perestroika 12h ago • 100%
Also, costing €623,000 over three years sounds rather expensive for just 100m
It's hugely expensive, but I expect most of the cost to be in the wagon that lays panels down and picks them up - and could hopefully service a big stretch of railway (if it works). That kind of systems will cost a pretty big penny.
I doubt if this project will "fly", however. A totally horizontal solar panel at ground level is a far cry from producing energy efficiently.
perestroika 5d ago • 100%
- How does it look under snow? :)
It is my personal opinion that a crossing is better emphasized with light from above. Snow cannot cover light.
As for bumps... there are bumps that work right (harm the suspension at speeds above the limit), and then there are bumps that harm the suspension at any speed. Road builders over here cannot seem to get them consistently right.
perestroika 7d ago • 100%
Also relevant: "Always shoot the messenger first." :)
If news unsettles a person, and there's a cognitive dissonance upon processing their world model ("everything OK with climate") and sensory input ("another big freaking hurricane") then if the person isn't a model of rational thought and already has a fad for conspiracies...
...one might find it easier to add another conspiracy theory to one's collection, as opposed to harder steps like refreshing one's model of how the world functions. :o
perestroika 1w ago • 100%
Guy seems to be a walking disaster.
No matter whether he intends what he says or not, that's definitely not how a presidential candidate should behave. If one wants to govern a country (as opposed to running it into ground), at the minimum one should not be ridiculous.
Last time, I recall, it took him a fairly long weaseling to use the border guard a bit, here and there. I don't think the US military is eager to do his bidding, or cheerful about being drawn into his campaign.
Over here, in a different country on a whole different continent, the previous (now retired) commander of the defense forces had a habit of providing fact corrections when politicians lied, spinned or bluffed about defense. For a reason which didn't need a detective to figure out, only conservative populists ended up on his shit list. :)
One of the conservative populists took being corrected so personally that he got into a social media confrontation with the general right before elections. Politologists later estimated that it was not beneficial at all to the politician involved. :)
perestroika 1w ago • 100%
That's quite understandable.
On related notes, my first disassembly of an EV battery pack was very slow and careful, and the surface, boots, gloves and tools really carefully considered. Of course, EV batteries have those safety jumpers which split the pack in two, but even the halves are dangerous enough to worry.
perestroika 1w ago • 100%
Indeed, I have nothing here that would draw 35 kilowatts. :) If I weld, the maximum is 4 kW, if I charge my car, the maximum is about 3.6 kW. By the way, I've observed that most of time, the MIEV cruises at around 10 kW - accelerating is a whole different matter of course. :) If I get a bit more, I'll be happy, but I don't expect a lot more.
I have no power grid here. Maybe next autumn, but I only asked them to build a laughably small connection of 3 x 6 A, to act as a backup in case my systems are catastrophically broken) so no grid tie. Since it's a really curious location (no official road either) I wonder if the grid operator actually manages to build it in one year. :)
As for inverters, my setup isn't new or shiny - there's a legacy DC-AC (poor choice of brand name from some Taiwanese maker, even I can't find their website because their name is so generic) 24 V 5 KW inverter. It produces modified sine wave, was too expensive, and the first one that I got developed a fault and was replaced. The replacement has been running my house for the past 5 years. It will retire when I manage to move over to a 48V system voltage.
...and its replacement is a somewhat newer Maximum Solar PIP-4048MS (no longer produced, but they make similar ones). It's actually less powerful (only 4 kW) but produces a pure sine wave and I bought it used for a really good price.
Although the new(er) inverter can act as a charger (drawing power either from solar or a generator or a power grid) and likely it soon will, I have 3 separate chargers, each for a different panel array. All of them are Maximum Solar PCM60X. I mostly chose them because they have passive cooling and they've been working for several years.
perestroika 1w ago • 100%
They are supposed to have a capacity of 37.5 amp-hours left and I'll have four stacks in parallel, so I'll have around 150 amp-hours.
If I multiply that by the average voltage under load (16 cells per stack x 3.85 volts per cell = 60 V, but I might have to compromise and go for 15 cells per stack), I get 150 x 60 = 9000 Wh = 9 kWh. A factory-fresh battery of this sort has a dozen more cells and is supposed to hold 16 kilowatt-hours. Since I drive one of those cars, I know from experience that 9 kWh is a realistic estimate, but I'll find out the true capacity later.
