by hoyclan December 19, 2009
Get the blackura mug.A company that made car airbags. Pretty much every car company except for Volvo used Takata airbags on at least one vehicle line at some point in time, but Honda and Toyota used their airbags the most.
Back in the 1990s, airbags were made with a chemical propellant called sodium azide, which is very toxic. By 2000 automakers switched to other propellants that were safer. Takata switched to a propellant called Tetrazole for a while, it was effective but expensive. Takata was looking to save a buck and decided to go with ammonium nitrate.
Ammonium nitrate tends to stick together after absorbing humidity. This problem is worse in climates which have lots of hot and humid weather. The airbags are sealed in a metal container, so it takes several years for the propellant to clump together. For the first few years after Takata made the switch to ammonium nitrate, everything was going well. Then, starting around 2008, some of these airbags went off in crashes and instead of providing a cushion, they shot fucking shrapnel at people in crashes. The ammonium nitrate's clumping together caused it to detonate too forcefully, blowing apart the housing of the airbag. Over 20 people have been killed by these airbombs, the vast majority of them in Hondas and Ford Rangers from the early to mid 2000's.
Despite a massive recall campaign which succeeded in getting the vast majority of these airbombs out of cars, the damage had been done and Takata closed down in 2018.
Back in the 1990s, airbags were made with a chemical propellant called sodium azide, which is very toxic. By 2000 automakers switched to other propellants that were safer. Takata switched to a propellant called Tetrazole for a while, it was effective but expensive. Takata was looking to save a buck and decided to go with ammonium nitrate.
Ammonium nitrate tends to stick together after absorbing humidity. This problem is worse in climates which have lots of hot and humid weather. The airbags are sealed in a metal container, so it takes several years for the propellant to clump together. For the first few years after Takata made the switch to ammonium nitrate, everything was going well. Then, starting around 2008, some of these airbags went off in crashes and instead of providing a cushion, they shot fucking shrapnel at people in crashes. The ammonium nitrate's clumping together caused it to detonate too forcefully, blowing apart the housing of the airbag. Over 20 people have been killed by these airbombs, the vast majority of them in Hondas and Ford Rangers from the early to mid 2000's.
Despite a massive recall campaign which succeeded in getting the vast majority of these airbombs out of cars, the damage had been done and Takata closed down in 2018.
by hoyclan January 18, 2020
Get the takata mug.The number that sunk Sega and kickstarted the PlayStation's success in 1995.
At E3 in 1995, Sega announced that their new Saturn console would be $399 as they surprise-launched it. Both the Saturn and the PlayStation were already out in Japan, and the PlayStation had more impressive-looking games, so it was natural to expect that it would be at least $399, right?
Then the Sony president walked up to the lectern and said that fateful number...
At E3 in 1995, Sega announced that their new Saturn console would be $399 as they surprise-launched it. Both the Saturn and the PlayStation were already out in Japan, and the PlayStation had more impressive-looking games, so it was natural to expect that it would be at least $399, right?
Then the Sony president walked up to the lectern and said that fateful number...
"Hmmm, I'm looking forward to this Sega Saturn, but it's a little expensive and the PlayStation's games look at least as good. Get a Saturn now or wait until September to get a PlayStation?
"299."
"That's it, I'm getting a PlayStation."
"299."
"That's it, I'm getting a PlayStation."
by hoyclan August 16, 2023
Get the 299 mug.by hoyclan March 13, 2011
Get the Mexican food mug.If cars ran on Windows Vista:
7:30 am. Johnny goes to get in his car (that he's making $700 monthly payments on). As soon as he turns the key, the car freezes. He tries to shift the car into reverse, but it doesn't respond. He fiddles with it for a couple minutes, before the car starts. He has to go through a range of windows to give permission for it to work. "Gearshift.exe needs your permission to run." "Steeringwheel.exe", "Radio.exe", etc. By the time he leaves, it's 7:37 and he's probably going to be late for work.
He's on a country road fifteen minutes later, when he gets a message. "Steeringwheel.exe has stopped working, Windows is checking for a solution." just as he's about to go around a curve. Just as he slams head on into a Windows 7 car, his car says "Airbag.exe needs your permission to run." Obviously he can't react in time for the crash, so the airbag doesn't deploy. After the crash, his hand slips, hits "Yes", and the airbag punches him in the face, causing further injury. The driver of the Windows 7 car walks away.
Good thing the emergency room doesn't run on Windows Vista.
7:30 am. Johnny goes to get in his car (that he's making $700 monthly payments on). As soon as he turns the key, the car freezes. He tries to shift the car into reverse, but it doesn't respond. He fiddles with it for a couple minutes, before the car starts. He has to go through a range of windows to give permission for it to work. "Gearshift.exe needs your permission to run." "Steeringwheel.exe", "Radio.exe", etc. By the time he leaves, it's 7:37 and he's probably going to be late for work.
He's on a country road fifteen minutes later, when he gets a message. "Steeringwheel.exe has stopped working, Windows is checking for a solution." just as he's about to go around a curve. Just as he slams head on into a Windows 7 car, his car says "Airbag.exe needs your permission to run." Obviously he can't react in time for the crash, so the airbag doesn't deploy. After the crash, his hand slips, hits "Yes", and the airbag punches him in the face, causing further injury. The driver of the Windows 7 car walks away.
Good thing the emergency room doesn't run on Windows Vista.
Windows Vista is better than Windows ME, and worse than Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, XP, 7, 8... well pretty much any non ME Windows released since 1990.
by hoyclan June 10, 2014
Get the windows vista mug.by hoyclan August 10, 2016
Get the Vac mug.Pros:
1. You only have to use it for one minute, just to get to Mozilla.com and download Firefox
Cons:
1. Slow
2. Bug ridden
3. Forced on all Windows owners
4. Looks like junk
5. Easily exploitable
6. Infrequently updated
7. No pop up ad blocking
8. Highly inconvenient
...
237. It just plain sucks
1. You only have to use it for one minute, just to get to Mozilla.com and download Firefox
Cons:
1. Slow
2. Bug ridden
3. Forced on all Windows owners
4. Looks like junk
5. Easily exploitable
6. Infrequently updated
7. No pop up ad blocking
8. Highly inconvenient
...
237. It just plain sucks
About 60 seconds after he first opened it up on his new computer, Jimmy was finished using Internet Explorer - for 2-4 years.
by hoyclan December 22, 2009
Get the internet explorer mug.