Search found 1920 matches

by just frank
Wed Mar 27, 2024 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me choose a new heating and air system - NYC (HVAC)
Replies: 28
Views: 1918

Re: Help me choose a new heating and air system - NYC (HVAC)

When comparing gas furnace BTUs, you also need to know the efficiency of the furnace. It would be very typical to replace an old 80,000 BTU furnace that is 80% efficient with a modern 60,000 BTU furnace that is 95% efficient. I didn't know that efficiency was related to output; I thought it was only related to input (how much energy was necessary to produce the stated output)...? So I thought an 80kbtu 70% furnace would produce exactly the same output as an 80kbtu 95% furnace, but cost more for fuel while doing so. Whenever I had a choice, vendors would offer say an 80kbtu 80% furnace or an 80kbtu 95% furnace; vendors never changed the btu recommended, just the efficiency percentage (and the price.) That was my understanding, too. That the...
by just frank
Tue Mar 26, 2024 9:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Favorite protein powder for shakes at home?
Replies: 75
Views: 3260

Re: Favorite protein powder for shakes at home?

I like the Vega Protein Made Simple, Vanilla. Yellow pea protein, with a little sugar. Amazon seems to be cheaper than the grocer.

I mix it into Silk unsweetened Soy milk, the green carton.

When this gets boring, I add a bit of cocoa powder.
by just frank
Tue Mar 26, 2024 6:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me choose a new heating and air system - NYC (HVAC)
Replies: 28
Views: 1918

Re: Help me choose a new heating and air system? (HVAC) - UPDATE

As for the ducting it is hard to say over the internet. Usually the cross-sectional area of the trunk ducts near the furnace is sized for the necessary cubic feet per minute (CFM) and the branch ducts are sized (area and number) to match the trunks. Because heat pumps deliver air at a lower temp than furnaces, they deliver less BTU/h at the same CFM. The formula BTW is BTU/h = 1.08*CFM*DELTA_T where DELTA_T is the amount of temp increase of the air coming out of the registers versus going into the returns. Thus, if your ducts are barely big enough to deliver the needed BTUs from a furnace cranking out very hot air, they will be undersized for a heat pump. If however, your furnace and ducts are oversized (bc the ducts were installed in 1950 ...
by just frank
Tue Mar 26, 2024 6:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me choose a new heating and air system - NYC (HVAC)
Replies: 28
Views: 1918

Re: Help me choose a new heating and air system? (HVAC) - UPDATE

You haven't owned the house since the 50s, so it might've been up-insulated by a prior owner. Many furnaces are oversized, and this is usually undesirable. The easiest way to know your BTU requirements is to time your heating system cycling on and off during some cold weather. like with a stopwatch. If your 80 kBTU/h furnace is firing 40% of the time when its 20°F outside, your house needs 80k*0.4 = 32kBTU/h at that outdoor temp. Demand is almost linear in the temperature difference indoors and outdoors. So that 32kBTU/h for a 70-20°F = 50°F difference implies that a 60kBTU unit could heat you down to almost -25°F, for example. Add in some margin for wind. :) That sort of furnace cycling estimation is MUCH more reliable than a manual J in m...
by just frank
Tue Mar 26, 2024 5:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: So what are you cooking
Replies: 972
Views: 111144

Re: So what are you cooking

The algo recently set me up with a youtuber called 'yeungmancooking'.

I am enjoying his mushroomy 'veggie stew'. All of his stuff is easy, quick and plant-based.
by just frank
Mon Mar 25, 2024 10:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How am I doing?
Replies: 25
Views: 2462

Re: How am I doing?

tman9940 wrote: Mon Mar 25, 2024 9:00 pm
windaar wrote: Mon Mar 25, 2024 8:58 pm You want to be “work optional” in 12 years and you are avoiding marriage because you don’t want to “risk all your your hard work.” That doesn’t sound like someone who should be at 100% equities. I think you should figure out your risk tolerance and find an appropriate asset allocation that matches it.
I can recover from a stock market crash. Without selling.

I couldn’t recover from a divorce and giving my ex half of everything I’ve worked for.
Au contraire. You can.

Take a look at how family law works, and what of you assets are communal property, versus not.
by just frank
Mon Mar 25, 2024 10:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you setback thermostat on your electric heatpump?
Replies: 47
Views: 2754

Re: Do you setback thermostat on your electric heatpump?

