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How I Gave Up Alternating Current

robrhinehart.com

91–100 of 140 posts

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#91
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in a dry climate, it still seems like a bad idea to run a washer. Since he seems to be OK with high shipping costs, he could send his clothes somewhere that has more water to be washed.

YC Winter 2015 idea: LaaS. Laundry as a Service. I'll be valued at 15 billion from our initial SF/LA orders in no time.

You're way behind the times! http://valleywag.gawker.com/silicon-valley-gets-4th-on-deman...

"Our growth chart was just insane" https://www.fastcompany.com/3045831/from-hobby-to-start-up/t...

"SF tech culture is focused on solving one problem: what is my mother no longer doing for me?" http://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-tech-startups-r...

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#92
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. A washing machine consumes about 100Wh == 360kJ for a load (ref: http://www.rpc.com.au/information/faq/power-consumption/wash... ). The Emma Mearsk, one of the largest container ships around, uses 13 tonnes of fuel an hour to transport 18000 containers, over a distance of (say) 20000 kilometres, which is 1kg of fuel to transport one container 45km (according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_eff…

The author can still do laundry and skip the washing machine. Hand wash, use the laundry water to flush the toilet, line dry.

That would save electricity...but would probably waste more water. IIRC, a German study into handwashing of dishes found that <1% of people actually managed to use less water than a dishwasher. I'd bet it's a similar usage profile for clothes.

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#93
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who the fuck wants to do that? Here are 10 things I could be doing besides slaving over a stove (the seventh might surprise you): 1. Reading hacker news 2. Reading reddit 3. Engaging with people engaging with my brand on Twitter 4. Reviewing my productized consultancy analytics 5. Reviewing my startup numbers and analytics 6. Emailing brand leaders to gauge interest in new startup ideas 7. Posting on hacker news 8. W…

It's sad that I had to get to bullet point 9 before I could tell if this was satire...

Um, this isn't satirical. If you're not meditating, I really encourage you to take it up -- you feel really refreshed and rededicated afterwards in a way that makes development much more of a focused, mindful process and enables you to hack your metrics for more of a lean, competitive edge. It's much like static typing.

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stopped at >I utilize soylent only at home and go out to eat when craving company or flavor. right after we found out kitchens are nasty and wasteful. Of course, out of sight, out of mind?

I can spend the money I saved from groceries and take out to buy a friend lunch or dinner Or you could learn to cook and make a friend a probably better tasting lunch or dinner at substantially lower cost.

What is it with cooking that makes people under-appreciate the value of a good professional? It sounds like those clients who think programming is just pressing a few buttons.

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#95
post #49

>First, I never cook. I am all for self reliance but repeating the same labor over and over for the sake of existence is the realm of robots. Well then he does cooking wrong, he could also try to improve himself but in the craft in itself but also add more creativity to it

Who the fuck wants to do that? Here are 10 things I could be doing besides slaving over a stove (the seventh might surprise you): 1. Reading hacker news 2. Reading reddit 3. Engaging with people engaging with my brand on Twitter 4. Reviewing my productized consultancy analytics 5. Reviewing my startup numbers and analytics 6. Emailing brand leaders to gauge interest in new startup ideas 7. Posting on hacker news 8. W…

Objectively unfun?

a. I do test my code, and I do taste my cooking.

b. I can't say much about growth hacking, but I haven't noticed that cooking gets in the way of appreciating life, however undynamic some of my acquaintances may be.

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're absolutely right. I'll update the post. Also, we seem to have killed the US Energy Information and Administration energy prices website. I feel that my day is now fulfilled.

You have an incorrect period at the end of the link.

I dispute that! I think it's an incorrect full stop.

Fixed. Thanks. (Also, why is HN's URL regex matching full stops at the end of URLs?)

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#97
post #2

I am curious about the custom clothes made in China, how much are they and how often does he have to buy them to never have to do laundry.

