#aftermarket products

[focusgroupentertainment]

The Future of Convenience in Cars: Innovations and Ambitions

As the automotive industry continues to evolve, the quest for convenience in cars remains at the forefront of design and innovation. In this three-part argument, we explore the perspectives of an expert automotive designer, a consumer, and a tech enthusiast engineer to uncover the possibilities and challenges of integrating cool conveniences into vehicles. Additionally, we’ll delve into a…

[taevisionceo]

📰 TAEVision Engineering 's Posts - Thu, May 25, 2023 TAEVision 3D Mechanical Design • Parts AutoParts EngineParts Aftermarket Glaser SealingProducts Dana Holding Corp. Porsche Exhaust System CarPlates LicensePlates Bosch ICON wiperblades • Automotive Audi A4 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon SUV 01 - Data 145 Parts EngineParts Aftermarket Glaser SealingProducts gaskets seals Dana Holding Corp. ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 02 - Data 466 Design Applications Parts AutoParts Aftermarket Porsche Exhaust System Titanium Slip-On ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 03 - Data 211 Parts AutoParts Aftermarket CarPlates LicensePlates showroom Automotive - Audi A4 ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 04 - Data 112 Parts AutoParts Aftermarket Bosch ICON wiperblades WindshieldWipers (Rain Ambient 1) ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 05 - Data 432 3D Design Applications Automotive AUTUMN DREAMS 🍃🍂🍁 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon SUV 2010 OffRoad ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr

  📰 I just updated my Pressfolio: TAEVision Mechanics's Online Portfolio - Global Data - May 25, 2023 ▸ TAEVision Mechanics's Online Portfolio (last update)

Global Data - May 25, 2023

[techdriveplay]

What Should You Consider When Adding Aftermarket Features to Your Car?

Adding aftermarket features to your car can significantly enhance your driving experience, boost the vehicle’s performance, and personalize it to better reflect your style and needs. Whether you’re looking to improve sound quality with a new audio system, increase horsepower with performance parts, or simply add aesthetic touches like custom wheels or lighting, understanding what you should…

[vividracing]

New Post has been published on https://www.vividracing.com/blog/built-for-the-track-styled-for-the-streets/

Built For The Track - Styled For The Streets

Stage Wheels is known in the aftermarket industry to not only provide the best world-class track-ready wheels but also wheels that your daily driver can enjoy! Across the motorsport community Stage Wheels have made their mark. Driven for the idea of true reliability, safety, and perfection. 

The great news is – they are available now at Vivid Racing!! 

Still needing more information about what makes these wheels stand out from the crowd?  Here are some of the wheels offered at Vivid Racing and details about what they are built best for: 

Belmont – The Ideal Drift Wheel

Allows for big brake clearance while decreasing rotational mass specifically great for drifting and street cars 

In 5×100, 5×114.3, and 5×120 bolt patterns 

Double 7-spoke design style 

Available in black chrome, matte bronze, and white 

Center hub pocket design to provide a rigid feel and even heat dissipation 

Flow form technology

Shop Belmont Wheels HERE! 

Knight – Motorsport Monster Wheel

Allows for big brake clearance while decreasing rotational mass specifically great for drifting and street cars 

In 4×114.3, 5×100, 5×114.3, and 5×120 bolt patterns

Available in black chrome, matte bronze, white, and black 

Strong and sturdy center hub pocket design 

Flow form technology 

Unique 6-spoke wheel design 

Shop Knight Wheels HERE! 

Foushee – The New Kid On The Block

Retro look from the early motorsport era 

Iconic 7-spoke “star” design 

Decrease rotational mass with Stage Wheel big brake clearance 

New match for JDM/KDM (Toyota GR Corolla, Honda Civic Si, Mazda 3, Ford Focus, and Kia owners)

Available in iconic chrome, black, liquid silver, and white 

Flow form technology 

JWL/VIA tested 

Shop Foushee Wheels HERE!

Monroe – The All-Star

Popular 5-spoke design

Built to allow big brake clearance 

Available in 5×100, 5×114.3, and 5×120 bolt patterns 

Available in white, black chrome, matte bronze, matte gunmetal, and black 

Double coating of paint to last any track conditions 

Ultra-spoke concavity for longer spoke depth 

Perfect for Corvette drift and E36 chassis 

Flow form technology 

Double reinforced lip 

Shop Monroe Wheels HERE!

Take your ride to the next level with these unique wheels that will significantly change for ride! Ready to take on the track or the city streets – do it in style!