Nice. Because the heat of the pump contributes to the heat delivered in heating mode. :beer
by just frank
Mon Mar 25, 2024 8:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me choose a new heating and air system - NYC (HVAC)
Replies: 28
Views: 1918

Re: Help me choose a new heating and air system? (HVAC)

One thing. The furnace doesn't 'dry the air' in the winter. The humidity in the house leaks outside, and the outside air in winter that replaces it has very little water in it. Any system heating that outside air will result in the same indoor humidity.
by just frank
Mon Mar 25, 2024 8:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you setback thermostat on your electric heatpump?
Replies: 47
Views: 2754

Re: Do you setback thermostat on your electric heatpump?

So it's the size of the difference rather than the absolute temperature itself -- the gap from external to internal is what matters. Interesting conjecture. I wasn't sure what the right answer might be, so I pulled down the specs for my Heat Pump (a 2019 vintage Carrier 3 ton/14 SEER model) What I found is that efficiency is about the same for relative temperatures when look at different heating or cooling ranges, but it appears that cooling is only about 70% of the efficiency of heating with a differential of 31º https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinybiplAZua2N5pkK5yCMrWiLgfVlnABbhxQDTFHWP3DHgYAjFCQNlZzINvZJkgFNiIOS53Cjf1qYdvRVM7Q0sOupvnLoAeYpnjA7fWi942S74_bOnhJrSnhyphenhyphenzJPdplVLSOS8cxuWKLPKJaE38BR39Cr1_wwibGZ...
by just frank
Sun Mar 24, 2024 9:05 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Flash drives vs external HDs?
Replies: 63
Views: 3930

Re: Flash drives vs external HDs?

I found that HDDs were so slow I seldom had the patience to back up. With SSDs, I do back up more often. And 2TB SSDs are under $100 now, so why not? Yes HDDs are slow, especially in access time. Some SSDs like QLC can have lower sequential throughput than SSDs, though, which will affect backup times. At the 2TB size I agree with you, SSD is best. For higher capacity, I prefer HDDs in RAID. My home NAS has 8 x 14TB HDDs in raidz2 configuration ;) There are very few PC cases still being made that will fit that many drives. I use a 10GBps LAN as well, so the backups are quite fast. I don't sit around just watching backups complete so don't understand complaints of speed. I'm backing up a laptop which travels to work with me. If a backup take...
by just frank
Sun Mar 24, 2024 8:28 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Flash drives vs external HDs?
Replies: 63
Views: 3930

Re: Flash drives vs external HDs?

I found that HDDs were so slow I seldom had the patience to back up. With SSDs, I do back up more often. And 2TB SSDs are under $100 now, so why not? Yes HDDs are slow, especially in access time. Some SSDs like QLC can have lower sequential throughput than SSDs, though, which will affect backup times. At the 2TB size I agree with you, SSD is best. For higher capacity, I prefer HDDs in RAID. My home NAS has 8 x 14TB HDDs in raidz2 configuration ;) There are very few PC cases still being made that will fit that many drives. I use a 10GBps LAN as well, so the backups are quite fast. I don't sit around just watching backups complete so don't understand complaints of speed. I'm backing up a laptop which travels to work with me. If a backup take...
by just frank
Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you setback thermostat on your electric heatpump?
Replies: 47
Views: 2754

Re: Do you setback thermostat on your electric heatpump?

I do setbacks to lower temps at night 12 mos a year, heating and cooling. 2 or 3 °F The difference in energy usage in the summer for AC is probably negligible. In the winter, the issue is whether your tstat calls for aux when recovering in the morning (at a COP of 1) versus using the HP to recover. This was one reason why I got a smart stat, the EcoBee3, which knows the outside temp and will start to recover in advance, getting an earlier start when it is colder outside, so it reaches setpoint without using the AUX whenever possible. I can also LOCK OUT the aux completely above a certain outdoor temp (I set mine to 28°F), so most 'shoulder' days it is not an issue at all. The issue with this is if the HP failed while I was on vacation... it...
by just frank
Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Flash drives vs external HDs?
Replies: 63
Views: 3930

Re: Flash drives vs external HDs?

I found that HDDs were so slow I seldom had the patience to back up.

With SSDs, I do back up more often. And 2TB SSDs are under $100 now, so why not?
by just frank
Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Golf Cart Battery Charging
Replies: 7
Views: 445

Re: Golf Cart Battery Charging

Just curious, but was that lithium figure assuming the same amp hour capacity?

