tmm
The biggest problem with an apprenticeship model is that it creates a bottleneck to getting people into the trades. You need competent journeymen (and knowing the trade isn’t enough, they need to be able to teach) who ideally can take on more than one apprentice at a time. But no matter how much everyone “wants young people in the trades” and no matter how much of a “shortage of tradespeople” there is, the bigger shortage is apprentice positions. Every kid in the world could suddenly decide they want to be electricians and plumbers, and it would still take two generations to fill the ranks.
Note that I’m mostly focusing on trades that require state licensing. Laborers, carpenters, painters, plasterers, welders, etc. don’t suffer this problem as much, because there is no set amount of time for someone to be an apprentice. If you’re good and reliable you’re getting promoted fast. I’m not against licensing per se, but I am strongly against legislated work requirements for a job.
I know I could study for a week and pass the master electrician exam on Monday.
[1] https://www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-digital-service [2] https://watech.wa.gov/services [3] https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/governor-moor...
This is how early stage lights were dimmed. See https://youtu.be/wRMEAYYW0dc
You have to buy their player ($4,000) and their media server ($5,000 for 8TB up to $27,000 for 96TB). Then buy movies (about $9 - $30 depending on how new they are).
If you have the money, you can buy a pre-loaded system for $98,000 which includes their entire 4k library (only about 2000 movies), two 96TB storage arrays and a 4k player.
If the player was around $2,000 and I could use my own storage, I'd have bought one already and ditched all the streaming platforms.
Edit: looking through their library, some titles do include extra content (special features, deleted scenes, music videos, etc).
In line with remote-bricking discontinued hardware, these policies only serve to generate eWaste.
If you sell programmable hardware, or really anything with embedded software, you should be required to make all the tools and software available to end users (doesn’t have to be free, but shouldn’t require a subscription or support contract either) in perpetuity.
Licenses to enable additional hardware features are fine, but they must be granted for the life of the device (i.e. as long as it can be kept working), not an arbitrary “we think the life of this thing is 5 years”. You should never have to keep paying to use a device you already bought.
Maybe not. Intel is considering removing rings 1 and 2 for a future 64-bit only x86 architecture, because they "are unused by modern software".
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/t...
The engine requires one of the HV generators to remain online so that oil and cooling pumps operate (and also to bring fresh air in to the engine room for the crew, but those fans can probably run off the emergency genset). Once the HV generators were disconnected, the pumps shut down and the engine stopped. Restarting the engine is a process. Here's how it's done for a small engine (5500hp)[1]. And for something similar to the Dali (55,626hp)[2].
The circuit breakers are a little different than common magnetic household breakers. They will trip in over-current scenarios of course, but also for over- or under-voltage, over- or under-frequency, or if triggered by the ship's SCADA system(s). Breakers tripping on the HV and LV side of the transformer makes me think that they tripped because of something other than over-current.
Three things in the report caught my attention:
1) The crew initially tried resetting the tripped breakers (HR1 and LR1) instead of energizing the alternate set (HR2 and LR2) which they had been operating on for months.
2) The second blackout was caused by the diesel generator breakers (DGR3 and DGR4) tripping. The report doesn't specify whether they began startup procedures for generators 1 and 2 when HR1 and LR1 tripped (probably not, because at this point gensets 1 and 2 were still operating), but it does say that genset 2 was in standby and connected automatically after the second loss of power. With #3 and #4 online, adding #2 to the mix isn't as easy as throwing a switch, it has be to be synchronized to the frequency of the other two first and this takes some time. But once DGR3 and DGR4 opened, DGR2 could be closed immediately and DGR1 wouldn't be far behind (i.e. as soon as generator #1 was synced to generator #2). I expect the state of the generators will be fleshed out more fully in later reports.
3) The report makes no mention of the state of the compressed air tanks. There should have been sufficient compressed air available to attempt several restarts (up to a dozen per regs), so running the compressors wouldn't be necessary. But if there wasn't enough stored compressed air, then no matter what the crew did with the electrical system wouldn't have mattered; they wouldn't have had time to fill the tanks enough to restart the engine. Again, I expect this to be covered in later reports.
My guess is that there was some fault with transformer #1, which caused HR1 and LR1 to trip off. When it was brought back online and they attempted to restart the engine, the combined load of normal ship operations, additional startup equipment (combustion air blowers, etc) along with whatever (possibly intermittent) fault TR1 had overloaded the generators, which then tripped offline. Perhaps instead they should have closed HR2 and LR2, and started an additional generator before attempting an engine start. But that's just a guess. The report doesn't mention any restart attempts, so there may have been other electrical faults that needed to be sorted out first.
Also, having used up some compressed air to start the engine at the dock, they may have been running the compressors to bring the tanks up to the required stored capacity which would have contributed to the load on the electrical system (but only up to the first blackout, as they wouldn't have restarted automatically).
