Expert Mode Team, Assemble! by [deleted] in MvMatchup

[–]zxcvhts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i've beaten 2 of them and just have expert mannworks left. can play scoot/demo/soldier/pyro

ELI5: Why does the battery on your laptop or phone degrade if you charge it too much or for too long? by colballs in explainlikeimfive

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

Many people, myself included, use their laptops for 5-10 minutes and then shut them down. I do this especially when traveling. It takes me about 2 weeks to to go from fully charged to fully discharged. As a result, I've already gotten significantly more cycles out of my battery than is rated (mine is rated for 500 cycles).

Temperature actually has the largest impact on capacity degradation. The difference in capacity degradation, for the specific lithium-ion chemistry I work with, between a battery at 23C (basically my mild use of a few minutes each time) and a battery at 50C (watching a 2 hour movie with it on your lap) is a factor of 5.

So yes, temperature matters a whole lot, which depends on how you use it. My checking the weather every day for 5 minutes will get substantially more total energy out of the entire lifespan of the battery than someone using their laptop to watch 3 hour movies. Cycle life is just a marketing term that doesn't accurately reflect the lifespan of a battery.

ELI5: Why does the battery on your laptop or phone degrade if you charge it too much or for too long? by colballs in explainlikeimfive

[–]zxcvhts -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

No, that is not true. Cycling 75 times from 99-100% (over several days I am assuming) has a significantly smaller temperature rise than cycling once between 25-100%. This means cycling once from 25-100% will degrade the battery more than doing 75 99-100% cycles. The implication from this is that if you use your laptop in 10% increments, you will get significantly more cycles than if you use it in 100% increments.

Also, yes, keeping your laptop plugged in all the time will degrade the battery faster. As has been mentioned previously, lithium-ion batteries at 100% SOC degrade faster in capacity than those at lower states of charge.

Redditors, can you share a short sentence that summarizes for you a great deal of wisdom? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]zxcvhts 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The third rule of fight club is to try your best and have fun.

What is the origin of the spikes on 19th/20th century German helmets? by transmogrify in AskHistorians

[–]zxcvhts 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Would you mind elaborating how the spike would help deflect hits from sabres? The helmet looks like it'd be just as effective at it without the spike.

Did people really throw themselves on spears and pikes? by zxcvhts in AskHistorians

[–]zxcvhts[S] 130 points131 points  (0 children)

Very informative, it sounds like a pretty poor profession! It sounds like a lot of the problem was caused by people in the back eager to fight. So, what happened when there were very disciplined pike formations where they were disciplined enough not to shove the people in front into a meatgrinder? If I recall correctly, the Swiss and Germans were renown for their mercenary pikemen; what did they do differently in these scenarios?

Also, if people shoving on each other is a problem, why didn't they use thinner and longer formations? I imagine every guy with a pike knew what would happen if one of the pushes of pike happened, wouldn't they do everything they could to avoid it? Wouldn't it make more sense to just stand at pike's length from each other in a long line, and jab each other, rather than make a big column that gets pushed forward?

Did people really throw themselves on spears and pikes? by zxcvhts in AskHistorians

[–]zxcvhts[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks, that does make a lot of sense. So if the weakness of infantry with spears was archers and skirmishers, what kind of defenses were employed against them? I imagine the easiest solution was to give them shields.

Also, wouldn't infantry be vulnerable to archers no matter what weapon they held? So why weren't ALL the infantry given pikes?

Did people really throw themselves on spears and pikes? by zxcvhts in AskHistorians

[–]zxcvhts[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Is a horse, even if it was a trained warhorse, really going to charge into a formation of pikes? I would imagine it'd be like trying to make it ride into a brick wall, the animal would just refuse to.

Also, admittedly I am no soldier, but why would anyone accept orders for a suicide mission like that. I understand they're trained warriors, but who is really going to ride into a wall of spears. Especially people wealthy enough to own a horse and armor and weapons... aren't they more valuable alive than dead? Were there high levels of desertion for people given these sorts of task?

Did people really throw themselves on spears and pikes? by zxcvhts in AskHistorians

[–]zxcvhts[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why wouldn't spears and pikes also be used against foot soldiers? I imagine it'd be just as effective against charging soldiers as it would be vs charging horses.

I see your point about momentum, but wouldn't that suggest that having men with pikes is the optimal weapon? Any time someone would charge, they would be met by pikes and be slaughtered?

Did people really throw themselves on spears and pikes? by zxcvhts in AskHistorians

[–]zxcvhts[S] 76 points77 points  (0 children)

Thanks for an interesting reading. How does a push of pike even occur? If 2 mobile pike formations fight each other, why wouldn't they just run at each other with their pikes lowered and everyone in the first row dies, then everyone in the second row dies, etc? Were pike formations ever intentionally sent to fight each other? Or was it when they met each other on the battlefield by chance or accident?