Kentucky coal investing in solar

Credit: Electrek

Kentucky is a US state famed, perhaps most of all, for its bluegrass (the pasture plant & the music), & for its coal mines. It’s making progress towards note for its solar energy output too – & coal interests may be the drivers:

● Kentucky’s Berkeley Energy Group & EDF Renewable Energy are considering a solar farm with a peak capacity of 100 megaWatts:

Renew Economy – “Kentucky coal company to build state’s largest solar farm on old coal mine”
http://reneweconomy.com.au/kentucky-coal-company-build-states-largest-solar-farm-old-coal-mine-14857/

Insurance Journal – “Coal Mining Company Proposes Turning Kentucky Mine Into Solar Farm”
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2017/04/21/448601.htm

● In the small town of Benham (population 500¹), the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, owned by Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College, is investing in solar panels. Budget cuts have necessitated cost saving measures:

WYMT – “Kentucky Coal Mining Museum converts to solar power”
http://www.wymt.com/content/news/Kentucky-Coal-Mining-Museum-converts-to-solar-power-418430563.html

Huffington Post – “A Coal Museum In Kentucky Went Solar This Month. The Backstory Is Even Better.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kentucky-coal-solar_us_58f76a49e4b029063d3590a9

New York Times: “Coal Museum Sees the Future; Trump Doesn’t”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/opinion/coal-museum-sees-the-future-trump-doesnt.html

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¹ Wikipedia: “Benham, Kentucky”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benham,_Kentucky

/ coal mining company turning Kentucky mine into solar farm former strip mine converted into solar farm under proposal Appalachian coal company hundreds of thousands of panels Kentucky mountains Berkeley Energy Group EDF Renewable Energy former Democratic state Auditor Adam Edelen mountaintop removal site Pikeville Kentucky coal country diversify energy output nation’s third-largest coal producing state economic impact declining coal industry state legislature voted decades long moratorium nuclear energy Kentucky Coal Museum installed solar panels on its roof build solar on the foundation of coal Kentucky energy producer powered the entire country adopt an all of the above energy strategy Kentucky more than 80 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants percentage dropping steadily coal plants replaced natural gas largest solar farm Kentucky Louisville Gas & Electric’s E.W. Brown Plant Mercer County 10-megawatt array solar panels 50 acres produces enough electricity power 1,500 homes Berkeley Energy Group Development Executive Ryan Johns proposed solar farm generate between 50 100 megawatts electricity sold to power companies along East Coast project cost tens of millions of dollars include hundreds of thousands of solar panels strip mines thousands of acres engineering and cost studies coal mined using mountaintop removal surface coal mining technique blasting heavy machinery remove layers dirt rock coal seams jobs project construction phase officials EDF Renewable Energy hire former coal miners work Eastern Kentucky filled with former coal mines redeveloped various purposes Tyler White president Kentucky Coal Association proposed solar farm subsidies federal tax credits coal rolling back policies winners and losers /

Pebble smartwatch – app update

Pebble 2 smartwatch – last model delivered
Credit: Best Buy

An update to the Pebble app for Android appeared on my phone today. Judging from dates on the comments, it appeared world-wide at the same time. I have no way of verifying this, but it appears that an update for iOS has also been released, or will soon.¹

What will the update do for your Pebble?

“WHAT'S NEW” for the update says:²

We’ve updated our Android app to preserve the Pebble smartwatch experience & remove the dependence on cloud services.
The app lets Pebble devices keep working, even if online servers are not accessible for any reason. The login process can be skipped, apps can be side-loaded, & the latest watch firmware (including language packs) can be installed.
Visit developer.pebble.com for full details.

All of which promises to extend the useful life of Pebble watches.

All functions I use continue to work, including:
● notifications: incoming SMS & email
● phone calls
● music control
● step count (with sync to Google Fit)

● weather continues to update – temperature indication retains the inaccuracy which has always prevented me from using it – to be fair, it's no worse than almost every phone app I have tried

● watch faces continue to be available for download

Pebble – “Pebble App & Developer Transition Updates”, https://developer.pebble.com/blog/2017/04/04/transitioning-update/

Pebble – "First Steps Forward With Fitbit"
https://developer.pebble.com/blog/2016/12/14/first-steps-forward-with-fitbit/
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¹ Pebble: “Pebble App & Developer Transition Updates”, https://developer.pebble.com/blog/2017/04/04/transitioning-update/

