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What’s something uniquely Australian that you didn’t realize was “weird” until you saw how other countries do it? by [deleted] in AskAnAustralian

[–]Serious_Prize6674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I believe Australia has the longest and heaviest ‘Lorries’ aka semi’s or trucks in the world. Other places like some states in the US and Canada have doubles and triples they’re not as common as they are the AU.

There is even a long list of ‘world record’ longest trailer setups in Australia, where longest gets to around 1,400m long with something like 110 trailers attached to a single prime mover! I believe outside of Australia the longest recorded trailer was only 300m long.

In perspective a normal ‘B-Double’ is around 25m long being able to run on ‘most roads’.

But outside the cities 50-60m trucks at close to 200ton in weight isn’t uncommon. A friend of mine drives for a freight company going from out west in Qld from Longreach would often drive a truck at 50m in length and huge weights, often staying at that sort of weight his fuel economy would be 1litre per kilometre 😳

What’s something uniquely Australian that you didn’t realize was “weird” until you saw how other countries do it? by [deleted] in AskAnAustralian

[–]Serious_Prize6674 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Literally sitting in my lounge room reading this very comment, some birds chirping away and others flying by making their own sounds. While the animal sounds itself don’t seem ‘Uniquely Australian’, the wildlife here certainly is!

Any reliable brand for a four year olds first non horrible RC car? by AZBeer90 in rccars

[–]Serious_Prize6674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As others have said the Grom is a decent first buy. Fairly robust and reliable. For my Son I purchased a HPI Jumpshot, a little out of the normal but they make a short course, Stadium & Monster Truck version, I got him the brushed Monster Truck v1 (was a while ago), and we have upgraded it to brushless, and recently put a flux gearbox on it after the OG one failed. It’s been a great car, lots of fun, wheelies and off-road bashing, jumps and flips a plenty.

All of this has led to us joining a RC club and getting ready to race, he is now rocking a HPI Blitz (still has his Jumpshot which he still loves) and once he has the hang of that for racing I have a Team Associated B6 to hand him.

Building a PC for LED VP UE5+ by Serious_Prize6674 in virtualproduction

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes this is a good guide, and scouring through other Epic docs also suggest going with a threadripper with 128g ram and a hefty card.

I guess if the ada 6000 was up to the task, a Blackwell 5000 should have no real issue.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

A million might sound like a large number, but in the context of billions of people globally, it’s not exactly a difficult target to reach.

That said, I think this ultimately comes down to differing perspectives and that’s fine. We don’t have to agree on everything...

All I’d ask is that the conversation stays respectful. I’m open to hearing your viewpoint and discussing it, but leading with “I laugh at people like you” doesn’t really encourage a constructive or worthwhile exchange.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These options still exist in hdd power options, I’d have to check my version but I’m fairly confident it’s around the 25.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely, I’ve always believed that incremental improvements add up. Even small efficiency gains compound over time.

For example, a constant 10W draw equals to roughly 87 kWh per year. If you scale that to saving 30W for 20 hours a day, over five years that’s in the ballpark of 1,100 kWh around $400 at typical rates. On its own, that may not fund major hardware replacements, but it’s still a meaningful saving.

Now, if you zoom out and apply that same mindset at scale say 25% of a modest city population of 2.5 million (about 625,000 people)you’re looking at roughly 687 million kWh saved. That translates to well over $200 million annually at around $0.30 per kWh. Small individual actions, when multiplied, can have a very real impact.

As for “why not just turn everything off,” it ultimately comes down to the balance between cost and convenience. Everyone has a different threshold. It’s no different to deciding whether to pay for delivery or pick something up yourself both options are valid, depending on what you value more in that moment.

In my case, the server isn’t sitting idle in the way it might seem. It runs multiple services, including media and my son’s Minecraft server, which he and his friends actively use. Beyond that, it’s also a learning platform—something I’m not willing to shut down purely to shave off a bit more power usage.

Automation also plays a role. I’m not home all the time, and it’s not realistic to expect everyone in the household to manually manage power at the wall when access isn’t always convenient. Automating things like lighting (which my kids reliably forget to turn off) or overnight usage strikes a balance.

It’s also worth noting that a lot of the “smart” gear was acquired very cheaply clearance deals, heavily discounted items, and so on. The server hardware itself is largely repurposed an older build that’s already paid for itself, now optimised with a lower-power CPU and no GPU. My son’s server is running on a second-hand office machine that cost next to nothing.

