Actually, they're going to sell you what the system generates and you can then resell the excess to the electric company.
A good way to imagine how this works is that they're just like your existing power company, except instead of a huge coal-fired power plant, they're using a distributed power plant that goes on the roofs of all of their customers. It's a completely ingenious system. Not only do they not have to pay for the land the power plant uses, they don't have to pay for the emissions or fuel for the system. And since they're locking in your electric rates, you save money in the long run!
This guy's system is very highly customized. Normal solar installations, if they're off-grid, batteries instead of expensive fuel cells. They also live in smaller houses without ludicrous energy needs like hot tubs, and they use efficient appliances.
Here's a solar installation that's grid tied and only cost $12,000. Then there's Renu which, for a $500 security deposit and the current rate from your electric company, will design, install, and maintain a grid-tied solar system on your roof. Not only is your electric rate locked in for a period of years (imagine how much you'll save paying 2006 electric rates in 2026), the $500 security deposit bears interest over the length of the contract. At about 6%, compounded annually over 25 years, that adds up to $2,145.94.
And this is the reason so few people (including me) are "green".
You don't need to spend half a million bucks to be "green." A big part of being "green" is making informed decisions about consumption, and changing some of your habits. Do you recycle? Do you buy compact fluorescent light bulbs? Have you installed a programmable thermostat? What about an insulating jacket for your hot water heater? If you've done any of these things, you're "green."
If you do it right, being "green" will save you more money than you spend. For example: My friend lives in a similar sized house to mine, in the same neighborhood. He's got a conventional thermostat, an unjacketed water heater, and normal light bulbs. His electric and gas bills are about 40% higher than mine. My $40 programmable thermostat and $20 water heater jacket save me more money in a month than they cost cost, and I installed them myself. My compact flourescent light bulbs, bought in bulk from CostCo, save me more money in a year than they cost me initially, and nobody has ever complained about the color or the sound of the lighting.
You can go further. My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive-solar home that was heated with a wood stove and electricity and it cost less to build and significantly less to heat and cool than a normal home, but was just as comfortable. He did this by using his head and thinking about each design element of the house before he started building.
So while there are tons of people out there who do crazy stuff like this, most "greens" simply think before they act, and save a ton of money by not going along with the crowd. The degree to which you want to green your life is up to you. But don't think you need to live up to these examples. Do what you think is best. Just do something!
This guy did a solar installation for about $12,000 using some very expensive solar shingles and a grid tie with deep cycle batteries for backup rather than expensive fuel cells and electrolyzers.
You can also install enough panels and batteries to take one room in your house, like your bedroom or bathroom, off of the grid and simply add panels as you get more money. It's electricity, so it's easy to add capacity.
Or if you want to go really low-tech, you can switch your water heater over to a solar system with an on-demand backup. Systems like that cost as little as $1,000 and can lower your utility bills significantly, particularly if you have an older tank water heater.
Solar power is one thing that brings together geekiness with environmentalism. Where else do you have people hooking up elaborate systems and displaying live data over the Internet?
For those who don't want to bother with the expense of buying and installing your own PV system, there's Renu. With a $500 deposit, they'll design and install an grid-tied PV system for you and charge you only for what it produces at the current rate, which you can lock in for 5 or 25 years. And if you've got a 25 year contract they'll move the system when you move.
Is it possible to disable certain components of SeaMonkey? The HTML editor, browser, and IRC client would be helpful for me, but I don't really need the mail client since I use GMail or read newsgroups.
No worthwhile RoR web apps? Check out BackPack, BaseCamp, or TaDa List.
Finally, RoR can do anything that PHP can do from blog engines to a photo gallery to web stores.
So to say that Ruby on Rails can't create any worthwhile websites shows a lack of knowledge of the abilities that Ruby on Rails has.
At some stage (normally when the child gets into their teens) the parent has to start letting go and relaxing their supervision (this is called trust). It is very important for a parent to talk to their child and as the child gets older the dialog must become more meaningful so that greater trust when given is something a child can look forward to earning.
That's very nice. I'm sure they'll have no problem monitoring their kids online activities when they lose the house and internet access because they get fired because everyone complains about how they "only" work 40 hours a week so they can be a good parent.
Because that's what I hear a lot on/. when there's talk of people with kids in the workplace. I'm afraid you can't be a good parent AND work like you don't have kids.
Small nuclear reactors, similar to the kind the Navy has been using for years in submarines. They could also run something to generate a magnetic field that deflects cosmic rays and the worst of solar flares.
When I was shopping for a house I mentioned that I'd have to replace all the bulbs in the fixtures with CF bulbs and was told by my Realtor that there are people who won't buy houses if there are compact fluorescent bulbs in the fixtures, and that he advises his sellers to replace anything that's not "normal" in their house.
That's why every house we looked at had beige walls and cheap blinds instead of color and curtains: Appealing to the lowest-common-denominator is the best way to get your house sold. That's why I'm not putting much effort into decorating my current house and instead investing in infrastructure improvements. I'm getting a solar hot water heater, but that will probably have to be removed before I leave, too. Even though it's not visible by anyone unless they get on the roof.
