This is also the reason that all my cars have had automatic transmission. I know how to drive a stick, but I’m also a cyclist and a realist. I used to travel to other places to take part in organized cycling events, and there was no guarantee that in the case of emergency — I’d get hurt and someone else would have to drive my car to get me home or to a hospital, for example — anyone else would.
If I took someone to the hospital, I don’t think it would have occurred to me to use anyone’s car other than my own (barring the injury happening next to the victim’s car). I doubt I would think it through this far in an emergency, but if I use your car, I have to figure out how to get back to mine in a way that doesn’t involve me stealing your car.
thejeff
Perhaps we were carpooling in my car to somewhere where I got hurt and so you had to drive?
I agree it wouldn’t make much sense if we both had cars available.
yeah, I had a manual car until last year, and whenever I carpooled (to a hike or whatever), I always felt so much added pressure because if anything happened, no one else could drive the car
You should absolutely worry about the security of keyfobs, one can easily buy a range extender that will allow one to go around opening and driving off in locked cars.
I’ve picked car door locks with a paperclip and a small screwdriver when friends have locked themselves out.
Needfuldoer
Modern keys at least have security chips in them, so even if you just hotwire the ignition switch or use a universal key, the car won’t start. (Unless it’s that 80s/90s GM system that just used a simple resistor as a “security chip”…)
Generally cars with wireless fobs and keyless ignition won’t let you lock the fob inside the car. (I’ve tried, with the second fob out of range.)
My car knows the difference between the key being inside vs outside. Putting the key on the outside of the windshield allows you to unlock the car, but not start it (yes, I tested it after seeing this strip).
As long as she can keep him balanced on the hood most of the way to the hospital she should be good.
Crimsonstorm
Nnnnno, cars don’t turn off if you get out of range of the key fob when they’re already on. I’m imagining a key breaking or falling out of the window and the thing just turning off at highway speeds… Not a good idea.
With most cars it DOES have to be inside the car. Drop the fob on the hood and my car will not turn on. It’s pretty sensitive, even a few inches outside the door and the car can tell.
CJ
Well, technically, it’s not *on* the hood.
SalleighG
Cars can mostly detect if the fob is inside when you try to lock the door, and will refuse to lock (to prevent people from locking themselves out).
However I have no idea if the sensors for that are symmetric. Would they be able to tell the difference between keys sitting inside on the dashboard, and keys sitting on the windshield? I couldn’t say.
Push to start cars are relatively new, where you don’t need to insert a key to start the car, just push a button so long with the key in range. Reminds me of a teenager who was online bragging about how he got around his parent’s confiscating his keys. They locked it is a small safe, but the safe wasn’t nailed down or anything, so he just put the safe with the key fob inside in the passenger seat and drove off.
Yes! If I may ask, are you any flavor of neurodivergent? I’m told that it’s common among autistic people, of which one I is.
dalniente
I do that, and I’m ADHD! Possibly autistic as well; the more I learn about autism the more I’m like “oh, it me.” But yeah, I love spoilers and intentionally seek them out all the time.
I‘m spoiling books.
And sometimes TV shows (when I think I should see it because… and then find I’m either not into the visual or get too wound up by watching and still want to know how the story plays out).
I get that with books sometimes: generally ones where I’m more interested in the basic plot (or maybe the backstory mystery or something) than in the writings or the characters.
Even when I don’t seek them out, I’m not usually bothered by spoilers. Probably comes from a childhood of voracious reading of comics and sf/fantasy often without ever finding more than one book in a series or random newstand comics.
I know the alliance was doomed from the start because Ross was a pawn but wasn’t good enough at following Blaine’s orders to even be a particularly GOOD pawn, but seriously. Damn, Ross. It was a shorter walk to where he was hanging onto the rope.
*Shrugs* With the benefit of foresight/narrative arrangement, I guess he deserves this moment of Toedad Priorities. You let your co-conspirator fall multiple stories onto a car, Ross. You break his ribs or whatever by inaction. It’s probably what buys you a couple extra minutes of life tomorrow, which in turn buys characters we actually care about more escape time.