They say that people who don't build battery banks while wearing a sweater will cry about the lack of battery banks in double fur coats. :) Since today was possibly the last "sweater" weekend here, morning frost is a reality and snow has fallen 500 km northwards... ...I decided that I would be among the first and not the second group. :) Coincidence has given me an almost unused (43 000 km driven) battery bank of a Mitsubishi i-MIEV (a crap car, don't buy unless you are an EV mechanic). But in my house, there is already a 24V battery bank made of Nissan Leaf cells and I'm worried about lack of space and fire hazard (if lithium batteries burn, you typically need tons of water to make them do anything else - I have only one ton and pumping it requires that same battery bank). So I decided that I'd build a new 48V battery bank outside my house, start it up with the MIEV cells and maybe migrate the Leaf cells there later too, after checking and reassembly. However, winters are cold here and MIEV cells (as I mentioned, the car is crap) lose 30% of their capacity when cold. It thus follows that I must keep my battery warm in winter - and later on, cool in summer. This requires energy. Spending less energy on battery care allows using more energy for useful things. :) Thus it follows that I need a battery enclosure. :) It must have wheels so construction bureaucrats can be waved away with an explanation (a generator on wheels doesn't need a building permit either). And it must have thermal insulation. The insulation is PIR foam, 10 cm thick. Maybe I'll make some parts even thicker. The wheeled platform was salvaged from a bankrupt boat factory, I don't know its original purpose. The bottom plywood is 20 mm waterproof ply, and the top layer (PIR is very delicate, don't put batteries directly on PIR) is 9 mm waterproof ply. The design I stole from an anarchist squat which existed in 2009, where styrofoam was used for a similar purpose, with the difference that squatters used lead acid batteries and their battery room was indoors (now it's advisable to imagine the sound of clattering teeth, it was cold there in winter). Inside the box, there will be: - balancers / equalizers - some DC heating ribbon - a thermostat or a microcontroller-driven thermometer + relay - a circulation fan (thermal stratification is bad) - battery monitors with an alarm function - a smoke alarm Since PIR aborsbs sound, the piezo buzzers of the alarm devices will have to be unsoldered and brought to a plastic box on the surface of the enclosure. :) The arrangement of cells has been chosen to provide access from outside, get a reasonable ratio between volume and surface (avoid flat shape) and to minimize the cutting of materials (several sides are made of PIR sheet cut to length only). Some more pictures: - [Main tools for working with PIR](https://i.postimg.cc/XJNM9drS/2-tools.jpg) - [Test fitting](https://i.postimg.cc/V6KxgvtS/3-fitted.jpg) - [Closing up](https://i.postimg.cc/TYLzjR3w/4-closing.jpg) - [Securing with fiber tape](https://i.postimg.cc/dVGgX4dc/5-tape.jpg) (you can tow a car with a roll of it) End result of today's work: 
perestroika 1w ago • 100%
Seems like a useful monitoring and accountability tool. :) Especially if its quantity estimates can be made accurate.
perestroika 2w ago • 100%
I think the study analyzed the footprint of the person, not the vehicle:
In this new study, the research team investigated whether consumers who purchase and drive such vehicles have a smaller carbon footprint than other consumers
The merits of electric vehicles are irrelevant to their study - and their study is irrelevant to the merits of electric vehicles.
So maybe they're not lying (or maybe they are, if they made a direct claim about the power mix of the Finnish grid), but they're definitely far from barking under the correct tree. They're barking in a different forest, not of transport economy, but of wealth and consumption. :)
perestroika 2w ago • 33%
The proliferation of a new technology typically doesn't start from poor people.
It starts from fanatics first. I built my first EV. It was crap, I cut it apart and sold the metal (environmental footprint: awful). Then I built my second EV. It drove around 10 000 km, but had to be retired due to metal fatigue (enviromental footprint: neutral at best, lesson learned: big).
I bought my third EV on a crashed vehicle auction. New front axle, stretching the frame back to correct dimensions... I drive it every day, but it's a crap car that I'd not recommend to my worst enemy. :) Environmental footprint: positive, I can produce fuel for myself from April to October. But if the same vehicle would be used by someone who doesn't produce (or buy) renewable power, the footprint would be less positive.
Anticipating the demise of my factory-made electric microcar, I am however building another EV. Again the footprint is negative, but I need information about how to easily manufacture one, and obtaining information has a cost in resources. :(
Meanwhile, of course, truly rich folks buy fancy and electronics-laden self-driving EVs which some then proceed to crash or mishandle due to lack of clue. People are like that and it will stick out in statistics.
IMHO: if they hadn't bought an EV, they'd have bought another kind of status symbol and would have used it even more wastefully. What matters more is what the average person can and will do. And how do we influence the auto makers to produce less resource-intensive vehicles?
perestroika 2w ago • 100%
Here in Estonia (pretty much across the globe from New Zealand), around 00:40, I was walking home with a wheelbarrow across the field.
And behold, somewhere above my house, there is a red-green cloud, while north along the horizon, I see green pieces of ribbon.
So of course I got a tripod and camera, dialed 2 seconds of delay (pressing the button makes the tripod wobble) and 2 seconds of exposure and got this. It wan't as fancy with bare eyes, but was fancy enough to hurry. :)
perestroika 2w ago • 100%
I have a solar panel that died. A piece or plywood flung by a storm went right through it, leaving a 30 cm "wound".
Well, to be honest, it's alive, just weaker - the panel remains suitable for pumping water on the field during muddy season. I wouldn't take a good panel to such a bad place, but this panel, I have no worries about.
As for what happens when they really, really die - they get disassembled. The aluminum frame gets taken off and goes into metal recycling. Junction boxes go to where plastic goes - not a nice place. The glass and doped silicon go into a crushing mill, after which they get separated. The glass is easy to recycle, but the doped silicon is difficult to refine again to such a purity, so it likely won't become a solar panel. But it's a very small fraction of the panel's mass.
perestroika 2w ago • 83%
Unfortunately I don't know.
