Powering the Future? You're Doing It Wrong by AnthonyT

They're human, and if they're in it for the MONEY, of course that is going to corrupt them.

That said, such a thing can be parleyed against em for unexpected benefit in much the same fashion as playing on two peoples greed by having one cut the cake, and the other pick their half.

Not exactly the most moral of options, but when you're dealing with, essentially, legalized crooks...

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 8:21 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

As a child, my father always did this when we were sharing something. Usually a sandwich. If we were doing yard work, for instance, we'd take a little break in the middle of the day. He'd put together a sandwich and bring it out on a plate. Then he'd take a knife and cut the sandwich in half.

Then he'd tell me to pick one of the pieces.

So it wasn't just a metaphor in my house. It was an actual practice.

My father is one of the most honest men I know, and there was certainly no question about him trying to hog a big piece of food away from his son. I think he was trying to teach me something by demonstration. Many of his lessons were thus.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 10:11 AM

Halve your cake and eat it to?

I think that these industries should stop and reflect on the reality that they fill different niches. There will never be a need for a solar power plant. It's incredibly inefficient. It makes far more sense to have solar cells at the point of use. OTOH, it will probably never be cost effective to have your own personal windmill, since no one uses that much power themselves.

I see a future in which factories are powered by windmills, and houses run on very low amounts of electricity, powered by their own solar cells, and heating and transportation done by home grown ag biofuel, like algae, or perhaps someday an actual green car that photosynthesizes as you drive.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 10:20 AM

M52NICKERSON

DALEK!

Each new home could be constructed with a windmill, and or solar panels to generate power for itself and feed any extra power into the grid. That way each new house would have zero net energy use. Or as close to it as possible.

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 10:48 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

"There will never be a need for a solar power plant."

Hello,

My understanding is that these exist, and are continuing to be built. I think the most popular design is one where the solar energy is concentrated at a central point, where it is converted to electricity by heating a fluid. I do not know what the cost/benefit is to these, but the fact that they continue to operate suggests that they are beneficial in some instances.

However, I would very much like to see new homes built with solar-cell roofs that completely provide for the home's power and water-heating needs, particularly here in the desert. Were I one of the Powers That Be, I would be sorely tempted to create a building regulation here that required all new Single Family Home construction to be Zero-Energy, else the builder must pay an Energy Inefficiency Fee (that they will doubtless pass on to the consumer.) While such an act tampers with the free market, I think it would do much to promote a world where the individual desert homeowner is self-sufficient and freer from energy concerns.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:32 PM

Beir bua agus beannacht

I think this kind of stuff is important, I don't want to be beholden to the Mid East any longer than necessary. The one thing I'm adimant about is that cars _must make enough noise. No one ever thinks about it, unless they're in my situation, but those silent hybrids are rutting scary, you can't hear them coming and they make crossing streets even harder for me, so they piss me off. I heard that congress is putting in a minimum noise requirement, which will hopefully solve the problem. If that problem is fixed then hybrid cars are cool with me.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:46 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

The government will probably mandate noisemakers if they haven't already. A simple plastic device can be affixed to the vehicle that causes it to whistle or hum when it moves and forces air through its passages. This is an easy 'fix' for those who perceive that there is a problem.

However, I do not agree that cars should be mandated to make noise. I understand the thinking behind it- an unwitting pedestrian might be run over by a car he could not hear.

However, I think it is a reasonably simple matter to look both ways before you cross the street, and to selectively cross at crosswalks. Just because we have become accustomed to the ever-present noise pollution created by automobiles does not mean we can't learn to live without it. This is a case where I would prefer to see society adapt, rather than technology. I would very much enjoy quieter cities.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:47 PM

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Yup, as more homes become solar powered, and as solar gets better and more efficient and cost-effective, it will be easier and easier to do. Still, I'd like to see windmills being utilized as well - one per neighborhood, perhaps, as a "backup" system for peak-time use (trust me, we get LOTS of peak use in Texas right now!) and for extra capacity to help charge plug-in hybrids and the like.

I still say we're about one innovation away from a solar boom that will rival the semiconductor boom of the last century. You'll be seeing solar cells that are so thin as to be transparent (imagine solar-powered LCD window tinting on homes and vehicles, where the tinting film IS the solar cell), so simple they can just be painted on the outside of a house or car, and so rugged they can be used as roofing materials (there are already solar shingles, but the price needs to come down to be competitive with typical asphalt shingles).

