But how can you say it didn’t Dave your life? If you are in a crash and come out alive then, in whatever way, your life was saved. You don’t have to be hit hard to sustain a life threatening head injury – even having an ‘SPD moment’ could mean you hit your head hard on a kerb which could potentially cause massive injury. A helmet in that situation would probably do a massive amount to lessen that. Having the logic of “if it’s going to kill you it will kill you’, then why wear seatbelts in a car? Why have airbags.? Why give soldiers body armour? None of those things can guarantee to save your life, but they will damn well do a better job than not having them!

I don’t see how wrapping your head in what is effectively a crumple zone can not be a good thing? Ok, it might not help in every situation, but it’s simple physics that it’s going to be a damn slight better than your bare head hitting a bus/pavement/whatever.

And the pic of the alleged iPhone 5 case… That would give a weird aspect ratio – very long and thin. So… Typical mail spouting rubbish.

The longer screen is actually one of the generally accepted rumours for the next iPhone – I’m with you that it seems a little odd, but of all the rumours, that one has quite a lot of ‘evidence’ behind it. I think it allows a larger screen, ‘proper’ 16:9 viewing, and also means current apps won’t have to be re-resolutioned (….) as the screen will still have the same number of pixels per inch, but just more of them (if that makes sense?! :S).

But who knows really, we shall see whenever it is launched!

All these driver aids do one thing and one thing only in my view they allow either bad or inexperienced the ability to drive faster than they really should.

Although modern safety aids are extremely effective, they still have to obey the laws of physics and if you overcook it too much then it doesn’t matter what your ESP does, you are still going to bin it. As others have mentioned above, if you are really trying to push it with ESP on it can actually become dangerous as the car try’s to fight you. There is no conspiracy with these things – they are genuinely there to potentially save your life when something unexpected happens during normal driving.

No chance of setting the air bags off with anything modern brakes could do. If you think about hitting a brick wall or something, you can go from a decent old speed to nothing in a a fraction of a second which is what will set the airbags off.

Yeah, absolutely. If you are in a position to be putting the car at it’s limit knowingly then that is exactly what the button is there for (although, most non-sportscars won’t turn it off entirely, it will still be there if you really lose control!). But for popping down the shops, it will react orders of magnitude times faster than the driver can if you hit a slippery patch.

I thought it also worked on corners so it can keep on the same corner…?

Yup, it will do. In most basic terms it looks for a yaw or acceleration that is not in the direction and proportional to the steering input. So, if you are going round a corner and the back or front starts to step out, the car will start to yaw and slide disproportionately from your steering input and the ESP will kick in to get you back on course.

Fancy pants Jap cars like the Mitsubishi Evo and the Skyline (it even has active 4 wheel steering) have had it for a few years

Quite right, I had forgotten about those!

Edited for some accuracy, also Link

Cheers for the link. This where you get into a slightly grey area… Basically, all of these systems (ESP, TC, ABS, etc) all use the same set of sensors – generally a wheel speed sensor on each corner, a yaw sensor and a steering input sensor (plus some others depending on the system). They all do essentially the same thing – either applying each wheels brake, or applying torque to each wheel – but do so in different ways. What is usually meant by ESP, and the discussion in here, is the system that will react to a car sliding off course and try to correct it. The advanced traction systems which help in snow, sand, mud, etc are just extensions of this and will be coupled with the TC and ABS systems. ESP on it’s own is a safety feature, but coupled with the others it becomes a driving aid.

If it’s on then yes. But (as most of this thread has alluded to…) it is usually just a button press away to turn it off and then you can slide to your hearts content! :) But for when you aren’t on track then it is a damn good idea to keep it on!

Traction control/ESP detects wheel-spin and reduces/cuts out engine power until all wheels are rotating at the same speed. Supposed to be “almost as good as” 4×4. Seemed to be a good idea to me.

Not quite. ESP (Electronic Stability Protection) is designed to get your car back in a straight line if it is moving laterally from the direction you are pointing (i.e. you are sliding). It does this by individually braking the wheels and/or applying torque to one/both of the driving wheels (depending on drive system etc). Straight traction control is what will cut the spark/injection in order for the wheels to stop spinning and regain grip. Again, fancier cars which can control torque to each wheel are even better at this – but then you are generally in a 4wd at that point anyway! A more advanced version, which isn’t really in production cars yet, is torque vectoring where torque is applied to each driven wheel differently in order to pull/push the car round a corner – essentially the opposite of ESP.

