Free?...news to me. Haven't you heard the ago old saying? “Nothing is free in this world.”
Smittybilt strikes again
- Thread starter Jerry Bransford
- Start date
This should probably be in the "politics" section, but whatever. Cancelled my Facebook years ago, have never looked back.
THE PENTAGON CANCELED its so-called LifeLog project, an ambitious effort to build a database tracking a person’s entire existence.
Run by Darpa, the Defense Department’s research arm, LifeLog aimed to gather in a single place just about everything an individual says, sees or does: the phone calls made, the TV shows watched, the magazines read, the plane tickets bought, the e-mail sent and received. Out of this seemingly endless ocean of information, computer scientists would plot distinctive routes in the data, mapping relationships, memories, events and experiences.
LifeLog’s backers said the all-encompassing diary could have turned into a near-perfect digital memory, giving its users computerized assistants with an almost flawless recall of what they had done in the past. But civil libertarians immediately pounced on the project when it debuted last spring, arguing that LifeLog could become the ultimate tool for profiling potential enemies of the state.
Researchers close to the project say they’re not sure why it was dropped late last month. Darpa hasn’t provided an explanation for LifeLog’s quiet cancellation. “A change in priorities” is the only rationale agency spokeswoman Jan Walker gave to Wired News.
We live in the digital age. People constantly offering up their exact locations, spending habits, favorite brands, musicians, movies, pictures of family, close friends, known associates, every meaningless thought that crossed their mind, all within arm’s reach for anyone and everyone who cares to look. Facebook launching the same day Darpa publicly announced the shutdown of LifeLog isn’t a conspiracy. It’s a rebranding simple and plain.
You could show them how awesome this forum is..with the intention of selling them on it. Hire Chris to build your Jeep club a web page...organize/coordinate some kind of money raising event to help fund it. What do I know...
I agree that is unfortunate and I understand why people are angry about everything being made China. I have been a commercial product designer most of my career but everything I have designed is no longer made in the US. Now all of the stuff I design is for the military or government so it is made here. I don’t like this situation but it is the way it is.
As for me buying the cheapest stuff, I have Curie control arms, OME springs, a Tom Woods driveshaft, a Barnes skid plate, a Banks turbo and a few other things you might not consider to be junk. But I still like the Smittybilt bumpers. As for what Tworley says, that must be an earlier design. The current XRC has a pivot that slides into a hole in the bumper, is bolted from above and reinforced from below. It is not surface mounted. And as I said, mine does not squeak or rattle. The only complaint I have is that when the tire carrier is adjusted so the latch lines up with just the tire on it, it sags slightly when I add a bunch of other stuff like Rotopax jugs. I took care of that problem by gluing Teflon sliders on the bumper and carrier (like I have seen on other carriers) to properly align the latch regardless of weight.
I need to add that this forum is a great one. I love having TJ specific information and expert opinions. Forums are a great place to store information. I am grateful that this one can be searched. A member could also post real time here since the attachment allowance seems to be generous. Thanks to Chis and others that make this a good place to visit.
Yea, if you have the skills/tools to fix it if it breaks and if it's not going to cause major issues if it breaks, then I'd say that the purchase still makes sense if it saved you some $$$ to go with SB over something else.
Cheap stuff may have a hidden opportunity cost (in this case, cost of product failing), but if you're aware of that opportunity cost and it's manageable or you can mitigate it, you've got a solid deal.
Steve Rodgers
TJ Enthusiast
Oh Boy, great rant thread.
I joined FB several years ago......for about 2 days.
I got out quick and I'm glad I did.
It's comical to see Zuck and friends always before Congress saying things like "we should do better" "we didn't know"
As for SB, I guess after I joined this group I won't be doing much business with them, although my daughter got a very nice stainless step rail for her 2010 Taco.
I joined FB several years ago......for about 2 days.
I got out quick and I'm glad I did.
It's comical to see Zuck and friends always before Congress saying things like "we should do better" "we didn't know"
As for SB, I guess after I joined this group I won't be doing much business with them, although my daughter got a very nice stainless step rail for her 2010 Taco.
I'm not the tiniest bit angry about stuff being made in China. What bothers me is the blatant copy, the mentality the allows and causes it to happen, and the folks who don't give a shit as long as it looks close enough and the price is cheap. That is why we have the problem, folks don't give a single rat turd about the why or the how as long as it is cheap.
When is the last time you heard anyone brag about paying full price for something?
mgroeger
TJ Enthusiast
Ditto, no social media for me, ditched it many moons ago... gmail, TJ and JL forum, that's it. Don't even have a smart phone which is ironic since I make microchips for a living.
Regarding Shittybilt... not surprised. I went through two of there XR whatever winches and you could barely unspool them. Left enough of a sour taste in my mouth to stay away from the brand, except for the shorter door straps, those work well
Does anyone know if this is the solid bumper version or the tubular version? Or if it matters?
