I don’t like little flimsy phones. However, my current phone is at the upper limits of what I consider reasonable.

It’s a ulefone 27T pro
Height: 182.8 mm
Width: 86.8 mm
Depth: 18.5 mm
Weight: 441 grams

I would say 500g is likely my hard limit, outside of special circumstances. As it stands, it doubles as a self defence weapon.

That’s still survivable below 40% humidity. We can deal with a wet bulb temperature of 35°C or below. At 47°C that works out at around 40% humidity.

The wonders of an active cooling system.

It’s worth noting that I think both should exist.

No software dependence at all if possible, just a basic microcontroller and firmware.

Agreed, I just want a ZigBee endpoint as well.

As for the smart home stuff, I already have it in place, so it’s no additional expense.

Control wise, your method would be fine for someone techie and motivated. It would annoy the hell out of some non techies, particularly if they had vision issues (think OAP). It would also close down the option of relatives helping out by monitoring it remotely.

As I said, different target audiences. Both have their places. I just wish the smart option did its job properly, rather than the half baked options we keep getting.

To each their own. I prefer having the ability to adjust things from 1 central source. I’m prone to losing remotes.

Also, how would you do such a remote. You would also need a screen for feedback etc, which puts you back at square 1.

Also, a remote would be considerably more expensive than the extra cost of a ZigBee/Wifi enabled microcontroller.

I’m a fan of both, but fully accept that fission is now too late to be useful. We also have fusion right on the tipping point of viability. That could likely fill the use cases of fusion quite well, with far less issues.

FYI, nuclear produces 3 sorts of nuclear waste. High activity is nasty, but short lived. Put it in a pool for a few years and it decays away. Low grade is the stuff like lab waste and contaminated pipes. You don’t really want it going in normal landfill, but it’s not going to kill anyone with radiation (heavy metal toxicity is another matter). It’s only the last type, medium activity that is problematic. It lasts a long time, while still putting out enough radiation to cause potential problems. Unfortunately, older “power” plants, were actually bomb factories. They were intended to make plutonium, and so produce a lot more of the medium activity waste than they could.

Ideally yes. However some meals aren’t suitable for toddlers, others that simply don’t like. Particularly for exhausted parents, having a healthy, tasty fallback can be a sanity saver. Doubly so when on trips.

Treat them like the toddler equivalent of a McDonald’s. OK for 1 off meals, a problem when they become the default diet.

The ability to play with it, without having to fiddle with tiny switches is a big feature to many. Often these are used by people with mobility issues. The ability to add an extra feed, due to exercise, or adjust the timings to account for changes in life plans are a godsend to many.

Smart home devices are a balancing act. The extra control means more can also go wrong. Minimising that is a big part. The most critical is making it behave sanely when it suddenly goes offline. E.g. smart light switches become dumb ones, when the central hub goes down.

More a replacement brain for an EV. Compared to an ICE there is far less to manage in a hyper time critical manner. It’s a lot more viable to design a drop in replacement. Particularly if the battery bank already has its own monitoring, that just reports upwards.

You would end up with a modern EV, with many of the desired features. However, the manufacturer would no longer be able to reach in and extract data, either remotely, at a mechanic, or after an accident.

I’m hoping that someone does some reverse engineering on the engine management computers of EVs. EVs internals are a lot simpler. An open source, drop in brain is definitely not unachievable.

All the advantages of an EV with none of the corporate tracking.

A bucket of sand is fine for a static location, but not very portable.

A perfect solution that is unused is a lot worse than a mediocre one that is easy to implement.

If you’re going that route, you want 2 buckets, 1 1/4 full. You dump the failing battery into the 1/4 full one, then dump the other over the top. That covers you till it gets outside into open space to burn out.

I remember the same story, though it wasn’t mark twain. It was in an apartment, and he did it from the balcony above.

It was in a box of historical jokes and pranks I had years ago.

I was camping at an event. I had recently finished recharging a large lipo battery (3S 9000mah). The battery went from normal to nuclear in a second or 2.

Thankfully I had it clear of flammables and in a lipo bag. Even so, it started 3 grass fires in the time it took to get it out of the marquee and wet enough to extinguish it. The event volunteers were there within 40 seconds, with fire extinguishers. Thankfully we already had it under control by then.

Lesson learnt, always use a fire resistant container to charge in e.g. an ammo can or a cooking pot. Also assume it can turn into a fireball with absolutely no warning, and plan accordingly.

First off, good on you from the rescue!

As a parent, I get both sides. It’s absolutely horrifying, but so easy to lose focus. You can start chatting, and not realise you’re not tracking the child. You can also both assume the other has eyes on them.

It’s better to assume problems like this as systematic, rather than personal failures. If a small child has access to the water, they should be explicitly monitored. If you can’t (as a group) do that, then they shouldn’t have easy access to the water. You can also train children in water safety from a young age. Babies can be taught self rescue from around when they can crawl.

It’s so easy to lose focus. It requires constant concentration, at a time when your life has been turned upside down, and you are often suffering from sleep deprivation. A (apparently) calm ‘normal’ situation and your brain can relax back and switch off from parenting mode.

I think superfoil is the generic name (or possibly another brand).

I used suction cups, with thumb screw threads to attach them. Just poke a hole and push it through on each corner. It also holds it slightly clear of the glass. Suction cups also mean you can apply it either inside the glass, or outside (better, but harder).

Sometimes you want to keep ALL the energy out. The films also act to trap thermal energy in too.

I’ve personally used superfoil, it keeps all the light energy out. 42°C outside, in a double glazed UK home, and I still didn’t need the Aircon until mid afternoon.

If you want to get extremely pedantic, “Queens English” was defined as the reference. The rich toffs of the British empire got annoyed at their servants having various accents, and either being hard to understand, or mishearing them.

In this case however, it was meant as a local accent, so none noticeable.

90% of people would be fine with it too, maybe more. Unfortunately, it would be VERY easy to catch someone in a very bad state, and make it even worse. Without the context of what sort of person they are, and what they are currently in for, it’s FAR more likely to run into someone who wouldn’t see the funny side.

Don’t get me wrong, it could be hilarious. E.g. the guy who did the same at a nursing home, where he also lived. The heart attack induced was just an unfortunate outcome that put it in the news.

Likely if he had done it to people he knew, and by extension that this particular prank wouldn’t excessively affect them negatively.

Pranking your friends in public, poor taste, but possibly acceptable. Pranking random members of the public, at what could be the worst time of their life…

I had a friend who worked at a wine shop. He was also 1/4 french, though with no accent at all.

Some other friends went in to see him at work. They found it hilarious that he had this excessive french accent. It turned out he did it as a joke 6 months before, and got a good reaction from customers. His subconscious apparently ran with this, without his notice. The more he racked it up, the better the customers respected his opinions on wine. He was, however, completely unaware he was doing it!

As a counter example, I remember listening to a radio interview with a woman who accidentally joined a boxing gym, and decided to roll with it. Even after 3 years training, it apparently took new men about 6 weeks to blast past her in strength.

And jumping back to my earlier comment. Societies tend to amplify differences. Men are stronger, so are expected to do jobs requiring strength. This, in turn leads to stronger men, reinforcing the stereotype.

In short, there’s not much baseline difference between men and women. There are however differences. Societies and cultures often amplify them, particularly when it improves division of labour. In an agrarian society they might not be able to afford the split, so the situation you read about plays out. Men can’t afford to powerhouse, while women need to pick up significant physical labour.