With flooded lead acids, you don't want to go much below 70-80% SOC for optimun life
AGM batteries can go to 50% SOC.

LFP batteries are FINE going 100% to 0%, and have built in battery management.

So you only need half as much amp hours of LFP as AGM. And they will then last 2X as long.
by just frank
Thu Mar 21, 2024 8:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: navigation system for car
Replies: 64
Views: 3369

Re: navigation system for car

You can get a 'burner' Android phone for very little cash, with prepaid call minutes.

Never use the minutes, mount it on your dash, plug it into your acc jack, and use Android Auto for navigation. It will be way better that the built in nav, And probably have good voice commands.
by just frank
Wed Mar 20, 2024 10:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The best game-changing financial advice you ever received (or "discovered")
Replies: 219
Views: 25616

Re: The best game-changing financial advice you ever received (or "discovered")

I read a bunch of behavioral finance years ago that convinced me that market timing not only doesn't work, it can't work.

Index here I come!

Don't just do something... stand there!
by just frank
Mon Mar 18, 2024 12:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Have any of you Frugal Zebras Changed Your (Spending) Stripes?
Replies: 139
Views: 12993

Re: Have any of you Frugal Zebras Changed Your (Spending) Stripes?

I guess one thing I always had in my head was the power of compound interest....

If I assume that any saved/invested funds double (in real term) every 15 years, then:

A dollar I spend on my retirement day is worth $1.
A dollar I spend 15 years before retirement is worth $2 at retirement.
A dollar I spend 30 years before retirement is worth $4 at retirement.

That $16 cocktail when I'm 40 yo feels like spending $64 for a cocktail!! :oops:

even more if I think about tax advantages.

If I assume I will value a purchase or service as much when I retire as I do beforehand... then I feel a pressure to not spend when young.

But that pressure abates exponentially the closer I get to retirement (currently about 14 years away).
by just frank
Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The best game-changing financial advice you ever received (or "discovered")
Replies: 219
Views: 25616

Re: The best game-changing financial advice you ever received (or "discovered")

Why do divorce lawyers cost so much? Because they are worth every penny.
by just frank
Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Yearly AC tune up?
Replies: 14
Views: 2140

Re: Yearly AC tune up?

I have a heat pump which runs a lot more than a central AC, and I skip the annual checkups. I change the filters a few times a year (reminded by the smart stat) and hose off the outdoor coil every couple years.

All the tuneup does is monitor the refrigerant pressure, and that is a very imperfect way to estimate the refrigerant charge.

I do measure the output temps of my system at a common outdoor temp to see that it is performing to 'spec', maybe once or twice a year.

+1 on keeping a capacitor on hand (if you're handy). I didn't do that and the service call (in February) was $300.
by just frank
Sun Mar 17, 2024 7:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

Side note, question for those who might know. If AI has actually evolved emergent understanding and is improving at such a rapid pace, why do AI-generated images still have such trouble counting fingers and legs? Why haven't they learned from Wikipedia that The human hand usually has five digits and learned how to apply this fact? They are supposed to be able to write code, why can't they write "Do hand = new object. Draw(hand). If digits(hand)=5 then exit else repeat." Me: "Show me a picture of six people waving their hands enthusiastically." Microsoft Bing Copilot: For that matter, there's also a problem with "six." Clearly AI's have not (yet) learned to count on their fingers and toes. Like even a toddler c...
by just frank
Sun Mar 17, 2024 7:20 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

The big picture is that the per capita productivity of the economy grows continuously. This leads to the same positive real returns that index investors can profit from. Historically, this continuous upward (productivity of capital) curve has been called progress . At the same time, that productivity gain has improved the human condition. Over the span of centuries, the amount of progress has been enormous, and hard for us moderns to wrap our heads around. We live lives that would have be that of royalty a few centuries ago! So the essential questions are (1) how much longer can this continue? and (2) is the trend speeding up, slowing down, or is it exponential? Question (1) is nobody knows. Clearly it can't go to infinity, right? Question ...
by just frank
Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I will need a new car or repair one
Replies: 46
Views: 2210

