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2024/12/24 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
12/24   

2007/3/9-12 [Science/Electric] UID:45918 Activity:nil
3/9     DC gun control struck down as unconstitutional by DC Circuit panel.
        Majority opinion holds that the 2nd amendment protects individual
        rights to hold arms, not simply collective militia rights
        http://howappealing.law.com/030907.html#023153
        \_ Leaving the definition of Arms still completely undefined.
           \_ Your rights related to the Bill of Rights should not be
              abridged for living in DC. Your rights as related to having
              representation should be, as DC is not a state.
2007/2/26-3/1 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:45823 Activity:very high
2/25    Oops. Gore the hypocrite.
        http://www.drudgereport.com/flash.htm
        \_ On the one hand, if this surprises you, you're naive.  On the other\
          hand, DANG that's a lot of juice.  (And gas too)
        \_ We all know he's a hypocrit and that global warming is a myth.
           This is exactly why I'm going to keep driving my H2 and
           keep going to my church. God bless.
           \_ This is the exact same strawman as people who quote fake
              "liburals".  It isn't funny, clever, or rhetorically useful.
              Of course the irony is that this sort of intellectual dishonesty
              makes you no better than the people you're ad homineming.

        \_ While I don't think all this hullabaloo about global warming is
           without merit I just don't can't take it seriously without real
           proposals about effective ways to handle it.  Scrimping and
           Conserving and reducing buy only a few years, as the 10-20% you
           save gets quickly made irrelevant  5% population and economic
           growth.  Zero carbon footprint?  Shyeah, right.  It won't happen
           until you stop breathing, and even then you'll release some carbon
           gases in the process of dying and decaying.
           gases in the process of dying and decomposing.
           \_ Nobody says there is a silver bullet to the problem.  We already
              know that.
        \_ It isn't about his house or his zillions of plane flights or his
           multiple SUVs or the rest of his lifestyle, per se.  Yes, he's a
           hypocrite but that's no big deal.  The problem is that he wants to
           inflict life style changes on everyone else that he's not willing
           to live with for himself and his family.  Paying some sort of bogus
           "carbon footprint credit" doesn't make him any less wasteful, yet
           he can afford to pay it for the feel good effect.  99% of the
           rest of the world can't afford that so his answer for them is to
           change their lifestyle.  He's worth at least $50 million so a few
           extra bucks for him is no big deal.  Now then, if he actually
           truly changed his life style in the way he advocates for everyone
           else I'd be impressed.  As far as Drudge goes, I don't see why
           anyone gives a rat's ass what he has to say or why Gore bothered
           to respond at all.  The guy has a business to run.  He's run it
           the same way for years and it's no big deal.  All his links are
           either taken directly from other news sources or unsourced and
           thus dismissable.
        \_ A nice example of Right Wing "politics": You have lost on the
           facts and lost on the message, time to smear the messenger.
           Sorry guys, Karl Rove style politics doesn't work very well
           anymore. America has developed immunity to your tactics.
        \_ Woah!  Holy crap.  I'm shocked.  But now, thanks to Drudges hard
           hittin' journalism, I'm forced to realize that global warming is
           a liberal conspiracy to subvert my precious bodily fluids, and to
           give all my money to the Enterprise Institute.  Thank you for saving
           me, amen, and fuck you.
        \_ Okay, he has a larger than average house.  It uses more than
           average electricity.  How does it compare to comparably sized
           houses?  What does he use the space for?  As usual, drudge runs
           the gotcha without the journalism..
           Gore responds:
           http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/26/gore-responds-to-drudge
           \_ That's not much of a response (too short).  I was hoping that he
              explains how many people live there and what goes on in the
              mansion that uses so much energy.  For example, I suppose a 24hr
              security system for such a big mansion uses quite a bit of
              energy.
              \_ His answer is sufficient to demolish the claim of hypocrisy,
                 and is really more than a spuurious charge from drudge
                 deserves.  Unfortunately, people still think drudge has
                 some amount of value.  Ergo, the "short" response.
                 \_ No it isn't. The more "green" energy he buys, the less
                    there is for others.
                    \_ Just... wow...
                       \_ What, all you greenies believe everything is zero
                          sum, don't you?
                          \_ All of you assholes think a single data point
                             makes for the end of the debate, don't you?
                             \_ Ha ha ha. No, I just like to point out
                                hypocrisy and idiocy when it presents itself.
                                \_ And in outing yourself thus, you've out-
                                   done yourself.
        \_ On the one hand, if this surprises you, you're naive.  On the other
           hand, DANG that's a lot of juice.  (And gas too)
           \_ I did know that most environmental spokesholes were hypocrites,
              but I didn't know about Gore in particular. -op
              \_ You didn't realize that most politicians are hypocrites???
                 \_ Anyone who got to State office level or higher has to be.
        \_ "There's no law against being a hypocrite a few times in your
            life and this industry is built on hypocrisy." -Matt Drudge
        \_ The latest PG&E bill for my 4bd 2ba house with 6 people was $67.
           I have electric stove.
           \- I think the "i pay to reduce my carbon footprint to
              zero" is sort of a bogus reply. That's basically the
              "ultrarich liberal" response that "as long as i am
              willing to pay higher taxes, i should be able to not
              change my lifestyle".
              change my lifestyle". i believe in internalizing costs
              but it's understood that that is a complicated matter
              given it's regressive nature. i'll leave it at that.
              \_ Is it still bogus if you first lower your footprint as
                 much as is practicable?  This sounds like the converse
                 of the "liberals are pro-choice cuz they like killing
                 babies" talking point.
                 \_ If you're generating co2, you're generating co2.  Saying,
                    "I reduced my waste a bit and spend more on green stuff
                     because I'm rich and can easily afford it" doesn't cut
                     it, no.
                    \_ Do you know what carbon-offset means?
                       \_ Yes, I do.  Planting 5 trees in Kenya does not
                          offset each of Gore's trans continental private
                          flights to pick up an award.  It is feel goodism.
                          Besides, exactly what has he and his family actually
                          done to 'carbon-offset' their life style?
                          \_ You're making up numbers.  5 trees in Kenya?  What
                             if it were 50 trees?  500?  At what point would
                             you not call it feel-goodism any more?  Gore says
                             he's carbon neutral.  You have no evidence to the
                             contrary.  For now, I'm gonna go with... him.
                             \_ I'm not making up anything.  Here's all the
                                numbers, with prices included.  And you get to
                                calculate your 'carbon footprint' along the
                                way so you know exactly how many trees you need
                                to plant in Kenya: http://www.carbonfootprint.com
                                Now then, as I said, what exactly has Gore or
                                his family done to offset their carbon foot-
                                print?  The weight is on their shoulders to
                                prove it, not on mine to prove they aren't.
                                They are the ones making the claims.  I'm just
                                some dude who doesn't spend $30k a year to
                                heat my house or fly around the world on
                                private jets all the time.  The answer is easy
                                to figure out: they do nothing but talk about
                                it a lot.  And fly private jets around the
                                world to tell other people how to live and
                                collect little statues on TV.
                             \- the issue isnt is he spending enough $ to
                                offset the "carbon footprint". the point is
                                the rich can pay their way out while the
                                poorer people have to make lifestyle changes.
                                say we had a draft, do you think it is defensible
                                to pay your way out of it? well then it really
                                isnt a draft then is it. or say you could pay
                                your way out of jail terms. or say you could
                                buy your way into a college. yes i know all of
                                these things happen, but it is a little
                                disturbing and we should be aware of the
                                disparate impact. mccain could hve gotten out
                                of vietnam service via a legitimate and legal
                                channel. we respect the fact that he served
                                never the less.
                                never the less. maybe we should not expect that
                                gore or bush wont use political connections to
                                get thir kinds INTO harvard and yale, but i do
                                respect that mccain didnt use his political
                                connection to get OUT of the hanoi hilton.
                                say we had a draft, do you think it is
                                defensible to pay your way out of it? well
                                then it really isnt a draft then is it. or say
                                you could pay your way out of jail terms. or
                                say you could buy your way into a college. yes
                                i know all of these things happen, but it is a
                                little disturbing and we should be aware of
                                the disparate impact. mccain could hve gotten
                                out of vietnam service via a legitimate and
                                legal channel. we respect the fact that he
                                served never the less. maybe we should not
                                expect that gore or bush wont use political
                                connections to get thir kinds INTO harvard and
                                yale, but i do respect that mccain didnt use
                                his political connection to get OUT of the
                                hanoi hilton. similarly i respect how people
                                like WBUFFET live.
                                \_ Great point.  However, this is why countries
                                   are expected to buy into carbon credit
                                   programs as well.  I'm not so disgusted
                                   by Haves taking positive action unavailable
                                   to Have nots...
                                   The parallels you cite all have either a
                                   direct benefit or direct exculpation to
                                   the Have in question.  As carbon costs are
                                   not currently monetarily/legally realized,
                                   I think the lead by example is noteworthy.
                                   \- i'm trying to cut down on my motd cycles
                                      but this is a matter i am kind of
                                      interested in. the international analog
                                      is the us vs china, india, and brazil.
                                      it will be an interesting question
                                      how the costs of dealing with enviro
                                      issues are distributed. it may not be
                                      unreasonable that the us pays and india
                                      and china and brazil change behavior
                                      but i have a feeling this negotiation
                                      wont go very smoothly.
           \_ How do you manage this? Mine is over $150 and I don't even
              have air/heat or any appliances running other than 1
              computer (iMac) and 2 (relatively new) refrigerators. I am
              calling bullshit unless you live somewhere like Washington
              state where power is cheap.
              \_ No, I live in Fremont.  The energy rate in my last bill was
                 $1.13 per therm of gas and $0.11 per kWh of electricity.  Do
                 you have an electric cloths dryer?  I have a gas dryer and I
                 line-dry my cloths on sunny days. I also wrapped an
                 insulation blanket on my water heater, and set its thermostat
                 such that the water is just hot enough but not any hotter.  I
                 completely power off (not energy- saving mode) my PC and
                 monitor when not in use.  I have only one 7yr old fridge.  I
                 use mostly fluorescent blubs and tubes, and we turn lights
                 off when not in use.  I have double-pane windows and we wear
                 jackets at home when it's cold, so we use the gas furnace
                 only occasionally.
              \_ No, I live in Fremont.  Do you have an electric cloths dryer?
                 I have a gas dryer and I line-dry my cloths on sunny days.
                 I also wrapped an insulation blanket on my water heater, and
                 I set its thermostat such that the water is just hot enough
                 but not any hotter.  I completely power off (not energy-
                 saving mode) my PC and monitor when not in use.  I have only
                 one 7yr old fridge.  I use mostly fluorescent blubs and
                 tubes, and we turn lights off when not in use.  I have
                 double-pane windows and we wear jackets at home when it's
                 cold, so we use the gas furnace only occasionally.
                 only occasionally.  -- PP
                 p.s. I also turn off the tap when applying soap or shampoo and
                 when I'm brushing my teeth.  This is more for conserving water
                 than gas energy, though.
                 \_ Your 7 year old fridge is 90% of your bill, wastrel!
                    \_ It was an energy efficient model when I bought it in
                       2000.
                       2000.  -- PP
                       \_ Welcome to 2007.  My Buick was energy efficient in
                          1963 when it was made but not when I drove it in
                          1986.
                 \_ I have a gas dryer. I use 20-30 kWh per day, depending
                    on the season. My last bill was for $178.68 and 903
                    kWh, which is more than usual. That is for two people
                    who both work and are gone from 9-8pm every day. How
                    the hell can 6 people have a $67 bill? My taxes are
                    $13, which means you are using ~$54 of electricity
                    at $.11 kWh, which means you use half the energy
                    I do. For six people?! I don't even watch TV, use
                    a microwave, etc. I do like to turn lights on at night
                    from 8pm until midnight. Crazy me. Do you use candles?
                    \_ I don't understand your electric bill then.  My family
                       (me, wife, 2 kids) have an electric dryer, and a gas
                       heater.  Our last PG&E bill was ~$80, which is HUGE for
                       us.  Mostly due to not being able to dry our clothes
                       outside, and heating the house to a toasty 65 degrees.
                       Are you heating the house all day and night, even when
                       you aren't there?  We only heat when we're home and
                       not in bed.  This is in Livermore, CA. -jrleek (!pp)
                       \_ "I don't even have air/heat". I have a gravity
                          (gas) furnace which doesn't use electricity
                          at all. How many kWHs did you use for that $80 bill?
                          BTW, I read that the average US household uses
                          934 kWh/month, which is less than I use (usually
                          700-900).
                          \_ Ok, the $88 bill was both gas and electric.
                             Electric: 170 kWh, $19.48, $.1146 per kWh
                             Gas: 58 Therms, $69.30, $1.948 per Therm  -jrleek
                             \_ 170 kwH?! A refrigerator by itself uses
                                100 kWh. You mean to say that you use 70
                                kWh for all of your other electricity
                                needs with 4 of you and an electric dryer?
                                Do you go to bed at sundown?
                                \_ New Poster: I am one person, I cook at home
                                   every day, I leave a laptop on pretty much
                                   24/7, I am more nocturnal than most and
                                   yet my last gas+electricity bill was < $10.
                                   \_ Er?  Are you getting some sort of
                                      discounted bill on some special program?
                                      Just your laptop and some light cooking
                                      would cost more than that.  Are you
                                      messing with the meter?
                                      \_ A guy here at work only pays $5 a mo.
                                         -jrleek
                                        \_ I think that this is impossible
                                           with taxes.
                               \_ I have no idea how many kWh my fridge uses
                                  but I am not living a bizarrely ascetic life.
                                  I go to bed at about 10pm.  We are careful
                                  with electricty usage, turn off the computer,
                                  unplug the entertainment stuff when we aren't
                                  using it, etc.  But that stuff is chicken
                                  feed compared to how much more you're using.
                                  From the replies here it seems like you're
                                  using a lot of electricity and not getting a
                                  lot out of it.  Your bill is similar to what
                                  my dad pays, and he has a well for his water
                                  (electric water pump), and runs 6 computers
                                  all the time.  You're using a LOT of juice.
                                  You're the odd one here. Maybe your wife has
                                  a secret server farm in the basement. -jrleek
                                  \_ You'd think I'm the odd one, except
                                     that stats show that ~900 kWh is
                                     pretty typical household usage.
                                     \_ Yes, but the typical household doesn't
                                        claim to have no heat/AC, a gas dryer,
                                        no TV, and no one home most of the
                                        day. Also, CA has much lower per captia
                                        energy useage, just over half. -jrleek
                                        CFL bulbs, and no one home most of the
                                        day. Also, CA has significanly lower
                                        per captia energy useage-jrleek
        http://www.energy.ca.gov/electricity/us_percapita_electricity_2003.html
                                        \_ Well, I guess I need to invest
                                           in a kill-a-watt, then, because
                                           there's very little running.
                                           \_ That sounds like a good idea. I'd
                                              be really interested in what you
                                              figure out.  You could also check
                                              your meter to see total useage.
                                              Also, do you use incandecent
                                              bulbs?  Just curious.
2024/12/24 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
12/24   

2007/2/13-17 [Industry/Jobs, Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:45735 Activity:nil
2/13    If anyone is looking for a job (or internship, this is aimed at
        both current students and alum), bug me.  I work with a bunch of smart
        people at an interesting company that's going nuclear, I know a bunch
        of people who have founded/are starting companies, and one very badass
        recruiter. -dans
2007/2/6-8 [Science/Electric, Politics] UID:45672 Activity:nil
2/6     does a dead light bulb draw power?
        \_ No.  No current flows, ergo no power.  (motd physics nerds
           please correct me if I am in error). -dans
           \_ the reason i ask is i think there might be some
              current slow in a dead flourescant.
              \- 1. Fluorescent lamps often "partially" die, rather than it
                    being a binary thing
                 2. there are different kinds fo fluorescent bulbs and
                    lamps
                 so given one and two, there are quite a few "failure modes"
                 for fluorescent lamps. whether or not they draw power
                 depends on the situation. with incandescent bulbs however,
                 usually the failure is a filament break, which means you
                 have an air gap and this no currently flow ... how if you
                 have a fucked up socket of some kind, who knows.
        \_ No.  No current  balls.
        \_ Even in a dead flourescent, the transformer in the socket will still
           draw some power.  Think of how plugged in AC adapters are warm even
           if the device is off.
2007/2/5-7 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:45657 Activity:nil
2/5     Do fluorescent tubes and the energy efficient compact fluorescent
        light bulbs go bad quickly if I turn them on and off frequently?  I
        think incandescent bulbs don't have this problem.  Thanks.
        \_ In general florescent bulb lasts longer, but it takes a few
           minutes for it to reach full brightness, especially used
           ones. It also doesn't work well with dimmers, it flicks. So
           just leave it on if you'll be in/out often. It is more
           impact resistent. I was down in the craw space and a little
           bit of knocking, the regular bulb goes bad. Florescent has
           no problem.
        \_ Mythbusters checked this.  The answer is no.
           \_ Thanks!  Now I'll turn off my fluorescent lights more often.
              Here's the page if anyone is interetsted:
              http://www.csua.org/u/hzv (Scroll down to "Bulb Longevity".)
              --- OP
              \- you should use THE BERKELEY LAMP
2006/10/29 [Science/Electric] UID:45028 Activity:nil 75%like:45024
10/29   FoxTrot on Electronic Voting:
        link:tinyurl.com/ynafyu
2006/10/29-30 [Science/Electric] UID:45024 Activity:nil 75%like:45028
10/29   FoxTrot on Electronic Voting:
        http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ft/2006/ft061029.gif
2006/10/17 [Science/Electric, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:44842 Activity:nil
10/17   sed/unix script help.
        I am trying to modify ldif file so i can actually import it to
        my directory server (SunOne).  My current ldif files, each entry
        start with the following:
        dn: cn=firstN LastN, mail=abc@xyz.org

        What I need, is change it to
        dc: cn=firstN LastN, dc=foo,dc=bar,dc=com

        where dc=foo,dc=bar,dc=com is a constant
        abc@xyz.org is different every entry
        dc: cn=... is always the first line of an entry
        each entry is seperated by a blank line.

        How do I use sed to replace that mail=abc@xyz.org with
        dc=foo,dc=bar,dc=com

