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    Non-IT News Thread

    Water Closet
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    • coliverC
      coliver @wirestyle22
      last edited by

      @wirestyle22 said in Non-IT News Thread:

      This is so stupid

      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/climate/rooftop-solar-panels-tax-credits-utility-companies-lobbying.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

      Yep...

      JaredBuschJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JaredBuschJ
        JaredBusch @coliver
        last edited by JaredBusch

        @coliver said in Non-IT News Thread:

        @wirestyle22 said in Non-IT News Thread:

        This is so stupid

        https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/climate/rooftop-solar-panels-tax-credits-utility-companies-lobbying.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

        Yep...

        The article is stupid because it is just trying to paint the existing industry as the bad guys. I won't argue that premise, because well, it is true.

        But, this is a much more complicated thing than that.

        The thing that kept getting brought up in the article is net metering.

        Well net metering is fucking stupid at scale. Yeah it was an awesome thing when almost no one actually sold power back at any scale. But modern rooftop solar is now producing a LOT more energy.

        This is simple economics, which is just basic math.

        The companies that produce power also build and maintain the physical hardware that makes up the power grid in almost every community in the country. Side note: My hometown is one of the exceptions. The city owns and operates all the lines in town.

        When you produce enough power to get credited back more than you buy over a year, that means they are paying you so much that they have less money for line maintenance. Granted, for a single house, that is a minuscule amount. But it adds up when thousands are now dong it.

        If they worked out a better pricing plan than flat reimbursement at full rate, then this might make more sense.

        This goes right along with the article from the other day when CA had to pay AZ to take their excess electricity.

        The power grid has no elasticity or storage capacity. That is not how it works, because it made no financial sense to build that capacity, and still does not at huge scale.

        SolarCity is one of the big players trying to change that, but it is not there yet.

        scottalanmillerS NerdyDadN 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • scottalanmillerS
          scottalanmiller @JaredBusch
          last edited by

          @JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:

          Side note: My hometown is one of the exceptions. The city owns and operates all the lines in town.

          @dominica's too.

          JaredBuschJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • JaredBuschJ
            JaredBusch @scottalanmiller
            last edited by

            @scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:

            @JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:

            Side note: My hometown is one of the exceptions. The city owns and operates all the lines in town.

            @dominica's too.

            Interesting.

            The fact that city owned the poles, made it super easy for the city to roll out their own fiber service. they already had right of way for everything.

            scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • scottalanmillerS
              scottalanmiller @JaredBusch
              last edited by

              @JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:

              @scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:

              @JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:

              Side note: My hometown is one of the exceptions. The city owns and operates all the lines in town.

              @dominica's too.

              Interesting.

              The fact that city owned the poles, made it super easy for the city to roll out their own fiber service. they already had right of way for everything.

              JUst a small village, and they owned their own hydro-electric power plant. So really easy to do anything that they wanted. They have village free wifi too.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • NerdyDadN
                NerdyDad @JaredBusch
                last edited by

                @JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:

                @coliver said in Non-IT News Thread:

                @wirestyle22 said in Non-IT News Thread:

                This is so stupid

                https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/climate/rooftop-solar-panels-tax-credits-utility-companies-lobbying.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

                Yep...

                The article is stupid because it is just trying to paint the existing industry as the bad guys. I won't argue that premise, because well, it is true.

                But, this is a much more complicated thing than that.

                The thing that kept getting brought up in the article is net metering.

                Well net metering is fucking stupid at scale. Yeah it was an awesome thing when almost no one actually sold power back at any scale. But modern rooftop solar is now producing a LOT more energy.

                This is simple economics, which is just basic math.

                The companies that produce power also build and maintain the physical hardware that makes up the power grid in almost every community in the country. Side note: My hometown is one of the exceptions. The city owns and operates all the lines in town.

                When you produce enough power to get credited back more than you buy over a year, that means they are paying you so much that they have less money for line maintenance. Granted, for a single house, that is a minuscule amount. But it adds up when thousands are now dong it.

                If they worked out a better pricing plan than flat reimbursement at full rate, then this might make more sense.

                This goes right along with the article from the other day when CA had to pay AZ to take their excess electricity.

                The power grid has no elasticity or storage capacity. That is not how it works, because it made no financial sense to build that capacity, and still does not at huge scale.

                SolarCity is one of the big players trying to change that, but it is not there yet.

                For the most part, you are right. However, in Texas there are 5 main companies that operates and maintains their share of the grid. In my area, it's OnCor which maintains the lines. We pay OnCor based on kwh through our power bill by the producer that we choose.

                Some areas are still regulated in that they have no choice in who they choose because the company that operates the lines also produces the power.

                When solar comes into play, buying back really doesn't come into consideration any more as producers are not willing to buy it back from you or transmitters (OnCor) will not allow you to attach to the grid with a solar system.

                Some people, like my dad, are totally detached, produces and stores his own power. That's the true way to go, but takes lots of planning and cost.

                DashrenderD JaredBuschJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • DashrenderD
                  Dashrender @NerdyDad
                  last edited by

                  @NerdyDad said in Non-IT News Thread:

                  Some people, like my dad, are totally detached, produces and stores his own power. That's the true way to go, but takes lots of planning and cost.

                  So the question is, is the upfront cost worthwhile?

                  NerdyDadN 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • NerdyDadN
                    NerdyDad @Dashrender
                    last edited by

                    @Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:

                    @NerdyDad said in Non-IT News Thread:

                    Some people, like my dad, are totally detached, produces and stores his own power. That's the true way to go, but takes lots of planning and cost.