In normal driving (ie not wet/slippy) I can’t remember it ever showing its face on our current Megane 225 Cup presumably because I haven’t pushed the car anywhere near its pretty scary limits?

I would feel the point at which grip would go at the back and begin to apply opposite lock or lift off the accelerator a bit, which would result in the car doing all kinds of pitching all over the place. Basically I was trying to correct the loss of grip and so was the computer.

With the ESP off that wouldn’t happen.

The thing is that ESP, is not only useful for when you are pushing it and step over the cars limits. It can kick in at an absolutely mundane pace, but in doing so save yours or a pedestrians life.

The example my instructor gave me is to imagine you are turning right into a side-road. As you start to turn in (so we’ll say you are going what, 10-15mph maybe), you hit a patch of ice/diesel/banana skins and the front end starts to slide (not understeer, a proper front wheel skid). Now imagine that there is a mother with her child waiting to cross the side road and you are now sliding towards them. The natural tendency (which anyone not trained would undoubtedly do, and probably the majority of those with training as well) would be to try and turn the car more to make the corner – which will just make the slide worse. The manual way of correcting it is that you need to straighten the car up until it gets grip, then try the turn again – repeating until you get round the corner. This means you have to actively point the car at the mother and child in order to regain grip. Now if you, in a panic situation, can calmly do that then you are a much MUCH bigger man than me! In this situation, with ESP on, it would sort itself out. OK, you might still scare yourself and the mother and child silly, but the very good chances are you won’t hit them. That is the sort of situation you could face on your daily drive when you least expect it and you are NOWHERE near the cars limits.

Isn’t it going to be a legal requirement on all cars sold in the EU soon? Apart from the snow problem (which can surely be designed out) I can’t see a downside – most people have no clue how to handle a car on the limit, least of all in a panic accident avoidance situation

It’s been a legal requirement in Europe since last year for new vehicles. Any existing models can be sold without it until 2018 I think.

The snow problem is the main reason you can turn it off. A lot of cars will now have a winter mode which will sort out the TC, ESP, etc itself so you don’t have to faff around turning ESP off.

Everyday driving, no matter what the road conditions, in a modern car without ESP on (or TC, or any other electronic aid) just seems stupid to me – they are designed well enough that they won’t kick in until you really need it and when they do, they will get you out of situations that probably 99% of the population couldn’t handle. When I had the chance to test out various of the systems, when you finally got them to kick in I would be very glad if it had happened out on the road!

I’d definitely go for it. Like some others above have also said, I’ve been on various advanced and high speed driving courses for work and all the instructors swear by it. A well designed ESP system won’t stop you having fun in the car, but will almost certainly stop you killing yourself.

ABS might help you to steer under extreme braking but as far as I can see ESP is for muppet drivers who don’t know how to control their cars

I’d be very surprised if, in a situation that demanded it, you would be able to control a car to safety to the same extent as ESP can. A front wheel slide (which, generally speaking it will be guarding against), is one of the trickiest a manoeveurs to perform in an emergency – ESP will almost completely cut out the need to do it at all.

Also, likely price £20

It’s confirmed as £13.99

Apple UK – Mountain Lion[/url]

so sounds like I need to get the basic kindle for reading AND the nexus 7 for everything else…

It depends. If you really like to read, especially at night, then it’s probably worth it (both are very keenly priced, so you can still get them together for less than an iPad or any other Android tablet). If reading is something you would like to be able to have access to without having to carry books around, but isn’t something you do a lot then just the NEXUS will probably suffice.

Cougars road/mountain bike analogy is pretty much perfect! A mountain bike (Nexus) performs fantastically off-road (the Internet etc), and can also be used on-road (reading) but it isn’t the most refined experience. A road bike (Kindle) is unparalleled on-road (reading), but, while you could theoretically take it off-road (the Internet/apps) but it would be a pretty ropey experience!

If they want it to read books on then Kindle 100%, the screen is infinitely better than a tablet for reading.