To correlate the effect with social processes, one would have to plot the same graph for multiple countries and see what processes occur in each history at the time of the lines forking apart (assuming they do so).
Some guesses: automation, perhaps globalization of supply chains, something related to the effectiveness of employees at bargaining with employers?
perestroika 2w ago • 100%
Thanks for sharing. :)
I wonder if one could "catch" any gamma photons from a thunderstorm on ground level, with a scintillator and silicon photomultiplier, or is the sensitivity of small DIY devices far too low?
It's interesting to note that they found new internal dynamics in the process that they can't explain for now.
One type is incredibly short, less than a thousandth of a second, while the other is a sequence of about 10 individual bursts that repeat over the course of about a tenth of a second.
"Those two new forms of gamma radiation are what I find most interesting," Cummer said. "They don't seem to be associated with developing lightning flashes. They emerge spontaneously somehow.
perestroika 2w ago • 100%
Thank you. :)
perestroika 2w ago • 100%
Regarding c/offgrid - I would be willing to moderate it, since it's a topic "close to home" for me (I'm off grid too).
But at the current moment, I'm not terribly active on Lemmy, I only log in once per day. It seems like a low-volume community, so I imagine that a moderator checking things once per day might be OK...
perestroika 3w ago • 100%
Looking at the beatiful show, I cannot avoid thinking: "each of them a potential weapon".
So in fair weather, when communication is smooth and all navigation systems are working, it's entirely feasible to coordinate a swarm of 10 000. Wow. :)
Soon enough, they will be coordinating each other in the presence of electronic warfare, and swarms of 100+ fly already, so 1000 is the next step. Anyone doing air defense is probably designing energy weapons (lasers, masers, etc) at a pace approaching madness, besides making ever-cheaper drones.
As for the environmental footprint - if each drone withstands 10 performances, they will probably save resources. :)
Originally found [here](https://lemm.ee/post/43551051). It seems that cops in California entered a still unexplored abyss of incompetence. Fortunately nobody was hurt, so it can be considered comic relief - except by the medical company whose MRI machine they cooked. - - - > Officer Kenneth Franco drew on his "twelve hours of narcotics training" and discovered the facility was using more electricity than nearby stores, the lawsuit said. > "Officer Franco, therefore, concluded (the facility) was cultivating cannabis, disregarding the fact that it is a diagnostic facility utilizing an MRI machine, X-ray machine and other heavy medical equipment -- unlike the surrounding businesses selling flowers, chocolates and children's merchandise," the suit said. > After bursting into the diagnostics center in October last year, the SWAT team found only offices, a single employee and medical devices, including a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, a diagnostic tool that uses high-powered magnets to create detailed scans of a patient's body. > Disregarding a sign warning that metal objects should be kept well away, one officer wandered near the machine "dangling a rifle in his right hand," the lawsuit said. > "Expectedly, the magnetic force of the MRI machine attracted the LAPD officer's loose rifle, securing it to the machine," the suit said. > Instead of seeking expert advice on how to retrieve the weapon, one officer decided to activate the emergency shutdown button. > "This action caused the MRI's magnet to rapidly lose superconductivity, leading to the evaporation of approximately 2,000 liters of helium gas and resulting in extensive damage to the MRI machine," the suit said. > The officer then retrieved his gun, but left a magazine full of bullets on the floor of the MRI office, the suit says. > The suit, which was filed in California last week, seeks unspecified damages and costs.
perestroika 4w ago • 100%
On individual scale, precisely that - a split type AC with one half indoors (or in a water tank) and the other half in an outdoor environement (air, water or ground).
If you're extracting heat from the environment, the machine lets the working fluid evaporate into the outdoor heat exchanger and compresses it back into the indoor heat exchanger. If you're cooling your premises - reverse that.
However, on a city scale, it's like "you've got a lot of sewage at 30 C" -> "your heat pump is a large building" -> "your sewage outflow is now at 10 C, but your underground heat reservoir gets charged to 140 C (stays liquid because of water column pressure), and you spend much less energy pumping the heat than you would spend heating the water directly".
perestroika 4w ago • 90%
I have had many encounters with cops, and I decide about the extent of cooperating with them on a case-by-case basis.