        thanks in advance
2006/10/9-10 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:44738 Activity:high
10/9    So this whole plugin hybrid campaign thing...  Wouldn't that completely
        fuck the CA power grid if even a few % of drivers bought those?
        \_ the real issue is not rather CA power grid can handel it.
           I was told that if we modify it to make it plugin, it will
           drastically reduce the life span of the rechargable battery of those
           Prius, thus make the car a lot more prohibitive than it would
           otherwise.
        \_ Electric power means "pollute elsewhere." The only way to reduce
           pollution is nuclear-- which will decimate population and reduce
           consumption, period.
           \_ Not necessarily.  A large power plant can run cleaner than a
              bunch of little power plants.  And nuclear seems to work in
              France.
              \_ no it doesn't.  French are racist and they have no problem
                 dumping nuclear waste in some French colony in the Southern
                 Pacific and completely disregards of people live there.
                 Unless we decided that it is ok to mimic what French does
                 in our Indian Reservation, the it is unlikely to work.
                 \_ Those aren't "our" reservations.  They are sovereign states
                    that you would have to buy the right from to dump on.
                    They are not colonies.
           \_ You're also forgetting the fact that "well to wheel", electric
              vehicles are far more efficient than the most efficient gas
              powered vehicles (including hybrids).
        \_ Probably not.  We can assume most people would plugin their car
           at night, which wouldn't have high electric  utilization
           anyway.
        \_ Yes, the power grid has no ability to power a significant number
           of electric cars right now.  -tom
           \_ Thanks tom!  I guess we're fucked... If only there were some sort
              of efficient human powered form of transportation... Nah, now I'm
              just being stupid.
           \_ Really?  I just did a "back of napkin" calculation.  CA ISO
              was providing 50,000 MW of power during the hottest summer
              day.  At night, the usage is typically half of that (or
              less).  Let's assume we have at least 15k MW spare capacity.
              I just checked the experimental plugin Prius.  They have
              the battery at 9kWhr.  Let's assume we can charge it (at
              night) 1kW for 9 hours.  This means the spare power capacity
              can potentially charge 15 million plugin prius.  I wouldn't
              call that insignificant.  Of course my calculation could
              be off by a power of 10 (or more).
              \_ We don't produce the same power off-peak; the only way
                 we could would be to burn more natural gas.  -tom
                 \_ Not disagreeing with you on this.  My point is that
                    a lot of the infrastructure is there for providing
                    "peak" power.  Why not use the capacity for off-peak.
                    Of course we'll burn more natural gas, coal,
                    whatever.  Energy is not free.
              \_ I think the infrastructure problem occurs more when a ton of
                 people plug in their cars when they get home at 6pm on a
                 scorching summer day or worse yet, while at work in the middle
                 of the afternoon.
                 \_ Well, yeah, the problem is that if we suddendly were
                    deriving, say, 5% of the power used by autos during
                    commute hours off the grid, we wouldn't have nearly
                    the capacity.  1 horsepower = 745 watts; do the math.  -tom
                    \_ Here's the math.  Say during one full day's driving,
                       your car needs to output the equivalent of 200hp lasting
                       10min (very unlikely) and not re-capturing any of this
                       10min (very unlikely) and not re-capture any of this
                       via re-generative brakes.  That's 33.3hp-hr.  Say you
                       charge your car between 10pm-8am.  Then the charger
                       needs to provide power at 3.33hp.  That's 2485.7W,
                       which is about the same as two hair driers.  Of course,
                       since neither charging nor motor-driving are 100%
                       efficient, in reality you need more than two hair
                       driers' power to provide 200hp-10min's of driving.
        \_ http://www.csua.org/u/h5e (http://www.pluginpartners.org
           "There is a synergy between increased use of PHEVs and expanded use
           of wind energy. Widespread use of PHEVs in an electric system makes
           it easier for that system to accept more wind energy. This is
           because most PHEVs will be charging at night, when demand for
           electricity is at its lowest, and wind energy production tends to be
           at its highest in many parts of the country. Also, PHEV batteries
           can act as storage for wind energy produced at off-peak times."
           \_ This would make sense if there was a switch on your car charger
              to only charge your car if the wind is blowing. Otherwise,
              they're firing up those polluting, expensive backups to
              charge your car when you ain't a blowin' in da wind.
              \_ Those polluting expensive backups are still usually cleaner
                 than car engines.  See the FAQ at the link above.
           \_ plug-in hybrid makes a lot more sense when combined with
              a charger system that has a timer to control when it charges,
              and time-of-use metering at the home to encourage users to set
              the system to charge on off-peak hours.  The off-peak power is
              cheaper to generate and tends to use large power plants that
              produce more efficiently but respond slowly to power demand
              changes, such as hydro and nuclear.  The peaker plants that run
              at peak hours usually are burning more expensive natural gas.
              \_ A timer for an AC outlet is not that expensive.  I bought a
                 mechanical 15amp one at IKEA for $8.
2006/9/27-28 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:44567 Activity:nil
9/27    I live in LA and LADWP sent me a 2006 Power Content Label:
         5% Renewable (biomass, geothermal, hydro, solar, wind)
        39% Coal
        24% Large Hydroelectric
        33% Natural Gas
         0% Nuclear
        99% leftist
        So I guess LA electricity is nukular free. How about you guys
        up north?  What powers your hot idling power-hogging CPUs?
        \_ http://www.pge.com/customer_service/bill_inserts/2006
           /july.html#topic7>
        \_ http://www.pge.com/customer_service/bill_inserts/2006/july.html#topic7
        \_ That's because DWP does not have a nuclear plant and I doubt
           Edison has the capacity to sell any that it generates.
2006/9/19-22 [Science/Electric, Science/Physics] UID:44441 Activity:nil
9/19    Cornell researchers invent oled that also acts as a solar cell:
        http://tinyurl.com/eowls (scenta.co.uk)
        \_ Awesome, finally my solar powered flashlight will be a reality!
2006/9/1-4 [Science/Electric] UID:44237 Activity:nil
9/1     eGo, go electric! http://www.egovehicles.com/home/index.cfm?doc_id=1
2006/6/15-17 [Science/Electric] UID:43400 Activity:nil
6/14    I'm in S Cal and LA Dep of Water and Power charges me approximately
        $1.00 per 10KWH (KWH is 1000 watt hours). I don't watch TV at all,
        but my computer's on all the time. Suppose I do get a TV,
        and suppose I watch TV 4 hours a day and the TV is rated at
        300W, how much does that contribute to the cost?   -cheap ass
        \_ Look for a product called "Kill A Watt", it's about $29.
           It's really nice at telling you what's sucking up all the
           juices. My old VCR when powered off sucks 15 watts! To
           answer your question, your computer is probably consuming
           more power than your refrigerator and is likely the biggest
           electricity hog. Do you really need it to be on 24x7?
           \_ or if you do, think about getting a laptop instead.
           \_ I have a kill-a-watt, and have done extensive power surveys
              around my home -- highly recommended. A typical PC computer
              eats around 100W on continuously. I ran the math and it came
              out to about $20 a month at my Ream-you PG&E rates of about
              $.24/KWH.  A TV's power consumption varies widely, depending
              on the picture (and the technology).  My 32" CRT TV displaying
              white images burns like 40% more power than when displaying a
              black screen.  The actual wattage rating it shows on the UL labels
              on the back has little to do with its real-life power consumption.
              Incidentally, flatscreen / LCD tv's and monitors save a ton of
              power, almost 50%.  -ERic
           \_ I might note as well that your power supplier's  cost might
              not be linear.  PG&E rate, for example goes, up a lot depending
              on your total monthly consumption, and this varies with where
              you live.  They give more consideration for folks in areas that
              "require" heavy use of air conditioning.  So your actual cost
              may go up more than just based on the  extra consumption, if it
              kicks you into a higher rate zone. -ERic
        \_ 300W * 4hr/day = 1.2kWh/day
           1.2kWh/day * 30day/mo = 36kWh/mo
           36kWh/mo * $0.10/kWh = $3.60/mo.
2006/5/30-6/3 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:43235 Activity:nil
5/30    http://eed.llnl.gov/flow/02flow.php
        Excellent info on US Energy Flow Trends. 22.4 out of 27.9
        energy from petroleum for transportion is lost energy, which
        is expected given the inefficiency of modern internal combustion
        engine. However, 27.8 out of 40.3 electric power sector is
        electrical system energy losses, which is quite surprising to
        me. Is the current electric grid system as good as it
        can be, or is there room for improvement?
        \_ Do "electrical system energy losses" include losses at the point
           of generation?  If you're burning coal in a power plant you only
           get a certain percentage of the energy ...
           \_ It's been a while since I read anything on this but IIRC, when
              they talk about the electric grid losses they mean the losses
              that occur during transmission from point of origin at the plant
              to your wall socket (or at least your local hook up out on the
              street).  I have no idea how they calculate losses at the power
              plants themselves.
                \_ Transmission line losses are not that bad.  Something like
                   2% for every 1000 miles of high voltage wire?
                   \_ no idea.  maybe someone with a browser will come along
                      and help us out.  ;-)
                        "Transmission and distribution losses in the USA were
                         estimated at 7.2% in 1995 [1], and in the UK at 7.4%
                         in 1998"
2006/5/18-22 [Transportation/Car, Science/Electric] UID:43100 Activity:nil
5/18    I need to get a stove and from what I can tell, induction is the way
        to go. Is there any reason not to get an induction stove?
        \_ This was on KAIS MOTD a while ago but I can't search anymore.
        \_ http://theinductionsite.com/proandcon.shtml
        \_ You like to cook? If so, gas is the way to go.
                \_ I second that.
           \_ Remember that stoves and ovens often come together and gas ovens
              have the disadvantage that they generate water vapor and to make
              it harder to crisp foods.
           \_ Once you get used to it, electric has some advantages: much lower
              simmers, for one.
               \_ Bah.
               \_ What's another? The one I see is that it is easier to clean.
                  The glass-surface ones anyway. But the temperature changes
                  are so sloow. I much prefer gas but now I'm stuck with elec.
                  \_ For the same cost, a low-end electric burner seems to
                     deliver BTUs faster to a flat-bottomed vessel than a
                     gas burner.  They are slow, but you learn to deal with it
                     (take things off burner while cooling, leave extra time
                     for initial warmup)
                     \_ I don't care about cost. Yes you can deal with it but
                        the bottom line is electric is less versatile and also
                        less fun.
               \_ Usually not very fine control when simmering. It's very
                  easy to burn sauces when cooking on electric and much
                  less so on gas. With a high BTU gas burner, the heat is
                  almost instant (for searing, for example). My experience
                  with electric is that it's usually too hot or too cold
                  because it takes time for the coils to settle to the
                  correct temperature.
                  \_ Agreed that it takes a while for the coils to settle but
                     if you can wait for it, you get much finer control at low
                     heat with electric than with gas.
            \_ No self respecting cook would use anything except a gas range,
               period.  You lose all control with electric, and you are limited
               to flat bottom pots and pans.  If you want a lower flame use
               a cast iron flame tamer.  If you are worried about water vapor
               in the oven, they make combination stove ovens which have
               electric elements in the oven, and a gas range.  Personally gas
               is better in my opinion for the oven as water vapor helps to
               improve oven spring when baking bread and helps to transport
               heat.  I prefer convection ovens anyways.
               \_ Your points are valid, but you brand yourself an idiot by
                  beginning with "no self respecting cook..."  I'm pretty sure
                  I wouldn't have a hard time finding a chef who, even so
                  woefully handicapped by cooking on electric, could could the
                  pants off of you.
                  \_ Your logic does not follow.
        \_ Are you the infamous "induction" guy?
           \- do you guys pushing electrics work for msft?
2006/5/13-17 [Science/Electric] UID:43046 Activity:nil
5/13    http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_lighting.html
        Flourescent lights still have the best lumens/watt, beating LED
        lights hands down.
        \_ I was wondering about that when I was reading this article about how
           LED lights were the "next big thing"
            \_ They are. True, you can't light large spaces with LEDs like
               you can with fluorescents, but for smaller applications
               (e.g. traffic lights, flashlights, etc.) they're perfect.
               \_ I meant "next big thing to replace incandescents in the home"
2006/5/12-17 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:43031 Activity:nil
5/11    I bought a few expensive LED lightbulbs. Comments: when they say
        an LED is equivalent to X watts incandescent bulb, it's marketing
        bullshit. In reality, it's more like X/2 or X/3. LED bulbs may
        save you a lot of energy, but they're simply not that bright.
        Secondly, they look very very unnatural. With incandescent bulbs,
        you get various frequencies and things look natural. With LEDs,
        you get cold white light and you feel depressed, which is perfectly
        ok if you're into goth or rave. Screw energy savings, I'm going
        back to 60-100W heat generating bulbs and 300W halogen bulbs.
        \_ ... or use fluorescents...
        \_ What type did you go with?  Most of the LED bulb manufacturers
           have "soft" versions.
        \_ Incandescent light doesn't look natural; you're just used to
           how it looks.  Unless you're using full-spectrum bulbs (which
           also look strange when you first install them), incandescents
           are extremely yellow.  -tom
        \_ CFLs are almost as efficient and have a very nice spectrum.  Any of
           these type are more pleasant through a lampshade, btw.
2006/5/5-9 [Science/Electric] UID:42955 Activity:nil
5/5     Article on RFID hacking.  dmolnar, CS grad student cited
        http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.05/rfid.html
2006/5/5-9 [Science/Electric] UID:42948 Activity:nil
5/4     http://www.sheldonbrown.com/marty_light_hist.html
        "... For these reasons, [LEDs] are not a practical approach to high
         output bicycle lighting, tho I have been told that at least one
         designer tried to use a large bunch of LEDs in a bicycle light.
         It never made it to the mass market."
        It's amazing how things have changed in a mere decade.
2006/3/19-20 [Science/Electric] UID:42320 Activity:high
3/19    EMF shielding clothes:
        http://www.lessemf.com/personal.html
        \_ In the very near future, these could actually be useful if you
           don't want airport security people to see your wiener.   I think
           that as milimeter wave scanning technology starts to get deployed
           we're going to see a bigger and bigger market for metalized
           underwear, especially for women.
           \_ Say hello to Mr. Body Cavity Search!
        \_ Mmm.  Why depend on science when you can be POSITIVE that something's
           bad for you!
        \_ Mmm.  Why depend on science when you can be POSITIVE that
           something's bad for you!
           \_ Aren't you supposed to be in church all day today, asshole?
           \_ Don't forget about "get back to driving your Volvo" and other
              cliches.
           \_ So in other words, any cost is worth it when we're talking about
              saving <a measureable number of> American lives.  Think about
              that.
2006/3/17-20 [Science/GlobalWarming, Science/Electric] UID:42289 Activity:nil
3/17    Trolling for profit:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060317/ap_on_hi_te/patent_trolling
        \_ If these people got their knees broken I'd call it justice.  If
           I saw the CEO getting his teeth kicked in in a back alley, I would
           not call the cops.
2006/3/15-17 [Science/Electric] UID:42263 Activity:nil
3/15    RFID tags can spread viruses:
        http://tinyurl.com/rnnd2 (cnn.com)
        \_ Couldn't you have done the same thing w/ barcodes? (I mean they're
           basically doing a buffer overrun, right?)
2006/3/15-17 [Science/Electric, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:42261 Activity:nil
3/15    To the induction heating guy-- I also have a slow electric stove
        and it also bothers me a lot, but I took a very different route to
        remedy the problem. I went to Ranch 99 to buy a portable butane
        stove, you know, those you use on hot pots. I did a benchmark
        and it boils water ~60% faster than my electric stove.
        Total cost to my butane stove: $12.99 plus $1 each butane canister.
        Total cost to your hi-tech induction heating stove: $200-$2000.
        Hi-tech induction heating is for yuppies who have too much time
        and too much money. Lo-tech rules.
        \_ Be careful with Carbon Monoxide.
        \_ I think you have a lousy electric stove.  My electric stove boils
           water faster than the portable butane stove I bought from Ranch.
           Plus, how many pots of water can you boil with one butane canister?
        \_ It also depends on the cookware you use. Aluminum (and
           hard-anodized non-stick) heats up relatively fast, but
           stainless steel (even multi-layered) heats up slower. If
           your stove is slow, you may look at different type of
           cookware. I personally like Cast Iron. Heats up very fast
           and retains heat really well.
2006/3/13-14 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:42208 Activity:nil
3/13    Okay, the Z Machine produced over 290 terawatts:
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_machine
        Please explain again why we can't store this output in some meaningful
        manner for re-use.
        \_ store it in what?  Energon cubes?  Centrifuges?
           \_ ZPMs.  DUH!  Don't you watch SG:Atlantis?
              \_ Exactly, use the fact that the sun will be experiencing
                 increased solar flare activity, thus changing the
                 gravitational constant near the outgoing wormhole, causing
                 you to go back in time, whereby you can find an ancient
                 and ask them how to do it.
                 \_ Or you can do what I do, I just call out "Thor?!  Are you
                    out there?" and he pops in looking like his usual rubbery
                    self.
                    \_ Yeah, he's kind of like a benevolent Q from STNG.
                       \_ But with less power, more needs, and a rubber face.
                       \_ I think Oma is more like Q, only nicer. -stmg
                 \_ Dude, all you need to do is to find an ancient repository
                    of knowledge, d/l the details into your brain, build the
                    storage device and then get Thor to restore your brain.
        \_ It's worth noting that while 290TW is huge, it only produces this
           output for a tiny fraction of a second, so the total energy released
           is not that great.  In any case, the Z-machine is not a power
           generator.  All that energy came from outside the system.
        \_ RTFA: "Z releases 80 times the world's electrical power usage for a
           few trillionths of a second. However, only a small amount of
           electricity is consumed for each test (equal to the usage of 100
           houses for two minutes)."
        \_ Look up ultra capacitors.
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-capacitor
2006/3/12-14 [Science/Electric] UID:42194 Activity:nil
3/11    Alan Moore, pissed.  No surprise there.
        http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/movies/12itzk.html?8hpib
        \_ I love these quotes:
           "If I had raped and murdered a schoolbus full of retarded children
           after selling them heroin," he said, "I doubt that I would have
           been cross-examined for 10 hours." -Alan Moore on his deposition in
           the trial that claimed LXG was ripped off from some other
           screenplay.
           He ...  is a firm believer in magic as a "science of
           consciousness." "I am what Harry Potter grew up into," he said,
           "and it's not a pretty sight."
           -dans    Disclaimer: tom believes I am Paolo's stooge/tool.  If
                    you're not with tom, you're against him, so you may want
                    to ignore the preceding, lest you incur tom's wrath.
2006/3/6-8 [Science/Electric] UID:42116 Activity:kinda low
3/6     So where can I get a 120V->220V adapter? I'm thinking about buying an
        induction stove which is rated for 3000W at 220V 60Hz.
        \_ in this case, i would strongly approach this with a different route
           than getting a transformer.  3000 watts is too serious of an
           appliance for a 3rd-party transformer.  Most of new household has
           one or two 220volts sockets somewhere mostly for air conditioning
           and other heavy appliance.  You should get an electrian to locate
           or relocate exiting 220 volts sockets.
        \_ You're not likely to have any circuits capable of running that on
           120V anyway. Most household 120V circuits are rated 15A or so,
           and even with perfect conversion your 3000W stove would draw 25A.
           Get a 220 hookup, like pp suggested.
           \_Actually it will only draw 14 Amps at 220V.  The poster will still
             want to install a seperate 220V outlet, with it's own 20 Amp
             breaker, like I suggested below.  -scottyg
        \_ So this stove is not some Euro import, it's using american
           220V?  Yeah, you can have an electrian put one in.  You
           probably already have a 220 socket behind the dryer.  As the
           first poster said. -jrleek
        \_ I have an electrican run an 220v into my garage for my
           dryer. The line he used is pretty heavy duty. I would not
           recommend using your regular 15A line for a 220 stove. The
           little bit of 'green' you get with the induction stove
           would be offset by the house burning down when the line
           catches fire. You may get charged several hundred for it.
           But these are the things I won't cheap out on.
2006/3/6-8 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:42104 Activity:nil
3/6     I went to the Home Depot appliance section today and I saw this
        really cool futuristic looking stove with completely flat
        ceramic surface which I presume makes cleaning a breeze! It
        looked so beautiful I fell in love with it immediately. I'm
        wondering how they work and if they work well.  How do they
        transfer heat from ceramic to the pots? Are these what they
        call the "eddi-current induction" cooker? How well do they
        work? Thanks.
        \_ i have one of these in my apartment. it is surprisingly
           difficult to clean... if anything spills over, it gets
           burnt and you have to scrape it off. burnt up stuff can
           really stick of ceramic. also, the flat surface makes dirt
           really obvious, so i think you end up doing more work to
           keep it looking respectable. i think it works as well as
           any electric stove i've used [nothing spectacular in terms
           of heating stuff up].
           p.s. 80 columns is teh standard.
           \_ They're very easy to clean--you usually get a metal scraper
              with it (do _not_ use abrasives of any kind.)  As counter-
              intuitive as it seems, just scrape anything off.  The poster
              below isn't entirely correct; glass-ceramic stovetops do heat
              up a lot faster than regular electric coils (I have one at
              home) and I don't get the impression they use more energy,
              although I'd be at a loss to tell you how it works.  I think
              it has to do with the heat conductivity of the cooktop.  -John
              \_ It heats up faster b/c the coil underneath can be more
                 delicate and thus more responsive (the kind you set pans off
                 have to be more rugged)
              \_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stove#Gas_and_electric_stoves
                 Look for the part about "glass-ceramic"
        \_ Basically it's just an ordinary electric coil under a glass top.
           \_ That is right. Induction cooking has not caught on in the US.
              Like the American car mentality, primitive stoves are "good
              enough."
        \_ Not sure which one you were looking at, but there are two possible
           technologies you were looking at.  1) electric under the ceramic top-
           has the same disadvantages as normal electric, no instant heat, more
           costly energy 2) magnetic induction- only works with certain pan
           materials (i.e. iron).  There are numerous others gotchas, but as cool
           as flat-tops look, I think gastops are still the best of existing
           technologies (weird in the year 2006).
           technologies you were looking at.  1) electric under the ceramic
           top- has the same disadvantages as normal electric, no instant heat,
           more costly energy 2) magnetic induction- only works with certain
           pan materials (i.e. iron).  There are numerous others gotchas, but
           as cool as flat-tops look, I think gastops are still the best of
           existing technologies (weird in the year 2006).
        \_ If you saw it at Home Depot, or in the United States for that matter
           then 99% of the time it is NOT an induction stove. Induction stoves
           are very popular in Asia like Japan and have the electric->heat
           efficiency of 80-90% (depending on manufacturer and the type of
           pot you use). They are completely cool to touch and only heat up
           the pot directly to reach that efficiency. What this means is
           that you can't use aluminum or glass on top to heat things up.
           You need to use special pots with thick irons to reach high
           elec->heat efficiency. If you go to Marukai or high end Asian
           markets (not Ranch 99) in JapanTown, you'll find special pots that
           say in kanji, "Thick Bottom" and bold letters like CH and IH meaning
           those pots are specially designed for Induction Heating. The bottom
           is usually at least 5mm with thick iron, while aluminum or something
           else wrap around it. I have never seen induction stoves or induction
           pots sold in the US. The exception would be those high-end web sites
           that tailor to professional chefs. I guess when energy is so cheap
           and plentiful, who cares about stove efficiency?
           \_ 5 cm thick?! You think this is an efficient way to cook?  Do you
              have any idea how much energy it takes to dig up that much iron,
              refine it, make your 5cm thick pots and pans from it, transport
              to the stores for you to buy, etc?  To save how much energy on
              the cooking side of the equation? Not to mention the damage
              caused to the environment with all the mining operations required
              to dig up the iron in the first place.  And then I'd have what?
              An extra 5 lbs? 10 lbs? more? of pan to lug around to clean,
              move, etc.  At least it would be too heavy to make a decent
              weapon.
              \_ my bad I mean 5mm. Wow someone in the US understands the
                 metric system. I'm impressed. -op
                 \_ wow, ok, nevermind then.  I had this image of this giant
                    unmovable object that needed to be cleaned on the spot
                    because it would be impossible to move to a sink or put
                    in any sort of dish washer.  My uncle had an old style
                    iron pan I could barely move (I was a kid) which wasn't
                    anything like 5cm.  Probably about the 5mm you meant but
                    still very heavy.
           \_ Where can I get more info on this inductive heating
              technology? I saw a Zojirushi rice cooker with inductive
              heating technology, but wasn't sure what it is. How safe
              is it? You said iron, is it iron coated with Teflon?
              \_ Why does it have to be coated with teflon?
                 \_ Rice cookers pots are usually non-stick. What else
                    would it be if not teflon?
                    \_ I don't know what kind of fancy cooker you've got,
                       but the ones I've seen are aluminum.
              \_ http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/market/trend/topic/2004_11_mtm.html
                 If you have a lot of cash buy this one:
     http://biccamera.com/bicbic/jsp/w/catalog/detail.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=0010055457
                 Don't get those American/China-made knockoffs that are less
                 than 2000W
2006/3/5-8 [Science/Electric] UID:42101 Activity:low
3/5     If an appliance is 220V, can I get an adapter or something for it
        because I have 120V? Thanks.
        \_ A transformer, yes.
        \_ I had a similar problem.  You need to be very careful about
           the actual wattage of your appliance.  A transformer that withstands
           large wattage tend to be very very big (size of couple bricks and
           weights accordinly).  *FURTHER*  You can *NOT* just look at the
           weights accordinly).  *FURTHER*  You look can NOT just look at the
           peak wattage, let say, 200 watts, and shop for a transformer that
           can handles just 200 watts.  There is some sort of multiple (of
           that 200 watts) is involved.   You need to bug other people on
           MOTD who actually passed Physics 7B to give you the answer.
                                                -kngharv
         \_ Your house normally has a 220-240V mains that is seperated into
            two 110-120V circuits.  You can combine these to provide a 220V
            outlet.  An electrician can put one of these outlets in for you.
        \_ Your house has 240V mains which is basicly split in two to make your\
           two 120V circuits.  You can have an electrician set up a 240V outlet,\
           which will be easier to transform down (if necessary) to 220.
            \_ While this is true, whether this is a good idea or not
               depends on the appliance.  In this case it's probably some
               kind of euro import or something, which would mean it's
               probably a bad idea.
               \_ Sure, if there is a motor, the 60Hz will cause some problems
                  for something wound for 50Hz.  Many appliances have no
                  problems though.  So really, what the hell is this appliance?
        \_ If it's something portable, like a router, etc, you can
           probably get by with a transformer or voltage converter.
           However, if we are talking about electric dryer, then you
           BETTER get an electrican and get a proper 220v outlet.
2006/3/1-2 [Transportation/Car, Science/Electric] UID:42047 Activity:low
3/1     Is it more cost effective to fill up butane/propane gas from your
        local store like Home Depot and use a gas heater to heat up your
        room? My electric bill shot up last month and I'm thinking of
        switching. I don't have central AC, unfortunately.
        \_ Should be a simple calculation.  But make sure you exhaust
           the fumes properly.
        \_ If you are a homeowner, consider installing central air. I
           should get my money back in five years. -ausman
2006/3/1 [Science/Electric] UID:42041 Activity:moderate
3/1     Say I have a circuit breaker that says 20A. How many watts can I load
        on it before it pops? I'm asking because every time I have a space
        heater (1500W) and hair dryer (1850W) on, the circuit breaker pops.
        \_ P = VI  where P is power in watts, V is voltage in volts, I is current
           in amps (A).  Wall socket voltage is a max of 120V in the USA and is
           220V-240V in some places elsewhere.  Can you figure it out now or do
           you need more help?
           \_ [80 column nazi-ism removed, helpful original 83 col text restored]
              So take *that* 80 col nazi!  --content quality >>> 80 cols retentive
ness and format advocacy.
        \_ P = VI where P is power in watts, V is voltage in volts, I is
           current in amps (A).  Wall socket voltage is a max of 120V in the
           USA and is 220V-240V in some places elsewhere.  Can you figure it
           out now or do you need more help?
           \_ [80 column nazi-ism removed, helpful original 83 col text
              restored] So take *that* 80 col nazi!  --content quality >>>
              80 cols retentive ness and format advocacy.
              \_ Come on 80 col nazi!  Rally, damn you, RALLY!
        \_ AS a rough estimate, and with normal US household power, you can
           say 100W = 1A, so you're trying to throw 33A through that 20
           circuit breaker.  Of course it's going to blow.
        \_ Isn't this high school physics?
2006/2/24-27 [Science/Electric] UID:41984 Activity:nil
2/24    Does anyone use a solar panel to power their laptop? If so,
        what brand do you use/recommend? I use a G4 iBook in case
        that makes any difference. tia.
        \_ Is this for travel or home use?
           \_ Mostly for travel, so I could take it w/ me in my
              backpack.  It would be nice if I could stick it in
              the sun and charge my battery while sitting outside
              btwn classes or something as well.
        \_ On a related note, is there any solar panel for general
           purpose usages?
           \_ Unlikely.  Anything smaller than rooftop won't provide enough
              power to drive 110V AC effectively (and you'd need a power-sapping
              inverter), thus they all output DC, but there's no real standard
              for DC power plugs except sort of cigarette lighter plugs.
              You can buy panels with lighter plugs out, but they're usually
              just for trickle charging your car battery at a rate just
              sufficient to avoid draining while leaving your car sitting.
              In short: they're just too weak.
              power to drive 110V AC effectively (and you'd need a power-
              sapping inverter), thus they all output DC, but there's no real
              standard for DC power plugs except sort of cigarette lighter
              plugs. You can buy panels with lighter plugs out, but they're
              usually just for trickle charging your car battery at a rate
              just sufficient to avoid draining while leaving your car
              sitting. In short: they're just too weak.
2006/2/14-15 [Science/Electric, Computer/SW/Apps] UID:41845 Activity:nil
2/14    PKD droid does a runner:
        http://csua.org/u/ezf (Sydney Morning Herald)
        \_ Of course, there's no proof it ever existed except in photoshop.
           \_ I've seen video, so.. "except in photoshop and premiere"
2006/2/13-15 [Science/Electric, Reference/Military] UID:41814 Activity:nil
2/13    How long until they build them 80 feet tall, with laser guns and
        a hot green-haired chick pilot with huge eyes?
        http://tinyurl.com/dhnbn  -John
        \_ Same company's working on that, too:
           http://www.hsworks.co.jp/CB.html
           \_ Can't wait for their partnership with <DEAD>www.realdoll.com!<DEAD>
           \_ Well, that wins the creepy award.
2006/1/23-25 [Science/GlobalWarming, Science/Electric] UID:41488 Activity:high
1/23    In the old days there were convection heaters. There were
        oil heaters, horizontal electric heaters, and heat dishes. While
        they worked, they created heat spots and didn't distribute heat
        evenly. Later someone had a brilliant idea of putting a fan in
        the heater, and today most of the electric heaters come with
        at least one fan-- usually something that blows a lot of dust
        into the air, and hums loudly at night. Well, fuck the dust
        and the noise. I have gone back to the good 'ol days. I just bought
        a regular Holmes aluminum convection heater. It is nearly silent
        and doesn't disturb me at night. Fuck modern technology. Go old
        convection heaters.                     -I really hate new things
        \_ I actually prefer the noise at night. I can't sleep in silence.
        \_ Costco carries heat dishes, if you prefer heat spots and uneven
           heating.  I bought one.
        \_ Yeah, I had one at Cal, worked awesome, mainly because of the
           surface area and the principle of convection.  Much better than
           other heaters I've used.  Saved a lot on heating bills too!
        \_ I did a google search on "convection heaters", and this chart
           says the fan units heat your room much faster (but are noisier)
           http://tinyurl.com/7uej5 (choice.com.au)
           \- I used to work on numerical and analytic models of heat
              transfer to analyze things like circuit board layouts.
              Obviously convection is a huge boost over mere radiation
              but it turns out you also want a turbulent flow rather than
              laminar for greater heat capacity/xfer, although in a wasteful
              system like this, those details dont matter too much. Berkeley
              Math/Mech Eng is a big place for fluid dynamics, tribology etc.
              I think HILFINGR has some affilation with the people who do
              some of the applied work here [e.g. COLLELA and MARCUS].
              some of the applied work here [e.g. COLELLA and MARCUS].
        \_ Why not get an air filter?  Works great for dust.  -John
           \_ Please recommend a make and model. -- ulysses
           \_ I don't have a specific recommendation, but a friend in the
              HVAC business told me to buy filters either really cheap
              or really expensive.  Don't buy anything in the middle.  He
              said those tends to starve your system of air.  Oh I am
              talking about built-in home system, not the portable stuff.
              \_ I had a big cylindrical one in colleage--I don't remember
                 the model, but it worked great.  About 30" high and 20" in
                 diameter, with a replaceable filter that wrapped around the
                 inside.  Worked a charm in a very dusty room.  -John
        \_ wear more. Thermal layers do wonders. Use less energy, save the earth
           \_ Seconded.
2006/1/5-7 [Science/Electric, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:41246 Activity:nil
1/5     Intel releases pricing details for dual-core notebook Yonah CPUs,
        dual-core 1.66Ghz at $241:
        http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6019832.html?tag=nl.e589
        You lose in power consumption / battery life:
        http://news.com.com/Yonah+to+suck+up+more+power/2100-1006_3-5893308.html
2006/1/5-7 [Science/Electric] UID:41239 Activity:nil
1/5     Mindstorms TNG:
        http://tinyurl.com/bcr3e (lego.com)
        \_ http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,69946-0.html
2005/12/18-19 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:41064 Activity:kinda low
12/17   Has anyone used a led lightbulb like this? How bright is it compared
        to a regular light blub?
        http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B8YY3A
        \_ That's LED, not led. Anyways, I really don't understand this
           fascination with energy saving bulbs. In a typical home,
           lighting uses less than 15% of the total electricity. Most
           goes to creating/removing heat (AC, frig). What is the point
           of spending money on expensive light bulbs that'll only cut
           energy cost by 5%?
           \_ A 100W equivalent compact fluourescent saves you something like
              $30 over the life of the bulb, IIRC.  Why would you not want to
              do that?  They also produce much much less heat, which will save
              on cooling costs.  Percentages are great, but money is money.
              --dbushong
           \_ Replacing bulbs in ceilings is a chore?
              \_ I don't have cooling problems.  I want my place warmer.  Would
                 you think I'd be better off over all using these bulbs and
                 then turning the heat up more or leaving the heat lower and
                 keeping my regular bulbs?
                 \_ Your logic applies in winter, but not in summer.
                 \_ Do you heat with electric or gas?
           \_ Because replacing bulbs in ceilings is a chore?
           \_ Cutting back 15% would mean we wouldn't have to drill in ANWR
        \_ According to cyberguys' web page, it outputs 32 lumens and is
           equivalent only to a 15W incandescent: http://csua.org/u/ecv
           \_ Umm, the one at cyberguys's is 18 LED version and the one at
              Amazon is 36 LED version from a differernt company, even.
              \_ Oops.  Wrong one. http://csua.org/u/ecw
                 55 lumens and 25W (which isn't even double the 18 LED version,
                 go figure).  How do you know it's a different company?
                 The Amazon page doesn't list the manufacturer; SmartHome is
                 a retailer, and it looks the same to me.
                 \_ 25W?  I can't even find the floor with 25W.  --old n blind
                    \_ Make sure you are comparing apples to apples ... A
                       14W fluorescent bulb puts out the same light as a 40W
                       incandescent ... I imagine LED lights are even more
                       efficient.
2005/12/12-14 [Science/Electric] UID:40967 Activity:nil
12/12   New AC Transit Line 800 Transbay All Nighter:
        http://www.actransit.org/riderinfo/schedules/800.html
2005/11/30-12/3 [Science/Electric] UID:40791 Activity:nil
11/30   http://csua.org/u/e4s
        The Not-So-Secret History of 'Aeon Flux'
        \_ A lame cartoon becomes an even worse movie!
2005/11/28-30 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:40751 Activity:moderate
11/28   Which one is more efficient?
        1. Use electricity to generate hydrogen and burn it in a fuel-cell car.
           \_ this is a very very inefficient process.  Only country such as
              Iceland where geothermal energy is plentiful can they afford
              to do this.  Here is a lesson for energy:  The key for many
              energy-related industries (including chemcial industry) is how
              to generate *HYDROGEN* cheaply.  And electrolysis water is one
              of the most *EXPENSIVE* way of doing so.  The cheapest way
              to generate hydrogen is from natrual gas and petroleum.  This
              is one of the main reason why I don't really believe in
              hydrogen fuel-cell cars, as I suspect the amount of energy
              required to generate hydrogen is typically being ignored.
                                                kngharv
              \_ I just heard on the radio today that Honda has some $1M
                 prototype cars that run on hydrogen generated from water
                 electrolysis using solar power.  So I was wondering why not
                 simply use the solar electricity to charge the batteries of
                 electric cars.  Hence the efficiency question of #1 vs. #2.
                 --- OP
                 \_ in that context, then, it's a toss up, and we really
                    don't know which one is more efficient.  Charging
                    batteries are horribly inefficient and this is why
                    we don't see any electric car on the street at first
                    place.  The new trend of thought is use solar/wind to
                    generate hydrogen (hence, much easier to store) and
                    let various devices run on hydrogen.  It's a relatively
                    new concept and it has a lot of kinks to work out.
                    Personally, I am very excited about this trend.  kngharv
              \_ There is a short blurb in Dec 2005 Scientific American
                 about some new solar cells being worked on that directly
                 generate hydrogen... still not as cheap as hydrogen from
                 natural gas though.  Perhaps in time...
                 \_ this is the reason why I am so pissed at Bush and his
                    policy.  The administration is doing everything to
                    lower the price of petro-based product (by invading
                    another country, relax the environment standard, etc)
                    instead of investing money on those solar/wind + hydrogen
                    based technology.
                    \_ Hydrogen isn't an energy source.  It is a storage and
                       transport mechanism.  The reason we don't use solar
                       and wind for main power is they aren't consistent
                       enough, solar cells are very toxic to produce and take
                       up large amounts of land, wind kills birds, and neither
                       can produce enough power to replace enough fossil fuels
                       to bother.  They each have some limited uses but aren't
                       exactly new tech.  Are you also pissed at Clinton,
                       Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, etc? What
                       serious steps did any of them take in that direction?
                       None.  Because neither is economic and *never* can be
                       for large scale energy production.  If we ran out of
                       oil tomorrow, we'd go nuclear and everything would be
                       wired electric, batteries, or both.  The batteries
                       might be hydrogen, they might not.
                       \_ Silicon cells suck, yes.  But the problem with
                          solar is completely a technology problem, not a
                          problem of not enough energy.  The total area of the
                          U.S. that is paved by either roads or parkinglots
                          recieves enough power from the sun to satisfy our
                          energy needs.  Making a system that is as cheap as
                          paint and as robust and safe as asfault that produces
                          electricity efficiently and converts it into some
                          convenient storage medium is a very very large
                          challenge, but it violates no laws of physics, and
                          that's what we should be srtiving for.  It might
                          take decades, but I believe that if the U.S. focused
                          its physical sciences research in this direction it
                          would happen.   I also think this will
                          happen by profit-driven corporate researchers without
                          the government if the government does nothing, but
                          it might take longer.  It is silly to dismiss solar
                          just because the present technology is useless.
                          If we had to use 1800's technology, oil wouldn't
                          work for running our civilization either.
                          \_ So you want to have a huge federal program to
                             create solar tech sometime in the next few decades
                             that may or may not work?  To the exclusion of
                             other technology?  Money doesn't grow on trees.
                             \_ If we already know something definitely will
                                work before we look into it, it wouldn't be
                                called "research", would it?  -- !PP
                                \_ Exactly.  So you want to blow a few decades
                                   of effort on something that may not come to
                                   anything, yet up above you claim there is
                                   no reason it can't work.  So which is it?
                       \_ when I say solar/wind + hydrogen, I meant hydrogen
                          as a transporting/storing mechanism.  and I repeat,
                          I am pissed at Bush because they choose to align
                          themselves with the old industry, at the expense of
                          environment (clear sky initiative, for example).
                          Frankly, last thing we want is to make petro-based
                          energy cheaper if we want to provide more incentive
                          for new, renewable energy, especially when war,
                          drill of national refuge, and allowing barf mercury
                          to the air is involved.
                          \_ We have the same mercury standard we've always
                             had.  Are you aware the last minute (literally)
                             Clinton standard would have required levels lower
                             than mercury occurs naturally in many places?
                             That was political BS and too many people ate it
                             up.  "Bush wants to poison us with mercury! ack!"
                             As far as the rest, Bush hasn't done anything any
                             differently than any other President going back
                             forever.  Name the POTUS who has pushed for
                             artificially higher gas prices in an effort to
                             provide industry incentive to pursue alternative
                             energy research.  If you want to hate Bush, go
                             ahead, there are a lot of reasons for it.  What
                             you've stated isn't unique to Bush in any way.  No
                             sane person would vote for someone who wanted
                             higher oil prices.  That's the politics of the
                             extreme/green left.  You can't name anyone in
                             Congress of either party ever in favor of that.
                        \_ Umm, wind is already competitive with other power
                           sources, and you really think wind turbines kill
                           more birds per year than fossil fuel production &
                           consumption?
                           \_ I'm just repeating the anti-wind rhetoric on
                              birds.  Wind is *not* reliable as a nationwide
                              source of power.  Not enough places have room
                              or enough consistent wind for it.  At best it
                              will always remain a secondary source.
                              \_ Being a secondary source isn't bad.  If wind
                                 provides, say, 30% of the energy, that's a
                                 pretty big dent on the whole problem already.
                                 \_ 30%  That would be a miracle.  What is
                                    the current % in places that support
                                    wind power?  I don't have the numbers but
                                    I'd bet it's in the trivial below 2%
                                    range.
                           \_ Or glass-wall highrise buildings, for that
                              matter.
        2. Use electricity to charge the battery of an electric car and run it.
           \_ you need to be careful about that statement, as you need to
              taken account where is the electricity come from at first place
                                                kngharv
        \_ More completely:
           1. Use some renewable or non-renewable resource to generate
              electricity, and taking into account transmission costs to the
              hydrogen plant, generate hydrogen.  Then, taking into account
              hydrogen transportation costs, use it to power a fuel-cell car.
              (Note, you don't "burn" fuel, in a fuel cell, per se)
           2. Yadda generate, yadda transmission costs all the way to charging
              location (home?  central?)

