TeaVMFan

In the age of coding agents operating with decreasing human oversight, TODOs are becoming dangerous. Often written off-the-cuff or with insufficient context, they are now time bombs waiting to go off.

On the "charging-from-the-sun" side of the equation, they recently had an independent German test organization measure the daily charge rate, and it exceeded the 4.0kWh/day goal. The test was conducted at their Southern California headquarters during July, however, so your mileage may (literally) vary.

Yes to both, plus freedom to drive/camp anywhere, even far from a guaranteed plug.

That's an especially important point to this new deal, Launch will give them easier access to additional markets beyond the US.

Solar panel efficiency has increased and they have made an extremely slippery vehicle. 4kWh/day and 10 miles per kWh gives 40 miles per day of driving range, enough for many people without ever plugging in.

On August 20, Aptera announced a $44 Million partnership with Launch Design to design and build their first solar electric vehicle.

This finally answers questions that have hounded the company for years about their plan for scaling and fulfilling the thousands of reservations.

Related: a tool to convert HTML to EPUB, with checks and smarts:

https://frequal.com/epublish/

It's well below the average selling price for a new car in the US. In California, you'll also get HOV ("carpool") lane access, which 4-wheeled EVs lost recently.

Impressive. Aptera claims "~700 watts of integrated solar cells", with the difference that Aptera's are fully integrated and usable even in motion.

Recently Aptera announced they have ordered major components to build 40 production vehicles. This may not sound like many (especially since they have nearly 50,000 reservations), but this is a major milestone for the company. Aptera has existed in some form for nearly 20 years, never having come this close to shipping a vehicle before. Now they have only 1 major certification left and are ramping up to build them at their facility in Carlsbad, CA.

As an indie author (https://frequal.com/novels), this makes me glad I haven't submitted my novel yet to any of these contests. The chance that a submission fee could be wasted by chance (not a match for the reviewer's interest or mood that day) is just too great. It seems that the larger publishing houses are more willing to shell out on the chance to win this lottery, according to the article.

I make modern single page apps with Java. They run in standard browsers, require no extensions, and perform great.

Having books on several devices makes reading more convenient. DRM-Free books make that easy, so you can read whether you have your phone, tablet, or PC. For a list of DRM-free authors and publishers: https://frequal.com/Perspectives/DrmFreeAuthors.html

In several countries, you can find Little Free Libraries, a non-profit with a registry of small libraries like the book boxes in front of homes described in the article: https://littlefreelibrary.org/about/

Aptera's solar EV has obtained EPA certification, leaving just the FMVSS certification.

"This is a meaningful milestone for our reservation holders," says Aptera's Co-CEO Steve Fambro.

Get in line here with $30 off the reservation fee: https://frequal.com/aptera/reserve.html

Title Typo? Reparaible to Repairable?

Thanks for sharing this. New authors have enough challenges without getting scammed. I've written a (free) guide for the writing process here: https://frequal.com/forwriters/

The writing is just the first step, however. Promotion is a whole another set of hurdles. I can easilybsee an eager or despondent author falling victim to a promotion scam.

Nice shout-out to Aptera in the middle of this article.

Aptera has built a working, production-intent solar EV. Recent tests showed it charging up to 46 miles per day from the sun alone.

Reservation referral link with discount: https://frequal.com/aptera/reserve.html

The bookshop.org filter works nicely. After searching for a keyword, pick "Formats/Ebook/DRM-free". I'll add a link and a note.

I added a link, thanks! Mr. Doctorow seems to include 3 formats in every purchase (PDF, MOBI, and EPUB), which should cover just about any device.

I added it to the list of DRM-free sources at the end, thanks!

Even if you _can_ hold it, you may not own it if the player is internet-connected or even receives a firmware upgrade during maintenance or from a disc. New discs may not play unless you upgrade, and an upgrade can also remove keys, blocking you from watching discs you already have.

https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/windows-gene...

https://web.archive.org/web/20070430070403/https://www.aacsl...

Yes, they explained that's like parking facing the other way after driving at lunchtime. They also describe optimal parking strategies for no-move charging.

Forget hypermiling, now we have hypercharging.

Real world test results show up to 46 miles per day on a sunny day. No plugging in, no gas, just park it in the sun and your battery charges.

Even though I started Means and Motive ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GYCZJVGX ) 5 years ago, and it was written without any AI use, I was worried people might have this concern, given the 2026 publication date.

For a sanity check, I did run the first page through an online AI checker and it confirmed what I already knew: 100% human.

I have just updated EPublish here: https://frequal.com/epublish/

EPublish converts HTML to EPUB. It has numerous quality-of-life tools for authors, such as generating custom versions for reviewers and promotions. It handles formatting and most menial tasks, letting you focus on your story. It even includes progress reports so you can see how close you are to completion.

I remember using Dillo on a Compaq iPaq with Linux installed. No Dillo screen shots, but plenty of information about apps for Linux on the iPaq 3765 here:

https://www.frequal.com/ipaq/index.html

When building EPublish ( https://frequal.com/epublish/ ), an HTML-to-epub converter, I faced similar hurdles. Trying to keep compatibility with numerous e-readers built with different stacks and varying degrees of EPUB versions is frustrating.

I used EPublish for my first novel, Means and Motive, just published here, DRM-free: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GYCZJVGX

So far I haven't heard of compatibility issues, so I think EPublish has hit the sweet spot of EPUB targeting. I agree, however, that it feels like the old days of targeting IE6 on the web. Old readers still exist out there, so we have to aim for the lowest common denominator.

Sample chapter here, DRM-free: https://frequal.com/novels/

The Amazon file is also DRM-free, I picked that option when self-publishing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GYCZJVGX

I chose the DRM-free route on Amazon for "Means & Motive" ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GYCZJVGX ) . Self-published authors can choose to be DRM-free on Amazon now. You can also buy it via Barnes & Noble (paperback), links here: https://frequal.com/novels/