You can get nearly anything custom tailored for cheap. If you ever go to Hong Kong, walk down Nathan Road. You'll be pitched to by about a hundred or more Bangladeshi immigrants to come and have a fitted suit and some shirts made. They'll measure you, you give them a day, then come in for a second fitting, pick your new duds up the third day. The price will be comparable to Marshall's or TJ Maxx or deeply discounted (like clearance priced) US retail, if you don't negotiate hard. If you're a good negotiator, you can do much better. Nathan Rd. in Hong Kong is the most well known; there is a shop named Sam's that is world famous, but the prices are much higher. Beijing also has a similar area or two where the quality is the same and the prices are even cheaper, one of them is near the pearl market. I've never been to Shanghai, but I'd bet anything they have the same kind of thing. The ones in Beijing are like any other Beijing market, hundreds of independent vendors in one complex. The tailors in HK are usually in little store-fronts adjacent to Nathan Rd. If you know your measurements, you can send them to one of these shops and they will mail you the clothes, assuming you can find a trustworthy one and not a scammer.

I had a wool suit made and it fits me well enough. I've never had a problem finding suits that would fit me off the rack though, so it's mostly a novelty. I also wasn't completely satisfied with the way the trousers fit, but I didn't have time to have them re-made. They are very well-constructed and durable though, and have lasted several years now. The best thing was the shirts, I bought a dozen at about $13 USD each, IIRC. I have long arms and I can rarely find shirts off the racks that have correct-length sleeves and aren't too big everywhere else. These shirts fit well, and are comfortable to wear, and look good. I've worn them a fair amount and they've lasted a few years. The only problem is that the buttons were ruined by the dry cleaners on a couple of the shirts. The buttons were apparently cheap, I chose them myself; but I apparently can't look at a button and judge whether it can withstand dry cleaning/pressing. This happens to some of my store-bought shirts too. I might order another dozen of these shirts, because they were cheaper and much better than anything I've ever bought retail. That is if I get brave enough to do an internet transaction since I have no plans to go to HK any time soon.

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, how much energy does making clothes in China consume? You're more than welcome to go find out and let us know...

My post was less about the energy usage and more about the Sweatshop workers's working conditions. He seems concerned about highly-paid Energy Workers in the US who are required (by law) to have safe working conditions (or at least, safe as defined by the law. People still die on the job but at least we try to keep them safe). And then he turns around and brags about using cheap Chinese workers to sew him new clothes…

So what are the relative safety rates of textile workers in China vs energy workers in the US? I would be genuinely interested to know.

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#99
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. A washing machine consumes about 100Wh == 360kJ for a load (ref: http://www.rpc.com.au/information/faq/power-consumption/wash... ). The Emma Mearsk, one of the largest container ships around, uses 13 tonnes of fuel an hour to transport 18000 containers, over a distance of (say) 20000 kilometres, which is 1kg of fuel to transport one container 45km (according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_eff…

This does assume that the custom made clothes are being slow shipped from China on a cargo boat instead of being shipped via air. Running clothes single use with a 2-3 week lead time for ocean freight sounds a bit tricky.

Not if it follows a regular schedule.

Re: How I Gave Up Alternating Current

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I got to the washing part (I skipped over the Soylent part because I assumed it was just a paid advertisement), I expected him to talk about using a washing board or something. No, I just buy new clothes. So instead of using a little energy for a spin cycle, I have factories in China spew coal, then have shipping freights (some of the worst environmental offenders) bring it half way across the world for me so I…

> then presumably add it to the land fill. He said he donates it, so presumably some charity ends up footing the bill for his laundry

The land fill presumption is still the safest bet.

The author said that he doesn't wash his clothes. By this we can infer that he brings his dirty laundry — for who knows how long — to a donation facility. I've volunteered at enough non-profit donation facilities to know that they don't launder intake. The expense is too high, and amazingly, most people don't bring in dirty clothes. If something is clearly not clean, it goes in to a separate bin for disposal.

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