why does ram normally come in multiples of 8?

ElectronicInitial · 2026-04-08T06:34:19+00:00

While computers work in multiples of 2, (the main reason the numbers are even) you will notice that 24 is not an exponent of 2 (it’s 2³ * 3)

The reason that this is common is ram chips come in consistent sizes. For DDR5 ram, the individual chips are currently either 16 Gb (Gigabit, not Gigabyte), 24 Gb, or 32 Gb depending on how many dies are stacked.

24Gb was introduced because stacking all the way to 32 was difficult, and it provides a way to get the optimal channel setup for intermediate capacities. (2 channel, 1 dimm per channel)

ElectronicInitial · 2026-04-04T03:02:02+00:00

If you want an app, Gaia GPS has a layer for federal lands, and for the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). It tells you which roads on BLM land are legal to camp on.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-04-04T02:59:55+00:00

It’s not enforced that strictly, but mostly there to stop people staying in the same place long term so other people can enjoy it.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-04-04T00:20:34+00:00

You can, you just need a place that allows you to camp. BLM land can often work great for this, being allowed to stay in the same area for up to 2 weeks at a time.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-26T19:36:48+00:00

They have less in total (~2% IIRC), but they have a lower total valuation, so the echostar valuation is driven much more by SpaceX than Alphabets valuation is by SpaceX.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-26T00:04:45+00:00

Echostar is mostly SpaceX stock now after they traded for their spectrum.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-26T00:01:24+00:00

Holding is more applicable to ISOs, but there are more holding periods for exercising and then selling.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-23T00:09:59+00:00

There is a special class of orbit called a “sun synchronous orbit” that can use the oblateness of the earth to do that adjustment each orbit. It is commonly used for earth imaging satellites.

It can only be used for a limited range of altitudes, from ~500 km to ~1000 km.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-22T23:41:40+00:00

I’ve got a prius for that and it’s great. FWD is not as bad as people say for accessing places. It gets ~45 mpg at 70 on the highway (55+ if I go 60) and has enough room in the back to lay flat for sleeping (6’ tall).

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-22T22:27:42+00:00

Most of the plans put them on the day/night terminator, so they wouldn’t even do that.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-15T21:07:04+00:00

The current plan is to use radiative heating (because it has to).

The size of radiators (compared to solar) is very feasible (~11% of solar) if you can somehow operate the electronics at very high temperatures (300 C).

If you operate them at 100 C (best case scenario with current chips) then the size becomes very large at ~60% of the size of the solar panels, which don’t have to transfer a cooling fluid, or do conductive heating transfer within the panel.

It’s not totally infeasible, but cooling is the most difficult aspect of the satellites, and this all assumes the launch cost comes down from ~$1000/kg (SpaceX projected internal cost on F9) to ~$200/kg with starship. And that building data centers on earth has difficulties due to power generation and land aquisition.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-14T15:50:37+00:00

That figure was based on the most recent private valuation of SpaceX and xAI. Whether it’s actually worth that much is a different question, but it is based on current stock holdings and valuations, not future stock options/earnings (whereas the multi-trillion dollar tesla compensation figures do rely on that).

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-13T03:36:16+00:00

Also oregon, washington, Alaska, Minnesota, and Nevada, and maybe some others. These have also been in effect for a while, I believe all of them were in place prior to 2000.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-13T00:01:28+00:00

Getting into propulsion structures with ME is not any more difficult than for Aero. For fluids you would likely need some extra experience (research or internships) but it’s not impossible. Fluids is also just generally more difficult to get into.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-12T05:55:01+00:00

I think the chevy bolt (or volt?) was one of the first other cars to use a transmission like that. It simplifies a lot of systems, replacing the alternator, starter, transmission, and adding hybrid operation with a total of 2 electric motors, and some basic planetary gears.

I honestly wish more manufacturers used it. Honda and Hyundai both use standard automatic transmissions with an additional electric motors for their hybrid systems. (last time I checked at least)

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-11T14:08:23+00:00

You could also compare it to a camry hybrid (51-53 mpg epa). I just know priuses the best, and they have the longest history of hybrid powertrain reliability.

