Buffett described BYD as a ‘young and energetic’ company, and said he was ‘amazed’ by the performance of its E6 electric car.
It’s a perfect segue to our next story…
*Alternate Title: “Driving Off A Cliff: Not Metaphoric Enough!”
Buffett described BYD as a ‘young and energetic’ company, and said he was ‘amazed’ by the performance of its E6 electric car.
It’s a perfect segue to our next story…
*Alternate Title: “Driving Off A Cliff: Not Metaphoric Enough!”
No comment on the story, but you should be taken out and shot for that pun. Seriously.
I wonder if Suzuki and Gore should be cautioned about air travel. Wouldn’t a firey crash be ironic?
one shillin’
for his billions
the other is chillin’
taxman willin’
And I thought this one was running a distant second for Most Likely-To-Offend Post Of Today.
Perhaps someone have tampered with his Segway? Could this have been a setup? Calling all conspiracy theorists.
Professor Darwin in the Drawing Room with a Clue Bat.
*snicker*
Just read the story and said to myself: I wonder if Kate can think of a way to cover it?
Outdo yourself every time, Kate.
Tragedy for everyone involved, but I do wonder what he was thinking in those free fall moments.
Anyone know whether Mo Strong is “involved with” BYD? al-Gore?
Buffet wanted the battery technology. From what I have read they are far superior to the others. I believe the founder is a chemist which is a pretty weird fit for a car company. Buffet does stuff like that if he believes in the people.
Isn’t BYD the company that makes rip-off look-alikes of Toyotas? Nice company you keep, Buffett.
And since Warren’s now such a big fan of taxes, I’m sure he’ll ask for the electric-car subsidies to be waived on all the e-vehicles BYD sells in the States, won’t you, Warren?
I once caught grief in the comments over a post on an idiotic university student who removed himself from the gene pool by accidentally throwing himself off a balcony in a spitting contest.
I told one of his outraged!! friends (who flocked to the comments) that had I expired in a similar fashion, my mother would have had trouble suppressing her giggles at the funeral.
I watched Top Gear (my favourite TV show) a few weeks back. Their challenge was to build an electric car. The result was ugly as sin and during the road trials they kept killing the battery. Somewhere in London they blocked off one of the streets as they ran an extension cord over to a near by house. One of the designers innocently proclaimed, “I forgot it takes a hour and a half to recharge the battery”. Their solution was a diesel powered generator to keep the batteries charged.
Professor Jones in the CRU Lab with a Crooked Spreadsheet?
I’ve seen the Segue and it’s no substitute for walking where you have a lot more control, you already own the device and you can charge up with a banana or a good breakfast.
It qualifies as the awkward Segway of all time.
@Abe: Yeah, the Segway always seemed like a chindogu invention to me. It’s not even useful for people with mobility issues because you have to stand in it.
Frankly, if the future is ridiculously overengineered replacements for just walking around, I at least want a personal hovercraft.
Tragedy for everyone involved, but I do wonder what he was thinking in those free fall moments.
~gellen
“I shouldn’t have been texting while driving.”
Did he say a Chinese car was right for him?
Hahahahahaha…
Sorry, I seem to have lost my composure.
Buffet driving a suicide clown car, does it come with the ride on top chauffeur? — Who knew he had so little value for his life and limb.
Oh wait, you mean the suicide clown cars rides in his lomos trunk. Figures, doesn’t it.
that segy was a hills and dale special, but someone forgot to tell the fool it didn’t do cliffs
I wonder if the hearse will be a dolly?
Who said gravity won’t bring you back to earth?
In our next segue:
“Flying without a parachute.”
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Segway, for people who want half a quad bike.
Segway, inherently unstable computer controlled transportation for people who really, really trust programmers.
Segway, kinda like a motorcycle going sideways and about as controllable.
Segway, answer to the question of why bipeds have to have such big brains. (To keep from falling over.)
Segway, we could have put a gas engine in it and made it marginally useful, but we’re liberals.
Segway, like two unicycles strapped together, but tippier.
What was that guy thinking when he went over the cliff? He was thinking “Oh SHIIIII!!!.. crunch”
a third wheel in the back would bring the cost down 50% or more. it just wouldnt look so “Jetson”
The problem with BYD is their technology were supposedly reversed engineered from Foxconn.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/byd-prepares-stock-offering-amid-falling-sales-foxconn-lawsuit/
Kate!
T-shirts! Stat!
Jut another reason to drive a vehicle with steel between you & calamity.
Never thought this Segway fad would get off the ground frankly. I figured it would end up another chapter in Human laziness, petering out in a few years. After all, in an arctic Nation it has only 6 months of use. More a California thing.
Sorry to hear he died. Must have been a big cliff.
That or he couldn’t swim.
Will the products name Segway end up in the English language lexicon to mean a foolish death?
JMO
“I wonder if the hearse will be a dolly?”
WINNER ROGLMAO
The Phantom
[……..What was that guy thinking when he went over the cliff? He was thinking “Oh SHIIIII!!!.. crunch”………]
Don’t confuse thoughts with vocalizations….I suggest his thought was “This is gonna hurt!!!!”
HELLO ALL,
KATE, if you could please move this to reader tips as i know it is not part of this thread or discussion but i am furious and let me tell you why .
I just recieved a credit card (witch i did not ask for ) from mbna my current credit card company and on that card is a big shiny gold flur de li….is this mbna not a canadian company regulated by canadian bank’s and credit holders?
Is this canadian nationalism ,is this what it is to be canadian? who the he!! do these people think they are ?
I tried to get them on the phone but the line was busy but i wanted to let you and all else who care to know what is going on seems a bit of french nationalism not canadian where is the canadian flag ? What the heck is going on!! MAN I AM SOO MAD RIGHT NOW ,I AM JUST FURIUOS THIS IS NOT FUNNY . I am sooo ticked off right now . How can anyone do this or be allowed to do this .
