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Author Topic:   sitting at the lights
aloysius
unregistered
posted March 25, 2002 17:29           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You've all been in this situation:

Sitting in your car at red traffic lights waiting for the lights to turn green. In anticipation you've got first gear selected and clutch to the floor. Waiting, waiting, waiting...
Your foot gets tired so you change into nuetral & take your foot off the clutch. Instantly the lights change and you have to go through it all again.

Question: How the &^%$# do the lights know that you've got your foot off the clutch??

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Erbo
Super Geek

Posts: 112
From: Denver, CO, US
Registered: Jan 2000

posted March 25, 2002 23:55     Click Here to See the Profile for Erbo   Click Here to Email Erbo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's the Murphy Switch in the clutch mechanism. Releasing the clutch triggered the Murphy Switch, which sent a signal to the traffic light, causing it to change.

Murphy Switches are insidious little devices. Another example is the one in your toilet seat that causes the phone to ring as soon as you sit down. (If you've turned off the ringer on the phone, the switch causes a Jehovah's Witness to knock on your front door.) A variant of this device is hooked to the dial of my toaster oven, always ensuring that my English muffins are either underdone or overdone.

Computers, of course, contain large numbers of Murphy Switches. This virtually ensures that something will hap5$qz}}10}}
NO CARRIER

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ZorroTheFox
SuperBlabberMouth!

Posts: 1126
From: Milton, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2001

posted March 26, 2002 16:27     Click Here to See the Profile for ZorroTheFox   Click Here to Email ZorroTheFox     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's a governent plot, they are watching you at all times. your car is sompletely rigged with sensors you don't see and all information is sent up to the mother satellite. The satellite controls the stoplight and they judge how you react to the situation. You are apparently being targeted for some kinod of experiment. Watch your rearview, they are following..........Z

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GameMaster
Geek

Posts: 78
From: State of insanity
Registered: Mar 2002

posted March 26, 2002 21:01     Click Here to See the Profile for GameMaster   Click Here to Email GameMaster     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
<Quote>
Computers, of course, contain large numbers of Murphy Switches. This virtually ensures that something will hap5$qz}}10}
</Qoute>

That is why my program won't comp;ile.... running GDB on g++ looking for the "Murphy Switch Block" Ah, th;ere it is.... Wait, no that is the fools switch, it makes you think that it's the murphy switch, but in reality it actually only looks for ; for misplaced semicolons;.

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MBoprey
Geek

Posts: 87
From: In the crevices of my iBook
Registered: Mar 2002

posted March 27, 2002 06:20     Click Here to See the Profile for MBoprey   Click Here to Email MBoprey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I don't know but my friend's mother was fooled by us saying, "Blue light!" and she accidently drove thru the red light. I thought it was kind of funny because there is no blue light in our town. :-P

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Msb

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The Lama
Geek

Posts: 75
From: At a Mac near you
Registered: Mar 2002

posted March 27, 2002 09:22     Click Here to See the Profile for The Lama   Click Here to Email The Lama     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I doubt that there is a blue traffic light anwhere, but if there is I'd like to see it one day

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The Lama
Geek

Posts: 75
From: At a Mac near you
Registered: Mar 2002

posted March 27, 2002 09:24     Click Here to See the Profile for The Lama   Click Here to Email The Lama     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I doubt that there is a blue traffic light anwhere, but if there is I'd like to see it one day

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macadddikt18
SuperBlabberMouth!

Posts: 1145
From: In a world beyond your understanding
Registered: Jan 2002

posted March 27, 2002 11:43     Click Here to See the Profile for macadddikt18   Click Here to Email macadddikt18     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
See, when i pull up to the light i take the car out of gear and sit and play with things in the car. while i am playing i watch the traffic lights for the other cars that are green adn when i see them go read i prepare to go.
Nayt

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c:/dos
c:/dos/run
run/dos/run

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aloysius
Newbie Larva

Posts: 2
From:
Registered: Mar 2002

posted March 27, 2002 15:05     Click Here to See the Profile for aloysius     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There's another curious thing I've noticed while driving.
Have you ever tried to get somewhere really, really desperately and everyone gets in your way and you get caught by all the red lights?
There is a way to guarantee that you'll get a clear, uninterrupted run all the way from start to finish! It's simple, cheap, and legal.
Just carry with you a book, magazine or newspaper with an article or story that you're desperate to read. Of course you've got to wait for the next red light for the opportunity to read it, but you never get the chance because an unread article outranks red lights in the desperation factor. You'll get green lights & clear roads all the way. Guaranteed.

Why is this so?

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GameMaster
Geek

Posts: 78
From: State of insanity
Registered: Mar 2002

posted March 27, 2002 17:21     Click Here to See the Profile for GameMaster   Click Here to Email GameMaster     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Murphy switch can't be fooled that easily, they know what you are thinking, in fact I've hear that there was a guy who tried to fool them with the old "Article You Want to Read" trick, and he ended up losing the magizine out the window (which happen to be closed) and then hitting all the red lights anyway. (His name: Randy Beeman (Animanics))Really.

Thinking about it, that sounds like trying to beat the Murphy Switch with the Murphy Switch. This may work...

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