Have questions about which wheel is best for your ride? Contact us today!  

[mostlysignssomeportents]

An adversarial iMessage client for Android

Adversarial interoperability is one of the most reliable ways to protect tech users from predatory corporations: that's when a technologist reverse-engineers an existing product to reconfigure or mod it (interoperability) in ways its users like, but which its manufacturer objects to (adversarial):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

"Adversarial interop" is a mouthful, so at EFF, we coined the term "competitive compatibility," or comcom, which is a lot easier to say and to spell.

Scratch any tech success and you'll find a comcom story. After all, when a company turns its screws on its users, it's good business to offer an aftermarket mod that loosens them again. HP's $10,000/gallon inkjet ink is like a bat-signal for third-party ink companies. When Mercedes announces that it's going to sell you access to your car's accelerator pedal as a subscription service, that's like an engraved invitation to clever independent mechanics who'll charge you a single fee to permanently unlock that "feature":

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/05/carmakers-push-forward-with-plans-to-make-basic-features-subscription-services-despite-widespread-backlash/

Comcom saved giant tech companies like Apple. Microsoft tried to kill the Mac by rolling out a truly cursèd version of MS Office for MacOS. Mac users (5% of the market) who tried to send Word, Excel or Powerpoint files to Windows users (95% of the market) were stymied: their files wouldn't open, or they'd go corrupt. Tech managers like me started throwing the graphic designer's Mac and replacing it with a Windows box with a big graphics card and Windows versions of Adobe's tools.

Comcom saved Apple's bacon. Apple reverse-engineered MS's flagship software suite and made a comcom version, iWork, whose Pages, Numbers and Keynote could flawlessly read and write MS's Word, Excel and Powerpoint files:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

It's tempting to think of iWork as benefiting Apple users, and certainly the people who installed and used it benefited from it. But Windows users also benefited from iWork. The existence of iWork meant that Windows users could seamlessly collaborate on and share files with their Mac colleagues. IWork didn't just add a new feature to the Mac ("read and write files that originated with Windows users") – it also added a feature to Windows: "collaborate with Mac users."

Every pirate wants to be an admiral. Though comcom rescued Apple from a monopolist's sneaky attempt to drive it out of business, Apple – now a three trillion dollar company – has repeatedly attacked comcom when it was applied to Apple's products. When Apple did comcom, that was progress. When someone does comcom to Apple, that's piracy.

Apple has many tools at its disposal that Microsoft lacked in the early 2000s. Radical new interpretations of existing copyright, contract, patent and trademark law allows Apple – and other tech giants – to threaten rivals who engage in comcom with both criminal and civil penalties. That's right, you can go to prison for comcom these days. No wonder Jay Freeman calls this "felony contempt of business model":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

Take iMessage, Apple's end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) instant messaging tool. Apple customers can use iMessage to send each other private messages that can't be read or altered by third parties – not cops, not crooks, not even Apple. That's important, because when private messaging systems get hacked, bad things happen:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_celebrity_nude_photo_leak

But Apple has steadfastly refused to offer an iMessage app for non-Apple systems. If you're an Apple customer holding a sensitive discussion with an Android user, Apple refuses to offer you a tool to maintain your privacy. Those messages are sent "in the clear," over the 38-year-old SMS protocol, which is trivial to spy on and disrupt.

Apple sacrifices its users' security and integrity in the hopes that they will put pressure on their friends to move into Apple's walled garden. As CEO Tim Cook told a reporter: if you want to have secure communications with your mother, buy her an iPhone:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tim-cook-says-buy-mom-210347694.html

Last September, a 16-year old high school student calling himself JJTech published a technical teardown of iMessage, showing how any device could send and receive encrypted messages with iMessage users, even without an Apple ID:

https://jjtech.dev/reverse-engineering/imessage-explained/

JJTech even published code to do this, in an open source library called Pypush:

https://github.com/JJTech0130/pypush

In the weeks since, Beeper has been working to productize JJTech's code, and this week, they announced Beeper Mini, an Android-based iMessage client that is end-to-end encrypted:

https://beeper.notion.site/How-Beeper-Mini-Works-966cb11019f8444f90baa314d2f43a54

Beeper is known for a multiprotocol chat client built on Matrix, allowing you to manage several kinds of chat from a single app. These multiprotocol chats have been around forever. Indeed, iMessage started out as one – when it was called "iChat," it supported Google Talk and Jabber, another multiprotocol tool. Other tools like Pidgin have kept the flame alive for decades, and have millions of devoted users:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/tower-babel-how-public-interest-internet-trying-save-messaging-and-banish-big

