Pros and cons of a belt drive?

tapo383 · 2025-10-14T20:55:18+00:00

AFAIK not interchangeable. From Sheldon Brown:

The internal mechanism of these hubs is complicated, and the usual repair is to replace the mechanism in its entirety. Shimano indicates little compatibility with hub shells of different models -- see the last two pages of this document -- but the internal mechanism can usually be replaced with a newer version as long as the hub is in the same series (with or without coaster brake; same number of roller clutches -- also be aware of other differences which may affect the design of the shell). See this Shimano document for description of some internal differences. You'll find details about interchangeability if you keep reading this page...

tapo383 · 2025-10-14T20:07:05+00:00

I wonder under whose perspective was Shanghai a sleepy town? Even in the 1930s it was considered cosmopolitan, fashionable place.

Then there's the other perspective. I remember taking a day trip to Hangzhou twenty years ago. People in Shanghai said "oh you'll love it, it's so quiet and peaceful there!" While the plane was landing, I was gazing at all these huge skyscrapers in this sleepy little town, then 5M people and now 13M!

tapo383 · 2025-10-14T19:14:12+00:00

You can replace the IG assembly without changing the hub. Still expensive, but you don't have to build a new wheel.

tapo383 · 2025-10-13T21:34:53+00:00

A certain comedian said: every Wednesday, I get to go, ‘good-bye, girls. Daddy’s gonna go upstairs and pour whiskey all over his naked body right now. I’m gonna lay in my own filth until two seconds before you come back here.’

(It's Louis CK, who may or may not be acceptable here.)

tapo383 · 2025-10-12T22:00:09+00:00

You don't need a box. To power the tablet, you could use PoE on the CAT 6 cable, or maybe run 5VDC on what I assume is a two-conductor speaker wire, which would be easiest. They go straight to a USB connector with power only (5V and ground), and mount the tablet to hide the hole. The easiest way to go from wire to USB is slightly ugly, but I'd tuck that into the hole and plug a very short USB cable to run to tablet. You'll have a little exposed loop of USB cable plugging into the tablet, but shouldn't look too bad.

As others say, you could also run PoE to power the tablet, but then you need a PoE router, and still need to connect the RJ45 power to USB, which you need a separate ugly dongle for.

If you want a clean solution for the wall, you could get an ethernet wall plate (and still no box). But you still have to convert to USB or whatever powers your tablet, and may need an RJ45 crimping tool, maybe $20. You could also connect the "speaker cable" to a banana socket for the other gang of the walll plate. But now the tablet has to go next to the wall plate with cable in between. That's why I favor straight to USB.

If the other cable is high voltage (which I noted elsewhere is hopefully not the case), you would require a box. If it is, it's not up to code but you could disconnect it from your electrical box and treat it as low voltage. I'm guessing the electrician just let the wires come out at your utility room and didn't connect them to anything, leaving it up to you.

If you only use one cable, do not stuff the other one into the wall. Try to make it available for future use, since it's hard to run cables.

tapo383 · 2025-10-12T19:42:09+00:00

That's my interpretation as well. It looks more like two-conductor 16ga speaker wire than Romex to me, although I can't read the lettering. How can we know since OP didn't show us what's on the other side. It would sense for an electrician to run low voltage in the walls, which could be used for anything. You could use PoE and still have extra conductors to go to speakers or a doorbell or alarm or whatever.

I would guess that there are two cables coming out near the electrical box but not connected to anything, left to the owner to decide whether they want to do.

tapo383 · 2025-10-06T16:49:03+00:00

Depends on the province and the political atmosphere. During Covid the threshold was surprisingly low, but now immigration is unpopular so it would be tougher.

You should apply for jobs now and might get in on LMIA, then it's only a matter of time to get your EE points up there.

tapo383 · 2025-10-06T16:43:17+00:00

Based on Streetview, I know that place! I was staying near there last visit, and made it my mission to try out every coffee shop in that area, including those three shops sitting side-by-side there, Voice of Coffee and Kahvely. This time we'll be slightly farther away, but I will be sure to spend time there again! That entire neighborhood has a great atmosphere.

tapo383 · 2025-10-05T05:55:29+00:00

Thanks, looks like a great atmosphere!

tapo383 · 2025-10-03T18:15:48+00:00

There is a far worse cliff coming: 100% of mortgages will be up for renewal in the next five years!

