Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries for home use are currently priced at $89/kWh from reputable Chinese suppliers, with an additional $30/kWh if purchased in the US.
Sodium batteries are available at $130/kWh but are 26% less efficient compared to LiFePO4 batteries.
The post highlights the affordability and efficiency of solar panels and batteries, with some users successfully transitioning their homes to solar power and battery storage, reducing reliance on traditional power companies.
In C++, if constructors are not provided, the compiler may generate default ones, potentially leading to uninitialized objects.
Default-initialization does nothing for non-class and non-array types, while value-initialization zero-initializes non-class types and then default-initializes.
Relying on compiler-generated constructors can result in undefined behavior; it's recommended to write custom constructors to avoid these issues.
West Japan Railway has unveiled a 12-metre high robot mounted on a truck for rail maintenance tasks such as trimming tree branches and painting.
The robot, which can be operated remotely, features large arms that can carry up to 40kg and reach vertically up to 12 metres, aiming to address worker shortages and reduce accidents.
The company plans to expand the robot's use for various maintenance tasks in the future.
Japan has unveiled a large humanoid robot for maintaining train lines, controlled remotely similar to a surgical robot.
The robot, capable of reaching 12 meters on a telescoped crane, is designed for tasks like tree limb removal and inspections.
This innovation aims to address Japan's aging workforce and labor shortages, despite some skepticism about its efficiency compared to traditional methods.
"Game 6: Put the DVD Logo in the Corner" is an arcade action game created by Margaret Lyons, developed in just 4 days using the PICO-8 platform.
The game was created at the Recurse Center and is available on itch.io, with its code accessible on GitHub. It is a short game (45 seconds) based on a joke.
PICO-8 is a "fantasy console" that mimics 80s consoles, with limitations on graphics, sound, and code size, making it ideal for small, simple game projects.
The post discusses the Recurse Center, a free residency program for programmers that fosters creativity and personal growth, with the author sharing their experience of creating 8 games in 12 weeks.
There is a notable interest in fantasy consoles like Pico-8, which are praised for their constraints that encourage innovation and quick, fun coding projects.
The conversation includes various references to retro gaming and programming environments, highlighting the community's appreciation for creative coding within limitations.
"Factorio: Space Age" expansion is set to release on October 21, 2024, priced at $35.00, the same as the base game.
New features include space platforms, multi-level rail networks, and planets with unique resources and challenges, such as Vulcanus, Fulgora, and Gleba.
"Factorio 2.0" will be a free upgrade, offering game improvements like smarter robots, new rails, and enhanced terrain generation.
The release date for Factorio's Space Age expansion has been announced, generating excitement and discussions about the game's highly addictive nature.
Users shared personal experiences, warning about the potential for the game to consume significant time and impact daily life, while also recommending similar games and mods.
The community discussed Factorio's pricing strategy, appreciating the consistent value due to the absence of sales, and expressed both excitement and caution about the immersive gameplay.
The author built a custom Keywords Research tool named Telescope, spending $51 over 2 months, compared to $1297 on an Ahrefs subscription over 13 months.
Telescope offers features like Keywords Explorer, Keywords Ideas, Ranked Keywords, and Saved Keywords, with payment options including usage-based subscription or top-up balance.
New accounts receive a free balance to start, and the author seeks feedback on the tool.
A new, cost-effective SEO research tool named Telescope has been launched, offering significant savings compared to competitors like Ahrefs and SEMrush.
Telescope's features include Keywords Explorer, Keywords Ideas, Ranked Keywords, and Saved Keywords, with flexible payment options and a free starting balance for new accounts.
User discussions highlight the high costs of existing tools, the potential of Telescope as a SEMrush alternative, and inquiries about backend providers, API availability, and specific market data.
NexDock aims to transform smartphones into laptops, but users report dissatisfaction due to poor desktop/laptop experiences on smartphones.
Despite the concept's appeal of upgrading only the phone and not the laptop form factor, execution issues, particularly on the phone side, hinder its success.
Alternatives like older laptops from eBay or devices like the Steam Deck offer better performance and user experience for similar or lower costs.
The author, a former AMD engineer, highlights AMD's strong engineering culture but notes shortcomings in software support and vendor relationships.
Nvidia's success is attributed to aggressive, sometimes controversial, business practices and a robust software ecosystem, particularly with CUDA.
Dr. Lisa Su's leadership at AMD has been crucial, and there is ongoing debate about whether Nvidia's dominance is sustainable or if competitors like AMD and Intel can close the gap.