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-D9Ka3TM1I 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFmCxOjY_A
Huh. I always heard that Nixon refused makeup and JFK didn’t, with the result being about the same: Kennedy looked healthy and Nixon looked like a sweaty corpse. But considering the quality of TV screens and broadcasts in 1960, the shirt thing sounds more realistic.
I haven’t thought about it much since then (or much at the time, since I was a lot less interested in the detailed modeling and a lot more interested in the control systems and coming up with complex track layouts), but the pictures those guys took were always pretty cool.
At least in the US, the people in charge of this (the National Geodetic Survey) take movement into account. This[1] is the datasheet for the reference monument nearest my house. It has data for 3D velocity of the reference point.
VX = -0.0150 m/yr northward = 0.0040 m/yr
VY = -0.0008 m/yr eastward = -0.0148 m/yr
VZ = 0.0030 m/yr upward = -0.0002 m/yr
The official coordinates get updated from time to time, and in-between, perhaps you're supposed to adjust your measurements using that movement data (IANAS)? If there is a significant measured change in location due to an earthquake, I'm sure that data would be included in the monument datasheet or a new set of coordinates would be published.
FWIW, I went looking to see when the last earthquake was here in Maryland and it turns out there was one today[2].
[1] https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-cors/CorsSidebarSelect.prl?site... [2] https://www.abc27.com/news/top-stories/2-3-magnitude-earthqu...
https://youtu.be/1D2Q9-1EmB4?si=gXwIO3FzpSKkp3VV
US Steel, Tom Russell
Somehow it only ranks 9th in the list of America’s Favorite Architecture[1]. Which I suppose has more to do with name recognition than anything else.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Favorite_Archite...
The thing is, I like having a watch history and I like having suggestions based on it. If I watch something that I don't want affecting my suggestions, I'll delete it from the history after watching.
The things I watch on YouTube, I generally have zero interest in watching again, and if I really want to, then I'll find it in my history. What I really don't want is for something I've seen to be recommended at the end of a video (where there is no clear indication if you've seen before it or not) or polluting the sidebar of suggestions.
I'd also very much like suggestions to fall off the list if I don't watch them in a day or two. Sometimes suggested videos stick around for weeks. I don't want to click "don't recommend this channel" or "not interested", because I might want that channel's content recommended later, and I might be generally interested in the topic, but not enough to want to watch it now.
And while we're dreaming of features: let me disable shorts permanently. I refuse to support vertical aspect video (and based on the minuscule number of views the recommended-to-me shorts get, people interested in the sort of content I am agree).
So my use case for outdoor displays is in the recreational marine market. Screen sizes are typically between 7" and 18" with some very high-end "glass bridge" displays coming in around 24". Retail for a 12" chart plotter is $4000. Typical display brightness is 1200 nits, which is OK, but still hard to see in direct sunlight with sunglasses. Conversely, they also don't get dim enough at night.
The glass bridge solutions all use a "black box" chart plotter (essentially a rugged PC) and dumb displays. But the smallest displays are 16" and way more expensive than the integrated solution.
I'd love a 12" to 15" HD display with capacitive touch, optically bonded LCD, wide viewing angle, viewable in direct sunlight (with sunglasses), and dimmable to nearly off (20 - 50 nits maybe?) so that its not blinding at night (not city night, but offshore night). It should have one cable: a USB connection for power, video, and HID output.
In the vein of your pole display, a 14-18" tall, 4" wide screen would be very cool for the sailing market. Most folks mounting mast displays are still stacking a bunch of individual 3" or 4" monochrome LCDs (at $1000/ea).
TV Tuner - Yes. An ATSC tuner with a COAX antenna input that can auto-scan for receivable channels. If this isn't feasible anymore, then I guess the HDMI input doesn't need ARC.
Connectors - looking at your photos, your input connections are on the side. If you put them on the bottom (down-facing), I think they'd be easier to reach if the TV is wall mounted (maybe not as easy if its on a table-top stand though). As long as they don't stick straight out the back, any orientation would be acceptable.
What's your experience with outdoor displays? 1000+ nits, IP-67 rated?
[1] In my area, that would be someone like https://www.gramophone.com
My main issue with smart TVs isn't the network connectivity, its their horrible UI. The menus are universally confusing, slow and poorly thought-out. And because these TVs have to have some complicated OS to run all this stuff, they're slow to start up. My AppleTV goes from standby to on faster than my circa 2008[1] (only kinda smart) TV and receiver are ready to display an image. The AppleTV should not be the fastest device in the chain.
I assume your commercial displays have a time-to-first-image that more closely resembles a computer monitor. That's what I want in a TV. If Apple had a TV-version of CarPlay that TV manufacturers could license, I'd be pretty happy with that.