These things won't do away with our need for oil, they'll just reduce our need for it as our primary energy source.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

The government will probably mandate noisemakers if they haven't already. A simple plastic device can be affixed to the vehicle that causes it to whistle or hum when it moves and forces air through its passages. This is an easy 'fix' for those who perceive that there is a problem.

However, I do not agree that cars should be mandated to make noise. I understand the thinking behind it- an unwitting pedestrian might be run over by a car he could not hear.

However, I think it is a reasonably simple matter to look both ways before you cross the street, and to selectively cross at crosswalks. Just because we have become accustomed to the ever-present noise pollution created by automobiles does not mean we can't learn to live without it. This is a case where I would prefer to see society adapt, rather than technology. I would very much enjoy quieter cities.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

I think you may be overlooking the vision-impaired, Anthony. Hard to look both ways if you can't actually LOOK at all, yes?

Possibly noise-makers on the cross-walks, but that might open up liability issues if they don't "see" an oncoming car, so that could be an issue, too...

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 1:00 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I have some very unpopular views about the physically impaired. Perhaps they are views that would make my own friends somewhat angry towards me, because many of them are physically impaired, including some with sensory dysfunction.

In short, I believe that if the vision-impaired are going to step out onto the streets of the world, then they should be trusted to find and implement their own solution to the problem of detecting automobiles. I do not feel that the car manufacturers and car owners of the world should be saddled with providing that solution.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 1:24 PM

A Riona a chara

Toyota totally failed to grasp the essence of the problem. They decided to make the Prius beep when backing up just like a delivery truck does, but they put the beeper inside the car, so that only the people in the car can hear it.

As for solar powered homes, there is a housing development near me that is constructed that way. Each house has a giant battery in the basement.

As for solar power plants, the Chinese are building one in Tibet to feed power to the SE. there's going to be a lot of power lost in transit. It would make more sense to distribute solar cells locally.

Thing about wind and sun is, sure, if you want to run a factory, you need a lot of power, but to run a home, I'm not sure you can just build a smaller windmill and always expect power. The sun is very reliable in the manner in which it comes up every day.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 1:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

I have some very unpopular views about the physically impaired.

This would be one of those times when I would disagree. My sister, as you may already know, was born with a bone defect similar to that of Miles Vorkosigan. I did not mention it when Signy went off at some point about my real fear of eugenics would be that I would be exed on the basis of mental health. Actually, my dislike of it comes from the attitude, posted even by some here on the board, that the disabled should be selectively aborted. When my mother was in the hospital after giving birth to my sister, she was visited by two women from planned parenthood, who came into her room and lectured her on why she should not have any more children, for the good of the species.

The condition, ironically, did not turn out to be genetic, but that's just one of the many problems of eugenicists: They also possess the ability to err.

The upshot of this was that I was born in a Catholic hospital, because my mother felt certain that they would not let planned parenthood to come uninvited into the rooms of new mothers to tell them why they were unfit to give birth.

And this would be one of those things on which people disagree with me on, accept, perhaps, Pirate News.

But back to Riona's problem, I do disagree, and here's my logical perspective: There are many more sighted than blind, and we are in more of a position to make accommodation, as we are not only numerous and can see, but we also control the car manufacturers, roads, etc.

I am not against structures that contain stairs which my sister cannot climb, but I would be opposed to putting the bathroom atop one in a public place, as one place of business in particular did, which is actually a grey legal area in NY. If you serve food, you must have a handicapped accessible bathroom, which is a tall order for some buildings.

(My sister can climb stairs, just not abnormally steep ones, which was the case here. She also has a leg which does not complete properly passed the knee, which puts her in a very similar boat to Frem, or did until recently. Now she has much more serious unrelated problems as you know.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 2:30 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

"There are many more sighted than blind, and we are in more of a position to make accommodation, as we are not only numerous and can see, but we also control the car manufacturers, roads, etc."

Hello,

I can wholly sympathize with those who would like to make it mandatory to accommodate anyone with reduced function in any particular. I myself am happy to go out of my way to help anyone who may need it when it is within my capacity to do so.

