Jim Henderson wrote:
> Depending on where you are (and I know you're in CA), though, "red" might 
> be the wrong answer.  I've been places where green was on top (though I 
> can't remember where), and I've been to places where the lights are 
> arranged horizontally (IIRC, Detroit is like that).

Everywhere in the USA, red is on the top or the left. I'm pretty sure the 
introductory class on how to drive that they teach when you're about to turn 
old enough to get a driver license isn't addressing that in a country on the 
other side of the world, lights are arranged differently. :-)

No, it was just that 80% of the class never looked out the window while 
being driven around, I guess.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
   I get "focus follows gaze"?

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DungBeatle wrote:
> There's a picture of a traffic light in Dallas, Texas where
> they are horizontal (you have to scroll down):

I was simplifying. Of course we have horizontal lights, vertical lights, 
lights with only one light, etc. But if the light's vertical, red is on the 
top here, and if it's horizontal, red is on the left, assuming it has a red.

This really wasn't a trick question. There's really only one way to read 
"what color is the light on top"?

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
   I get "focus follows gaze"?

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"Darren New" <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote in message
news:4b68a304$1@news.povray.org...
> DungBeatle wrote:
> > There's a picture of a traffic light in Dallas, Texas
where
> > they are horizontal (you have to scroll down):
>
> I was simplifying. Of course we have horizontal lights,
vertical lights,
> lights with only one light, etc. But if the light's
vertical, red is on the
> top here, and if it's horizontal, red is on the left,
assuming it has a red.
>
> This really wasn't a trick question. There's really only
one way to read
> "what color is the light on top"?

The U.S. has taken steps to deal with this problem:

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/

On December 16, 2009 a final rule adopting the 2009 Edition
of the MUTCD was published in the Federal Register. States
must adopt the 2009 National MUTCD as their legal State
standard for traffic control devices within two years.

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On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:09:55 -0800, Darren New wrote:

> Everywhere in the USA, red is on the top or the left. I'm pretty sure
> the introductory class on how to drive that they teach when you're about
> to turn old enough to get a driver license isn't addressing that in a
> country on the other side of the world, lights are arranged differently.
> :-)
> 
> No, it was just that 80% of the class never looked out the window while
> being driven around, I guess.

Well, yeah - I just was observing that the answer to the question could 
be a trick - not that it was likely. :-)

Over here, people would say you were nuts if you said that red+yellow 
could be lit at the same time, or yellow+green could be, but that is the 
way the lights in the UK are. :-)

Jim

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On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:37:07 -0800, DungBeatle wrote:

> 1/4 mile from a standing start isn't going to be low times for a car
> designed to go 250 MPH, it's going to be high-geared... For example, a
> McClaren F1 ($800k) does the 1/4 in about 11 seconds...

Ah, that's the trick - I read it as they did 144 through the 1/4 mile, 
which in retrospect isn't what they measured at all.  It was from a 
standing start through 1/4 mile and the 144 MPH was the speed at the end 
of the track.

That makes a lot more sense now.

Jim

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<snip>
> It's got a CD-changer in the front, which is nice. It's slot-loading 
> though, so any CDs you put in it are likely to get ruined.
<snip>

O_o

This logic astounds me!

Cheers Dre

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DungBeatle wrote:
> "Darren New" <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote in message
> news:4b68a304$1@news.povray.org...
>> DungBeatle wrote:
>>> There's a picture of a traffic light in Dallas, Texas
> where
>>> they are horizontal (you have to scroll down):
>> I was simplifying. Of course we have horizontal lights,
> vertical lights,
>> lights with only one light, etc. But if the light's
> vertical, red is on the
>> top here, and if it's horizontal, red is on the left,
> assuming it has a red.
>> This really wasn't a trick question. There's really only
> one way to read
>> "what color is the light on top"?
> 
> The U.S. has taken steps to deal with this problem:

What problem?

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
   I get "focus follows gaze"?

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nemesis wrote:
> I suck at driving even at games so I thought I'd be putting people's lifes
> at danger behind a wheel. :)

Ditto.

And then there's the money cost, and the pollution (which I'd contribute 
to), and the traffic (which I'd contribute to *and* suffer myself).

I see too many negatives and few positives...

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> It's the age of the car.

I know, my point being that since at least 20 years most cars have had at 
least 5 gears.

> I tended to skip gears when I had a manual transmission, often going from 
> 2 to 4 for example.

I very rarely skip going up gears, but often when braking I skip 2 or 3 on 
the way down.

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> What does this sign mean?
>
> A. Stop.
> B. Stop if there is traffic coming.
> C. Stop if you feel like it.
> D. Go.
>
>
>
> I'm not kidding. That's really what option C actually said.

Those questions are all really stupid.  My favourite:

You come up behind a slow driver, you should:

A. Drive as close as possible to him to make him speed up.
B. Leave a safe distance and overtake only when you are sure it is safe to 
do so.
C. Press your horn repeatedly to let him know you want to go past.
D. Ram him off the road.

I dunno, but when I did it, it was with pencil and paper, and you had 35 
questions like the above to do in 45 minutes.  After 10-15 minutes I (and a 
few others) had finished, checked and double-checked and left.  I wonder if 
anyone actually stayed until the end?

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