Features

A 2008 Honda Accord has a longer trunk than a 2000 Accord, but the opening isn’t as wide on the 2008.  Gain a little; lose a little.  Must be something to do with aerodynamics.

A 2008 Accord also has some radio/CD controls that require a half-dozen pushes on a knob or switch, whereas the 2000 radio/cassette player required only a single turn of a knob.  I wonder who made the decision to remove the simple knob in favor of something less efficient.

A Roland RD600 digital piano has more knobs and sliders than the Ensoniq KS32, which opted for a large number of buttons.  You can take your pick as to which is easier.  The main factor is probably personal preference  . . . but the basic piano sounds are not as satisfactory as with the Ensoniq.  Someone seems to have paid attention to the peripheral mechanics on the newer Roland, thinking the retro-cool knobs and sliders would sell more keyboards, while not paying enough attention to the core content — the on-board digital sounds.

Personal computers these days have such a plethora of features that it seems no single feature works as well as the all of the features did in Windows 3.1 or Windows 98.  (Win 95 wasn’t quite as good.)  The slowest computer I’ve ever had runs Windows XP.  Windows 7 and Windows 8 are better in some respects, yet there are aspects of these newer machines that obviously received little thorough attention.  I have an HP laptop that is clearly incompatible with one stock Windows auto-update feature.  The functional loops are as maddening as they are amusing, when you stop to think about how this kind of thing really shouldn’t happen at this stage of computer evolution.  And don’t get me started on touchpads.  The mouse is necessary, but slower than the keyboard.  The touchpad is inefficient at best, and with Windows 7 and 8, its functions seem even less refined.

Sometimes, added features create more problems than they solve.

In your contemporary church assembly, have added features enhanced things, or have they detracted and/or created more new problems than they were worth in terms of the gains?  When those in charge have developed things, have they continued to pay attention to the core content?

Why, oh, why?

I think some of my rants are quasi-important, but since I haven’t indulged in one for a while, I should clearly state that this one isn’t important at all.  🙂   I’ll label this clearly as a mini-rant whose title’s question doesn’t really demand an answer.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got through the last steps of an arduous process.  Completing Phase Three of a tenure review process?  No.  Finishing radiation treatments?  No.  Something far less important.

It took about six weeks to finish — in part, because of

• not living anywhere near a hardware store or a Walmart
• not remembering things at the times when I was nearer those stores
• de-prioritizing this whole escapade, since its importance pales in comparison to a lot of other goings-on

The problem?  Installing a license plate on the front bumper of our 2008 Honda Accord.

According to this site, as of 2009, 31 of these “united” states require a 2nd license plate on the front bumper.  Here are a few questions.

1. First:  why?  Why is the front plate required by these 31, and why do the other 19 not require it?  Could it be that some tax-mongering states — I don’t know, like NEW YORK? — required it so they could collect higher fees for registering cars?
2. What is the likelihood that a front license plate will help catch a crook or a drug dealer?
3. Why, given that 31 states do require it, does my Accord not have a built-in way to attach the plate?  Honda, couldn’t you have made that a little easier?
4. Do prison inmates make license plates anymore?  If not, why not?  Seems like a good occupation for them.

Here’s my jerry-rigged front plate.  

This little operation required three trips to different stores over a period of 5-6 weeks, about an hour of my time, 6-8 bolts (see extra bolts on one corner in the 1st pic), brackets (see 2nd pic), a couple of washers, and some electrical tape (also see 2nd pic.  And I still think the plate will end up falling off.