That having been said, I would rather not force accommodation. If a technological solution to this problem must be devised, let it be a solution that empowers the individual to bridge the gap of their own disability. Let us see the lame walk, the blind see, and the deaf hear. Perhaps an ally can help them. To my mind, any solution should be centered on the individual with the problem, and not on the wide world they live in.

By way of example, I am familiar with the concept of some food allergies that are so profound that the mere smell of the allergen can be dangerous. Some peanut allergies have been described thus, with people suggesting that peanuts should no longer be served in enclosed spaces for fear of killing a hapless peanut-sensitive individual.

Meanwhile I speculate that if I had a similar problem, I would likely wear a breathing filter in order to protect myself while allowing others to do as they please.

It pains me to think of my attitude as unkind to those in need of help in this world. There is much I would be personally willing to do to accommodate such ailments or disabilities. But as much as the thought of my unkind position pains me, so too does the idea of a world forced to remake itself for the individual.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 4:33 PM

Anthony,

Only really two points:

1) I would draw the line at public places. Everyone is part of the public.

2) There's an illogic to your argument. Picture someone with any of a number of conditions that have only a handful of afflicted. Not only do they not make a political social or economic force en toto; locally they tend to be alone. This is a lot to demand of a lone citizen that they overcome their disability to take part in our society in all things.

It takes a small effort from the many to see that Riona doesn't get run over by a car. It takes a constant vigilance from Riona. It would anyway, but we could make it easier. There's no reason that a Prius backing up shouldn't beep externally like a truck. I think that was the intention of the person who suggested the change in 2004, but Toyota just failed to understand the purpose of the beep.

Think about cars on the road. To not hit each other, it takes both parties to be paying attention all of the time.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 4:57 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I think we will always have a fundamental difference of opinion as to where responsibility should lie in combating the challenges of physical disability. It is not a profoundly important difference of opinion, because I am not about to write my congressman furiously demanding that we let all the disabled people go hang. Nor am I planning to picket government buildings with a sign that says "Not my Problem To Pay For." I have doubts that anyone with empathy could make the leap from an armchair philosophical belief to a heartless physical crusade. I'd much rather devote my efforts to helping people, and there are things I pay for and endure that irk me much more than a $5.00 audio warning system.

Soon, sounds will be added to hybrids and electrics. Not just backup beeps as you have mentioned, but just sounds in general. So you can hear that they're around, period.

Eventually, I suspect savvy car-makers will turn this necessity into an advantage, marketing their cars with proprietary 'cool FX' to go with sleek styling. The 'Zoom zoom' slogan may be mated to a trademarked zoom-zoom sound. Someday we may be able to identify the make, model, and year of a car from the distinctive sound that was vogue at the time of its manufacture.

There may even be aftermarket kits to 'Make your Volvo Electric sound like a Porsche.'

And I may even enjoy making my Toyota sound like the Starship Enterprise while I debate the necessity of such modifications with my blind friend who thinks maybe I should try walking around in a blindfold some time.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 6:05 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

I can imagine homes with both photovoltaics and small helical wind turbines. Both are very urban-friendly and don't require much of a footprint if any at all (depending on siting requirements). BTW self-stick amorphous film PV that you roll out onto you roof and plug in already exists.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 6:08 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I wouldn't mind having a wind turbine in my back yard, but sadly there's just not enough wind in my area to make it worthwhile.

But solar? In the next five years I hope to buy solar panels for my roof.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 6:16 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Well, I have looked into this quite a bit. Unless you have a roof with no (and I mean absolutely zero) shade you will lose a lot of efficiency with either mono-crystalline or poly-crystalline PV. A 2% shade on a panel can lose up to 35% power off the panel. So, while amorphous PV is overall less efficient in general, it doesn't carry the shade penalty that the others do. Just FYI if you find this interesting.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011 7:45 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I do find that interesting. I did not know that.

Of course, I have no shade problems here, but people in other places may, and that is a good thing to know.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Friday, August 26, 2011 1:19 AM

Anthony, for a test project, something small to start with in order to look into feasibility and conversion and all that kinda stuff, Harbor Freight offers some kit which may be useful.
I'd recommend starting with two 45watt setups and the 7amp regulator, the whole shebang runs maybe $330.00 USD total, and depending on your use may well pay it's own value back in 2-3 years, maybe less if you're not as depending on your air conditioner as most folk.

