Hacker News: euroderf

New comment by euroderf in "New bill would let New Yorkers hang solar panels from windows"

euroderf — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:13:12 +0000

Does it make sense to sell panels that plug only directly into the fusebox ? To avoid overloading in-wall wiring.

New comment by euroderf in "New bill would let New Yorkers hang solar panels from windows"

euroderf — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:10:13 +0000

> IEEE 1547, UL 1741

And the EU ?

New comment by euroderf in "New bill would let New Yorkers hang solar panels from windows"

euroderf — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:51:25 +0000

These are not yet approved in Finland, one reason being that older houses might use thinner conductors to wall outlets that cannot handle higher wattages being fed from solar. Maybe fuses and circuit breakers can prevent problems, maybe not. I am not an electrician.

One fix might be a low ceiling on power output from solar units. Another fix might be to sell solar units that connect _only_ directly into a fusebox, completely bypassing in-wall wiring.

And then there is a question of island mode, so that when the power lines are down, and under repair, you don't accidentally electrocute a lineman.

OTOH maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about.

New comment by euroderf in "A New Kind of Hybrid Car Is About to Hit America's Streets"

euroderf — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:37:58 +0000

There's nothing new under the sun.

Back in the 1970s (IIRC) the Mother Earth News sold me plans for just this: a car propelled by an electric motor, connected to a generator connected to a small gasoline engine that ran (when needed) at optimum speed and torque.

Rather than normal automobile batteries, they recommended using deep-cycle marine batteries.

New comment by euroderf in "NYC to open municipal grocery store in 2027"

euroderf — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:34:31 +0000

I visited Soviet Estonia in 1987, on an overnight from Helsinki. A treasured purchase was a simple stamped metal bottle opener. Even the price was stamped: 15 kopecks.

This told me that for the very simplest consumer items, they might easily be contracted out and sold at just above production cost. Consumers would be free to buy fancier bottle openers, but sometimes a hunk of stamped metal does the trick.

Likewise for many other consumer basics ? Like, a Gotham store brand ?

New comment by euroderf in "YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney"

euroderf — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:51:41 +0000

yt-dlp is essential for gathering what you really value. Even under stable URLs, videos can be changed.

New comment by euroderf in "Rare concert recordings are landing on the Internet Archive"

euroderf — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:30:57 +0000

> the record industry does everything it can to consolidate everything.

Financialization ? Productize, promote, push ?

New comment by euroderf in "Math Is Still Catching Up to the Mysterious Genius of Srinivasa Ramanujan (2024)"

euroderf — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:36:21 +0000

Once in a while I see a stat for "life expectancy at age 5". It should be some kind of normative usage.

New comment by euroderf in "Von der Leyen uses Orbán defeat to push for end of veto in EU foreign policy"

euroderf — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:34:14 +0000

Then you would have the United States Senate.

New comment by euroderf in "Von der Leyen uses Orbán defeat to push for end of veto in EU foreign policy"

euroderf — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:33:42 +0000

Two would be toxic. Malta and Cyprus, or whatever. Three might be viable.

New comment by euroderf in "Point Cloud Allemansrätten"

euroderf — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:32:40 +0000

Hurled backward in time ?

New comment by euroderf in "Show HN: Hormuz Havoc, a satirical game that got overrun by AI bots in 24 hours"

euroderf — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:28:49 +0000

If it had been delivered as WASM, the bots would have decompiled that and optimised against it. Fun times.

New comment by euroderf in "Combining spicy foods with mint boosts anti-inflammatory effects 100x or more"

euroderf — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:32:03 +0000

OTOH chili and coffee together merely destroy your tongue..

New comment by euroderf in "Helium is hard to replace"

euroderf — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:00:36 +0000

Also when inhaled it does crazy things to your voice. DEEEP. There's videos on Youtube.

New comment by euroderf in "Helium is hard to replace"

euroderf — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:59:06 +0000

Helium-3, created by solar wind.

New comment by euroderf in "A compelling title that is cryptic enough to get you to take action on it"

euroderf — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:25:57 +0000

A modest plea for civility.

New comment by euroderf in "How to get better at guitar"

euroderf — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:11:29 +0000

Is there a similar system out there for bass perhaps ?

New comment by euroderf in "Iran demands Bitcoin fees for ships passing Hormuz during ceasefire"

euroderf — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:03:29 +0000

> The root cause is the first-past-the-post voting system that ensures a two-party system.

Hear, hear.

I'm rooting for the fast uptake of STV across the US.

New comment by euroderf in "A New Oil Shock Accelerates a Return to Nuclear Power"

euroderf — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:33:08 +0000

The Dem platform could include 80% rebates for balcony solar. That'd put a dent in grid consumption stats.

New comment by euroderf in "'Cognitive Surrender' Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains"

euroderf — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 20:18:01 +0000

Points taken.