Re: I will need a new car or repair one

What is comparable Japanese car that is being considered? Model Y is good but drive it and see if it works for you. For me it has a few deal breakers like the harsh suspension and no sunroof shade. Also had someone mention the seat foam is not very durable. I would want to wait till the refresh before considering the M-Y because I think they will soften the ride. BMW are money pits and they aren’t even fun to drive anymore. So I would get rid of it. Agree. Model Y refresh coming in late 2024. So you can likely get the older model marked down before the rollout, or get a much better vehicle after. Can you limp the existing car for a year? That is, is it just squeaks at this time? Just squeaks at the moment. I think i will try to limp it for...
by just frank
Sat Mar 16, 2024 4:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I will need a new car or repair one
Replies: 46
Views: 2210

Re: I will need a new car or repair one

Tesla Model Y vs Comparable Japanese Car Which one would you go for??? What is comparable Japanese car that is being considered? Model Y is good but drive it and see if it works for you. For me it has a few deal breakers like the harsh suspension and no sunroof shade. Also had someone mention the seat foam is not very durable. I would want to wait till the refresh before considering the M-Y because I think they will soften the ride. BMW are money pits and they aren’t even fun to drive anymore. So I would get rid of it. Agree. Model Y refresh coming in late 2024. So you can likely get the older model marked down before the rollout, or get a much better vehicle after. Can you limp the existing car for a year? That is, is it just squeaks at t...
by just frank
Sat Mar 16, 2024 3:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Older jobless sibling with a daughter and an inheritance - thoughts on managing it
Replies: 31
Views: 2869

Re: Older jobless sibling with a daughter and an inheritance - thoughts on managing it

Sorry for your loss and the situation.

Has OP considered the possibility that brother will sue OP for the house? On the grounds that parents told him he could have it when they passed, or some other nonsense? Even if there are no grounds, he might be assuming that siblings will concede it he makes a big enough stink, and plays the 'poor me and me daughter' game.

I have seen similar happen.
by just frank
Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:51 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Utilities cost?
Replies: 57
Views: 4394

Re: Utilities cost?

My 2200 sq ft house (and car) are all electric. I use about 14,600 kWh/year (and drive about 9000 miles). Maybe 12,000 kWh without counting the car.

My average monthly elec bill is $220, or $180/mo without the car. 2/3rds of that is heating and cooling.

My water bill is about $40 more.
by just frank
Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I will need a new car or repair one
Replies: 46
Views: 2210

Re: I will need a new car or repair one

Tesla Model Y vs Comparable Japanese Car Which one would you go for??? What is comparable Japanese car that is being considered? Model Y is good but drive it and see if it works for you. For me it has a few deal breakers like the harsh suspension and no sunroof shade. Also had someone mention the seat foam is not very durable. I would want to wait till the refresh before considering the M-Y because I think they will soften the ride. BMW are money pits and they aren’t even fun to drive anymore. So I would get rid of it. Agree. Model Y refresh coming in late 2024. So you can likely get the older model marked down before the rollout, or get a much better vehicle after. Can you limp the existing car for a year? That is, is it just squeaks at t...
by just frank
Fri Mar 15, 2024 9:41 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

I accept that entirely. Once that starts happening I think you’ll see what a tiny fraction of human productivity purely intellectual tasks are. Health care might have some interesting exceptions just because of how much doctors are paid. People keep reiterating how AI will make scientific discoveries. These people have evidently never had to make a scientific discovery. There are millions of examples of AI discovering new materials, new solutions to mathematical problems, AI famously solved the protein folding problem, that biologists had never been able to solve. Um, that's far from correct. Physics based models for protein folding have gotten pretty good after much effort. And the AI protein folding models are extrapolating from experime...
by just frank
Fri Mar 15, 2024 9:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Getting new car
Replies: 53
Views: 6454

Re: Getting new car

I am a Toyota outlier. My ex-wife and I drove two gently used Toyota's back in the day (a '94 Corolla and an '05 Camry). Both were terrible cars. Now I would say lemons. Spent thousands getting major repairs on both, check engine lights coming on all the time. The '94 had some thermostat problem I guess (after 140 k miles) that led to the engine running cold and I logged it getting about 14 mpg in city driving. The Camry got about 20 mpg in city, 27 on the HW, and we ditched it before it reached 100k miles. Around here I see that this sort of thing never happens, and these cars can propel you around for decades with no (unscheduled) maintenance while sipping gas. I'll pass. What do you drive now? I have owned 4 EVs since then, a 2013 LEAF,...
by just frank
Fri Mar 15, 2024 5:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Getting new car
Replies: 53
Views: 6454

Re: Getting new car

I am a Toyota outlier. My ex-wife and I drove two gently used Toyota's back in the day (a '94 Corolla and an '05 Camry). Both were terrible cars. Now I would say lemons. Spent thousands getting major repairs on both, check engine lights coming on all the time. The '94 had some thermostat problem I guess (after 140 k miles) that led to the engine running cold and I logged it getting about 14 mpg in city driving. The Camry got about 20 mpg in city, 27 on the HW, and we ditched it before it reached 100k miles.