Admittedly, that's the one thing I kinda overuse, but when the temp reaches past 70F, with all my prosthetics and less body area to disspate heat, I start to suffer badly - although conversely I can operate fine in temps so low most folk would curl into a ball and whimper.
Good thing I live in Michigan, heh.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, August 26, 2011 4:18 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello Frem,

I'll look into it, maybe in tax-return season.

Like you, I enjoy my air conditioner. If the temp climbs past 70 at home, I get ornery.

Though, unlike my wife, I can actually function at a wide range of temperatures. (If not happily.) If it gets too hot for her, she's immobilized till things improve.

-Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Friday, August 26, 2011 5:20 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I'm like your wife, Anthony; when it starts getting up around 80, I just SIT. Period. Unless I absolutely have to move.

On the disabled thing, I'm with DT. But my message to both of you would be: Moderation in all things. We discussed the peanut thing (was on airplanes I think?), and I disagree that everyone should be forced to accommodate a few in that case. But the physically disabled ARE a minority, and it's like shutting them off from the world if some accommodations aren't made. I view it as a case-by-case thing, looking at each form of disability and seeing what can be done.

We are not a "survival of the fittest" species. Whether we should be or not isn't something I want to get into. But I believe as a society we should be inclusive of all, within reason.

I, too, have heard solar ain't so hot in some ways. The idea of windmills for big stuff and solar for homes (and factories or such with enough roof space to make it feasible) sounds right to me. Unfortunately, we live in the redwoods...ooops, so no solar for us! A lot of homes not only don't need the grid once they have solar, they send some BACK--or so I've heard. If that's PR, I'd like to know.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Friday, August 26, 2011 5:53 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

Some time ago I documented a Habitat for Humanity build where the home being constructed was Zero Net Energy. The idea was that the home generated excess energy during the day (sold to the electric company) and then bought electricity at night (from the electric company) and between the two, the energy cost to operate the home was zero.

I imagine if one had the space and money, it would be possible to build a house that wasn't merely Zero energy, but actually produced much more than it used. An energy generation station that you live in. :-)

One idea I had a while back was that every lighthouse should have a big windmill towering behind it. Coastal air provides power for the light show, and probably the house it's attached to as well.

Technically we don't need traditional lighthouses anymore; an unmanned beacon will work. But I like the idea of preserving them for historical purposes. They're pretty.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Friday, August 26, 2011 6:37 AM

There's a test home a the museum of science and industry in chicago, but there's also a running housing development in ithaca ny.

One of the things that anyone concerned should look into is the consumption end. You can slash consumption pretty radically. Hot water heater is 4500 watts and runs all day, but you only need 1/2 hour to an hour. You can often go with 40 gal instead of 80, or with one of those heat on demand ones.

The american household seems overly dependent on the big fridge, when for most people, a smaller one would do.

If you look at the way computers have come down from 500 watt deals to 5 watt deals you realize there's a lot that could be done, much power gets wasted.

I recall the electric vehicles of the 1990s running over 100,000 watts. Now there are some that run around 5,000.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Friday, August 26, 2011 6:58 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

"If you look at the way computers have come down from 500 watt deals to 5 watt deals you realize there's a lot that could be done, much power gets wasted."

Hello,

I wish this was true. My video card alone uses 150 watts and needs a pair of fans to keep it from overheating. I think the CPU uses a slightly less but still formidable amount of wattage. And it has its own cooling fan. This is technology purchased within the last 10 months.

I would very much love a computer that can do everything mine does in a 5 watt package, but I don't see that happening in the next 5 years.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Friday, August 26, 2011 9:08 AM

*laugh*
My Air conditioner and PC actually constitute 80% of my power use, although for general email and less intensive browsing purposes I was lookin into one of them crank-powered laptops, but the merchants seemed shady and the problem with the solid state ram currently in use is that you can only write to it a certain amount of times before it becomes useless, and that amount of times, folks are finding out to their chagrin, is often less than 1/10th of the advertised, or tends to happen in sections holding operating system data, and now you're expensive little laptop is just a brick.

Most of my work lights are either crank-power or rechargable units, which recently served well in blackout conditions when folks dug around for their flashlights only to realize the batteries were long dead, everybody does that, heh.
Of course, the real score in my blackout kit is the crank-powered cellphone charger, that's DAMN useful in a pinch - besides the fact that I run scenarios in my head to keep alert on the job, I've also had to live without things or make due often enough that in any actual "situation" I tend to come off as crazy prepared.