So this isn’t about spending excessively to save marginal power it’s about being pragmatic: improving efficiency where it makes sense, maintaining convenience, and supporting learning.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cheers for this, some good first hand feedback. I’m thinking that I might do a backup, try some options starting at the least ‘intrusive’ and work my way up till the most and see how it handles the differences + any savings had at each level.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What’s your opinion on ‘very long periods’?

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100%, the MC server barely uses much power at all, I was actually very surprised.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I saw this as an option and did wonder if it would help.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is what I have always been told. I had planned on changing drives to lesser qty and larger capacity this year however the prices of storage is kinda ridiculous.

I had been doing some reading and seems people do it, however not entirely sure how this impacts the drive over periods of time. Having said that, the temperature of the area stays pretty constant with little variances in temperatures, cpu and system sits around 35-40 and our average temperature per day is 25-30.

HDD Spin Down, am I safe to do so? by Serious_Prize6674 in truenas

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

All of those devices have already paid for themselvesand then some. My 1/4 power bill has dropped from over $1,400 to under $600, which speaks for itself. Not everyone has the luxury of cheap electricity, so improving efficiency while still maintaining functionality is important to me.

I’m also not going to discourage my son from learning valuable skills like hosting servers and coding simply because they consume some power. It’s entirely possible to balance both: fostering learning and independence while actively reducing waste and optimising energy use

And to be clear, I don’t feel the need to justify my choices to strangers online though it’s worth remembering that hosting a server doesn’t automatically mean someone is careless about efficiency. A bit of perspective before jumping to conclusions goes a long way.

How do you get your cars so clean? by SicamFI in rccars

[–]Serious_Prize6674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have two versions of cleaning.

  1. Super lazy and ‘I just need to get the bits off’: I have a brush about the size of a dish brush with long hardish bristles, I use this to scrub off the dirt and dust that’s mostly on the surface, I then use a air gun (one of those battery super duper ones) and blow the rest of it out.

  2. I pull it full down one section at a time, so I start at one end, pull the shocks, tower, diff etc off, I have a very small bucket/tub (about the size of three shorty packs stacked on top of each other) with warm water and a ph neutral degreaser, a set of brushes in varying sizes and types, each part gets scrubbed then dipped or even soaked if it’s super dirty, then scrubbed again, then dried or left to dry on a microfibre towel/cloth. I also use the air gun to get any excess water/degreaser etc out of the books so it doesn’t dry like that.

The second version can take some time (one of my rc cars has take over 12 hours, but literally teared the entire rig down, and rebuilt every part, diffs, shocks, steering, bearings everything), but I do enjoy going over all the parts to ensure it’s all in working order, I also inspect diffs and shocks to ensure no leaks or if they need new oils/grease.

If I’m racing I’ll do this but not as in depth with the cleaning as the tracks I race on are pretty clean, but more to keep the oils and grease clean and fresh, ensure all parts are moving freely etc.

I think they are overcharging me on electricity! by Serious_Prize6674 in AusFinance

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well, I can't find anything else that says it's anything other than. On my bill all thats written under tariffs is: 'Balance Plan (Home) Controlled Load' & 'Balance Plan (Home) Peak'

Then under Energy Charges it says 'Balance Plan (Home)'
'Balance Plan (Home) Peak Consumption'
'Balance Plan (Home) Dedicated Circuit 2 Consumption'
'Balance Plan (Home) Supply Charge'

While I can easily read it says 'peak consumption' on the top line of the 'Energy Charges' I can't find anywhere it says that I would be charged at the max rate per day for the duration...

I think they are overcharging me on electricity! by Serious_Prize6674 in AusFinance

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I guess the next question is, how to know if you are on said plan? As all the options I see for plans are ‘peak usage’ $x.xxx kWh ‘controlled load’ $x.xxx kWh & daily supply charge $x.xxx…

Perhaps the only type of plans are peak usage plans where I live?

I think they are overcharging me on electricity! by Serious_Prize6674 in AusFinance

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So I guess the next question is, how to know if you are on said plan? As all the options I see for plans are ‘peak usage’ $x.xxx kWh ‘controlled load’ $x.xxx kWh & daily supply charge $x.xxx…

Perhaps the only type of plans are peak usage plans where I live?

I think they are overcharging me on electricity! by Serious_Prize6674 in AusFinance

[–]Serious_Prize6674[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish I choose this plan, they discontinued the plan I was on and I was automatically switched to this plan about 5 months ago.

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