So, yeah, this guy is probably going to have to redo this room to something more "traditional" before he tries to sell it or hope that the person who buys it is as big of a Star Trek fan as he is. Sorry to say it, but it's true.
However, if you look at what users WANT and give them something better, they will... Myspace is nothing but the next generation after LiveJournal, Friendster, etc... There's going to be something new after myspace, and i'm betting there's at least 20 companies out there trying to figure out what it'll be...
So what you're saying is similar to the old axiom "Nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the buying public."
Most of those places that have methane also have water in the form of ice. Heat it up a bit and you can not only use it to drink, but also electrolyze it for fuel.
The advantage of methane over hydrogen in this case is that it doesn't require energy-intensive storage methods.
Movie 1: The evil aliens do something and one or more of the team are put in jeopardy. The rest of the team accomplishes a harrowing rescue and then the commander says something moderately amusing just before the end credits.
Movie 2: The team goes to another planet that looks suprisingly like Vancouver and then some evil aliens separate one or more of them and the others accomplish a harrowing rescue. Then the commander says something moderately amusing just before Teal'c raises his eyebrow in disbelief.
I don't bother teaching kids that. I just remove IE from the desktop, change the Firefox icon to a globe or something, and label it "Internet."
Come to think if it, I do the same thing with adults, too.
I saw that definition when I first heard about FUSE and thought "Okay, so what's userspace?"
For those who don't know: Userspace is the thing you're using right now. Rather than having the filesystem buried down deep in the bowels of the system, FUSE puts it above most of the stuff the OS does. That way, you can tell the OS things like "See those collection of Gmail messages to myself or RAR files or tarballs? That's a filesystem. You can move stuff onto and off of it just like another disk."
FUSE is an easy, open source way of writing things that use unconventional storage methods for files.
Do not tell boss that we're storing credit card numbers, usernames and passwords in plain text on our database server. I might get arrested.
(Posting anonymously so you don't know who I work for!)
The Bright Side of MySpace.
on
Inside MySpace.com
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Look at it this way: The more people use MySpace, the fewer "OMG FWD THIS TO EVERY 1 U NO!!!" emails you'll get.
It's like a ghetto for annoying people on the Internet.
Slashdot Mirror
I was under the impression that electrons move significantly slower than light.
All UIs bow before the might that is Quicksilver. (OS X only.)
How am I supposed to take this person's opinion seriously when they speak in a 13 year old's tone?
Hint: You're not.
Renu doesn't install systems in places where there's no surplus buyback, so they've solved that problem already.
Actually, they're going to sell you what the system generates and you can then resell the excess to the electric company.
A good way to imagine how this works is that they're just like your existing power company, except instead of a huge coal-fired power plant, they're using a distributed power plant that goes on the roofs of all of their customers. It's a completely ingenious system. Not only do they not have to pay for the land the power plant uses, they don't have to pay for the emissions or fuel for the system. And since they're locking in your electric rates, you save money in the long run!
This guy's system is very highly customized. Normal solar installations, if they're off-grid, batteries instead of expensive fuel cells. They also live in smaller houses without ludicrous energy needs like hot tubs, and they use efficient appliances.
Here's a solar installation that's grid tied and only cost $12,000. Then there's Renu which, for a $500 security deposit and the current rate from your electric company, will design, install, and maintain a grid-tied solar system on your roof. Not only is your electric rate locked in for a period of years (imagine how much you'll save paying 2006 electric rates in 2026), the $500 security deposit bears interest over the length of the contract. At about 6%, compounded annually over 25 years, that adds up to $2,145.94.
And this is the reason so few people (including me) are "green".
You don't need to spend half a million bucks to be "green." A big part of being "green" is making informed decisions about consumption, and changing some of your habits. Do you recycle? Do you buy compact fluorescent light bulbs? Have you installed a programmable thermostat? What about an insulating jacket for your hot water heater? If you've done any of these things, you're "green."
If you do it right, being "green" will save you more money than you spend. For example: My friend lives in a similar sized house to mine, in the same neighborhood. He's got a conventional thermostat, an unjacketed water heater, and normal light bulbs. His electric and gas bills are about 40% higher than mine. My $40 programmable thermostat and $20 water heater jacket save me more money in a month than they cost cost, and I installed them myself. My compact flourescent light bulbs, bought in bulk from CostCo, save me more money in a year than they cost me initially, and nobody has ever complained about the color or the sound of the lighting.
You can go further. My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive-solar home that was heated with a wood stove and electricity and it cost less to build and significantly less to heat and cool than a normal home, but was just as comfortable. He did this by using his head and thinking about each design element of the house before he started building.
So while there are tons of people out there who do crazy stuff like this, most "greens" simply think before they act, and save a ton of money by not going along with the crowd. The degree to which you want to green your life is up to you. But don't think you need to live up to these examples. Do what you think is best. Just do something!