Quote:
Jodi: Uh, but do we have a lighter?
Jack: Burt does.
Burt: How do you know?
Jack: Well, 'cause you're... Burt.
(beat)
Burt: (presenting lighter) Damn right I am.

I've actually *HAD* that exact conversation, from Burts end, only it was a knife, not a lighter.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, August 26, 2011 9:34 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I did not know this problem with memory.

Does that mean solid-state hard drives are unreliable?

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Friday, August 26, 2011 10:14 AM

It depends on the manufacturer. A regular magnetic disk also has a limited number of read/writes, but one trick with the new technology is that the computer relies on the drive to tell it how much capacity it has, and it can lie; a little trick some clever folks in china figured out. So, now only can you take a drive good for 10k writes and say it's good for 100k writes, you can take a 16mb drive and call it a 16gb drive. I lost a lot of files to that trick once.

The solution here is don't buy names you're not familiar with, or at least look them up. There are a lot of reliable memory companies out there like Kingston and Verbatim that many people might not know, but don't buy random brand that went into business 3 mos ago.

As for power, laptops and mobiles are where the power consumption wars are taking place, because of battery life. My laptop uses about 7 watts. I see varying consumptions for the ipad, from 2.5 watts to 10 watts. I did my own calculation, I charge it with the 10 watt charger it comes with and it definitely lasts much longer than it takes to charge, I came out with 4 watts. The backlight actually consumes the most power. It might take 10 watts on max, or maybe 2.5 on min.

My vaio p uses 7.5 watts. A typical pre-netbook laptop uses around 30, but they tend to come with 60 watt adaptors, because usage can vary, and as a result you burn 60 watts when it's plugged in, makes you feel like you're living in 2005. ;) But post-netbook designs have really slashed the power consumption in an effort to compete on battery life, there are dual core machines that aren't netbooks with a netbook level of power consumption by throttling the draw from the batter depending on demand, so if you're using MS office or browsing the web, it kicks into low gear when you're not doing anything.

Okay, I just looked up the ipad. It has a 25 wh battery, and it definitely lasts 10 hours, probably longer on low battery. At any rate, it's a negligible amount. If it had a solar panel case, it would never die.

Galaxy tab has a 15 wh battery, and it lasts about 1/2 as long as the ipad, so that probably means around 3 watts.

The hidden hog is the fridge. it's running about 1800, and it's on at least 1/2 the time. Minifridge is much more in lightbulb territory.

Direct solar water heating is great for the non-winter. I've thought that concentrating the beam could make a nice heating element.

Frem,

Back up everything on a flash drive no matter what kind of HDD you have, because sooner or later, they all brick, but it's a cheap part to replace.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Friday, August 26, 2011 1:39 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
http://www.wcax.com/story/15327830/solar-advocates-take-on-wind-power-
in-vt?redirected=true&hpt=us_bn4

Hello,

Please pardon my emotion, but what the F*ck is wrong with these alternative energy advocates? Are they really as divided and pointlessly partisan as the politicians in Washington?

--Anthony

Alternative energy advocates are not one big homogeneous entity. People have different agendas and support different types of aolutions. Iguess I am trying to say that not all people who want to see alternatives to fossil based energy sources will agree on which sources should be developed.

There has been huge opposition to wind turbines here, mainly I believe, because of the visual impact on the landscape. personally, I think they look great, but people who live near them often object to their views being changed. There have also been complaints about noise and health affects for those who live nearby. There is something of the NIMBY syndrome in all of this, if you ask me.

Hydroelectricity also has had its many opponents, because of the vast changes in landscape that it causes.

In my view, we need to realise that our lifestyles come with a cost, that cars and lights and ipods and all the numurous things that we use are not magic or controlled by fairies, but use resources to produce and operate. I don't think we grasp that as a society. My frustration with some of the conservations lobbyists is they object to EVERYTHING. They want zero environmental impact, and that aint gonna happen. We need to be honest about all this, that we want our footprint to be as light as possible, but while we live, consume and breed, there will be an impact.

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Friday, August 26, 2011 1:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:
If it had a solar panel case, it would never die.

That's a damn good idea, that, especially since the user can angle and place it by hand to catch maximum input from a nearby window.