- landlord is illegally evicting my mother's neighbour --> I call cops and they prove how useless they are at prevention, but the matter goes to court and the landlord gets convicted later, and it was my only time to testify in court
- cops accuse me of ignoring their lawful order --> sorry, I was listening to music, didn't hear nothing, no comment, no comment, I admit nothing (nothing came of it)
- cops intrude into the squat yard without knowing it's a squat --> "the
droidsdrunken people you look for are elsewhere" --> the cops go elsewhere - cops raid the squat --> refuse to provide documents until threatened, require cops to provide their own ID, contest every statement and discuss the matter publicly in media
- cops try to steal equipment during a demonstration --> pull the equipment back and yell to them a description of what it is (I assume they thought I was planting a bomb instead of packing up)
- cops want to interview me about illegal demonstrations --> I politely tell them to fuck off, then call back and volunteer for the interview to convey the opinion of other anarchists :D
- a new squat is being established --> establish a security perimeter that is watched with attention and never let cops close
- an attempted squat gets burglarized and set on fire -> inform the fire brigade that a bottle of propane could be present (fortunately it was stolen), the fire brigade had better things to do than involve cops
- a new squat gets burglarized --> pepper spray the burglar and take their tools, without involving cops
- a new squat gets burglarized, episode N --> threaten the burglars and take their tools, without involving cops
- cops try to fall into a hole in ground during a stupid training excercise --> tell the cops not to go there, as they might fall in (leave untold: it would be a major embarrasment for squatters to rescue them)
- the squat is suddenly in the security perimeter of a NATO summit --> find some military lurking in the yard and invite them into the squat so they could be reasonably certain we don't have anything that shoots down planes :P (runway was about 250 m away)
- a drunken person tries to SWAT me at a street party --> fully explain the situation to the SWAT team and later participate in amateur theatre with cops to get the drunken person safely removed from the police station :o
- one drunken neighbour hits their spouse and when I forbid, hits me --> seeing that the neigbour has already paid for his deed since pepper was 100% effective and he'll feel extremely bad for many hours, I did not file a complaint to cops, although they were called and showed up
- after two geniuses tried to steal my car, but fled after a warning shot --> I did not involve cops
- after some person attacked his partner and hit her on street --> I pepper sprayed him, and since he took out a knife and attempted to come at me (I evaded, no harm occurred to me), I did call cops and make a complaint, as did the woman he had hit
- cops call me about one neigbour's car --> I don't remember anything (I did actually remember, but wasn't in a mood for helping them repress a neighbour)
- my car gets burglarized --> I ask the cops for info, they have none, I don't involve them beyond that
...etc.
perestroika 1mo ago • 100%
P.S. I have once used DC to power a pump "directly". I use quotation marks because the pump (a water pump) was a brushless DC motor with an integrated controller. I used it on a field for removing water after a spring flood. Its controller accepted 24..48 V input, and it was powered from a 40 V solar panel brought on a wheelbarrow. :)
Kolleegid anarhistid, meile võib olla tööd. Aastal 2008 tõstsime meie sildi "Ei politseiriigile", kui siseminister Jüri Pihl pärast Pronksiööd politsei õigustega üle põhiseaduse ratsutada tahtis. Põhiõiguste piiramise teema ei ole sellest ajast kordagi täielikult silmapiirilt kadunud (netivabadus, metainfo talletamine, sõrmejäljed, jne). Praegu on sama sildi tõstnud kas jälle meie, või seekord keskid teised. Sildil on esialgu ka küsimärke. Tallinnas, Põhjala tehase Ankrusaalis toimub 4. septembril kell algusega kell 19:00 uue korrakaitseseaduse kriitiline arutelu. Arutelu juhtatavad sisse õigusteadlane Paloma Krõõt Tupay ja vandeadvokaat Kalev Aavik. Olete oodatud, kuid ma ei julge lubada koosoleku kohta midagi, kuna ei tunne kedagi selle korraldajatest. Info toimumisest leidsin [Feministeeriumi kaudu](https://feministeerium.ee/septembri-kultuurisoovitused-2024/). Ürituse kutse leiab [siit](https://www.facebook.com/events/515676591044405) (ettevaatust, Facebooki link). --- Colleagues, anarchists, we may have some work awaiting. Back in 2008, we raised the banner "No to a police state" when interior minister Jüri Pihl wanted to ride roughly over the constitution after the "bronze statue riot". The topic has never really died after that (internet freedoms, data retention, fingerprinting requirements, etc). Currently, someone has raised the same banner, but we don't yet know if it's us or someone else. :) On September 4 at 19:00 in Tallinn, at the "Anchor hall" (Ankrusaal) of the Põhjala factory, there will be a critical discussion of the new law enforcement bill. An introduction will be made by Paloma Krõõt Tupay (who researches law) and Kalev Aavik (who practises as a lawyer). You're welcome to join, but I cannot promise anything about the event, because I don't have contact with the organizers. I found the information via [Feministeerium](https://feministeerium.ee/septembri-kultuurisoovitused-2024/). An invitation to the event can be found [here](https://www.facebook.com/events/515676591044405) (beware, Facebook link).