I get the feeling that this was at Blaine’s instruction. Blaine is at this point highly invested in making sure Mike does not survive, and he strikes me as overconfident enough to believe he had his situation under control. I don’t think Ross has enough interest in Mike or Amazi-Girl to ignore Blaine if he wanted assistance, which he surely would have demanded if he thought he needed it.
155 thoughts on “Fob”
Ana Chronistic
key fop
Lawzlo
Key flop.
Stephen Bierce
“I don’t want FOP–damn it! I’m a DAPPER DAN man!”
Stephen Bierce
(FOOTNOTE: Seven years ago in Shortpacked! was the deservedly apt THE LIE WE TELL OURSELVES strip, also featuring Amber and Mike.)
BigDogLittleCat
And that episode seems even more relevant today than it was seven years ago.
Fogel
Which was the apotheosis of Mike’s Mike-ness: Mike became Mike so that he could perfom that PSA.
OtterBoy1
LMAOOOO
Dafydd
How very Back to the Future…
Mada
God that is the most satisfying KRUMP ever.
NinjaNick
Or was it a key flop?
Bagge
Thanks, dad.
Rognik
Don’t say he never gave you anything…
Joe Moose
Very satisfying, how this works
Bunny
Oooo. How poetic that Ross scoops up the very hammer that will be his doom and approaches.
Hephaistos Fnord
Live by the hammer, die by the hammer.
Chris
But this isn’t a sword. It isn’t even a bladed weapon. That verse clearly doesn’t apply.
Wereg
Would you have preferred “Play bongo games, win bongo prizes?”
Bagge
IF ONLY THERE WAS A BOOK HE LIKED THAT WARNED HIM OF THAT SPECIFIC SCENARIO OR SOMETHING!
MK15
Blaine ex machina
Chaucer59
I was thinking “anus ex machina.”
FacelessDeviant
Or Deus ex anus.
Ghost in the butt.
Jamie
That’s not what “ex” means.
DSL
But(t) it marks the spot.
Zee
Douche ex machina
Needfuldoer
[CinemaSins ding]
Mra
This makes me worried about the security of push to start cars.
Dave
The key fob has to be in close range to enable startup, and I believe they shut off if they get out of fob range.
bhtooefr
No, they’ll alert you that the key is out of range, but they won’t shut down, for safety reasons.
…now, if you turn it off, it won’t start back up without the key…
Bicycle Bill
This is also the reason that all my cars have had automatic transmission. I know how to drive a stick, but I’m also a cyclist and a realist. I used to travel to other places to take part in organized cycling events, and there was no guarantee that in the case of emergency — I’d get hurt and someone else would have to drive my car to get me home or to a hospital, for example — anyone else would.
Skeptible
If I took someone to the hospital, I don’t think it would have occurred to me to use anyone’s car other than my own (barring the injury happening next to the victim’s car). I doubt I would think it through this far in an emergency, but if I use your car, I have to figure out how to get back to mine in a way that doesn’t involve me stealing your car.
thejeff
Perhaps we were carpooling in my car to somewhere where I got hurt and so you had to drive?
I agree it wouldn’t make much sense if we both had cars available.
Pimellon
yeah, I had a manual car until last year, and whenever I carpooled (to a hike or whatever), I always felt so much added pressure because if anything happened, no one else could drive the car
Vanessa
You should absolutely worry about the security of keyfobs, one can easily buy a range extender that will allow one to go around opening and driving off in locked cars.
https://www.wired.com/2016/03/study-finds-24-car-models-open-unlocking-ignition-hack/
Victor
They’re actually significantly better than keys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNA5PW3x0d0
I’ve picked car door locks with a paperclip and a small screwdriver when friends have locked themselves out.
Needfuldoer
Modern keys at least have security chips in them, so even if you just hotwire the ignition switch or use a universal key, the car won’t start. (Unless it’s that 80s/90s GM system that just used a simple resistor as a “security chip”…)
Generally cars with wireless fobs and keyless ignition won’t let you lock the fob inside the car. (I’ve tried, with the second fob out of range.)
S
*blinks in European*
Mra
Your icon is cute
Ahecht
My car knows the difference between the key being inside vs outside. Putting the key on the outside of the windshield allows you to unlock the car, but not start it (yes, I tested it after seeing this strip).
FLUFFY
…So that’s why he was having trouble breathing.
danielle
when in doubt, use a blaine
Some1
This doesn’t seem right, but I don’t know enough about cars to dispute it.
