Last Poster #7

[Xue Sheng]

that's it!

But seriously, it was changing it from Berliner to "Ein Berliner" that made the difference. In English it's like if someone in Texas says, "I am a Ding Dong" vs "I am from (or of) Ding Dong.".

No worries, you're talking to a guy who once messed up his Chinese because he use to joke around and speak Chinese with a southern accent...... meaning an accent from someplace like Texas

Oh, and I think the Chinese for I'm a jelly donut is 我是果冻甜甜圈, Wǒ shì guǒdòng tián tián quān

 

[Steve]

No worries, you're talking to a guy who once messed up his Chinese because he use to joke around and speak Chinese with a southern accent...... meaning an accent from someplace like Texas

Oh, and I think the Chinese for I'm a jelly donut is 我是果冻甜甜圈, Wǒ shì guǒdòng tián tián quān

I'll never forget watching a John Wayne movie dubbed in German. They dubbed him in German with a "john wayne" accent. It was hilarious.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This is pretty darn cool. Structural batteries that can be used in the frame for a car or other load bearing structure. Obviously not ready for production yet, but pretty neat nonetheless.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aesr.202000093

I've seen a couple of bits about those. Could really change things like electric cars and solar generator storage for buildings.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I'll never forget watching a John Wayne movie dubbed in German. They dubbed him in German with a "john wayne" accent. It was hilarious.

And now all I can hear in my head is "Ich bin ein Berliner" in a John Wayne voice.

 

[dvcochran]

I've seen a couple of bits about those. Could really change things like electric cars and solar generator storage for buildings.

There has been something similar in solar panels for some time. The difference is they are flexible and made so movement does effect their function. Then can be wrapped around a curve or what not. We have used them in remote telemetry applications where mounting choices were limited.
There is also a thin film battery the covers the area of the floor pan on some industrial vehicles. Seems to work well until the battery needs to be removed for service or replacement. Is enough of an issue that the machines are usually scrapped or sent back for a complete rebuild, where the machine it partly/completely disassembled.

I have very mixed feelings with tech like Steve mentioned. It just seems like a bad kind of integration to me. As it stands right now, most all parts of any car on the road today will outlive the life of any current battery technology. So the power source needs to be accessible, serviceable, and affordable. We are not there yet on any of the three, with an arguable exception of serviceable.
We currently own our second hybrid. The Honda we sold after 4 years of service when the battery pack showed signs of needing replacement. At a cost of $3,500 it would have Way exceeded any fuel cost savings over the service life of the car for us. So 'serviceable' would come at a huge cost to the consumer.
The Toyota hybrid we currently has already pass the Honda on service life and is going strong. That would imply battery tech is getting better. But it has the traditional battery placement with access through the trunk. Just imagine a battery as an integral part of a car frame (especially a unibody). Jump a curb and ding the frame? Sorry but your battery is damaged. Your car is totaled. Minor accident, sorry your power system is damaged and your car is totaled.
Longevity has to be factor. Unless the cost of vehicles can come Way down. I have seen batteries last 10 years, but this was under 'perfect' conditions. Average driving is anything but perfect conditions.
How would you like to be setting in car and it suddenly start smoking below you because the battery was frying?
I think the tech will get there but right now the rest of our car tech is way ahead on the curve for now.

Have you ever research the raw materials used and the tech required to make large batteries? Rather eye opening.

 

[Steve]

I've seen a couple of bits about those. Could really change things like electric cars and solar generator storage for buildings.

Not ready for prime time yet, but give it five or ten years. Things have come a long way since I bought my first electric car a decade ago, and the EVs that are being produced today have better range and they're incredibly inexpensive to own. The savings in energy between gas and electricity alone pay for the car over a few years, not to mention no oil changes, virtually no brake costs, no transmission issues. They're pretty cool, but what they haven't figured out yet is how to reduce the weight and where to put the batteries. Some are better than others.

EVs aren't a good fit for everyone, but they're getting there, and battery technology is a big part of it.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

There has been something similar in solar panels for some time. The difference is they are flexible and made so movement does effect their function. Then can be wrapped around a curve or what not. We have used them in remote telemetry applications where mounting choices were limited.
There is also a thin film battery the covers the area of the floor pan on some industrial vehicles. Seems to work well until the battery needs to be removed for service or replacement. Is enough of an issue that the machines are usually scrapped or sent back for a complete rebuild, where the machine it partly/completely disassembled.

I have very mixed feelings with tech like Steve mentioned. It just seems like a bad kind of integration to me. As it stands right now, most all parts of any car on the road today will outlive the life of any current battery technology. So the power source needs to be accessible, serviceable, and affordable. We are not there yet on any of the three, with an arguable exception of serviceable.
We currently own our second hybrid. The Honda we sold after 4 years of service when the battery pack showed signs of needing replacement. At a cost of $3,500 it would have Way exceeded any fuel cost savings over the service life of the car for us. So 'serviceable' would come at a huge cost to the consumer.
The Toyota hybrid we currently has already pass the Honda on service life and is going strong. That would imply battery tech is getting better. But it has the traditional battery placement with access through the trunk. Just imagine a battery as an integral part of a car frame (especially a unibody). Jump a curb and ding the frame? Sorry but your battery is damaged. Your car is totaled. Minor accident, sorry your power system is damaged and your car is totaled.
Longevity has to be factor. Unless the cost of vehicles can come Way down. I have seen batteries last 10 years, but this was under 'perfect' conditions. Average driving is anything but perfect conditions.
How would you like to be setting in car and it suddenly start smoking below you because the battery was frying?
I think the tech will get there but right now the rest of our car tech is way ahead on the curve for now.