This is not just a "happy birthday" post for Linux, but also a reminder that despite it becoming big and professional, the freedom to tinker with Linux remains accessible. I had to use this freedom recently when I discovered that V4L video pipelines could buffer up to 32 frames both on the encoder and decoder (unacceptable, we demand minimum latency!) so it was again time to recompile the kernel. :) My previous time to recompile parts of Linux had been a week ago. Some hacker had discovered a way of tricking their WiFi card beyond the legally permitted power - with what I understand as thermal compensation settings. Wanting to taste the sweet extra milliwatts, I noticed that nobody was packaging that driver as a binary, so the only way to get it was to patch and recompile its kernel module. Finally of course, thanks to Linux we have countless open-source drivers and if you want to venture onto the path that Linus Torvalds took - of building an operating system - congratulations, you have less obstacles in your way. :) Some people have taken this path with the [Circle project](https://github.com/rsta2/circle) and you can compile your homebrew and bare-metal kernel for a Raspberry Pi with reasonable effort, and it can even draw on the screen, write to serial ports and flip GPIO lines without reverse-engineering anyone's trade secrets. :)
lemm.ee
Järjehoidja .ee anarhistidele: lemm.ee serveris on kah anarhismi teemaline kanal. See loodi äsja ning suurt midagi hetkel veel ei toimu. :) A bookmark for anarhists in .ee: please note, on the server lemm.ee, there is also a channel about anarchism. It appeared recently and there is not much to see currently. :)
www.nature.com
In the article, researchers modeled the passage of the solar system through the galactic interstellar medium, components of which move at differing velocities and orbits. They found that approximately 2-3 megayears ago, the solar system most likely entered a cloud of mainly cold hydrogen, and the density of the cloud was such that it should have considerably compressed the heliosphere (Sun's bubble of radiation and fields). Earth would have been outside the heliosphere either permanently or periodically. Currently the heliosphere ends far beyond the most distant planet, at approximately 130 Earth-Sun distances (astronomical units). This would have greatly subdued the influence of solar wind on Earth, at the same time exposing the planet to interstellar cosmic rays. It is further speculated that studies which analyze Earth climate during the aforementioned period may benefit from accounting for this possibility. Researchers sought confirmation for their model from geological records and found some, in the isotope content of iron and plutonium in sediments: iron 60 and plutonium 244 aren't produced by processes on Earth, so an influx would mean that solar wind no longer sufficed to beat back interstellar gas and dust (the latter containing radioisotopes from supernova explosions). > "By studying geological radioisotopes on Earth, we can learn about the past of the heliosphere. 60Fe is predominantly produced in supernova explosions and becomes trapped in interstellar dust grains. 60Fe has a half-life of 2.6 Myr, and 244Pu has a half-life of 80.7 Myr. 60Fe is not naturally produced on Earth, and so its presence is an indicator of supernova explosions within the last few (~10) million years. 244Pu is produced through the r-process that is thought to occur in neutron star mergers22. Evidence for the deposition of extraterrestrial 60Fe onto Earth has been found in deep-sea sediments and ferromanganese crusts between 1.7 and 3.2 Ma (refs. 23,24,25,26,27), in Antarctic snow [28] and in lunar samples [29]. The abundances were derived from new high-precision accelerator mass spectrometry measurements. The 244Pu/60Fe influx ratios are similar at ~2 Ma, and there is evidence of a second peak at ~7 Ma (refs. 23,24)."
www.err.ee
Since Estonian readers know already, this summary is only for English speakers: after many years of haunting the political landscape with gradually growing vote counts, the Estonian Conservative People's Party (authoritarian right), has finally collapsed into a crisis. It's not a crisis of values (they are all still conservative and many are authoritarian too), but a crisis of internal democracy due to the dictatorial habits of the "ruling family" - father and son Mart and Martin Helme. Three prominent members, one of whom intending to challenge the party leader in internal elections, were kicked out during a board meeting, after which several more prominent members (among them several MPs and one MEP) either left the party of announced intention of leaving. Everyone involved had adequate warning about the lack of internal democracy, it is just that they tolerated it longer than anticipated. The big bang comes after years of gradual kick-outs. > ""If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by." - Sun Tzu
www.err.ee
For English speakers: boring but scandalous tax news from Estonia. If the proposed changes are passed into law, it will no longer be possible to pay a progressive income tax in Estonia *even voluntarily* (by having an automatically taxed "entrepreneur's private account"). It's surreal. The state budget is tearing apart after the COVID expenses, military expenses due to our dear eastern neighbour [both unavoidable, I would say] and meanwhile politicians find ways to ease the tax burden on the well-earning (I am one of them and have paid the higher tax tier on some years). And of course - the really wealthy folks who own actual companies - they never had to pay it. Me, I'm going to wait until the dust settles and publish something about this farce, as I think the progressive tax system should be expanded, not ended. Lühikokkuvõte: Eestis ei saa astmelist tulumaksu enam isegi vabatahtlikult maksta. Päris rikkad pole seda kunagi maksma pidanud, aga nüüd ei saa seda maksta ka üksi tegutsevad väikeettevõtjad. Riigieelarve käriseb pärast pandeemiat ja sõda Ukrainas sunnib peale vältimatud kõrged kaitsekulutused, aga meil plaanitakse jõukamate klasside maksukoormust langetada. Sürreaalne. :o Ootan, kuni tolm langeb ja pilt selgineb, siis tuleb selle kohta artikkel.
www.vantaanenergia.fi
For English speakers: I've previously written about the Helsinki thermal store. Now I'm happy to mention the planned Vantaa thermal store, which is going to be built for 200 million euros and will store nearly enough heat to keep Vantaa warm through the winter (specifically 90 GWh). It's going to be charged with waste heat and direct electrical heating during periods of renewable energy overproduction. Olen varem kirjutanud Helsingi soojushoidlast, nüüd saan mainida Vantaa oma - see rajatakse ca. 200 miljoni euro eest ja suudab valmides salvestada põhimõtteliselt kogu Vantaa talvise vajaduse jagu küttesoojust. Soojushoidlat kavatsetakse täita jääksoojusega solgiveest, andmekeskustest ja 2 x 60 MW otsese elektriküttega taastuvenergia ületoodangu perioodidel. Väga huvitav projekt, millele õnnestumist sooviks.
