Hacker News: LikeBeans

New comment by LikeBeans in "First enhanced geothermal power plant completed in just 23 months"

LikeBeans — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 13:55:33 +0000

I admit I don't know enough, but does it negatively affect the underground water a negative way? I read a while back that geothermal plants (can) use fracking like technique to heat up the water but it has negative effects on the local geology and underground water. But not sure if that's true hencey question here.

New comment by LikeBeans in "Amazon workers under pressure to up their AI usage are making up tasks"

LikeBeans — Fri, 15 May 2026 20:01:38 +0000

Brilliant

New comment by LikeBeans in "Running Tesla Model 3's computer on my desk using parts from crashed cars"

LikeBeans — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 22:56:52 +0000

You are probably right. Surprisingly the first controller I tried didn't work. I assumed the voltage was too high since it worked in my other (much older) car. I found a reference online of people that tried a particular brand/model and that's what I went for. Thankfully my car isn't the model with the internal 18v battery.

New comment by LikeBeans in "Running Tesla Model 3's computer on my desk using parts from crashed cars"

LikeBeans — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 22:09:53 +0000

Very cool. Over a year and a half ago I installed a towing brake controller in my Tesla Model Y. Found the location of the plug, how to access and the pinout online (confirmed via a voltmeter..) so the car's side felt straight forward. But then I needed to find a brake controller that can work with the higher voltage (14.4v vs the normal 12v). Then built a cable from the brake controller to the connector that plugs into the car that I found on eBay. I velcro'd the controller under the dashboard. It works pretty well. I towed my small camper several times with it last year with no issues. Yay! However my little project is nothing compared to this post. Love people hacking away. So cool.

New comment by LikeBeans in "Making Firefox's right-click not suck with about:config"

LikeBeans — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 21:41:59 +0000

Yeah the Google Maps was my primary goal. But I was also thinking a person can add other options. For example different search engines. Or maybe your favorite AI agent search.

New comment by LikeBeans in "Making Firefox's right-click not suck with about:config"

LikeBeans — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 20:54:49 +0000

A while back I wanted more menu options with Firefox so I made an extension [1]. Basically when you highlight a word or a sentence on a page a menu popups up with some options like to copy, search, or lookup on Google maps. Or whatever option you want. I use it often and find it useful.

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/popup-tooltip...

New comment by LikeBeans in "US electricity demand surged in 2025 – solar handled 61% of it"

LikeBeans — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 16:10:58 +0000

I think pulling for live pricing by inverters and appliances is not realistic on a grand scale. Using time of day pricing is much simpler imo.

New comment by LikeBeans in "US electricity demand surged in 2025 – solar handled 61% of it"

LikeBeans — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 16:05:49 +0000

Great explanation about the grid being a giant machine that couple smaller machines with each other. About your last point, the buffer, I think batteries (chemical and also physical) seems to be the main key going forward.

New comment by LikeBeans in "CO2 batteries that store grid energy take off globally"

LikeBeans — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 21:56:09 +0000

Good point. I was thinking more about areas without much water and a large field of poles each hoisting several blocks. Sort of wind turbines but without the blades.

New comment by LikeBeans in "CO2 batteries that store grid energy take off globally"

LikeBeans — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 15:09:41 +0000

I wonder how does it compare to hoisting a concrete (or something heavy) block up a pulley system as an energy store? When you need the energy you let it slide down pulling some steel cable that turns a generator, or multiple cables into multiple generators. Or even a cascade of concrete blocks at different heights as a space saver.

New comment by LikeBeans in "CATL expects oceanic electric ships in three years"

LikeBeans — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 13:25:13 +0000

I like your idea. We can now generate substantial amount of power from floating wind turbines. Coupled with floating batteries (ie on cargo ships) we perhaps build floating charging stations along major shipping routes. There is no need for nuclear or to only charge at ports. Would it work?

New comment by LikeBeans in "CATL expects oceanic electric ships in three years"

LikeBeans — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 13:08:05 +0000

Actually thinking about it some more why not park a couple of dozen older cargo ships along major shipping route. Equip them with wind turbines and batteries in shipping containers. Now the actual cargo ships passing by can stop for a few hours, plug in and charge. Use sodium ion batteries that can support thousands of cycles. Even use regular fuel as a backup in the charging ships. You can build and maintain anywhere and then haul them to the right location.

New comment by LikeBeans in "CATL expects oceanic electric ships in three years"

LikeBeans — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 12:44:40 +0000

Clusters of floating wind turbines each with their own battery storage might be useful here. I imagine along strategic (ie major) shipping channels. Would it pencil out? I have no idea.

New comment by LikeBeans in "High-income job losses are cooling housing demand"

LikeBeans — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 18:19:29 +0000

Because of the rising tax rate relative to income. Ours is projected to increase to about 20% of our net income. That's why.

So yeah nice on paper that the house is worth a lot more than we bought it... but that value matters if we sell and move. There is a lot more to that decision than just the property tax, however it sort of putting a time limit to it.

New comment by LikeBeans in "High-income job losses are cooling housing demand"

LikeBeans — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 14:52:44 +0000

Yeah. Unfortunately the real market value grew so fast that when the assessed value catches up over the next few years the property tax is going to take a nice chunk of my net income.

Honestly, this is not a hardship but a nice problem to have. I grew up chronically poor and I feel fortunate and grateful that we have a comfortable home that is ours with equity while a lot of people have housing insecurity.

I agree on the windfall part but selling to get that money is not that simple in the current real estate market and political climate. ie you got to live somewhere... and everywhere you desire is expensive.

New comment by LikeBeans in "High-income job losses are cooling housing demand"

LikeBeans — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:16:26 +0000

It depends on the appreciation and in turn the property taxes. I own my house outright. Completely paid off. But the increases in property taxes is forcing us to sell and move, likely in the next 5 years. Too bad, love the neighborhood and the area.

New comment by LikeBeans in "Google CEO says ‘vibe coding’ made software development ‘so much more enjoyable’"

LikeBeans — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 20:41:35 +0000

No buddy, you're replacing the doer engineers that built your company and made you rich with some form of automation.

New comment by LikeBeans in "Sodium-ion batteries have started to appear in cars and home storage"

LikeBeans — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 05:27:16 +0000

For my EV, which I charge about once a week on average, with 4,000 cycles that means about 77 years!! That's a huge deal. CATL quoted 10k cycle battery too. Wow. Very cool. Yeah energy density and operating profile and all that. But color me impressed.

New comment by LikeBeans in "AI Is Too Big to Fail"

LikeBeans — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:09:11 +0000

I'm skeptical too however I think AI can add value by increasing knowledge worker productivity. Maybe save some money by needing less staff for some tasks. Maybe to mine vast amounts of data looking for a pattern. So I think it is useful however my skepticism is about the cost vs reward. Is it really worth the amount of money pumped into it, not sure. Time will tell.

New comment by LikeBeans in "Ryanair flight landed at Manchester airport with six minutes of fuel left"

LikeBeans — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 06:27:11 +0000

So perhaps the differential air speed between the intake and exhaust is a big factor in the efficiency equation? The bigger the difference the more work is needed..