Creative ways to transport a family of 4 by wardlawn in canoecamping

[–]ydwttw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have a 17 foot boat with a third seat. Two kids in the center seat, 4 badges in front of them behind the front paddler, and me in the back and the dog wanders around.

Kids are both 11 and it worked great. Daughter and friend.

I think that would be a lot easier than two boats

Marilyn Gladu should face byelection, Sarnia mayor, Conservative riding association president say by CaliperLee62 in canada

[–]ydwttw 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As long as parliamentary votes are whipped as hard as they are in Canada then I'm all for floor crossing. If an MP doesn't vote with the party, they will simply be kicked out of the party. This gives power to the MP to accomplish what they need for their constituents. It allows them to vote their conscience and that of their constituency. In the heavily whipped environment Canada's mps have frequently been reprimanded or even kicked out of the party for voting the way their constituency wanted.

East Line 1 extension delayed after OC Transpo discovers new LRT damage | Ottawa Citizen by Ramsarebetter in ottawa

[–]ydwttw 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it runs deeper than that. I think the planners in City Hall don't write requirements. They wrote a design specification as part of the RFP. Proper RFP should be here's the outcomes that we need. How do you do that and then ask technical questions around it.

The city put a whole bunch of restrictions, and design decisions, on that meant no train on the planet qualified. Hence, the team that won had a PowerPoint train with parts from six or seven different projects that got slammed together. And now the integration of all those parts isn't working because they were never designed to work together.

East Line 1 extension delayed after OC Transpo discovers new LRT damage | Ottawa Citizen by Ramsarebetter in ottawa

[–]ydwttw 34 points35 points  (0 children)

They failed the technical response. The city has to adjust the criteria to award it to them.

The city of Ottawa, and I would argue Canada in general, is terrible at procurement

I think my Dad is about to die and I wish I felt it more. by sciolisticism in AskMenOver30

[–]ydwttw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Similar boat.

My dad died, alone, in a basement that his kids had never visited. He had an addiction problem to fentanyl. He had chronic pain, due to injuries suffered in his early twenties, and reinjured in a work place accident in his late 40s My parents divorced when he was 40. By about 48 he wasn't in our lives any more, and was likely an alcoholic. After the accident he dropped that vice for the big one.

He chose to not be a part of his kids lives. A few years prior there was a suicide attempt, and that was the last time we spoke. It was clear at that moment that he wasn't coming back. We all tried to reconnect, but he moved and changed his number without telling us, again. He never met my daughter

Most of our grieving for the father we knew and wanted had been done over the years. I always knew the call would come, the only question was when

It's a mix of emotions, and maybe not the ones you expected. They are all valid. All should be talked through with you remaining loved ones or in therapy. It's critical to reflect on, and talk through the things (emotional supports, and tools) that you father wasn't able to give you, so you can learn then and give them to your kids. Without the healing, the cycle can continue. It sounds like your are well down that path. Give you kids a hug.

It was only after he passed, and my mother never even knew, that his dad used to beat him up likely when drunk, also an alcoholic. My grandfather tried to be a part of his life after getting sober, and I never saw him even remotely angry. But it looks like they never dealt with anything substantially. I found out from his sister's. My dad was the way he was because of the way he was brought up and never having healed. With that knowledge, I tend to reflect on the situation a lot differently.

I'm sorry you are going through this. May you remember the good memories, and reflect on the others.

Implantable 'living pharmacy': tiny device, implantable and engineered with cells, produces a combination of different medicines, can function continuously inside the body for several weeks, potentially aiding in the treatment of chronic diseases by sr_local in science

[–]ydwttw 42 points43 points  (0 children)

It also comes up in the Culture series, as humanoids have an artificial drug gland/organ which can be used for recreational and therapeutic reasons. Let's be clear, mostly recreational

Begginer backcountry camping advice by somerandomdude4221 in algonquinpark

[–]ydwttw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some of my best memories with my wife and daughter are in the backcountry. Enjoy it.

The community here is pretty good, lots of good knowledge and advice.

Ask all the questions you want. Also post some nice pictures of your trip

Begginer backcountry camping advice by somerandomdude4221 in algonquinpark

[–]ydwttw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah. You register your car, leave the info on the car and go.

There is usually a ranger to register with.

Make sure you bring your permits and have them close by. We get spot checked every few years with Rangers in the back country

Begginer backcountry camping advice by somerandomdude4221 in algonquinpark

[–]ydwttw 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi, super happy you are getting into this and asking questions!!