www.err.ee
For English speakers: an article from the Estonian public broadcaster about the Slovakian public broadcaster (and government). Unfortunately, there's some sad news - the new government of Slovakia is intending to tear down and rebuild from scratch their public broadcasting company. And everyone knows what that means: convenient people will be installed in the offices that count, so that news could be more favourable for the government in future. Stage 1 of authoritarian takeover. There is opposition to it, of course, and hopefully it won't get anywhere. --- Slovakkia kandist on nukrad uudised: uus valitsus juba sirutab kätt avalik-õigusliku meedia järele, eesmärgiga et suure ümber struktureerimise kattevarjus "omad joped" ametisse panna ja tulevikus omale meelepärasemaid uudiseid toota. Riigi autoritaarse ülevõtmise retseptis on selline liigutus tähtsal kohal. Loodetavasti ebaõnnestub.
www.err.ee
For English speakers: adopting a progressive income tax would be currently supported by 60% of Estonia's voters and opposed by 30% (support has previously been as high as 75%). The measure would be supported by 5 parties out of 6 and narrowly opposed by 1 party (which is split in the question). This has been the situation for 20 years. And the result? We have no progressive income tax, because politicians (who are nearly without exception high-income persons) aren't that keen on listening to the population in certain questions, and the population - easily distracted and clumsy at demanding stuff. :o * * * Nagu näha, toetaks meedet (jätkuvalt, juba ca. 20 aastat) nii elanikkonna enamus kui parteide enamus. Kõik peale praeguse peaministri erakonna toetaks astmelist tulumaksu, ja peaministri erakonnast kah pooled. Paraku ei ole seda juhtunud. Kurvastusega tuleb tõdeda, et poliitikuid (kes on pea eranditult kõrge sissetulekuga isikud) teatud küsimustes valijate soovid eriti ei huvita - valijad aga on hajameelsed ja oskamatud asjade nõudmisel. :o
en.wikipedia.org
I feared he would be martyred, when he returned to Russia after getting poisoned by the FSB and helping Bellingcat track down the agents who poisoned him (nobody in power did anything about them). Back then, his life was saved by a pilot deciding to make an emergency landing and a doctor suspecting a neurotoxin. What finally took his life will be difficult to ascertain due to lack of transparency - a remote location, an extremely authoritarian system, war, politically controlled law enforcement and courts. Still, a day before death, Navalny appeared in court for another potential addition to his already 19-year sentence - in good spirits. During Navalny's imprisonment, the regime made a sustained effort to break that spirit, issuing a constant stream of disciplinary punishments (a total of 27 times): for not placing his hands behind his back, for incorrectly introducing himself, for uttering a profanity, for failing to clear leaves in the yard, for citing the European Court of Human Rights’ demand for his release, for addressing the guard without using a patronym, and for declining to wash the fence. They also transfered him to the far north and previously used sleep deprivement against him. I tend to assume that they also killed him, either directly or indirectly. He was definitely not the perfect politician, but did things which a common politician never dares to do, which suggests having some principles. When they came for anarchists, he didn't forget them, but also spoke for anarchists.
ekspress.delfi.ee
Eesti Ekspress on pühendanud artikli Progressiivse Liikumise tegemistele. Kahjuks on nad selle toppinud maksumüüri taha. Kui ma maksumüürist tee ümber leian, kommenteerin all. The paper Eesti Eksrpress has dedicated an article to the doings of the Progressive Movement. Unfortunately they have paywalled it. If I find a way past the paywall, I will comment below.
