Excellent!

It’s definitely weird how they phrase stuff.

Thatâ(TM)s true.

In my case, my iPhone 13 doesnâ(TM)t support Appleâ(TM)s satellite service, so I donâ(TM)t have many options.

My understanding is that Appleâ(TM)s satellite service requires the user to explicitly connect and that oneâ(TM)s contacts trying to contact the Apple satellite user need to perform some extra steps to ensure the message is sent over satellite to the satellite user. It also doesnâ(TM)t support checking the weather (though this is apparently coming in a new iOS 26 point release).

T-Satellite is connects automatically and doesnâ(TM)t require oneâ(TM)s contacts to perform any additional steps. It also allows one to get weather.

With the paid service at least, customers also get 50GB of terrestrial T-Mobile data service on their 5G UC network. I find that handy when my main carrier (Verizon) has congestion or a lack of signal in a certain area.

In my case, with my doing hiking and stuff with the scouts, the $10/month is not unreasonable for the benefit I get from it. I do wish they let you suspend service during months you donâ(TM)t need all of it but would like the 911 service. Your mileage may vary. If I get a newer phone that supports their satellite service, I may reconsider, especially if Apple starts supporting more data services.

I look at phone-based satellite connections as a âoecasual hikerâ(TM)s substitute for an inReachâ, or for those who have travel in remote areas and might need to call for help.

At this point in time, the answer is “no” to all.

Apologies if I was unclear. Allow me to try to clarify:

- iPhone 14 and newer devices have their own built-in satellite hardware that can connect to Apple’s free satellite service, which uses Globalstar satellites.
- Older devices like the iPhone 13 and earlier do not have satellite hardware and cannot use the Apple satellite service.

T-Mobile’s T-Satellite satellite service does not require a phone to have built-in satellite hardware. It uses regular LTE signals. In principle, any LTE device could work with T-Satellite, but in practice they will only activate service for devices which have been tested and approved to work with it. This list includes a moderate number of iPhones and devices from other manufacturers, including both new ones with satellite hardware (which, again, is irrelevant to T-Satellite) and older ones without it (like the iPhone 13).

T-Satellite’s paid service is available to any device approved by T-Mobile to use it, including both new iPhones and older ones.

T-Mobile’s just-released free text-911-by-satellite service is available for a more limited set of devices that (1) are approved by T-Mobile for their T-Satellite service AND (2) do not already have their own satellite service.

Thus, while an iPhone 13 and 14 can both use the paid T-Satellite service, only the 13 can use the free T-Satellite text-911-by-satellite service since it cannot use Apple’s satellite service.

It’s worth mentioning that both the paid and free T-Satellite services are only available when no other terrestrial signals are available. The presence of service from another terrestrial network that would cause the phone to go into “SOS” mode is enough to have the phone not connect to the T-Satellite.

Hopefully this makes more sense.

Youâ(TM)ll note that their free 911-by-satellite service is only available for supported devices that donâ(TM)t already have their own satellite support (so no iPhone 14s or newer).

I have an iPhone 13 which is supported by T-Satellite, but doesnâ(TM)t have the hardware needed for Appleâ(TM)s satellite service. The T-Satellite service is, in essence, LTE towers in space that piggyback on Starlink satellites, so essentially any phone with LTE service could work with it without needing any special hardware or upgrades. In practice, T-Mobile has a fairly large list of devices that are tested and approved for the service.

The paid T-Satellite service provides many useful features that the free Apple service does not, including certain approved apps like Google/Apple Maps, WhatsApp, AllTrails, and a few other outdoor activity-related apps. It also connects automatically when out of terrestrial cell range, and recipients donâ(TM)t need to do anything special to send messages to you.

My kids are in the scouts and weâ(TM)re often going hiking or camping in areas without cell service (even if theyâ(TM)re not particularly remote, but the landscape blocks phone service). Being able to send messages is handy in non-emergency situations (such as if weâ(TM)re running late but otherwise ok), and keeps the troopâ(TM)s at-home point of contact in the loop.

The ability to summon emergency assistance is also very handy, especially for casual outdoorspeople like scouting parents who might be deterred by the upfront cost and ongoing fees (however modest) for a dedicated piece of hardware like a Garmin inReach device.

In short: the benefits of the paid T-Satellite service are nice if you find yourself out of cell service a few times a month, but the free satellite 911 service for supported devices is a no-brainer.

[citation needed]

[citation needed]

One of the reasons HVDC is becoming more popular for power transmission is due to it not having to deal with the skin effect.

That's...not how the skin effect works. The skin effect definitely depends on frequency. Please see the link I referenced earlier.

It sounds like you're referring to some other concept. Could you please provide some sort of link or citation explaining it, because it's definitely not the skin effect.

Interesting. I'd be very curious to see any literature describing this effect. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disagreeing -- I'm aware that the resistance of many metals used in wires increases with temperature, and the center of a conductor would have a higher temperature than the outside surface of the conductor, so that checks out theoretically -- I've just never heard of it being a significant concern for high-current DC in regards to conductor design and that sounds interesting.

Could you please provide a citation describing that effect?

You're thinking of the skin effect applies to conductors carrying high-frequency (not high-voltage) electricity.

DC circuits of whatever voltage are unaffected by the skin effect, and EV fast charging is essentially exclusively DC.

I also really like that one can add a "recovery record" (error detection/correction data to correct for bitrot or other errors) during archive creation and that record is integrated into the single archive file. While other options exist (e.g. using PAR2 files that are separate from the archive), I find them a bit clunky. Having everything in a single archive managed by a single program is nice.

Also, I've used WinRAR for decades and the user interface is familiar to me. That's a big factor.

I like the fact that it has built-in error-detection and correction. Sure, I could get the same result with a zip or 7-zip file and MultiPAR, but itâ(TM)s a lot more streamlined with WinRAR.

The Tesla virtual power plant (an aggregation of all participating Powerwalls) was producing about 20-25 MW from a few thousand installations.

Source: mine was one of them and they reported the stats for both ones individual installation and for the system as a whole.

For what it's worth, I moved off of my grandfathered free Google "Workspace" account several years ago and switched the mail/calendar/contacts service to Fastmail. It took a few weeks for the spam filter to get trained properly to my incoming mail, but since then it's been damn near perfect. No complaints at all from that front. I've been very satisfied with the mail service, price, and the clueful employees they have.

Exactly correct. Itâ(TM)s the GPS rollover + a manufacturer specific offset.

There was some concern a few years ago when some GPS-disciplined oscillators used as time and frequency standards in common use among the âoetime nutâ community were coming up on their specific rollover. The devices were obsolete and no new firmware was available, but the community updated the various software that processes data from the devices in time and all was well.

It seems things were handled less well by Honda.

Invalid, or simply containing information that most QR code readers cannot read?

My understanding is that it contains binary, digitally-signed information that can prove to certain compliant QR code readers that the information is authentic and unmodified. Such scanners would presumably be used at public fora like stadiums, airports, etc.