You are outright making stuff up: there's no mention of any of your claims in the linked articles. Not only that, but your fabrications ignore that these are projects on federal waters--outside the jurisdiction of any mayors or city councils.

https://www.offshorewind.biz/2...

"The US Department of the Interior (DOI) has filed a motion in the US District Court in Maryland to remand and/or vacate its approval of the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for US Wind’s 2 GW offshore wind farm planned to be built in the federal waters off Maryland."

Sounds like that's still a couple steps ahead of this plane that's no more than VC flypaper at present. And it has the advantage of being something that can be constructed and implemented incrementally.

This long-range transport plan will require blade mfgs and the installing utilities to stake their businesses on this plane's success. That seems like a really risky proposition until this thing is proven, which makes it a chicken and egg problem with a multi-billion dollar downside.

True, but I think your phrasing misses the point: Some studios / producers seem to subscribe to the opinion that adding the 'woke' content will improve a show's appeal/value--move it from a C grade to a B+... The OP's example of this is Star Trek Discovery.

If we take the mirror image of your expression, we can say that a show/movie that isn't built on a solid story/concept to begin with will never be able to handle the additional weight of diversity-focused casting or studio mandates to add controversial thematic elements.

I would go further by saying that all externally-mandated requirements (i.e. not essential & inherent to the plot) limit the scope of possible stories and character arcs in ways that any discerning viewer can detect. Example: If the studio makes it clear that the show MUST promote strong female leads, the writers will be compelled to cast the male characters with obvious flaws (that a studio exec can't miss): angry, cowardly, impulsive, closed-minded, selfish, etc... That cheapens the whole movie, and makes any promotion of virtues fake or hollow.

Example of a movie done well that integrates 'woke' (for it's time) themes: To Kill A Mockingbird

Maybe the slashdot editors have cat-like dementia?

Your Alexa devices will all come with ads, and you will will have to pay to use your device without advertising....

I have to update Immich once in a while, but I don't have to worry about Google sifting through my photos. I have to have an extra drive dock for Plex content, but I don't have to worry about managing a dozen different video service subscriptions.

I don't think my self-hosted services are "virtuous," but I do think they represent some of the best options available, and I have the skill to take advantage of what thy offer.

And why in the world would I trust a local library to securely store my content from all the hackers and identity thieves in the world?

AI> Maybe it's lupus?...

I'm honestly very surprised that we have such a large observation project going on in spite of the myriad satellites that must be whizzing through it's view. A couple years ago, the slashdot headlines made it seem that all earth-based optical observation was going to be useless due to Starlink and other satellite constellations.

Now, granted--the 'other satellite constellations' category hasn't really materialized yet--and maybe we will see more effects as it does. But still, this give me hope that useful science can still be done from earth provided the satellite designers take efforts to minimize their solar reflections.

I seem to remember that Sweeney claimed that customers were going to save big if only Epic could be freed from the shackles of Apple's 30% transaction fee.

Instead you get charged the same, but you can get some of that back if you spend more money on the Epic platform:

So your college job as a gas station attendant gives you expert insight into electrical grid demand and EV charging?

You hypothesize 4MW for commercial vehicles, but never explain where that number comes from, nor do you account for the advantages electricity offers over petroleum products. Why are gas stations designed around the pumps currently? Because gas is toxic, dangerous, and difficult to control.

Electricity on the other hand is relatively easy to control and regulate--allowing delivery to individual parking stalls if desired. Amazon's Rivian delivery vans have 100 KWh batteries, so they can charge them using just 20KW for 5 hours, and have full battery early the next morning. Larger trucks will undoubtedly take more power, but the drivers are still required to take long breaks; so they will not be asking for a '1-hour charger' when a cheaper 8-hour charger will be less hassle and wear on the battery.

I think you also don't realize the best part of an EV is that most use cases NEVER require a visit to public commercial chargers. I haven't charged my EV at a 'gas station' for months--even though I use it heavily. Same goes for local delivery and service fleets--these can order batteries to cover their daily milage needs and charge overnight at their business.

The reality for many gas stations will not be inability to meet demand (as you imagine), but lack of demand as chargers get installed in businesses, retail parking areas, and dining locations.
 

> So, it's not about ramping up and down as most people understand the issue, it is about smoothing over the teeny tiny variations in the grid in a way that only a spinning turbine can do.

So you suggest that building a whole nuclear plant is worthwhile because it comes with some heavy turbines that can smooth the grid?

Standalone flywheels can do this better than turbines for a fraction of the cost.

For those unfortunate / foolish enough to be relying on swap...

The inevitability that 'new product' means someone still has 'old product' isn't remotely the worst issue... For better options, try:

1. They will start charging you a subscription to access Carplay Ultra.

2. They will still sell data they glean from your car and connected devices to the highest bidder.

3. These systems are all becoming virtually unrepairable/replaceable.

Stability...

Everyone knows that that a whole continent of semi-independent institutions, companies, and real goods have to be destroyed in order for the US 'dollar' to be useless.

Conversely, bitcoin requires an active internet connection with a global network just to make a single transaction. Any interruption of power, network, servers, etc makes it all disappear--for the present transaction, or possibly forever.

I believe Synology routers are made in Taiwan. And it hits a good balance of security abilities + ease of use my wife can manage.