I'm personally collecting a tubular SB SRC front and rear bumper set (paid $100 used on here for the rear. Picking it up today.) for nothing more than wreck damage control. If I get hit I want the cheap bumpers to suffer. Not my Jeeps sheet metal. I guess if it rattles I'll have it welded or something.
But for $100 it was within my budget - normally it's around $400+. If it sucks. I'm sure I can get my $100 out of it. The front runs $200 new. And both stick out quite a ways. In a minor fender bender I hope to just replace the cheap bumpers. Not costly sheet metal replacement and/or bodywork.
I'll upgrade to Dirtworx eventually. Just not in the cards right now. To many other things to get done on the Jeep. And I want to add a HD lift before I start adding to much heavy stuff. (Assuming the Dirtworx is alot heavier than this tubular one.)
I don't rock climb or anything of the like. So I'm not using them to pull anyone out or anything. So I guess you could say they are for looks and damage control only. The reason I bought my Jeep was cost of ownership. Just about everything can be repaired cheaply. And these bumpers are part of that philosophy for me. The rear bumper is tow rated to 5000lbs. The other cheap bumpers are not. So this was a slight step above what I was going to use. Again just to protect my Jeep in a fender bender. Nothing more.
Hoping the few positive reviews lend themselves to my future experience. Otherwise I'll just be selling them. I don't think I'll have a problem with the front bumper. But if the rear tire carrier sucks. And I can't get it fixed. I'll sell it too and replace it.
Some stuff for my Jeep is by once, cry once. But other stuff I can deal with a cheaper version. If I was rock climbing or doing heavy offroad stuff. These bumpers wouldn't even be on my radar. But for bumper protection only I think they fit the bill for my application. When your on a budget sometimes cheaper parts are ok. And with these only being used for sheet metal protection. It wouldn't make sense to buy an expensive set. If I get in a wreck. I only have $300 worth of bumpers to replace. Now if I paid full price I'd be more likely to wait and just get Dirtworx.
EDIT - Just had the rear SRC dropped off at my house. It's pretty sturdy. So I'm pretty happy with it. But I don't have a spare mounted on it yet either. So we'll see. It's definitely going to need some tie ins if I ever decide to tow with it.
I'm personally collecting a tubular SB SRC front and rear bumper set (paid $100 used on here for the rear. Picking it up today.) for nothing more than wreck damage control. If I get hit I want the cheap bumpers to suffer. Not my Jeeps sheet metal. I guess if it rattles I'll have it welded or something.
But for $100 it was within my budget - normally it's around $400+. If it sucks. I'm sure I can get my $100 out of it. The front runs $200 new. And both stick out quite a ways. In a minor fender bender I hope to just replace the cheap bumpers. Not costly sheet metal replacement and/or bodywork.
I'll upgrade to Dirtworx eventually. Just not in the cards right now. To many other things to get done on the Jeep. And I want to add a HD lift before I start adding to much heavy stuff. (Assuming the Dirtworx is alot heavier than this tubular one.)
I don't rock climb or anything of the like. So I'm not using them to pull anyone out or anything. So I guess you could say they are for looks and damage control only. The reason I bought my Jeep was cost of ownership. Just about everything can be repaired cheaply. And these bumpers are part of that philosophy for me. The rear bumper is tow rated to 5000lbs. The other cheap bumpers are not. So this was a slight step above what I was going to use. Again just to protect my Jeep in a fender bender. Nothing more.
Hoping the few positive reviews lend themselves to my future experience. Otherwise I'll just be selling them. I don't think I'll have a problem with the front bumper. But if the rear tire carrier sucks. And I can't get it fixed. I'll sell it too and replace it.
Some stuff for my Jeep is by once, cry once. But other stuff I can deal with a cheaper version. If I was rock climbing or doing heavy offroad stuff. These bumpers wouldn't even be on my radar. But for bumper protection only I think they fit the bill for my application. When your on a budget sometimes cheaper parts are ok. And with these only being used for sheet metal protection. It wouldn't make sense to buy an expensive set. If I get in a wreck. I only have $300 worth of bumpers to replace. Now if I paid full price I'd be more likely to wait and just get Dirtworx.
EDIT - Just had the rear SRC dropped off at my house. It's pretty sturdy. So I'm pretty happy with it. But I don't have a spare mounted on it yet either. So we'll see. It's definitely going to need some tie ins if I ever decide to tow with it.
On the facebook subject. I stopped going on there several months ago. And couldn't be happier. I still use MEssenger for family and friends. But I stay off of Facebook itself. It's just depressing. I can't figure out a better way to say it. I'm so much happier not being on there.
Plus I don't care what my friend from 20 years ago is making for dinner either. lol.
I find twitter to be alot more valuable. But you have to follow reputable people and orgs. I get my news feed on there. And follow other groups of interest. But mostly just news about the world and or things of interest to me. It's very effective for that. Just don't follow dipshits. Or things you don't care about. And don't respond to posts. That's just as bad as Facebook in that department. You might as well be posting to YT videos. lol.