Have you ever research the raw materials used and the tech required to make large batteries? Rather eye opening.

I experct the best deployment in a car would be a bolt-in (or weld-in or whatever) structural member, so it can be replaced at reasonable intervals. I agree having it be a permanent structural member that isn't available to replace would limit the vehicle's longevity with current battery tech. The advantage is that you don't have to add weight that does nothing but store power - it can double up on function, replacing some structural components so less mass added. Perhaps some similar opportunities with buildings. Certainly would be more interesting if the battery lasted longer.

 

[Steve]

In other news, have you guys heard about cross laminated timber? Another pretty interesting thing that is starting to gain traction in the USA and could be a game changer in construction. The second link is to some buildings that used CLT in the construction.

Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) - APA – The Engineered Wood Association
Projects | Katerra

Has some interesting limitations that need to be considered in the building design, but it is really, really strong and can replace a lot of steel and reinforced concrete in building construction. It's also much nicer to look at than the concrete and steel you normally see in a commercial structure.

 

[Steve]

I experct the best deployment in a car would be a bolt-in (or weld-in or whatever) structural member, so it can be replaced at reasonable intervals. I agree having it be a permanent structural member that isn't available to replace would limit the vehicle's longevity with current battery tech. The advantage is that you don't have to add weight that does nothing but store power - it can double up on function, replacing some structural components so less mass added. Perhaps some similar opportunities with buildings. Certainly would be more interesting if the battery lasted longer.

Batteries last a long time. It's not like a switch is flipped and after a few years the batteries fail completely. What actually happens is you lose some capacity over time slowly. After a decade, you won't have 100% capacity, but you can expect 70 to 85%, depending on where you live and how well you take care of the car.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Batteries last a long time. It's not like a switch is flipped and after a few years the batteries fail completely. What actually happens is you lose some capacity over time slowly. After a decade, you won't have 100% capacity, but you can expect 70 to 85%, depending on where you live and how well you take care of the car.

I expected the roll-off to be bigger than that. But that's probably because I'm used to dealing with batteries in computers and small electronics, which are routinely subjected to detrimental charging practices.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

In other news, have you guys heard about cross laminated timber? Another pretty interesting thing that is starting to gain traction in the USA and could be a game changer in construction. The second link is to some buildings that used CLT in the construction.

Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) - APA – The Engineered Wood Association
Projects | Katerra

Has some interesting limitations that need to be considered in the building design, but it is really, really strong and can replace a lot of steel and reinforced concrete in building construction. It's also much nicer to look at than the concrete and steel you normally see in a commercial structure.

I wonder if there are any woodworkers using that routinely in place of standard dimensional lumber. With a good shop setup, it would be an interesting material.

 

[Steve]

I wonder if there are any woodworkers using that routinely in place of standard dimensional lumber. With a good shop setup, it would be an interesting material.

Probably cost prohibitive and overkill for most woodworking projects. Even in home construction, it's probably overkill, when you can easily engineer plenty of structural strength with regular SPF lumber. You know when you see a large commercial structure going up, and first you see a lot of rebar, then at some point they pour the concrete, and then they frame the walls with more rebar and concrete molds, then get the concrete guys back out to pour more concrete... if it's a high rise, you basically rinse and repeat over and over. This stuff doesn't need to be poured, can be pre-fabbed off site, so it saves a ton of time and labor.

 

[Steve]

I expected the roll-off to be bigger than that. But that's probably because I'm used to dealing with batteries in computers and small electronics, which are routinely subjected to detrimental charging practices.

It really depends on where you live. Extreme heat and cold are really hard on batteries. Also, if you routinely use the high speed 440v chargers, that's rough on the batteries.

Of course, like everything, sometimes things just fail, but it wouldn't be the entire battery system in the car. They're engineered to allow you to have just one cell replaced, rather than getting an all new battery pack.

 

[Steve]

And is anyone really surprised that 'diversity' is changing in the US? It is the melting pot remember? Just supports the fact that the real racists are the one's that keep playing the race card.

I don't understand how you can say Xue is the "real" racist for pointing out that Asians are a minority and are being targeted with violence. That doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I don't understand how you can say Xue is the "real" racist for pointing out that Asians are a minority and are being targeted with violence. That doesn't make any sense at all.

wait...what!?
How did I get into this!?

 

[dvcochran]

I don't understand how you can say Xue is the "real" racist for pointing out that Asians are a minority and are being targeted with violence. That doesn't make any sense at all.

Dude. Do you not see how racist you just were?
Nowhere did I imply Xue was or is being racist.
Quit making up things that Re not there.

 

[Steve]

wait...what!?
How did I get into this!?

Sorry if I misunderstood. You post about the violence against asians, and then dude starts talking about how someone's playing the race card, and they are the real racists. Only person who talked about race in any way in the recent past was you. If you're not who he was referring to, it was a weird, random comment to just throw out there.

 

[Steve]

Dude. Do you not see how racist you just were?
Nowhere did I imply Xue was or is being racist.
Quit making up things that Re not there.

I'm sure I misunderstood, then. So, who are the real racists again? Maybe I just don't understand what you mean by playing the race card.

 

[Xue Sheng]

One thing.... I respectfully request you guys leave me out of whatever tiff you have going on here....thank you

 

[Steve]

Regarding the melting pot, I was talking to a trainer with the EEOC one time. She made a definite impact on me. She said she didn't think America was a melting pot, like a fondue, where everything just sort of melts together and becomes the same thing. Instead, she suggested we look at America like a really good stew, where all the ingredients stay distinct and remain what they are, but add up to something that is really delicious and better together. I like that analogy a lot.