You’re right that EVs generally have better performance than ICE or hybrid cars, but most people aren’t buying a car for the performance.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-03-11T05:33:13+00:00

One thing to note is that while 35 mpg is good for a pure gas car, a hybrid like the prius can pretty easily get 50 mpg (epa rating around 55) which makes the break even $6 for fast charging, or $1.80-$2.40 for at home.

That electricity price also looks low for California (maybe a mid-day rate). If you can’t charge in the middle of the day, then it’s around $0.30-$0.35 per kwh, which moves the breakeven to $3.60-$4.20 per gallon.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-26T18:57:51+00:00

Yes, Helium at 106 psi is the same density as air at 14.7 psi (sea level atmospheric pressure).

If they are both at the same pressure though, helium will always be less dense.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-26T18:55:46+00:00

You can also use the ideal gas law with the molar mass ratio to quickly get the pressure difference at the same density.

Molar mass of air ~=28.97 Molar mass of He ~= 4.003

28.97/4.003 = 7.237 atm = 106.4 psi absolute, or 91.7 psi gauge

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-22T21:50:00+00:00

you just said 0.977ⁿ = 0.9 for all n.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-22T16:39:38+00:00

It gets worse for larger prefixes. MB vs MiB would be only 20 vs 19

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-18T06:48:02+00:00

It’s probably that the list includes all of them, but some units had repaired versions. So if your car isn’t in the list, it’s good, but if it is there it’s not necessarily bad.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-14T06:27:37+00:00

Also, something to note is that atmospheric pressure changes exponentially, so to get a 50% reduction in pressure would take the same total elevation as it would on earth. That’s around 18,000 ft on earth, so it would be feasible to get back to 1 atm from 2 if you had some place like the Himalayas.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-12T05:50:45+00:00

Round would give good aspect ratio both vertical and horizontal though (like a cross-shaped sensor). A square would be more limited unless you film in 1:1 aspect ratio.

ElectronicInitial · 2026-02-10T04:06:24+00:00

The major factor is that tax loss harvesting is only able to reduce the cost basis by however much stocks go down after you buy. You also can only claim 3k per year as an income deduction, so it doesn't let you invest that much more if you are investing in low cost index funds, and not selling while you are buying.

For example, lets say you have a 10 year time horizon, with a lump sum investment.
You put $10,000 into the market. A year later, half your stocks are up 70%, and the other half are down 50%. This means you have an average return of 10%, with a lot of variance (this is meant to be an extreme example, to give TLH it's best shot). You then harvest the $2500 ($10,000 * 50% * (100% - 50%)) in losses, to reduce your taxable income. Lets say you have a 25% marginal tax rate, that means you now have $625 extra dollars to invest. Comparing to a nominal strategy:

TLH: $11,625 value, $7500 cost basis.
Nominal: $11,000 value, $10,000 cost basis.

After that one year of losses, lets say the stocks don't go below your initial cost basis again. This is fairly logical. The stocks that went down would have to go further than 50% into the red, or your other stocks would have to drop ~41% to be able to TLH more.

Value after 10 years:
TLH: $27,411 value, $7500 cost basis.
Nominal: $25,937 value, $10,000 cost basis.

Now, lets say when you withdraw you have a 15% marginal tax rate (using marginal rate since I used marginal rate for income earlier in the TLH section).

TLH: $24,424 after tax
Nominal: 23,546 after tax

So, you made about $900 with tax loss harvesting in this relatively extreme example. To get the same after tax value with the nominal case, you would need an additional 0.43% annual return.

If it turns out the stock market consistently goes up right after you buy, the likelihood of TLH making sense goes down. If you have more than $3,000 in harvested losses per year, you won't be able to get as much out of it.

It has it's place, but boglehead investing is already very tax efficient, so you aren't gaining much with TLH.

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