As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling • Hacker News Board

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#241

Post by sandos » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 10:45 AM UTC

tialaramex wrote: post #167

H8crilA wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WW2 stories of diversions to enemy communications: put small needles through the cable. At first you'd think you just have to cut the cable, but that actually makes it very easy to find and fix the problem. Small needles that short the wires are very difficult to locate. Unless you have a fast device that measures return latency on the shorted circuit, but that wasn't available in the 1940s.

However "a fast device that measures return latency on the shorted circuit" is presumably very cheap today. 20+ years ago, rewiring buildings for 1000baseT the Cisco switches (3650s maybe? 3750s? I know they had IPv6 multicast acceleration in the switch fabric because that's why we had them) would do this for any circuit on command, OK, 18 metres from here there's a fault, pace, pace, pace, I reckon it'll be up on th…

I believe I even had a BIOS in a PC that did this in some way....

Actually, I think it wasn't detecting faults but rather the length of cable connected.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#242

Post by jaclaz » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 10:59 AM UTC

MisterTea wrote: post #142

jaclaz wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't really need "rosin flux", the idea is to remove oxidation, chloridric acid is what was used for tin soldering, "saturated" with zinc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_chloride#As_a_metallurgic... Though I have no idea if either can be found locally.

> Though I have no idea if either can be found locally. Which is specifically why I mentioned rosin. Though any acid could likely be used so citric acid or something that could work as well.

Yep, but I don't think that just acid is good enough.

Choridric acid + Zinc was traditionally used in tin (but lead isn't so much different) soldering/brazing, particularly of copper and brass because the Zinc had some role in the chemical reaction, AFAIK.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#243

Post by ajsnigrutin » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 12:52 PM UTC

Eisenstein wrote: post #234

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't even have to be in a warzone... look at texas blacouts not that long ago. In my country, we had icy rain [0] destroy pretty much all above-ground wiring, and ham radio operators had to bring in their equipment to help rescuers. Somehow with the 'green agenda' we've started banning all the alternative ways of cooking and heating (wood, gas, oil,..), and in the future, it will get only worse. [0] https://www.…

The 'green agenda' is a red herring. The problem lies with companies not maintaining their infrastructure because it costs money, then blaming whatever is convenient when it breaks.

Sometimes it breaks because it breaks... you cannot predict icy rain (video above), terrorist attacks, war, etc.

Having an option to use other energy sources is great, because if you're out of power, you still have gas and vice-versa... if you're artificially limited to just one source, and you're suddenly out of that, you're basically screwed.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#244

Post by Eisenstein » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 1:17 PM UTC

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #243

Eisenstein wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 'green agenda' is a red herring. The problem lies with companies not maintaining their infrastructure because it costs money, then blaming whatever is convenient when it breaks.

Sometimes it breaks because it breaks... you cannot predict icy rain (video above), terrorist attacks, war, etc. Having an option to use other energy sources is great, because if you're out of power, you still have gas and vice-versa... if you're artificially limited to just one source, and you're suddenly out of that, you're basically screwed.

You certainly can predict icy rain -- this is why grids get winterized. You may not be able to predict exactly when, but you can predict that it will happen.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#245

Post by ajsnigrutin » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 4:15 PM UTC

Eisenstein wrote: post #244

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes it breaks because it breaks... you cannot predict icy rain (video above), terrorist attacks, war, etc. Having an option to use other energy sources is great, because if you're out of power, you still have gas and vice-versa... if you're artificially limited to just one source, and you're suddenly out of that, you're basically screwed.

You certainly can predict icy rain -- this is why grids get winterized. You may not be able to predict exactly when, but you can predict that it will happen.

So how does that help you when your power cables get torn down? The infrastructure there was standing from atleast yugoslav times, and for 50 years, there were no issues, untile one icy-rainfal, all the cables got torn down. I mean.. you can also somewhat predict earthquakes, but you still don't build infrastructure that will withstand the "strongest ones", especially not in areas where earthquakes are rare.

In case of slovenia in 2014, something happened, that has 'never' happened before (atleast not in living memory), and this: https://www.postojna.si/Datoteke/Slike/Novice/123958/l_12395... was the affect on power infrastructure. People who could heat their houses with eg. wood or gas, stayed warm, the ones who only had electricity-powered devices (for heat, cooking,..) were screwed, and had to get help from others. If you forbid alternatives, you're cold, and all your neighbors are cold too, and rebuilding after such destruction is not a few-days thing.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#246

Post by Eisenstein » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 4:38 PM UTC

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #245

Eisenstein wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You certainly can predict icy rain -- this is why grids get winterized. You may not be able to predict exactly when, but you can predict that it will happen.

So how does that help you when your power cables get torn down? The infrastructure there was standing from atleast yugoslav times, and for 50 years, there were no issues, untile one icy-rainfal, all the cables got torn down. I mean.. you can also somewhat predict earthquakes, but you still don't build infrastructure that will withstand the "strongest ones", especially not in areas where earthquakes are rare. In case…

Well, the problem with modern society is that we can't allow anyone to use anything just because there might be a need to. We don't allow people to burn their trash even though trash haulers can go on strike, and we don't allow people to hunt for their food even though the roads can close and grocery stores close. One event that led to a major problem means that we should fix the infrastructure that broke and weather it so that it doesn't break as easily.

I don't know about the specific green fuel bans you are talking about, but I do know that this issue is often used by politicians and companies to throw the blame on something else when it is their fault.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#247

Post by anoonmoose » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 5:23 PM UTC

zamnos wrote: post #144

anoonmoose wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't even a hacker, though! This is a person who isn't capable of doing extremely basic electrical calculations. It'd be a totally different topic if it was a person who I thought fully appreciated the danger of what they're doing. If you can't calculate the voltage drop over a length of cable you should not be wiring your own deadly AC voltages. I'm willing to die on that hill.

