Category: Site News and Announcements

Updates on policies or other administrative stuff.

Yet Another Policy Update

Site News and Announcements
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I have made several minor additions to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for the site. Specifically, I updated the Privacy Policy to make more explicit that this site, its host, and its analytics service are all based in the U.S. and to fix some awkward wording. (ETA: I also clarified that the conditions listed under Disclosure of Personally Identifying Information are separated by “and/or.”) I updated the Terms to add a clearer Contact Form and Email Communication Policy, which is now linked from the contact forms. Please be sure to read them and let me know if you have any questions or comments.

A Hydra-Matic Update

Site News and Announcements
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I have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks undertaking an extensive update of the 2010 article on the original GM Hydra-Matic transmission. The goal was to clear up various errors and points of confusion as well as trying to do a better job of explaining the operating principles of both Hydra-Matic and its precursor, the Automatic Safety Transmission.

This endeavor, which has reminded me why I’m neither a mechanic nor an engineer, was actually a good deal more work than the original draft. However, since people continue to read and refer to this article, I felt it was appropriate to try to sort out its inaccuracies and confusing points.

You can read the full article here.

Click below for two additional notes on this update.
Continue Reading A Hydra-Matic Update

Reprint/Reuse Policy

Site News and Announcements
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I’ve updated the site’s Reprint/Reuse Policy (which is now linked in the Administrative Pages menu on the right for ease of reference) and I encourage everyone to read it. The policy is not significantly different than it has been, but I’ve reformatted it to make it easier to read and to clarify a few points.

As with all of the site’s policies, I’ve tried very hard to balance what I reasonably need to do to protect myself and my rights with an appropriate respect for common sense and the principles of fair use. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

ETA (Jan. 13, 2016): I have made a further update to the policy — including reorganizing and reformatting parts of it — in the interests of clarity, avoiding inadvertent contradictions, and trying to balance a bunch of conflicting priorities. I encourage you to read the updated policy if you’re interested in excerpting an article, reusing photos, or anything like that, and to let me know if you have questions or concerns. My intent is not to be scary or unduly restrictive while covering myself and the people who are kind enough to let me use their photos and other material.

Updated Terms of Use

Site News and Announcements
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In addition to updating the Privacy Policy, we’ve made a few minor revisions to the Terms of Use. In particular, we wanted to point out that when people submit comments — which as you’ve probably noticed are moderated — we may occasionally respond to the comment via email before or instead of approving the comment. (For example, if the comment includes the person’s phone number or email address, we will usually contact the commenter to ask, “Are you absolutely sure you want to do that?”)

Site migration

Site News and Announcements
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If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed our new look: We’re now on a new and considerably updated content management system with what we’re hoping will be better functionality and better security.

This process has been not unlike swapping an engine into a car in which it was never designed to go and there are probably going to be some glitches. (There was a problem with the redirections from old URLs that we’re hoping is now fixed.) If you find technical problems, please let us know.