                    So the question is, is the upfront cost worthwhile?

                    What is the ROI of the equipment versus the longevity of the equipment? Are you going to be able to see it get paid off before having to replace it? Solar panels can last for about 10-20 years. Factor in deep cycle marine batteries, inverter, etc along with the amount of power you use versus what you would need to produce and store and what you can cut down on (led bulbs versus incandescent bulbs)

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • JaredBuschJ
                      JaredBusch @NerdyDad
                      last edited by

                      @NerdyDad said in Non-IT News Thread:

                      @JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:

                      @coliver said in Non-IT News Thread:

                      @wirestyle22 said in Non-IT News Thread:

                      This is so stupid

                      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/climate/rooftop-solar-panels-tax-credits-utility-companies-lobbying.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

                      Yep...

                      The article is stupid because it is just trying to paint the existing industry as the bad guys. I won't argue that premise, because well, it is true.

                      But, this is a much more complicated thing than that.

                      The thing that kept getting brought up in the article is net metering.

                      Well net metering is fucking stupid at scale. Yeah it was an awesome thing when almost no one actually sold power back at any scale. But modern rooftop solar is now producing a LOT more energy.

                      This is simple economics, which is just basic math.

                      The companies that produce power also build and maintain the physical hardware that makes up the power grid in almost every community in the country. Side note: My hometown is one of the exceptions. The city owns and operates all the lines in town.

                      When you produce enough power to get credited back more than you buy over a year, that means they are paying you so much that they have less money for line maintenance. Granted, for a single house, that is a minuscule amount. But it adds up when thousands are now dong it.

                      If they worked out a better pricing plan than flat reimbursement at full rate, then this might make more sense.

                      This goes right along with the article from the other day when CA had to pay AZ to take their excess electricity.

                      The power grid has no elasticity or storage capacity. That is not how it works, because it made no financial sense to build that capacity, and still does not at huge scale.

                      SolarCity is one of the big players trying to change that, but it is not there yet.

                      For the most part, you are right. However, in Texas there are 5 main companies that operates and maintains their share of the grid. In my area, it's OnCor which maintains the lines. We pay OnCor based on kwh through our power bill by the producer that we choose.

                      Some areas are still regulated in that they have no choice in who they choose because the company that operates the lines also produces the power.

                      When solar comes into play, buying back really doesn't come into consideration any more as producers are not willing to buy it back from you or transmitters (OnCor) will not allow you to attach to the grid with a solar system.

                      Some people, like my dad, are totally detached, produces and stores his own power. That's the true way to go, but takes lots of planning and cost.

                      Yes, some states never had net metering. And the article is only all about it.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • mlnewsM
                        mlnews
                        last edited by

                        https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/wait-what-trump-proposed-a-joint-cyber-security-unit-with-russia/

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • T
                          Texkonc
                          last edited by

                          Waaaaaah? I don't...oh whatever...

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • mlnewsM
                            mlnews
                            last edited by

                            https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/breaking-into-the-buran-graveyard-aging-soviet-vehicles-still-impress/

                            JaredBuschJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • JaredBuschJ
                              JaredBusch @mlnews
                              last edited by

                              @mlnews said in Non-IT News Thread:

                              https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/breaking-into-the-buran-graveyard-aging-soviet-vehicles-still-impress/

                              I swear I first saw a video like this a year ago.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • mlnewsM
                                mlnews
                                last edited by

                                Snortable chocolate and energy drink components.... more awesome products from, you guessed it, Florida.

                                https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/cocaine-on-training-wheels-snortable-chocolate-raises-eyebrows-angers-schumer/

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • JaredBuschJ
                                  JaredBusch
                                  last edited by

                                  Coffee will help you live longer.

                                  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-drinking-coffee-help-you-live-longer/

                                  mlnewsM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • mlnewsM
                                    mlnews
                                    last edited by

                                    https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/07/new-experiments-reveal-that-ai-are-still-terrible-at-naming-paint-colors/

                                    Several weeks ago, artist and coder Janelle Shane tried to train a neural network to name paint colors. The results were...not good. "Stanky Bean" was a kind of dull pink, and "Stoner Blue" was gray. Then there were the three shades of brown known as "Dope," "Burble Simp," and "Turdly."

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • mlnewsM
                                      mlnews @JaredBusch
                                      last edited by

                                      @JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:

                                      Coffee will help you live longer.

                                      http://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-drinking-coffee-help-you-live-longer/

                                      I should live forever, then.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • mlnewsM
                                        mlnews
                                        last edited by

                                        https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/11/g20_calls_for_lawful_and_nonarbitrary_access_to_available_information_to_fight_terror/

                                        From the conference:

                                        We will work with the private sector, in particular communication service providers and administrators of relevant applications, to fight exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes such as propaganda, funding and planning of terrorist acts, inciting terrorism, radicalizing and recruiting to commit acts of terrorism, while fully respecting human rights ...

                                        In line with the expectations of our peoples we also encourage collaboration with industry to provide lawful and non-arbitrary access to available information where access is necessary for the protection of national security against terrorist threats. We affirm that the rule of law applies online as well as it does offline.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • mlnewsM
                                          mlnews
                                          last edited by

                                          AT&T bypasses man's two factor authentication for PayPal even when their logs clearly show that he was being attacked all day...

                                          https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/10/att_falls_for_hacker_tricks/

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • mlnewsM
                                            mlnews
                                            last edited by

                                            Tesla 3 is out...

                                            https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/10/tesla_model_3_elon_musk_electric_car/

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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