Most truly creative people don't create things for money. They create because they can't avoid creating- their brains work differently from you financial folks who couldn't create an escape from a paper bag. Capitalism is actually an impedment to such progress, because it requires creative people to work in mind-numbing jobs just to get food, clothing, and shelter.
Yea, most artists like painters don't paint for profit but most don't support themselves by painting either. If anything most painters paint in their free tyme and not professionally. My sister for instance, she was the artist in my family painting murals and such but now she's a CPA, Certified Public Accountant running her own accounting firm. I used to paint some, and want to start painting again for my own personal satifaction. Actually I want to be a professioanl painter, paint with light, as I want to be a professional photographer. Without copyrights whatever photo I shot someone else could make money off without me benefitting from it. With copyright though, I can prevent someone else from making a profit off my work. You would suggest they could make profit without me seeing anything for my work. Same with others such as writers, why should anyone slave away writing a book if someone else could come along and copy it to sell? This is what capitalism is about, a person being able to sale what they create.
Since I already have a huge propane tank, I'm leaning towards a propane generator. They last basically forever since propane's so clean. I'd like to get a diesel style*, but those tend to be the huge ones, and I don't need to power the whole town.
By all means, go with a propane generator if you've already got a tank. Less resources would be needed than if a diesel or gas generator were used.
I have to say that, between the chief editor and the copy editor, I learned that my spelling and grammar are not nearly as good as I thought they were.
I used to get comments about my spelling, that it was wrong. I'd come back saying it's not wrong but unusual for American English. For instance I spell "time" with a "y", "tyme". Back when I was in high school I liked to go to the library and leaf or read through the Oxford English Dictionary, OED. One day I came across the spelling of time as "tyme". Thereafter I used that spelling. In a writing class, I don't recall if it was composition or American Lit, I used that spelling on an assignment and when I got the paper back my teacher had marked it wrong and took off points. So I practically dragged her to the library and showed her "time" spelled that way. After that she got into the habit of checking the OED to see if it had a word spelled the way I spelled it. I haven't been able to find a dictionary with it spelled that way since, but then again the OED I used had 20something volumn edition, it wasn't just one book.
Is ball lightning supposed to bounce around the ground like that? I thought it floated. 'Course, I could be mistaken.
From what I recall Nikola Tesla was able to get ball lightning to both float and bounce around. Then again he was able to do a lot of different "amazing" things, like getting people to think an earthquake was hitting New York.
Yeah, well give them a few minutes. Now, I don't know the situation, but if it was windy, they were probably warmer in the snow banks because they were out of the wind than those who continued to stand out on the runway.
It wasn't the wind, snowball fights broke out quickly with laughing and yelling. When we left a common comment was that it was fun. Damn, I wish I had my photos from the trip, I bought 7 rolls of 36 exposure colour film to take and my CO, Commanding Officer, got 4 rolls of 24 exposure B&W film from an office for me to use. Unfortunately that wasn't enough, they only lasted a week. Back then I was my unit's unofficial photographer as I had and knew how to an slr, develop film, and make prints.
I'm thinking about both, but the instant nature of the battery is compelling, especially since I heat with propane, thus the electrical need for my furnace is mostly just for the fan. Then again, the continous nature of the generator is nice, and a tank of fuel can provide a whole lot more energy than a row of batteries.
If I do set up a windmill, the battery packs would make more sense, since I'd only need the batteries/generator for slow days. It's either that or get a expensive autostart generator system.
What you may do is have a backup generator and a small battery bank. This offers two backups. When there isn't much wind for a short tyme the battery bank is used, but for extended periods the generator can be used to charge the batteries and provide electricity. It's even better if the generator is diesel, you could make your own fuel, biodiesel. Of course in order to be able to make it consistantly you have to have a consistant supply of vegetable oil.
I try to get them to understand that one does not need to pay large sums of money for the privilege of sitting in a room with hundreds of other students to have a lecturer read to you out of a book. Just buy the book and read it yourself.
Not everybody can learn just by reading a book, some people need someone there ril so they can ask for assistance and such. I know because I am that way now, where at one tyme I prefered to learn by doing and if I had a problem then read the manual before asking for help. Now I can bang my head against the wall for several hours and never be able to understand something, but I can learn it in a few minutes if I have someone to ask for assistance.
Fact is is different people have different styles of learning and a style that works for one person doesn't work for everyone.
yeah, I'm terrible with finding my own typos. I just went through the site earlier this week, when I was rewriting the backend, and found about a dozen typos on the resume page....and to think I'm a proofreader for my friend's novels. heh.
Many people are that way. Even some professional writers are better at proofreading others writing than they are at proofreading their own work. When I wrote years ago, I always had someone proofread what I wrote. It's the mind tricks.
Lightscribe has support from LightScribe themselves, no less. They even have an SDK you can download for Linux. Hell, I'm thinking about buying a LS drive just to support a company that's supporting Linux. See here.
Thats for the link, now I know where to look to get Lightscribe working when I finally find a dl dvd drive.
One problem you run into up here is that many things don't like working at -30.
I got a kick out of reading this, it reminded me of when I was in the army. My unit went to Fort Greeley, Alaska, right outside of Fairbanks in the middle of the state. We went there for Northern warfare training the day after Thanksgiving and were there 3 weeks. It was about -30 the whole tyme, not counting the wind chill factor. You could pretty acurately separate those who grew up in the cold north versus those that grew up in the warmer south. Almost as a herd most southerners ran and dived into the snow mounts on the side of the runway, and they enjoyed it there. However many of those from the north hated it.