But iMessage support has remained elusive. Last month, Nothing launched Sunchoice, a disastrous attempt to bring iMessage to Android, which used Macs in a data-center to intercept and forward messages to Android users, breaking E2EE and introducing massive surveillance risks:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/21/23970740/sunbird-imessage-app-shut-down-privacy-nothing-chats-phone-2

Beeper Mini does not have these defects. The system encrypts and decrypts messages on the Android device itself, and directly communicates with Apple's servers. It gathers some telemetry for debugging, and this can be turned off in preferences. It sends a single SMS to Apple's servers during setup, which changes your device's bubble from green to blue, so that Apple users now correctly see your device as a secure endpoint for iMessage communications.

Beeper Mini is now available in Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beeper.ima&hl=en_US

Now, this is a high-stakes business. Apple has a long history of threatening companies like Beeper over conduct like this. And Google has a long history deferring to those threats – as it did with OG App, a superior third-party Instagram app that it summarily yanked after Meta complained:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/battery-vampire/#drained

But while iMessage for Android is good for Android users, it's also very good for Apple customers, who can now get the privacy and security guarantees of iMessage for all their contacts, not just the ones who bought the same kind of phone as they did. The stakes for communications breaches have never been higher, and antitrust scrutiny on Big Tech companies has never been so intense.

Apple recently announced that it would add RCS support to iOS devices (RCS is a secure successor to SMS):

https://9to5mac.com/2023/11/16/apple-rcs-coming-to-iphone/

Early word from developers suggests that this support will have all kinds of boobytraps. That's par for the course with Apple, who love to announce splashy reversals of their worst policies – like their opposition to right to repair – while finding sneaky ways to go on abusing its customers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

The ball is in Apple's court, and, to a lesser extent, in Google's. As part of the mobile duopoly, Google has joined with Apple in facilitating the removal of comcom tools from its app store. But Google has also spent millions on an ad campaign shaming Apple for exposing its users to privacy risks when talking to Android users:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/21/23883609/google-rcs-message-apple-iphone-ipager-ad

While we all wait for the other shoe to drop, Android users can get set up on Beeper Mini, and technologists can kick the tires on its code libraries and privacy guarantees.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/07/blue-bubbles-for-all/#never-underestimate-the-determination-of-a-kid-who-is-time-rich-and-cash-poor

[identifying-cars-in-posts]

I GOT A NEW CAR

Everybody meet the new baby that i will never shut up about forever!

This is Clifford the Third, my new 1996 Nissan Pickup!! I probably paid too much for her but given that I live in Massachusetts and she has virtually no rust I’m okay with that lol.

So a brief history of the Nissan Pickup! These trucks were released in the US in 1985 and were sold through 1997, when they were replaced with the Frontier. They were the successor to the beloved Datsun 720, which had been in production since 1979. They are in fact just called the Pickup! They’re colloquially known as the D21 - their chassis code, and the Hardbody, because of the double walled durable construction of the trucks’ bed.

The D21 was available with a couple different engines and drivetrain layouts. Mine is a 4x4 with the KA24 motor (which it shared with the 240SX/Silvia). She’s also a King Cab, meaning she has a slightly elongated wheelbase to allow for two small inwards facing jump seats in the back of the cab. Still a two door though.

AND SHE’S A STICK! She has a 5-speed manual transmission, and it’s the best transmission i’ve ever personally had in a car. She’s my third manual, the other two being a 1999 Toyota Corolla and a 2004 Subaru WRX, both of which were great but the Corolla had a really sloppy gearbox that felt incredibly vague at times, whereas the WRX had a sportier transmission that was pretty unforgiving and stiff. This one is definitive about where each gear is, but also won’t get too jerky or loud if you shift a little early or late.

Nissan Hardbody trucks are known and loved for their durability, versatility, and simplicity. They’re super bare bones but what they do have is built remarkably well and meant to withstand lots of abuse. If they don’t rust and have basic maintenance kept up it’s not uncommon for them to go 300k+ miles with minimal issues. Mine has around 184k miles, high but manageable. She also has a few modifications from the previous owner, namely a straight piped exhaust (no muffler, just one big long aluminum tube), aftermarket bumpers and lights, locking hubs, and a small lift. The guy i bought it from had plans to make it an off-roader but had too many projects and needed to offload one to make space in his driveway.