If you want proof or evidence i will gladly send you a pic or a scan of this card witch i did not activate and i will not activate i wil not usei t i am discusted this is just wrong this is canada …not quebec!!
They told me it was a new card for replacing the old one for pay pass and it was more secure ..sorry anything with a flur de li on it does not make me feel secure in anyway secure in anyway.
Thank you bye!
The FYD deal re appliances sounds very interesting. The charging system for the car would likely connect up close to the kitchen and be compatible with the FYD appliances. Then take the final step. When systemic power shortages loom, the usual step is to cut off domestic power in one half of the city in the morning and the other in the afternoon so industry and large commercial activities can continue during daylight working hours. But if a suitable battery pack was available that had been on charge overnight during off peak power consumption, then why not use it to power the house during power outages? Hmmmmmmmmm.
Paul
Get a Segway on the card and then ride it to head office to return the card, saying thanks for the use of your card of course.
bverwey
Paul;
I really think you should switch to decaf…
Nothing funny about the death of Jimi Heselden folks. I’ve just heard an interview of a councilor from Leeds (where Heseldon is based). He was a former coal miner who was laid off during the strikes of the early 1980’s. He took his severance and started his own company and made a fortune making specialized containers used for blast protection by the army amongst other things. He has also donated at least 23 million pounds to charities (10 million pounds last week).
Too bad, the world could use more of him. As for the Segway, a bicycle can do more for one tenth the price.
Buffett is a Democrat, and supports an estate tax which would force the sale of billions of securities by heirs to pay the tax.
Since Buffett has several times in his newsletters said he was unable to find any bargains for his shareholders, his support of the estate tax seems very self-serving.
Remember Buffett was, and -of course- remains a supporter of Pres. Obama.
Couldn’t take the pressure as the relatively new owner (purchased it last year) and went of the deep end.
Given his age and history(working in the mines), it is quite possible that he suffered a stroke or heart attack causing him to lose control of the Segway. The path was on his land and apparently he knew it well, so perhaps he was trying to avoid hitting an animal – who knows. From what I read he was a generous and self made man. Condolences to his family.
Revnant Dream: I also thought the Segway would not catch on and just be a fad – they do not appear to go very fast. I think the design could use a seat that can be folded back when not in use.
a third wheel in the back would bring the cost down 50% or more. it just wouldnt look so “Jetson”
Posted by: cal2
A third wheel would have made the segway a thousand times safer.
The balancing part served no purpose, zero, none, niet, squat, zilch.
The segway was an accident waiting to happen and nothing else… in my arrogant opipinion…
OT, but someone mentioned text-messaaging.
Now get this:
The tow truck that towed my broken-down motorcycle in N California last week … is dispatched via text-message.
I kid you not.
Even more ridiculous, the alert is a burst of morse code.
I kid you not. The driver was embarrassed.
We live in a truly lunatic age.
Between government over regulation and pressure causing vastly higher production costs from the ecofreak greenies all the industry in the US is moving to China, Japan or Korea and there is hardly anything left to invest in here in North America.
Read it and weep because there is going to be a lot more of that until our North American governments along with the greenies stop trying to make 3rd world entities out of us. Canada is included in that view.
Paul in calgary
MBNA is an american bank…..don’t get knots in your toga…..americans have only just got over the notion that Canucks speak with a scottish burr…
“Don’t sweat the petty things…and don’t pet the sweaty things………”
Paul —
That was Hilarious. Most would have just cut up the card, but you’ve turned it into an a device for our entertainment.
Do a video and post it on U-Tube.
I’m stealing the cluebat thing Kate. Without remorse.
@John B, It looks like Heselden was a pretty good guy, based on what you said, and my condolences to his family.
The first time I ever saw a segway in action was in Nashville about 3 years ago. The police on street patrols in the downtown area were using them to sort of mingle with the people and tourists and to check out all the country saloons and bars in the lower Broadway area and the downtown area. I was walking near lower Broadway and stopped at a stop light. I was looking around (you see a lot of gorgeous girls there) and I looked back and there it was a segway with a female officer on board. I did not even hear it come up beside me. She smiled at me and I started talking to her. I told her that I had never seen one of these things live before and I asked her what did she think of it. She said that once you get used to it, it’s great. She said that it was better than sitting in a patrol car going around the block all day long and that it was better than walking all day long (because they are trying to make sure that people see the police presence and know who they are). The light changed and she told be to have a great day and she took off to the sidewalk on the other side surprisingly fast. These things are surprisingly fast and they go up and down hills pretty good. So I guess there is a use for them with the police depending on how you are policing your city.
Scooters make more sense.
Don’t knock it until you tried one, eh. I’ve driven a Segway and to be honest it was great fun but my biggest issue was how to carry it up and down three floors to my apartment. It may be a bit gimmicky but then so was the cell phone, home computer and horseless carriage. As far as falling off a cliff, there are a dozen places you can get videos of idiots on skis, skateboards, mountain bikes and such falling off cliffs and hillsides. Darwin doesn’t discriminate with technology.
Now a Segway with air bag and parachute…
I’ve seen the Segways used for police patrol purposes inside airports, too. I think they are well-suited to that purpose, being quiet, with a pretty small footprint, and give the operator a slightly-elevated viewpoint to look over the heads of the crowd.
They were ridiculously over-promoted by their original inventor as a revolution in personal transportation, which, clearly they are not. But police patrol is one niche market for which they seem well-suited, and I guess Mr. Heselden recognized that.
Once he bought the Segway company, it was all down hill from there…..
Swear to dog, I own Baby Bs and work in Omaha but that jackass is a closet socialist. Despise him [love Nebraska Furniture Mart].