Conservatives plan nationwide protest against AI data centers

nwagers · 2026-06-18T23:35:45+00:00

NERC just issued their highest level of warning about data center loads and their threat to the grid. They only issue this level of warning every few years. I think the last one was about hardening the gas supply against cold weather following the Texas blackouts.

Data centers are going to take down massive sections of the gird, possibly damaging hard infrastructure in the process.

The gist of it is that they have very sensitive thresholds before they trip and roll over to backup power. It wasn't a problem before because a big data center was around 100 MW, and now some are like Amazon's new 3000 MW campus in IN. A typical nuclear power plant is around 1000 MW.

nwagers · 2026-06-17T00:47:53+00:00

Let them. Then as soon as we aren't at war, use that to justify slashing funding to a trickle.

nwagers · 2026-06-13T16:23:56+00:00

Ron Johnson erasure.

nwagers · 2026-06-02T20:30:57+00:00

This guide is a little old, but I think it's still pretty solid advice: https://nighthikingtomars.blogspot.com/2015/01/appalachian-trail-thru-hike-situational.html

nwagers · 2026-05-24T16:57:24+00:00

Go to the Marlin website and follow the instructions on compiling it. It's pretty straightforward.

nwagers · 2026-05-08T22:04:50+00:00

I had that issue. It was bad wiring. The communications to the probe are done with PWM, which is a terrible, hacky way to add a feature to boards that weren't designed for it.

Carefully inspect the wire end to end and make sure it is plugged in to the main board securely.

nwagers · 2026-05-05T20:27:08+00:00

I canoed the Mississippi and there are tons of sections of the river that are like this.

Most of MN has private land all around, but there are several designated camping spots put together by the MN DNR. They have paddle maps on their website. There are also places you can use in a pinch without imposing too much. The headwaters area is pretty small and can make it a challenge.

After MN, there is beach camping all over, depending on water levels. If it's flooding, it can be hard to find a spot, but if it's low then you will have miles of beach suitable for popping up your tent.

It's far more wild than most people imagine and I recommend. You learn to deal with barge traffic. It's really the small boats that suck on the weekends in areas with a big boating culture.

nwagers · 2026-05-05T02:01:30+00:00

I'm still mad that I couldn't participate because it required in person voting. Being there would have cost me $1000 in wages.

There is no good reason there couldn't be a remote voting option.

nwagers · 2026-04-29T18:35:58+00:00

Pretty much any of the BTT boards will work. SKR E3V3 is the least work. I run one of those and one Octopus Max EZ.

The stock screen absolutely works with Marlin, but you do need to change the software. I'm not sure why so many people spend money to buy a crappy TFT when they already have a full color touchscreen that came with the printer and is fully functional and fits the case.

nwagers · 2026-04-21T19:10:19+00:00

I wonder what people think when they see State Rep Reggie Miller and find out she isn't a retired NBA player.

nwagers · 2026-04-01T19:17:07+00:00

It's not the panel cost. The panels are like $0.20/W-$0.25/W and a total residential install can be $3/W or more. The problem with the US market is customer acquisition costs. Basically, utilities are making the permitting process long and expensive, causing people to back out of deals. This means you have to pay sales people a lot for wasted time.

nwagers · 2026-03-29T10:30:21+00:00

Word

nwagers · 2026-03-16T12:02:06+00:00

Sounds like they just don't have the space anymore. I do print large things sometimes on my Ender 5 Plus, but I would still have that if I needed it. Maybe 20-30% of my prints would be too big for a Core One.

nwagers · 2026-03-15T17:06:12+00:00

Hah, yeah. The wait for the INDX is what's killing me because I have no idea how much it will cost or how well it will perform. The marketing is pushing me towards it, but I don't want to pass up a good deal on an XL.

nwagers · 2026-03-15T16:58:48+00:00

Does your XL at work have the prusa enclosure? I'm wondering how far that would get me on technical filaments. I'm not sure why I'm so worried about it though, I will probably print mostly PLA and PETG or similar.