This is a metaphorical hill you're willing to metaphorically and not literally die on? How brave. The Stack Overflow poster is on a metaphorical hill in a literal warzone to literally die on. They're trying to hack together AC power the best they can to make their home in Sudan livable. That's some serious hacking! So what if they don't know V=IR?

I'll ignore the rudeness and respond to the substance- they are not making their home livable, it's in a warzone, it'll still be unlivable but with electricity. And that is not at no cost- they are creating an extremely dangerous situation that could be deadly to people and animals. I might be persuadable if they were the only people who could be hurt by what they're doing but it's a danger to the public. It's not about the formula, it's about the fact that they don't know enough to appreciate the danger of what they're doing.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#248

Post by RecycledEle » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 6:36 PM UTC

Poor guy needs to realize the heat will melt the plastic insulation and cause the wire to fall apart where it is suspended.

Also, the insulation will not be up to the need and he will get shocked if he touches the hot, melted insulation.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#249

Post by amw » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 8:06 PM UTC

noduerme wrote: post #211

s1artibartfast wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that is a very interesting question. Do you have any moral culpability if you encourage people two points there are country into chaos and messed up, but for a noble cause. If you encourage people to revolt and they all die, is that blood on your hands or should you pat yourself on the back

Well, they didn't die because they revolted. They're dying because two guys are conducting a street to street war. Which is more condescending and neocolonial: To believe (hopefully) that a country may be able to hold onto a democracy, or to think they're incapable and will inevitably fall into chaos? My only original point was simply that this chaos wasn't the aim of the West - nor does it benefit anyone. But I alwa…

The West invests money in things that it expects to see generate a return. Sometimes this results in the Marshall Plan, a massive development effort whose main strategic goal was to isolate newly allied Russia and China in the post-WWII era, and gave the foundation forward strongholds for capitalism could use to thrive at the doorstep of the powers challenging our assertion of a ruling world order.

(Never mind what Chiang Kai-Shek was doing to the citizens under his government-in-exile. Never mind that killing some 200k people in a nuclear conflagration in Japan was already known to be unnecessary, and that those people died as a simple show of force against the USSR. Never mind that the Korean War that devastated that country didn't have to ever be fought in the first place. The Bad Communists™ must be fought.)

Usually, the investments don't have those happy endings--I don't think anyone who frequents this site could be completely blind to the abysmal record US interventions have for world stability and economic development, that three relative successes in that mass of bloody failure counts as barely a drop in the bucket.

Finally, I think taking statements about the CIA or NED or the Open Society Foundation or Radio Free Asia or VOC (etc, etc, etc) doing the work they do as statements that "remove local agency" misunderstand how the "West" works: Nobody in the countries that color revolutions happen in has to be given orders from the CIA to make their own country a horrible place to live, the investment is always structured as finding the people _most_ willing to seek an extreme solution and amplifying their voice and reach further than it would get on its own, if left to itself in the local context. We always propagandize this as "supporting democracy", but we absolutely know that a reverse effort of a theoretical CPC-affiliated NGO funding some adventurist Commie group with millions in ad funding and logistical support would be treated as an enemy attack against our government, and that that treatment would _be correct_.

Re: As I am currently in a war zone, I don't have many options for cabling

#250

Post by netsharc » Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 10:09 PM UTC

pastacacioepepe wrote: post #240

netsharc wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if Russia were to stage a coup, install their guy, and deploy weapons. So... is your understanding that Russia's been "forced" to invade because the US was arming Ukraine to eventually invade Russia? I guess this is not an original argument to get into, but do we want to agree on some basic facts before we start: 1. Putin is corrupt. E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_tFSWZXKN0 . Sure the people making the vide…

> So... is your understanding that Russia's been "forced" to invade because the US was arming Ukraine to eventually invade Russia? Yes, among other things. > Putin is corrupt Probably true on some level, I don't know enough about it to judge it and I don't see how it makes a difference. Have you checked what the current alternatives to Putin are? > The person ousted in the "coup" (Viktor Yanukovych) was also deeply c…

> Probably true on some level, I don't know enough about it to judge it and I don't see how it makes a difference.

Hah... how to know you're not talking to a serious person. Of course it has something to do with it. Putin's been rigging elections and jailing opponents to ensure he's "democratically" in power. In reality he probably knows he's deeply unpopular because of his corruption. But hey, it's easier for you to look away and say "Probably true [...] I don't know enough about it to judge.". How convenient of you to say "let's just ignore that bit, for the benefit of my delusion, shall we?".

Why is it important whether he's corrupt or not? I've written why in my other post. If Putin was a clean president, Ukrainians probably would not have had any issues if their (also clean) president wanted to be closer to Russia. But if the corrupt Yanukovych wanted to be closer to the corrupt Putin, why do you think that is? Maybe because he would gain protection to continue to be even more corrupt. And what citizenry should tolerate being robbed from?

As to your link, it says:

> The leaked documents suggest he had – or has – a previously undisclosed stake in an offshore company, which he appears to have secretly transferred to a friend weeks before winning the presidential vote.

Huh, so he wanted to hide money that he earned before he was a politician? Hey... I don't know enough about it to judge, but that seems less terrible than using your political office for personal gain. But hey, maybe that's just me turning a blind eye, just like you're willing to turn a million blind eyes from Putin's and Yanukovych's corruption.