While many people either take these off-roading or turn them into drift trucks, my plan is to bring her back to mostly stock. I’m in the process of tracking down OEM bumpers and a more typical cat-back (from the catalytic converter back) exhaust system so she’s a little less obnoxiously loud. Since i mostly just need reliable transport more than a toy and she is now my sole car, I want to just make her relatively normal. But I love her a lot and am happy to be able to share!

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1968 Mercury Cougar XR7-G

Wanting to get a piece of the success that Ford was having with the Shelby Mustangs, Mercury decided to offer their own "aftermarket" modified Cougar. While the Dan Gurney Edition Cougar didn't amount to much more than an appearance package, the XR7-G took things a bit further. Carroll Shelby was called in to help with development and the XR7-G ended up being built alongside the 1968 Shelby Mustangs at the A.O. Smith factory in Detroit Michigan. Due to his involvement and production location, the XR7-G is often called the "Shelby-ized" Cougar. A number of early XR7-G Cougars even became Hertz rental units like previous Shelby Mustangs.

Like the XR7, the XR7-G could be powered by several V8 engines from the 302 all the way up to the 428. Some of the exterior changes included a hood scoop, fog lamps, and a vinyl top. The Rader wheels shown in the press photo here ended up being recalled due to tire sealing and metal fatigue problems, so they were replaced with Cougar styled steel wheels. Inside, the XR7-G boasted leather seating, various wood trim pieces throughout, and a unique center console that housed switches for fog lamps and an optional sunroof, even if the sunroof wasn't ordered. Sunroof cars were shipped from A.O. Smith to American Sunroof Corporation for the installation before returning to Ford Motor Company for distribution.

With just over 600 built, the 1968 XR7-G is one of the most special Mercury Cougars of all time. Particularly if it one of the 14 428 Cobra Jet cars. The first-generation Mercury Cougar offered a dose of style and comfort not often found in contemporary muscle cars.

[seat-safety-switch]

Most of you have never driven a car that's got a supercharger on it. Despite mass-media's glorification of the humble Roots (and even the inferior screw-type,) production automobiles have, at best, a turbocharger. Aftermarket cars? Turbos are cheap as hell from AliExpress, slap 'em on there.

The humble supercharger is dying out, between "it costs more to make," "you actually have to maintain it," "belts are icky," and "it caused my fuel economy to poop off a cliff." I think this is a little disappointing. We've lost our heritage as far as Mad Max-style blower whine goes. And that's on gas cars, the exclusive province of "maybe this is a bad idea, but it makes a cool noise."

Even though the sound of an IGBT-stuffed inverter spooling up and getting its gallop on is certainly exciting, there's no way we can put a supercharger on top of an electric car. It will simply cease to exist, lost along with the internal-combustion engine in favour of effortless, abundant torque from any speed.

Don't worry, though. I've got a solution. Many people don't know this, but the Roots supercharger originates in mineshaft ventilation. Bossmen kept having their workers run out of oxygen and die deep underground. The solution? Build a giant machine that pumps compressed air down the mineshaft, and make those ungrateful labourers suck in fresh air whether they like it or not. Sure, a couple lungs were popped, and even the dumbest forum tuner will tell you that the increased air-fuel ratio forced a lot of miners to eat a bigger breakfast, but it worked out. And it can work out for ourselves in this great new modern era.

If there's one thing that electric cars don't currently have, it's good air conditioning. Keeping the humans inside comfortable is simply too much of a drag on current. By cutting a hole in the roof, and then welding a Roots-type supercharger onto that roof, we can easily ventilate the cabin enough to blow the windows out of the doors. Sure, it does mean quite a bit of parasitic loss (that's engineer for "it's kinda hard to push until it really gets going,") but I think it's worth it to preserve our culture. Also, you should really wear ear protection while you're sitting that close to it.

[ranchstoryblog]

Nendoroid Claire Reminder: Where to order, release dates, when preorders close, and using the request form.

If you haven't gotten your preorders in for Nendoroid Claire just yet, time's running out! We've put together one last little info post with eeeeverything you need to know if you want to get your order in! Typically these things are pretty much made-to-order with very little shelf stock, so don't get left out and have to struggle with the aftermarket if you really want one!

When do preorders close?

2024/05/15 (JP)

29/05/2024 (EU)

No date listed on Goodsmile US, but Claire's page features the "Pre-Orders Closing" tag, so it's safe to say it'll probably be gone by the end of May.

When does it ship?

Both Goodsmile Japan's official page and Goodsmile Europe lists September, 2024.

Goodsmile US lists Q1 2025.

