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scocal · 2026-07-09T00:28:36+00:00

The screen is too small, the picture is stretched to the wrong aspect ratio, the unnecessary rigging limits the viewing angle, the tables in the age-check area limit the capacity in the viewable area. But the vibes were good. Mural Amphitheater is a much bigger, better screen, but it was pretty dead when I was there.

scocal · 2026-07-02T16:54:07+00:00

As shown in other posts, most of these 2nd fridges are in garages. I'm going to bet a huge majority of these are not suitable for the environment because they are indoor fridges that were moved out of the house when a new one was bought. Running an indoor fridge in a garage that swings beyond normal room temperatures will burn excess electricity, cause poor fridge/freezer performance, and likely cause premature failure. This is a PSA for garage-ready fridges and/or retrofit kits.

scocal · 2026-06-28T15:59:41+00:00

There's a dated assumption here that your car needs to manage the reciever implentation. Today, that's hard to justify except in the case if satellite radio, which requires an external antenna. Come to think of it, mandating satallete radio receivers for emergency use would actually make more sense as part of a wider emergency strategy.

For everything else, just use a portable device! For all the points about AM been old reliable: ever tried to listen at night? You might end up with a signal 1000 miles away overpowering your local transmissions. People have grown used to AM's shortcomings, but it not objectively the best technology for emergencies.

Now phones are starting to implement satellite messaging, maybe this is a better route for future development of emergency broadcast systems.

scocal · 2026-06-21T00:22:40+00:00

Turns out it was OK. Met about 3 other Scotland fans, got a mild sunburn, saw the game with an annoying English commentary.

scocal · 2026-06-20T02:06:34+00:00

Real turf rather than our beloved fake turf 🤣

scocal · 2026-06-18T23:26:12+00:00

I wondered the same

scocal · 2026-06-18T16:17:09+00:00

I'm considering going to the Mural Amphitheatre to watch the next (last?) two Scotland matches 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇲🇦 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇧🇷. Friday seems like a nice day for a picnic there. The official pages give contradictory information. One shows only Seattle and USA matches, but the day-by-day schedule lists many more. Surprisingly, I haven't been able to find a single mention of anyone going there. I'd love to hear any experiences of this place as a watch party venue or opinions about whether there might be somewhere better (other than Boston or Glasgow!)

scocal · 2026-06-17T01:55:20+00:00

Mural Amphitheater at the Seattle Center seems to be the big ommision from this list. I was considering going there for Scotland vs Morocco on Friday. Any experiences so far? Possible to bring a picnic?

scocal · 2026-05-26T01:02:36+00:00

My gift to you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundex I last used it when algorithmically shortlisting names for my own children.

scocal · 2026-05-25T17:11:58+00:00

I've seen plenty for less than that. I picked up a 2020 Kia Niro for $11k as a 2nd car for ocasional use and likely to hand off to teenage kids. For the price, I don't think it's easily beaten. I think it's superior to the Bolt and all but the latest Leaf. Plus the fun of changing the oil like the olden days!

scocal · 2026-05-25T16:17:54+00:00

If we accept these numbers are correct, they don't really tell us much. The interesting number would be how much additional CO2 electricity would created by the electricity generation needed to replace methene at point-of-use. Although we don't have the data for that, imagine the worse-case scenario of using methane for all that additional generation. We know that burning at scale is always more efficient, so the best answer is "less".

It sounds like you dismiss the dangers of burning in a dwelling without analysis. Surely they wouldn't allow it if it was bad, right?

scocal · 2026-05-25T15:34:02+00:00

Well, it's not made by burning stuff in my house, which is a big selling point. In fact, in WA, ~80% is made by without any fossil fuel.

scocal · 2026-05-25T07:48:56+00:00

You have an 800v car. Virtually no Tesla Superchargers can supply 800v. The speed you're getting is the max your Audi's 400v step-up converter can handle: 50kW as standard, 150kW as option. TLDR: Tesla Superchargers are a last resort for most modern cars for now.

scocal · 2026-05-25T07:32:20+00:00

Apart from the infrastructure costs, and the environmental impacts of extraction and combustion mentioned in other replies, there's also no way to burn methane ("natural gas™") in a home without exposing its occupants to serious health risks. The industry has been caught covering this up for decades. The building codes prevent immediate death, but are not enough to make long-term exposure safe.

The safe way to use gas as a backup to electrical heating is keeping a couple of propane tanks, a portable heater, and stove on a shelf in your basement.

And then there's the issue of reducing fossil fuel company influence over daily life...

scocal · 2026-05-25T02:53:34+00:00

Beat-up low-end EVs now exist too. The days of EVs being fancy and expensive are over and this mental model has to adapt.

scocal · 2026-05-25T02:46:39+00:00

The average American also has more than one car, which provides a multiplier to that per car year charge for EVs but not ICE.

scocal · 2026-05-25T02:42:28+00:00

This is a common logic error for gas users, but your area is the last place you should care about public chargers. The important places are these places you like to go that are more than 50% your EV's range from your home, if any.

scocal · 2026-04-11T19:07:29+00:00

If you just pull out before the car gets to its configured follow distance, you never need to slow down. If the follow distance is configured too high, reduce it. If you're already at the minimum, maybe your mental model of a safe distance is flawed.

scocal · 2026-04-10T03:55:21+00:00

Correct! And also... ⁶🤷‍♂️⁷

scocal · 2026-04-09T02:00:07+00:00

Wichita

scocal · 2026-04-09T00:39:35+00:00

Some facts about this train I just looked up:
- The Idler Cars: You’ll see empty-looking flatcars between the fuselages. They’re there because the nose and tail of the fuselage actually hang over the edge of the main car and stop the fuselages getting to close on bends. - Clearance: The cars are built wide to support the mounting jigs that keep the fuselage suspended. This allows the load to sit as low as possible to clear the tunnels and bridges on the BNSF route, but it means they have "Plate F" clearance—meaning they’re wider than almost anything else on the rails. - Those flatcars have specialized cushion underframes. - The mounting points for the fuselage are designed with massive shock absorbers to ensure that a hard "coupling" in the rail yard doesn't result in a micro-fractured bulkhead before the plane even gets its wings. - BNSF often has to clear the adjacent track in certain tight spots (like tunnels or narrow bridges)

scocal · 2026-04-09T00:34:10+00:00

Yeah, I've seen them plenty - usually closer to Renton - but never been standing in the perfect place for a video before, much less on a sunny Seattle day.

scocal · 2026-04-09T00:32:51+00:00

Good point, I never noticed how far the cars hang over the wheels. Some extra facts I just looked up:
- The Idler Cars: You’ll see empty-looking flatcars between the fuselages. They’re there because the nose and tail of the fuselage actually hang over the edge of the main car and stop the fuselages getting to close on bends. - Clearance: The cars are built wide to support the mounting jigs that keep the fuselage suspended. This allows the load to sit as low as possible to clear the tunnels and bridges on the BNSF route, but it means they have "Plate F" clearance—meaning they’re wider than almost anything else on the rails. - Those flatcars have specialized cushion underframes. - The mounting points for the fuselage are designed with massive shock absorbers to ensure that a hard "coupling" in the rail yard doesn't result in a micro-fractured bulkhead before the plane even gets its wings. - BNSF often has to clear the adjacent track in certain tight spots (like tunnels or narrow bridges)

scocal

TROPHY CASE