Around here I see that this sort of thing never happens, and these cars can propel you around for decades with no (unscheduled) maintenance while sipping gas. I'll pass.
by just frank
Wed Mar 13, 2024 12:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Preparing for Marriage
Replies: 47
Views: 4817

Re: Preparing for Marriage

Agreed there. I make it very clear on my goals for the future and show her what we need to do to achieve them and how much needs to go where. I am definitely the more financially savvy one and these types of things is what I genuinely enjoy doing. I have no problem creating a budget and enforcing saving/paying down debt to the tune of 'we can't go out to eat tonight because we are over our budget for the month and would have to dip into savings'. She may not like it, but it's for the better. Oh, wow. No. Way off. These are decisions y’all need to make together if you want this thing to work out This. If OP wants to overpower his wife, then stop and don’t get married. A lot of fiance's are very agreeable before marriage, and then turn out t...
by just frank
Wed Mar 13, 2024 5:16 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Preparing for Marriage
Replies: 47
Views: 4817

Re: Preparing for Marriage

Agreed there. I make it very clear on my goals for the future and show her what we need to do to achieve them and how much needs to go where. I am definitely the more financially savvy one and these types of things is what I genuinely enjoy doing. I have no problem creating a budget and enforcing saving/paying down debt to the tune of 'we can't go out to eat tonight because we are over our budget for the month and would have to dip into savings'. She may not like it, but it's for the better. Oh, wow. No. Way off. These are decisions y’all need to make together if you want this thing to work out This. If OP wants to overpower his wife, then stop and don’t get married. A lot of fiance's are very agreeable before marriage, and then turn out t...
by just frank
Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:01 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

The concept of Artificial Intelligence has long been with us. In the Iliad, Hephaistos was described as having robot helpers in his workshop. These were in the form of young women, and fashioned of gold:

There were golden handmaids also who worked for him, and were like real young women, with sense and reason [noos], voice also and strength, [420] and all the learning of the immortals; these busied themselves as the king bade them…

Iliad 18.417–421

The greek word used was 'automata', and these stories were part of an oral tradition that predate the written Old Testament.

Should we be surprised that the idea still captures our imagination in 2024 as it did 3000 years ago?
by just frank
Tue Mar 12, 2024 2:21 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

. This is an algorithm that's never been programmed to do things like that – it means it's able to juggle abstract concepts and use some kind of imagination – and this has emerged in ways no one really understands .. If you don't get why that's a huge leap, you probably never will .. Exactly! It is the emergent behavior of these systems that is super interesting (and makes them very difficult to debug too). After all, you are talking about systems with many billions of parameters. Rule base systems like LISA (Weizenbaum) could already do a very effective job of therapy in the 70's. Modern nnets are way more than any of that - they aren't even algos in the traditional sense. As most of you likely already know, nnets already passed the US Me...
by just frank
Tue Mar 12, 2024 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Preparing for Marriage
Replies: 47
Views: 4817

Re: Preparing for Marriage

windaar wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 2:58 pm Be prepared to give more than you take and you will be happy. And keep your vows.
Didn't work for me. Two times.

10% of people (men and women) have personality disorders that lead them to be deceptive in intimate relationships. These can be detected pre marriage, but most often are not.
by just frank
Tue Mar 12, 2024 2:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Preparing for Marriage
Replies: 47
Views: 4817

Re: Preparing for Marriage

Prenup. Not kidding. +1 #1 best piece of advice you can get here. The most important form of financial insurance and far more consequential than your asset allocation imo. In modern times, it should have no stigma. I know several recent divorcees, ALL of them will insist on a prenup next time around. I have never met someone that regretted asking for a prenup. You also have far more in assets than the person you are marrying. I would wager the student loans are more than their entire net worth. I have a friend that just shortly before getting married found out his soon to be wife has $350k in student debt. Just sort of forgot about it I guess. You can look at any stats you want, but I think everyone would agree without knowing specifics, t...
by just frank
Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Preparing for Marriage
Replies: 47
Views: 4817