Chris
The fob has to be within a few feet of the ignition. It doesn’t technically have to be inside the car.
showler
As long as she can keep him balanced on the hood most of the way to the hospital she should be good.
Crimsonstorm
Nnnnno, cars don’t turn off if you get out of range of the key fob when they’re already on. I’m imagining a key breaking or falling out of the window and the thing just turning off at highway speeds… Not a good idea.
Victor
With most cars it DOES have to be inside the car. Drop the fob on the hood and my car will not turn on. It’s pretty sensitive, even a few inches outside the door and the car can tell.
CJ
Well, technically, it’s not *on* the hood.
SalleighG
Cars can mostly detect if the fob is inside when you try to lock the door, and will refuse to lock (to prevent people from locking themselves out).
However I have no idea if the sensors for that are symmetric. Would they be able to tell the difference between keys sitting inside on the dashboard, and keys sitting on the windshield? I couldn’t say.
Mra
Push to start cars are relatively new, where you don’t need to insert a key to start the car, just push a button so long with the key in range. Reminds me of a teenager who was online bragging about how he got around his parent’s confiscating his keys. They locked it is a small safe, but the safe wasn’t nailed down or anything, so he just put the safe with the key fob inside in the passenger seat and drove off.
Jezi
Man, this is already way more enjoyable to read without the suspense hanging at the end.
This shit’s why I spoil movies for myself too.
YipeeKiYay
I truly thought I was the only one who spoils movies for that reason!
Jezi
Yes! If I may ask, are you any flavor of neurodivergent? I’m told that it’s common among autistic people, of which one I is.
dalniente
I do that, and I’m ADHD! Possibly autistic as well; the more I learn about autism the more I’m like “oh, it me.” But yeah, I love spoilers and intentionally seek them out all the time.
CJ
I‘m spoiling books.
And sometimes TV shows (when I think I should see it because… and then find I’m either not into the visual or get too wound up by watching and still want to know how the story plays out).
Needfuldoer
I spoil things I’m not that into by reading the plot synopses on Wikipedia. They usually read like TL;DR novelizations.
thejeff
I get that with books sometimes: generally ones where I’m more interested in the basic plot (or maybe the backstory mystery or something) than in the writings or the characters.
Even when I don’t seek them out, I’m not usually bothered by spoilers. Probably comes from a childhood of voracious reading of comics and sf/fantasy often without ever finding more than one book in a series or random newstand comics.
Chris
Wait a second. Wasn’t Ross driving that car last time we saw it?
Axel
that was before he pursued mike up the staircase (followed by Blaine and AG)
Chris
What’s the chain of custody on that key fob? Who gave it to who, and when?
Axel
oh you mean re the key. maybe Ross had a key key and Blaine has his fob
Axel
okay now (the next day) I realize that Ross is also getting closer
BBCC
Oh, hey, he IS useful for something!
Regalli
Easily the best thing Blaine has ever done! Plus, he got injured doing it.
Yay.
Alanari
So Ross is threatening Mike and Amber instead of getting blaine back onto safe ground? They are both not exactly good at this being allies thing.
Regalli
I know the alliance was doomed from the start because Ross was a pawn but wasn’t good enough at following Blaine’s orders to even be a particularly GOOD pawn, but seriously. Damn, Ross. It was a shorter walk to where he was hanging onto the rope.
*Shrugs* With the benefit of foresight/narrative arrangement, I guess he deserves this moment of Toedad Priorities. You let your co-conspirator fall multiple stories onto a car, Ross. You break his ribs or whatever by inaction. It’s probably what buys you a couple extra minutes of life tomorrow, which in turn buys characters we actually care about more escape time.
Xaeon
I get the feeling that this was at Blaine’s instruction. Blaine is at this point highly invested in making sure Mike does not survive, and he strikes me as overconfident enough to believe he had his situation under control. I don’t think Ross has enough interest in Mike or Amazi-Girl to ignore Blaine if he wanted assistance, which he surely would have demanded if he thought he needed it.
Opus the Poet
It looks like Ross deserved Blaine.
Sirksome
How is Blaine not in a fucking coma too!?!?
Chris
The car hood has a bit more give than the street.
Needfuldoer