² Google Play: “Pebble”
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.getpebble.android.basalt / Pebble Into the Future Pebble ecosystem next major transition working hard make sure Pebble users can keep enjoying their smartwatch experience share the progress made Pebblers today continuing efforts honor Pebble's legacy ecosystem functionality Pebble app updated for iOS and Android today’s updates Pebble apps iOS Android liberate from past dependency on cloud services freeing ecosystem from these dependencies Pebble smartwatches can operate normally online servers are not accessible Pebble authentication server can’t be reached mobile app Pebble devices keep working login process can be skipped apps can be side-loaded the latest watch firmware including language packs can be installed iOS users update Pebble app iTunes App Store Android users Pebble beta program download update beta channel updated Android app publicly available Google Play Store soon after the beta channel release full release notes User Account Tokens deprecated getAccountToken() API discouraging developers relying on it consistently generated unique account token API continues to work normally for most users return random unique value users skipping Pebble app’s login process account token value should remain constant user either re-installs the Pebble app switches to a different smartphone danger zone authentication issues likely to arise user re-installs Pebble app skips the login process generate different account token value causing problems validating user account any watchapps purchased from third parties restoring a purchased license third-party watchapp re-validating new account token third-party service new options community developers updates include three new options for Pebble developers integrate efforts official Pebble mobile app Offline Mode link enable Offline Mode mobile app attempting to communicate with any Pebble cloud services Default Mode Online Mode Custom Boot Config link Pebble mobile app load its service configuration from the specified custom URL mobile application periodically check custom URL configuration updates default service configuration files iOS and Android developers new weather property variable identifies which server to ask for weather data /

Engineer builds an iPhone 6s with $300 of parts – video

Scotty Allen is described by some as a hacker, but it there’s much more than that to him. To quote from his web site:
“I’ve always been an adventurer, maker, & hacker. From riding a $120 bike through Laos & Cambodia, to building & racing land yachts, to planting coral underwater in Borneo, I’ve always sought out the weird, wonderful, & out-of-the-way thing to do.”
“I used to be a software engineer in Silicon Valley, at places like Google & a few other prominent startups. I even started my own. But now I travel the world full time, seeking out the novel & the obscure.”

Some things he found out along the way

● investigated building his own logic board from bare board & chips – “a rabbit hole” – “way over my head” – “not impossible, it’s possible, but very difficult”

● other problem with building a logic board is that the logic board is uniquely paired with the TouchID sensor by Apple – for TouchID to work, logic board & TouchID sensor must be a matched pair – this is a security measure to prevent attackers from gaining unauthorised access by replacing the TouchID sensor

● similar to building a desktop computer, but much, much smaller & thus, much more difficult

Parts list
● case
● logic board & matched TouchID sensor

● screen – glass + digitiser + LCD + backlight + clear adhesive – had it built by people who had the equipment

● back camera
● front camera
● bottom cable assembly, including lightning dock & headphone jack
● battery
● speakers
● brackets
● lots of tiny screws
● cables

Other resources:

● Cost: “I’ve spent over $1000 at this point, but a lot of it was duplicate parts I didn’t end up using & tools I didn’t end up needing. I’d estimate the cost of the actual parts that went into the phone at around $300, maybe a bit more (I wasn’t keeping perfect track).”

● Parts: obtained from the markets of Huaqiangbei Futian, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China¹

● Time: project took two months, including time outside of China (when no progress was made), working out what was required, & procuring parts

Popular Science – “This hacker built his own iPhone using parts from Chinese electronics markets” http://www.popsci.com/how-hacker-in-china-built-his-own-iphone-from-scratch?dom=rss-default&src=syn
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¹ Wikipedia: “Huaqiangbei”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaqiangbei / hacker built his own iPhone using parts from Chinese electronics markets project took roughly two months about $300 in parts to complete Scotty Allen first got the idea make his own iPhone over beers with fellow gadget enthusiasts American hacker engineer lives part-time in Shenzhen China electronics markets experimental spirit fostered inhabitants breadth of available parts build his own iPhone 6S from the ground up not actually that hard biggest barrier is language what drove him sense of curiosity about Shenzhen’s bustling cell phone markets project learn more about them took about one to two months and cost roughly $300 in parts extra cash skilled help along the way Allen created 16 GB Rose Gold iPhone 6S runs iOS 9 compares parts Frankenphone genuine Apple parts scavenged from iPhones been recycled phone’s logic board corresponding TouchID sensor must match specific logic board camera Apple-made parts less sure about provenance metal shell that houses the phone made by another manufacturer I made my own iPhone accomplishment It looks just like the original phone operating system came with the logic board volume buttons didn’t click tiny piece of metal solved that problem software engineer former Google employee nomad availability multitude of cell phone parts electronics geek project highlights globalization of the electronics industry Apple assembles cell phones Asia sold all over the world accompanying spare-parts marketplace engineer build his own iPhone Apple Store video project website what happens when I get rid of a phone recycle donate taken apart for parts turned back into nice working phones /

Has Mercedes seen the light on fuel cells?