Plus I don't care what my friend from 20 years ago is making for dinner either. lol.
I find twitter to be alot more valuable. But you have to follow reputable people and orgs. I get my news feed on there. And follow other groups of interest. But mostly just news about the world and or things of interest to me. It's very effective for that. Just don't follow dipshits. Or things you don't care about. And don't respond to posts. That's just as bad as Facebook in that department. You might as well be posting to YT videos. lol.
What's a Facebook?I love Facebook. I have several Facebook Groups that I administer (jeeps, motorcycles, photography, travel, family). there is no crazy stuff in my groups. I find it easy to ignore the political stuff on my news feed except when i want to say something (who EVER changed their mind because of Facebook?).
FYI, I don't imagine the Dirtworx bumpers are all that much heavier than the SB. If I remember right, the two bumpers shipped together in one box weighed around 90 lbs. Mine didn't have any extras, like a tire carrier, so I figured I could just about split the weight between the two. I did not weigh them individually when they were off, though...
Well said .Now whenever I peruse Craigslist, I cannot help but lose some interest in a rig when I see either of those two products on the vehicle. If it's one or two items, then perhaps I continue to look it over without passing judgement on it or the individual who built it. However, if I see the thing is laden down with their products, and the individual is quite proud of his creation, then I can't help but feel that the "builder" would have benefited immensely from the information contained within this forum. God knows the forum members have helped me spend my money, but at least it's been on some quality stuff, and not something I'm going to regret once it finally leaves the garage.
I had a facebook account for about 6 years. I only really used it to coordinate motorcycle rides with friends. I had an obvious fake name, but one day they sent me an email saying that they knew my name was not real and that if I didn't stop submitting false information they were going to close my account. Guess what? They didn't lie. They closed my account. Now my social media is gchat and this forum, and rarely I use messaging on my phone too. For me facebook is to invasive. Maybe they have to be. @Chris, I hope nobody ever gets too big to take over the internet. I don't believe facebook will. I agree that they are more like AOL, and will try and entice me to join again, like as @Jerry Bransford did by posting the video, but nothing so far has made me join with my real name. There are local companies that only do support through facebook, but I don't use those in that case.
Seriously, I was working on a project with a friend and we were going to take his truck to this high performance shop but their website and support was only on facebook, so we opted out. It will take all of us to stick together to stop that tomfoolery. I think we can do it!
So back to the original thread:
I never consider SB products at all. But I feel I have to do an endorsement in this case.
Last year I bought an overland tent trailer (homemade) It had a SB roof top tent XL on it, and it has been awesome. I mean it is a few years old and holding up nicely. It compacts down and unfolds set up ready to go. Normally I wouldn't even have considered it, but it came on my trailer, and it has been pretty nice. It sits outside in the hot Arizona sun:
Seriously, I was working on a project with a friend and we were going to take his truck to this high performance shop but their website and support was only on facebook, so we opted out. It will take all of us to stick together to stop that tomfoolery. I think we can do it!
So back to the original thread:
I never consider SB products at all. But I feel I have to do an endorsement in this case.
Last year I bought an overland tent trailer (homemade) It had a SB roof top tent XL on it, and it has been awesome. I mean it is a few years old and holding up nicely. It compacts down and unfolds set up ready to go. Normally I wouldn't even have considered it, but it came on my trailer, and it has been pretty nice. It sits outside in the hot Arizona sun:
The Facebook discussion is nostalgic for me. I've been in this discussion since 2011. I was on the board of one of the largest motorcycle forums on the net - The Motorcycle Tourer's Forum. This forum started in 1999, and grew very fast, mostly through what we called long distance riding. The nature of LD riding is that you have to have the money to travel, be able to get the time away from work, and be somewhat unencumbered from family obligations. This means most of our guys and gals were older. Around 2009 we stopped growing. The growth stopped because people were moving to other other social media, because our guys were getting really old and they stopped riding, and because of competition. Proposals to open another social media platform (besides our forum) were met objection like, "Facebook won't last", "Facebook is crazy", "Facebook steals your identity, etc. Interesting to me was all of the weenies making these objections were not on Facebook. They were repeating things they had heard. I opened a Facebook account just so I would know what the other board members were talking about. I found a lot of things that I liked. First was that almost all the people on Facebook identify their selves with their real name (as opposed to using a forum alias). Second was the amount of control I had over what was posted on our group page. Then there was the fact it was free. Administration of our group pages has been trouble free. No fights, few snarky remarks, no scams, nobody calling someone a "fucking liar". Facebook did not replace our forum, but it has become the main way members share info. We still have some dinosaurs who don't do Facebook. That is OK too. I am proud of you guys who realized that you could not control your lives if you were on Facebook. You did the right thing not to be a member. Just kidding .
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