Given that embedded TvOS isn't coming any time soon, my ideal TV would have:
* 70" - 80" screen
* the smallest possible bezel
* 4k HDR
* capable of professional color calibration
* one HDMI 2.1 input with ARC
* TV tuner with auto-scan
* any crappy speaker will do (I'm not going to use it)
* IR/RS-232 control with distinct codes for on and off (i.e. not toggled)
* excellent CEC support
* time-to-first-image under 3 seconds, immediate audio
* simulated snow for dead channels/no input (much nicer than blue IMO)
* power, HDMI, serial connections should be down-facing
* physical buttons on the back of the TV for power, channel, volume, menu
* a rear or bottom-mounted red power LED that reflects off the wall/table
[1] In December 2008, I bought a Samsung LN52A750 52" 1080p TV for $1937. That's roughly $2772 inflation-adjusted. It has a huge bezel; a modern TV with the same physical dimensions would be closer to 60" diagonal.
Verizon, the ILEC where I am, provides a text-to-voice service if you pay for it. Basically converts an SMS to voicemail.
I guess IP phones can do SMS though.
I guess it doesn’t really matter if your toilet is in its own room, but at least most houses in the US have the toilet next to the sink (where your toothbrush is).
Put the seat down before you flush, because it’s more sanitary.
[1] https://microbiologysociety.org/news/society-news/does-putti...
I am not an organized person, I see a horizontal surface and I put stuff on it. But leaving doors open? I don’t think I even take my hand off the cabinet door when I open it. One hand for the door, one for the thing I’m getting.
The only door I leave open is the washing machine, so it can dry out. It gets closed the next time I’m in the laundry room though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxsTZyIS1ck
Many years ago, the Amtrak station near my house had a pedestrian bridge across the tracks, and in those days it wasn't enclosed like it is now. My mother worked and so I spent most days with my grandfather and we would often go fishing in the park nearby. On the way home we'd stop at the station, walk out on that bridge and wait for one of the trains to come through. I had not yet heard "Texas, 1947" then, but when I do now I'm six years old again, watching the express come screaming up from DC on its way to New York. I never did get to lay a nickel on the track.
You would call the operator, tell them who you wanted to talk to, the city they’re in, and their phone number (if you knew it). If the call is close enough, you’d stay on the line while they connected you. Otherwise, you would be instructed to hang up and wait for an operator to call you back and let you know they’d gotten your party on the line (or not). This could take 5 minutes, or a few hours, depending on the distance, complexity of the route, availability of trunks, etc.
By the 1920s you could even call London from the US, but the radio link only had capacity for like 12 calls and it worked better in the evening. There was also a network of ship-to-shore radiotelephone links that operated on HF and VHF.
It would have been entirely possible, but extraordinarily expensive to have a multi-party conference call between someone in London, someone on a ship in the Pacific, a third person riding a train between New York and Washington DC, and a fourth on a mobile phone in a car in Chicago at least as early as 1947.[1]
I’d ballpark the cost of that call at around $100/min in 1947 dollars.
The Wikipedia article on long distance has an excerpt from Dragnet of a call from LA to a rural party line in Utah. It’s worth a listen.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-distance_calling
[1] Transatlantic telephone service began in 1927 between NYC and London, VHF mobile service began in 1946 in St. Louis and then Chicago, telephone service on trains began in 1947 (at least as provided by the Bell system, independents and train companies may have gotten there first), ship-to-shore via AT&T High Seas Service was available by the mid 1930s.
Telephones. Telephones are why. Those other two pairs were often used for voice communication. If you had four-pair station cabling, the pairs were provisioned on the modular jack from the inside out. So line one was the blue/blue-white pair on the inner pins, line two was the orange/orange-white pair on the next two pins, and so on.
Ethernet comes along and lots of places where you'd want a network connection already had a phone jack with two pairs unused, so for signal integrity reasons those are moved to the outside and used for data, leaving the inner two pairs where they were to be used for voice.
But why 4 pairs in the first place?
Just about the time that Ethernet was transitioning from coax to twisted pair, the digital PBX was taking over from key systems (1A2) and reduced the number of wires required for a business telephone from 25 pairs (or more ... secretarial sets often had 100 or more pairs) per station down to 4 (for HORIZON[0]) and later two pairs (DIMENSION and eventually Merlin, Definity, etc.). So if you're wiring a new building, you can just run one CAT-3[1] cable to each desk and use the first two pairs for voice and the second two for data[2].
[0] OK, for the pedants out there, HORIZON wasn't ever very popular and really pre-dated Ethernet, but the telecom world moves kinda slow [1] Wasn't really CAT-3 until the early 90s [2] Not on the same jack, but by using pins 1, 2, 7, and 8 for data, you can plug the wrong cable in without risk of hurting the phone or your computer's network card
Then I started using code formatters, initially `indent', then vim plugins. Eventually, I found myself using Visual Studio professionally, and became content letting the IDE decide how code should be formatted. Now, I do whatever the language/community seems to prefer. For .NET stuff, Visual Studio defaults; Go and Rust have their own formatters, RubyMine defaults for Ruby, etc.
Everywhere I've worked whenever the code formatting debate comes up, "use the IDE/compiler/community standard" always wins the day. The hardest thing seems to be convincing Windows users that text files need to end with a newline. Is there a git option (like `autocrlf') for that?