Mercedes F-Cell
Credit: Wikipedia

Fuel cells are one third as efficient as lithium ion batteries. In practice, used to drive a car, they yield poor acceleration.¹ These problems appear to be fundamental to the physics & chemistry of fuel cells. Or as hydrogen proponent David Wenger, CEO of Wegner Engineering, which developed the hydrogen fuel cell powertrain for the Mercedes F-Cell hatchback put it, “In total, the results are sobering, sadly. That really hurts.”^2,3

Elon Musk understands fuel cells too:



Digital Trends – “Elon Musk on hydrogen fuel-cell cars: ‘I just think that they are extremely silly’”, http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/elon-musk-says-fcvs-are-extremely-silly/

In light of the above, the apparent enthusiasm of some car makers for that technology is puzzling. Mercedes, though is showing signs of having seen the light:

Green Car Reports – “Did Mercedes turn its back on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles?”, http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109713_did-mercedes-turn-its-back-on-hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicles

Car Advice – “Mercedes-Benz fuel-cell future uncertain”
https://www.caradvice.com.au/513308/mercedes-benz-fuel-cell-future-uncertain/

Gas2 – “Mercedes Says It Will Not Pursue Fuel Cell Development For Its Cars”
http://gas2.org/2017/03/31/mercedes-will-not-pursue-fuel-cell-development/
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¹ HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “Can fuel cells compete with batteries?”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2016/01/can-fuel-cells-compete-with-batteries.html

² Green Car Reports: “Did Mercedes turn its back on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles?”, https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109713_did-mercedes-turn-its-back-on-hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicles

³ Wegner Engineering: “Engineering Office – Wenger Engineering GmbH”, https://www.wenger-engineering.de/en/engineering-office/

/ Wenger Engineering GmbH Elon Musk hydrogen fuel-cell cars Mercedes-Benz Mercedes Benz F-Cell compress liquefy hydrogen compress extremely high pressure liquefy large global automakers research multiple technologies future powertrains German automakers plug-in electric cars zero-emission vehicles hydrogen fuel cells networks of fueling stations supply pure hydrogen high pressures Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler research vehicles powered by hydrogen partnered with Ford and Nissan research and development R&D hydrogen fuel-cell technologies high costs vehicles production volume production Mercedes powered fuel cell adapted GLC crossover utility hydrogen fuel cell electric drive motor plug-in battery pack grid electricity plug-in hybrid range extender hydrogen fuel cell planned battery-electric vehicle David Wenger German hydrogen proponent driver Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell small Mercedes hatchback powered by a hydrogen fuel cell trade H2-International results are sobering short range between refueling stops reliability fueling network phone app show real-time status of each station Mercedes negative future cars powered by hydrogen Mercedes Benz Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche industry conference fuel cells battery costs declining rapidly hydrogen production remains very costly reserved to fleet operators only will not be practical for consumer sale until the price of hydrogen fuel falls considerably widespread and cheap renewable energy /

Elon Musk tweets Tesla semi & pickup truck

Artist's impression
Credit: Twitter

Semi

Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2017

Electric semi has long been in the too hard basket:
● road-freight is low-margin

● making a profit depends on keeping the vehicle moving, which makes long charging times a problem

● battery size & weight is less of a barrier in a such a big vehicle
● battery price remains a problem

● energy & maintenance costs will be significantly lower than internal combustion

● battery swapping has been demonstrated,¹ but hasn’t taken off for electric cars – perhaps in this application, high utilization in freight centres may make it viable

● short-haul may be the best application for battery-electric prime movers, at least initially

Teslarati – “Tesla Semi-truck: What will be the ROI & is it worth it?”
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-semi-truck-return-investment-roi/

Wired – “Unlike Hyperloop, Elon Musk’s Electric Big-Rig Actually Makes Sense”
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/tesla-electric-truck/

Pickup truck

@NoahMagel Pickup truck unveil in 18 to 24 months

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2017

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¹ HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “Demonstration of Tesla Model S battery swap today – video – update”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2013/06/demonstration-of-tesla-model-s-battery.html