        \3. Install an electric grid such cars get their power directly as long
           as they are on the road.  Kind of like bumper cars, or electric
           powered buses (like you see in SF) or electric trains.   Oh, were
           we talking energy efficient or cost efficient? (this idea has huge
           infrastructure costs)
           \_ Energy efficiency.  -- OP
              \_ Though it could take more energy to construct a really
                 elaborate super-efficient system than you'd ever save over the
                 useful life of the system.
        \_ 4. Ride Bike!
        \_ 5. walk.
2005/11/22-25 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:40705 Activity:nil
11/22   Do you guys actually like those energy efficient flourescent
        light bulbs that fit into the incandescent light bulb sockets?
        I've been getting a lot of headache from them and after switching
        back to regular bulbs my headaches were gone. I really miss
        the warm tone that the traditional bulbs give, and wish that
        more people use traditional bulbs.
        \_ high wattage fluorescents approach white light.
           use a 32W or 40W compact fluorscent bulb.
        \_ Different brands have different tones, too.  Also, what you're used
           to as "normal" or "warm" is very much not white light and thus true
           white CFLs look bluish.  I've found that Lights of America brand
           bulbs tend to have a longer warmup period but a generally "warmer"
           tone.  --dbushong
        \_ I really don't miss traditional bulbs heating up my room in summer
           while providing little light.  A 13W CFL after warming up really
           does provide the same amount of light as a 60W traditional bulb.  I
           verified it using a lightmeter.
        \_ Fluorescent light bulbs come in a variety of different color
           temperatures and spectrums.  You may want to take a closer look
           at the emissions of your bulb and find one more to your liking
           (find a site that discusses the bulbs used with planted aquariums
           and you'll find more information on this topic than you ever
           wanted to know).  I have some power compact fluorescent torchieres
           that were designed as halogen torchiere replacements that use
           bulbs I like.
2005/11/22-24 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:40703 Activity:kinda low
11/22   http://tinyurl.com/dj5dj (yahoo news)
        Staring Jan. 1, the buyer of a new home equipped with a solar
        photovoltaic system may claim a tax credit valued at 30% of
        the system's cost, to a maximum of $2,000."
        So if I install $6666 worth of solar stuff, I can get back
        $2000. Can I install another $6666 worth of solar stuff the
        next year and get another $2000 back?
        \_ What part of "new home" do you not understand?
        \_ "the average U.S. household pays about $1,500 a year for
           electricity."  How do they come up with this number?  I only pay
           about $350/yr for a family of four, even with a thermo pot that's
           powered on 24/7.
           \_ Most of the country is very hot all summer long.  -tom
           \- do you live in ... maine?
              \_ No.  And?
                 \_ YBHBCA: SMALL
                 \_ Your brain has been classified as: small.
                    \_ Are you talking about heating cost?
        \_ Usually it is cooling costs that drive high household energy bills.
        \_ More people (including me) will be willing to install solar panels
           if they can change the regulations to allow a net output of
           electricity from your home into the grid, so as to sell electricity
           to the power provider.
           \_ They do allow net output of electricity from your home
              into the grid; we sell to PG&E at daytime rates, and buy back
              at nighttime rates.  They won't ever give you cash money,
              but they'll credit you for the power you generated.  -tom
              \_ What I mean is that if overall you generate more than what you
                 use, you won't eventually get any money back.  So it's not
                 worthwhile for people who have big roofs but use little
                 electricity to install solar panels.
                 \_ It's not worthwhile to install more than you need; it's
                    still worthwhile to install as much as you need.  -tom
           \_ It can't be too lucrative otherwise everyone starts doing it
              and the infrastructure would have to be redesigned (which would
              be a good thing)
2005/11/2-3 [Science/Electric] UID:40402 Activity:low
11/2    AC Transit designates today as Rosa Parks Day.
        http://www.actransit.org/news/articledetail.wu?articleid=f17acca4
        http://www.actransit.org/aboutac/bod/memos/1b0435.pdf
        How ironic.
        \_ Why is that ironic?
           \_ A bus agency employee had her arrested.
              \_ Yeah, that's not ironic.  It was done as a salute to her
                 *because* of the action she took.
              \_ That might be ironic if it was an AC Transit employee.
        \_ I liked the guy on The Daily Show "boy.. times have changed since
           Rosa Parks' day... white people used to ride the bus!"
2005/11/1-4 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:40392 Activity:low
11/1    PC problem:  is it possible for a PC to crash during graphics-
        intensive operations (i.e. games) if it's not getting enough power?
        I have a new box I put together, and it locks up during some really
        big graphics "moments"--I can't think of any other reason for it (tried
        everything else I came up with.)  Is this plausible?  -John
        \_ Yes it is. HEIL JOHN!
        \_ I think the answer is "yes" ... if your power supply is too wimpy
           and everything is trying to suck down maximum juice it can crash.
        \_ Absolutely. My brother put together a machine with an ungodly
           graphics card, and his computer crashed like clockwork. Turns out
           he needed a bigger power supply. Installed it, and crash-free
           ever since.
           \_ Thanks, I would have thought a 450W Arctic PSU would be enough
              (Asus EN6800, 2GB, Athlon 64 3500+, 1 HD and a bunch of USB
              devices.)  I'll get a 500+ one.  Does a gfx card need more power
              when displaying something like, say, a big series of explosions
              in an FPS game than when showing regular gameplay?  -John
              \_ wow, 450W sounds plenty. but then again, vid cards (esp.
                 nvidia) are power whores. i have a 3200+ w/ 6600GT and a
                 400W PSU, and i don't seem to have any power issues. oh,
                 and newer MBs have multiple power connectors now (part of
                 the ATX2.0 standard). do you have all of them plugged in?
                 \_ along these lines I think a lot of graphics cards are
                    now having thier own direct power connections that you
                    can plug in for increased stability. -mrauser
                    \_ This one does.  All power connects plugged in.  My
                       colleague who postulated this as a possibility says he
                       needed a 2550W supply (!)  -John
                       \_ Uh no, he doesn't.  Unfortunately the likely answer
                          in your case is all XYZ Watt PSs don't supply that
                          much power in reality.  Get a higher quality PS.
                          Read some reviews.  And yes, high intensity graphics
                          that use more onchip features and require more on
                          board vram, etc, are going to eat more power.  Also,
                          it is possible that you have a heat problem as well.
                          You've got a micro nuclear reactor inside your case
                          being cooled by some dinky fans.  Heat can cause
                          all sorts of weirdness.
                          \_ I've got 4 120mm arctic case fans--the thing's
                             running at 59C under the CPU, and less on the GPU.
                             I may try a 450w arctic PSU, we'll see.  -John
                             I may try a 1450w arctic PSU, we'll see.  -John
        \_ I had a couple of games that moved too much data across the AGP
           or Northbridge and crashed the system regularly due to shitty
           MB/Chipset design.  Underclocking the frontside bus fixed the
           problem but is obviously sub-optimal.
        \_ I've had a problem in the past where in certain graphics intensive
           games my computer would lock up.  I called the card manufacturer
           and they told me to uninstall graphics driver and reinstall.
           Apparently you shouldn't just install them on top of each other.
           It worked for me, you may want to see if that'll help you.
2005/9/8-10 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:39580 Activity:nil
9/8     Power Generating Backpacks for you hippy pot smoking tree huggers:
        http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/wip_energy_gene.php
        http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/006948.php
2005/9/7-9 [Science/Electric] UID:39544 Activity:nil
9/7     Tell us about the stars, ilyas:
        http://www.holoscience.com/news.php?article=re6qxnz1
        \_ Can somebody explain what the "electrical model of the universe"
           people are on about? Maybe it's valid but they sound something in
           tone like a guy in Sproul Plaza preaching to nobody about trilateral
           commission conspiracy theories. The article above starts normally
           enough and then..Stonehenge?? -- this one goes to 11.
2005/9/3-5 [Science/Electric, Consumer/PDA] UID:39477 Activity:moderate
9/3     I have AC adaptors for my cell phone and PDA that say the input
        should be 120VAC.  If I try to use them in Europe where the voltage
        is 220V, will I fry my PDA and cell?  Obviously, I'll have to use
        a plug adaptor to plug them in.
        \_ Yes, they will fry.  Get a transformer that goes 220V -> 110V.
           \- if you are in berkeley, you can get a little voltage and
              outlet adapater travel kit at the travel bookstore near
              black oak books. not the absolute cheepest but convenient
              enough. --psb
              \_ easy travel closed about a year ago.
        \_ Most electronics are dual-voltage these days.  Check the device
           specs.  -tom
           \_ second that.  Most of chargers nowadays take 100-240Volts.
              you *DO* have to worry about different type of plugs, though.
              *PERSONALLY* I have an usb data cable that also charges
              batteries.  I found having such cable is a lot more convenient
              then trying to get more than one set of plug converters.
                                        -- frequent traveler
                \_ URL on where to buy? I've been looking for this.
                   \_ what kind of phone / PDA do you have?
2005/8/21-22 [Science/Electric, Science/Physics] UID:39208 Activity:nil
8/20    http://www.scienceblog.com/light.html
        Ok can some physics person explain this:
        "the light signal travelled faster than 300 million meters a
        second. And even though this seems to violate all sorts of cherished
        physical assumptions, Einstein needn't move over -- relativity isn't
        called into question, because only a portion of the signal is affected"
        \_ Speed is length traveled over time taken.  The trouble is, length
           traveled of a set of particles isn't a precise interval, but a
           'smear' due to quantum effects.  So some particles traveled a little
           more and some a little less.  If the length traveled is very short,
           these sorts of 'smear' effects become significant.  Actually, the
           way I understand it, the particles that finish 'a little after the
           finish line' also started 'a little after the start line', except
           we had no measurements of this.  So each particle is still traveling
           at c.  But this is a 'sane interpretation' where things have
           positions. -- ilyas
2005/7/21-22 [Science/Electric] UID:38746 Activity:moderate
7/20    I have a 12V fan that takes 10W. If I power it using a 2000mA
        battery, how long does it take? Basically I don't have a good
        clue on the relationship between wattage, amp, and voltage. Thanks!
        \_ V = IR and P = VI. Didn't you take physics?
        \_ You probably have a 2000mAh battery.  That's 2000 milli-amp hours.
           Given that, you should be able to figure out how long the
           battery ought to last.
           \_ 144 minutes.  -nop
              \_ It's impossible to answer this question without knowing the
                 voltage of the battery.
              \_ Assuming that it's a 12V battery.
              \_ Really?  I get 25: http://csua.org/u/csl --dbushong
                 \_ Dave, your answer seems to have the units of
                    25/minute.  Check your units.  I agree with nop.--PM
                    \_ Pfft.  Units.  --dbushong
                 \_ 144 minutes ... P = VI, 10W = 12V * I, I = .8333 amps.
                    2 Amp-hours @ .8333 amps will therefore take 2.4 hours
                    to run out making 144 minutes.
2005/7/20 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:38721 Activity:nil
7/20    I lived at this cabin last week where everything's powered by a
        portable generator. The owner said the biggest hog is the
        refrigerator, which got me to wonder... most of the power consumption
        from an AC or refrigerator is from the compressor right? It seems to
        me that it is a lot of waste to have to generate electricity first
        (+50% energy lost?) then use that electricity to crank the compressor
        (another +50% energy lost?). Is it possible to create a frig where
        the compressor is cranked directly by small engines like the ones
        used in portable generators?
        \_ Ice is civilization!!!!
        \_ Of course.  That's how very early refrigerators worked.  It's
           just that most people don't like to have internal combustion
           engines in their homes.
           \_ Maybe not in their homes, but in places like the wilderness
              where power is more precious and fresh air is easily and
              readily to be polluted, it would seem to make sense to place
              an engine powered refrigerator.
              \_ Ok, sure.  All I meant was, yes they exist.  Down below
                 is a link to how they work.  Google for "propane
                 refrigerator" if you want to buy one.
        \_ There are natural gas powered refrigerator.  Kinda
           anti-intuitive.  NG is used as a power source to turn
           the compressor.
           \_ http://home.howstuffworks.com/refrigerator5.htm
2005/7/12-13 [Health/Disease/General, Science/Electric, Recreation/Music] UID:38556 Activity:nil
7/12    Bob Moog is seriously ill with a brain tumor:
        http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=bobmoog
        If you don't know who he is, check:
        http://www.synthmuseum.com/moog
2005/7/6-8 [Science, Politics, Science/Electric] UID:38429 Activity:nil
7/5     When I unplug my Uninterruptible Power Supply to simulate power
        outage, it makes this light buzzing sound. Is this normal with UPS?
        \_ it sure is.  UPS is letting you know normal power flow has
           been interrupted, please fix!
        \_ I'd guess this is the result of DC power being converted to AC.
2005/6/24-25 [Reference/RealEstate, Science/Electric] UID:38281 Activity:kinda low
6/24    Maybe house contractors will be outsourced to robots in the future:
        http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4764
        \_ old. There was a Discover mag. article about this 6 mo. back.
           \_ So?  It's still interesting.  Go stick your head in a pig.  -!op
2005/6/21-22 [Science/Electric, Computer/Companies/Google, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA] UID:38220 Activity:nil
6/21    Does anybody have current contact info for blojo@csua? I've
        tried to email him, but I'm not sure he still pays attention
        to the CSUA mail. -vadim
        \_ google has his web site as first hit
           mailto:jon@number-none.com
           whois the site shows his name/address/phone/email address
           \_ Thanks, I was googling for the wrong thing. -vadim
              \_ That should have gotten lots of hits on google too.
2005/6/7-8 [Science/Electric, Recreation/Humor] UID:38004 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto
6/7     Lonely dateless geeky Asian men invent ballroom dancing robot. If
        only they'd make Geisha bots...
        http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/06/07/robots.ballroom
2005/5/23-26 [Science/Electric] UID:37800 Activity:nil
5/20    Has anyone installed an attic fan? Does it REALLY cool down your
        house while saving 3X the AC electricity fee?
        \_ I don't know about attic fans, house fans are pretty good.
           Pull all the cool air into the house over night, and you
           usually don't need AC during the day.
        \_ In general, you want to make sure your attic has enough
           ventilations, and you have enough insulations in the attic
           to keep the house cool. The insulation will make the
           biggest difference. Here in the bay area, you need about
           12-inches of fiberglass or cellulose to have an R-value
           about 30+ for the attic. Some utilities company will do a
           free energy audit, have them come out and take a look.
2005/5/21-23 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:37796 Activity:low
5/20    Science and Nature censoring papers that reject global warning
        as a man made phenomenon:
        http://tinyurl.com/85x6t (telegraph.co.uk)
           \_ I've never published in Nature, but Science rejected my paper
              on my mono-pole magnet until I agreed to pledge alegiance to the
              Unitied Nations, give up all my guns and renounce God.  Now they
              publish all my mono-pole magnet papers without question. It's
              not a bad system, really.  All hail the scientific priesthood
              and their athiestic consensus science.
           \_ Did you read the article? S&N have started dropping
              research groups from its pool of reviewers when they
              publish (or try to publish) research that contradicts
              the "accepted truth" re global warning. I don't care
              that they are biased as long as they come out and
              admit it.
              \_ I care if they are biased. If the research is good
                 research then it should be published. It is up to the
                 scientific community to accept/reject the conclusions. A
                 journal should just publish papers, as long as the
                 science is good.
                 \_ You could publish it as a paid advertisement and publish
                    the URL as a "hey, look, look at this, isn't it unique?"
                    story on http://slashdot.org... -John
        \_ gee... scientist can't get his paper published in Science or
           Nature, then whines?  Publish it somewhere else, then.  You've
           already started whining... show us what you're whining about.
           Thousands of papers get rejected from both S. & N.  They are
           the top two journals, and two most prestigious.  If every
           scientist who wanted to publish there, got his/her wish, then
           the two journals would be shite.  Also, getting rejected by
           no means indicates your article is poor, flawed, or not
           newsworthy.  It just means that Science/Nature ed. boards
           didn't think your article is on-topic enough.  Plenty of
           scientists get rejected by them, and then go and publish in
           other journals.
           \_ I've never published in Nature, but Science rejected my paper
              on my mono-pole magnet until I agreed to pledge alegiance to the
              Unitied Nations, give up all my guns and renounce God.  Now they
              publish all my mono-pole magnet papers without question. It's
              not a bad system, really.  All hail the scientific priesthood
              and their athiestic consensus science.
           \_ Did you read the article? S&N have started dropping
              research groups from its pool of reviewers when the
              research groups from its pool of reviewers when they
              publish (or try to publish) research that contradicts
              the "common knowledge" re global warning. I don't
              care that they are biased. Just let them come out
              and admit it.
              the "accepted truth" re global warning. I don't care
              that they are biased as long as they come out and
              admit it.
              \_ I care if they are biased. If the research is good
                 research then it should be published. It is up to the
                 scientific community to accept/reject the conclusions. A
                 journal should just publish papers, as long as the
                 science is good.
                 \_ You could publish it as a paid advertisement and publish
                    the URL as a "hey, look, look at this, isn't it unique?"
                    story on http://slashdot.org... -John
2005/5/18 [Science/Electric] UID:37740 Activity:moderate
5/18    Now Episoda 3 is out and over. It's time to remake the last 3 episodes.
        "A circle has no end."
        \_ You mean, make episodes 7-9.
           \_ Maybe the op actually meant episodes 4-6.  George Lucas seem
              to think old technology doesn't belong on the silver screen
              anymore.  Who should play the new Luke?
              \_ Then should he remake episodes 1-3 after he finishes remaking
                 4-6 years from now because current technology will be outdated
                 by then?
                 \_ Hence the "A circle has no end" quote from the op.
              \_ Tobey "Spidey" Maguire
              \_ Star Wars Kid!
              \_ http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-09-22&res=l
              \_ Protagonist_Model_5.max
2005/4/30-5/3 [Science/Electric, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:37438 Activity:low
4/30    Any suggestions for a solar panel solution for running a g4 powerbook?
        Do you need a special adapter/voltage controller or can you simply match
        the voltage requirements and trickle charge it?  -scottyg
        \- if you are looking for something for nepal rather than car
           camping, i feel the solar options have too high encumberance
           [weight + bulkiness]
           \_ actually looking for something to put on my bicycle trailer for
              for long distance trips.  I'm trying to decide between a flexible
              solar panel or a Brunton 25watt trifold model. -scottyg
              \_ I've asked about laptop solar panels on the motd before, and
                 no one seemed to know, but several people were interested.
                 Please let us know what you end up buying.
                 \_ ditto.  am very interested, but don't know anybody who
                    has firsthand experience.   -sax
2005/4/20-22 [Science/Electric] UID:37293 Activity:nil
4/20    Okay, this is weird if it's actually true: http://csua.org/u/bsk
2005/4/20-21 [Science/Disaster, Science/Electric] UID:37274 Activity:kinda low
4/19    I went to Fry's today and got a new 300W PC power supply. It is 80%
        PSU efficient (compared to the industry average of 68%), and 99% PFC
        active power correction. Unlike my previous power supply, it is very
        cool, and best of all, it is NEAR SILENT! At 22db, the only thing I
        can hear is my faint pitched HD. If you ever want a near silent PC,
        I highly recommend Seasonic, model Super Tornado (120mm fanpower).
        It's a bit costly, at $45, but if you like silence, it is worth it.
        \_ Wow, you bought something from Fry's that will actually shutup.
           Too bad the same can't be said of their salespeople.
           \_ Fry's used to be a cool place when I bought my first PC 15 years
              ago.
        \_ Thanks.  Go to http://silentpcreview.com and click on Power Supplies
           for a review of this.  I blew > $100 for an Enermax on http://newegg.com
           that's a few percent more efficient, 4 dB louder at idle (21dB),
           is compliant with the 2.0 whatever, stays on for 2 minutes after
           you shutdown (this is good actually), and tops out with more juice.
           \_ http://silentpcreview.com/article107-page1.html
              \_ Yeah, you happened to buy the quietest, non-passively cooled
                 power supply EVAR.
                 \_ 0Mg!!! this d00d r0x! d00d can play Quake without hearing
                    the annoying fan noise (like it matters). Lame.
        \_ I second the Seasonic. I've gotten 3 of 'em (coupla Super Silencers
           and a Super Tornado (which, contrary to its name, is actually
           quieter than the Silencer)). I highly recommend them. Oh, and they
           might be cheaper at Central Computer (Newark & San Jose)
2005/4/17-18 [Science/Electric] UID:37228 Activity:low
4/17    Indoor Solar Lighting:
        http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/005409.php
        http://www.parans.com/products.htm
        \_ A friend of mine has some of those; they're pretty cool.  -tom
        \_ Where do you buy it and how much does it cost?
        \_ These are cool except on the days with no sunlight or at
           night-time.  Then you need two sets of lights installed in each
           room, electric and solar.
           \_ Couldn't you just feed a light source into the fiber?
           \_ This is more to augment areas of low light and has benefits
              of no electricity usage and (I assume) minimal wiring.  Use
              it as you would a skylight.
2005/4/15-17 [Science/Electric] UID:37208 Activity:nil
4/15    Do the offices/buildings for PG&E (or other gas/electric companies)
        have to pay for electricity/gas bills? I don't mean little local offices,
        but rather the buildings that are part of the big power plants or
        distributing stations.
2005/4/15-16 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:37207 Activity:nil
4/15    Boy, all those tax cuts for the wealthy sure are paying off in the
        market!
        \_ At least our current Prez and Veep "understand energy" so our
           energy prices have remained low.
           \_ Not to mention their foreign policy decisions have been key
              in helping some of America's youth learn about foreign
              cultures first hand (e.g. in the middle east, and who knows
              where else next?)
              \_ Here we have a good example of why humor is hard.
           \_ No. <snort> Please stop.
2005/3/31-4/2 [Transportation/Motorcycle, Transportation/Misc, Science/Electric] UID:37009 Activity:nil
3/31    Electric Scooter:
        http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/ibiza_scooter_1.php
2005/3/28-30 [Science/Electric] UID:36926 Activity:low
3/28    So I'm really confused about the DC to DC, car-to-laptop power adapter.
        How come most of them are "inverter" types, where you convert from
        DC to AC, and then AC to DC? Isn't that inefficient?
        \_ Using a resistor or transistor to do DC->DC also gives power loss.
           -not an EE.
        \_ It's easier to step up/down the voltage if the current is in the
           form of AC.
           \_ Really?  Is it "easier" than pulsed DC?
              \_ If nothing else, the parts are probably cheaper. -gm
        \_ How sure are you that's the case?
2005/3/19 [Science/Electric] UID:36765 Activity:nil
3/19    Caltech research have figured out how the brain plans movements:
        http://pr.caltech.edu/media/Press_Releases/PR12660.html
2005/2/14 [Science/Electric] UID:36168 Activity:high
2/14    I'm trying to make sure I don't trip my 20Amp Circuit.  How much of
        an amp draw does an average single disk single p4 cpu box take.
        Alternatively, how may "regular" desktops could i put on a 20 amp
        fuse with a very good chance that it won't trip.  (Assuming I don't
        try to turn them all on at the same time).
        \_ 0.5-2.0 amps.  In contrast, a hair dryer uses about 10-14 amps.
           Portable space heaters typically have one setting for 7 amps,
           one for 14 amps.  Have phun.
           \_ Gotta also calculate in the monitor. That's usually around
              2 amps. Don't know what it is for LCDs, probably less.
              \_ 17/19" LCDs use ~ 35 watts (1/3 amp).
                 The Dell 20" 16ms LCD eats 90 watts (~ 1 amp).
                 19" CRTs use ~ 140 watts (~ 1.25 amps).
        \_ "Kill-A-Watt", nice gadget if you are interested in this sort of
           thing. Also useful to calculate what size UPS you need for your
           system.
           \_ How much is it and where can I get it?
              \_ $30, you can find it at J&R or Amazon. Google!!
        \_ Every hardware vendor publishes these figures. Go to the
           Dell/Sun/IBM/HP website and find it.
2005/2/11-12 [Science/Electric] UID:36141 Activity:nil
2/11    Anyone have any experience with Clamp Meters to measure Amperage?
        Can they measure current through insulated wires, (e.g. on an
        extension cord) or do they have to be used at some particular
        location, or .. ?
        \_ There are 2 basic styles.  One plugs in in series with your stuff.
           This requires you to unplug your thing to put the meter in series.
           The other type goes around the wire and detects the magnetic field
           generated by the current.  This will not work on an extension cord
           because it's going around 2-3 wires and since it's catching the
           hot wire and the neutral (including the return current) the net
           flow through the device will be zero.  If you can split your
           extension cord or find an exposed wire in your wall, then you can
           use this type of meter.
2005/1/20 [Science/Electric, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:35809 Activity:moderate Edit_by:auto
1/20    So how much power does my P4 with 350w PS consume? 350w or less?
        I am trying to figure out how much electricity I am wasting...
        \_ Less than 350W, plus your monitor and any powered peripherals.  If
           you really care, you can buy a device called 'kill-a-watt' which can
           tell you the usage of anything that plugs in.
        \_ My Athlon 64 3200+ Newcastle (0.13um) with 450W power supply uses
           70 watts at idle, around 120 at load.
           \_ Thanks!
              \_ oh yeah, it's probably like 25-50 more (I forget) when I'm
                 also playing a 3D game.
                 \_ Is this measurement through "Kill A Watt"?
                    \_ Yes.  You can also buy a Seasonic version (just search
                       for that) on http://newegg.com for $35.  I think they're both
                       accurate.  FYI, ThermalTake has an ATX power supply
                       that gives you a front-panel LED of wattage, but it
                       underestimates by ~ 20%.  That's the non-PFC version
                       at least.  Lameness.
                       Someone else said the ThermalTake was accurate, but
                       it's very likely to be the PFC version.
                       \_ Thanks!
        \_ I don't know the answer.  Just tell it to turn off your monitor and
           hard disk after X minutes of idle time.  And put the PC to
           hibernate and switch off the monitor when you leave your office.
        \_ http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,109379,pg,2,00.asp
           Calculating PC wattage
2005/1/13 [Science/Electric] UID:35693 Activity:kinda low
1/13    Gun nuts, to me!
        http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/njio-sfa121604.php
        Whatcha think? Good, bad, indifferent?
        \_ I don't even own a gun, but this looks an awful lot like government
           mandated DRM.  I think it's bullshit.  Once people accept that
           their technology can be keyed in a way that they don't have control
           over, we enter a *very* dangerous realm. How long before you get
           medicines that "turn off" when the drug companies want,  TV's that
           turn off when something non-christian comes on the TV in some
           southern state, cars that won't start when you don't pay your parking
           fines, etc. etc. etc.  When I own something, I have the right to
           take it apart and rebuild it in any way I want, i.e. to hack it.
           This right is in danger.
2004/12/30 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:35500 Activity:nil
12/30   EcoBot II eats flys as a source of energy:
        http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/27/explorers.ecobot/index.html
2004/12/27-28 [Science/Electric] UID:35451 Activity:moderate
12/27   Anyone have experience with voltage regulators? Ie, it will
        correct under and over voltage back to 120v? I am trying to
        find one... Thanks.
        \_ Yes, they will do that. Is there anything more specific
           you wanted to knwo?
           \_ What particular ones have you used? How well does it work?
              Last night I measured 150v on one of my lines. Damn PG&E.
                \_ I don't remember the specific ones, but all the ones
                   I've used were IC's.
                   \_ Well, several questions come to mind.  What are you
                      trying to do that you care about the over/under voltage?
                      Assuming you're trying to do some ninja-EE trick, how
                      much current do you want to suck from the line?  The
                      answer is different depending on what you want to do with
                      the power.  Finally, if you are doing some kind of
                      project that requires homebrew AC regulation, do you
                      think you'll taste better burnt crispy or blackened, and
                      do you have a cute girlfriend and/or wife?  BTW, the
                      later AC conditioner suggestion is likely the correct
                      one.  Perhaps even running power through a UPS would be
                      sufficient.
              \_ peak or RMS?
                 \_ I measured it with my voltmeter, so I guess its peak?
                    how do I measure the RMS? 150 peak is still too high right?
                    \_ 150V peak * .707 = ~110V AC RMS
        \_ given the comment about PG&E, I think you are looking for
           AC power or "line" conditioners, not voltage regulators.
           \_ I think they are the same thing. Most voltage regulators I find
              are also called conditioners.
              \_ ok, sorry, my old school brain thinks voltage regulators
                 are just for pulling down a DC voltage a little off of
                 a battery or charging circuit.
2004/10/16-18 [Science/Electric] UID:34170 Activity:high
10/16   Has anyone had AC power adapters that are slightly warm even when
        it's not connected to the device that uses it? Obviously, this means
        it must be consuming energy even when it's not transforming anything,
        but why should it be?
        \_ Every AC adapter generates some heat...some much more than others.
           Inside, you have active devices that are constantly working to
           keep the output voltage constant.  Many adapters use LDOs (Low
           Drop-Out) regulators which drop about 1.2V.  Any device that
           has a voltage drop is consuming power, which becomes heat...
           \_ But he asked about when it's not being used.
            \_ Same answer.  I never said anything about a device being
               plugged in.  A regulator will still consume power even if
               nothing is plugged into the output.  It still must regulate
               the output voltage, even if no current is flowing out the
               connector of the power brick.  Internally, you have leaky
               capacitors across the output, and the feedback circuit to
               the regulator is usually done with a resistors, which always
               have current flowing through them.  So, same answer.
        \_ The simple answer is that even when not in use they are an open
           circuit and will drain power, though less than if they are in use.
           You could design them to sense if there's a load and only open the
           circuit then, but that would add to the cost and complexity
           (although in the long term save you money I'm sure).
           \_ you've got your opens and your closes backwards.
2004/10/10-11 [Science/Electric] UID:34020 Activity:high
10/8    Dear physics/EE experts. If I put electricity in motors, they
        turn. But if I turn motors, will they generate electricity?
        \_ How do you think electric power plants work?
        How efficient could they do that? The other question is,
        the Toyota Prius has a regenerative brake. How much more
        components did they add to make that happen (how many more
        motors, circuitry, coils, etc), and how efficient is the
        regenerative brake? In another word, suppose you put in
        100X 'energy' into the car to make it go ye fast, then you
        utilize the regenerative brake, what percentage of 100X do
        you get back?
        \_ http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/08/pf/autos/mileage/index.htm?cnn=yes
           \- a neat demo i would think you would see in high school
              physics is to put a coil at the end of a pendulum and swing
              it through a magnetic field ... when the coil is open, the
              pendulum behaves normally and continues to swing back and
              forth, but when the coil is closed, the potential energy
              becomes kinetic energeny and then raher than being converted
              back to PE, becomes electrical energy and the velocity of
              the pendulum drops. it is pretty dramatic with an efficient
              coil. ok tnx.
              \_ i have thought of the same thing while banging yermom
              \_ a *really* dramatic demo in a similar vein is to drop one
                 of those super-strong rare earth magnets down a copper tube.
                 the currents induced in the tube create enough field to make
                 the magnet take tens of seconds to drop through a few
                 feet of tube.  cooling the tube with liquid nitrogen makes
                 it even more dramatic.
                 \_ A brilliant read on the matter:
                    http://www.dansdata.com/magnets.htm
                    \_ thanks!
        \_ I wonder why subway trains don't use regenerative motors.  I'd think
           we don't even need to add batteries to the train.  Just make it pump
           the electricity back to the powerlines such that another train
           accelerating somewhere along the same powerlines can use that
           energy.
           \_ BART does, at least in theory.
        \_ it really depends on the motor design. If it has no permanent
            magnets and relies on current to generate the magnetic fields it
            uses to provide motive force, turning a 'dead' motor to generate
            current won't do anything at all.  Also the brushes in the motor
            would need different timing settings to run as a generator than
            they do as a motor.
2004/9/26-27 [Science/Electric] UID:33766 Activity:high
9/26    I was kinda of curious how much the little light on my power strip
        costs me each month.    Does anyone know how I can figure it out?
        I assume it would depend on how many watts per second it uses, how
        can I find out such a thing?
        \_ Uhm, like less than a quarter a year. If you are that concerned
           you can ask a bum for some change...
                \_ That said, I read somewhere that the cumulative energy
                   usage of appliances on standby, plus all the "little
                   lights" in an average household is pretty high over any
                   given year.  Any facts about this?  -John
           \_ http://www.engadget.com/entry/2486151161648138
        \_ Measure the current and voltage.
        \_ For real-life power consumption measurement, I found the kill-a-watt
           incredibly useful:
           http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