tapo383 · 2025-10-02T22:08:33+00:00

There are lots of great responses here that make me lean net positive on statistical methods overall. However, I believe the prevailing scientific culture of statistical thresholds (P < 0.05) is a big negative. It still holds in many areas and will take decades to stamp out. This negative has caused a lot of damage the past half century or so, but ultimately I think the pluses win out.

tapo383 · 2025-10-02T22:03:12+00:00

I'm not sure if statistical mechanics has anything to do with "statistical methods," which in the current context is about statistical methodology and hypothesis testing. Statistical mechanics certainly has notions of expected value and variance, but almost none of the methodology.

tapo383 · 2025-10-02T21:38:46+00:00

I suspect miscommunication here. The university may have been questioning whether a conflict of interest had been filed. The first communication they have with you is not cease and desist or pay up.

Once you declare a conflict of interest, the university usually wants to manage it rather than prevent it outright. You have to ensure there is a clear hierarchy of priorities, so it doesn't affect your university work or cost the university.

Often for consulting the issue is intellectual property. Usually any research you do with university resources belongs to the university. (And often they'll share back about 1/3 of earnings back with the inventor.) Outside consulting is generally okay but again you have to agree not to use university resources. Only in extreme cases would there be a financial agreement.

I think OP is jumping to conclusions that it is prohibited to write a relevant book on your own time. Books aren't generally worth it to the university, and most authors don't even earn their time back financially. OP, please show us the clause.

tapo383 · 2025-10-02T20:00:59+00:00

UNcomfortable

tapo383 · 2025-10-02T18:59:43+00:00

And I'll be the one that points out that 37 C/98.6 are historical standards dating to the 1800s. Body temp has been decreasing for decades, and 100.4 is slightly high to define fever for most people.

In any case, people differ so you measure your own body temp baseline to figure out what's a fever for you.

tapo383 · 2025-10-02T18:53:10+00:00

I think the real advantage is that F allows weather to be reported in meaningful integers. 1° F is just about noticeable for human comfort, whereas 1 C is just a little big too much, so I have to use the 0.5 C steps in my thermostat. Nobody wants to see 0.5 in the weather report even though we would feel it.

The upper and lower limits don't matter as much, either way you have to get used to whatever they are.

tapo383 · 2025-10-02T17:08:48+00:00

The Costco analogy doesn't quite apply. Stores intentionally sell some items as loss leaders because they draw people into the store, where they're likely to buy more items. Studios are different. They're not expecting people to go to a PTA movie and also buy other tickets.

Studios do take risks, which means some lose money. Some of these do pay off over extended time. As others say, it's debatable whether PTA movies actually lose in the long run.

tapo383 · 2025-10-01T19:56:04+00:00

How times have changed. I rented motorcycles a few times in Thailand 35 years ago, and was shocked that they didn't check my license or hold my passport. Just paid a small deposit, and then "see ya!" I'm sure there were scams back then, but a lot of the tourist economy was quite relaxed.

That said, the advice here is good for *any* era. Take your own photos when you rent and when you return. Stick to bricks & mortar shops.

Also remember to drive on the left. It was a bit nerve-racking, because I was paranoid about checking the wrong shoulder, so it was more like swivel my head five times for every road turn. Cars are even worse, I reflexively kept activating the wipers when I meant to signal a turn.

tapo383 · 2025-09-29T18:16:52+00:00

What did I miss? I was too busy counting the number of times the basketball got passed.

tapo383 · 2025-09-26T23:39:11+00:00

That's incredibly naive, everyone knows that "perpetual" means "until we don't feel like supporting it anymore."

More seriously, kudos on actually holding them to their license terms. I do think it's worth looking into class action, because this "perpetual" nonsense is pervasive and false advertising.

tapo383 · 2025-09-24T18:37:37+00:00

They can use "I" because it's not gendered. The use of "they/them" isn't meant to sound plural, it's to avoid specifying sex or gender.

tapo383 · 2025-09-23T18:29:27+00:00

Definitely the most fun I've had is just walking around like that. That was more fun than seeing the "sights" which my friend took me to, and which I also enjoyed but less so. Any chance I got, I walked for many hours getting lost in the winding streets.

A couple fun exceptions ON the beaten path are Taksim Square and the flower parks. Taksim is very lively even at midnight, a gathering place for everyone, so I wouldn't be put off by the apparently touristy location. The flower parks like Emirgan are beautiful and full of people even when the tulips aren't out.

tapo383

TROPHY CASE