However, if they want to do ANYTHING other than reading (and only wants one device), then go with the Nexus. You aren’t going to be getting internet, email, apps etc on the Kindle (well, technically you can get the first two, but you may as well not as they are awful). It would still be good for reading, although the screen brightness isn’t ideal if you are reading at night in bed etc. The Kindle iOS app is excellent, and I presume the Android one is similar. You essentially get the entire Kindle ‘experience’ (page syncing, instant download etc) but just not the reading experience of a proper Kindle unit.

The Nexus does look fantastic. If it were available before I got my iPad, certainly would have been my choice.

I think the problem is that The Dark Knight was SO good, that anything Nolan did with TDKR had to be either as good or better than TDK or face it being called a ‘flop’ by various critics (and forum readers….).

Personally, whilst it wasn’t as good as TDK, I still think that in the grand scheme of things it was a great film. The best part of 3 hours really didn’t seem like the best part of 3-hours – you just got engrossed in what was going on. Unlike some, I actually thought the middle bit with essentially no Batman in it, was one of the strongest parts. At some points, there really was a ‘how in hell are they going to get out of this’ feeling when Bane really took control of Gotham. The ending maybe let it down a little, but still good and some quite clever bits there as well (some sequel bait, although I would doubt if there will be one…). So yeah, probably a good 8.5-9/10 for me. Watching it in IMAX was ace as well!

Any chance of a lens list if you are looking to get rid of. I (and I’m sure others) might be interested in taking some off your hands. I love my little OM-2, feels so nice to take photos with – and takes great ones as well!

Booked in at the IMAX at Crawley tomorrow night – properly excited! I’ve had to stop myself reading the Empire (or any other reviews) as want to go in completely un-blemished of how I think it will be (although we all know it will be ace!).

It works much better but the injectors are less reliable being complicated piezo electro mechanical things rather than a spring and a pin.

The majority of passenger car diesels actually still use Solenoid injectors. Piezos are starting to come in, mainly for emissions control, but on the whole solenoid is still king (much cheaper and as you rightly say, more reliable).

Roland MicroCube? They have a couple of clean settings which would mean you wouldn’t be colouring whats coming out of the Pod. Sound reasonably decent (for the size/cost) on their own as well.

Thankfully somebody has seen the light and booted moyles off the radio, a totally boring idividual, with all his mates backing him up and laughing at his purile sexist and homophobic jokes

Oh come on with the homophobic accusation! Considering one of the key members of his team is VERY openly gay, there is literally no way the man is homophobic! I could possibly give you sexist, but surely you can see its as part of the ‘character’ and is very very very rarely genuinely offensive.

Grimmy I actualy find really funny though. Not sure how he’ll cope with a daytime playlist, he’s not been one to mince his words when filling in the daytime and playing ‘playlist’ stuff.

Yeah, agree with this – fingers crossed he’ll be allowed to bring in some of the stuff he would usually play on his evening show. They let Zane Lowe do it when he covered for Moyles…although that was usually only for a week maximum. Thinking about it more, Grimmy should be really good for the show. He has a more ‘adult’ sense of humour like Moyles did, rather than the ‘try and be zany for the kids’ Greg James or ‘rely on massively irritating catchphrases’ Mills. Just seems a bit more like a normal bloke on the radio – which is a good thing.

I think of all of the options, Grimmy is probably the one who will fit best. Like almightydutch, I used to think he was annoying, but his stand in shows for Scott Mills and Greg James are much better than their normal hosts. I was dreading they would move Greg James to the breakfast show which would be utterly horiffic, never heard someone so wet on the radio before.

Shame Moyles is going though – unashamedly enjoyed the last 8 years (and his afternoon show before that). Hopefully he’ll get another show. If he got something that can be a bit less ‘youth focused’ then I reckon it could be a really good listen.

Renaultsport one is meant to be pretty good fun, but I can’t imagine a boggo courtesy car model would be that exciting….

Be honest. You’re using the fault as an excuse to justify buying a new phone, aren’t you. (-:

Totally!

Well, it will all work out even in the end, just a slightly cack-handed way of doing it! Hopefully the 5 will be a reasonably big upgrade step – historically every 2 years has been the bigger jump in specs. I would usually just hold out, but the home button on my current one is really annoying (taking about 5 hard presses to get it to do anything, if at all) so working 4S for a few months to tide me over would be quite nice!