As for dead drives, don't I know it, I used to have a side biz repairing PCs back before everything went propietary or just plain disposable, and a sizeable chunk of it was thus - NEC/HP/Packard Bell, and even some Gateway machines came with an 18month warranty, and a MAXTOR hard drive which *would*, on average, fail completely every 15 months, usually due to the drive motor going belly up - which meant in a desperation case when you NEEDED that data back, I could buy a new in box Maxtor pieceOshit and rip the drive motor out and swap it over, but I'd only agree to do so in order to put the data on another brand of drive, or you were wasting my time.

Conner and Maxtor were the worst, Seagate and IBM drives were iffy, and Quantum went both ways, you had the fast but twitchy Fireball, and the HUGE, but slow, although reliable, Bigfoot...

And then there was Western Digital, I got some of them circa twenty years old that still run perfect, and by preference that's what I use, as I am currently running dual 500GB in a halfassed RAID assembly.

As for RAM, yeah, Kingston or PNY are some good go-to names, but just as with Cirrus Logic, many unscrupulous marketers will sell you "Kingston" RAM which is Kingston stickers on taiwanese shit chips... and mind you, I consider Best Buy one of THE most unscrupulous there is, I'd rather buy from some cheezy flybynight chinese ripoff site, at least then I *might* have a chance of ACCIDENTLY getting a decent product.
(Seriously, a little research and you'd never wanna shop there either!)

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, August 26, 2011 1:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello Frem,

I'll look into it, maybe in tax-return season.

Like you, I enjoy my air conditioner. If the temp climbs past 70 at home, I get ornery.

Though, unlike my wife, I can actually function at a wide range of temperatures. (If not happily.) If it gets too hot for her, she's immobilized till things improve.

-Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Zoiks - I thought I was a wimp about the heat! I keep my A/C at 77 right now, and don't really notice it feeling "warm" unless it creeps up to 81 or 82 inside, which it's doing in the evenings now. 70 would freeze me out.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Friday, August 26, 2011 2:03 PM

Frem, you just made my day, since my backup HDD is a Western Digital unit. 1TB, picked up for $75. Storage has gotten obscenely cheap these days... I can remember paying hundreds for a 30GB drive back in the day.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Friday, August 26, 2011 2:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Zoiks - I thought I was a wimp about the heat! I keep my A/C at 77 right now, and don't really notice it feeling "warm" unless it creeps up to 81 or 82 inside, which it's doing in the evenings now. 70 would freeze me out.

Anyways, yeah, Western Dig is the go-to, I have an old MFM 20meg around here which still works perfectly fine, and yes, I definately remember the days of price fixing and gouging on drives, since at one point my primary machine was running SIX hard drives and a CD-Rom, cause I convinced the hacked operating system (Windows95 "Chicago" without the IE crap weighing it down) that address 1E8 IRQ 11 was a tertiary IDE bus having used a soldering iron to modify an existing controller card, and running the CD-Rom off a proprietary interface via the Soundblaster card.

That machine made an awful racket when in operation, but for its time it was pretty impressive, especially cadged to a 19" color TV by an AiTech scan converter and the Soundblaster rigged to a halfsie 4.1 surround built out of discarded speakers.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, August 26, 2011 4:58 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

"There has been huge opposition to wind turbines here, mainly I believe, because of the visual impact on the landscape. personally, I think they look great, but people who live near them often object to their views being changed. There have also been complaints about noise and health affects for those who live nearby. There is something of the NIMBY syndrome in all of this, if you ask me."

Which is why I like the idea of household solar and compact household helical wind turbines. You don't really need large farms of giant windmills or mega-PV arrays out in nowhere, or somebody's coastal view, or farming community.

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Monday, August 29, 2011 9:36 AM

Beir bua agus beannacht

Anthony. I know that accomidating everything isn't possible, I'm still waiting for my car that drives itself. :) I can see some, but not enough to always knowwhen those sneaky hybrids are sneaking around corners. When I cross busy streets by myself I bust out the cane so they all know to stay the rut out of my way, but those silent vehicles are scary. I'm glad that a noise requirement is being put on them, it won't be too complicated or too expensive and having a car that sounds like the Enterprise is a cool idea. Fortunately I live in a big city so I can ride the LIFT, which comes to my house andtakes me where I want to go when I call at least a day in advance and schedule thusly. So I'm pretty lucky, but people in smaller cities aren't as lucky as I. Yay, Lift!