Somebody has to be first, and ND has a 15% rebate(spread over 5 years) for them. Since I already have electric service, I'd probably go with the connected, though a battery system for critical stuff(like the furnace) is in planning.
If you're thinking of doing this yourself, instead of a battery backup you might want to check into a backup generator. Do research on both, then you can decide which one makes more sense for you to use.
I just looked izt up, they have net metering here in ND
I know some states have net metering but not all of them. CA, OR, and WA do however I didn't know ND had it. I'm not really supprised though seeing as how good wind is there.
If you have a negative number, they purchase it from you, though at a lower rate(basically what they pay their suppliers), which is reasonable because they still have to maintain the lines.
I agree in a way, they have to pay for the upkeep of the infrastructure. However in many places government paid to build the infrastructure.
Actually Global Warming is a healthcare issue. As the world warms diseases spread faster and farther. Take the carrier of maleria and ebola, the mosquito. As things warm up the mosquito are found further and further north. Where once because of the cold they were excluded from going too far north, they can now be found closer to the Artic Circle. Also because of the cold they weren't often found at high altitudes, not they can go higher up mountains. Or take the killer bees in the southwest USA, their range was limited by cooler temperatures as well so as it warms up they can expand their range.It has also been shown some weeds grow better in CO2 rich environments, one such weed being poison ivy. with more poison ivy more medicine is needed for treatment, or more herbicides (which causes more problems), energy, and other resources are needed to limit it, resources which can be used elsewhere. Fact is is that global warming is a serious public health issue.
Personally, I'd much rather have $.01 of every tax dollar go to buying a goat for some poor farmer in Africa then to pay for 5 minutes of jet fuel for someone's private jet.
Personally I'd prefer the one who makes the money to be the one who decides what to do with the money they make. As long as they don't harm anyone else they should be able to do whatever they want.
Just by figuring this out hasn't the DMCA now been violated and soon the people who made the discovery will be violated as well in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
The DMCA only applies to the US, it doesn't apply to those outside the US.
They may be an additional expense but unless they not properly maintained they only need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years.
It's still a great big honkin expense compared to a $20/month utility bill
My utility bill is about $25/month and I watch my energy usage. All of my light bulbs are 12 or 15 watt cfls and I try not to have anything electrical on I don't want or need. Because of this my bill is lower than others, my sister's is two to three tymes as high. But even using your $20/month, that's $240 a year or more than one battery. A typical payback period for a solar/wind energy system is about 7 years. Thereafter except for routine maintainance electricity is "free". So the initial costs are rather high but such a system is cheaper over the long run.
Admittedly it doesn't always make economic sense to install a solar system with batteries even with rebates and tax credits. Actually in many cases it's more feasible to retrofit an existing house, building, for energy conservation. Replacing energy hogs with energy efficient appliances, adding insulation or improving it may make more sense economically. Because of the initial expense of an energy system such as solar, the first thing those who do such things suggest is to reduce energy expenditures. When designing homes off the grid that is the first thing an architect should do, use passive solar design principles.
Grid connected made more sense, because with most systems you can sell power back to the utility during the day and buy it at night.
That's what's good about net metering such as in California. While the owner is at work during the day, thier solar system is producing electricity which is sold to the utility, then when they get home and use electricity, they get it from the utility. To tell the truth though, instead of net metering I prefer to see the meter dial spinning backwards. Net metering doesn't offset use kilowatt used with a kilowatt produced, you actually get less back from selling energy than you pay for energy. When the meter spins backward though it is one for one.
I usually don't count these, because they're a distortion of the marketplace. You see, if it made true economic sense, people would be rushing out to do it themselves, without needing any subsidies. Basically I'll count them in personal make/break decisions, but when I'm doing generic figuring to determine whether the system as a whole is economically viable I don't.
This is true unless you consider the subsidies the power companies get. If you want to get rid of rebates and tax credits for those who install renewable energy systems, then you want to get rid of subsides the power companies get as well. And this doesn't just mean any federal subsidies but also state and local subsidies, such as the tax breaks a state or city will give the power company to build or expand a power plant.
Still, I have some land now, it's time to look into putting up a windmill. Better ask the neighbors what they think, though.
Yeah, it's a good idea to talk to neighbers who have erected and uses a tower and wind gennie, windmill. At least get an idea of how their system is doing. Then have a site survey done on your property. If your site doesn't make a good place it's only wasting money to erect a wind gennie. The same goes with solar as well as with many other things. You wouldn't want to drill a well a thousand feet deep if you could get water easier than that. However wind gennies can give a farmer an added revenue stream. The farmer allows the power company to install wind gennies then gets royalties or a percentage on he electricity produced. The royality should more than offset the land used by the gennie.
The term "hacker" is overloaded, whether we like it or not.
True enough, actually news reporters were called hackers, er hacks. Heck though I'm not sure I thing "hacks" was used for reporters in Orson Welles' 1941 movie "Citizen Kane". I just get so pissed when I see people use "hackers" to mean criminals or those who use computer to do bad things. I grew up in the '70s and saw the homebrew computers coming out. In magazines like Byte I read about these hardware and software hackers designing new systems and programs and I wanted to be one of them. It was either Computer Engineering/Science or Marine Biology. Too late but now I sometimes think I should of went into Marine Biology instead.
It is because of illegal immigration. There were Americans willing to do those jobs, until they had to compete with some one willing to take half or less pay.
I pretty much agreed with you until I got to this, above. The only reason there are "illegal immigrants" is because congress, the opposite of progress, passed and the president signed stupid laws making immigration illegal. And it has gone on since the founding of the USA. The first instance I know of is when Benjamen Franklin wanted to bar Germans from immgrating to the USA. Then there were the Know Nothings in the 1850s who wanted to bar Irish Catholics from immigrations. The Chinese Exclusion Act, which as the name is explicit about, was about excluding Chinese and passed in 1882. Fact is is that many nationalities or ethnic groups were at one tyme or another targets of anti-immigrants activists. Now, it's aimed at Latin Americans. Such as from Mexico. Instead of jumping on Mexicans, if you really want to stop them from immigrating to the US, many of whom are Mayans and whose ancesters have been living in the Americas longer than Europeans, then what you really want to do is stop the US federal government from giving US agriculture the hugh subsidies it gives them. Because of these massive subsidies and NAFTA US agribusinesses can ship to and sale food in Mexico cheaper than Mexican farmers can grow it. Allow Mexican farmers to make a decent living on thier farms and they won't feel the need to either immigrate to the US or move to Mexican cities and thus push those already there to immigrate to the US. Now you may not be one of them but many xenophobes, those in fear of "the other", let their fear rule them and try to persuade the government to change or pass a law that supports their view without any solid data or facts supporting their position that can not be explained any other way. This also ignores the fact that about 8,000,000 ilegal aliens pay income tax and social security. In fact they pay about $50 billion, keeping SS solvent. This is because of the Immigration Reform Act of 1996, the IRS issued fake SSNs illegal aliens could use to get jobs. So while the 8 million got them and pay taxes they can never get either medicaid/medicare or Social Security income.
I am SICK of the poverty pimps of America describing the "plight" of the American poor. With very little effort, and one can get a job, find a place to stay, and have a life, as evidenced by the MILLIONS of Latinos streaming across the boarder to take jobs that no American wants.
Yeah, right, it's easy for everybody to get a good paying job. NOT!!! I've worked with homeless people and though there were some who just didn't want to work, most of them worked their asses off when they could get a job.
I know, I've been "poor". I've also know what its like to have to get up off my ass and get a job, and do crappy work for a living. If one works hard, is honest and never stops learning, one can end up in IT, with a decent wage. But it does require SOME effort, and not quitting... EVER.
And how do I know homeless work their asses off? Because like I said above I worked with them, not figuratively but literally. I was and am poor, and I worked like a lot of homeless people I met through a day labor pool. I'd get up early in the morning and head to the labor pool hall where I'd signup for work. Not all the tyme but most of the tyme I'd get sent out on a jobsite, and there always was a number of us sent out, and depending on where it was we may have it relatively easy working but more often than not we busted our asses. And though I wasn't homeless myself those who were would work as hard if not harder than many others I knew who weren't homeless and had good jobs.
However now, my situation is totally different. Though I worked through a day labor pool, I didn't work everyday, instead I worked parttime while attending college majoring in CE. That all ended when I was riding my bike after class and a moving van hit me. While I was in a coma the docs told my family it would be a miracle if lived. NOT!!! I am now a survivor of a TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury. Even if I wanted to continue with the major, I would have to repeat most of the classes I took as my memory was seriously damaged. And because it is damaged it is excedingly hard for me to remember, retain, some new subjects. For instance I started attending college again even though I wasn't sure what I would do as I no longer wanted to go into CE. I figured programming would be easy enough untilI knew what I wanted, however I realized how wrong I was when taking Java. Where I was taking Java was a 3 semester sequence, and no matter what, how many tymes I took it, I could not recall what I learned in Java I by the tyme Java II started, even with an "A" in Java I. I basically had to have a refresher. The last tyme I took Java II, the disabilities, handicapped servives office, spent several weeks looking for tutor for me before they gave up. The professer helped them and me however he couldn't find anyone himself and he wasn't always available.
Americans are a bunch of whiney wimps who would rather get rich quick, while being poor, than work hard.
It really pisses me off when I have to deal with people that have this sort of attitude. I keep wondering how they would survive if they were in my shoes, had to go through a disability like my TBI.
What is the 4-KS-21P? It's a battery rated for extreme deep cycle operations. I used it because it didn't state '7 year lifespan'(at an unknown usage pattern), it's rated at 3,200 50% power cycles.
Ok, thanks
Oh, I'll admit that batteries have improved, it's just that they're still an additional expense over just generating the power. I've looked at the systems myself.
They may be an additional expense but unless they not properly maintained they only need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years. Being hooked up to the grid though is an ongoing expense. Also, though I didn't mention it earlier as I just now recalled, the expenses of putting in a solar or wind system can be used to offset income taxes. DSIRE has a db of the incentives each state offers. There is also a federal incentive tax credit, though I don't recall if that one has elapsed yet or when it does elapse.
Nor would communists ever develope them, communism does not offer much incensive for a person to create something. That's why copyrights and patents are awarded, to encourage progress by giving people an incentive to create something new, it's called the "profit motive".
Wouldn't it be more efficient just to provide the capital investments directly from the Government Treasury, and then use the people freed up from the dissolution of the financial industry to build the tractors and pick the crops? In other words, actually have them do real production instead of just producing a bunch of worthless paperwork?
And who's going to be the grand overseer who decides how money is going to be spent? I have hard enough tyme accepting that my tax dollars are paying for a war I never wanted to begin with, forget about it paying for someone else's pet projects. At least in a relatively free market, I know one doesn't really exist but, I have some control of how my money is spent. If I don't like what corporation X is doing I don't have to invest in it, or if I do invest then I can try to influence what it does.
Someone who exploits the tax code (for instance) is a hacker just as much as someone who exploits a vulnerability of a computer program. It's just the machine that's different.
A hacker hacks the system sure but they don't cause harm. Someone who causes harm, rips off, or steals from anyone else is a cracker, script kiddie, or plain crook but they are NOT hackers. Boy, this being slashdot I'd think people here would know what a hacker is and what the hacker ethic n. is about. It seems more and more like those who have the knowledge are allowing the mass media dictate what words mean.
There's a growing belief in this country, and it isn't new, that if you are poor you did something to deserve it.
Don't I know it. Because physically I look alright I get people who think I'm just lazy, however those who knew me before my accident remarked about how much different I became afterwards. Prior to the accident I was pretty active. I was attending college, hardly anyone from the neighberhood I grew up in attended college and many didn't even finish high school, was active in two writers groups as I wanted to write, and though my major was CE I also danced and worked in the theatre on plays. For a few years I worked fulltime in construction, I unexpectively was offered a job between semesters and I took it. I also rode my bike 100+ miles a week.
Lately I've been noticing my sister is getting the idea if your poor it's you fault too, and we grew up together. However she was able to work her way through college to get her MBA in Accounting, get her CPA, Certified Public Accountant, and now she runs her own accounting firm with some friends of hers. So while she busted her ass to get where she is I still can't understand her attitude. She knows how hard she had to work to get there.
Now, there are lots of reasons people face issues like bankruptcy, and the largest reason are medical bills.
My medical bills from the hospital after the accident was more than $120,000. Then, more than two years later I was still in therapy, it cost $100 an hour and I was in therapy 15 hours a week, $1500 a week. And the thing is is I wasn't the only one, I was with a group of several others. After a few months I had to stop as I couldn't afford it anymore. Just as well as it wasn't helping me and it seemed like a ripoff.
I think that you misread me. That's the renewable energy subsidy if we gave wind power the same 'subsidies' that are 'given' to nuclear power. This system was set up by the Price-Anderson act
Thanks for the link. I didn't know the industry paid for insurance. I went ahead and both saved it to my hdd and bookmarked it.
Many people have battery banks to store the energy their solar, wind, or hybrid systems generate.
Don't get me wrong, but while people do it, it's not globally economic to do so. Most people who do these systems do so to avoid the expense of running line power to them. Meanwhile they do things like run special refridgerators and use hydrocarbon method of accomplishing tasks such as heating their home, water, and cooking. For example, solar power will make sense much more quickly in Sunny california with high electricity costs than ND with it's cheap electricity.
First, North Dakota isn't good for solar as you say but the state is a great site for Wind Gennies. As is SD and Minneasota. MN, where I live now, generates several megawatts of power by Wind Gennies. While it may be mostly those living off the grid in the US who's doing it, it's not the only place solar panels and batteries are used. The same think is done in the third world. In Africa one or more NGOs are going into small villages where they setup solar panels and battery backups to power lights, radios, refrigs, small tvs, and such. The lights allow children to read and do homework for school while it's dark. The refrigs allow medicine to be stored, and the radios and tvs keep the people informed about the world. They are also used for educational purposes. The IEEE'sSpectrum had an article about how some people started a business in South Asia building solar energy systems they then sold in remote locations and other places without electricity. The business created jobs manufacturing them, it also allowed those who bought a system to improve education as well as earn more money. One example was of a person who ran a repair shop, he was able to use lights so he could work when it was dark thus he increased his income. In another Spectrum article they described how a group of EEs went into a remote village; in Cambodia, Thailand, or Veit Nam, I don't recall which, and setup a transceiver with a tower for the antenna so they could have radio communications with the outside world. Using a "home built" PC and a bike converted into a generator, the group was able to offer the village internet access as well as voice radio. If they wanted to power the system all they had to do was pedal the bike. If they had setup a solar panel the bike could of been for backup.
Fact is you only have a few years to make back the investment because the batteries degrade, eventually needing replacement.
Sure, the batteries eventually need to be replaced, however batteries today last longer than the deep cycle batteries of yesteryear, and they're cheaper. Batteries can now have 10 year warranties with 20 year life expectancies. Here's one with 7 year replacement(pdf), and 3 year prorated warranty for a total of 10 years. As for solar panels, they can be rated 20 years or more. The same with the chargers.
Ok this site has batteries inteneded for renewable resources for sale. The L-16HC seems to be the best deal, for the amp-hours. It's a 6 volt battery that has 420 amp-hours of capacity. That's 2520 watt/hours. Divided by it's cost of $288, that's $114 per kw/hour of capacity, and it's only rated for 3-6 years of 20% daily discharge.
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Most truly creative people don't create things for money. They create because they can't avoid creating- their brains work differently from you financial folks who couldn't create an escape from a paper bag. Capitalism is actually an impedment to such progress, because it requires creative people to work in mind-numbing jobs just to get food, clothing, and shelter.
Yea, most artists like painters don't paint for profit but most don't support themselves by painting either. If anything most painters paint in their free tyme and not professionally. My sister for instance, she was the artist in my family painting murals and such but now she's a CPA, Certified Public Accountant running her own accounting firm. I used to paint some, and want to start painting again for my own personal satifaction. Actually I want to be a professioanl painter, paint with light, as I want to be a professional photographer. Without copyrights whatever photo I shot someone else could make money off without me benefitting from it. With copyright though, I can prevent someone else from making a profit off my work. You would suggest they could make profit without me seeing anything for my work. Same with others such as writers, why should anyone slave away writing a book if someone else could come along and copy it to sell? This is what capitalism is about, a person being able to sale what they create.
FalconSince I already have a huge propane tank, I'm leaning towards a propane generator. They last basically forever since propane's so clean. I'd like to get a diesel style*, but those tend to be the huge ones, and I don't need to power the whole town.
By all means, go with a propane generator if you've already got a tank. Less resources would be needed than if a diesel or gas generator were used.
FalconI have to say that, between the chief editor and the copy editor, I learned that my spelling and grammar are not nearly as good as I thought they were.
I used to get comments about my spelling, that it was wrong. I'd come back saying it's not wrong but unusual for American English. For instance I spell "time" with a "y", "tyme". Back when I was in high school I liked to go to the library and leaf or read through the Oxford English Dictionary, OED . One day I came across the spelling of time as "tyme". Thereafter I used that spelling. In a writing class, I don't recall if it was composition or American Lit, I used that spelling on an assignment and when I got the paper back my teacher had marked it wrong and took off points. So I practically dragged her to the library and showed her "time" spelled that way. After that she got into the habit of checking the OED to see if it had a word spelled the way I spelled it. I haven't been able to find a dictionary with it spelled that way since, but then again the OED I used had 20something volumn edition, it wasn't just one book.
FalconHe said nothing about seeing Emilio Estevez on the fence.
How about Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore or any of the others?
FalconIs ball lightning supposed to bounce around the ground like that? I thought it floated. 'Course, I could be mistaken.
From what I recall Nikola Tesla was able to get ball lightning to both float and bounce around. Then again he was able to do a lot of different "amazing" things, like getting people to think an earthquake was hitting New York.
FalconYeah, well give them a few minutes. Now, I don't know the situation, but if it was windy, they were probably warmer in the snow banks because they were out of the wind than those who continued to stand out on the runway.
It wasn't the wind, snowball fights broke out quickly with laughing and yelling. When we left a common comment was that it was fun. Damn, I wish I had my photos from the trip, I bought 7 rolls of 36 exposure colour film to take and my CO, Commanding Officer, got 4 rolls of 24 exposure B&W film from an office for me to use. Unfortunately that wasn't enough, they only lasted a week. Back then I was my unit's unofficial photographer as I had and knew how to an slr, develop film, and make prints.
I'm thinking about both, but the instant nature of the battery is compelling, especially since I heat with propane, thus the electrical need for my furnace is mostly just for the fan. Then again, the continous nature of the generator is nice, and a tank of fuel can provide a whole lot more energy than a row of batteries.
If I do set up a windmill, the battery packs would make more sense, since I'd only need the batteries/generator for slow days. It's either that or get a expensive autostart generator system.
What you may do is have a backup generator and a small battery bank. This offers two backups. When there isn't much wind for a short tyme the battery bank is used, but for extended periods the generator can be used to charge the batteries and provide electricity. It's even better if the generator is diesel, you could make your own fuel, biodiesel. Of course in order to be able to make it consistantly you have to have a consistant supply of vegetable oil.
FalconI try to get them to understand that one does not need to pay large sums of money for the privilege of sitting in a room with hundreds of other students to have a lecturer read to you out of a book. Just buy the book and read it yourself.
Not everybody can learn just by reading a book, some people need someone there ril so they can ask for assistance and such. I know because I am that way now, where at one tyme I prefered to learn by doing and if I had a problem then read the manual before asking for help. Now I can bang my head against the wall for several hours and never be able to understand something, but I can learn it in a few minutes if I have someone to ask for assistance.
Fact is is different people have different styles of learning and a style that works for one person doesn't work for everyone.
FalconThe DMCA only applies to the US, it doesn't apply to those outside the US.
That's what you think, bucko! --
It's true! However that does not mean the RI/MP-AA and their government stooges won't try to force other countries to enforce it.
Falconyeah, I'm terrible with finding my own typos. I just went through the site earlier this week, when I was rewriting the backend, and found about a dozen typos on the resume page. ...and to think I'm a proofreader for my friend's novels. heh.
Many people are that way. Even some professional writers are better at proofreading others writing than they are at proofreading their own work. When I wrote years ago, I always had someone proofread what I wrote. It's the mind tricks.
FalconLightscribe has support from LightScribe themselves, no less. They even have an SDK you can download for Linux. Hell, I'm thinking about buying a LS drive just to support a company that's supporting Linux. See here.
Thats for the link, now I know where to look to get Lightscribe working when I finally find a dl dvd drive.
FalconOne problem you run into up here is that many things don't like working at -30.
I got a kick out of reading this, it reminded me of when I was in the army. My unit went to Fort Greeley, Alaska, right outside of Fairbanks in the middle of the state. We went there for Northern warfare training the day after Thanksgiving and were there 3 weeks. It was about -30 the whole tyme, not counting the wind chill factor. You could pretty acurately separate those who grew up in the cold north versus those that grew up in the warmer south. Almost as a herd most southerners ran and dived into the snow mounts on the side of the runway, and they enjoyed it there. However many of those from the north hated it.
Somebody has to be first, and ND has a 15% rebate(spread over 5 years) for them. Since I already have electric service, I'd probably go with the connected, though a battery system for critical stuff(like the furnace) is in planning.
If you're thinking of doing this yourself, instead of a battery backup you might want to check into a backup generator. Do research on both, then you can decide which one makes more sense for you to use.
FalconI just looked izt up, they have net metering here in ND
I know some states have net metering but not all of them. CA, OR, and WA do however I didn't know ND had it. I'm not really supprised though seeing as how good wind is there.
If you have a negative number, they purchase it from you, though at a lower rate(basically what they pay their suppliers), which is reasonable because they still have to maintain the lines.
I agree in a way, they have to pay for the upkeep of the infrastructure. However in many places government paid to build the infrastructure.
Falconmankind today. Bigger then...healthcare
Actually Global Warming is a healthcare issue. As the world warms diseases spread faster and farther. Take the carrier of maleria and ebola, the mosquito. As things warm up the mosquito are found further and further north. Where once because of the cold they were excluded from going too far north, they can now be found closer to the Artic Circle. Also because of the cold they weren't often found at high altitudes, not they can go higher up mountains. Or take the killer bees in the southwest USA, their range was limited by cooler temperatures as well so as it warms up they can expand their range.It has also been shown some weeds grow better in CO2 rich environments, one such weed being poison ivy. with more poison ivy more medicine is needed for treatment, or more herbicides (which causes more problems), energy, and other resources are needed to limit it, resources which can be used elsewhere. Fact is is that global warming is a serious public health issue.
Personally, I'd much rather have $.01 of every tax dollar go to buying a goat for some poor farmer in Africa then to pay for 5 minutes of jet fuel for someone's private jet.
Personally I'd prefer the one who makes the money to be the one who decides what to do with the money they make. As long as they don't harm anyone else they should be able to do whatever they want.
FalconJust by figuring this out hasn't the DMCA now been violated and soon the people who made the discovery will be violated as well in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
The DMCA only applies to the US, it doesn't apply to those outside the US.
FalconThey may be an additional expense but unless they not properly maintained they only need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years.
It's still a great big honkin expense compared to a $20/month utility bill
My utility bill is about $25/month and I watch my energy usage. All of my light bulbs are 12 or 15 watt cfls and I try not to have anything electrical on I don't want or need. Because of this my bill is lower than others, my sister's is two to three tymes as high. But even using your $20/month, that's $240 a year or more than one battery. A typical payback period for a solar/wind energy system is about 7 years. Thereafter except for routine maintainance electricity is "free". So the initial costs are rather high but such a system is cheaper over the long run.
Admittedly it doesn't always make economic sense to install a solar system with batteries even with rebates and tax credits. Actually in many cases it's more feasible to retrofit an existing house, building, for energy conservation. Replacing energy hogs with energy efficient appliances, adding insulation or improving it may make more sense economically. Because of the initial expense of an energy system such as solar, the first thing those who do such things suggest is to reduce energy expenditures. When designing homes off the grid that is the first thing an architect should do, use passive solar design principles.
Grid connected made more sense, because with most systems you can sell power back to the utility during the day and buy it at night.
That's what's good about net metering such as in California. While the owner is at work during the day, thier solar system is producing electricity which is sold to the utility, then when they get home and use electricity, they get it from the utility. To tell the truth though, instead of net metering I prefer to see the meter dial spinning backwards. Net metering doesn't offset use kilowatt used with a kilowatt produced, you actually get less back from selling energy than you pay for energy. When the meter spins backward though it is one for one.
I usually don't count these, because they're a distortion of the marketplace. You see, if it made true economic sense, people would be rushing out to do it themselves, without needing any subsidies. Basically I'll count them in personal make/break decisions, but when I'm doing generic figuring to determine whether the system as a whole is economically viable I don't.
This is true unless you consider the subsidies the power companies get. If you want to get rid of rebates and tax credits for those who install renewable energy systems, then you want to get rid of subsides the power companies get as well. And this doesn't just mean any federal subsidies but also state and local subsidies, such as the tax breaks a state or city will give the power company to build or expand a power plant.
Still, I have some land now, it's time to look into putting up a windmill. Better ask the neighbors what they think, though.
Yeah, it's a good idea to talk to neighbers who have erected and uses a tower and wind gennie, windmill. At least get an idea of how their system is doing. Then have a site survey done on your property. If your site doesn't make a good place it's only wasting money to erect a wind gennie. The same goes with solar as well as with many other things. You wouldn't want to drill a well a thousand feet deep if you could get water easier than that. However wind gennies can give a farmer an added revenue stream. The farmer allows the power company to install wind gennies then gets royalties or a percentage on he electricity produced. The royality should more than offset the land used by the gennie.
FalconThe term "hacker" is overloaded, whether we like it or not.
True enough, actually news reporters were called hackers, er hacks. Heck though I'm not sure I thing "hacks" was used for reporters in Orson Welles' 1941 movie "Citizen Kane". I just get so pissed when I see people use "hackers" to mean criminals or those who use computer to do bad things. I grew up in the '70s and saw the homebrew computers coming out. In magazines like Byte I read about these hardware and software hackers designing new systems and programs and I wanted to be one of them. It was either Computer Engineering/Science or Marine Biology. Too late but now I sometimes think I should of went into Marine Biology instead.
FalconIt is because of illegal immigration. There were Americans willing to do those jobs, until they had to compete with some one willing to take half or less pay.
I pretty much agreed with you until I got to this, above. The only reason there are "illegal immigrants" is because congress, the opposite of progress, passed and the president signed stupid laws making immigration illegal. And it has gone on since the founding of the USA. The first instance I know of is when Benjamen Franklin wanted to bar Germans from immgrating to the USA. Then there were the Know Nothings in the 1850s who wanted to bar Irish Catholics from immigrations. The Chinese Exclusion Act, which as the name is explicit about, was about excluding Chinese and passed in 1882. Fact is is that many nationalities or ethnic groups were at one tyme or another targets of anti-immigrants activists. Now, it's aimed at Latin Americans. Such as from Mexico. Instead of jumping on Mexicans, if you really want to stop them from immigrating to the US, many of whom are Mayans and whose ancesters have been living in the Americas longer than Europeans, then what you really want to do is stop the US federal government from giving US agriculture the hugh subsidies it gives them. Because of these massive subsidies and NAFTA US agribusinesses can ship to and sale food in Mexico cheaper than Mexican farmers can grow it. Allow Mexican farmers to make a decent living on thier farms and they won't feel the need to either immigrate to the US or move to Mexican cities and thus push those already there to immigrate to the US. Now you may not be one of them but many xenophobes, those in fear of "the other", let their fear rule them and try to persuade the government to change or pass a law that supports their view without any solid data or facts supporting their position that can not be explained any other way. This also ignores the fact that about 8,000,000 ilegal aliens pay income tax and social security. In fact they pay about $50 billion, keeping SS solvent. This is because of the Immigration Reform Act of 1996, the IRS issued fake SSNs illegal aliens could use to get jobs. So while the 8 million got them and pay taxes they can never get either medicaid/medicare or Social Security income.
FalconI am SICK of the poverty pimps of America describing the "plight" of the American poor. With very little effort, and one can get a job, find a place to stay, and have a life, as evidenced by the MILLIONS of Latinos streaming across the boarder to take jobs that no American wants.
Yeah, right, it's easy for everybody to get a good paying job. NOT!!! I've worked with homeless people and though there were some who just didn't want to work, most of them worked their asses off when they could get a job.
I know, I've been "poor". I've also know what its like to have to get up off my ass and get a job, and do crappy work for a living. If one works hard, is honest and never stops learning, one can end up in IT, with a decent wage. But it does require SOME effort, and not quitting ... EVER.
And how do I know homeless work their asses off? Because like I said above I worked with them, not figuratively but literally. I was and am poor, and I worked like a lot of homeless people I met through a day labor pool. I'd get up early in the morning and head to the labor pool hall where I'd signup for work. Not all the tyme but most of the tyme I'd get sent out on a jobsite, and there always was a number of us sent out, and depending on where it was we may have it relatively easy working but more often than not we busted our asses. And though I wasn't homeless myself those who were would work as hard if not harder than many others I knew who weren't homeless and had good jobs.
However now, my situation is totally different. Though I worked through a day labor pool, I didn't work everyday, instead I worked parttime while attending college majoring in CE. That all ended when I was riding my bike after class and a moving van hit me. While I was in a coma the docs told my family it would be a miracle if lived. NOT!!! I am now a survivor of a TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury. Even if I wanted to continue with the major, I would have to repeat most of the classes I took as my memory was seriously damaged. And because it is damaged it is excedingly hard for me to remember, retain, some new subjects. For instance I started attending college again even though I wasn't sure what I would do as I no longer wanted to go into CE. I figured programming would be easy enough untilI knew what I wanted, however I realized how wrong I was when taking Java. Where I was taking Java was a 3 semester sequence, and no matter what, how many tymes I took it, I could not recall what I learned in Java I by the tyme Java II started, even with an "A" in Java I. I basically had to have a refresher. The last tyme I took Java II, the disabilities, handicapped servives office, spent several weeks looking for tutor for me before they gave up. The professer helped them and me however he couldn't find anyone himself and he wasn't always available.
Americans are a bunch of whiney wimps who would rather get rich quick, while being poor, than work hard.
It really pisses me off when I have to deal with people that have this sort of attitude. I keep wondering how they would survive if they were in my shoes, had to go through a disability like my TBI.
FalconWhat is the 4-KS-21P? It's a battery rated for extreme deep cycle operations. I used it because it didn't state '7 year lifespan'(at an unknown usage pattern), it's rated at 3,200 50% power cycles.
Ok, thanks
Oh, I'll admit that batteries have improved, it's just that they're still an additional expense over just generating the power. I've looked at the systems myself.
They may be an additional expense but unless they not properly maintained they only need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years. Being hooked up to the grid though is an ongoing expense. Also, though I didn't mention it earlier as I just now recalled, the expenses of putting in a solar or wind system can be used to offset income taxes. DSIRE has a db of the incentives each state offers. There is also a federal incentive tax credit, though I don't recall if that one has elapsed yet or when it does elapse.
FalconNor would communists ever develope them, communism does not offer much incensive for a person to create something. That's why copyrights and patents are awarded, to encourage progress by giving people an incentive to create something new, it's called the "profit motive".
FalconWouldn't it be more efficient just to provide the capital investments directly from the Government Treasury, and then use the people freed up from the dissolution of the financial industry to build the tractors and pick the crops? In other words, actually have them do real production instead of just producing a bunch of worthless paperwork?
And who's going to be the grand overseer who decides how money is going to be spent? I have hard enough tyme accepting that my tax dollars are paying for a war I never wanted to begin with, forget about it paying for someone else's pet projects. At least in a relatively free market, I know one doesn't really exist but, I have some control of how my money is spent. If I don't like what corporation X is doing I don't have to invest in it, or if I do invest then I can try to influence what it does.
FalconSomeone who exploits the tax code (for instance) is a hacker just as much as someone who exploits a vulnerability of a computer program. It's just the machine that's different.
A hacker hacks the system sure but they don't cause harm. Someone who causes harm, rips off, or steals from anyone else is a cracker, script kiddie, or plain crook but they are NOT hackers. Boy, this being slashdot I'd think people here would know what a hacker is and what the hacker ethic n. is about. It seems more and more like those who have the knowledge are allowing the mass media dictate what words mean.
FalconThe money does not go to job creators. It goes mostly to people who borrow to pay for a car, house or credit cards.
Ah but that car, house, or whatever was bought with those credit cards was made by somebody. If nobody bought them then those jobs won't exist.
FalconThere's a growing belief in this country, and it isn't new, that if you are poor you did something to deserve it.
Don't I know it. Because physically I look alright I get people who think I'm just lazy, however those who knew me before my accident remarked about how much different I became afterwards. Prior to the accident I was pretty active. I was attending college, hardly anyone from the neighberhood I grew up in attended college and many didn't even finish high school, was active in two writers groups as I wanted to write, and though my major was CE I also danced and worked in the theatre on plays. For a few years I worked fulltime in construction, I unexpectively was offered a job between semesters and I took it. I also rode my bike 100+ miles a week.
Lately I've been noticing my sister is getting the idea if your poor it's you fault too, and we grew up together. However she was able to work her way through college to get her MBA in Accounting, get her CPA, Certified Public Accountant, and now she runs her own accounting firm with some friends of hers. So while she busted her ass to get where she is I still can't understand her attitude. She knows how hard she had to work to get there.
Now, there are lots of reasons people face issues like bankruptcy, and the largest reason are medical bills.
My medical bills from the hospital after the accident was more than $120,000. Then, more than two years later I was still in therapy, it cost $100 an hour and I was in therapy 15 hours a week, $1500 a week. And the thing is is I wasn't the only one, I was with a group of several others. After a few months I had to stop as I couldn't afford it anymore. Just as well as it wasn't helping me and it seemed like a ripoff.
FalconI think that you misread me. That's the renewable energy subsidy if we gave wind power the same 'subsidies' that are 'given' to nuclear power. This system was set up by the Price-Anderson act
Thanks for the link. I didn't know the industry paid for insurance. I went ahead and both saved it to my hdd and bookmarked it.
Many people have battery banks to store the energy their solar, wind, or hybrid systems generate.
Don't get me wrong, but while people do it, it's not globally economic to do so. Most people who do these systems do so to avoid the expense of running line power to them. Meanwhile they do things like run special refridgerators and use hydrocarbon method of accomplishing tasks such as heating their home, water, and cooking. For example, solar power will make sense much more quickly in Sunny california with high electricity costs than ND with it's cheap electricity.
First, North Dakota isn't good for solar as you say but the state is a great site for Wind Gennies. As is SD and Minneasota. MN, where I live now, generates several megawatts of power by Wind Gennies. While it may be mostly those living off the grid in the US who's doing it, it's not the only place solar panels and batteries are used. The same think is done in the third world. In Africa one or more NGOs are going into small villages where they setup solar panels and battery backups to power lights, radios, refrigs, small tvs, and such. The lights allow children to read and do homework for school while it's dark. The refrigs allow medicine to be stored, and the radios and tvs keep the people informed about the world. They are also used for educational purposes. The IEEE's Spectrum had an article about how some people started a business in South Asia building solar energy systems they then sold in remote locations and other places without electricity. The business created jobs manufacturing them, it also allowed those who bought a system to improve education as well as earn more money. One example was of a person who ran a repair shop, he was able to use lights so he could work when it was dark thus he increased his income. In another Spectrum article they described how a group of EEs went into a remote village; in Cambodia, Thailand, or Veit Nam, I don't recall which, and setup a transceiver with a tower for the antenna so they could have radio communications with the outside world. Using a "home built" PC and a bike converted into a generator, the group was able to offer the village internet access as well as voice radio. If they wanted to power the system all they had to do was pedal the bike. If they had setup a solar panel the bike could of been for backup.
Fact is you only have a few years to make back the investment because the batteries degrade, eventually needing replacement.
Sure, the batteries eventually need to be replaced, however batteries today last longer than the deep cycle batteries of yesteryear, and they're cheaper. Batteries can now have 10 year warranties with 20 year life expectancies. Here's one with 7 year replacement(pdf), and 3 year prorated warranty for a total of 10 years. As for solar panels, they can be rated 20 years or more. The same with the chargers.
Ok this site has batteries inteneded for renewable resources for sale. The L-16HC seems to be the best deal, for the amp-hours. It's a 6 volt battery that has 420 amp-hours of capacity. That's 2520 watt/hours. Divided by it's cost of $288, that's $114 per kw/hour of capacity, and it's only rated for 3-6 years of 20% daily discharge.