This guy did a solar installation for about $12,000 using some very expensive solar shingles and a grid tie with deep cycle batteries for backup rather than expensive fuel cells and electrolyzers. You can also install enough panels and batteries to take one room in your house, like your bedroom or bathroom, off of the grid and simply add panels as you get more money. It's electricity, so it's easy to add capacity. Or if you want to go really low-tech, you can switch your water heater over to a solar system with an on-demand backup. Systems like that cost as little as $1,000 and can lower your utility bills significantly, particularly if you have an older tank water heater. Solar power is one thing that brings together geekiness with environmentalism. Where else do you have people hooking up elaborate systems and displaying live data over the Internet?
They do sell solar "shingles." This guy built a grid-tied PV system with a battery storage for about $12,000. And the shingles aren't that noticeable.
For those who don't want to bother with the expense of buying and installing your own PV system, there's Renu. With a $500 deposit, they'll design and install an grid-tied PV system for you and charge you only for what it produces at the current rate, which you can lock in for 5 or 25 years. And if you've got a 25 year contract they'll move the system when you move.
If you use portable Firefox a lot you might want to look into Google Browser Sync. It keeps all your stuff synced across multiple browsers.
Bowl of cereal or a cereal bar and 48 oz of coffee once I get to work.
Is it possible to disable certain components of SeaMonkey? The HTML editor, browser, and IRC client would be helpful for me, but I don't really need the mail client since I use GMail or read newsgroups.
No worthwhile RoR web apps? Check out BackPack, BaseCamp, or TaDa List. Finally, RoR can do anything that PHP can do from blog engines to a photo gallery to web stores. So to say that Ruby on Rails can't create any worthwhile websites shows a lack of knowledge of the abilities that Ruby on Rails has.
At some stage (normally when the child gets into their teens) the parent has to start letting go and relaxing their supervision (this is called trust). It is very important for a parent to talk to their child and as the child gets older the dialog must become more meaningful so that greater trust when given is something a child can look forward to earning.
That's very nice. I'm sure they'll have no problem monitoring their kids online activities when they lose the house and internet access because they get fired because everyone complains about how they "only" work 40 hours a week so they can be a good parent.
Because that's what I hear a lot on /. when there's talk of people with kids in the workplace. I'm afraid you can't be a good parent AND work like you don't have kids.
Yes. Just like nuclear weapons. And we'll bomb the shit out of you if you say otherwise.
</sarcasm>
Small nuclear reactors, similar to the kind the Navy has been using for years in submarines. They could also run something to generate a magnetic field that deflects cosmic rays and the worst of solar flares.
When I was shopping for a house I mentioned that I'd have to replace all the bulbs in the fixtures with CF bulbs and was told by my Realtor that there are people who won't buy houses if there are compact fluorescent bulbs in the fixtures, and that he advises his sellers to replace anything that's not "normal" in their house.
That's why every house we looked at had beige walls and cheap blinds instead of color and curtains: Appealing to the lowest-common-denominator is the best way to get your house sold. That's why I'm not putting much effort into decorating my current house and instead investing in infrastructure improvements. I'm getting a solar hot water heater, but that will probably have to be removed before I leave, too. Even though it's not visible by anyone unless they get on the roof.
So, yeah, this guy is probably going to have to redo this room to something more "traditional" before he tries to sell it or hope that the person who buys it is as big of a Star Trek fan as he is. Sorry to say it, but it's true.
So what you're saying is similar to the old axiom "Nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the buying public."
Most of those places that have methane also have water in the form of ice. Heat it up a bit and you can not only use it to drink, but also electrolyze it for fuel. The advantage of methane over hydrogen in this case is that it doesn't require energy-intensive storage methods.
Kind of like Example.com. That was set up in RFC-2606.
Movie 1: The evil aliens do something and one or more of the team are put in jeopardy. The rest of the team accomplishes a harrowing rescue and then the commander says something moderately amusing just before the end credits. Movie 2: The team goes to another planet that looks suprisingly like Vancouver and then some evil aliens separate one or more of them and the others accomplish a harrowing rescue. Then the commander says something moderately amusing just before Teal'c raises his eyebrow in disbelief.
I don't bother teaching kids that. I just remove IE from the desktop, change the Firefox icon to a globe or something, and label it "Internet." Come to think if it, I do the same thing with adults, too.
I saw that definition when I first heard about FUSE and thought "Okay, so what's userspace?" For those who don't know: Userspace is the thing you're using right now. Rather than having the filesystem buried down deep in the bowels of the system, FUSE puts it above most of the stuff the OS does. That way, you can tell the OS things like "See those collection of Gmail messages to myself or RAR files or tarballs? That's a filesystem. You can move stuff onto and off of it just like another disk." FUSE is an easy, open source way of writing things that use unconventional storage methods for files.
Do not tell boss that we're storing credit card numbers, usernames and passwords in plain text on our database server. I might get arrested.
(Posting anonymously so you don't know who I work for!)
Look at it this way: The more people use MySpace, the fewer "OMG FWD THIS TO EVERY 1 U NO!!!" emails you'll get. It's like a ghetto for annoying people on the Internet.