210 karma · joined April 6, 2021
It has been (only half) joked that the reason for this is fermenting alcohol, which requires warmth, is a little difficult at those latitudes..... Hence the society adopted a different drug.
All UK motorways have location signs posted every 500m (coupled with distance marker posts at 100m intervals) that are specifically designed so drivers with breakdowns can report their position...... not to mention the (free) orange SOS landline phones every 1 mile which, if used, will automatically report your position. (a little arrow on the marker post points to the nearest SOS phone; you are never more than half a mile from one).
You had to learn this for your driving test :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_location_sign
EDIT: My mistake, only England has adopted the driver location signs. The rest of the UK makes do with the distance marker post system (and SOS phones if needed).
GDPR only relates to personal data. The data discussed here clearly isn't personal by any stretch of the imagination. This is the same mentality that thinks ordinary website cookies fall under the GDPR. They don't, unless you are using them to track me or identify me (advertisers take a bow), in which case, you need to ask my permission to do so. And so you should.
Being able to appeal an automated decision to a real person is a mandatory requirement under the GDPR.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/refo...
But the power generated by a turbine is proportional to the cube of the air/fluid velocity..... and the wind normally moves much faster than tidal flow.
Consider the flagship 'LIMPET' project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islay_LIMPET
Consider a single offshore turbine in the Galloper wind farm is rated at 6 MW and this doesn't look so impressive.
> a dumb metal object
That's the thing. It isn't a dumb metal object. It requires generating gear, maintenance and protection from weather. Also consider the Ever Given is 1/4 mile long. These are big volumes you are talking about.
No matter how you look at it, wind is a tough candidate to beat when it comes to offshore power.
Low tide only occurs twice a day.
Oh certainly!
But funding is always finite. Unless some radical new wave/tidal technique comes to light (and it hasn't, yet!), then the project funding would surely be better directed to other renewable energy sources.
The cynic in me says wave/tidal projects based on existing technologies (shown to perform or scale poorly) are simply to grab funding for green energy projects. The Swansea Tidal Lagoon fiasco is a classic example.
A simple calculation shows you need an enormous volume float to generate a useful amount of power. A tidal range of a few meters isn't that much potential energy applied to a float of limited volume: by contrast, there is much greater mass of water in the sea to generate energy from.
Rough seas damaging your tidal energy kit are the one thing you don't want.
I have mentioned above that offshore wind has emerged the clear winner with respect to offshore renewable energy. Putting moving parts in salt water is always a tough prospect, and wave/tidal simply cannot scale to the extent wind can.
I hate to say it, but I suggest many of the experimental wave/tidal schemes under trial are simply for green bragging rights and/or to grab funding for green energy projects...... Funding put forward by well meaning bodies that that would be better directed to other renewable energy sources.
EDIT: This is Hacker News, not Reddit. If you disagree with the above please explain why in comments rather than down voting.
I agree in theory, but in practice tidal doesn't scale like wind does (both in terns of the size of turbines and where they can be located around the coast).
The predictable but small amount of energy it can produce is of limited use.
Wind turbines scale much more easily than wave/tidal, both the size of the turbines themselves (much larger than a wave/tidal system could ever be) and where they can be located around the UK coast.
A diversity of renewable energy sources is sensible (nuclear, wind, biofuel etc), but wave and tidal are difficult to scale and have failed to deliver.
Wave and tidal energy schemes have failed to deliver useful and reliable energy after over 50 years of investigation and research funding. Putting moving parts in salt water off the UK coast is always a tough prospect.
By contrast, UK offshore wind power is delivering energy cheaper than ever and has emerged as a clear winner.
Given the above, I'm honestly puzzled why offshore tidal energy projects are continuing to attract major funding.
Incidentally, the argument that the tide is more reliable as it always flows twice a day is a rather moot point, as like wind, the tide doesn't always flow when you want it to.
You could always sell them to a bricks and mortar stamp collecting shop. You won't get full market value (the guys have to pay their overheads), but you know they will end up with people who appreciate them.
Alternatively, donate them to a local stamp collecting club for distribution to the young members.
I disagree and suggest this is dependent on your political viewpoint.
Whilst some (very frequently in the USA!) recite the mantra of 'small government', most of us don't care how big or small a government is, providing it is effective. I'd argue an effective government is one that protects its subjects & citizens by providing universal healthcare, education, a justice system and defence to all.
Your opinions may differ!
Only 5 years ago, we had an 'editing stick'. Only the person physically in possession of the editing stick was allowed to make edit the configs to our (early 90's vintage) SCADA system.
Frankly the system worked very well: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
We only got rid of the editing stick when the machinery in question was scrapped.
Can I assume you are writing this from an American perspective (where advertising is everywhere, even to children) as doing such things is alien to me.
I've seen intelligent and insightful HN posts down voted simply because they went against the status-quo. If this is allowed to go on, people will be afraid of making controversial (but intelligent) posts, and this place will become another reddit.
Strongly disagree.
Social media is where one shares ones social life (it's in the name!). HN, like many other sites dating back to the days of USENET, is a subject discussion forum; in HN case, a technical / IT discussion forum.
Granted, there are sometimes crossovers between the two, but HN certainy isn't one of them.
Because in the UK, taking an item that has very clearly been donated is regarded as theft and can be prosecuted as such (particularity for such a valuable item donated to a library). The fact that it was poorly secured is neither here-nor-there and would be considered victim blaming.
I'm surprised somebody would openly admit to such a thing on HN. Perhaps cultural differences are at play.