scott_ci
Joined 13 years ago
Karma
25
Submissions
13
Member since
Jul 16
name: scott driscoll
work: http://foundry45.com
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CuriousInventor
View on Hacker NewsRecent submissions
Comment · 8 years ago
Pumped storage analysis: https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/11/pump-up-the-storage/
spoiler: not remotely possible to scale large enough for total world needs.
"If we drained one meter from every upper lake, we would get 54 billion kWh of energy: about a sixth of the target capacity. If performed over seven days, the flow would be 375,000 cubic meters per second, or 125 times the normal flow over the falls."
"We would need 10,000 Raccoon Mountains to meet my baseline energy capacity"
Comment · 8 years ago
I just went on a zip line for the first time, and climbing their tallest ladder was pretty unnerving. I don't have a great fear to begin with, but my the wow-I'm-really-hear effect has definitely gone down. Maybe if I had done that exact zip line in VR, it would have helped? I do believe VR can help with phobias and PTSD (http://www.virtuallybetter.com/), but I wonder if its benefit goes down with exposure (complete speculation!).
Comment · 8 years ago
As someone who develops VR on a daily basis, I'm skeptical that 3D over 2D is the key. When I first tried on a headset, and watched a video from up high, my fear of heights kicked in. Now I'm almost completely immune to that effect, but I still routinely do things like try to set a tool down on a virtual table. I suspect VR will be good for hands-on training (where it's more about the sequence than the "feel" of it) and psychological training (how to deal with an angry customer), but maybe the psychological benefit wears off like my body's reaction to being up high in VR.
Comment · 8 years ago
there's a company that focuses on this: http://www.forklift-simulator.com/
Comment · 9 years ago
I imagine a marketplace with a ledger of electrons and money, with smart switches and meters that directly interact with this marketplace.
One interesting idea is having certain energy tagged as "green" energy, like wind generated, which some people might be willing to pay more for.
How do you prevent fraud (bypassing the meter) and who still pays to maintain the grid? Not sure. Is this really more efficient than a private / gov run system? I don't know. Blockchain interacting with real physical assets always seems murky to me.
Comment · 9 years ago
the plan for ethereum is to switch to proof-of-stake, but that has definitely not been figured out yet. I could also see a more private blockchain supporting stuff like this. Maybe it's not open to anonymous participants, but is still more distributed than a single company.
Comment · 9 years ago
There's a recent podcast about this and blockchain + energy sector in general: https://epicenter.tv/episode/174/ Why blockchain? It enables peer-to-peer buying and selling of electricity (no middle man), which becomes more interesting as the grid itself is becoming more decentralized with solar, etc. Imagine being able to buy and sell electricity directly between you and your neighbors. Lots of questions about how this is metered & controlled, but it seems promising.
Comment · 10 years ago
I've found that getting a wallet and sending some Bitcoin is a great first step. This course introduces Bitcoin and also surveys an array of other decentralized, blockchain projects: https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/bitcoin-decentralized-te... (caveats: self-promotion, pay-walled, but the free trial allows you to watch 95% of it).
Bear in mind that the word "blockchain" is an evolving word; almost every definition I've read differs. Some see it as barely different than a distributed database that doesn't allow deletions. Many others see it as paradigm shifting.
Comment · 11 years ago
I've heard public health people talk about the problem of giving away nets for free before, and that charging some amount of money seems to improve usage. It may be more than just the decision between starving and malaria, but also some psychology involved with getting free things.
Comment · 13 years ago
theoretically, Bitcoin doesn't require any trust. But with the majority of mining being done be a few large pools, I think the distributed protection of the system is severely compromised. As far as the initial block chain, you can verify it for yourself.
Comment · 13 years ago
True, I still need add a note in the video about the public key. As far as I know, this doesn't impact the security of the system, just makes addresses easier to pass around. Also true about the inputs. It's extremely hard to explain Bitcoin piece by piece without telling some fibs along the way!
Comment · 13 years ago
why I made this video: A lot of the videos and explanations I read about Bitcoin were vague and mystical sounding. Or, alternately, super long and rambling. This is my effort to explain it in as concise a manner as possible.
I'm relatively new to Bitcoin, so any critical feedback would be very much appreciated, especially regarding my explanations for the rationale behind the block chain, and potential security risks posed by large "mining pools."
After doing all my research, the craziest part to me is that the point of all the mining is just to sort transactions. If this is correct, then it seems like there's got to be a cheaper way to do this... maybe ripple's digital currency?