Re: Preparing for Marriage

Marriage advice from a twice divorced man... take it for what it is. :beer read about attachment styles: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/attachment-and-adult-relationships.htm basically, about 50% of humans are 'secure' attachers. Secure attachers are pretty good at finding other secure attachers (rather, rejecting the other types), so close to half of first marriages are between two secures. Fun fact, these secure-secure marriages have a lifetime divorce rate in the low singe digits. These are the marriages that everyone wants to have. If you and your bride are both secure attachers, then mazel tov. You have it made . Be a good husband to her and she will be a good wife to you. Note that the overall lifetime ...
by just frank
Sun Mar 10, 2024 3:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Have any of you Frugal Zebras Changed Your (Spending) Stripes?
Replies: 139
Views: 12993

Re: Have any of you Frugal Zebras Changed Your (Spending) Stripes?

Once the rate of increase in my savings started to significantly outpace my savings rate (I'm 55, that was a few years back) I stopped sweating the small stuff.
by just frank
Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:38 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best < $100 purchase?
Replies: 299
Views: 56509

Re: Best < $100 purchase?

A useful rechargeable flashlight that is actually small enough for a keychain:

https://www.amazon.com/OLIGHT-Rechargea ... BMLDV?th=1

Its about as big as the end of my pinky finger. And about 4X brighter than a phone flashlight, and better directed (for 20 minutes). Uses a USB-C charger, not included.

Very handy for finding small objects dropped in dark places, viewing small parts with old eyes, walking in unexpected dark areas, and signaling low flying aircraft.
by just frank
Fri Mar 08, 2024 12:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

Yes. A smartphone replaces so much as well. It's a hifi, computer, library, sat nav, TV, VCR, editing suite, recording studio, DSLR, movie camera, games console, etc. Arguable. The built-in speaker in a smartphone is a very poor substitute for a hi-fi system. As a computer, it is much less usable due to input devices constraints. A small touch screen is much less reliable than a physical keyboard. It definitely does a good job as sat nav. For TV, the screen is far too small. The camera optics don't come close to a DSLR Not to say it is useless. I did type this post on a smartphone. But it is not a replacement. More of a complement. And CDs were a poor replacement for vinyl and quarter inch tape .. I remember going to a studio with a Studer...
by just frank
Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:28 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

What I remember about F-451 is the wife is addicted to social media. Those old Futurists were just uncanny. When it comes to brain chemicals, though, it's different this time. At least I can say I'm different this time, and I'm pretty sure it's not just me. Before Facebook... it was People magazine, and gossiping over the neighbors fence. Humans ARE changing... our attention spans are getting shorter. Like look at the length of time that a given camera shot is in a movie these days, versus the 1940s. Like 5 seconds versus 50. That futurist Marx argued that humans were inseparable from our technology. Change the technology, change the human. One effect of this is productivity gains, which is a quantifiable metric showing clear 'progress'. W...
by just frank
Thu Mar 07, 2024 11:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

faanger101 wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2024 11:16 pm
just frank wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:25 am
WhitePuma wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:17 am
AnnetteLouisan wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2024 2:26 pm I remember a dumb idea I heard back in the 90s. Tech folks were going to create a much smaller handheld device that combined TV, computer, radio and phone (awkward!), that you could bring with you anywhere, even get a call on top of a mountain.

Absurd! Who would want something like that? /s
Well, it has ruined society, ruined normal social functioning and relationships, turned everyone into screen jockeys, made kids lazy, and generally made people dumber.
Source?
Try the following (but be careful!) - slowly open the door, step outside, and see the modern ppl :mrgreen:
I do. We must live in different worlds. I remember the 1900s, and I see the kids nowadays. And my observations are the opposite of those stated.
by just frank
Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

So an AI superintelligence will be able to form new insights from existing scientific data, like another Einstein. That will be super exciting and freak out scientists. But then it will hit a wall, and be limited by new data. Kinda like how LLMs, when they were finally fed the entire internet of data (at the cost of billions of $ of compute) gave us ChatGPTx. But now future breakthroughs will require MORE DATA. Where is that going to come from? Probably some combination of synthetic data, simulations and reward functions. Consider how Deep Mind tackled chess. They simply taught the AI the basic rules of chess and let it play millions of games against an adversarial AI. The reward function was a checkmate. Fast forward two days, and the AI ...
by just frank
Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

So an AI superintelligence will be able to form new insights from existing scientific data, like another Einstein. That will be super exciting and freak out scientists. But then it will hit a wall, and be limited by new data. Kinda like how LLMs, when they were finally fed the entire internet of data (at the cost of billions of $ of compute) gave us ChatGPTx. But now future breakthroughs will require MORE DATA. Where is that going to come from? Probably some combination of synthetic data, simulations and reward functions. Consider how Deep Mind tackled chess. They simply taught the AI the basic rules of chess and let it play millions of games against an adversarial AI. The reward function was a checkmate. Fast forward two days, and the AI ...
by just frank
Mon Mar 04, 2024 6:40 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?
Replies: 311
Views: 29915

Re: Dot.Com Era/AI Era?