        \_ Something like this:
           <DEAD>www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=112+0240<DEAD>
           \- it would be interesting to learn: opening the
              fridge for 10 seconds = how much time for the "little light".
        \_ Related question, a watt is on Amp at 1 volt for what, one
           minute?
           \_ a watt is a joule per second, and an amp is a coulomb per
              second.  a watt is also a volt times an amp.  you could think
              of it as a volt times a coulomb per second, which makes
              sense, since voltage times charge has units of energy,
              so it's still energy per time.
              http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/units.html
           \_ obGoogle: http://www.google.com/search?q=amp+joule+watt+second
           \_ A watt is one amp at one volt.  A joule is one amp at one volt
              for one second.
              \_ So a kilowatt-hour is exactly 3.6 MJ then.. interesting.
                 They should have just used MJs for reporting your monthly
                 power usage.  Less need for decimal pointage, and it's
                 not a stupid unit.
                 \_ KW is not a stupid unit.  KWH is not a great scientific
                    unit, but it makes a lot of sense in relation to electrical
                    appliances and the like.  c.f. "How much power does it take
                    to run this light bulb for 1000 hours?  60KWH."
        \_ Another related question, I just read that AC-DC adapters are
           constantly sucking power regaurdless ow wether they are on or
           not.  True?
           \_ Since they are warm even when the appliance is not in use, the
              answer should be "yes".  There is some new design that is
              supposedly much more efficient but I haven't heard about it
              for years.
        \_ Watt is joule per second.
2004/9/14 [Science, Science/Electric] UID:33514 Activity:high
9/13    The Bush "Guard memos" are forgeries!
        by former CMU professor Dr. Joseph M. Newcomer.  I would expect
                         \_ "senior scientist" is not a professor
                                \_ wow, that changes everything. !op
                                   \_ He's only an *adjunct* senior scientist.
        most here would respect his credentials.
        http://www.flounder.com/bush2.htm
        \_ why am i reminded of the Hitler diaries? - danh
        \_ Newcomer?  This is a joke.
           \_ Care to post your own typographical credentials?
2004/9/13 [Science, Science/Electric] UID:33502 Activity:nil
9/13    Superscript and kerning from an "expert".  Notice the cute "I don't
        like Bush" "disclaimer" to excuse this packet of lies...
        http://www.flounder.com/bush2.htm
        \_ You don't need to even read that URL.  Just see the blog entry
           three threads down.  At least one memo is probably fake.
           Don't be a dumb liberal!
2004/9/11-12 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:33475 Activity:insanely high
9/11    Is it practical to have, say, a large portion of CA or AZ running
        on solar power? My coworker runs his entire household via solar
        and it got me to wondering what would happen if everyone did this.
        Obviously industrial plants need more power, but could we do away
        with a lot of our polluting plants if everyone went solar? If so,
        then why don't we? What are the technological obstacles, if any?
        \_ My car runs on solar energy. It harnesses the solar energy
           collected over millions of years and dug up by some guys
           in the Middle East to be transported and refined.
        \_ One word: Cost.  For your typical house, you'll use about 400
           kilowatts/hour per month (4800 per year).  You will need a
           system capable of producing about 3K Watts/hour to meet that
           demand (realworld figure is about 1.7K kilowatt hour produce per
           year per 1K watt of solar panel here in CA).  The cost to acquire
           and install a 3K system is about $20K (this is with a $3 per watt
           rebate from CA already).  If you buy your electricity from your
           CA utility it costs about $0.17 / kilowatt.  The return will
           be about 15-20 years.  This does not include the cost of money
           for the initial $20K!
           \_ I agree that cost makes solar impractical for almost everyone,
              but your abuse of units is causing me physical pain.
              kilowatts/hour per month?  energy per time to the third?
              $0.17/ kilowatt?  you think they charge by power not energy?
              I'm guessing you're someone who basically knows what they're
              talking about about solar, but is careless with units.
              google now does dimensional analysis for you. use it.
           \_ Economy of scale would drive these prices down; it makes sense
              for State/City government buildings to install the tech first
              to prove it feasible and efficient.
              \_ How about we prove it first, then install? -- ilyas
              \_  bullshit.  silcon solar cells are not new technology
                  and they've already been shown to be not economical
                  for most applications.  wasting taxpayer dollars will
                  not change this.  I'm guessing you're actually a libertarian
                  troll who know this.
                  \_ Your anger betrays you.  Take a deep breath and remember
                     your basic economics.

