The rule of thumb with servers is

• Performance
• Reliability
• Power usage
• Noise
• Size

The trick is to remember you don’t actually need much performance. A home server isn’t generally a powerful machine. What matters is that it is always there.

A raspberry pi would actually make a wonderful server. It’s power efficient, small and quiet, with enough grunt to do most jobs. Unfortunately, it falls down on reliability. Arm servers seem more prone to issues than x64 servers. Pis also seems particularly crash prone. Crashing every 3-6 months isn’t an issue for most pi usages. When it’s running your smart home, it’s a pain in the arse.

I eventually settled on a intel NUC system. It’s a proper computer (no HDD on usb etc), with a very low power draw. It also seems particularly stable. Mine has done several years at this point, without a crash.

Bigger servers are only needed when you have too much demand for a low powered option, or need specialist capabilities 24/7. Very few home labbers will need one, in practice.

It’s also worth noting that you can slave a powerful, but power hungry system, to a smaller, efficient one. Only power it on when a highly demanding task requires sorting.

There is always the option for gorilla node deployment. They need very little power, so solar etc is an option, and the hardware is relatively cheap.

A cheap drone could easily place nodes in hard to reach locations e.g. top of telephone poles. You now have an anonymous node that is trivial to connect to but harder to disable.

It’s far from perfect, but a good option.

I also now have the image of a node built into a drone. Then it bolting, like a startled sparrow, when they try to remove it…

A friend had a radio isotope cancer treatment. He also built a geiger counter (for his own amusement). It was quite scary how much he set the thing off getting close to it!

Instructions were to not sleep in the same bed as anyone else for 2 nights, and limit closeness to people or pets for the same period.

Protests serve 2 purposes. They act to spread a message and connect people.

They also act as a warning. We are willing to invest effort in this to change things. If you don’t change, some of us will put the effort into other methods, some of which are… far more unpleasant for you. We also act as support to the people doing this.

The latter is important. For a good example, look at the Northern Ireland troubles.

True love is being willing to give almost anything for the other person. It is also being unwilling to accept that, because you would also be willing to do the same.

Somewhere in the middle you find what is best for both of you.

It puts the hand in a neutral, stable position and ensures it doesn’t move and affect their position/balance. It would let them focus totally on their aim with the other hand.

I believe most are chemically pumped. Producing an electrically pumped laser, of sufficient power is not an easy task. Making it small enough to be useful is even harder.

The problem is that each shot costs more in materials than the drone. Lasers are also quite easy to counter, if deployed in mass (mostly by adding reflective foil coatings).

The uses of “ACHOO syndrome”!

Aka the photic sneeze reflex.

Apparently not everyone has this reflex.

The other option is a “barbeque roll” a favourite of sci-fi starships, from authors who have done some homework.

You’re basically trying to balance half way up a waterfall.

It also needs something that can form complex molecules. The lightest element we know of that can form these is carbon. That didn’t appear in reasonable quantities until the first stars exploded.

While china has a lot of issues, I’ve been impressed by their efforts on electric cars and renewables.

Most of what they do is security theatre as well. They are just a lot more competent and efficient about it.

Had a friend who worked customs. 95% of their actual work was behind the scenes. Most of the public facing stuff was book keeping and window dressing.

Having visited the US from outside, it’s not even good security theatre. They seemed the least competent airport security I’ve dealt with. That list includes Kazakhstan and several middle eastern countries.

I fully agree. It’s the same over here in the UK.

The key is to get a (semi global) get of regulations in play asap. If China can’t sell them, then they won’t make the lower quality products. Unfortunately, getting them back out of circulation will be a LOT harder. The safety rules need to go in early.

I will say, as a tax payer, if you are eligible for them, FUCKING TAKE THEM! Take every ¢ you can make reasonable use of!

I pay into the pool to provide a safety net to everyone. I’ve bounced off it myself, when I was younger. I want to know that it is doing its job for those that need it.

Proviso, I’m based in the UK. I’m quite sure a lot of tax payers, world wide, feel the same and would also give you “permission”.

A relative of mine had a condition where he couldn’t get rid of excess iron. The treatment? Blood letting. Once his levels were back down to normal, donation every 3 months.

The problem isn’t when it’s done correctly, it’s when it gets half arsed by cheap Chinese suppliers. A lot of the corner cuts are not easily detectable to layman consumers.

The biggest is matching protection. The solar needs to shut down within ms of an RCD going (RCDs take 30ms). Otherwise it could continue to shock a victim, or risk a fire.

The most insidious would be to stop any with an “Off grid” mode. Grid workers already fear generators being backfed during a power cut. It turns cold lines live, with no warning. Having a switch to get your lights and TV working again would be far too tempting to too many people.

Speaking of the grid. One of the biggest issues is grid instability. Solar can do offline VERY quickly. Micro solar is even worse for this. Without major upgrades on the grid, it’s akin to having a small child “helping” you move heavy furniture up some stairs. In theory you’re better off. In practice you spend more resources countering the chaos than you save.

My personal view is that all new homes should have power feed in capabilities baked in at the mains entry point. It can then have proper cutoff/cutover capabilities, from fully approved parts. No chance of Chinese cheap crap killing people. It also puts the breakers back inline with the power. Home solar (balcony or rooftop), battery backup, generators all can be fed in via a known safe method.

It’s also worth noting that some of the issues get a lot easier at 230VAC

We are effectively on twice the voltage. Since P=I^2 R the effective heating is quadrupled. This makes American wiring a lot more vulnerable to overloading than Europe or China.

It might be higher than you think. Unfortunately, IQ is only a proxy for intelligence. With “normal” people, it’s quite a reasonable proxy. At the extremes it begins to break down.

It might be worth trying him on some of the easier IQ tests. Autistic minds tend to like focused puzzles, which make up the bulk of IQ tests. That’s actually the source of the “idiot savant” stereotype. A massive over-focus on a small subset of “puzzles”

What matters is the differential. A breaker limits the input. E.g. to 16A. A plug in solar provides an independent input. E.g. 10A. Under certain circumstances, multiple loads, up to 26A total could exist on the spur, without the breaker being triggered. This could put up to 26A down some of the wiring of the spur.