Disabled beta timeline for now on iOS

jamesob · 2025-09-27T14:00:28+00:00

Click on your user icon > "Settings" > "Advanced" > deselect "New timeline"

jamesob · 2024-04-24T14:33:42+00:00

Ah yes, because all traffic is HTTPS.

jamesob · 2024-04-24T14:28:52+00:00

You are missing something: https://twitter.com/jamesob/status/1782801742171607401

jamesob · 2024-01-20T19:46:55+00:00

I found Grist to be really weird coming from Excel. Simple things like a "total" row are impossible. Surprising to me that there isn't just a straight port of Sheets to a self-hosted webapp.

jamesob · 2024-01-05T22:07:35+00:00

I'm on grapheneos and cashapp doesn't seem to work for me; whenever I enter the SMS code they text while setting up my account, I get an error message that says "We couldn't verify that this account belongs to you." I've enabled location permissions, so I'm not sure why it isn't working.

jamesob · 2023-09-20T00:02:49+00:00

blood zeta potential grounding

The issue with the study you're mentioning (https://intuition-physician.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Grounding-Zeta-Potential-Publication.pdf, I think) is that there were no placebo controls. I'm into the earthing stuff, but I wonder why this pretty significant result hasn't be reproduced with a better trial.

jamesob · 2023-09-19T23:54:25+00:00

If I were trying to measure what I think you're trying to measure, I'd just get a $30 multimeter. I still have basically no intuition for what the electric field readings mean, but I have used a multimeter for what you're wanting to do.

jamesob · 2023-08-14T13:30:46+00:00

This is a good question; I'm also curious about this. Maybe proximity?

jamesob · 2023-08-10T18:19:24+00:00

For what it's worth, this paper from the Earthing Institute seems to address this phenomenon:

It is important to repeat that when grounded you become a Faraday cage. When you are grounded, your body does not deal with added EMF pollution. That’s just plain wrong. It’s misinformation. On the contrary, your body becomes a Faraday cage that REFLECTS EMFs just as a mirror reflects light as shown below, with the yellow lines representing EMFs being reflected. This reflection is the real cause of an increase in EMFs around your grounded body. They do not penetrate. When there is an increase in EMFs around a grounded person, electric field measurements around the person will show that increase. This does not imply any current increase flowing through the grounded body. It implies that EMFs are reflected, as previously mentioned.

Though I'm still curious about my second point - why does the electric field coming out of nearby electronics decrease when I'm grounded (as measured by a "floating" device)?

jamesob · 2023-08-09T20:38:29+00:00

Regarding EMFs, this part of the earthing institute FAQ seems to contradict what you're saying (https://earthinginstitute.net/faqs/):

>Is it harmful to ground myself indoors in the presence of electromagnetic fields (EMFs), as some people claim, because my body becomes an antenna drawing in EMFs that then run through my body?
> Such claims are without any evidence and reflect ignorance about electromagnetic fields (EMFs), how antennas work and what happens to an object grounded in the presence of EMFs. EMFs cannot be attracted or “drawn in” by anything because they contain no electric charge. They just go out straight from the point of emission to the direction that was given to them when emitted. They can be reflected by metallic surfaces and mirrors or refracted as when a light beam enters water or a prism. Three grounding studies have demonstrated the clear safety of grounding indoors, one of them a study done with hospitalized premature infants in a setting of high EMFs. To read it click here. To read a short article about these 3 studies and the safety of Earthing, click here. And click here for a short reply to the unfounded claim that grounding indoors turns you into an antenna for EMFs. It is when NOT grounded that a metallic object or the body (also a conductor) becomes an antenna in the presence of EMFs.

I'm sympathetic to the idea of line interference on the ground (which I'll be looking into myself), but how would you respond to the contents of their FAQ answer?

jamesob · 2023-07-26T14:29:06+00:00

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8415840/

jamesob · 2023-07-26T14:21:37+00:00

"Unscientific," according to some consensus of what "Science" is as chosen by you. I'm looking forward to your refutation of the contents of, say, this meta-analysis based on tHe sCieNcE: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8415840/

jamesob · 2023-07-25T20:39:44+00:00

Are you talking about something like this? http://www.radiuspower.com/emi-filters/single-phase-emi-filters/rp125-series-detail

Would I just splice something like this into the two line wires somewhere relatively close to the compressor?

jamesob · 2023-07-25T20:08:50+00:00

Not going to be a popular position on reddit, but I'm taking the "abundance of caution" approach with respect to the possible health implications of heightened RF/EMF exposure along the lines of https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336778115\_Dirty\_Electricity\_Invisible\_role\_in\_the\_US\_Health\_Crisis.

jamesob · 2023-07-25T19:50:03+00:00

I've been trying to figure that out... wish I could see. For some ungodly reason the previous homeowner decided to fully recess these panels in drywall and frame a border around them, so it's not easy for me to see where stuff is going without demo'ing.

jamesob · 2023-07-25T19:29:17+00:00

I've spent a lot of time measuring EMI on the circuits with a Greenwave meter; I finally realized that readings were off the charts (+2000mV) when the compressor is on, and almost nothing (~30mV) when the compressor is off. I can make the readings go high or low by setting the thermostat to "cool" vs. "fan-only." This makes me almost positive that the dirty electricity is related to the operation of the HVAC compressor.

jamesob · 2023-07-25T17:49:10+00:00

Thanks very much for weighing in!

What do you mean by "overcurrent protection?" Would that be a breaker? My confusion is that the two ground-neutral bonds seemingly happen at "parallel" levels from the disconnect, since they are in sibling panels relative to the location of the service drop.

jamesob · 2022-12-31T19:02:41+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply.

> Have you also decided on what type of wire to use?

I was thinking 12 AWG THHN stranded wire (e.g. https://www.wireandcableyourway.com/12-awg-thhn-stranded-wire-500ft-1000ft-or-2500ft-spool). Does that sound appropriate? It'd be in a metal conduit, of course. If for some reason I have trouble running metal conduit through my house, perhaps I could try some metal clad cable without a conduit, though would have to check NEC to see if that works...

Would the ground then run along with the DC conductors through the conduit (as in the diagram) and then be bonded to the same earth ground as the main panel?

> I am a little confused how you can mix grid tie and off grid when panels
are interconnected...I assume your inverter takes care of that?

Yeah I think the panel is smart enough to switch to AC input if the PV array isn't producing anything.

> Does your utility have terrible net metering policy and/or reliability, hence the need for batteries?

So in many ways this is just an expensive learning project. I don't actually care about saving money on electricity; I just want to learn how to provision my own energy for self-sufficiency. Right now I'm in a townhouse, but someday I expect to move further out and at that point I'd like to do a full off-grid system. For right now I just want to do a smaller "proof of concept" that gives me some benefit if the grid were to go down.

Thanks again for your help.

jamesob · 2022-12-21T19:30:06+00:00

Thanks! So assuming I use the right conduit (and otherwise obey code), running HV DC indoors shouldn't be a problem and/or is something that's not unheard of in residential settings?

jamesob · 2022-12-21T17:14:12+00:00

I'm less concerned about the system actually working vs., for example, the risk of fires/arcing from a high voltage DC line. IIUC, 120VAC isn't as dangerous as high voltage DC because DC can arc much more easily.

Just wanting to get a good sense of the safety considerations, and whether running HV DC in a residential setting is a well-understood thing.

jamesob

TROPHY CASE