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Comment: Re:This is more than a little bit naive. (Score 1) 702

Storage is actually under-rated.

The other problems of creating a grid sufficient to meet country wide needs are also underrated.

Indeed, these problems are virtually hand-waived away by most, with the blithe assertion that the sun is shining and the wind is blowing somewhere. These folks never look at maps, and fail to notice that the earth is 3/4 covered with oceans.

Hydro works because of storage. Coal works because of storage. Nuclear works because of storage. You can spool these up when needed, and throttle them back when not needed, storing the fuel for later.

Wind and solar have a big problem, not because of grid technology, but simply because of lack of storage.

Well, you could use wind and solar power to pump water from one spot to another further up the hill as energy storage and release it as hydro energy. Granted, this adds inefficiencies to the model, but it is one way to store energy. Until we figure this out, though, I am pro nuclear...

Comment: Removeable Media Bay.... (Score 1) 958

by David_Hart (#46464615) Attached to: How Do You Backup 20TB of Data?

I bought a Syba 5.25-Inch Dual Bay Mobile Rack for both 2.5-Inch and 3.25-Inch SATA HDD Plus 2 USB 3.0 Ports SY-MRA55006 for my latest desktop build. You could then buy 7 or 8 3TB drives, back things up, then store them someplace. After the first full, you could take incremental backups for a while. You would have to refresh it every so often but my thought is that the backup should be good for at least a year. Just make sure that the drives aren't stored next to the microwave...

Of course, the enterprise solution would be to buy a SAN or NAS, fill it with storage, and use data duplication software.....

Comment: Re:Mischaracterization (Score 5, Interesting) 337

by David_Hart (#46460883) Attached to: New Jersey Auto Dealers Don't Want to Face Tesla

This is a complete mischaracterization of what's going on. It's not that they don't want to compete with Tesla, it's that they want a cut. Right now, it's illegal for automakers to own car dealerships in most states, because when cars were in early adoption the state government didn't want to allow a situation where a car manufacturer pulled out of a state completely because it was unprofitable, leaving the citizens of that state unable to buy cars easily. So dealerships are independent from the manufacturers. Tesla is bypassing this 100 year old, out of date system, because it no longer makes sense, but the dealers aren't afraid of electric cars, they just want to make Tesla "play by the rules" and let the dealers sell (or not) the Tesla cars, so that they an make a profit off them like they do every other car manufacturer.

If you follow the logic a bit further, what the dealers are truly afraid of is that if Tesla gets an exception, the other manufacturers will also want the same exception. Once Manufacturer's own showrooms and sell online they will be able to undercut dealerships, putting them out of business. Either they stand up for the current rules that created their business market or it dies.

Comment: Re:Old cars look better and better. (Score 2) 89

by David_Hart (#46458369) Attached to: Volkswagen Chairman: Cars Must Not Become 'Data Monsters'

Not only do you not have a computer overriding your throttle stomp, you avoid big brother with an old car.

While you may think that you would be invisible by owning an older car, I'm willing to bet that future gen self-driving vehicles will tattle on you. They will use various sensors to detect your old car on the road, identify it, and tell all of the other smart cars around you all about you. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if RFIDs aren't embedded in our license plates in the future. It would make it easier for cops to issue tickets (i.e. scan the license), could be used for tolls, etc.

Comment: Re:Also time to stop (Score 1) 476

by David_Hart (#46449231) Attached to: Author Says It's Time To Stop Glorifying Hackers


Wait... Canadians??? Oh... right... Justin Beiber... Oh, and you forgot cats...


by David_Hart (#46441631) Attached to: Daylight Saving Time ...


There's no logical argument for the time change. None.

I live in Boston, which is on the eastern edge of the eastern time zone. Without daylight saving time, the sun would go down between 7:00pm and 7:30pm during the summer. And while most employers now recognize the benefits of flex time, most offices still operate within standard office hours for meetings etc. It would make it much more difficult to enjoy the summer. So, there is at least one good argument for daylight saving time.

Comment: When you're work is puzzle solving... (Score 2) 146

by David_Hart (#46391269) Attached to: IEEE Predicts 85% of Daily Tasks Will Be Games By 2020

...doesn't it already have game elements?

As a network engineer, most of my work is largely a lot like the hacking game in Bioshock where you have to move the puzzle pieces to get the path right. The only difference is today it is accomplished via text commands and physical connections. With SDN, it wouldn't surprise me that the interface changes from text based to GUI game based. Pick a packet type or subnet, drag it through a path where you want it to flow, assign a priority via colors, and then push out the routing policy... Hey, I should patent that... (evil grin)

Comment: Re:Just goes to show that Consumers Reports is BS (Score 1) 318

by David_Hart (#46342935) Attached to: Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model S Is Best Overall Vehicle

The Superchargers are usually at locations where there's places to eat and stretch ones legs. On my last trip to Lake Tahoe I stopped in Folsom to charge. By the time I was done with my burger my car was charged and ready to go and there was plenty of range left when I got to my destination at 7200 feet near the summit of Kingsbury Grade.

Just make sure you don't get stuck anywhere without a charge. I highly doubt that there are roving tow trucks that carry battery packs with them. All you need with an ICE car is a siphon hose to borrow enough gas to get to the next gas station.

Comment: Re:Best car overall?? (Score 1) 318

by David_Hart (#46342867) Attached to: Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model S Is Best Overall Vehicle


Your standards are low. Americans own over 1.2 cars per driver. So a 2-driver house has 2.4 cars, or about half of all 2-driver households have 3 cars.

With the statistics as they are, it seems you are the one that's out of touch.

No... You are misunderstanding what they mean by vehicles per licensed driver. Taking a look at Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_vehicles_in_the_United_States) licensed passenger vehicles includes Vans, Trucks, cars, etc. a good percentage of which are used for business. In other words, the average family does not have 3 vehicles as you are arguing, but actually 2 or less. The difference is made up by vehicles owned by small businesses, farms, etc. for specific business use. If you dig deep, you'll find that the statistics do not mean what you think they mean.

Secondly, this says nothing about how much the average family pays for cars. Most families that I know have an older car that is used for the daily commute and a bigger hauling vehicle to ferry their kids around. The cars that they do own are valued less than one Tesla. They couldn't afford, either financially or or opportunistically, swapping two cars for one Tesla.

Comment: Re:Their mission is to report on ALL good. (Score 1) 318

by David_Hart (#46340159) Attached to: Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model S Is Best Overall Vehicle

And it starts at $50,000 (take-home price for most people.) Still well in to "luxury" territory for most people, but it's disingenuous to always refer to it as a $100K vehicle.

I can only go by what was printed in the article. If the true take home cost is $50,000 after rebates, tax deductions, etc. then that makes it more affordable. But I can't find anything that backs this figure up.
