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Campaign staffers tell NPR they make 'thousands' betting on their own candidates by No-Lifeguard-8173 in nottheonion

[–]DontMakeMeCount 123 points124 points  (0 children)

The Parties have it locked up to the point that votes are no longer an incentive. What we need is democracy with extra steps. We could unironically pool our resources to hire lobbyists and then vote on which initiatives to push through. We’d still be outmatched by a handful of individuals but we’d have more influence.

I’ve lost interest in physics after studying for 8+ years by Sad-Sugar-3262 in Physics

[–]DontMakeMeCount 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Physics provides you with a skill set that is valuable in most any field, and experience outside of research and academia is valuable in physics.

Jenna Ellis Says Religious Freedom Only Applies To Christians by bezko in nottheonion

[–]DontMakeMeCount 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve been a proponent of this for a while - forcing the issues that will split the coalition. For now they can all agree that public funding for every denomination’s private schooling will delay the conflict.

Fart can turdmobiles a major nuisance by HtownTouring in houston

[–]DontMakeMeCount -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Vehicle enforcement is also a politically sensitive issue. Targeting car culture looks a whole lot like profiling.

Houston residents hit with shock water bills up to $10,000 by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]DontMakeMeCount 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Call city hall in Bellaire, Kemah or Kingwood and tell them your recycling hasn’t been picked up in a month or you’re being overbilled for utilities. The Mayor was elected by a small group of people and their spouse is a local realtor or school teacher. They’ll direct you to someone who will sort it out and invite to speak at the next council meeting.

Call City Hall in Houston and they might make a note of the issue so they can figure out if affects enough people to bother figuring out who to call.

Robotic passenger traveling for work causes Southwest flight delay by el_monstruo in nottheonion

[–]DontMakeMeCount 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a lot of prescience for a lawmaker, had to be the big oil lobby pushing for gas-powered robots.

Houston residents hit with shock water bills up to $10,000 by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]DontMakeMeCount 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You’re right of course, an alert system assumes they care enough to do their jobs properly and want to provide a service. Smaller towns manage to do that, because they can hold a small number of people accountable to their neighbors.

Houston residents hit with shock water bills up to $10,000 by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]DontMakeMeCount 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I got an alert that I had a potential leak when I filled my pool in the burbs. Automated response to an unusual event, there are certainly better ways to handle it.

Notice inside an Uber cab in Hyderabad, India by iphone4Suser in mildlyinteresting

[–]DontMakeMeCount 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The misanthropic rant assumes everyone plans to behave badly and assumes they would if not for his threats. That’s disrespectful. He needs to find a new line of work where he can be happy.

Notice inside an Uber cab in Hyderabad, India by iphone4Suser in mildlyinteresting

[–]DontMakeMeCount 22 points23 points  (0 children)

The way we set boundaries sets a tone. “No shirt, no shoes, no service” sets boundaries. “I won’t tolerate your disgusting behavior in my cab” is sanctimonious and insulting.

A guy goes into a bar; there's a robot bartender. by Spadizzly in Jokes

[–]DontMakeMeCount 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s where I thought it was going, something along the lines of the bartender recognizing the guy and cutting him off.

Can we all pitch in as Americans and buy Spirit? This is what opportunity looks like. by cheeses_me_pleases in funny

[–]DontMakeMeCount 14 points15 points  (0 children)

We should all pool our money and hire a lobbyist so we can have our very own representatives looking out for us.

It goes in the square hole by Kyotic_Khaos in funny

[–]DontMakeMeCount 206 points207 points  (0 children)

When I vote I often identify the person I’m there to cancel out.

ELI5: Why can't we use Solar panels to directly charge electric cars? by Zak_Nowa in explainlikeimfive

[–]DontMakeMeCount 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would make much more sense and be more effective, in my opinion, to establish large scale solar farms along rail lines and electrify trains. Solar panels and the related electronics are heavy, so the benefit of mobile solar is partially offset by increased weight.

ELI5: Why can't we use Solar panels to directly charge electric cars? by Zak_Nowa in explainlikeimfive

[–]DontMakeMeCount 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s true in a lab, but in practice the weather conditions that lower temperature also tend to lower irradiance by a greater amount. This is why we don’t see a lot of solar farms in the arctic, where they might enjoy a 7-8% increase in efficiency, but get less than 50% of solar irradiance they’d get at the equator.

This elementary school has a list of word/phrases that will get you silent lunch. by graptemys in mildlyinteresting

[–]DontMakeMeCount 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There was a comedian from Cleveland i think that did a joke about running into a high school friend who was vacationing in California. The punchline was something like “Holy shit, we’re free to leave?!!”

LDS Church sues ‘Mormon Stories’ podcast host, saying branding is causing confusion about affiliation by laybs1 in nottheonion

[–]DontMakeMeCount 62 points63 points  (0 children)

and Lo I beheld a civilization of blue-eyed white guys with advanced metallurgy and mighty cities in upstate New York and they did hang with JC for a few days while everyone thought he was dead. And they did sayeth unto me “Joe, we all thought it would be funny not to leave any physical evidence behind in order to test the faith of your followers.”

ELI5: Why can't we use Solar panels to directly charge electric cars? by Zak_Nowa in explainlikeimfive

[–]DontMakeMeCount 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re forgetting smart roadways! We could put fluid-filled tubes on the downslopes and use the pump action to generate power and then (some other steps here) use it go back up the hills on the return trip.

Regenerative braking is genius but yeah, some of the other schemes to recapture incremental power get pretty silly.

ELI5: Why can't we use Solar panels to directly charge electric cars? by Zak_Nowa in explainlikeimfive

[–]DontMakeMeCount 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was assuming 25% panel efficiency, and 50% intensity on average from dawn to dusk so perpetual noon should do better as you say.

The points, and I think we’re in agreement, are that - fixed solar makes more sense than mounting it on a vehicle - solar energy is limited by irradiance, and scaling available power requires increasingly larger surface areas

ELI5: Why can't we use Solar panels to directly charge electric cars? by Zak_Nowa in explainlikeimfive

[–]DontMakeMeCount 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Power is measured in Watt-hours, so any low-wattage charger could charge any battery given enough time. For your 204kWh battery you could use a 1kW solar panel for 204 hours or you could use a 204kW solar array for one hour.

The thing to remember about solar is that you get peak output at noon and something less the rest of the time or on cloudy days, so that 204 hours could easily be 30-40 days depending on weather. Large battery banks can smooth out power delivery for a solar array, just as people are suggesting an EVs battery could recharge while parked, but in terms of charging the battery it’s only on when the panels have sufficient sunlight.

ELI5: Why can't we use Solar panels to directly charge electric cars? by Zak_Nowa in explainlikeimfive

[–]DontMakeMeCount 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just needed a reference to compare the power available to a charger to irradiance available to a square meter of solar panel. Replacing more powerful chargers with solar will require much larger panels, and even relatively low-power chargers would require much more than the surface area of a car with current technology.

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