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Comment Re:i don't understand (Score 3, Insightful) 564

What is happening now with gay rights is what happened with racism in the 60's.

That's utter bullshit. I'm sure blacks in the south would have loved if the only problem they had in the world was not being able to get the tax breaks and entitlements that come from a state recognized marriage.

Is that was passes for oppression, these days? I'm inclined to go lynch 10,000 homosexuals, just so people would get to see what real discrimination looks like...

Such a first-world problem, that a group not getting the tax-breaks and incentives (that were always meant as incentives for child-bearing families) passes for discrimination these days.

Comment Re:Misleading title... (Score 2) 641

"I'm not accepting any patches until you fix your bugs" is hardly suspending someone,

Only because that's an inaccurate misquote. Let's try the real thing:

"I will *not* be merging any code from Kay into the kernel until this constant pattern is fixed. This has been going on for *years*, and doesn't seem to be getting any better."

That's not a "fix this bug first" message... That's a much more general and sweeping "you suck, so you're fired," message.

Of course both Kay and Linus reserve the right to change their minds and play nice together in the near future, but that doesn't sound likely.

Comment Re:Timers and motion sensors (Score 1) 176

Even with LED bulbs being relatively efficient I see no point in leaving them turned on unnecessarily.

No reason for it, but there's the question of the cost of devices to automatically shut them off...

For your pantry/storage closet, I'd probably use an old $1 refrigerator door switch, or maybe a magnetic alarm switch like so:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GU...

Comment Re:Timers and motion sensors (Score 1) 176

I put a timer switch on a closet light my wife and I tend to forget to turn off. Automatically shuts off after 5 minutes as it is just a pantry/storage closet. I've got another spot with motion sensors. I have to turn the lights on but then a motion sensor turns them off if there is no motion in the room for X number of minutes. Good for locations like kitchens.

I hope those devices were cheap. With the efficiency (and low cost) of LEDs, it might take YEARS of energy usage to pay off those (also reasonably inexpensive) timers and motion sensors:

http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

Comment Re:why is there no subject? (Score 1) 176

They said CFL would last 7 years. Good luck having one last more than 2 years if it's used regularly. I replace my outside CFLs yearly.

CFLs are terrible for outdoor (cold location) use, and they're lousy anywhere they'll be turned on/off frequently. CFLs also have issues with failure if not mounted in the proper orientation they were designed for, or used in small fixtures that get hot.

LEDs have no such problems, and furthermore, the $10 Cree 60W equivalents come with a 10-year warranty from the manufacturer.

Comment Re:Voltage != Power (Score 1) 208

5v is so your keyboard doesn't need a voltage regulator [...] 100mA at 20v to 3.3v inside a keyboard? A nice 1.7 watts of heat converting your keyboard to a gentle hand warmer.

You might have noticed that USB has more than two wires... It would be absolutely trivial to add one more pin that outputs 12V.

Higher voltages, like 20V, would be trickier, because computer PSUs are standardized on providing lots of amps on the 5V and 12V rails, and only very, very little at other voltages. PSUs do 24VDC, but you can't draw more than a quarter amp before something pops.

http://cdn.pcper.com/files/ima...

Comment Re:..and we need this technology why exactly? (Score 1) 176

Ok then. Lets not start looking for long term solutions.

Buying expensive bulbs isn't a long-term solution... It's just an irrational delusion. Furthermore, you've failed to explain why your ridiculously expensive choice of high-tech bulbs is any better than the cheaper and low-tech options of timers and motion-sensors...

Your thinking will change when you start paying 50 cents per KW.

No, my thinking won't change one bit... In the future, like now, I'll be comparing the up-front cost of the device, against the ongoing cost of electricity, and I won't waste my money on options which cost more than they save.

But more importantly, I'll have far more money to spend on whatever option is practical, because I'll be earning interest on the thousands of dollars I didn't spend on WiFi bulbs, which didn't offer any savings over $4 LEDs, anyhow.

You also didn't consider the high cost of these LED bulbs.

Of course I did... What the hell were you reading? I linked to a generic $3.40 LED bulb on Amazon, and the calculations I made for energy usage were for a $10 Cree 60W LED equivalent.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cre...