Yeah, the idea would be to sell both my current 4 and then the 4S when the 5 comes out which should net me the majority of the cost of the 5 (based on current pricing). It then works out pretty much the same over the two years.

jFletch – yep, good point – not overly bothered about waiting an extra month or so, it was more being stuck with the 4S for 2 years that I’d be a bit miffed about.

Excellent – what I was expecting but thought it worth a sanity check before signing my life away for another 2 years!

Drac – this is entirely true, but basically I’m a big geek and a moderate Apple ‘Fanboi’ so that just wouldnt hold really!

As many have said, a Merlin engined aircraft or Vulcan at full chat is pretty much impossible to beat!

This video at 0:36ish sends shivers down my spine every time I watch – cant imagine how loud it would have been for the guy filming it. The sound of the turbines spinning up before all hell breaks loose is just glorious!

Vulcan at Yeovilton

speed12, not sure they were all Merlins. Think one of them had a Griffon.

Is that my anorak? Thanks…..

Haha, well one Merlin on its own is a glorious noise so any others are a bonus!

Regardless of the appropriateness, there is NOTHING that could beat the sound of 9 Merlin engines flying overhead (5 Hurricanes/Spits & 1 Lancaster)!

I wouldn’t necessarily say better sensors on the NEX – but they are certainly bigger (although not by much). The sensor in the GX1 and the new Oly OM-D especially, are capable of producing stunningly good quality that matches ‘proper’ SLRs. I think m4/3 is now mature enou with a great selection of lenses and bodies, and image quality that is easily better than most ‘normal’ photographers will require that it is the better choice then the DSLR route if upgrading from a point and shoot.

It wasn’t though, that was the problem. There was FAR too much Shia Labouef / Megan Whatsherface general blathering, and nowhere NEAR enough robots smacking the crap out of each other. 3 was ok though.

I think where the Transformers films went wrong is that they took themselves far too seriously for what should have been films about big robots kicking the crap out of each other. The first one is passable enough because of the novelty to turn your brain off but the other two tried to get too serious. This is where The Avengers was so good I think – Joss Whedon managed to write it so there was a lot of action, you cared about the characters and plot, but it didn’t take itself seriously at all and in places could almost of have been a comedy (and that worked!).

Software crashes can still occur, but what it will never (well, very very very very rarely) do is to lock the entire system if it does crash. What annoys me on Windows PCs (XP this is, not sure about 7) is that if a program crashes, it will generally freeze up the PC for a bit or freeze the window on the display but all white. Then to quit it you have to go to Task manager etc. On a Mac, the program will either force quit itself, or just a CMD-right click on the dock icon, force quit and re-open as if nothing happened. With the new ‘sandboxing’ coming in Mountain Lion, it should be even less likely that a program will knock out the whole computer.

Installation/Uninstall as mentioned above is also easy and seamless. If you uninstall a program it does actually uninstall it, not just delete the program but leave code and files all over the place.

As these guys have said, it doesn’t really do anything different to a Windows PC, but will generally be a bit prettier, more intuitive, and more stable. The pretty thing wears off after a while, but the intuitiveness and stability of it are what keeps me using them over Windows PC. There are loads of times at work when I wish for features like Expose, spotlight, and some of the other little background features.

Melancholia was superb! Utterly utterly depressing, but then that’s the whole point – some great acting in it though.

Worst film vote here is Ultraviolet (again with Milla Jovovich – do I sense a theme here….) – just utter drivel. Honestly didn’t have a clue what was going on for pretty much all of it, took itself WAY too seriously, and properly dodgy acting. AVOID!

As others have said, it’s just two different approaches. An open cockpit car with a decently designed aero package will mean the driver is essentially invisible to the airflow over the body. A closed cockpit car with a well designed cockpit and trained crew will be no slower to get out of/in to than an open cockpit car. All swings and roundabouts really – totally depends on the overall package and team. Great racing though. Having the mix of classes really makes the races interesting. I spent two seasons working for an LMP1 team and am gutted I stoppe doing it – great fun at the time though!