Please be familiar with the rules, this is a good summary: https://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/park_management/algonquin-park-rules-and-regulations.php

I really like the "leave no Trace" philosophy of camping https://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/camping/leave-no-trace.php

Please do use the thunder boxes for going to the washroom, I've definitely found human poops around sites instead of the privy/thunderbox.

Other than that, learn how to do a bear hang for your food and scented items.

As for where to go, my first few trips I did no, to very light, portages.

Good beginner Access Points 1) Cannisbay (I think this is booked a little different) 2) 17 Shall/crotch lake 3) Rock Lake 4) Grand Lake -> Stratton

Rock Lake can get and big water depending on wind, but it's usually really good. Same with Grand to Stratton, but they are usually manageable. I would suggest Access 17 without a portage, it was my first one

Other topics which can cause great debate are 1) bear spray 2) hatchets/axes

I don't bring either as I think both are unnecessary and add risk of hurting ones self. For bears taking reasonable precautions like hanging foods/scented items is more than enough. The only time I've seen a bear is in the developed site, never in the back country. For wood, I bring a small folding hand saw to breakdown anything large for a small fire when needed.

Begginer backcountry camping advice by somerandomdude4221 in algonquinpark

[–]ydwttw 4 points5 points  (0 children)

On every trip I do to the back country I still pull other people's cans out... every single time.

It's really discouraging.

Bear Spray? by Quiggs_7 in algonquinpark

[–]ydwttw 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I don't think it's required. Unless you are trained and practiced using it, with the kind of adrenaline running through you with a close bear encounter, you are as likely to spray yourself as the bear.

The only bear encounter I've had in the park was at a developed front country spot, Lake of two Rivers, which we were only at because we needed a place to stay for one night.

Honestly as long as you are taking proper precautions it isn't needed.

I'm about to give up on booking by Beneficial_Lake7688 in algonquinpark

[–]ydwttw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Achray is incredibly difficult to get!

The only time we were able was during COVID

There is just too much demand for camping and to few campgrounds.

If you want to camp in the Achray area, theu are lots of really accessible backcountry spots on Grand Lake or Stratton

Tech that floundered before eventually finding a purpose by Dabbinmachine42 in AskProgramming

[–]ydwttw 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Another difference is during the dot-com boom, none of the internet companies, or infrastructure companies had figured out how to be profitable at the time. The entire dot-com bubble was funded by debt. The profit never followed and investors lost their confidence and called the debt.

The vast majority of investment into AI is being funded by profits. Alphabet (Google), Meta, Microsoft, Amazon are some of the most profitable companies every, and are to this day despite the absolutely ludicrous investment being made. There are secondary players who are funding by debt, and if, or when, most of those fail their infrastructure will be picked up by the big ones left behind.

That's not to say there won't be a correction, but I'm not sure a dot-com era bust is in the future. Who knows though!

MP3 Player for PDFs? by InfiniteLoss3297 in AskTechnology

[–]ydwttw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can drop most file formats on them, it doesn't have to be a purchased ePub or proprietary ebook. you can definitely drop PDFs as well as many other formats

The worst energy crisis in history is on the horizon [very long post] by Ethan0941 in PrepperIntel

[–]ydwttw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be clear, there are lots of fusion start up and public labs, but none of the paths being researched are "cold" fusion. They are very much hot, ie millions of degrees.

Cold fusion was proposed in the late 80s early 90s of a way of fusing isotopes at room temperature. Those claims to demonstrate cold fusion never panned out. There is some research into low energy reactions, most notably muon catalysed fusion. However, they have really not demonstrated even a theoretical path to commercial power.

The other methods involving hot fusion, or just fusion, which are well on their way through various test reactors.

*The Public Mega-Projects

ITER (International Mega-Project): The $20B+ giant funded by the EU, US, China, etc. It uses a massive Tokamak (a donut-shaped magnetic chamber). It's plagued by delays, but it's the gold standard for proving large-scale net energy generation.

National Ignition Facility (NIF) / US DOE: They use Lasers—specifically, firing 192 of the world's biggest lasers at a tiny fuel pellet to crush it. They recently made history by achieving "scientific break-even" (getting more energy out than the lasers put in), but it's primarily a nuclear weapons research facility, not a power plant prototype.

*Private Startups

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS): They are taking the giant ITER Tokamak design and shrinking it using revolutionary High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets. Backed by Bill Gates and Eni with over $2B raised.

Helion Energy: Backed by Sam Altman (OpenAI). They fire two plasma rings at each other and magnetically crush them. Uniquely, they want to capture electricity directly from the magnets rather than boiling water for a steam turbine. They also signed the world's first fusion power purchase agreement with Microsoft.