        \_ For heating stuff, yes. For powering everything else in your
           home like the fridge, computer, TV, etc., probably not. It takes
           a lot of surface area (even at 100% efficiency) to produce
           that much electrical energy.
           \_ My coworker powers everything in his house via solar, even
              his A/C. The surface area is surprisingly small. Very little
              of the roof is covered in panels - maybe 4'x8'.
              \_ He must:
                 a) have maaaaagical solar panels
                 b) use less power than a 1bdrm apt.
        \_ Expensive.
           \_ My coworker will break even in 7-8 years. If every new
              residence was mandated to be solar then in a decade the
              owners would be in the black. In the long-run it is
              *cheaper*.
              \_ There was a /. article recently on plastic
                 solar panels, which are apparently a lot cheaper than
                 current ones. -- ilyas
              \_ Pollution, replacement needs, seasonal.
                 \_ The batteries need to be replaced, but I am accounting
                    for those costs. It isn't seasonal in places like CA
                    and AZ. Even an overcast sky is fine.
                    \_ It's not seasonal ... until those times when it just
                       rains for a while, and you are suddenly without power.
                       Being without power sucks.
                        \_ That's why we have an electric grid
        \_ It makes too much sense. -GWB ps: buy more oil and coal for
           my energy buddies.
           \_ Solar didn't exist prior to GWB admin?
           \_ The oil protection adventure in Iraq has already cost $2000
              for every household in the US (assuming avg household of 4,
              $200B/375M) ... That could have paid for at least solar water
              heating for the entire country.
        \_ There's a lot of toxic by products involved in creating the solar
           panels.  The batteries are toxic of course also.  10-15% efficiency
           is considered very good in the real world, so forget the 100% thing.
           And finally, the panels need to be replaced so often your pay off is
           really more like 50-75 years.
           \_ At which point it's just better to just wait until better tech
              comes along.  But let's not let facts get in the way, let's
              MANDATE SHIT WITH THE IRON JACKBOOT OF THE STATE!
              \_ Are you ilyas, or do you merely subscribe to his newsletter?
              \_ With this attitute, our air pollution would rival China's
                 and our cars would still be getting 10MPG.  We are in the
                 beginnings of a natural gas shortage, and we
                 need to switch to alternatives or sit waist deep in nuclear
                 waste.  You don't need to have batteries if you are connected
                 to the grid, that lowers the price considerably.  You can
                 also just do solar water heating which has a very quick
                 packback.
        \_ My parents have solar panels that just power the pool. We don't
           use the pool much, so we probably wouldn't pay to keep the thing
           heated all the time, but since the upfront cost has already been
           paid for, it's easy to keep the pool warm.
        \_ Solar make sense in some area where 1. population is dense and 2.
           AC is required in the summer.  Why?  cuz AC is very inefficient andif
           you got a lot of people using it, the peak power consumption is
           crazy.  So, Mid-Atlantic area such as New York and Washington DC are
           ideal places for Solar power, not California metro.
           Another problem.  Solar power generated in the household can't sell
           back to the grid.  If it could, then, the ROI will be much better.
           People are toying around the idea of using excess solar power to
           produce hydrogen, which might be an intermediate solution before
           power generated by normal household can be sell  back to the grid.
           \_ The lies and mistruths perpetuated here are ridiculous. You
              *can* sell your power back to the grid. My coworker has done
              this in some years. It does not cost $20K after rebates and
              incentives and break-even *is* about 7-8 years. He can power
              everything in his entire household. (He does have a gas
              dryer.) Rain doesn't matter, because the batteries hold a
              lot of energy - at least, not the rain we get in CA and AZ.
              After seeing his success, I wish to try it and I was
              wondering why this isn't mandated. Is there a technological
              problem?
              \_ You are an idiot.  It isn't mandated because we don't live in
                 a fucking planned economy.
                 \_ Um, and we don't allow coal-stacks in residential
                    neighborhoods why?
                    \_ Were Berkeley students always this weak on logic or
                       is this a recent development?
2004/9/10-11 [Science/Electric] UID:33462 Activity:moderate
9/10    I know what an alpha and beta release are, but what is a "gamma"
        release ?
        \_ That's what happens when The Hulk is your QA engineer
           and the restroom is occupied.
           \_ NERFAMC is back!
        \_ Gamma release?  Do you mean "gold master" release?
        \_ Educated guess: release candidate
        \_ when someone in RE realizes that the product that went into
           beta has changed so much it needs a new name.
2004/8/2 [Science/Electric, Reference/Military] UID:32626 Activity:insanely high
8/3     Five finger discount in the 21st century:
        http://tinyurl.com/5vjaf
        \_ When the government puts the RFID chip in the back of *your*
           neck, you'll be glad some punk kid shoplifters figured out how
           to nuke the bastard.
           \_ How is the gov. going to get a RFID chip in my neck?
              \_ MEN WITH GUNS!
                 \_ against citizens w/ bigger and better guns
                 \_ http://saf.org
                 \_ This is why ordinary folk need guns (preferably
                    a couple of desert eagles, some mp-5's, one
                    or two p90's, and some rpgs)
2004/7/16 [Science/Electric, Computer/Theory] UID:32321 Activity:nil
7/16    Haha:  Ebert mentions Wikipedia and criticizes MS Word in the same
        story! (review of "I, Robot")
        http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-robot16f.html
        \_ It's wikipedia #1 fan!  We love you!
2004/6/24 [Science/Electric, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:30988 Activity:very high
6/24    Your body belongs to Bill Gates:
        http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5244766.html
        http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116655,00.asp
        \_ All your skin are belong to us.
        \_ "Since last year, Microsoft has been on a campaign to
           generate more money from its intellectual property, and in
           recent weeks the company has obtained patents for
           double-clicking, XML-scripting methods and a system for
           generating a to-do list from source code."
           \_ Double-click? I guess they are more evil than Apple trying
              to patent the GUI.
              \_ I don't think it's evil for microsoft or apple to try to
                 patent stupid stuff; I think it's evil for the patent office
                 to let them get away with it.
        \_ No.  The rights to produce products that uses your skin as an
           electrical conduit to power Windows powered wearable computing
           devices belongs to Microsoft in certain parts of the world for
           the next few years.  But that isn't as exciting as claiming BG
           owns your skin.
           \_ I thought the agents in the Matrix already has this technology.
2004/6/14-15 [Science/Electric, Computer/Theory] UID:30784 Activity:very high
6/14    I finally read my first Asimov book: I, Robot.  What's the next book
        I should read?  I should mention that I liked the peaceful, not much
        happening storyline of I, Robot.
        \_ Asimov is a complete hack.  You should read some good science
           fiction instead.  I suggest Dan Simmons, "Hyperion." -tom
           \_ I liked Hyperion. The next book was such a slog I lost interest
              in reading anything further (in the Hyperion series). -- ulysses
        \_ "Pebble in the Sky," "The Stars, Like Dust" and "Currents of Space"
           Stars like Dust is really good. - pst
        \_ Looks like they butchered it for the Will Smith movie, but ah well.
           Try the first three Foundation books - they are as classic as
           I, Robot but an exploration of very different topics.  Asimov later
           tried to link up his Foundation and Robot series with follow ons,
           but its still those first three Foundation books that really do it
           for me.
           \_ Yeah, about half-way through the book I realized that the movie
              will be nothing like the book.  I've been meaning to read his
              books for a while anyway, and the movie was just enough of a
              catalyst to get me to pick up a book.  The back of the book
              had some summaries for his other books, and it sounds to me
              that the movie might be closer to the other robot series with
              the detective.  Anyway, the descriptions of the Foundation
              series doesn't grab me much.  Any recommendation for another
              of the Robot series?
              \_ Well, there's The Robot Series: Caves of Steel, Naked Sun,
                 Robots and Dawn, Robots and Empire, Robots and Earth
                 Then technically the later Foundation books continue it,
                 but Asimov tried to put all of his fiction in one timeline,
                 so everything's somewhat interconnected.
              \_ So you've read the movie script?
           \_ I respectfully disagree, but I have no replacement suggestion.
              The Foundation series did absolutely nothing for me.  Since it's
              some of his earliest stuff, I chalked that up to youthful
              rough edges.  If you do read the Foundation series, please tell
              us how you think it compares to I, Robot.  I'll wait for your
              review before reading I, Robot myself.
              \_ I liked the individual Foundation books but the links between
                 them were a bit forced and weak.
           \_ Is it true that Asimov had no idea how to resolve the Foundation
              series? ie, it goes off into a different direction at the end
              of Foundation & Earth, but he had no idea how to get it back on
              course (if you read the book, you'll know what i mean)
        \_ "Never let your sense of morals prevent you in doing what is right."
        \_ I think it should explicitly be mentioned that _I, Robot_ is
           a collection of short stories and not a novel unto itself.
           \_ Yeah, but they fit the timelines of development.  I was just
              at B&N browsing for my next book and the first story from
              another book _Robot_Dreams_ was a chapter verbatim from
              _I,_Robot_.  But my next book to read is the Hitchhiker's Guide.
2004/6/1 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:30521 Activity:high
6/1     Energy from the gulf stream: http://www.floridahydro.com/Technology.htm
        \_ So, it doesn't get all gunked up over time?
           \_ it probably would - this would be a scaleability issue.
           \_ It would depend on the surface coating and rotation speed.
2004/5/3-4 [Science/Electric, Reference/Tax] UID:29957 Activity:insanely high
5/3     This is what should be taught in schools: http://www.fixedearth.com
        As a real conservative, I want to save tax money by not funding this
        current "secular science" education.
        \_ Mm... a crank as well as an anti-semite.
        \_ Grade school should be nothing more than the 3Rs.
2004/4/16-17 [Academia/Berkeley, Science/Electric] UID:13230 Activity:nil
4/16    What's the website that lets you see how full classes are? I graduated
        a few years ago but need to sign my sister up for her classes (she
        \_ RIDE BIKE!
        gave me Power of Telebears, similar to Power of Attorney).
        \_ daily - http://schedule.berkeley.edu, click the "current enrollment" to
           get realtime? from course web system
2004/4/9-10 [Science/Electric] UID:13123 Activity:high
4/9     This is one of the most elaborate April Fool's articles I've seen
        so far: http://www.japan.com/technology/index.php
        \_ what evidence is there that it is an intentional April Fool's prank
           and not just another article about some crackpot?
           \_ "The laws of thermodynamics WILL BE obeyed in this house, young
              lady!"
2004/3/25-26 [Science/Electric, Computer/SW/OS/Linux] UID:12847 Activity:low
3/25    The Linux Users Group of MT View/Freedom Technology Center
        is sending any computer book you donate to Iraq.
        Collection on Friday 3/26. -joshk

        http://freedomtechnologycenter.org/events
        \_ I think they need a copy of the federalist papers first.
2003/12/3 [Science/Electric] UID:11303 Activity:nil
12/2    I'm sick of using a razor everyday. I'm giving up and switching
        to an electric. Any favorites out there?
        I'm leaning towards the Braun Syncro right now.
        \_ Electric ones are a PITA too.  Just shave in the shower.
        \_ I like the beam-of-light ones from the UFP.
        \_ Panasonic Wet and Dry.  You can rinse it with water.
        \_ You won't get as good a shave, and I have yet to find an electric
           that doesn't feel like it's yanking the hair out, but if that doesn't
           bug you then you're fine.
           \_ I only get the yanking feeling from the circular head ones. That
              Panasonic is probably good, I use a Braun that's pretty convenient
              and works well except a bit tricky on my neck hairs.
        \_ Offtopic, but anyone here ever use a straight razor and strop?
           I can't stand electrics _or_ safety razors... -John
           \_ My brother uses one, but he does it just to be old-school.
2003/11/24-25 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:11209 Activity:high
11/24   I really don't understand the 3rd Robotech. Dana and her friends
        use those cool motorcycle/bot things to fight enemies and get energy
        from Protocultures (from dead enemies). But where do these enemies
        get those Protocultures?
        \_ Weren't these harvested from slave labor on Earth like in Dune?
           \_ I don't know anything about Robotech, but just what the
              fuck are you talking about about Dune?  Earth is a semi
              mythical place of the distant past in Dune.  If you're
              thinking of Arrakis, you're still wrong, since although the
              Harkonnens had slave labor on Giedi Prime, they did
              not use slave labor to harvest spice.
        \_ Dana was from the second generation, not the third.  There's not a
           lot to understand; the three Robotech series are a conglomeration
           of three totally separate anime series (Macross, Southern Cross,
           and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA respectively).  That they were strung
           together with anything resembling coherence is a feat.
           \_ Southern Cross was basically two factions fighting each other
              over a scare resource (I think it was food or something).
              It had nothing to do with Macross. At the end they were somehow
              united and made peace with each other when all the spores were
              released. Anyway, it was supposed to be a happy ending vs.
              the totally chopped up ending they presented in Robotech.
              As for MOSPEADA, it was a much simpler story, the aliens
              invade earth, enslave the remnant surviving humans, and there's
              a fleet off of Mars left who wants to retake earth. The aliens
              think that earthlings are basically virii who need to be cleared
                \_ wow that's exactly how iu feel about neocons!
              off the planet, but in the process of studying them they decide
              that it's better to just leave earth in peace.
           \_ So in the original Japanese version of Southern Cross, for
              example, Dana isn't even really the daughter of Max and Myria?
              Are they all completely separate universes?
              \_ Yup.  They mostly tied together the three series with that
                 _really_ cheesy voiceover narration to explain away serious
                 inconsistencies.  I think "protoculture" was a vague concept
                 from the second series that was back and forward propogated
                 into the others.  If this seems like an unjustifiable thing
                 to do artistically, remember that the primary motivation
                 for Robotech was to cash-in on the robot toy craze going
                 on in the States.  So the more robots, the better.
                 \_ "protoculture" was from Macross. It's similar to the seeder
                    idea the Star Trek universe uses to explain why all the
                    races are very nearly humanoid. Humans and the Zentraedi
                    are both descendants from a common sort-of-species. That
                    species's culture was the "protoculture" from which all
                    cultures developed. I don't know what the back story was
                    for Southern Cross.
                    \_ except that in the first generation, "protoculture"
                       is talked about in the narrations as something more
                       akin to a power source.  some sort of biological
                       technology.  as well as the culture of the proto-
                       human and -zentradi species.  it was hard to
                       distinguish whether the protoculture that was shipped
                       around in oil drums and fought over teeth and nail
                       was just some sort of technology salvaged from the
                       protoculture, or whether it was some energy source
                       labeled "protoculture."
                       \_ The confusion you speak of was an aspect of the
                          Robotech plot alone. The original Macross backstory
                          was quite clear and straightforward such as it
                          boys).
                          was (a robot space opera targeted at ~10-14 yr old
                          boys). Kudos to the op on the success of this
                          troll, btw.
                          \_ I don't think troll means what you think it
                             means.  The OP seems to have been asking a real
                             question that he wanted an answer to...unless
                             you ARE the OP, in which case I stand corrected.
                             It's really unfortunate that the term, which once
                             actually had a pretty specific and well defined
                             meaning, has come to mean any thread that one
                             doesn't like or agree with.  Ah well...such is
                             the nature of language, I suppose.
        \_ I hate you.
           \_ Why did Rick choose Lisa over Minmei?
              \_ In the end, a hot walking receptle gets old fast if it
                 nags as much as she did. He knew he could always get a
                 new hot chick later after doing the domestic thing for a bit.
                 \_ 'Cos when I think misogyny, I think motd.
                    \_ misogeny of the day
              \_ Because he wanted a real woman over a two dimensional
                 piece of lolita bait?  Oh, wait, they're both anime.
                 \_ But lisa wasn't underage at any point in the show....
2003/11/6 [Science/Electric] UID:10965 Activity:nil
11/6    For AC adapters, if something says it needs 4.5V 300mA, is it all right
        to use something higher-rated, like 4.5V 500mA? Why or why not? Thanks.
        \_ The neutron flux can break down the gamma field.
           Get some ball bearings.
           \_ Good advice.  Also, don't cross the streams or there will be a
              total protonic reversal.
              \_ and don't forget that in the interstitial space-time vortex,
                 E=mc^3, not mc^2.
                 \_ Only one other person got the joke :-(
                 \_ It's ok if it goes through the deflector shields after a
                    biphase zeta wave realignment of .856 megaparticles.
                    \_ And dial down the induction manifold to -3i to
                       delay the capacitance of the electrostatic relay
                       inhibitors.
                       \_ Captain!  No don't!  You forgot about the tachyon
                          wave emitters!  We'll fry the transdiode reverse
                          couplers!
                          \_ Don't worry, this is all taken care of by
                             the Heisenberg Compensator.
                             \_ As long you don't forget to reverse the
                                polarity of the phased conjugate graviton
                                beams you'll be okay.
              \_ Important safety tip!
        \_ yes it is ok, though dont go *too* far overrated.  And, of course,
           make sure you're matching DC/AC, and polarity of plugs.
           \_ The reason why it is OK is because the current is just the
              maximum current the adapter can put out.  If your adapter can
              put out 2A, and you need 1mA, nothing will blow up.
        \_ I think these guys are screwing with you.  I once plugged an AC
           adapter for a phone into my Speak 'n' Read and that shit blowed up.
           I think the wattage on the adapter is what it puts out, not what it's
           capable of handling.
           \_ Unless you can tell me the voltage of the adapter and the voltage
              your Speak 'n' Read needs, it just sounds like you mismatched
              voltages, which will obviously be bad.
              \_ Yeah, I was probably 6 or 7 years old at the time.
        \_ Current = Voltage / Impedance.  For a 120V input the max current
           an adapter can put out is determined by it's impedance.  When you
           hook up something to an adapter, you get a more complicated circuit.
           The current the adapter can put out is the limit before its internal
           resistance becomes a factor.  When you need way less than that, the
           resistance of your device is the limiting factor.  It's sort of like
           how it's OK to run a garden hose off of a huge pipe (high current)
           just as long as the pressure isn't too high (high voltage).
           \_ it's also worth pointing out that the consequences of doing
              screwy things with the power depend strongly on how well-designed
              the device is.  A good designer should *assume* that the user will
              do horrible things to the power, and plan accordingly so no
              damage is done unless you do something *really* terrible.
              On the other hand, there are more horse's asses in the world
              then there are horses.
2003/8/13-14 [Science/Electric] UID:29337 Activity:kinda low
8/13    dwallach on Democracy Now! today, talking about electronic voting.
        \_ i know some poeple here live in europe or have lived in europe.
           can anyone comment on the electronic voting in the netherlands?
           have they had fraud problems?  have they allowed rigorous third
           party security audits?
2003/8/4-5 [Science/Electric] UID:29230 Activity:moderate
8/3     What's the relationship between WATT, VOLT, and AMP? I have a power
        supply that is 12V and 2.1Amp, but it is unable to drive a bulb
        that is 12V and 55Watts. I know there is not enough ampere in the
        power supply, but how do you derive the relationship?
        \_ power[Watts] = voltage[Volts] * current[Amps].
           also note that if you're dealing with AC, the current and voltage
           are RMS, not peak to peak.
           \_ 12V, battery power, hence DC. What's RMS? Richard Stallman?
              Average power?
              \_ rms:rms and an internet worm will get you into any host!
              \_ Root Mean Square
                 \_ yes, and from a practical standpoint, for sinusoidal ac
                    currents, it's a factor of 1/sqrt(2) different from peak
                    to peak for voltage, and hence a factor of 2 different
                    in power.
           \_ thank you. So 12V*2.1Amp=25Watts, and I'm ~2.5 Amps short of
              driving the 55W bulb, right?
        \_ Watts is a measurement of power.  You can measure your car's
           horsepower in Watts.
           You can think Amp as measurement of flow rate, similiar to
           how fast water flows out of the toliet water tank when you flush.
           Voltage is pressure.  In order to have water flow from one
           place to another, it need to have differences in pressure.
        \_ What the "VA" used in the battery backup specifications mean?

