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Comment Re:I installed software... (Score 4, Informative) 148

You install software X, but without asking you software X silently installs additional software Y that is not necessary for software X to function, and if you try to remove software Y it gets re-installed without asking or alerting you.

We'd call that a trojan malware in any other context.
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Comment To quote a line from the best cartoon in history (Score 1) 384

To quote a line from the OG Animaniacs, the best cartoon in history:

"Whoa. Dumber than advertised."

Isn't this guy supposed to be one of those super-respected "intellectuals?"

I think old age is getting to him.

I've had convos with some AI chat bots and all I can think is "it needs constant correction, outright makes shit up, this is really just a reflector and cross-referencer, this isn't 'smart' in any way."

Comment Re:It's not about range (Score 1) 138

> The batteries bite into freight capacity and completely fuck up the economics of trucking in America.

They kinda don't because weight limits are higher for battery electric trucks for exactly this reason, and by the time you eliminate the fuel (200lbs), engine with accessories (3000lbs) and transmission (1000lbs) and add the batteries back in (up to 10000 lbs) minus the 2000lb additional weight allowance for EVs and you're not losing much if anything.

> So the relatively small reduction in capacity from adding a battery completely blows all of the calculations out of the water and breaks the system.

It absolutely does not. While it would be ideal to do so, not that many trucks routinely operate right at their max GVW. Again, electric long distance hauling is already a thing and has been for a few years now. Clearly the industry/reality knows something you don't.

> To be honest I don't follow things closely enough

Or at all, seemingly.

You still didn't touch upon the "specialized applications" comment though. What were you referring to when you said that?
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Comment Re:Do the economics work at all? (Score 1) 138

> So besides a handful of extremely specialist scenarios electric semis or a no-go.

Define "specialist scenarios"

The majority of freight moves under 250 miles per trip. About 73% by weight according to the BTS. So longer trips by truck - over 250 miles - are the exception not the rule. So what "specialist scenarios" are you referring to, since it obviously isn't relatively short trips that are the majority of use cases?

And before you answer, be aware that all-electric long-haul semi trucks have been successfully operating in Europe for years, so any reasons you might come up with why it can't or won't work are immediately scuttled by the fact that it's already being done.
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Comment Re:Trailer with battery/solar (Score 2, Interesting) 138

> Adding more battery always adds more weight which reduces range

Adding more battery increases range, not reduces. Adding more battery increases weight, which reduces cargo capacity. That's the problem for trucks, which have a total weight limit and you want as much of that weight to be stuff you're getting paid to move.

> At some point, you are at a flat stage where more battery adds the same amount of range as it reduces.

This is literally never true in practice. To get to a point where more battery = less range, you would need to have a vehicle that is barely able to move its own weight. Even then it's questionable if you'll actually reach an inflection point.

The practical limits on battery size is cost first and foremost, and physical space after that.
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Comment Re:Invert the process (Score 1) 192

> After they practiced doing it wrong for an hour at home as their first exposure to the idea? Great plan with no drawbacks!

No, they would not be practicing anything for the first time at home. The whole point is they review the lecture/reading materials/youtube videos or whatever on their own in a way that suits them and the application of that knowledge happens in class.

> There's not one right way for students to learn, because different people learn best in different ways

Which is exactly why you let them do that, at home, and monitor their progress in the classroom and make corrections as needed.
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Comment Invert the process (Score 4, Interesting) 192

There's long been a school of thought that the homework should be the learning portion of the curriculum, and the classwork should be the practice portion. The exact opposite of how it's currently done. Students can read the assignments or learn at their own pace using whatever methods they find suits them, and then can demonstrate their understanding and practice their new knowledge under supervision of a teacher who can help them with any difficult spots and recommend tools/methods that might work better.

This also solves the "cheating" problem because you can't copy someone else's knowledge without actually learning it and an LLM can't learn it for you either.
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Comment Re:The gray/black keyboard has no numpad (Score 1) 68

I don't understand why there's not more choice in laptop options. Keyboard with/without numpad, with/without Windows or Option or AltGr key, with/without Home/End/Insert/Del/PgUp/PgDown/Arrow key. Touchpad with/without bottom buttons, top buttons or nipple. I'm typing this on a 13 year old Dell 19" with a fantastic keyboard that still runs Kubuntu perfectly. I recently bought a used laptop for a family member and I had a hard time finding one with a usable keyboard.

Comment Re:Let's heat the world! (Score 3, Informative) 37

Couple things here.

First; The amount of heat rejected to the atmosphere for all of human production would be a fraction of a fraction of a percent of what is already reaching the Earth from the sun; over 170,000 Tera-watt hours of energy in the form of sunlight per hour, which is roughly how much energy all of humanity consumes per year. All of human energy use is ~0.01% of the energy the Earth receives from the sun.

Second, we're already adding that energy to the atmosphere. How do yo think coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power work? Even solar and wind capture energy and turn it into heat. The point is to not produce CO2 in the process, because;

Third, the heat gain is more than offset by the reduction in greenhouse gasses that keep that heat from radiating back out into space, which is what causes the warming in the first place.
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