www.err.ee
Summary for the English-speakers: last year Estonia, a country traditionally running on oil shale, has finally produced most of its electrical power from renewable sources. Renewables produced 2.6 TWh while fossils only 2.3 TWh - but the report is needlessly optimistic as 1.2 TWh out of the renewables still involved burning stuff (waste, wood chip and other biomass). --- Verstapostist on mööda saadud, aga tegelikkus ilusate arvude taga on, et pool meie "taastuvenergiast" emiteerib süsihappegaasi. Siiski on ka see parem kui mitte midagi. :)
Background: yesterday, there was heated discussion in the thread "military-industrial complex is a supervillain of causing the climate crisis" ([link](https://slrpnk.net/post/5699609)). Among others, the thread creator posted a comment to the Guardian article "The climate costs of war and militaries can no longer be ignored", commenting it thusly: > If you want more context or won’t take my word on how militarism will kill is all, [you can read this article.](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/09/emission-from-war-military-gaza-ukraine-climate-change) I replied, a copy of my reply is below for your judgement. My reply got moderated by someone with the reason *"Comment does not address intent of original post and promotes weapons industry / war in Ukraine."* I think my comment both addressed the topic, did not promote the weapons industry but helping Ukraine defend itself (ironically, tools for military self-defense come from the weapons industry) and did not promote the war (in fact, I noted that war is expensive, resource-intensive and stupid), but did explain the dynamics of war and revolutions. I consider this moderator misconduct, likely motivated by their political views - and have asked a server administrator to talk with the moderator involved, to ascertain if they can refrain from using moderator powers as a political club to hit people, or to secure their demotion from a moderating role. The removed post, for your judgement: --- > The article is fine, and I second the recommendation to read it, but from the article to the slogan you present, things do not follow a logical path. > Yes, war is both an incredibly expensive activity (diverting money that could be used) and a resource-intensive activity (the money goes into actual materials that almost surely destroy something or get destroyed) and an incredibly stupid activity (and it can snowball)... > ...but the problem is that successful unilateral disarmament during a war tends to result in a situation called "defeat". If the defeat is not an attack being defeated, but defense being defeated, that is called a "conquest". Now, letting a conquest succeed has a historical tendency of the conqueror having more experience at conquest, and more resources to conquer with... which has, several times in history, lead to *another conquest* or a *whole series of conquests*. A regional war in Ukraine resulting in Ukraine being taken over by Russia has a high probability of producing: > 1) a bigger regional war later, in which Russia, using its own resources and those of Ukraine, proceeds to another country, gets into a direct conflict with NATO and then indeed there is a risk of a global war > 2) an encouraging effect after which China, noting that international cooperation against the agressor was ultimately insufficient, and deeming itself better prepared than Russia, decides that it can take Taiwan with military force > However, a war ending with inability to show victory tends to produce a revolution in the invading country. For example, World War I produced a revolution in Russia and subsequently a revolution in Germany, with several smaller revolutions in between, empires collapsing and a brief bloom of democracy in Europe, before the Great Depression and the rise of fascism ate all the fruits. The Falklands War produced a revolution in Argentina. The Russo-Japanese war produced the 1905 near-revolution in Russia. > It is better for Ukraine to not get conquered. It is better for Russia to be unable to conquer Ukraine. That result is also better for everyone around them. It's even better globally because it sets a precedent of large-scale cooperation defeating an agressive superpower, discouraging agressive superpowers from undertaking similar wars until memory starts fading again. > Unfortunately, until we see indications that Russian society is getting ready to stop the war (this could involve starting negotiations on terms palatable to Ukraine, a change of leadership, a withdrawal, a revolution, etc)... the path to achieving that outcome remains wearing out the agressor: producing enough weapons and delivering them to Ukraine. > Ultimately, both sides in a war wear each other down. The soldiers most eager to fight are killed soonest. The people most unwilling to get mobilized or recruited, and soldiers most unwilling to fight - they remain alive. If they are pressed forever, some day they will make the calculation: there are less troops blocking the way home than in the trenches of the opposing side. After that realization, they eventually tend to mutiny. Invading troops tend to do that a bit easier than defending troops, because they sense less purpose in their activity. In the long run, if nothing else happens, that will happen. There is just (probably, regrettably) no particularly quick shortcut to getting there.
Läti anarhistid korraldavad raamatulaada. Sellest kirjutab Soome anarhistide portaal "takku.net". / Latvian anarchists are holding a bookfair in spring. The Finnish anarchist portal "takku.net" reports about it. --- We announce the 1st Anarchist Bookfair in Riga 24-26 May 2024 We are going to continue the tradition of Anarchist bookfairs which have been held in Tallinn, Stockholm and London. We invite all the Anarchist and Antiauthoritarian publishers to present and sell their books, magazines, newspapers, cartoons, etc and everybody interseted to spend the weekend with us, take part in discussions and seminars. The event is open to everybody and no prior registration is required. The details of the programme will come later. If you want to sell/present your printed matter, please, write to rigabooks@riseup.net We have a limited number of tables/stalls, order them in advance. The deadline for booking is May, 1 2024. We are going to hold a special round table discussion for Anarchist publishers, bloggers, writers, artists and translators. Let us know if you want to take part. If you want to make a presentation/lecture/workshop/concert you are most welcome. Please write to rigabooks@riseup.net The deadline is 23.04.2024 When: 24-26 May 2024 Where: Riga, Latvia Riga, the capital city of Latvia, is situated at the Baltic sea and it is an ideal meeting place for all those interested from the East and the West. Latvia has a glorious anarchist history dating from 19 century and of anarchist and libertarian socialist print in various languages, including Latvian, Russian, Yeddish. Latvia has beautiful nature and May is the best time to come, when there are not so many tourists and it is already warm. Latvia has very rich history of brewery and one of the best beers in Europe.