           Tricky part is to get a feel of what are these units.  For
           example, one Amp is HUGE amount of electricity flow, even with
           reasonably small voltage, it may kill you.
           \_ "it's volts that jolts and mils that kills"
2003/7/14-16 [Science/Battery, Science/Electric] UID:29030 Activity:moderate
7/14    Do DC to AC power inverters cause any strain / damage to car batteries?
        Would the car battery wear out faster from continued use of the
        inverter?  Specifically, I'm looking at the Xantrex XPower 75 watt DC
        to AC inverter, available on http://buy.com at http://csua.org/u/3m8  If it
        does not damage the car battery or the device, is this a good price?
        \_ no, no, yes
           \_ Thanks for the validation.  Quick search on the web shows prices
              of $28-$29 for that model.  One site also showed 60W continuous,
              75W for 5 minutes, 150W surge for the XPower 75.  However, my
              laptop (Tecra 9100) requires 15V and 5A, so it seems it would
              only get charged for 5 minutes.  Is that the case, or would
              laptop batteries charge on 60W continous?  -op
              laptop batteries charge on 60W continuous?  -op
        \_ discharging your battery will destroy it eventually. loading your
           electrical system while the engine is running is fine, as
           long as your alternator isn't on its last legs.
2003/6/21-22 [Science/Electric] UID:28798 Activity:high
6/21    Potter mania!!!!  arrrrrgggggg!!!! go nuts!!!!
        \_ Why?  I don't get it.  The HP books are no different than a million
           other kid's books.  They're imaginative and decently written but
           still repetitive in a way kids like but adults can get through
           them.  This is in no way unique to the HP series.  I'm baffled to
           see the bookstores last night packed with mothers with fake scars
           on the heads (often on the wrong side) wearing black hats. --baffled
           on their heads, often on the wrong side wearing black hats. -baffled
           \_ People are sheep.  Clear?
           \_ Actually, I'd say they were mediocre knockoffs.  YMMV.
           \_ I remember a similar craze over the E. Nesbit books.  Seems that
              \_ Ok, they're mediocre knockoffs.  That's fine.  I'm still
              I am unbelieavably old.  Seems that
                 baffled.  --still baffled
           \_ I remember a similar craze over the Narnia books.
              I am unbelievably old.  Seems that
              every 1.5 decades the little kids want to be led a dancing
              and a skipping out of Hamilton through fantasy.  This is
              the same bunch of kids who worshipped barney a few years back,
              remember?
              \_ This is much more dangerous than Barney because it is older
                 kids... I'm telling you, we're about to raise a whole new
                 generation of uberdorks!
                 \_ yeah, if things really go awry, these dorks might end
                    up growing up to spend time on their weekends flaming
                    other computer science geeks on some stupid text file.
                    i shudder at the thought.
                    \_ generation upon degeneration.
                 \_ Dude, the current generation is so much more dork-
                    friendly than my generation that I feel like a grumpy
                    old geek just talking about it.
                    \_ 1) You are a grumpy old geek.  2) The current generation
                       isn't any more friendly.  You're older so they assume
                       you'll have more money to spend on them than some
                       freshman (hopefully a true statement about your
                       financial status) and *that* is *always* attractive to
                       any woman of any age.  They don't give a shit what
                       you're talking about as long as the next round is on
                       your tab and there's a free dinner involved.  As a geek,
                       you're not going to insist they put out afterwards,
                       either.  It's super win-win for them.  Now go out there
                       with wallet in hand and get laid for the first time in
                       your grumpy old geek life!  The older you are, the
                       easier it is to nail all those super hot 18-24 year olds
                       that wouldn't give you time of day when you were young.
                        \__ what the fuck are you talking about?
                       \_ Um.  Actually, I was talking about how the current
                          generation of _kids_ was much more dork-friendly,
                          as evidenced by the incredible popularity of
                          various card games, computer games, console games,
                          and anime.  As a married grumpy old geek, I have
                          no idea how receptive the current legal-age
                          generation is to advances from grumpy older geeks
                          like myself, and, yes, I count my lucky stars.
2003/4/29-30 [Science/Electric] UID:28256 Activity:high
4/28    hello, has anyone used "ethernet over AC" i.e. the technology that
        runs over home powerlines? what kind of bandwidth do you get.
        it seems to run across circuits so any idea who can watch your
        traffic? ok tnx. --psb
        \_ you might want to check the scientific american archives. there
           was an article last year about this. there were at least two
           companies working on this technology, but not sure of their
           names.
           \- i'll look around but this is out of the realm of
              theory ... a colleague of my is using it. i was wondering
              theory ... a colleague of mine is using it. i was wondering
              about the range of bandwidths you see in practice. i use
              end2end encryption for serious work stuff, but am wondering
              about the exposure for stuff like http. ok tnx. --psb
              \_ No offense to you theory guys or anything, but they sell
                 them at Radio Shack, so just go read the box.
                 \- once again, i am looking for someone who is actualy
                    using this and has measured the throughput. --psb
                    \_ find a review online.
2003/4/21 [Science/Electric, Science] UID:28178 Activity:very high
4/20    I have a 3 year old computer and the power supply fan just
        started making much more noise.  Is this a fire hazard?
        Will something bad happen to my computer or is it just noisy?
        Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.
        \_ Pabst fans.  Very high quality, very quiet.  -John
        \_ It means that your fan is getting dirty. If you don't clean out
        your fan and just let it run, it'll continue to make more and more
        noise as time goes by. It is a fire hazard if your fan ever fails,
        then your powersupply will overheat and potentially damage your
        computer's innards. I've had this happen to me once on a cheapie
        server, and I've seen this happen a couple of times when power
        supplies have failed on my customers' computers.
        The chance of that happening depends on the quality of the power
        supply, but is usually rare. The chance that it affects the
        lifetime of your power supply is common, since the dust coats
        everything in your powersupply, and if you don't clean it out
        every year or so it becomes like insulation.
        I generally like to clean out my fans and the vents every once in
        a while. It just is really annoying in general to use a computer with
        an overly loud fan anyway.
        \_ I have an old P-75 I use as a router.  The fan started making
           noise several years ago and I used to stick wads of paper in it
           to make it stop.  Now the fan doesn't run at all; the box still
           runs fine with no fan, but a computer that old probably doesn't
           produce much heat.
           \_ Forgive me, but what sort of twisted freak logic encouraged
              you to stick kindling in an overheating electrical
              appliance?  I'm not trying to flame, it worked and
              everything, but what the fuck were you thinking?
              \_ yah, this puzzles me also.  it's like, putting a bullet
                 in someone's brain cuz they have a bellyache.  not to mention
                 the fire hazard, etc.  Please elucidate, P75-router-guy....
                 \_ hmm, i removed the fan from my hard drive bay unit
                    because it was noisy.  am i dumb too?
                    \_ Yes.  Absolutely.  No question about it.
        \_ Thanks for the info.  Just one more question: how do you clean
           the power supply fan?  I removed the power supply from the
           machine but the fan is encased in the power supply.  Also,
           the power supply has a sticker which says "THIS PART IS NOT
           USER SERVICABLE DUE TO RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK."  Thanks. --op
           \_Obviously unplug the power supply before servicing. You need
           to dissassembly the powersupply, which is easily do-able with
           a phillips head screwdriver. Once you have the cover off you
           want to use either a small vacuum or compressed air to clean
           out the power supply. If the fan needs deeper cleaning or
           needs to be replaced, you need to unscrew the fan from the
           outer casing. There is also a 4 pin power plug you need to disconnect
           so that you can remove the whole unit. Once that is done you can
           easily clean the fan. Make sure you are able to clean the bearings
           which is not easy to do. You may also want to inject some
           lubricant such as silicon gel to smooth out the bearings.
           If the fan is so old or gunky that the
           blade wheel is spinning off kilter, get yourself a new fan.
           This usually means that the bearings or washer (some of these
           cheapie fans don't even have bearings) has gone bad. No amount
           of cleaning is going to save that.
           And I can't stress this enough, MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN THE VENTS.
           I don't know how many people go through the trouble of cleaning
           a PS and forget to do that then complain that the thing gunks up
           after only a couple of weeks.
           If this sounds too complicated for you, get yourself a new
           power supply if the original is one of those cheapie ones.
           And yes, you are on borrowed time if you don't properly ventilate
           a power supply, opposite of what the fellow who stuck paper into
           his powersupply might say. Just FYI, power supply problems are
           probably the leading cause of electronic equipment failure. The
           worst part is that a bad supply leads to other failures, especially
           on cheapie PCBs which use inferior parts.
           One more thing, if you are savvy enough (which you probably aren't)
           check the caps in your powersupply. If any of them don't look right
           you can jerr-rig a multimeter to see if they're still good. The
           first things to go in a powersupply are the caps. Since I deal with
           Sun boxes, it's worth it to my customers to get the powersupply
           fixed vs. use-and-throw.
           \_ You're talking to CSUAers here.  They are professional fan
              cleaners.  This task is not for the weak of weak or other
              non-professionals lacking in critical computing skills.
           \_ Very useful reply. Thank you.
        \_ goto http://endpcnoise.com buy a Nexus PSU. quiet, clean power.
        \_ One thing with opening up the PS case is that there will be
           electricity left in the capacitators, and it can shock you.
           Unplugging the computer from the wall and then turning it on can
           help dissipate it before you crack the case.
2003/4/18-19 [Politics/Domestic/911, Science/Electric] UID:28165 Activity:very high
4/19    Any philosophy minors out there?  I'd like to figure out how to
        think without resorting to for statements and recursion.  Are
        there any good books to start off with, or any particular thinkers
        that you have enjoyed?  I took some ancient greek philosophy class
        for my AC, hated it with a passion, but I look back now and realize
        that I like knowing about Aristotle's (?) cave and Plato's idiotic
        Republic.  Anyway, I'm more interested in more modern thought now.
        Thanks.
        \_ It's not Aristotle's cave.  If you want to study laws of thought
           study logic, probability theory, and decision theory.
           Philosophy is very good to study, but not for that reason.
           \_ Well, I definitely want philosophy.  For whatever reason.
              Any good books?
              \_ While modern philosophy is interesting, it's difficult to put
                 it in a proper context without reading the greeks and
                 christian philosophers like Acquinas.  I would start there.
                 \- i dont think this is true in the case of Acquinas [sic].
                    the scholastics are a big detour. --psb
        \_ A related note.  Anybody watch West Wing?  The two times I saw it
           I heard the characters talk about John Rawls and a theory of
           justice and the veil of ignorance.  And also Immanuel Kant and
           a critique of pure reason.  I strongly doubt the average couch
           potato even knows what that means.  I'm wondering how the show can
           be a big hit if people don't even understand what they're talking
           about.
           \_ Note that "For whatever reason" above includes the West Wing.
              There's a middle ground b/w encouraging further investigation
              and talking down to viewers. -op
           \_ Ever watch Fraiser? You think think the average couch potato
              knows who der fliegende hollander is or who wrote the opera?
              Probably not. A show can be a hit despite the fact most of
              the content is way over the heads of the average fan.
                \_ hello psb. I know die fliegende and I even named your fav
                   aria from Mozart's Don Giovanni. -psb #2 fan you know
                   who I am
                \_ hello psb. I know die fliegende and I even named your
                   fav aria from Mozart's Don Giovanni. -psb #2 fan you
                   know who I am
                        \_ I'm not psb.
                           \- i think it is more important to take away
                              "tools and frameworks" in which to understand
                 \_ If you had pointy ears or an extremely pale
                    complextion with yellow contacts it would all
                    make sense to you.
              \_ puccini or donizetti?
                 \_ wagner
                 \_ wagner  \_ elixir or lucia?
                              the world [e.g. per ST2:TWoKhan, does the good
                              of the many *always* outweight the good of the
                              few?] and thoughtful answers to Big Questions
                              [like what do the Homeric Epics tell us about
                              "what is good in life?" or "what merits respect
                              or constitutes excellence?"] rather than getting
                              random cultural reference on tv. one is a game
                              the other is wisdom. --psb
              \_ Yeah, just look at Star Trek.  It's not only over
                 peoples heads, it's all total bullshit.
        \_ If you are interested in epistemology (how do we know what we
           know), you can check out the big hitters like Hume, Kant, and
           Wittgenstein, but they might be difficult to read without
           some instruction. Some modern philosophy of science would also
           be interesting, like Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific
           Revolution. However, it seems that you are more interested in
           how to reason informally than epistemology. For that, I'd
           recommend a Rhetoric 1 textbook.
              \_ how about the metaphysics, epistimology, and logic of
                 kissing partha?
           \- with some trepidation about casting pearls ...
                  \- respectively, rawls: green monster and nozick: anarchy
                     state utopia, posner: econ analysis of law, hard one...
                     maybe laski or e.h. carr, kant: crit pur reason.
              if you give a specific example of some kinds of questions
              you are interested in ... "what is the philosophical basis
              of progressive taxation" "what kinds of contracts should not
              be legal" "what is the basis and limits of state soverignty"
              "is there a possibility of synthetic a priori knowledge" ...
              it will only then be possible to make recommendations beyond
              "start with plato". in other news, kant's birthday is next week
              and john rawls died quite recently. --psb
                     limits of philosophy, or something my michael sandel.
                  \- okay, let's assume those are the questions to be
                  asked. what do you recommend?
                  \- respectively, 1. rawls: green monster and nozick: anarchy
                     state utopia, 2. posner: econ analysis of law, 3.hmm...
                     maybe laski or e.h. carr ... hobbes locke and plato
                     of course are a given; 4. kant: crit pur reason.
                     but really you should ask your own questions.
                     i think you might be better off taking an econ1
                     type course. try reading the baulmol and blinder
                     econ textbook. or maybe take a philosophy class
                     at a community college. based on this conversation
                     you will not get through wittgenstein, hume, kant etc.
                     you might be better off reading someone modern who writes
                     in normal english ... maybe williams: ethics and the
                     limits of philosophy, or something by michael sandel.
                                                        --psb
2003/2/2-3 [Science/Electric, Health/Dental] UID:27276 Activity:very high
2/1     How would I record a ringing sound in my head?
        \_ ask a doctor?
        \_ why do you ask?
        \_ Uhm, yeah.  This isn't even a troll.  Go away.
        \_ In case a serious answer was expected: you most likely cannot, since
           the ringing sensation will not in general arise from actual acoustic
           simulation of your auditory organs, so no matter how deep into your
           cochlea you record audio input from, you wouldn't get anything. To
           actually record it, you'd have to record the cochlea's signals to
           the brain directly, if not actual brain activity at wherever
           auditory signals get processed. To the best of my knowledge, not
           nearly enough is known about how this processing is done in the
           brain for you to have a chance at succeeding given today's brain
           imaging technology. -alexf
        \_ the above serious answer is correct.  i'll add info about my
           experience as well.  i have tinnitus, decently mild case of it.
           i don't have a very good attention span, either, which is good
           because the current therapy for tinnitus is "try not to dwell
           on it."  anyway when seeing an audiologist, i found out that i
           can still hear better than the average person.  after the tests
           were done, i tried to use their equipment to "tune in to" one of
           the more prevalent frequiencies that i am percieving, like tuning
           a guitar string to another.  we were unable to do so, and my
           perception was that their equipment could not reach a high
           enough pitch.  i tried similar experiments at home, using old
           modular analog synthesizers, which have a better range that
           their equipment.  same results.

           rining in your ears isn't just tinnitus.  it can be screwed
           up bones and stuff, or various kinds of insanity.  - caliban
           \_tinnitus usually is caused by damage to the ear.
        \_ If a microphone + tape recorder doesn't work, how about we dissect
           your brain?  Alternately, use a computer to produce a sound
           which is JUST LIKE what you hear, and record *that*.
        \_ hook up 2 wires to your nuts
        \_ i just use the microphone the CIA implanted in my tooth fillings
           \_ hey! that's the microphone i use!
2003/1/2 [Science/Electric] UID:26967 Activity:nil
1/02    I have a circuit that has 32 channels (chips) being switched
        on/off. When a channel is switched on, the chip connects one of
        its pins (connected to a constant voltage source) to the chip's
        output pin. But it turns out that the outputs all need to be
        constant current rather than a constant voltage, so I need a
        voltage-to-current converter. I want to know if I put a v-to-c
        converter in front of each channel's output (i.e. use 32 of
        them) is equivalent to just using one converter in front of the
        constant voltage source. Oh, the chip is just a Maxim analog
        switch. TIA.
2002/12/11-12 [Science/Electric] UID:26786 Activity:very high
12/10   If you are changing jobs, can you count on people at your current
        company to provide honest references despite the obvious conflict of
        interest?
        \_ obviously it depends on the people
        \_ I usually keep in touch with those who left before me.  Then
           again, you need to keep contacts before you are even thinking
           of leaving your current job
           \_ The funny thing is, the only person I know who left before
              me was the guy who held my current position and only worked
              there 3 weeks.  The ones who will could give good references
              won't because they will be boned if I leave.  The ones who
              accept that I'm leaving are idiots.  This sucks.  -OP
              \_ How long have you been working at this place? If new, you
                 can use references from previous job and explain away the
                 lack of references from current job. This would imply that
                 someone actually checks the references.
                 \_ Don't people check references?  Otherwise, you could
                    claim credit for more than your share of work.
        \_ How about talking to the ones who will be boned. If they are
           mature adults they should be able to handle it professionally.
           If not, candidly offer them a bribe.
2002/10/18 [Science/Electric] UID:26238 Activity:high
10/17   I'm going to Thailand.  Does anyone know what kind of AC plug adapter
        I need to use over there?  (I know it's 220V over there.)  Thanks.
        \_ Can't you live without your vibrator for awhile?
        \_ would you trust us even if we told you?
        \_ To be safe you should protect your equipment with an adapter made by
           Trojenz corporation.
        \_ I've seen travel stores come with voltage adaptors, plug adaptors
           and so forth.
           \_ Franzus makes several plugs and B&H carries them, but Franzus
              does seem to make one for Thailand.  -- OP
              \- try the bookstore at rose and shattuck. they dispense advice
                 and products. --psb
        \_ On a serious note, Thailand uses the Continental Europe plug.
           Two prong, cylinder-looking plugs.
2002/9/13 [Science/Electric] UID:25872 Activity:high
9/12    Apparently some people are confused: Washington, D.C. is not a state.
        \_ hence the "no taxation without representation" bumper stickers
           you see on so many cars with DC plates.
           \_ DC voted in a convicted crackhead.  DC & certain parts of
              Florida are no longer allowed to vote.
              \_ hence the "bitch set me up" bumper stickers you used to
                 see on some cars with DC plates.
                 \_ really?  that's sweet.
        \_ What?  It's not?  You're kidding!  Next you'll be saying the same
           thing about Canada!
           \_ well, I thought it was obvious too, but apparently some people
              on soda don't know that. (based on the 9-1-1 Lotto thread)
              \_ My bad.  For some reason I thought the Pentagon was
                 somewhere other than DC.
                 \_ you're thinking of the octagon.
           \_ DUH! Canada isn't a state, its a protected territory like Guam
              or the Virgin islands.
              \_ Oh.  I thought those two guys who did the canadian beer
                 drinking movies in the 80s were their senators.  I guess they
                 were just non-voting reps like guam has.  Thanks for clearing
                 that up, eh?
2002/8/26-27 [Science/Electric] UID:25693 Activity:very high
8/26    On the higher-end models of the Toyota Matrix there's an 110V 100W AC
        outlet.  How is the AC power generated on a car?  I though converting
        DC to AC is hard.  Thanks.
        \_ do a google search on dc to ac inverters
                \_ inverters?
                   \_ yes, inverters.  was it really easier to post the
                      word "inverters?" on the motd than do the google
                      search?
                      \_ someone sohlud write /csua/bin/gg that either returns
                         the "I'm feeling lucky" result or the first 10
                         descriptions/urls (of a google response, of course).
        \_ dc->ac inverters are common.  You can buy them at frys for ~$20
           that plug into your cigarette lighter output.  Most auto parts
           stores have them too. -ERic
2002/8/21-22 [Science/Electric] UID:25639 Activity:moderate
8/20    Voltage answer: "Low voltage" is like 12-35v. Some people might call
        48v "low voltage". 110v or 120v, it's the same shit. It can range from
        105-130v. 220v is different though. --asked an electrician
        \_ I had always thought it was a reference to its rectifiable
           limits.
        \_ http://www.uq.net.au/~zzdonsi/standards.html
           People refer to 120V as 110V because that is the actual
           voltage; 120 is the spec but when read with a meter
           (because of the phase of the two lines to each house -
           but I wont' get into that), it's around 112, and ALWAYS
           at least 110, there are no "oftens" or "sometimes".
           \_ The electrician I spoke with said it could be as low as 105.
        \_ Is the listed voltage for AC the peak voltage or is it some kind of
           average voltage over one cycle?
2002/7/30 [Science/Electric] UID:25448 Activity:insanely high
7/30    The Electronic Device Personality Test (no, not a personality test
        for electronic devices)
        http://chyx.org/device
        \_ Survey, I am a:
                LED:       .
                capacitor: .
                resistor:  ....
                IC:        .
                transistor:..
                actuator:  ....
                vibrator:  .
                skeletor:  ..
2002/7/15-17 [Science/Electric] UID:25366 Activity:high
07/15   I need to get a replacement AC adaptor for a device which
        says 7.5VDC 1.2AMPS. Will a generic AC adaptor
        that supplies 7.5V, 1000mAh (like from Fry's) work??
        \_ You meant 1000mA instead of 1000mAh?
        \_ Maybe, but you're safer if you get one 7.5V, 1200mA, or > 1200
                                      I think you mean ~, not >  _/
        \_ I think he meant > 1200, since an adapter > 1200mA is guaranteed
           to supply a current of 1200mA safely.
        \_ I mean 1000mA. So I'm screwed? Fry's carries 300mA, 500, 800 and
           1000, but nothing above that (unless I get a $100 laptop-computer
           ac-adaptor which supplies the voltage but is too expensive and
           I'm not sure would even work.
           I'm not sure would even work. I guess the 1000mA that Fry's
           sells would not be "safe" to use?
           \_ Try radio shack.
        \_ what exactly is the device?  how sensitive to the input
           current is it?
           \_ It's not the input device which is the big worry.  If you
              draw too much power through the adapter, it might melt down
              or catch fire.
2002/6/22-23 [Science/Electric] UID:25169 Activity:moderate
6/21    Is there any hope that a printer connected to twice its rated AC
        voltage before starting to produce smoke can be fixed by just
        replacing its powe supply?
        \_ Maybe.  Depends on whether the foolish owner managed to destroy
           the whole thing or just the ps.
           \_ Well, how does one find out if more than the PS is fried?
2002/5/1 [Science/Electric] UID:24644 Activity:very high
4/29    I am confused about reading frequency response from a bode plot

