. D

    RIP my old M3

    At least your old car is still in a decent shape. I can't believe they are trying to sell this one: http://www.salvage-cars-for-sale.info/salvage/for-sale-audi-r8-2011-MTc0NTAzNjM
  16. D

    Funny Wifi SSIDs

    My neighbor's SSID is: "STOP STEALING MY WIFI", it is WEP encrypted. There are a bunch of AT&T UVerse installations in the area with the generic WIRE123 etc. SSIDs, all basically on the same channel.
  17. D

    Falling Skies Season 3

    techs, you mean Hal's disappearances at night (dating that alien girlfriend of his) and mud on his shoes when he was in a wheel chair? I guess he either had a multiple personality disorder or he was under alien chick's spell :-) Overall, the Season 2 is slow progressing as the first one...
  18. D

    R134A Refrigerant 12oz Cans at Big Lots - $6.77

    If you have a car that you want to refill with R134-a soon, it is a good deal, since in CA they add additional $10 per can (almost like 'ransomware') to be refunded when you bring used cans back. There is a time limit (3 or 6 months, not sure) to get your refund. Don't lose your receipt. If...
  19. D

    When do your lottery winnings count as income?

    Nice summary: http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2012/03/30/how-much-tax-will-you-owe-on-540-million-jackpot/
  20. D

    I drove a Nissan GTR this weekend.......and it was a life altering experience!

    A friend of mine from our local Nissan/Datsun club gave us (club members) rides around the block. Like yours, that was the most amazing experience I had ever had. The car felt planted to the road like sticky glue, esp. going around the corners. It was over 100F here, the cold a/c was an icing on...
  21. D

    Anyone watch The Following?

    I will be honest - I sat through the whole season to see the ending. The pilot of the show was promising and suspenseful. Later questions started to pile up as the show took a dive to being a complete crap: - Why would a group intelligent people (or appeared to be intelligent) can be so easily...
  22. D

    What happened to TV show theme songs?

    Southland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBFFZ9CS8cc The song is by Dulce Pontes, "Cancao do Mar"
  23. D

    Lets talk dash cams

    In Russia almost all cars have dash cameras inside. It is such a common thing that people don't pay attention to. And Syndrom is right, if they see you stealing your stuff, you'd better have a plan B of escape, because there are not enough lawyers yet. If you are looking for an inexpensive...
  24. D

    I'm homeless and I've lived in my Honda Fit for months. Ask me anything.

    All right, went through 7 pages, no one has asked yet: Do you have a medical/dental insurance? Or you just take a trip across the border to Mexico?
  25. D

    annoying links from browsing the internet

    Check your Firefox -> Tools -> Add-ons. It is either in Extensions or in Plug-ins. I had a coupon plugin installed (without my knowing) which created underlined words with links to some coupon sites. Very annoying.
  26. D

    What book(s) are you reading right now?

    "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. It was immensely boring during the first 500 pages, I am on page 800 and have 300 more to go. The action has finally picked up pace. The author makes a lot of references to her theory over and over again, that coffin has over a thousand nails. The characters are...
  27. D

    whats the most embarassing thing you have ever done at work?

    1. I had a co-worker who would always transfer the projects of editing/changing email servers settings onto his best friend. He never wanted to be blamed for screwing up. One day during the lunch break, I vented my true feelings about his sorry ass to another admin. On the way out of the...
  28. D

    (NECRO ALERT)How about a Harbor Freight tool thread?

    I've had good luck with HF impact 1/2" sockets, used them for the past 7 years. The HF heavy duty 3 ton automotive jack is good (non aluminum version) - it started leaking finally after 5 years. I found a replacement o-ring that was included with the box, the leak was gone. In addition to what...
  29. D

    Experience with w124 / ~1995 Mercedes e class?

    I'd advise you to go to benzworld.org and do some reading re: the potential issues and repair costs. There is a subsection dealing with the model you are interested in. I have a 89 190e 2.6l, got the car cheap, but parts are not. The local junk yard helps a lot. It is on that forum that I saw...
  30. D

    Need suggestions for front brakes and rotors for an 09 Accord LX

    I had an opposite experience - the semi-metallic pads will eat the rotors in a matter of a year on my wife's Mazda MPV (nose heavy car). I switched to ceramic pads and I haven't had to deal with her brakes in 2 years now (the same number of miles driven). There is also no noise. The ceramic...
  31. D

    selling my car. need advice.

    Yes, craigslist is also a place to meet a lot of people who: - will call, make an appointment to show up, and won't; - will take your car for a test ride, will say they like it and won't call again; - or will call you multiple times asking the same questions while the answers are clearly...
  32. D

    Warm start problems...

    I guess it is time to invest in some tools and go at troubleshooting your car's issues: 1. CPS - it is possible that your crank position sensor is slowly failing (I agree with phucheneh on this one). You will need to find the electrical diagram, find the right cable going to the car's ECU and...
  33. D

    Revolution already sucks (TV SHOW)

    The soldiers at the military camp (end of part 1) had the assault rifles (looked like G36's). I guess the low peons in the food chain had the muskets while the leader's body guards had upgraded weapons.
  34. D

    who is wrenching today?

    Replacing timing cover, oil pan and valve gaskets on a 2002 MPV van. This is the last vehicle that is going to have a V6 engine in my family. The van leaks oil bad, it drips on the exhaust making nice toasty smells.
  35. D

    Epic story of journalist who lost all his data to hackers

    I would say 80-90% of general users' population can be defined in this fashion. What really pisses me off is that with little social engineering one can get access to your accounts. Very clever. I liked Kaspersky's founder's idea to issue the digital "passports" to online users to prevent...
  36. D

    Prices paid web sites?

    Try carsabi.com
  37. D

    Pleasant surprise: car magically became Certified Pre-Owned

    Your FIL could have done a transfer of the vehicle title to his daughter without paying any fees or taxes. Then you would have just paid him a previously discussed amount of $$. Well, what's been done is done.
  38. D

    What's the point of high clutch engagement points

    One? Wrong. These are the cars I own now: 1994 Dodge Cummins diesel - 5 speed, long clutch engagement, easy to drive, the 1st gear almost needs no clutch 1976 Datsun 280z 5 speed (originally 4 speed) - same feel as the truck above :-), no surprises here 2004 Honda Accord 4cyl, 5 speed - the...
  39. D

    STOLEN: Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 (Madison, WI)

    This is great, thanks for the link - so far no results, I will keep on checking it.
  40. D

    Terra Nova Cancelled

    Another show that deserved to be canned is "Fallen Skies". Fake looking CGI'ed aliens, low budget sets and crappy acting - all this together should have helped it die quick death. Somehow they managed to bring Season 2 in June.