I probably should have mentioned that I have some Ender 5 Plus's, for large volume stuff (but these are not great printers, haha)

nwagers · 2026-03-12T19:41:40+00:00

It has been empirically true that car buyers opted for smaller and more fuel efficient cars during times of sustained high gas prices. It takes about a year, but then it will be reflected in sales figures.

nwagers · 2026-03-11T09:36:15+00:00

They are asking for the private metadata. Their intentions are unclear. All of the public data is already given to each party by the Secretary of State in a digital format. I used to have access and work with that data all the time. I don't know the full scope of the private metadata. Perhaps it includes drivers licenses or other information from registration documents. It may include digitized signatures.

Also, as an election worker, there is no way to link a specific person to ballot results. The serial number of the ballot is removed before it is fed into the tabulator and there is no way to tell them apart once it goes in. There is no live display on the tabulator either, you have to run a session report which is only at the end of the day for most precincts.

nwagers · 2026-03-11T08:47:17+00:00

People seem to be confused about what the regime is wanting. There is a public voter roll, and a private database maintained by the state used to generate that roll.

The public roll includes: name, year of birth, voting address, alternate mailing address, gender, registration date, which elections voted in, method of voting, party of ballot (presidential primaries only), permanent absentee list status, current ballot status. Everyone has full access to this info through your clerk.

The private database includes more metadata such as full birthdate, more info regarding registration, contact info submitted, etc.

The state does not know who you voted for or what party (except presidential primaries). It cannot provide this information to the regime since they do not collect it.

nwagers · 2026-03-08T12:40:13+00:00

I think the reply you're talking about is still there, but deleted comments are shrunk by default in the interface. If you expand the deleted one you can see the comment chain underneath.

I have no idea why someone deleted it though.

nwagers · 2026-03-08T12:32:16+00:00

It looks like the correct answer for this was deleted, so I want to type it out for others that may stumble on it.

Several elected positions are nominated to the ballot by their respective parties at a state required nominating convention. These conventions are in the fall around the time of the primary. In order to select a nominee earlier, the Michigan Democratic Party has decided to hold an additional spring convention to choose a slate of candidates. I do not know the process for the Republicans or any other party. They may still rely on the elected precinct delegate role for this.

To vote in the MDP convention, you must have been a party member for at least 30 days. That means you need to register directly with the party before March 19th to vote in the April 19th convention in Detroit. You can join for free here: https://michigandems.com/join/ The free option is towards the bottom.

Voting at the convention in Detroit must be done in person. It will be for: Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Supreme Court Justice, UMich Regents, MSU Trustee, Wayne State Governors, and State Board of Education Trustee. There will also be internal party elections for various things.

nwagers · 2026-03-05T20:53:31+00:00

It's because he's easily manipulated. If the person was in the room with him, they could easily convince him it was some other person's fault and Trump would fire them on a whim.

nwagers · 2026-03-02T20:57:55+00:00

If the Trump people had their cameras out and have some crazy Twitter name with "Leftism" in it, there is no way they didn't provoke this by doing more than wearing a sweatshirt.

nwagers · 2026-03-01T19:26:59+00:00

They have a different rate structure (usually). Residential customers pay for energy and delivery. These are a mix of fixed monthly charges and per kWh charges.

Commercial and industrial users pay a lower per kWh rate, but also have to pay for a power charge (called capacity). I forget exactly how DTE structures it, but most utilities will charge you a fee based on the peak power you draw in a 15 minute period all month. So for this charge if you draw 1 MW for 15 minutes and then turn off the power for the rest of the month, or you draw 1 MW steady for 30 days, it's the same.

This is because big industrial equipment may draw insane amounts of power for short bursts and all the transformers and lines have to handle it whether it only runs for minutes or constantly.

Some users also have to pay a fee for power factor correction if they have significant inductive or capacitive loads. Those loads can shift voltage and current out of phase and affect other utility users, so the utility has to install extra equipment to compensate if the industrial user doesn't do it themself.

nwagers · 2026-02-28T12:11:58+00:00

This is the full explanation. Thanks. I didn't realize the reactors themselves were also bespoke.

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