So if you absolutely want Claire the soonest possible, go with EU or JP. Including shipping, a member of our community ordering from the Japanese store to the US has said their total came out to $60.99. Another ordering from the US store had their price come out to $50.18. So if you're willing to wait, you can probably save a few bucks.

Listed Price

US - $42.99 - Goodsmile US Page

EU - €44,92 - Goodsmile EU Page

JP - ￥6,900 - Goodsmile JP Page

Goodsmile's store bills when the item is preparing to ship, not when the order is placed. So you don't have to have the money ready right now. Other storefronts will vary.

There is an exception if you use Paypal or Amazon Pay however, which will charge immediately.

Goodsmile Shop Exclusive: Golden Watering Can

If you preorder through one of the official Goodsmile shops, Claire will also come with this cute little golden watering can in addition to her standard green one.

Non-GoodSmile Retailers:

If you want to see if you can find a discount, lower shipping, or if you're already a figure collector and want somewhere that will do convenient things like combine orders to be shipped at a later date, there's a handy list of all of the ones that should be offering preorders for Claire here:

Note that these other stores won't come with the golden watering can.

The Goodsmile Request Form

If you're really hoping for other Story of Seasons characters to join Claire in the future, remember to make good use of the official request form. https://support.goodsmile.com/hc/en-us/articles/14948741690009-Product-requests-and-rerelease-requests

Probably the most key piece of info is to be specific about your request since there's some variations of characters in the series, and a few characters that share the same names. If you ask for the Harvest Goddess, there's at least 5 different ones, so mention the specific game. Similarly, If you ask for "Popuri," there's the original design from Harvest Moon 64, her alternate universe counterpart with a fresh new design in SoS FoMT, and the design from Island of Happiness.

If you want more info, we did a full write-up on the process in a previous post here:

and lastly, we'll close by sharing the promotional photos again! The tiny cow is so cute!

[ginandoldlace]

The last limousine: the Daimler DS 420 (1968-1992). In production for two years longer than the stately Rolls-Royce Phantom VI limousine, the DS 420, then owned by Jaguar and supplied with coachwork at the Coventry works, was indeed the last true non-aftermarket ("chop-shop') limousine. Over the twenty plus year runs of both cars, the Daimler's production was about fives times greater than that of the RR PVl and was priced at somewhat over half that of the PVI, making it more realistic for corporate and rental purposes, in addition to private ownership. Daimler cars were the first to enjoy royal patronage, decades before RR, giving the marque a cachet sought by many during the its production years. In the 21st century the remaining examples of the DS 420 and the PVI are highly coveted and confer upon their users a distinction elusive to this century's astronomically priced circus wagons. Photo from Park Ward Motors.

[whohasfourthumbsand]

Neon Green Stretchy Hand

Pilot Gear

Extendable sticky hand that can do all manner of things. Comes in various colors. Useful at a range of up to one meter. May also have combat applications, including the notorious Rocket Hand aftermarket modification. Khonsu Industrial Concern condemns such uses of one of their few peaceful products, but despite this it continues.

ooc: shittyquick sketichification. kickflip soon.

:)

+ I need two hundred of these. Right now. No-one in the squad bay would be safe, not even GRAE.

[taevisionceo]

TAEVision 3D Mechanical Design Parts AutoParts Aftermarket Packaging WYNN'S CHEMICAL ADDITIVES Wynn's Chemical Wynns ChemProd ChemicalProducts ▸ TAEVision Engineering on Pinterest ▸ TAEVision Engineering on Google Photos ▸ TAEVision Engineering on YouTube [Video 01] ▸ TAEVision Engineering on YouTube [Video 02]

Data 512 - Feb 06, 2023

[luperpla]

MG Sazabi ver. Ka pictures

This one was my first really serious attempt to build and paint a model post-parenthood and honestly? A 5 month turnaround time (let's call it three months to build, two months to paint) for a fully painted build like this is *pretty fuckin good* for a no support parent who works full time on top of it.

So, the colors: The main orange is a custom mixed orange, and the lighter shade is simply GaiaNotes VO-14 Coral Orange. Preshade colors for both were mixed by adding in some brown. Any orange parts got pink primer to up the saturation and the results are sooooo nice IRL. The blue is actually a colorchanging paint, which is GaiaNotes polarized? prism? pearl? series, mint blue green over a black base.

