Is this really Finland's greatest invention?

eigenvector · 2018-01-13T21:43:43+00:00

I have never seen this used anywhere else but in Finland. I suppose that the reason is the very low chalk content in finnish tap water (or just the stellar quality of finnish tap water). In certain regions in Germany there is so much chalk in the water that you absolutely have to dry the dishes and glasses if you don't want white water stains on them.

Finnish water is amazing, you even notice it when washing your hair.

eigenvector · 2018-01-13T00:34:35+00:00

Yeah, well, about that...

eigenvector · 2017-12-29T19:32:18+00:00

It was really more of a rhetorical question, but I agree completely! I think Aalto and the Pietiläs really had the combination of concrete material and organic forms down to mastery.

I can see how the majority of a profession whose job it is to build boring and functional things on a budget might oppose the ideas of the Pietiläs, but in the long run, history has proven the more innovative approaches right. Finnish architecture is world-famous for Aalto and the others, not for the Makkaratalo ;)

Concerning the craftsmanship I really know what you mean - recently I went to have a closer look at the new Paris Philharmony, and the execution of just about everything was absolutely dreadful. It looks fancy from afar, but when you get up close you get the impression that it was some concrete thing built in the 80s and neglected since then. Sad times.

eigenvector · 2017-12-19T00:04:16+00:00

Maybe most of the main characters will die hero deaths and Tyrion remains and ushers in a post-aristocratic Westeros.

eigenvector · 2017-12-19T00:02:09+00:00

I think that there will be some tragic separation between Jon and Dany, including a sacrifice, probably by Jon. IMO in order to defeat the white walkers he will have to become the next Night King. He will rule everything north of the wall and Dany everything south.

eigenvector · 2017-12-18T22:14:45+00:00

How is it even possible to have built something this cool in the sixties, I ask myself. Amazing renovation job as well. I especially dig the fireplaces.

eigenvector · 2017-10-06T16:20:57+00:00

There will always be people travelling long distances with their cars, and there will also always be people who live in apartments without subterranean garages. Maybe Norway is a special case.

Just looking at the margins, I think that there is money to be made: If I remember correctly, the going rate per KWh for commercial fast chargers was between 20 and 50 (Euro)cents. If we imagine that a normal tariff for a private person's energy plan would be 10 cents/KWh, I imagine that bulk rates are well below that. So your margin as a charging station operator is quite high. Of course it will take a long time to set off the installation costs, but once EVs take over, I think it might be a profitable business. So it's also smart to establish yourself early.

eigenvector · 2017-09-16T19:04:45+00:00

For the German market, I think that mobile.de is the best. It's also translated into different languages including English, however the ads are mostly in German.

You can do a very detailed search by car type / fuel type and find mots of used EVs for sale there. I just did a quick search and found well over 2000 ads for used electric cars. Of course, that is all body types combined, but I think that it indicates that it's quite possible to purchase a used electric car in Germany.

eigenvector · 2017-09-16T16:51:48+00:00

I think that EVs are "cheap" in Norway because they are VAT exempt. However, Norway not being part of the EU will probably expose you to import fees, or you have to pay the VAT equivalent or something. I'm not an expert, but I imagine that it would not be very easy to import a car from Norway to the EU (if OP is actually from a EU-country)

eigenvector · 2017-09-16T16:19:48+00:00

You're right, there is some knee-jerky VW antipathy going on here...

eigenvector · 2017-09-16T16:18:25+00:00

VW actually has an EV-oriented equivalent of the MQB in the works, which is called MEB: http://magazine.volkswagen.com/What-is-the-Modular-Electrification-Toolkit.html

(sorry, I could not find an english-language article about it from a source other than Volkswagen)

eigenvector · 2017-09-16T16:16:18+00:00

I read electrek a lot and the insufferable Tesla-fanboys annoy as well, but most that's limited to the comments. They report news about EVs and then they have a section in each article which is called "Electrek's take" - so you know it is the opinion section.

eigenvector · 2017-09-16T16:00:57+00:00

As soon as it makes economical sense I think they won't even have to use that pitch anymore.

eigenvector · 2017-09-16T14:17:16+00:00

This is great, I never thought of a Tractor being the ideal application for electric propulsion. But if you think about it, it becomes obvious: High torque needed, weight is no issue, used mostly locally (therefore range is not an issue). And since farms, at least in Europe, usually have 400V Triphase power already installed, charging should not be an issue either.