/ Tesla semi-truck semi truck semi trailer truck prime mover tractor ROI return on investment battery cell lithium ion LiIon charge recharge battery swap battery swapping station Supercharger Elon Musk Tesla Semi reinvention entire industry Tesla truck program Jerome Guillen history with Daimler specifically Freightliner large Class 8 semi-trucks Tesla how far tractor-trailer tractor trailer operations two basic types of freight moving short-haul long-haul short haul long haul types of freight hauling return on investment ROI battery-electric rig Tesla unveil equipment current paradigms in tractor-trailer freight hauling battery electric vehicle BEV trucking industry freight moved United States commercial truck U.S. Department of Transportation USDOT moved by trucks agricultural products pharmaceuticals goods moved highways surface roads nationally trucking industry change technology improves freight hauling Internet faster communications traditional consignee-broker-hauler paradigm goods haul contacted freight broker contracted freight hauler move the goods skimming percentage off the top connection middleman cut out trucking trucking companies having load brokers on staff electronics and global positioning changed how trucks operate computers more efficiently organizing load and truck movements minimize empty movement USDOT truck movement pulling an empty trailer freight drop-off point drops exponentially networks of computers get more efficient organizing trucking trucking companies consolidate larger fleets longer average trip load delivery tractor-trailer faster truck’s ROI owner shorter hauls higher per-mile maintenance costs longer hauls cost of fuel equipment maintenance costs engine fuel higher with shorter distances how often brakes are used time spent not working idling or sitting higher incidences of accidents short-haul operations are less than ideal roads breakdown flat tire hours wasted waiting for repair potential ROI short-haul long-haul Tesla electric semi-trucks short haul short-haul operations tractor-trailer shipments moving 250 miles or less long-haul long haul types of shipments more than 250 miles large Class 8 semi-trucks pulling freight overlap between short-haul and long-haul shipments distribution location reassembled for longer distance hauling short-haul diversity grain stones to specialized equipment trucks day cabs no sleeper unit attached driver rest quarters when not at the wheel electrified Class 8 vehicles short-haul category battery-electric hydrogen fuel cell hybrid yard dogs moving trailers around a dock area portage trucks moving containers and freight out of port to staging areas local distribution centers local area urban and suburban delivery vehicles large push in California to make all port vehicles including container-moving trucks zero-emissions good news for battery-electric truck makers USDOT, about half of all shipments by value moved less than 250 miles weight being moved around the country bad news segment less is paid per ton freight to be moved American Transportation Research Institute segment 25 percent trucks on the road equipment age higher in this category trucks being used for more years fewer miles compared to long-haul trucks cost maintenance most expensive items tractor-trailer short or long-haul fuel driver wages benefits truck-trailer lease payments insurance most conventional operations short haul or long haul maintenance six percent higher in short-haul operations compared to long-haul insurance usually a bit higher assume battery-electric semi-truck higher price tag diesel-powered counterpart averages about $150,000 new up-front costs will be at least 50 percent higher expense of the batteries Morgan Stanley report on electric and autonomous trucking $75,000 for 500 kWh of battery storage roughly 150 miles range fully loaded 80,000 pound semi-truck current lithium crunch economies of scale more than half the Tesla Semi’s cost would be in batteries larger up-front price tag returned with fuel savings long term view /

Apple has a permit to test self driving cars in California

Apple’s existing automotive tech – Apple Car Play
Credit: Pinterest

Speculation & hints about an Apple car, or self driving tech, has been around for a period of years.^1,2 Application for, & granting of an, “Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit”, puts Apples's participation in autonomous driving tech beyond reasonable doubt.

Boy Genius Report – “Apple just got a permit to test driverless cars in California”
http://bgr.com/2017/04/14/apple-car-driverless-permit-california/

Sydney Morning Herald – “Apple is going to test self-driving cars”
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/apple-is-going-to-test-selfdriving-cars-20170414-gvlf7l.html
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¹ HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “Will Apple build an electric vehicle?”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2015/02/will-apple-build-electric-vehicle.html

² HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “Apple car — much speculation — now some documentation”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2015/08/apple-car-much-speculation-now-some.html
/ Apple test self-driving cars months of speculation Apple developing automotive technology Apple self-driving cars obtaining test permit from California regulators permit allows Apple begin testing up to three 2015 Lexus SUVs similar Google uses autonomous cars obtaining clearance California's Department of Motor Vehicles Apple serious about pushing forward self-driving technology reports scaling back its ambitions California's DMV disclosed permit website Friday several dozen other companies testing self-driving technology including BMW Ford Honda Nissan Uber others other companies Apple's test vehicles human drivers behind the wheel public roads California regulations speculation Apple automotive project Apple keeping a tight lid on its plans project open secret Apple ambiguity development project effort project Apple Car iCar Project Titan producing driveable vehicles Apple focusing on software control a car upgrade car injecting autonomous capabilities reports Apple's new vehicle powered battery-electric technology 2015 hiring spree Apple automotive engineers prompted rumours new hires companies Ford Tesla also researching self-driving technology many team reportedly left or been reassigned strategic shift focus on software self-driving technology permit unclear specific aspect Apple is working on Apple declined to comment public remarks submitted to federal highway authorities November research into automation many potential applications for these technologies future of transportation work with NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration best practices for the industry Apple wrote National Highway Traffic Safety Administration permit Apple increasingly competitive race build world's first mainstream self-driving car General Motors plans expand self-driving autos unit 1100 additional jobs $US14 million $Au18.5 million $A18.5 million investment Ford investing $US1 billion artificial intelligence company called Argo AI self-driving technology potential reshape how people work play commute proponents automating vehicles will help reduce congestion prevent crashes caused by human error according federal statistics account for 95 per cent all accidents analysts Apple accelerate arrival fully autonomous car to the market Apple autonomous vehicle game Rebecca Lindland executive analyst Kelley Blue Book Apple entry into self-driving push the industry provide product safer more secure even faster timeline several automakers technology hardware firms software companies applied test cars California's autonomous car program California Department of Motor Vehicles companies test vehicles provide evidence train qualified employee drivers insure their cars will be liable for any damage incurred during tests required submit regular reports outlining any accidents testing times that drivers turn off a vehicle's autonomous systems during a test automotive space CarPlay interface allows drivers to connect their vehicles with their iPhones market in-car infotainment increasingly common in consumer automobiles /

MacBook refurb – initial impressions from an enthusiastic new owner

MacBook connected to 29 inch monitor
Credit: The Gadgeteer

Laptop computers have a number of disadvantages compared to desktop equivalents. To a greater or lesser extent, these include:
● smaller screen

● smaller keyboard – keys themselves are not necessarily smaller, or closer together, but numeric keypad – almost never

● less powerful processor
● overheating
● easier to steal
● less bang for the buck

Despite all of these disadvantages, laptops are very popular. This popularity revolves around their portability. Amongst the most portable is Apple's MacBook 12 inch:^1,2
● weight similar to a tablet – great choice if portability is at a premium
● 12 inch retina screen

● plenty of power for the tasks most people use a computer for – email, browsing, video, word processing

Below is a review from a new owner who wanted a computer for travel, but is now thinking about selling her MacBook Pro:

The Gadgeteer – “Julie’s gadget diary – I have finally found my perfect travel computer”
http://the-gadgeteer.com/2017/04/10/julies-gadget-diary-i-have-finally-found-my-perfect-travel-computer/
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¹ “New MacBook 12 inch”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2015/03/new-macbook-12.html

² “Apple MacBook 2016 – what’s changed & what hasn’t”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2016/04/apple-macbook-2016-whats-changed-what.html / subtle differences updated 12 inch MacBook just released original version benchmarks performance 5th Generation Broadwell processor MacBook 6th Generation Skylake chip early benchmarks Geekbench 3 benchmark new Skylake 1.2GHz Core m5 powered MacBook last year’s 1.1GHz Broadwell 25 percent speed bump benchmarks difference in price 2016 MacBook new Intel HD Graphics 515 flash drive speeds benchmarks boost battery life subtle hour more battery life Apple's rating battery life DRAM RAM LPDDR3-1600 DRAM new MacBook LPDDR3-1866 DRAM new Rose Gold color colour chassis identical Retina display resolution same one USB-C port original 12-inch MacBook update MacBook 2 pounds 12 inches MacBook Air models 24 percent thinner 11 inch MacBook Air measuring 13.1mm thickness all-new keyboard full width new MacBook butterfly mechanism better much more precise typing experience individual LED lighting for each key device that little bit thinner 12-inch screen Retina display family 2304 x 1440 resolution consumes 30 percent less power touchpad four force sensors one in each corner click feel managed by software pressure sensitivity pressing harder fast-forward QuickTime make a video play faster Force Click new USB Type-C connector upgraded reversible USB internal redesign logic board 67 percent smaller previous generations most dense densest no fan required computer Intel Core M Broadwell CPU battery life nine hours web browsing 10 hours movie playback new MacBook silver space gray stunning gold shipping begins April 10th most energy-efficient notebook laptop EPA US Environmental Protection Agency MacBook no extra name /