        when the curve starts at a frequency other than zero.  Any pointer
        to reference on the net or book or kind enough to explain here?
        \_ Well you should be since measuring zero frequency is physically
           impossible.
           \_ DC is zero frequency. It's not impossible to measure.  The problem
              is that Bode plots are log/log plots.  What's log(0)?
           \_ DC is zero frequency. It's not impossible to measure.  The
              problem is that Bode plots are log/log plots.  What's log(0)?
              It's sort of hard to have a scale that goes all the way to
              -infinity, isn't it?  So you just stop at some other frequency.
              So I remember anyway.  I apologize if I'm wrong. --PeterM
                \_ To measure DC you must have an infinite period.
                   \_ are you a lawyer?  Yes, you're technically right.
                      In practice, you're an idiot.
        \_ Measuring DC is not the problem (you can measure the
           voltage of a battery, right?), it's displaying it
           that's a problem since log(0) = -infinity. So they
           just start it at some small value, for example 0.01Hz.
        \_ Ooops, sorry for the confusion.  I was really confused.  It
           should be read as "starts as zero degree..."  Help?
           \_ Do you mean a phase reponse plot?  Plotting phase in degrees
              starting from 0 and going to 360 is eminently sensible.  How
              *else* would you do it?  I suppose you could start with 45
              and go to 405.
              \_ YES!  So how does one interpret the phase margin when the
                 phase response start from 45 up to 405?  I know how to
                 identify the phase margin when starting from 0 dropping
                 down to -180.
                 \_ You're talking about a phase out vs. log(frequency in)
                    plot, right?  The phase is always with respect to input.
                    \_ Yes, for example, starting from 0 with unity gain
                       at -135.  I have 45 degree phase margin.  What if I
                       start from -90 with unity gain at -200?  What is
                       the phase margin in this case?  What about starting
                       from 100 with unity gain at 0?  What is the phase
                       margin in this case?
2002/4/18 [Science/Electric] UID:24475 Activity:high
4/17    searching for a discrete dual schottky barrier diode
        o sot-23 or mini-3 pin package
        o common anode layout
        o .5A or higher forward/reverse current rating
        o 15V or higher reverse voltage rating
        o 5V or higher forward voltage rating
        if you know of a part like this (and even better if you know
        where to buy it) let me know. --Jon
        \_ just out of curiosity, what's the application?
           \_ dual (hopefully redundant) power supplies.  In particular,
              to make sure that voltage from one PS' 5VSB doesn't feed
              back into the other PS' 5VSB from the wrong direction.
              also, since the 5VSB is feeding a fairly large number of
              devices (~10 instead of say the one or two on a motherboard),
              there are larger current requirements.
2002/3/27-28 [Science/Electric] UID:24245 Activity:low
3/37    where i work, there is some major renovation of labspace going
        on that involves drilling thru concrete floors.  aparently much of
        the electrical wiring is in ducts in the concrete, and all the plans
        were lost years ago, so they have to "drill blind".  last time they
        did this they hit a electrical line and it seriously sucked.  they
        claim there is no better way to do this than to just drill and hope.
        does anyone know if this is really true?  it seems like modern
        technology should provide a way to find ducts in concrete(the floors
        are just a few feet thick.) right now they(the contractors) are
        just telling us to unplug our computers for a week while they drill.
        \_ If the wires are powered on, you might be able to detect the
           residual-electromagnetic field. Another possibility is to use
           sonar or some such device to get a measurment of the floor
           thickness. The problem is that all of this is expensive. Its
           much cheaper to keep your computers unplugged.
           \_ It's cheaper to lose a week of productivity?
              \_ Do you know how much a sonar box costs to rent?
2002/2/21-22 [Science/Electric] UID:23934 Activity:kinda low
2/21    what does a solid state relay do?
        \_ when a little bit of current energizes a transistor on
           one side, on the other side, high current can go through.
                \_ Can a digital input work/drive it?
                  \_ I have a relay unit I bought from Al
                     Lasher's that can switch a house current and
                     take as a signal the current from a serial port.
                     I bought it $11 new. You can have it for $5.
                     Email me if interested. -- ulysses
                        \_ Oh sorry...throughout all of this I
                           was referring to arrays of SSR's. (like
                           packages of 5-8 or so.)
        \_ http://www.iserv.net/~alexx/glossary.htm
2002/1/25-26 [Science/Battery, Science/Electric] UID:23665 Activity:very high
1/24    How do UPS's (uninteruptible power supplies) work?
        \_ trained hamsters inside only run when they see the little
           light go out.
           \_ Damn, products evolve almost too fast these days.  My old
              version only uses rats.
        \_ Big rechargeable batteries.
        \_ They sit between your box and the power grid, and are supposed
           to figure out when there's a drop in power, and then kick in
           within a short enough time to prevent the connected device
           from powercycling or experiencing damage.  Some also do surge
           protection, or are controlled by the protected machine itself
           (so for example when the charge is very low, they tell it to
           nicely shut itself down.)  -John
           \_ More like "conditioned" power. Drops are just as bad as spikes.
        \_ http://www.howstuffworks.com/question28.htm  --erikred
           \_ That's a GREAT web site!!!  -- yuen
2001/9/19 [Science/Electric] UID:22528 Activity:kinda low
9/19    ClearChannel is a nationwide radiostation owner that owns
        7 stations in the bay area alone, and has decided that
        playing certain songs would be in poor taste in light of
        last week's events (FM: 94.9 98.1 101.3 103.7 106.1)
        http://www.fuckedcompany.com/extras/clearchannel_email.cfm
        \_ are we getting too sensitive when John Lennon's Imagine
           might not be played?  (Heard about this from the television)
           \_ It's not a matter of sensitivity.  It's a matter of good taste
              to not play Imagine (or Lennon in general).
        \_ Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?
        \_ The list wasn't official.  Some random program manager came up
           with it and emailed it around.
2001/9/6-10/10 [Science/Electric] UID:22320 Activity:nil
9/1     Halt due to AC failure.
2001/8/19 [Science/Electric, Reference/Military] UID:22172 Activity:nil
8/20    Electromagnetic tank armor
        http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b7f55073fe9.htm
2001/8/16-17 [Transportation/Car, Science/Electric] UID:22142 Activity:very high
8/16    my power window on my honda doesn't work, motor seems fine, but
        seems a cable broke or somethign, anyone know a good place to fix
        that kind of stuff in san jose, milpitas, fremont area? thanks
        \_ Go to the Honda dealer and buy the part you need.
        \_ Get a screwdriver, open your door, put the glass back on the
           clamp, screw it back together, be happy you spent a couple
           hours working on something instead of paying someone $100.
           \_ tried that, but a cable busted.. it is more than removing
           the door panet, there is a steel wall that keeps in the
           motor and clamp, etc. and a few electrical connectors
           \_ power windows are a bitch. - former AAA automotive locksmith.
        \_ Libraries (or maybe even the Berkeley ToolLending library) have
           copies of Honda, et.al. repair manuals. Look it up and if it looks
           easy, maybe can repair it yourself. Note however, it may not tell
           you the tricks earned from experience (i.e. you might fuck up
           the interior covering for the door and it never fits right again).
           \_ too late for that (covering) :(
2001/7/7 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:21731 Activity:high
7/6     An informative history of the power situation.
        http://www.ftcr.org/utilities/fs/fs000885.php3
2001/6/1-2 [Science/Electric] UID:21402 Activity:kinda low
5/31    most of the electricity goes into refrigeration and AC. Why can't
        they invent a motor driven compressor which may be noisier, but
        much more efficient?
        \_ consumer goods aren't designed to be efficient. (cf. lightbulbs)
        \_ physics 7C.
        \_ Swamp cooler
2001/5/29 [Science/Electric, Politics/Domestic, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:21381 Activity:high
5/30    Third try: Great read on government (from a democrat even)
        http://washington-weekly.com/may27-01/story5.html
          --reiffin, anonymous censoring coward
        \_ very interesting read; I drew different conclusions, to wit:
           reform the IRS, don't abolish it, and use the proposed Director of the
           Fair Justice Agency position to investigate price-fixing, oil-
           and Big Biz ties as well as foreign national ties to the Pres. and
           members of Congress --erikred
           reform the IRS, don't abolish it, and use the proposed Director
           of the Fair Justice Agency position to investigate price-fixing,
           oil- and Big Biz ties as well as foreign national ties to the Pres.
           and members of Congress --erikred
           \_ Not. I agree with the implied sentiment, which is:
               The only way to reduce corruption in american beauraucrasy
               is to reduce the bearaucrasy. and also to rename it to
               something that people can spel, too.
           \_ I encourage you to read it again.  I would argue that
              current energy problems are due to supply contraints,
              not price-fixing.  The return on new refineries, for
              example, is not high enough - so none have been built.
              \_ Clarification, please: by "current energy problems," are
                 you talking about the current price of gas at the stands
                 or are you talking about the energy crisis as a whole?
        \_  i wonder how this Tauzin-Traficant bill he talks about differs
            from the Fair Tax or National Retail Sales Tax bills that
            already exist? or is it the same thing? http://www.fairtax.org
            i don't think they'll be able to pass that. there's too
            much ignorance and misinformation, and momentum of the
            status quo. plus, it's not clear how they will prevent
            black market, off-the-record, or foreign sales that will
            surely grow to circumvent such a large sales tax, especially
            on expensive items. all talk I've seen on this avoids this
            issue. it's very good in principle though.
2001/5/21 [Science/Electric] UID:21316 Activity:high
5/21    How to save 20% off the energy cost: turn off AC, and if that is not
        feasible, block your window with aluminum foil. That'll save 20%
        on the AC. Oh, and screw the home owners association.
        \_ This isn't Arkansas.  We don't put foil on our windows like some
           sort of third world white trash.  How about you turn off all your
           computers,monitors, and other hardware so I have more power for
           my AC?
        \_ foil??!? you wasteful pig! you need to use solar panels.
        \_ How to save us all some time.  Shoot yourself and 3 other people.
2001/5/10-12 [Science/Electric, Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:21231 Activity:kinda low
5/10    I remember reading that flat-panels work best at their singluar native
        resolution (usually something like 1024x768) and looked not as good at
        other resolutions. Do current flat-panels still have such issues?
        \_ Yes.  It's funadmental to the design.  -tom
        \_ I just bought a Dell Inspiron 8000 with a native resolution of
           1400x1050 and although the display does not look as sharp in a
           non-native resolution (like 1280x1024 or 1024x768) it is more
           than acceptable.  I don't see any strange artifacts of things of
           that nature, I believe the technology for doing this has advanced
           in recent years. -eric
           \_ The only way you could ever have one that looked (nearly) as
              good as a CRT is if you had a high enough resolution such that
              you could use even multiples of scaled pixels to simulate the
              lower resolution.  i.e.: you can't "do" a clean 640x480 with
              a 1024x768 monitor, but you could with a 1280x960 screen (use
              a square of 4 pixels to simulate a single larger one), and it
              would look just fine.
        \_ I assume you mean LCD displays?  there are also plasma flat panels.
           LCDs obviously have a native resolution.
           \_ plasma displays are cell-based too. but w/ additional color
              fidelity than lcds, they usually show fuzzy resampling
              artifacts instead of the interleaved integer pixel expansions
              of lcd panels at non-native resolutions.
2001/5/10 [Science/Space, Science/Electric] UID:21223 Activity:high
5/9     You realize that if the people in LA stop running the 8hr swimming
        pool motor, we wouldn't have this power crisis? Of course their
        pool is gonna be moldy, but who cares...
        \_ You realise that per capita, Californians conserve more power than
           any other State's citizens and that we need more power plants?
           \_ Would somebody verify this?  I've seen it in an email forward
              but I don't believe it.
                \_ Californians live in California, which needs heating and
                   cooling less than any other state.  -tom
                   \_ Which means there isn't much more conserving to be done.
                      We're already using less power than if we were in Texas
                      during summer or Maine during winter.  You can't squeeze
                      blood from a rock.
                      \_ Not necessarily.  It *could* mean that we can cut back
                         even more on heating and cooling given the relatively
                         mild climate, as long as we are willing to tolerate
                         a bigger temperature range with our bodies.  Just set
                         back your thermostats a little, and turn it off when
                         you're not there.  Also turn off the monitors and
                         lights when you leave your office.  All are just
                         simple easy steps.  I have a friend who lives alone in
                         a 2400sq ft house in Santa Clara.  He leaves his AC on
                         24hrs/day.  I asked him why he doesn't turn it off
                         when he goes to work to try to conserve, and he said
                         "oh, because electricity is cheap."
                         \_ This simply means he isn't paying what the power
                            really costs.  Ask him again at the end of July
                            when he sees that month's bill how cheap his power
                            is after the next rate increase.  Anyway, your one
                            friend is hardly representitive of the average CA
                            citizen.  Resources are a supply/demand problem.
                            I find it silly to attack the problem from only
                            one side.  Yes, people should not waste power on
                            stuff (like turn off the lights when you leave a
                            room, duh), however we should be increasing supply
                            as well.  Note that a lot of the problem is that
                            the so-called de-regulation (it wasn't) disallowed
                            the signing of long term low cost power contracts
                            so pg&e and sdge(?) got stuck buying spot power at
                            short term daily rates.  Ooops.  This situation is
                            not the fault of the consumer.
                         \_ And don't leave your computer on just because you
                            want to process more SETI@home units.  That defeats
                            the original purpose of the project which is to
                            utilize computer uptime that are otherwise wasted.
                         \_ I think employers should fine their employees who
                            don't turn things off when they leave work.
                            \_ We call this "layoffs" or "firing".  Fines are
                               for the government not your employer.
           \_ Search for "California ranks 48th" and you can find the chain-
              letter in all kinds of chat sites.  I think that's just what it
              is -- a chain letter.
        \_ They could run the motors at night, when the load isn't peaked
           by all the damn air conditioners.  PG&E and/or Edison was supposedly
           offering $20 rebates (peanuts, IMHO) to people who do this.
        \_ on an unrelated note, how is generated electricity stored?
           Curious mind wants to know.
           \_ Giant capacitors
              \_ wrong.
                 \_ It was a damn joke fool.
           \_ I guess stored by pumping water upward as potential energy.
              \_ wrong.
             \_ This is definitely one of the ways. The State Water Project
                pumps water back into some of the reservoirs during off-peak
                hours so that they can use the water for generating power
                during peak hours. -ulysses
           \_ Human batteries
              \_ wrong.
           \_ that's the problem, for the most part, it isn't stored
              \_ wrong.
           \_ all electricity goes from the electric company to your house
              and back to the electric company.  it's a big scam.
              \_ correct.
                  \_ morons.
2001/5/8-10 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:21213 Activity:high
5/8     Does anyone have any good/bad experience with electricAmerica (formerly
        Commonwealth Energy Corp.) as the electric service provider?  I'm
        thinking about signing up to get some green power.  Thx.  -- yuen
        \_ We've had Commonwealth for over a year. We haven't had any problems
           with them. As far as I know they haven't dropped us yet but
           I don't know if they're taking anyone new.
           \_ Thanks.  I'll call them to find out.  -- yuen
        \_ I thought all the third party providers bailed on CA?
           \_ I don't know.  The web site only says they're currently not
              taking any new customers in the San Diego area.
              http://www.powersavers.com/power_markets/california.html  -- yuen
              \_ I read that all the 3rd party power providers dumped their
                 customers back on pg&e and the SD power co (whatever its
                 called) and gave up on the entire state.  Not only are they
                 \_ SDGE, strangely enough
                    \_ It seemed better to admit ignorance than guess and be
                       wrong.  Something other motd writers might consider.
                       \_ well said! -SDGE poster
                 not taking new customers, I don't think they have any old
                 ones in CA anymore either.
                  \_ Then you read wrong.  We still get our monthly power
                     bills from Enron (which of course show that PG&E pays
                     Enron about twice what we do thanks to CA's fucked up
                     rules)
                     \_ Big deal. So there's still one left.
                        The others are gone.
                        \_ No, there are many left.  You're just wrong.
                        The answer to the whole thing is more nuclear plants,
                        ditch the MTBE gas which is poisoning the water
                        permanently instead of the air temporarily and costs
                        more, and get rid of all the resource using
                        hypocritical tree hugger extremists.
                        \_ You do realize that, despite your semi-lucid rant,
                           your previous answer was still wrong, yes?
                           \_ If you hadn't edited my comments instead of just
                              adding your own I would give you a real reply.
                              But since you seem more interested in "winning"
                              a motd debate which isn't going to be here by
                              tomorrow and you didn't actually say anything
                              beyond "you're wrong" without providing any
                              reasoning, I'm happy to leave it as it is.  It's
                              very hard to discuss anything with someone who
                              falls back on third grader "I'm right and you're
                              wrong cuz I said so!" line of reasoning.  You can
                              be "winner" if it makes you feel good.
                              \_ 1) I didn't edit your comments
                                 2) The comment you're replying to wasn't the
                                    original poster's or whatever.
                                 3) Have a nice day.
2001/4/23-25 [Science/Battery, Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:21069 Activity:high
4/22    Windows device driver engineers needed.  -jeffwong
        /csua/pub/jobs/Transmeta
        \_ With this posting, transmeta is now officially in the
           "We've given up competing, we are now trying to sell out to
            microsoft/intel/amd" category.
            \_ How does having Windows drivers constitute selling out?
               If they expected all of their users to use Linux, they'd
               be out of business already.  Look how successful the Linux
               distro companies have been.
               \_ because one of the claims was that they could
                  just transparently replace (from a software point of view)
               \_ D00D R3D H4T RUL3Z! 7H3Y W111 D357R0Y M$ 4ND 7H13R
                  U53R5 4ND RUL3 7H3 W0R1D! 1N5T411 17 B3F0R3 17'5 T00
                  L473!
               \_ because one of the claims was that they could just
                  transparently replace (from a software point of view)
                  an intel chip for massive gains.
                  Seems it's not such a perfect replacement if they need
                  custom drivers, eh? Start looking for a new job, jeff.
                  I give you 1, maybe 2 good years there.
                  \_ Average length of employment of an engineer in the valley
                     these days is between 18 and 24 months.
                     \_ That average is skewed because of the high
                        concentration of dot-bombs in the valley. My point
                        being that transmeta looks to be another one.
                     \_ Really? I was at Cisco for 4 years and I was
                        still a "junior" in terms of years of service.
            \_ Perhaps because their "low-power" designs were not so
               spectacular after all. TM chips ran at lower power at
               the expense of performance and we all know that what
               matters isn't power but energy (E = P*t) consumed
               by a laptop. If a chip consumes energy at half the rate
               of another but runs at half the speed, which one would
               you buy?
               \_ D00D CRU053 15 7H3 B357 CH1P 3V3R M4D3! 11NU5 541D 50
                  0N 11NSUX.K3RN3L! CRU053 B3475 7H3 P4N75 0F 1NT31 4ND
                  4MD, M070R014 4ND D3C! 37337 R3D H4T GN00/11NSUX 15
                  W1CK3D F457 0N CRU053!
                \_ What percentage of your apps are CPU-speed limited?  -tom
                   \_ A process doesn't have to be CPU bound to benefit
                      from a faster processor tom.
                        \_ It has to be CPU bound to use the same amount of
                           power in the equation above.  I think for the
                           vast majority of real-world applications, a slower
                           chip is better in a laptop.  -tom
                           \_ Why? So you have IE running as an I/O bound
                              process. Now a user clicks on a button and
                              something happens. IE executes a short task.
                              On a TM it takes 2 seconds while on another
                              processor it takes 1 but for the most part
                              they consume the same amount of energy
                              because TM's power consumption is half of
                              the alternative. The TM loses in this case.
                              EDP (energy delay product) is a better metric
                              for power efficient devices like this because
                              it factors in performance and not just power
                              and energy.
                                \_ CPU is almost always starved for data
                                   these days.  The speed of Netscape/IE is
                                   virtually unaffected by CPU speed
                                   difference--they're always waiting for
                                   disk or net.  The difference between
                                   200 Mhz and 400 Mhz is enormously larger
                                   than the difference between 400 Mhz and
                                   800 Mhz.  Why do you think people stopped
                                   buying PC's?  -tom
                                   \_ At least on PIII there is a noticeable
                                      difference between 400, 550 and 600.
                                      Beyond 600 I tend to agree with you.
                                      An athlon 1.2 GHz is not that much
                                      faster than a 600 because you can't
                                      give it enough work to do in most
                                      cases or it blocks on device io.
                                      I believe that the future belongs
                                      not to single fast procs but to
                                      multiple cheap slow procs. MPP
                                      is the way to go.
               \_ It dynamically lowers its voltage and frequency according
                  to your workload.  Why would you want to be running at
                  the maximum clock rate when you're typing or reading a web
                  page?  That is a waste of energy. Besides, a PIII laptop
                  can't go very fast when it's batteries are dead.
                  \_ I'm not defending the Pentiums either. Personally, I
                     think Intel sells crap. But most processors today
                     (at least those concerned with power savings) employ
                     power savings features during idle periods like clock
                     gating or disabling input latches to unused units.
                     Power consumption during idle periods by the CPU is
                     rather inconsequential compared to power drawn by a
                     spinning disk, LCD monitor, DRAM refresh, and other
                     crap running. I doubt TM chips fair much better during
                     idle periods than other alternatives.
                     \_ I'm not defending the Pentiums either. Personally, I
                        think Intel sells crap. But most processors today
                        (at least those concerned with power savings) employ
                        power savings features during idle periods like clock
                        gating or disabling input latches to unused units.
                        Power coproperly phrased question.   here, I'll put
                        you out of your misery:
                        http://arstechnica.com/reviews/peripherals.html
                     \_ D00D U R 50 WR0NG! CRU503 R0X! R3P3N37 UR B45PH3M35
                        W4Y5!
2001/4/16 [Science/Electric] UID:20995 Activity:nil
4/15    I have some questions about my PG&E bill... I've always thought
        it was too high but I figured since we run 4 computers and lots
        of electronic stuff in the house that would explain it. but
        recently we went on a 3.5 week vacation. We left one computer
        running (but no monitors), the fridge, a TV satellite receiver,
        maybe a few clocks and other small items, but nothing else: no
        lights, no heating or A/C, nothing that I would expect to consume
        a significant amount of electricity. The latest bill (which
        corresponds almost exactly with the time we were gone) is lower
        than normal but still $80... (for a 1400 sq ft townhouse). Isn't
        that weird? Is there something wrong with the meter? or should I
        just write it off as more high bay area living expenses or caused
        by the energy crisis? Also, I know this is a dumb question,
        but what exactly uses Gas in a normal house? The heater / water
        heater? I've heard some dryers do but I'm pretty sure mine is
        electric, and the oven is electric too.
        \_ furnace & water heater are most common, stove & oven also
           very common, gas fridges & dryers aren't that common but
           aren't unheard of
           \_ The pilot lights use a lot of gas.  When I last lived in an apt
              I cut my gas part of the PG&E bill by 90% (from $10 to $1) by
              simply turning off the pilot lights in the stove and the heater
              and lighting them only when I use them.  (I cook about every
              other day.)
        \_ Numerous passive devices like your TV will eat up some power also.
           \_ I heard the fridge uses the biggest share of power.  Check your
              bill and see how many kWh you've actually used instead of how
              many dollars it costs.
2001/2/14-15 [Science/Electric, Science] UID:20590 Activity:moderate
2/13    Costco's selling a 6000W power generator for only $500. Maybe I'll
        buy one and put it in the backyard and sell the excess electricity
        to my neighbor. Does anyone know how much it is to generate your
        own electricity?
        \_ the fuel is more expensive than your power bill, per watt.
           also, typical houses get 20-40 KW service, and 6 KW
           isn't going to handle much.  a real hair dryer can use >1KW.
           \_ It isn't about running your whole house.  Just making sure you
              can still run your home network to code and play LAN q3a after
              the Coming Fall Of Civilization.
              \_ That's why I have a sat. uplink. Don't want to depend
                 on telcos for internet access after Civilization collapses.
        \_ which Costco? they don't have anything that cheap on their
           website.
2001/1/18-19 [Science/Electric, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:20366 Activity:nil
1/18    Typically how much power does a desktop PC use?  I'm not talking
        about the max. rating written on the power supply.
        \_ CPU + monitor, 150-200 watts or so.  -tom
                \_ How much w/o the monitor?
           \_ Wow, I thought it was more like 50 watts or so.  In that case
              I'd better turn off all the idle machines here.
2001/1/17-18 [Science/Electric, Politics/Domestic] UID:20354 Activity:high
1/17    Rolling blackout in effect in Northern Claifornia.  Please help
        conserve power by turning off unused monitors, computers and lights
        at your offices/classrooms/labs.  Thanks.
        \_ Just go flip the switch at Yahoo. Aren't they the number one power
           consumer in the Bay Area?
           \_ Really?  I'd think bigger companies like IBM use more power.  Or
              even BART and MUNI.
              \_ I think MUNI generates its own power for the electric trains
                 and busses.
           \_ Doubtful.  Exodus is #1 in Santa Clara due to all their co-lo
              facilities, but only when Great America is closed for the winter.
        \_ pull the plug on a place like Fresno!
         \_  are some people really cranking it up, just to cause the blackout
             in hopes of getting days off?
        \_ pull the plug on SF.  No one important would care.
2001/1/17-19 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:20353 Activity:kinda low
1/17    I don't understand this whole electric deregulation thing. If
        consumers are suppose to have choices, how come I never got
        any info on changing my suppier?
        \_ Because you're dense as a rock - the rest of us were flooded with
           mail, PG&E bill inserts, & ads from alternate power companies when
           they first started letting people choose.
           \_ oh, come on, there are other explanations.  the poster could
              be from another state where power is not deregulatesd, have
              graduated cal years and years ago, and live in a sealed room
              with no access to newspapers, internet, or phones and no
              mailbox.  having emerged after years of hibernation, he
              has now read a newspaperr, and has turned to the motd for
              understanding.
        \_ Commonwealth Energy Corp, http://www.powersavers.com 1-800-electric.
           Supposedly it provides electricity that's both from renewable
           sources and cheaper than PG&E.
        \_ i don't think there ever were any viable energy provider
           alternatives
        \_ Of course there were.. PG&E still runs everything though. These
           alternate providers just buy elecricty from somewhere else or
           generate it themselves and feed it into the PG&E power grid.
           They are of course only allowed to resell as much power as they
           are bringing in...
           \_ you are only reinforcing my original statement
           \_ Why would they be allowed to sell more?
2000/12/12-13 [Science/Electric, Science/Biology] UID:20080 Activity:moderate
12/11   after numerous "Last renewal notice", hopefully, i don't hear from
        newsweek anymore.  anyway, what is a good general science periodic
        for subscription?  your comment is appreciated.
        \_ Science (http://www.aaas.org - tends to be a little bit biology heavy,
           but never content-free. -brg
           \- you were subscribing to newsweek as a "general science periodic"?
           the economist is a far superior substitude for newsweek, with pretty
           good science coverage. --psb
             \_ no, just that i realized i mostly read the articles about
                science and technology most of the time...  anyhow, i am
                looking for science journal that covers a board range of
                topics.
             \_ What's with psb and his Economist?
        \_Scientific American is a good starting point (yes, I know it is a
          monthly mag); if you're ready, you can also subscribe to Nature.
          \_ I agree SA is pretty good. Another decent one is Science News.
             Nature has always been too bio/chem related for me. ----ranga
             \_ I agree, Science News is good.  It's kind of thin,
                but it gives a good overview of current science news.
                \_ Its weekly (or used to be) and I could usually read
                   it in one or two sittings. Another good one was Science
                   Digest, but I think it is defunct now.
             \_ Science and Nature are the only ways to go.  Science
                I think is a little better for news/tech.  SA is way
                too delayed to be a useful news service.
        \_ There's a huge *leap* from reading science articles in newsweek to
           reading Science or Nature.  The former is a pathetic distillation
           for the general public, the latter are peer-reviewed(kinda) scientific
           journals, often reporting experiments, methods, raw data, etc.  Read
           them before you decide to subscribe.  Science, btw, is non-profit,
           Nature, is for profit.  If you want a simple upgrade from Newsweek,
           Discover might be the better way to go, intellectually.
           \_ Yeah. Discover is not bad, its better than say Popular Science
              and Popular Mechanics.
2000/9/23-25 [Science/Electric] UID:19311 Activity:nil
9/22    electronic question.  what is the standard of merit on choosing
        by-pass capacitor for power supply lines?  it seems that ppl
        always use 0.1 uF all the time.
        \_ It's based on a rule of thumb, I think the idea is to have the
           capacitor smooth out dips in power as different components
           temporarily draw additionally more.  Of course if your
           capacitor fails and becomes equivalent to a closed switch
           that can suck a battery dry real quick --oj
        \_ you want the bypasses to be as large as possible. that way,
           you can smooth out all the transients. unfortunatley, the
           bigger the cap, typically, the higher its internal resistance,
           so the worse it becomes at smoothing out high frequency current
           drains. so you settle for either a small cap or an expensive
           tantalum. the power drain also typically happens when the output
           of your chips flip, which is at some factor times your clock rate.
           if you expect current draw every 4 ticks, you want to put a low
           pass which smooths out spikes at 4*clock_freq. but like oj said,
           it's a rule of thumb. if you notice bad shit happening, you put
           in more caps. -ali.
2000/8/6-7 [Science/Electric, Health/Eyes] UID:18892 Activity:high
8/5     My company is in a low-medium security 3-story building and
        there was a burglarly attempt on our office (they selected ours
        in particular even though we make a point to not let anyone see
        what's inside) last night -- they tried to get through the
        drywall to try to push back the bolt, attempted to pick the lock
        through the keyhole, and tried to crowbar the door frame out,
        but were unsuccessful.  We've replaced the deadbolt with a
        standard Schlage lock, but I would really like to put something
        techy here.  Does anyone have any recommendations?  Thanks.
        \_ you know if you make too much of a point of not letting anyone
           see what is inside you probably encourage getting robbed.
        \_ Just get yourself a good Junkyard Dog.  True, cleaning
           up the blood of poor unfortunate burglars can be a pain,
           but whatcha gonna do?
        \_ Lights! Camera! Alarm system!
        \_ It's not techy, but what's wrong with a security guard?
           \_ Small company.  Small building.
        \_ Motion/IR sensor rigged to pager/cell phone dial-out.  Auto-
           activated remote wake-up for your PC at home with live streaming
           video for the remote-controlled webcam in your office.  A cool
           looking old server in the middle of the room with lots of
           blinkenlights (or a single red "eye") with a modem-to-speaker
           and hidden mike setup that lets you talk to the people breaking
           in while watching them and listening to them.  Preferably with a
           really deep voice filter ("this is god speaking.")  Some sort of
           remotely activated network of spray cans with some harmless but
           misty contents, as well as a few red laser pointers scattered
           strategically around the room that blink on when the alarm goes
           off.  Doorknob hooked up to AC current when alarm goes off with
           a simple circuit.  And a really good safe, preferably bolted to
           the building frame (not the drywall.)  Be creative, dude.  Use
           available technology.  -John
           \_ will you help us make our next movie?
        \_ Schlage 6pin is sufficiently hard to pick. Do you have to use
           lever handles?  If not get a schlage A-series knob plymouth
           style withe a B series deadbolt.  If you really need it then
           go with a D series.  Staw away from leverl handles w/o a clutch
           mechanism.  No one will bother picking to get in for any serious
           amount of time (they'll just use a drill).  Make sure to reinforce
           the jams and stuff.  If you're really worried about picking, use
           medeco cylinders.  Schlage has attachments for using medeco cores.
           - paolo
        \_ Motion/IR sensor rigged to shotgun trigger.
2000/6/26-27 [Transportation/Bicycle, Science/Electric] UID:18550 Activity:high
6/26    http://www.msnbc.com/news/421567.asp
        Ride a bike w/ a motor that emits water vapor only
        \_ Isn't a bike with a motor, a motocycle?
        \_ even better, ride a bike with no motor and emit the water vapor
           by yourself
           \_ You also emit CO2--more greenhouse gases!
                \_ yeah, and this happens even if you're on the bike that
                   has a motor
                \_ Beans.
                \_ Oh joy, riding around with a fibre wrapped pressurized
                   hydrogen canister under your butt.
                        \_ At least it's a mistake you'll only make once.
                \_ Water vapor is also a greenhouse gas.
2000/6/21-22 [Science/GlobalWarming, Science/Electric] UID:18505 Activity:high
6/20    It costs less for a gas dryer to dry one load of clothes than for an
        electric dryer, or for a gas heater to heat up a room than for an
        electric heater.  But does gas dryer/heater actually use less natural
        resource than the electric one to get the job done?
        \_ depends where you get your electricity from
           \_ PG&E for both gas and electricity, in the Bay Area.
        \_ I think better question to ask is rather natual gas dryer/heater
           is more "efficient" than electronic one.  And the answer is "YES."
           electricity is typically coming from some sort of hydrocarbon
           (in U.S., chances are, it's coming from burning coal).  And during
           the process of convert hydrocarbon to electricity, you typically
           will only get 65-70% efficiency on a good day.  So, in that
           sense, gas dryer/heater use "less" natural resources to achieve
           same effect.
           \_ So what's the efficiency of burning gas in a gas dryer?  Close
              to 100%?
           \_ Not coal.  That's China.  A tremendous amount of US electricity
              is coming from nuclear power plants and hydro.  Most of the rest
              is petro.  Coal?  Not in the last 50 years in this country.  Once
              the rest of the world runs out of oil, we can tap the alaskan oil
              fields and a few other places and use more nuclear before we have
              to touch the coal reserves in a serious way.
                \_ 40% of US power still comes from coal. The Mid-Atlantic
                   states are full of it. 60 Minutes showed mining companies
                   flattening the hills of Tennessee and Virginia with
                   nitroglycerin and bulldozers bigger than a Ford Expedition.
                   \_ Check out :http://www.ucsusa.org/energy/brief.coal.html
                      it details the amount of crap a coal plant makes.  --PM
                \_ Someone tell the Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power that
                   the billions they've spent building coal-fired power plants
                   over the last twenty years is a waste of money since you
                   refuse to admit their existence.
                \_ Want to try real numbers instead of making up your own?
                   Check out http://www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2000-04-14_300-00-004.PDF
                   Some numbers:
                        1994: Southwestern US - 74% coal, 26% natural gas
                        1999: California - 20% coal, 20% hydro, 31% gas,
                                16% nuclear, 12% "renewable" (solar, wind,
                                biomass, geothermal, etc.)
                \_ My error in being unclear.  I did not intend to state that
                   coal use in this country is zero but simply that it isn't
                   at the levels of use in less developed countries like China.
                   I certainly don't refuse to admit the existence of coal
                   derived power in this country.
        \_ in the summer PG&E generates quite a bit of power in its
           gas turbine plants around the edges of the bay (those noisy little
           blue buildings with the smokestacks).  it is more efficient for
           you to generate heat by burning gas than for PG&E to turn into
           electricity (with loss) so you can turn electricy into heat
           (with more loss).
2000/5/19-22 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:18304 Activity:moderate
5/19    Can anyone confirm this event of the Commonwealth/
        Berkeley City club? ;)
        When:  June 6, 2000 7:00pm
        Where: 2315 Durant Ave, Berkeley $16 for admission
               Call 415-597-6705/6706 or 800-847-7730 for reservations
        What:  Bill Joy speaks about technology today and what we can
               expect for tomorrow.
                \_ what a fruitbasket.  How embarrassing.
                \_ Lose the smiley.
                   \_ >:(
                     \_ _                         _
                       |_|                       |_|
                       | |         /^^^\         | |
                      _| |_      (| "o" |)      _| |_
                    _| | | | _    (_---_)    _ | | | |_
                   | | | | |' |    _| |_    | `| | | | |
                   |          |   /     \   |          |
                    \        /  / /(. .)\ \  \        /
                      \    /  / /  | . |  \ \  \    /
                        \  \/ /    ||Y||    \ \/  /
                         \__/      || ||      \__/
                                   () ()
                                   || ||
                                  ooO Ooo_
                \_ Duh.  You have a phone number.  Use it, dumbshit.
        \_ robots are going to take over the world! head for the hills!
                \_ I think the hills are part of the world, too.
                   \_ (1) the robot statement was a joke and a dumb one
                      at that (2) the point was to get away from technology
2000/5/3-4 [Science/Electric] UID:18163 Activity:low
5/03    Anyone who works in industry know what a typical threshold voltage
        for a 0.18u process is (specifically IBM copper and TI) or are these
        things "trade secrets"?
        \_ Just about everything about a fab process (except feature size) is a
           trade secret.  Only if the benefits of disclosing it (i.e. good PR)
           outweigh the possible drawbacks of announcing your technology is
           something like that announced.
        \_ Just about everything about a fab process (except feature
           size) is a trade secret.  Only if the benefits of disclosing it
           (i.e. good PR) outweigh the possible drawbacks of announcing your
           technology is something like that announced.
2000/4/25-26 [Science/Electric] UID:18109 Activity:high
4/24    Does anyone have an extra lego mindstorms motor that I could
        borrow or buy? -dlwhite
        \_ i think lego sells them for about 10-15 dollars.
           \_ Where?  I have seen packages that happen to have a motor
              included, but never just a motor.  If you know where I
              could get just the motor, that would be great. -dlwhite
                \_ goto http://www.lego.com/catalog
                   the interface  blows ass, but the motor is there under the
                   Service tab
                   \_ "blows ass"... aaaah ... I see.  Yet another charming
                      little phrase of today's youth.  Nearly as fun and free
                      wheeling and lower class as "sucks ass".  Does Cal have
                      a quota for trailer park trash?
                        \_ Ass.
                        \_ Uhm -- if you're so offended by the motd,
                           sanctimonious twit, don't read it.  It's not a
                           difficult problem.  Try growing up before posting
                           to the motd again -- either that or maybe you should
                           get permission from your mom....
2000/4/3 [Science/Electric, Computer/Theory] UID:17915 Activity:nil
4/3     Why doesn't CAL and/or CSUA participate in Robot Wars?
        \_ Define Robot Wars. IEEE supports MicroMouse. Don't know much
           about it myself but it might be along the same lines.
2000/3/16-17 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:17770 Activity:high
3/15    GE has a new oven called "advantium" and it cooks using
        halogen lights. Doesn't this seem incredibly inefficient?
        \_ Not off hand. Why would it be? I assume they are designed
           differently from normal halogen lights.
        \_ More so than, say, passing electricity through a bent-up metal
           rod until it becomes red-hot from resistance?
        \_ the purpose of an oven is to heat.  in an electric oven,
           all electric energy is convetet to heat, so it's 100% efficient
           the only machine in the universe that can be totally fefficiaent
           is a heater.  the only loss is from heat leaking out.  that
           is the *only* limiting factro to efficientcy.
                \_ And light leaking out.  Light isn't free energy.
        \_ the amount of energy required to generate a particular amount of
           heat is very high in an electric range compared to a gas one.
           \_ ok, that's just stupid.  where does the energy go if
              not into heat?  usefull heat that flows into your food
              you're trying to cook is another matter.  yes, i'm inlucing
              radiation as "heat", since if you put the burner in an
              isolated cavity it would all end up heating everything
              including your food.  the heaters that claim to be 100%
              efficient really are.
           \_ A small amount of energy goes into making the metal expand
            as it heats up, I believe.
                \- maybe there is some advantage from focusibility and
                amplification by reflection. --psb
2000/2/16-17 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:17527 Activity:moderate
2/15    I would like to see how many Watts my computer is using at any
        given time.  Someone told me Poptronics (Popular Electronics)
        had an article on building an energy usage meter for any wall
        outlet appliance.  Can anyone help?
        \_ Buy the old issue.
no emacs user was here
        \_ Go outside and look at how fast your electricity meter is spinning.
2000/2/12-13 [Science/Electric, Computer/SW/Languages/Misc] UID:17497 Activity:moderate
2/11    Has anyone played around with lego mindstorms?  Any comments on the
        various tools available for programming them?
        \_ no, but they rock. I need some. Bad.
        \_ I have the R2D2 set. Way more fun to put together than regular
           legos. I haven't had much chance to play with the electronics
           and programming yet.
                \_ Putting together regular legos is fun? It was fun when I
                   was 12 years old ..
        \_ Unless you want to program in VBasic, I suggest checking out
           LegOS (http://www.noga.de/legOS  I haven't been able to
           get the newest version to work under Linux.  But the older
           version is probably sufficient for most applications short of
           making a robot that cooks you breakfast.  The code is not too
           clean, but it seems to work, plus it's well documented.
           \_ Is there a good site explaining how exactly they work?  I know
              they're some sort of embedded system, but how do they end
              up controlling the actual machine?  Are there little wire
              connections to the electric motors you use?  -John
              \_ I don't know about a site explaining it in full detail, but
                 I can give a little insight on it.  The piece with the
                 computer chip in it has places where lego blocks can be used
                 to connect it to motors and sensors.  There are special
                 blocks that have a cable built in to them, and have the
                 contacts as part of the normal lego connector pieces, so that
                 an electrical connection is made by snapping two blocks
                 together.  The set comes with two motors, two touch sensors,
                 and a light sensor by default.  -dlwhite
2000/1/24-25 [Science/Electric] UID:17309 Activity:nil
1/24    Q: My 250W power supply is getting kinda finicky.  Want to replace it.
        AT form factor case.  What advantages would a 300W provide (assuming
        similar basic quality to a new 250W)?  I'm not overclocking, and I
        don't plan to do so w/ this system.  thanks.
        \_ Higher electric bills and more noise.
1999/12/23-30 [Science/Electric] UID:17092 Activity:nil
12/23   "Due to a damaged electrical component, the Grizzly Substation will
        be de energized for several hours on December 28, 1999 to allow for
        repairs to be completed safely.  From 6:30 AM until 1:00 PM that
        date the Cogeneration Plant will supply power to the campus."

