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Comment Re:Magas (Score 1) 107

Actually I can do better... I can describe how it feels to fill a 24-gallon SUV at $9/gallon in 2022

Except of course that the parent poster was actually talking about national average gas prices (though they were rounding up to $6 from around $5.50). I am guessing you are talking about gasoline, not diesel but, either way, the national average for those was never as high as $9 or even $8+ in 2022.

Comment AI generator actors (Score 1) 48

Trying to think of a single movie or tv show which I love so much I would be happy if they did this to make more... Nope. Can't think of any.

One thing for sure: this will result in a lot more incredibly lame plotlines like "somehow, Palpatine returned".
Sigh. Well, at least I'll save a lot of time and money not going to see movies.

Someone did an AI live action recreation of Johnny Quest, and it looks totally cool.

That's sorta' the reverse of the current article - instead of taking a no longer available actor and recreating him, they're making an actor (who never existed) from scratch to play the part of a cartoon character.

Comment Hard pass (Score 1) 48

Just saw the trailer and...

I have no idea what the movie is about, whether it looks good, or whether I want to see it.

It reads "some stories were too hidden to be found" (and wtf does that mean? And the story was too hidden to be found but you're making a movie of it?), and it's based on a real story.

And a bunch of seemingly disconnected action shots.

Hard pass. I'll stream it if the reviews are any good.

Comment Re:A good problem (Score 1) 147

Don't we need NatGas for heating and cooking (considering it's more efficient for those purposes)?

Have to comment on that. Natural Gas is by no means more efficient for either cooking or heating. I mean, let's start with heating. With a good electric heat pump in an environment like the UK, you're going to get an average COP of something like 3. So, in terms of energy in the original source compared to the amount of heat energy entering your home, you could look at that as 300%. For natural gas heating, the best you can get is about 98.5% because some heat goes out with the exhaust. Even just electric resistive heating is higher at effectively 100%.

As for cooking, the most efficient way to cook is actually usually small, well insulated electric appliances. Pressure cookers, convection ovens ("air fryers"), etc. Basically systems where the heat is generated from electricity on the inside of an enclosed vessel rather than having to make it from the outside in. One easy way to tell is if you notice your kitchen heating up significantly during cooking. If you use one of those small electric appliances you'll notice that the air in the room doesn't heat up that much because most of the heat energy is going into the food. With the gas oven or stovetop, it does tend to heat up more because a lot of the energy that you want to go into the food is going into the air instead.

On another point you brought up, on what you do with the excess power, I brought this up in more detail in another post so I'll just cover it briefly here. One thing you can do is use it to make methane/natural gas to reduce your need to get it from fossil sources. As for it being polluting, yes it is, but the primary way it is comes from the greenhouse effect of the CO2. In combined cycle plants, most other exhaust cases like nitrogen oxides are eliminated. Coal, despite scrubbing of the exhaust, releases a lot more in terms of both undesirable gases and particulates.

Comment Re:A good problem (Score 1) 147

While having power usage patterns follow generation is a good thing, it's a lot more effectively accomplished with a smart grid/smart appliances. What I don't get is, the UK still uses natural gas. The number one cost factor in the production of synthetic natural gas is the hydrogen and the number one cost factor in the production of green hydrogen is the electricity. Why aren't they using the surplus to make hydrogen which they can then use to make methane and reduce their requirement for things like LNG imports?

The actual equipment for electrolysis can take a pretty wide range of current and there isn't much of a sweet spot where gas production is greater. It's pretty much linear with the current. So, you can have an electrolysis plant that just runs part time generating hydrogen whenever there's surplus. You can store the hydrogen and use it in a methane synthesizing plant that runs pretty much continuously on the stored hydrogen. The cost of the methane from such a system might be more than fossil fuel methane technically, but only by assigning a cost to the surplus electricity that might otherwise just be wasted.

To me, this seems like a better idea. Using the surplus to offset other energy sources. Not to mention that, if you have natural gas plants for generating electricity, then it becomes an electricity storage system. The round trip efficiency isn't great. Maybe about 50%, but the storage capacity can be a lot better than batteries and longer term, so it could function as a back-tier storage system supplementing a primary storage system based on batteries.

Comment Re:He's Not Wrong. (Score 1) 235

Sounds like it's time for U.S. auto makers to figure out how Chines manufacturers are making their cars so inexpensive.

And no, it's NOT all from cheap labor. It's also from efficiency, making a fair profit rather than hand over fist, less marble and mahogany in the executive suite, and paying a reasonable amount to upper management. Also less jet setting for execs.

Do we REALLY have to repeat the '70s and '80s when the Japanese manufacturers spanked the big three?

What happened to "free trade" and "deregulate all the things!"

Comment Re:Who would guess randomly? (Score 1) 28

Codebase7 pretty much covered it. To make an analogy for my position, if I were to build a house, the jurisdiction I am in and nearly every other one would require plans on file for a number of very good reasons and it would not be allowed for me to build the house instead to secret plans that no-one knows about. Similar logic applies to bioengineered cells, especially ones that will be used medically. I could also compare to right to repair. Or to being a computer repair technician who hacks systems that are dropped off so that they can secretly get in and turn on the microphone and the camera without the light coming on. Etc.

Comment Re:Well that solves it. (Score 1) 81

Seriously, that didn't clarify whether this is satire or not. "Information decimation"?

It's pretty clear you are one who believes without truly questioning.

Odd thing to say about someone who is literally questioning you because I don't believe what you're saying can be serious.

And also:

You don't have to believe, but if you immediately dismiss, you cannot ever truly think critically about the nature of our reality.

Once again, the stunning apparent lack of self awareness screams satire.

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