The cost of replacement should also be added to the equation as these bulbs do not last as long as their claims.

1) You're thinking of CFLs, not LEDs. LEDs will last an extremely long time.
2) LEDs can handle being cycled on/off many, many times more than any other type of light.
3) The $10 Cree 60watt equivalents, which I ran the numbers for, come with a 10-year warranty from the manufacturer.

I consider myself lucky when a CFL lasts more than 2 years (And yes, I take proper precautions when installing them).

You're buying cheap crap CFLs, most likely from Walmart. I've got a set of 9W Ecosmart (Home Depot) CFLs I've been taking with me from apartment to apartment, for just shy of a decade now. Not ONE of them has burnt out yet.

I finally gave them away to family members when I found dirt-cheap LEDs, which use 50% less power than CFLs, and so will pay for themselves within a couple years. Not to mention that they work great in refrigerators, and unconditioned spaces like outdoor lights, where CFLs just don't work right.

This kind of thinking is the same thinking car companies and consumers had in the 70s. Ahh, gas is cheap, who cares about using less.

There's no comparison. If car buyers in the 70s were comparing the up-front cost of a more efficient car, against the gasoline savings, then you'd have a point. In reality, the more efficient cars were CHEAPER, but simply not fashionable. That's a lot like your position... You want fancy, high-tech blinking lights, and really aren't concerned with how much they cost, or how you can best save energy.

Instead, my position is vastly more like someone, today, deciding whether or not a hybrid car is actually a good purchase, based on fuel savings, versus extra up-front cost.

Fact is that there is no harm in developing home automation systems like this as they serve multiple purposes outside just saving energy.

The harm is wasting money that could be put to better use.

And I fail to see why home "automation" is even desirable for saving energy. Motion sensors are far and away the better method, which will automatically save MORE energy, while being cheaper up-front. Notice that offices (which may otherwise have LOTS of building automation, already) use them, and not WiFi-controlled bulbs.

Instead, you WANT high-tech lights, because you think they are fashionable, and are only using energy efficiency as a smokescreen to justify wasting all that money.

Comment Re:Key Feature... (Score 1) 176

In the morning everyone gets up early. If you stayed up late reading or something you still get up early in the morning

Teenagers are biologically wired to stay up late and sleep-in late. Forcing them to wake-up very early is tantamount to forcing everyone else to switch to 3rd shift, waking everyone up at 10pm, no matter how much sleep they did or didn't get.

Comment Re:..and we need this technology why exactly? (Score 1) 176

The major advantage I see of having lighting controlled is to allow automatic management of such. Does a bare bone interface to turn on individual lights make sense? IMHO, NO. But with the right software and hardware managing lighting and other devices in a home is an essential step to reduce the bill.

That's nonsense... Motion-sensors and power-on timers have been around for a long time, they cost far, FAR less than these expensive bulbs, they don't need a computer program written and running around the clock, and they don't need to be replaced when the bulb eventually burns out.

What's more... LED bulbs are so power-frugal, that you'd literally have to accidentally leave a light turned-on for YEARS to pay off the up-front purchase cost of smarter equipment.

Back of the envelope figures for a 60-watt equivalent LED:

9.5watts * 24hrs * 365days / 1,000 * $0.11 = $9.15 per YEAR of power-on time.

That's right, with an LED in your porch light, it'll take YEARS to pay off the cost of a dusk-to-dawn sensor, versus just leaving it turned-on around-the-clock.

A motion-sensor is still a good investment in big rooms, where you're going to wire multiple bulbs to one sensor...

But for closets, bed rooms, bathrooms, dens, attics, etc.? You're better off just spending $3.40 up-front for a 30watt equivalent LED, and not bothering with anything more advanced than a light switch for it:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AN...

Comment The cure could be a nightmare... (Score 1) 101

People seem to completely miss the key part of this experiment... The energy has to go somewhere:

As you can see, in the region where bores were drilled, wave strength dropped immensely. Near the source, the strength increased, as waves were reflected backwards.

Just think of it... Those with the most money to spend, get to be earthquake-free, but everyone else gets their earthquake intensity INCREASED, perhaps DOUBLED.

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