www.err.ee
For English speakers: electricity consumers in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are having "interesting times" at the moment. A sudden intrusion of arctic air has resulted in very low temperatures (down to -40 C in northern Finland) and resultingly, electricity prices are super high. In addition, one energy block in the Forsmark NPP is down in Sweden. The Finnish grid administrator has thus advised people to use electricity sparingly. The unavoidable blame game of "why" will unavoidably follow. To state the most obvious, an excess of weather is excessive. :) But the pricing algorithm of Nord Pool (the common electricity exchange of Northern Europe) is such that the highest asker whose services are needed "makes the price" for everyone during that hour. Whether that is reasonable, is not obvious (and not trivial to prove or disprove). However, the region also has a definite lack of energy storage. Lack of storage means that when a bad day comes, instead of graceful rise, some operators are warming up big power stations which use inefficient fuels from a stone-cold status, only to let them cool down tomorrow. Such activity costs the consumer a big penny. --- ERR kirjutab sellest, mis parasjagu turul toimub. Eestis saab nautida enamuse reedest elektrit hinnaga 0.8 € / KWh, tipptundidel aga 1.8 € / KWh. Soomes on võimalik itkeda hinnataseme juures 2.3 € / KWh. Kuidas sellist nalja ära hoida saaks? Või ei saagi? Minu hinnangul - ikka saab. Olemas peab lihtsalt olema mingeid vähegi normaalse kütusega töötavaid varuvõimsusi, mille liinile toomine on natuke kergema klassi ülesanne kui mäe soojaks ajamine. :) Olemas peab olema ka salvestavaid võimsusi. Siis hakkab hind kerkima sujuvalt, sedamööda kuidas ilmaennustust lugenud salvestajad päikeselisel päeval oma energiasalvi täidavad ja odavamad varus seisnud jaamad mitu päeva kuumana käivad (samuti selleks, et pahal päeval kõik energiasalved täis oleks)... selle asemel et ühe meeletu lõpuspurdi käigus üheks meeletuks päevaks ka kõige raiskavam tootmisseade üles kütta... ja taas jahtuda lasta. Selline tegevus lihtsalt peabki olema väga ebaefektiivne. Hind tõuseks ikka, aga salvestusvõimsuste leidumisel sujuvamalt. Tervislikuma tootmisvõimsuste segu korral mitte nii järsult. Tegemist on lahendatava probleemiga. Lahendus võib olla kas tehniline (jättes Nordpooli veidi kummaline algoritm samaks) aga võib ka peituda turu reeglite muutmises. Kas viimane turule mahtunud pakkuja ikka peab "tegema hinna kõigi jaoks"? Minu jaoks teoreetiline küsimus, kuna eilne päikesepaiste täitis kõik omad kõik varud üle ootuste. Häid külmapühasid.
A topic about some pointless reddit, please ignore. / Teema mingi mõttetu redditi kohta, palun eirake. --- Hiljuti oli jälle võimalik näha Eesti redditit selle uues hiilguses. Kuna see oli mitmes kord, siis kannatus katkes - saatsin olukorra põhjustajad ning probleemi eirajad iga ilmakaare suunas ja tulin ära. Diagnoos: - arvestatav kogus totalitaarsuse ihalejaid - kogunevad nagu kärbsed teatud teemadesse - seal teemades on neil lokaalne enamus - teevad üleskutseid vägivallale ja totalitaarsete ideede toeks - üldine populatsioon ei viitsi nendega tegeleda, kuna on meelt lahutamas - lisaks on provokaator reeglina "omade poolel", keskmise redditori aju tõrgub siinkohal - reeglid ütlevad, et "meil on selleks moderaatorid" - kuna mind võidakse bännida, järgin reegleid ja ei pea nendega kodusõda - paraku, moderaatorid ei tegele - ja Redditi adminid ei loe eesti keelt Kui eelnevad tingimused on täidetud, siis ongi valmis kasvulava, kus liberaalid toidavad metsast leitud haiget fašismi - ja kui anarhist ütleb, et viige fašism metsa tagasi, siis anarhist on liiga radikaalne ja liberaalid ei vii - hoiavad ja toidavad edasi, küllap kuni hammustama hakkab. Omaette fenomen on silmakirjalikkus ja musta valgeks rääkimine. See on seal kah kõrgelt arenenud. Toda keskkonda ühelegi anarhistile poliitiliseks aruteluks ei soovita. Mudaaugus, kus pooltel on juba mudaplönn peos, ei saa arutleda, vaid muda loopida.
badcyber.com
This article is about fixing, but with a twist - it's about fixing trains that their manufacturer sabotaged. :D In Poland, it took the hacker crew "Dragon Sector" months of work to find a software "time bomb" that was sabotaging "Impuls" trains manufactured by Newag, once their maintenance was handed over to another company. Let this be a reminder to everyone about closed source technology and critical infrastructure.
Living off grid often correlates with poorly accessible locations - because that's where the infrastructure is not. On certain latitudes, especially near bodies of water, especially in remote locations - do not ask who the snow comes for - it always comes for you (and with a grudge). So, what ya gonna do? Over here, a tractor being incomplete (it is great folly to go into winter with an incomplete tractor), snow is handled by an electric microcar. Since the microcar is made of thin sheet metal and plastic, it cannot carry a plow... but the rear axle being solid steel, it can pull one. The plow is one year old, and was previously pulled by a gasoline car. It is made of construction steel: 8 mm L-profiles shaped like a letter A with double horizontal bars. The point of connection on top ensures it doesn't lift too much while plowing. It's currently fixed with an unprofessional and temporary C-clamp (there will be an U-bolt soon). It is pulled with a chain. If snow is heavy, the L-profiles lift the plow on top of snow, and you have to plow the same road many times. Sometimes it veers off sideways. Generally, you have to catch the snow early with this system - if you're late, you're stuck. :) Not many advantages, but dirt cheap. Don't go plowing public roads with such devices - it is nearly invisible to fellow drivers, and cops would get a seizure.