The original idea for this kit that I had was to mimic bandai's gorgeous titanium finish by putting clear black over gold but I eventually moved on from that idea because the end result would have been too similar to my 2013 Sazabi so I thought and thought until I came up with a better idea...which landed in the from of a creamsicle inspired Sazabi. The final product landed a bit away from that idea but whatever, I'm really happy with how this thing looks. The metal aftermarket parts are icing on the cake, for an MG like this it felt appropriate to go all out and use them on it and I'm glad I did.

My lighting and photography is a bit all over the place on this one but eh, whatcha gonna do 'cept keep practicing.

Not sure if I'm going to tackle my MG SInanju ver Ka. next, or take on one of my PG Unicorns. Either way, my ass is taking a break from building/painting stuff for the next month or so so I can recharge my hobby batteries.

[eyeofnewtblog]

So, my dad does a bridge school at the university he teaches at (his is held in January and is a 4 day refresher course for professionals) but honestly, any one young who is interested in civil engineering…making popsicle stick bridges is where it starts.

The number one question is always “how much stupidity/natural disaster can you build against with the budget you’ve been given” and then the construction workers get to the design and go “oh fuck this engineer, he’s never spent a single day on the job site”

One, female engineers are always eager and encouraged early on, but then they run into the Good Old Boys Club. My dad is in the Club, kind of, but he literally married a female engineer back in the 80’s and is pretty upset when women drop out of the major or (like my mom) constantly run into issues where misogyny is a major factor (screaming tantrums out of a 50+ man) in upper management.

Two, construction workers who are handed the materials list and the blueprint are 90% of the time complaining about the fact that while they’re given the most “efficient” design for structural integrity and materials, they’re going to be labor intensive to either maintain, install, or repair.

Take the 2002 Volkswagen Beetle. What fucking engineer decided to put the steering fluid pump line OVER the timing belt? It DOES make the engine more compact. It does. It also requires, as part of regular maintenance, that you UNPLUG a line that is an absolute bitch to reconnect, and should only require maintenance or repair once every two years, to be disconnected JUST so that you can replace a belt that needs to be replaced “as needed” which really just means once a year if you buy the cheapest replacement.

And engineers DO THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS. Their job is to weigh costs of maintenance, repair, sustainability.

But the reality is that if they get paid big bucks to come up with “the most efficient design” they’ll also, as part of their licensing, be required to report the drawbacks of said design.

To be fair, some inefficient aspects only pop up after manufacturing the product. But the fact remains that corporations deliberately ignore stated engineering concerns or warnings based on aesthetic, planned obsolescence, etc. That, or manufacturing costs cause corporations to deliberately ignore engineering manufacturing requirements for a design from the very start.

Or! Plus, there really is a more efficient design and the market hasn’t caught on yet! This happens with aftermarket car parts a lot.

I guess long story short, I’m very happy that these girls are getting to test out legit bridge designs and that they have the same experiences my dad gave me and my sisters (every single science experiment issued by a teacher was met with “do you wanna build bridges or test concrete? A shrug is not a choice, here’s a quarter, heads for concrete tails for bridges.”) and while I have absolutely zero interest in building bridges or testing the strength of concrete as a living, I’m really glad that someone is making it an interesting group project for young people. I’m also glad that I was raised by engineers and am capable of thinking logically about structural integrity and cost management.

[monsterhugger]

vash plush scam alert

now that ppl are getting their vash plushes and ppl are looking for aftermarket ones just a PSA:

this site is fake.

when you search for the vash plush this will be one of the first results. it showed up less than a week ago as of writing this post. you'll find sites like this for a lot of anime merch with images pulled from official sites and/or etsy. they all have roughly this layout:

here's a fake chainsaw man merch site for comparison:

with the exception of pokemon i'm not aware of any anime that has its own (english-language) online merch store. nothing like this is to be trusted.

while we're here, if you REALLY want to spend the $100+ for an aftermarket plush and are okay with the practice of scalping, i'd be wary of ebay listings using only the promo images and/or this image:

i've found three listings from three different sellers in the last few minutes using this image

i don't know where it's from but i'd put money on none of these sellers being the origin of it. best case scenario the seller is waiting on their product and already trying to resell it which is shitty practice. more likely you're going to pay premium price for a knockoff or nothing.

this is currently the only legitimate site i'm aware of listing the vash plush:

they are a reseller and people have reported quality issues buying merchandise from there (eg. items came broken, months in shipping, bad customer service) but it's the only listing up at the moment i would actually trust. all that being said, vash is currently out of stock with no word from the manufacturer Ensky at the moment as to whether it will ever be back in stock.