The Snapdragon X Elite's Adreno iGPU initially outperformed mid-range GPUs from Apple, AMD, and NVIDIA in benchmarks but now struggles with modern graphics loads, including desktop gaming.
Qualcomm faces a strategic decision between maintaining its dominance in mobile graphics or pursuing higher-end gaming performance, with persistent issues in Adreno drivers noted by the Dolphin team.
ARM SOC (System on Chip) GPUs from Apple and NVIDIA remain strong, while Intel and AMD integrated GPUs (iGPUs) outperform ARM counterparts, indicating Qualcomm's need to balance mobile and desktop GPU performance without directly competing with discrete GPUs (dGPUs).
As projects grow in complexity, the Raspberry Pi Pico often surpasses the capabilities of the Arduino IDE, necessitating more advanced tools like an RTOS (Real-Time Operating System).
Martijn Braam is developing a hardware controller for PTZ cameras and video switchers, requiring an RTOS due to software complexity; he evaluated FreeRTOS, Apache NuttX, and Zephyr.
Despite initial challenges with FreeRTOS, such as printf causing hangs and lack of hardware abstraction, it remains the most viable option due to its integration with the pico-sdk.
The post discusses transitioning to a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) on the RP2040 microcontroller, highlighting various RTOS options and their suitability.
Key RTOS options mentioned include FreeRTOS, Zephyr, and NuttX, each with its own strengths and weaknesses in terms of support, user-friendliness, and hardware compatibility.
The discussion also touches on alternative development environments like Rust and MicroPython, emphasizing their benefits for embedded development on the RP2040.
Researchers have developed a new method for bone tissue repair using coral and marine sponges as scaffolds, leveraging their porosity and calcium carbonate composition.
This method involves preparing the scaffolds to fit the damaged area and using marrow stromal cells (MSC) or stem cells to promote bone regeneration.
Unlike traditional materials like ceramics or alloys, coral and marine sponges avoid stress-shielding, providing a framework that supports proper bone healing and integration.
Researchers are exploring the use of coral and marine sponges for bone tissue repair, highlighting an innovative approach in medical science.
The discussion includes personal anecdotes about successful bone repairs using coral fragments, suggesting these materials are effective and cost-efficient alternatives to traditional methods.
The conversation also touches on the importance of bone density and various methods to improve it, such as resistance training and vibration therapy, providing a broader context for bone health maintenance.
Vivaldi has decided not to integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT into their web browser, citing concerns over plagiarism, privacy violations, and the generation of inaccurate information.
LLMs analyze vast amounts of data, which can lead to the unintentional regurgitation of copyrighted material and the disclosure of private information.
Vivaldi aims to provide a feature-rich and ethical browsing experience, remaining open to future machine learning advancements that prioritize privacy and usability.
Vivaldi's decision to avoid integrating AI, specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), has generated significant debate among users.
Supporters of Vivaldi's stance highlight concerns about LLMs' reliability and high energy consumption, while critics argue that LLMs provide valuable features that could benefit users.
The article explaining Vivaldi's decision has been criticized for appearing biased and dismissive of the potential benefits of LLMs, with many advocating for AI integration to be an optional feature in browsers.
The traditional labeling of individuals as "technical" or "not technical" in Silicon Valley undervalues the diverse technical skills across various fields.
Examples like the movie "Free Solo" and Steph Curry's basketball career highlight intricate technical details often overlooked, similar to skills in marketing, sales, and management.
Recognizing and accurately describing these skills can enrich our understanding of different professions and prevent the perpetuation of power dynamics that undervalue important work.
Unison is an MIT-licensed programming language that stores code in a database rather than text files, simplifying distributed programming.
It uses a unique naming system based on hashes, enabling seamless renaming and versioning, and features an abilities system to track code dependencies and interactions.
Designed for cloud computing, Unison offers managed services through Unison Cloud, but faces challenges like the lack of a stable Foreign Function Interface (FFI) and the need for custom tooling.
Unison programming language is noted for its ergonomic design and code-in-database approach, which simplifies coding by eliminating long compilation times and the need for Git.
Despite being a young language, Unison offers robust tooling, including Language Server Protocol (LSP) integration and first-class documentation, which enhances the developer experience.
Unison's method of handling immutable code stored in a database addresses common issues in traditional REPL-based languages, though some users are concerned about modern languages incorporating too many built-in tools.