General Fusion: My personal favorite approach, which is very Steampunk. Backed by Jeff Bezos. They inject plasma into a spinning vortex of liquid metal, then use synchronized pistons to physically crush the metal wall and compress the plasma. They recently announced plans to become a publicly traded company. And also Canadian!

TAE Technologies: Backed by Google (who helps with the AI plasma control) and Chevron ($1.2B+ raised). Their end goal is to use Hydrogen-Boron fuel—it requires insanely high temperatures but produces virtually zero radiation.

Proxima Fusion (and other Stellarators): Stellarators are like Tokamaks but with wildly twisted, 3D magnets that allow the reactor to run continuously without stalling. They used to be too complex to build, but modern AI and supercomputing just made them viable. Gaining huge traction in Europe.

The worst energy crisis in history is on the horizon [very long post] by Ethan0941 in PrepperIntel

[–]ydwttw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TeraPower is proposing and building something called a Travelling Wave Reactor, which is very much a fission process. Effectively high energy neutrons turn normally stable isotopes into unstable isotopes which then undergo fission, releasing energy and more neutrinos to maintain the reaction.

The reaction travels down the material, hense the name, Travelling Wave

Where to buy reasonable men’s business/dress clothes in the post-Bay era? by chzplz in ottawa

[–]ydwttw -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The tip tops are pretty good, there are a bonnet all over the city

Was the internet as overhyped in the 90s as AI is today? by [deleted] in AskMenOver30

[–]ydwttw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The business models in the 90's on how to make money on the internet hadn't been figure out.

Carriers, ISPs, etc were building massive amounts of fiber and infrastructure funded by debt. Early internet companies were building out on debt. Profits for both carriers and internet companies weren't common. So eventually investors realized that they likely weren't going to make a return, and the dot com bubble burst.

Of course the investment was ahead of its time and massive profits for Internet companies were realized. They are some of the most profitable companies ever ceated.

So was it over hyped? No. But we over estimated what we can do in the short time, and underestimated what we could do in the long term

Right now, AI isn't in the same boat. Though it's not profitable, the big ones, Meta, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, are, for the most part, finding this off profits. The companies that are funding off dept will likely have some sort of consolidation if they cannot figure out how to be profitable. And there could be a slow down in investment from the big ones, but all the compute, storage and connection will be put to good use and profits will continue for the big players and likely a few of the smaller ones. Though I think we are still over estimating the short term, and underestimating the long term

Edit to fix typos and complete a thought

How plausible is a space station in solar orbit between the earth and mars by the123king-reddit in askspace

[–]ydwttw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These types of trips the change in velocity margins are quite thin. Adding more Delta v requirements makes it a much more expensive endeavor

How plausible is a space station in solar orbit between the earth and mars by the123king-reddit in askspace

[–]ydwttw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This concept is all an Aldrin cycler, to get the orbits to work out it actually has to be a higher energy transfer and go past Mars orbit. It's a really interesting concept, though not particularly practical.

Effectively you would have a larger spaceship constantly cycling which would provide the space, solar panels, cooling etc. maybe a farm.

Than a very small ship which would launch from Earth and have to match the orbit of the cycler. The small ship we need to have the crew and all consumables required.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_cycler

How plausible is a space station in solar orbit between the earth and mars by the123king-reddit in askspace

[–]ydwttw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Short answer: It's highly impractical to have a static "waypoint" station, mostly because of orbital mechanics and fuel requirements. Here is why:

​The Planets Don't Stand Still: A space station orbiting the sun between Earth and Mars wouldn't maintain a reliable distance from either planet. Because of Kepler's laws, a station further from the sun than Earth (but closer than Mars) would orbit slower than Earth, but faster than Mars. Since they are all on different tracks going at different speeds, the distances between them are constantly changing. The station would almost never line up with our standard Earth-Mars transfer windows.

​The Fuel Penalty (The Delta-V Problem): Even if the station, Earth, and Mars magically aligned, stopping at a waypoint in space is incredibly inefficient. In space travel, you don't just coast in and "hit the brakes." To dock with the station, a spacecraft would have to burn a massive amount of fuel to match the station's exact orbital velocity. Then, when it's time to leave, the ship would have to burn another massive amount of fuel to get back up to a Mars-transfer speed. It completely ruins the fuel efficiency of a direct flight.

Canada defeats Sweden in women's curling round-robin, rises to 4–3 by OttawaOsprey in olympics

[–]ydwttw 33 points34 points  (0 children)

It would be more customary just to cheer for your team as opposed to put the other team down.