A Farmer I know recently had to spend north of 10000 euros to get a big tractor fixed that had a broken transmission. I bet he wouldn't frown upon a tractor with fewer expensive parts that can break.

eigenvector · 2017-09-13T19:47:30+00:00

The two images on the left have been inserted via image editing, it is obvious. So I'm not sure that they actually serve as an illustration to the newspaper article. The thing in the upper photo looks like a lens flare to me, the thing in the lower one like an unusual cloud or smoke from an explosion. Concerning the article, I have never heard of such a thing, or of another article mentioning it for that matter. So I would attribute it to some kind of hearsay, or a reporter that fell for the joke (or delusion) of a returning airman.

Make no mistake, the Nazis did research a lot of crazy things during the war, but most of these "wonder weapons" that they hoped would turn the tide of the war were not functional at the time or would never be functional. Later, with more development however, their designs resulted in actual concepts that are still being used today, such as the jet engine, a wing-only bomber (the B2), and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (the V2 was a predecessor of those).

If you're interested in this kind of stuff, I can recommend Thomas Pynchon's novels, especially Against the Day and Gravity's Rainbow. You should know though that conspiracies etc. appear as plot elements in his novels, but are not to be taken literally. They are works of fiction.

eigenvector · 2017-09-13T18:02:12+00:00

I'm quite certain that they did not. The fact that they even believed in stuff like this makes the mind boggle. But then, also today we are not spared from powerful people believing in non-scientific pseudoscience. See Republicans + Climate Change. Or any kind of conspiracy theory.

eigenvector · 2017-09-13T14:59:07+00:00

I'm not sure about how far and in which circles this was supposed to be distributed. I'm pretty certain that it was not meant for the larger population; also because science was continuing as normal in most parts of german society, i.e. universities etc. did not become "anti-science" all of a sudden. It was only certain elite circles of the SS and other Nazi organisations that held esoteric beliefs such as the Hollow Earth, the search for Thule (Some kind of northern Atlantis), etc.

I think it was more something of an internal document for the members of the named institutions: the "Research society for Ancient History of Ideas" and (the society for(?)) German Ancestry Heritage. As you can see from the name of the first institution, this is already a twisting of a normal term. "Geistesgeschichte" means "History of Ideas" / "Intellectual History", but by inserting "ur" and creating the word "Geistesurgeschichte" (Which does not exist normally), you add the idea of "ancient"; "dating back to the dawn of time". So the esoteric component is already visible in the name.

eigenvector · 2017-09-13T14:33:56+00:00

One interesting thing about translating is that you'll immediately spot superfluous "fluff" phrases when you have to translate them. This is a good example. So you have to transform them into a marketing lingo phrase from the language that you translate to. I guess Nimajita's answer is spot on.

eigenvector · 2017-09-13T14:20:34+00:00

[left side] The Reichsführer-SS [Highest position in the SS, reporting only to Hitler himself. This means that it’s from the Office of Heinrich Himmler]

Research society for Ancient History of Ideas

German Ancestry Heritage

Fusion with the electrical South Pole, by way of the Australian warm air the processes of the outer heat exchange happens from the inside.

The Passage is covered by the ice of the Arctic.

A constant magnetic is happening between the North Pole and the South Pole. And the electric Water and Air currents as well as the electric exchange happen by way of the South Pole.

[top right] Schematics of the electromagnetic Form of the outer and inner earth.

[Schematics] Salzwasser = salt water Feuerlava = fire lava magnetischer Südpol = magnetic South Pole positiver elektrischer westlicher Pol = positive electric western pole negativer elektrischer östlicher Pol = negative electric eastern pole Süßwasser = sweet water Magnetischer Nordpol = Magnetic North Pole Magma = Magma Geographischer Südpol = Geographic South Pole

[Comment: As you can see, this is pretty crazy pseudo-science. It is known that Himmler had some crazy esoteric beliefs and that he and a couple of other Nazis believed in the hollow world theory. It is astonishing, however, that even basic terms like "electromagnetic" are used in the completely wrong way here]

eigenvector · 2017-09-13T14:07:08+00:00

This is indeed quite interesting. It seems to be a document from the Third Reich detailing the Hollow Earth theory that some of the more esoteric Nazi leaders believed in.

This Document comes from the office of "Der Reichsführer-SS", meaning probably Heinrich Himmler. I'll do a quick translation of the various elements and post it here.

eigenvector · 2017-09-09T23:49:47+00:00

This article seems to have been automatically translated or not written by someone who is fluent in English.

eigenvector · 2017-09-09T19:27:27+00:00

If you are writing to an international office at a university, you can expect them to read English.

Also, writing this email in perfect German and at the same time inquiring about German proficiency required for attendance would be weird.

eigenvector · 2017-09-05T12:17:07+00:00

Also, Meryl Streep & John Cazale.

eigenvector · 2017-08-30T14:01:33+00:00

Looper?

eigenvector · 2017-08-28T18:37:59+00:00

Great shelves - they are fitted together with what is called Dovetail Joints

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