The Ergosphere
Saturday, August 22, 2009
 

Evading Yahoo's irritating demands

I have what I believe is a way to get around the Yahoo Mail redirect which demands personal information for the password recovery. It is a simple process:
  1. Delete Yahoo cookies.
  2. Go to the Mail login page.
  3. Delete Yahoo cookies again.
Then enter user name and password as normal. This appears to go straight to the Mail page and I haven't been redirected yet.

Labels:

 
Saturday, August 15, 2009
 

Dammit, Yahoo, can't you take a hint?

Aside from the total capitulation of the core of the business to Microsoft, Yahoo's fate appears to be sealed by the fact that they Just Don't Get It.

Take this impertinent quiz forced onto unwilling Yahoo! Mail users.  It asks a bunch of personal questions so that someone can get into the e-mail account.  Excuse me, but isn't that what the password is for?  What if somebody doesn't want to allow this backdoor method of access to their email account?  After all, it has been exploited against people before (notably including Sarah Palin).  Why should anyone be FORCED to allow social-engineering attacks against the security of their private data?  And why, oh why do you pester and bully people who obviously DO NOT WANT this mis-feature by redirecting them instead of just letting them log in and go about their business?  (With all the screwups in your "New, Improved" mail system, you'd think you had better things to do.)

Look, Yahoo!, I'm not asking for much.  All I want is for you to take this thing and NOT ASK ME ABOUT IT AGAIN.  If I want the "feature", you can put it someplace where I can find it.  Just let me log in on the first attempt and quit the bullying to answer personal questions you have no business asking, or I may be forced to take out an address someplace else.

Labels:

 
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
 

EPA economy ratings vs. the GM Volt: A square peg in a round hole

What a difference a number makes.

The projected EPA economy rating of the GM Volt has set off a storm of criticism across the Internet.  While a number of blogs played the story straight (1, 2), the Good Math blog attacked it as nonsense, which got picked up by Reddit.  Critics say that the actual fuel economy seen by drivers could be as low as 50 MPG, or as high as infinity.  So who's right?

Basically, they all are.  The EPA city-cycle measures the Volt's characteristics about as well as a square peg fits a round hole.  In this mess, the number you get depends how you trim the test to fit the car.

Green Car Congress gave a rather straightforward analysis:

Based on the same draft EPA methodology, the Volt would also deliver “triple-digit” combined cycle fuel economy along with combined cycle electricity consumption of 25 kWh/100 miles, according to GM. At the US average cost of electricity (approximately 11 cents per kWh), GM calculates that a typical Volt driver would pay about $2.75 for electricity to travel 100 miles, or less than three cents per mile.
From the data we’ve seen, many Chevy Volt drivers might be able to be in pure electric mode on a daily basis without having to use virtually any gas. EPA labels are a yardstick for customers to compare a vehicles’ fuel efficiency. So, a vehicle like the Volt that achieves a combined triple-digit fuel economy is a game-changer...The key to high-mileage performance is for a Volt driver to plug into the electric grid at least once each day.
—GM CEO Fritz Henderson

Since it's obvious that almost nobody would get that 230 MPG figure, or even ±10% of this value, it's worth asking:  what does the prospective Volt buyer need to know?  Off the top of my head, I can think of this:

  1. How much electricity they would use.
  2. How often they'd have to visit the gas station
    • using gasoline
    • using E-85
  3. Whether plugging in at work, or forgetting to plug in at night, would change those numbers substantially.
  4. Whether there are any electric rate plans which would make the car significantly cheaper to own.
  5. The overall monthly cost at various fuel prices and electric rates.
  6. Comparison with other makes and models.

This doesn't call for a flamewar.  This calls for an on-line calculator, perhaps integrated with a mapping service which can project energy consumption on the typical commute, errands such as shopping, and trip to the relatives or the beach.  But without adjusting for lead feet and hyper-milers, would anyone still get within 10%?  The battle over the numbers does not look to end any time soon.

Labels: , ,

 
Talk largely about energy and work, but also politics and other random thoughts


Mail Engineer-Poet

(If you're mailing a question, is it already in the FAQ?)

Important links

The FAQ
Glossary
The Reference Library

Blogchild of

Armed and Dangerous

Blogparent of

R-Squared




The best prospect for our energy future:
Flibe Energy

ARCHIVES
January 1990 / February 2004 / March 2004 / June 2004 / July 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / November 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / December 2007 / January 2008 / May 2008 / June 2008 / August 2008 / October 2008 / November 2008 / December 2008 / February 2009 / March 2009 / April 2009 / May 2009 / June 2009 / July 2009 / August 2009 / September 2009 / October 2009 / November 2009 / December 2009 / January 2010 / April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 / September 2010 / October 2010 / November 2010 / December 2010 / January 2011 / February 2011 / March 2011 / April 2011 / May 2011 / July 2011 / August 2011 / September 2011 / October 2011 / April 2013 / November 2013 / December 2013 / January 2014 / February 2014 / March 2014 / April 2014 / July 2014 / August 2014 / September 2014 / October 2014 / November 2014 / February 2015 / April 2015 / October 2015 / March 2016 / April 2016 / May 2016 / June 2016 / July 2016 / November 2016 / December 2016 / February 2017 / May 2017 / June 2017 / September 2017 / October 2017 / November 2017 / March 2018 / May 2018 / June 2018 / October 2018 / December 2018 / January 2019 / March 2019 / June 2019 / October 2019 / November 2019 / March 2020 / June 2020 / December 2020 / March 2021 / April 2021 / May 2021 / July 2021 / January 2022 / February 2022 /


Powered by Blogger

RSS feed

Visits since 2006/05/11: