Archive for the 'Gear' Category
Tesla Gigafactory Production Problems Worse than Previously Disclosed
January 26th, 2018The Hacker News comments on this are interesting. Via: CNBC: Tesla’s problems with battery production at the company’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, are worse than the company has acknowledged and could cause further delays and quality issues for the new Model 3, according to a number of current and former Tesla employees. These problems include […]
Call from Tesla
August 17th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — I had a call from a Tesla energy specialist yesterday. She confirmed what we learned a few days ago about the Powerwall 2’s ability to island grid tied inverters for backup purposes. She also said that Powerwall 2 demand is, “Extreme,” and far in excess […]
Confirmed: Grid Tie Inverter Continues to Generate Electricity During Grid Failure with Powerwall 2
August 13th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Man, I’ve been waiting a long time to see this confirmed. Here it is! Tesla remains silent on generator backup options, but I have no doubt that people are going to start rolling their own if Tesla doesn’t address it. In any event, very special […]
Motor Trend: The Tesla Model 3 “Is the Most Important Vehicle of the Century”
July 29th, 2017Via: Motor Trend: The Tesla Model 3 is here, and it is the most important vehicle of the century. Yes, the hyperbole is necessary. The original Tesla Model S was a proof of concept—it was possible to make a long-range electric vehicle. The Model X showed that you could make an electric SUV. But neither […]
Bollinger Unveils New Minimalist All-Electric Truck with Up to 200 Miles of Range
July 27th, 2017No pricing was revealed, which is good, since it would probably melt our faces off. Via: Electrek: Today, Bollinger Motors unveiled what it calls a “no nonsense back-to-basics all-electric sport utility truck (SUT).” The minimalist-looking vehicle with sharp edges and bare interior will not be for everyone, but with a promised range of up to […]
Tesla Powerwall 2 User Discussion Thread
July 3rd, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — There is very little concrete information publicly available about the Powerwall 2’s actual capabilities. I think that the reason for Tesla’s coyness is that they are still heavily iterating on the systems that have been sold to customers. Tesla does this with cars that people […]
Cyborgs at Work: Employees Getting Implanted with Microchips
April 3rd, 2017Like many of you out there, I first heard about this technology in the 1990s. Decades later, a passive microchip implant seems like a practically innocuous fairy tale compared to the privacy hell that has metastasized all around us. In terms of technologies of political control, think of a chip implant as something like a […]
Off Topic: Speed Queen Washing Machines
September 25th, 2016Yesterday, our 19 year old Fisher & Paykel washing machine blew up. Before anyone suggests fixing it, know this: SmartDrive motor melted (several coils fused into a single black blob), the boards up on the console fried and the drum was punctured—not necessarily in that order. It looks like someone fired a .22 from the […]
iPhone Case to Monitor Device’s Radios for Surveillance Activity
July 21st, 2016Of course, inexpensive signal blocking pouches can prevent phones from communicating. You have to test them to make sure that they’re actually blocking the signals. See: Black Hole Faraday Bags, for example. This thing below, however, will tell you when something dodgy is happening. (Much better than my warm-to-the-touch-dead-battery indicator.) Via: Wired: A mockup of […]
Top 5 Guns to Get Before an Election
July 6th, 2016I’ve got three honorable mentions. 1) SIG 556 Classic Swat 2) FN PS90 3) FN M249S *chortle* Via: Iraqveteran8888:
