davek804's recent activity
-
Comment on Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2024 - Results in ~sports.motorsports
-
Comment on Negative European energy prices hit record level – Rapid rollout of solar and wind generation has outpaced ability to store power in ~enviro
davek804 Link ParentWell, search online for the concept of "peaker" power plants. They're traditionally fossil fuels like gas. You can fire them up when you need additional power and your current base load isn't...Well, search online for the concept of "peaker" power plants. They're traditionally fossil fuels like gas. You can fire them up when you need additional power and your current base load isn't covering demand.
Think about it this way, demand changes throughout the day and throughout the seasons. Perhaps everyone in a state fired up their air conditioners from noon - 4pm. All the sudden you need a lot more demand. Similarly, sometimes the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. Either reduced production of electricity or increased demand of electricity can overwhelm whatever your base load is.
Even if you generate 50% more electricity than you need during perfect renewable generation, there will always be perfect storms where renewable isn't generating perfectly and you have increased demands.
For these reasons ... we're entering into a new phase of grid generation where we don't want to burn fossil fuels as peakers. Instead, we want to release stored electricity (whether it's letting water run downhill and run a turbine or expending power from a battery).
-
Comment on Negative European energy prices hit record level – Rapid rollout of solar and wind generation has outpaced ability to store power in ~enviro
davek804 Link ParentI'm on my first full calendar year with solar (it went in last May/June). My surplus managed to survive until January. I was all proud. February got back to a bill rather than surplus. I'm sitting...I'm on my first full calendar year with solar (it went in last May/June). My surplus managed to survive until January. I was all proud. February got back to a bill rather than surplus.
I'm sitting here with hope I might make it to March with a surplus this year (considering I was generating from January - May, unlike last year) ... but the math is looking super touch-and-go.
Moving all my heating/cooling/hot water off of fossil fuel and onto electricity makes it a bit more challenging to maintain the surplus (especially with an EV in the garage ... better not go to the office too many days!) - but it's such a fun problem to have.
Of course, if my partner gets a second EV ... we'll definitely not have a surplus when March rolls around the average year.
I guess it's time for panels in the yard! :D
-
Comment on Why can't the US build ships? in ~engineering
davek804 LinkWow. What a great read. Thank you for sharing.Wow. What a great read. Thank you for sharing.
-
Comment on Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and vastly cheaper than mined diamonds. Beating nature took decades of hard graft and millions of pounds of pressure. in ~science
davek804 Link ParentI did! I spent a few hours looking at all the fun sliders on two websites. Check out "Ritani". Some of the rabbit hole I was reading yesterday:...I did! I spent a few hours looking at all the fun sliders on two websites. Check out "Ritani".
Some of the rabbit hole I was reading yesterday:
- https://www.igi.org/reports/lab-grown-diamond-report/
- https://www.ritani.com/collections/lab-grown-diamonds
It's really cool you can just buy a pre-cut one now and do whatever you want with it.
-
Comment on Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and vastly cheaper than mined diamonds. Beating nature took decades of hard graft and millions of pounds of pressure. in ~science
davek804 Link ParentI liked what the article said - that at this point the symbolism of commitment around a diamond ring is fully embedded in the culture and isn't going anywhere. Because I completely subscribe to...I liked what the article said - that at this point the symbolism of commitment around a diamond ring is fully embedded in the culture and isn't going anywhere. Because I completely subscribe to the notion of it being a bunch of capitalist bullshit from a monopoly and have done for a decade or two.
That being said, I've semi-followed the concept of lab grown diamonds over the years, passionately awaiting for my millennial cohort to destroy yet another industry with our buying preferences!
I've checked in once or so every couple years and still been saddened by the prices of lab grown diamonds that are pre-cut into shapes. Now, I get market forces. All you need to do is under-cut mined diamonds by a little bit and you can win.
It was refreshing to search online tonight after reading this historical piece about the science behind ma -made diamonds and see that it has genuinely changed finally. You can buy an unset lab grown diamond for < $200 USD. You can also buy massive carat multiple thousand dollar lab grown diamonds preset in a ring.
I've had multiple partners in my life, some that cared about a traditional engagement ring and some that haven't.
I've never ever thought, myself, that I would want or accept some nonsense about spending a fixed portion of my yearly income on a ring if I were to marry. But I've also accepted in my years that if it's important to my partner to have that symbol, that's okay. I think a lot of folks are absolutist about whether it's okay or not, and I've even been that guy.
I've also grown in my career, and I can look at the prices of some of these trinkets and not get angry. That's been a nice feeling for awhile. But I'll end with this: if a couple isn't on the same page on the financial feasibility and acceptability of something as trivial as a symbol of their commitment ... That's not a basis upon which to form a legal contract.
The marriage industry is a bunch of bullshit. I've been to enough weddings and seen enough divorces over financial irreconcilable differences that I simply grant my sympathies to anyone that experienced a divorce over such circumstances.
I strongly support that decimation of the diamond cartels in favor of lab-grown diamonds.
-
Comment on Why GitHub actually won in ~tech
davek804 Link ParentRunning a Gitlab Community instance isn't too hard. There are lots of easier products to deploy for free as well. We use Gitlab CE at work. 400+ devs on there. Corporate has a GitHub, but that's...Running a Gitlab Community instance isn't too hard. There are lots of easier products to deploy for free as well.
We use Gitlab CE at work. 400+ devs on there. Corporate has a GitHub, but that's terrible compared to running our own and not having quite as much overlordiness over us.
-
Comment on Thinking out loud: A US service to help you move to where your vote will count the most in ~talk
davek804 (edited )LinkI moved from MA to NH, primarily because I wanted more green space and a home that I could use as a foundation to chase net zero. Being a remote employee that needs not to commute helps with my...I moved from MA to NH, primarily because I wanted more green space and a home that I could use as a foundation to chase net zero. Being a remote employee that needs not to commute helps with my footprint, as does not having children.
Throughout my life I've been interested in civics. I knew moving to NH, my vote was transitioning from a solid blue state to a purple state.
I really appreciate knowing that elections are actually contested here, and I can help make a difference. That was simply not the case for either side in MA.
I'm definitely not part of the demographic of this proposed service you mention. But if it was data rich, I would certainly spend time interacting with its data / visuals!
-
Comment on My experience buying a used low-range EV a year later in ~transport
davek804 Link ParentI'm a bit scared of that device and curious how it works.I'm a bit scared of that device and curious how it works.
-
Comment on My experience buying a used low-range EV a year later in ~transport
davek804 Link ParentHa. Whoa. Tell me the idea here is you plug into two distinct 120V circuits, right? And it then does some fu to grab amperage from each circuit and combine it? I installed my own 60A breaker...Ha. Whoa. Tell me the idea here is you plug into two distinct 120V circuits, right? And it then does some fu to grab amperage from each circuit and combine it?
I installed my own 60A breaker circuit with a 240V charger on the terminal. It's hardwired so I end up with a max of 48A. That nets out to 11.x kW on my charger.
I was scared, which is the foundation of doing good and safe work. I did a lot of homework and studying. Even asked a few Stack Overflow questions. I enjoyed wiring up my car charger outlet. I am proud of it. I would encourage others to research "as if" they were willing to try doing it themselves and determine if they're willing to go for it. If one decides they're not willing, the end result of the homework is you'll sound more informed when discussing options with the professionals you ask to bid out the work.
-
Comment on Star Wars Outlaws is a crappy masterpiece in ~games
davek804 LinkThis was the biggest takeaway from the article, for me. I really wish I lived in the world where I could download the assets and world for some arbitrary game released five years ago and use it as...It has always struck me as the most horrendous waste that a game like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey can recreate ancient Greece in such wonderful detail, and then gets thrown away, that entire digital space never used again for anything else. It could be given to the world, offered as a setting for a thousand indie games, reused and recycled as such an achievement deserves. Instead, it’s there for that single game ...
This was the biggest takeaway from the article, for me. I really wish I lived in the world where I could download the assets and world for some arbitrary game released five years ago and use it as a foundation for some vision I had. Not that I have the skills to do any of that, but I imagine lots of folks out there do! And it would be really cool to see things be re-used in this manner.
-
Comment on Columbus Blue Jackets' Johnny Gaudreau killed in NJ crash involving suspected drunk driver in ~sports.hockey
davek804 Link ParentYeah, I read that post the other day and noticed this was the same user. I didn't have much to say in the previous one. But, here, in this thread, this user is now using dehumanizing language...Yeah, I read that post the other day and noticed this was the same user. I didn't have much to say in the previous one. But, here, in this thread, this user is now using dehumanizing language against other individuals. I find that inappropriate, and was compelled to speak up.
-
Comment on Columbus Blue Jackets' Johnny Gaudreau killed in NJ crash involving suspected drunk driver in ~sports.hockey
davek804 Link ParentDirect a bit more of your rage at the corporations pushing it and a bit less at the folks afflicted (often times) with SUD: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_use_disorder. I was surprised...Direct a bit more of your rage at the corporations pushing it and a bit less at the folks afflicted (often times) with SUD: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_use_disorder. I was surprised at the individual language and vitriol you used here.
-
Comment on Dawn of a new era in Search: Balancing innovation, competition, and public good in ~tech
davek804 Link ParentI've been getting on fine without Google search on my desktops or mobile phone for a number of years now. Sure, occasionally I end up on their search by happenstance. I even occasionally try a !g...I've been getting on fine without Google search on my desktops or mobile phone for a number of years now. Sure, occasionally I end up on their search by happenstance. I even occasionally try a !g in my DDG queries... Usually to disappointment.
I find it hard to buy that Google's search functionality is critical.
Their advertising stranglehold online though? That should be demolished a la Ma Bell.
-
Comment on Valve handbook for new employees — first edition in ~games
davek804 LinkThat sounds like a fascinating place to work.That sounds like a fascinating place to work.
-
Comment on Toasts are bad UX in ~design
-
Comment on Quitting my job for the way of pain in ~life
davek804 Link ParentEchoing the same. Enjoyable read. I like this person's writing.Echoing the same. Enjoyable read. I like this person's writing.
-
Comment on Are there any actual science shows still out there? in ~science
davek804 LinkPBS' Nova, and Nature are excellent programs. I also quite enjoy Secrets of the Dead by PBS, but it's a little more extravagant.PBS' Nova, and Nature are excellent programs.
I also quite enjoy Secrets of the Dead by PBS, but it's a little more extravagant.
-
Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets
davek804 Link ParentHa. Cat birthday. I'd say Cheez Wiz, but it sounds like that's just a day ending in Y. Whatever he's not allowed to do ... A little leeway and some good scritch. Tough it out lil' dude. He looks...Ha. Cat birthday. I'd say Cheez Wiz, but it sounds like that's just a day ending in Y.
Whatever he's not allowed to do ... A little leeway and some good scritch.
Tough it out lil' dude. He looks like a yowler, and I mean that nicely!
-
Comment on GitLab is reportedly up for sale in ~tech
davek804 Link ParentHa. Yeah. I agree with your points. Gitea looks interesting, but the effort involved in shifting between CI/CD implementations is annoying enough to make me not want to do it. I stood up a copy of...Ha. Yeah. I agree with your points. Gitea looks interesting, but the effort involved in shifting between CI/CD implementations is annoying enough to make me not want to do it. I stood up a copy of Gitea in my infrastructure, and I'll poke around. That being said, the migration from Jenkins to Gitlab CI/CD was a long-enough effort. I'd be sad to need to do another migration. Also that being said, though, these migrations encourage a lot of code clean up and consolidation. So, if I'm forced to do it ... there's some minor benefits. It's just an annoyance!
I look at the loss of points on both their teams' behalfs as more than enough penalty for that crash!