        No power outage is anticipated yadda yadda yadda. --jon
1999/9/20-21 [Science/Electric] UID:16555 Activity:high
9/18    Does a burned out lightbulb consume energy?
        \_ Boosting car stereos again danh?
        \_ burned out bulb == broken tungsten == air as conductor ==
           extremely high resistance == next to no current flow == no.
           \_ you mean 'practically no'
           \_ Or can I say since there is still a very little capacitence on
              still flow if it's hooked up to an *AC* supply, so it still
              the two sides of the broken tungsten, two very small currents
              consumes very little energy?
              \_ good point, i didn't think of that but i believe that
              \_ negligible, given that there is a lot more tightly coupled
                 copper wiring in the electrical cords, house wiring, etc.,
                 to add to the capacitance, in addition to higher dielectric
                 constant of the insulators.
                 the dielectric coefficient of air is very low.
                 air.  I meant a current flowing from the AC outlet to the
                 tip of one of the two broken tungsten wire that's connected
              \_ No, I didn't mean a current flowing across the insulating
                 to the "live" outlet.
                    are separated then current will flow through the
                    tungsten if you consider air as a high resistance
                 \_ it's the same answer.  if the two pieces of tungsten
                    conductor or a dielectric.  But these are just trace
                    quantities.  take an ee class.
1999/8/24-25 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:16383 Activity:nil
8/23    http://www.eet.com/story/OEG19990823S0062
        KEENE, England - Building on research done at Keele University,
        startup Keele High Density Ltd. aims to commercialize a memory
        technology it says could store 2,300 Gbytes of rewritable
        random-access data on a device the size of a credit card. That is
        equivalent to an areal density of 86 Gbytes per square centimeter.
        --jon
        \_ Thiis is complete crap. The only way to increase information
        density is to decrease the physical size of a bit, which is
        currently about 1 square micron on optical devices. The only
        feasible way to do
        this is using near-field techniques to read an write bits much smaller
        than the wavelength of light, but you can't use it for multilayer
        devices, and its somewhat like CD or DVD technology in that everyone has
        a finger in the pie.
                \_ It's possible they have developed something completely new
                   but I doubt it.  It's a hoax.
        \_ Old news.  They have nothing but a theory, and I've read some
           other stuff which says this can't be verified by calling the
           University.  This is likely a hoax at worst, a pipe dream at
           best.
1999/8/18-20 [Science/Electric] UID:16339 Activity:nil
8/19    The AC Class Pass (ride bus free) is only valid if you have a
        sticker on your ID card- and replacing it is $60.  What the hell
        is TRiP thinking?
        \_ Standard screw-the-students stuff.  Trip isn't there to help you.
           They're another branch of the machine designed to screw you over.
           Haven't you figured it out yet?
        \_ That they don't want a black market of current students selling
           ride-the-bus free stickers to former students?  (Cal IDs still
           no longer have stickers showing if they're valid or not, right?)
        \_ Why not just tell the bus drivers to let you on if you have a
           Cal ID?  Screw stickers.
           \_ same idea with coupons... ya know the people who won't go to
              the effort of getting the sticker subsidize the rest.
           \_ Because that's really hard to explain to a bus driver?
        \_ RIBE DIKE!
        \_ Let people who don't want to wait for the bus subsidize.
1999/5/20-21 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:15851 Activity:moderate
5/20    what do people who have read it think of cryptonomicron?  is
        it worth the hardback price?
        \_ I found it interesting but difficult to "believe in" because it
           was set in the real world -- unlike other Stephenson which is more
           science fiction and doesn't really allude to actual history or
           current events.  In other words, this is a more realistic novel
           than his other stuff, and I think I had a hard time with that.
           You will learn something from it.  (Oh, there's a long section
           on undersea cables -- fancy that!)  Allusions to actual 1990s
           stuff abounds: "Eutropians", "Finux", counterparts of PGP and
           the Cypherpunks...  I'd say you should try to borrow someone's
           copy and see whether or not you get into it before buying a copy
           of your own.  -- schoen
           \_ If you do buy it, http://amazon.com is selling it for way less
              than any bookstore.
              \_ yeah, got mine for $16 instead of $27
           \_ Random Trivia:  Many people waiting for SW:TPM had it.
1998/11/15-16 [Politics/Domestic/California, Science/Electric] UID:14961 Activity:high
11/14   It's winter time and my gas furnace and gas water heater is eating a
        lot of gas. My gas bill jumped by a lot, as expect. However, I thought
        my electric bill would go down since the only thing that eats
        a lota electricity is my frig, but NO, my electric bill jumped a
        shit load, with some new charges like "Transmission, distribution,
        nuclear decommissioning, competition transition charge, trust transfer
        \_ You didn't vote on election day, did you?
        amount." What the fuck are these new charges and why the fuck is my
        electric bill so high now??!??!?!?? Do you guys see it as well???
        \_  Hey PEOPLE did you vote YES on 9?  Well, if you didn't
        that's too bad, you should have, just like you should have
        seen it coming with all those ads saying 9 was bad for CA.
        Who exactly pays for those ads?  Answer: whoever has the most
        to lose.  Who's that?  Answer: the UTIL cos.
          \_ No, no, no.  Prop. 9 was GOOFY!  It would make everyone run
             backwards.  Everything would be happening in reverse if Prop. 9
             had passed.  Don't be silly!
                \_ What was prop 9?  -- can't vote but has to live with it
        \_we live one astronomical unit from a pretty good fusion reactor.
          PG&E can't change that.  quit bitching and get off the grid.
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