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| 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. |
| 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? |
| 12/3 |
| 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. |
| 12/3 |