The Lance J. Technoweb

So I've been thinking, so I've invented the following: There is a most efficient time to use electricity, and that's when the least efficient power plants are not in operation.  Generally, that's overnight, when demand is low.  At that time, most of the lowest-efficiency power plants are off-line, and only the highest efficiency plants (those that run 24 hours a day) are in operation. In my neck of the woods, I feel that's roughly 1 AM to 5 AM, but there is likely some variability to that based on the details of the local electricity supplier. Given that situation, I figure that there is a best time of day to charge electronic devices, and that's generally very late at night. Therefore, it seems reasonable to put a control (manually or with AI and/or algorithmic decision making) into battery charging devices so that the bulk of their charging is done during the "most efficient" hours.  This time-to-charge feature could use local knowledge of el...

I've needed to do some Mac work lately, so I ended up migrating to an older Mac! This is yet another A1342 MacBook, this time a "late 2009" model.  It's a "Frankenmac" that was partially disassembled when I picked up for free. I'm posting about this Mac because it is VERY sad looking, yet totally usable. First, the good: 8 GB of RAM (upgraded from 2 GB) 1 TB SSD drive (upgraded from 250 GB Hard drive) Runs MacOS High Sierra just great Note that the very cheapest MacBook you can buy new today with matching storage specs costs an incredible $2100... and by design can NEVER be upgraded.  OUCH!  Planned obsolescence in action! Now, the ugly: The LCD enclosure has stress cracks at the hinges (a common issue with these Macs).  It looks like some epoxy was used to prevent the cracks from getting worse. The LCD is wonky, and temporarily freezes if moved the "wrong" way.  It isn't the cable.  I think it's a problem with the LCD...

I have a pair of cycling / spin shoes with "clipless" SPD cleats, but the cleat screws were mangled due to lousy manufacturing. My local shop charges $25 to install cleats.  I don't mind supporting the local shop, but that's ridiculous.  I'll support the local shop with my money when they use expertise and skill, but not for turning less than a handful of 45¢ screws.  And replacement generic screws on Amazon or eBay cost like $10!  Even that is insane.  So I decided that the fastener section of my local hardware store was the solution. The Screws to Buy For SPD Cleats The fastener industry is mature and professional.  They make fantastic products.  Cleat screws are absolutely nothing special. And the local hardware store more than likely carries what I need. That said, it is important to get the right screw.  Using the wrong screw for the given application could cause trouble. In general, in my experience, SPD cycling cleats use the follo...

I was going to buy a new iPhone for myself this year, but I got to thinking... how much does an iPhone depreciate over time? I went to eBay and figured out how much the value of "yesteryear's" unlocked flagship iPhone with a basic memory upgrade falls over time.  For example, we know that a used, unlocked iPhone Z with xx GB of storage has a specific value on the open market.  I plotted the value of all the flagship phones out in order to visualize how much the value of an iPhone decays with time. In short, and very roughly, a new phone's value falls by about a 33% after it's first year, and by about 25% more after it's second year.  After those first two years, phone depreciation seems to smooth out to a fairly steady 10% percent per year. Chart 1: iPhone Depreciation Over Time So the first two years of ownership are the most expensive.  The longer I can hold onto my current iPhone, the fewer "first + second year depreciation events" I...