And Anthony will be pleased to know that I will not be procreating.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, August 29, 2011 10:01 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

"And Anthony will be pleased to know that I will not be procreating."

Hello,

Where do you get the idea that your reproductive habits are at all on my mind?

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Monday, August 29, 2011 12:20 PM

Beir bua agus beannacht

That way I won't be making more children with differences that you don't want to alter anything to accomodate for.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, August 29, 2011 12:38 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
That way I won't be making more children with differences that you don't want to alter anything to accomodate for.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Hello,

Breed at will, Riona. I am not a member of the Eugenics movement. I have no opposition to the existence of differently-able individuals. Just as I'm sure you would not want me to be sterilized in order to prevent me from spreading my philosophies to my children.

I'm alarmed that you envision me as such a sinister figure.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Monday, August 29, 2011 1:31 PM

Beir bua agus beannacht

I just thought I'd let ya know since you're inflexible. I made that decision long ago though, you didn't figure into it.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, August 29, 2011 1:36 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
I just thought I'd let ya know since you're inflexible. I made that decision long ago though, you didn't figure into it.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Hello,

I'm sorry that you see me as 'inflexible.' I try to be as open-minded as I can be.

I'm glad that you don't make your breeding decisions based on my opinions or lack thereof.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Monday, August 29, 2011 4:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Zoiks - I thought I was a wimp about the heat! I keep my A/C at 77 right now, and don't really notice it feeling "warm" unless it creeps up to 81 or 82 inside, which it's doing in the evenings now. 70 would freeze me out.

Simmah down nah! Hell, yesterday we hit 112º here, which ties the hottest temperature ever recorded in Austin. My A/C at home was struggling, and it still hit 85º inside. It's hard to sleep when it's that warm. We had the ceiling fan on, as well as three floor fans blowing right on us on high. I dreamed I was a WWI flying ace, surrounded by nothing but the rushing wind and the sound of my propeller sluicing through the air. :)

But I'd likely collapse into a whimpering ball if I had to deal with temps below 20º for any length of time. I don't work well if I can't feel my digits!

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Monday, August 29, 2011 4:48 PM

Beir bua agus beannacht

We went catfishing in Eastern OR once, it was 102 in the shade and we couldn't function, my dad, grandpa and I had to take naps during the heat of the afternoon because we couldn't think straight. So yeah, really hot things aren't my thing. I like it to be warm, in the 70s and 80s so I can play in the water. On the other end I can handle cold better than lots of people it seems, it isn't my favorite thing to be sure, but since we don't want to pay much in the winter, at my dad's house we keep the heat on quite low, between 55 and 60, so I get used to the cold each year. The only problem with this is that my toes go numb sometimes and it can be hard to get them back to normal. But we mannage. I try to not be too fussy about temperatures.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, August 29, 2011 4:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
I just thought I'd let ya know since you're inflexible. I made that decision long ago though, you didn't figure into it.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Hello,

I'm sorry that you see me as 'inflexible.' I try to be as open-minded as I can be.

I'm glad that you don't make your breeding decisions based on my opinions or lack thereof.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

I've heard Anthony called a great many things, Riona, but "inflexible" is a brand new one.

I don't necessarily agree 100% with his position, but I can understand some of where he's coming from. One thing we constantly here from the differently-abled community is "we just want to be treated like everyone else" - except that it's not true. Build a business without handicapped parking spaces, for instance, and you'll hear about it from handicapped folks.

The result is a mixed message: "Treat us the same! Only BETTER! Because we're exactly like you! Only DIFFERENT!"

It leads to confusion.

I'd prefer to have audible signals at the crosswalks, where if the little "Walk" guy is lit, you get a certain sound, and when you need to be clear of the intersection, you get another sound.

But it also hurts my feelings not one whit if it's mandated that electric cars need to make some sound. Hell, if I had one, I'd go and put playing cards in the spokes just for shits and giggles!