The internet didn’t fundamentally change things, it just created new ways to process and distribute information. AI has the promise to fundamentally change everything and the ultimate goal is to create minds as good as or smarter than humans. I think AI has much loftier goals and a potential to achieve them. There is also a lot more money involved this time and the players are the most profitable companies in the world. wikipedia changed things, fundamentally. Google, also - at least in its earlier versions. "new ways to process and distribute information". Well, that's true of most human innovations: speech, writing on clay tablets, pony riders in Persia, writing on paper, Arabic numerals, the printing press, the telegraphy, rad...
by just frank
Sun Mar 03, 2024 4:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Question about Solar panels
Replies: 92
Views: 6721

Re: Question about Solar panels

.... I use an inverter like that on my Bolt EV 12V system, 2000 W peak, 1200 W continuous rating. And I can leave my EV in the attached garage when I'm using it. It was $300 for a sine wave model. If the Bolt is fully charged, I can get about 40 kWh out at 120VAC. Wait, so you are saying you just connect a power inverter to the 12v battery of your Bolt EV, and this allows you to pull energy from the large high voltage battery of the EV? If so, this could power refrigerator/small appliances/lights during outage? We have two EV's neither of which have V2H capability. This sounds interesting. Yes. The 12V system is energized by a DC-DC converter from the traction battery whenever an EV is in 'Drive' or 'Ready'. Hooked up to a 12V sine wave in...
by just frank
Sun Mar 03, 2024 4:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16590

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

fortunefavored wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:55 pm I think this thread has probably run its course. :)
I appreciate your transparency about what you are looking for and not looking for. :beer

I switched bc of the insane cheap kWh, my personal and OT climate concerns, and the fact that my two Toyotas were both lemons that were always in the shop and needed thousands in repairs. :oops:
by just frank
Sun Mar 03, 2024 2:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16590

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

Hi. The point being it is not clear are ev better than ice environmentally and if so how much. The environmental cost of production is 100 percent at birth. The longer it lives the more annual cost to run becomes the primary issue. I read the environmental costs even out at about 70,000 miles but these are all made up numbers as far as I’m concerned. The thought process is what I’m arguing not the exact numbers. Really? If you can compute compound interest, you can do this. To emit a metric ton of CO2, you need to burn about 80 gallons of gasoline. That's chemistry, with a 20% penalty for oil extraction and refining. A kWh of 2023 average US electricity leads to the emissions of 400 g of CO2. A number that is well known, and still falling....
by just frank
Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16590

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

Hi. The point being it is not clear are ev better than ice environmentally and if so how much. The environmental cost of production is 100 percent at birth. The longer it lives the more annual cost to run becomes the primary issue. I read the environmental costs even out at about 70,000 miles but these are all made up numbers as far as I’m concerned. The thought process is what I’m arguing not the exact numbers. Really? If you can compute compound interest, you can do this. To emit a metric ton of CO2, you need to burn about 80 gallons of gasoline. That's chemistry, with a 20% penalty for oil extraction and refining. A kWh of 2023 average US electricity leads to the emissions of 400 g of CO2. A number that is well known, and still falling....
by just frank
Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Question about Solar panels
Replies: 92
Views: 6721

Re: Question about Solar panels

If a portable generator is too muc bother (maintenance for example) and you do not want an EV which has the capability to feed the house (not all have this) , there is one other option, though I have never tried it, and have no endorsement of it: CarGenerator Basically just a pure sine wave inverter made easy to hook to your car battery. This allows you to have a generator that is easy to start and is maintained, you just hang it on the front of the car and hook clamps like jumper cables on the battery. Caveats: the model for all weather is much more expensive ,but needed in bad weather. You must run the car out of and well away from the house (to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning) It provides only a small amount of power You will likely nee...