frezik

frezik , 11 days ago to Technology in OneDrive automatically backups folders in Windows 11 without users' permissions

Vote this up higher. I wouldn't be surprised at all if everything ends up in their models.

frezik , 11 days ago to Technology in How to make an EV tire that won’t pollute the environment

Hydrogen is probably going to get pushed out of every niche where it might be viable. Batteries tend to get better by 5-8% per year, and there's every reason to believe that will continue to be the case. Run that forward for another decade or so, and even things like heavy construction equipment and transpacific airplanes are viable on battery power.

It's a waste of time and money at this point.

frezik , 11 days ago to Technology in Arizona toddler rescued after getting trapped in a Tesla with a dead battery | The Model Y’s 12-volt battery, which powers things like the doors and windows, died

Battery management electronics don't let you drain lithium batteries to 0%. It's a severe design flaw if it does.

frezik , 11 days ago (edited 11 days ago) to Technology in How to make an EV tire that won’t pollute the environment

Hardly a stretch. The comparison isn't to the power density of gas, but overall curb weight. EVs are roughly 10% heavier than an ICE equivalent. Batteries are the main reason for that (electric motors and the electronics to support them aren't that much). Batteries have also been improving Wh/kg by 5-8% per year. It only takes a few years of improvements to get there.

In fact, since the 10% number has been the case since around 2020 or so, the battery tech might already be there and we just need to get them into new models.

Edit: another way to think about it is what's been taken out of an ICE and replaced with something else. It's not just the engine, but an entire engine life support system. Coolant radiator, oil, transmission, gas tank, and ignition system. Possibly differentials, as well, depending on the electric drive train. It's replaced with motors (which don't weigh much for the power they output compared to ICEs), some electronics (which do need to be beefy to handle the current involved, but also don't weigh that much, relatively speaking), the battery (major source of weight), and the battery does usually need a cooling system, as well. So you don't need to compare it to the energy density of gas, but of all the stuff you replaced.

frezik , 11 days ago to Technology in Arizona toddler rescued after getting trapped in a Tesla with a dead battery | The Model Y’s 12-volt battery, which powers things like the doors and windows, died

Compared to what the main batt can provide, there's barely any draw from the other electronics.

frezik , 11 days ago to Technology in Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

Alrighty then.

unzips

frezik , 12 days ago to Technology in How to make an EV tire that won’t pollute the environment

It could be true. Catalytic converters do a pretty good job of filtering out most pollutants. They also increase CO2 emissions in a variety of direct and indirect ways. Everything else is lower, though.

The way to make EV tires pollute less is to not chase 600+ mile range. Keep them around 300-400 miles, and use further battery improvements to reduce weight. There's no reason EVs have to be heavier forever. With better charging infrastructure, 400 miles is more than enough.

The way to fix everything else wrong with them is to not make cars the default mode of transportation.

frezik , 12 days ago to 196 in architecrule

Lots of coat hangers in there.

frezik , 12 days ago to Technology in Arizona toddler rescued after getting trapped in a Tesla with a dead battery | The Model Y’s 12-volt battery, which powers things like the doors and windows, died

There really shouldn't need to be a 12V battery at all. Stepping the voltage down isn't that complicated, but the supply chain for the necessary parts aren't there for the car industry.

Plus, it'd be really nice if everything could run off a 48V line instead of 12V. The wires can be thinner due to less current draw. Getting that to work across all the electronics for everything is a whole separate level, though.

frezik , 12 days ago to Technology in Arizona toddler rescued after getting trapped in a Tesla with a dead battery | The Model Y’s 12-volt battery, which powers things like the doors and windows, died

It's how journalists apply pressure to companies to respond. "We have statements x, y, and z from the public about you. Do you care to respond? We need to go to press with it in two hours." Companies can ignore it if they want, but the statements will go uncontested.

frezik , 12 days ago to 196 in 451 rule

Lots of the book is just "old man yells at cloud", even though Bradbury wasn't particularly old at the time. Not chronologically, anyway.

I do think he made a good point about porches. Places where you hang out and invite your neighbors to just come by. Houses aren't really made that way anymore; my house has a small concrete block out front that's barely enough to fit two chairs comfortably. Setback requirements in zoning mean it's legally impossible to add anything else, at least as the city zoning code stands right now.

There's a definite change in how my parents' generation interacts with people compared to my generation. It was more normal just to drop by and talk, though perhaps with a phone call to check in first. My friends would consider that weird.

frezik , 12 days ago to Technology in Finnish startup says it can speed up any CPU by up to 100x using a tiny piece of hardware with no recoding

Not every problem is amenable to GPUs. If it has a lot of branching, or needs to fetch back and forth from memory a lot, GPUs don't help.

Now, does this thing have exactly the same limitations? I'm guessing yes, but it's all too vague to know for sure. It's sounds like they're doing what superscalar CPUs have done for a while. On x86, that starts with the original Pentium from 1993, and Crays going back to the '60s. What are they doing to supercharge this idea?

Does this avoid some of security problems that have popped up with superscalar archs? For example, some kernel code running at ring 0 is running alongside userspace code, and it all gets the same ring 0 level as a result.

frezik , 14 days ago to Lefty Memes in Anti-Capitalist Affirmations

Leadership is valid when you're elevated there by the consensus of your peers. That person might have the title of CEO or President. In a lefty organization that's still in a society with currency, they wouldn't have 10,000x the pay of the median worker. They might not even have 10x the pay.

frezik , 15 days ago to Technology in I Will Fucking Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again — Ludicity

College? Pythagorean Theorem is mid-level high school math.

I did once talk to a high school math teacher about a graphics program I was hacking away on at the time, and she was surprised that I actually use the stuff she teaches. Which is to say that I wouldn't expect most programmers to know it exactly off the top of their head, but I would expect they've been exposed to it and can look it up if needed. I happen to have it pretty well ingrained in my brain.

frezik , 18 days ago to solarpunk memes in praxis

I feel dirty saying it, but Walmart store brand Oreos are really good.