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Monday, August 29, 2011 4:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
We went catfishing in Eastern OR once, it was 102 in the shade and we couldn't function, my dad, grandpa and I had to take naps during the heat of the afternoon because we couldn't think straight. So yeah, really hot things aren't my thing. I like it to be warm, in the 70s and 80s so I can play in the water. On the other end I can handle cold better than lots of people it seems, it isn't my favorite thing to be sure, but since we don't want to pay much in the winter, at my dad's house we keep the heat on quite low, between 55 and 60, so I get used to the cold each year. The only problem with this is that my toes go numb sometimes and it can be hard to get them back to normal. But we mannage. I try to not be too fussy about temperatures.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Winters are plenty comfortable for me inside if I have the temp set at 65-68º. My warehouse at work is air conditioned, but not heated, so winters I dress in layers, and I'm generally down to jeans and t-shirt by afternoon.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Monday, August 29, 2011 5:24 PM

Beir bua agus beannacht

A Quicko a chara,
What you say makes sense about double standards, that's why I try not to say much on it because I think everyone is different in their own ways andeveryone needs, and wants, different things. I know what you mean about the discinance (spelling) of what you said and I can't disagree. I'm not a big crusador by any means, at least not in a general sense of the word. But noises on hybrids doesn't seem like that much to ask. I do love those crosswalks that make noise, at my university we had ones that made bird noises, they made my life much more mannageable.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, August 29, 2011 5:51 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Kwicko

I have read, and it makes sense to me, that for people to get to sleep their core temperature needs to drop, which is why it's hard to sleep in hot weather.

As for this:

"Treat us the same! Only BETTER! Because we're exactly like you! Only DIFFERENT!"

It's really not all that hard to understand. Exclusion is an extreme form of mental pain. 'Shunning' is one example. Loss of control over your ability to function is another. Not being able to get groceries b/c you can't get your wheelchair over the curb or through the door is an example. Finally, we are all only temporarily able-bodied. You will be blind, or crippled, or deaf, or have some type of physical divot, some day.

In our careless, callous, miserly way, we have subjected many to mean, restricted, unproductive lives b/c we thought we were better and they weren't 'worth' even incidental consideration.

As for electric vehicles - I'd WANT mine to make noise - otherwise, how will I know it's running?

Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in taxpayer funded bailouts, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes?

Yeah, me neither....

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Monday, August 29, 2011 5:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
A Quicko a chara,
What you say makes sense about double standards, that's why I try not to say much on it because I think everyone is different in their own ways andeveryone needs, and wants, different things. I know what you mean about the discinance (spelling) of what you said and I can't disagree. I'm not a big crusador by any means, at least not in a general sense of the word. But noises on hybrids doesn't seem like that much to ask. I do love those crosswalks that make noise, at my university we had ones that made bird noises, they made my life much more mannageable.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Y'know, it's funny you should mention that, because I was kind of thinking bird sounds might be just the thing for hybrids. It's not "noise pollution" as such, and might even be calming, but you'd hear it coming, which would help.

What many people don't know is we mandate this kind of stuff all the time. There are standards for how high your headlights must be from the ground, how they can be aimed (did you know American headlights aim just a bit to the right, while Japanese ones aim just a bit to the left? That's so they're less blinding to oncoming traffic in either country), etc. There are even recent mandates that are designed to make YOUR CAR more collision-friendly to pedestrians. That's right - in the event you actually hit someone, there are design standards that are supposed to ensure that the person goes up the hood instead of under the wheels, and there are even mandates for where "hard points" like suspension mounting upper points and things like engine parts are in relation to the hood and fenders (there needs to be a certain distance of "crumple space" between sheetmetal and hard points, in other words).

If we can - and do - regulate how effective our cars are at hitting pedestrians, it doesn't seem a far reach to try to make them more effective at NOT hitting pedestrians in the first place. And I doubt I'd have a huge problem with a sparrow flitting by me at 30mph while I ride my bike. And this isn't something that needs to be loud by any means. It's meant for when you're going SLOW, like below 30mph. Once you get to 50mph or so, the wind noise and tire noise is going to announce your imminent arrival pretty effectively. Even on a bike going 25mph with the wind in my ears, I can hear 70mph traffic approaching from behind from quite a distance (and yes, there are a few highways around here where I ride, but it can be a harrowing experience at times).

So, is this the kind of thing we should mandate? I'd like to think that automakers would show a little concern for others once in a while and just go ahead and do it on their own, and we wouldn't have to mandate it at all.

But in the real world, we've all seen how much corporations tend to care about people, even their own customers.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Monday, August 29, 2011 6:03 PM