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Comment Toyota still betting on Hydrogen (Score 1) 137

I actually agree with Toyota, BEV is just a "stop-gap" to Zero Emissions. They firmly believe that Hydrogen will be the way forward and are investing minimally on BEV Tech. But, the needed breakthroughs still haven't quite presented themselves (i.e. Nuclear Fusion to crack the hydrogen at a massive scale). I went with a 2nd Hybrid because the plug-ins just weren't "readily available" but for me the PHEV will be my next step in 2030 if they're easily available.. electric for the short runs, gas for the long ones. Just waiting for Toyota to release a PHEV Camry.

Comment Not sold on EV's yet (Score 1) 137

Had a Prius from 2010-2020
On Year 5 of a 2020 Camry Hybrid

Went on a camping trip and a friend drove his Tesla, had to go well out of his way to find a charging station, and it took 3x the time to get home. The charging infrastructure just isn't there yet.

I personally would not consider an electric car as a primary vehicle, but something similar to a golf cart for runs to the grocery store, school in the morning, etc.. might be acceptable if priced appropriately. Waiting to see how the Slate does.

Comment Re:No sea wall, no mortgage (Score 1) 50

Ok, just checked, Charleston has grown 15-25% per decade for the past 45 years. Wilmington, NC has had 3 25% growth decades in the past 45 years but has slowed recently. So the statement that that the cities aren't growing isn't "entirely" true. But I can also remember my grandparents being like "who would want to invest money down there" because they had a lot more "common sense" attitude. i.e. Folks had a place at the beach back then, but it was like a Cinder Block Building, or a 2nd hand mobile home a mile or so inland, with 2nd hand furniture they could just replace after they dug out the druck, not the palaces people have today. But, the area is a huge economic driver for the State, so they continue to let it grow.. the $$$'s speak. I live in South Carolina, but about 100 miles from the coast. Heh, also I-95 is maybe 10-20 miles inland, really and truely "most" of the BIG damage is just that first block or two from the Ocean,but I entirely agree that we probably should just not build/rebuild within that 2 block area of the high water mark.

Comment Re:Not surprised (Score 1) 115

Just my "I agree"... should just change the current regulation that requires them to provide landline telephone service to they must provide some minimal always on internet service like 10x1 or something with a VoIP phone for a similar fee. They may have a valid argument that mechanization has reduced the density in the countryside to where it's not feasible however.

Comment Longer Term Data (Score 1) 186

Maybe there is something out there that can give us a longer-term snapshot. I'd initially thought that may correlate well with the rise in Smartphone usage, and more 'on-demand' type entertainment. I do think that the "easy" availability of answers is not encouraging people to learn the "nuts and bolts" of why things work.
  Acquisition of that sort of knowledge and how to apply it is what I think expands "real" intelligence.

Comment On the Cusp of big innovation (Score 1) 161

My personal "Opinion" and it's just that an opinion from just watching all the headlines. I think there are a bunch of potential breakthroughs that are looking to be on the near horizon. i.e. the recent Fusion Energy Breakthrough, Converting Solar Energy to Hydrogen, better battery technology, etc. There is so much stuff that is really starting to look like it's "not that far off" anymore that the powers that be are a bit gun-shy to invest. I'd bet a lot of the power infrastructure investments are like 40-year ROI type investments with all of the above looking more and more likely... they're not sure they'd get a return if they jump with what's available now.

Comment Will Be too Expensive (Score 1) 288

I kind of expect that essentially having to put them all at carport height will make the ground mount be too expensive to be affordable. However, with the big push for Electric Cars one would think may be some extra revenue potential charging them right off the panels in the lot. So maybe they can work that all out. I'm still hoping all these Hydrogen breakthrough articles I see popping up are real.

Comment I think they should track (Score 4, Interesting) 250

Last year I absentmindedly left my GPS and Cellphone in the car (was running late to work). About an hour later I realized I didn't have my Cell on me and went out to the car to retrieve it. Lo and behold my TomTom 920T GPS, and my Motorola Q9c were both gone and the window in my car was smashed out. Rough retail value of the phone and gps together were around the $1000.00 range. The police came and took a report, I even actually still had the boxes for both units with the serial numbers. I've not heard anything since.
          What really irks me is that I know for certain that the Cell Phone should be traceable. At least the police could have called Verizon and checked to see if it showed up in any of the 50-100 pawn shops in town. We're not talking major investigate work here, we're talking about what should be a 10-20min call. I called TomTom and also asked them if they could at least make it where that unit will never get an update.. they said it was a feature that many have requested, but at this point in time they didn't offer that.
          I know that there are more important things like murders, etc.. but hey they had to take the time to take the report, could at least do a little diligence.

Image

Battlestar Galactica Hosted At the UN 252

TheDopp writes "The United Nations hosted the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica Tuesday evening in New York. Clips of the show were shown as discussion points during the event, touching on the morality of Suicide Bombers in war, Abortion and the use of torture on enemies of the state. At one point during the event an attendee mentions 'the "Old Man" launched into a passionate speech about casting off the idea of race as a cultural determinant, and said we were one race, the human race. His voice echoed throughout the chamber growing louder until — I kid you not — he was yelling, "So Say We All," and the crowd answered right back. Hell, even I yelled it, I was in the fraking United Nations with Adama, the gods themselves could not have stopped this moment.' The full video of the event is located on the UN website."
Businesses

The Last Will and Testament of Circuit City 600

Harry writes "Sunday is the final day of business for Circuit City, the once-dominant national consumer electronics chain done in by the rise of Best Buy, the crummy economy, and multiple failings of its own. I paid a final visit of respect to my local store, and found that they'd gotten rid of just about all the unopened electronics products, and were therefore selling off stuff like broken computers and the toilet-paper dispenser from the restroom. Whether or not you were ever a fan, it was a sad scene." NPR has a segment on the end of the Circuit City era as well.
Security

Flash Mob Steals $9 Million From ATMs 232

Mike writes "A global flash mob of ATM thieves netted $9 million in fraud against ATMs in 49 cities around the world. The computer system for a company called RBS WorldPay was hacked. One service of the company is the ability for employers to pay employees with the money going directly to a debit card that can be used in any ATM. The hacker was able to infiltrate the supposedly secure system and steal the information necessary to duplicate or clone people's ATM cards. Shortly after midnight Eastern Time on November 8, the FBI believes that dozens of the so-called cashers were used in a coordinated attack on ATMs around the world. Over 130 different ATMs in 49 cities worldwide were accessed in a 30-minute period on November 8. 'We've never seen one this well coordinated,' the FBI said. So far, the FBI has no suspects and has made no arrests (PDF) in this scam."

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