Manual Backup for Cars?

When technology fails, it's always nice to have a low tech backup. For many years my wife & I resisted buying cars with electric windows and door locks. Suppose the car goes in the water and the electrical system shorts out. How will you escape the car? We had one car dealer argue, "it's free", but it was not a matter of cost, we WANTED the old-fashioned locks and windows. Also today it's impossible to but a new car without power windows.

When my father rented a car recently, he & I were stumped. How do you turn it on? There was no keyhole for ignition; just a "Start" button. We pressed the button and nothing happens. We later learned that the start button only works while the brake pedal is pressed.

Another "power" feature on new cars is keyless entry. But what if you press your "key" and nothing happens?
This is the bane of drivers in the Bermuda Triangle of lost cars in Yonkers, NY.  According to the Consumerist,

"A nearby funeral home owner says he's had constant complaints about people getting locked out of their cars, including his brother who had to get his car towed away."

A "radio-frequency specialist says there's likely a malfunctioning device in the area that's overpowering all the other quick signal bursts from remotes with its constant strong signal. He says drivers who experience such a thing should bring their keyless remotes as closely to their cars' antenna as they can, to minimize possible interference.

Local employees have learned to park far away or else PUSH their car out of the no-key zone.

Loud Commercials

Nigel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel: Exactly.
Marty: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten.
- This is Spinal Tap

Do you find loud commercials annoying? Have you thought, there ought to be a law against that?

According to Wired.com there is a law but it does not help. The FCC regulates the maximum volume that a show or ad may use. TV shows broadcast most of the time below this maximum; saving the max for gunshots, explosions, yelling, etc. (See graph above)  Many ads set the volume to max for the entire 10-30 seconds since they don't need to worry about a difference between normal and loud.

I'm reminded of the harpsichords vs the piano. Bach (1685 – 1750) was a master of the harpsichords but it had a serious limitation - all notes had the same loudness. Around 1700, Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori created a new instrument where the loudness of the note matched the force with which you hit the key. He called the "quiet-loud" in Italian, PianoForte. It was very difficult to make, very expensive, and smaller than the modern Piano with just 5 octaves of keys. Bach disliked the early models but by mid-century the quality had improved and it was the instrument of choice for Mozart(1756 – 1791). Beethoven (1770–1827) pushed the instrument beyonds its limits in dynamic range and was famous for breaking the PianoFortes. From 1790-1860 the instrument was strengthened and improved to become the modern Piano.

So TV shows are like Pianos. Played at a modest level of with occasional fortissimo of loudness for effect. Ads are like harpsichords - played a one level only - loud.

Bottom Line

If you really hate loud commercials, write to your congressman asking for a better law that regulates the average loudness as well as the maximum.