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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 15th, 2023

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  • I agree with all of this as an electrical engineer in the field. Base load is only base load because of the load profile of devices connected to the grid having either an on or off switch. Most of the time this means motors/HVACs, but the world of electronics is coming to that equipment just like how inverters have changed how we export solar PV and wind to the grid. VFDs, soft starters, and the like will make our industrial processes that much more efficient. We just need to spread awareness and ramp up implementation, just as much as for renewables themselves.







  • Yeah I thought OpenAI came out and said that they modeled the voice of a different actress, and they don’t want to share their identity out of a respect for privacy.

    It could just be a coincidence that Altman tweeted the image from Her, and people made the connection between the voice and ScarJo, especially since she did something extreme similar in that movie.

    Could be coincidental. Could not be. We don’t really have the evidence to say either way, but maybe ScarJo’s suit will affect change so that better rights are granted to people and their digital twins.





  • It’d be nice if we had retention elections for these judges. The executive branch nominates judges and the legislative confirms them, but I’d like to see a choice on my ballot every so many years after a judge has been installed asking whether that judge should stay in office or not.

    Funny enough, Wikipedia mentions how scholars are opposed to retention elections because the judiciary is supposed to be the most removed from public opinion and introducing that would lead to special interest groups swaying outcomes and generally breeding corruption. The squeeze is that we’re already seeing corruption in courts anyways because of the very branches that install judges in the first place. All you have to do is look at this article or the Supreme Court.

    Now the real question would be if Supreme Court justices should be up for retention. That’s a rabbit hole I’m not sure what the consequences would lead to. Seems like term limits are still appropriate.






  • Charging at home is the way to go. You may be able to refinance your home if you haven’t paid it off, and rope in upgrades for new charging circuits.

    Plus, there are programs being developed - note none have been finalized - to allow EVs to give power back to the grid and so you could one day make money back from keeping your car plugged in over night. There are already time of use rates too for many markets in the US and EU. Plus there’s peace of mind knowing that your car will always be fully topped off every morning.

    As an electrical engineer that has studied the idea of Plug-in Hybrid EVs (PHEVs) and Battery EVs (BEVs), personally I always try to persuade people to look into PHEVs for personal and societal reasons, but even if you don’t go with Tesla for your BEV purchase I think it’s still worth it to go electric. Maybe consider the Chevy Bolt EUV, Nissan Leaf, or Volkswagen ID.4. On the PHEV side, there’s the Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid and Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe. Lots of tax credits out there too for new ($7,500) and used ($4,000) so EVs are definitely still an opportunity!