Puget Sound Electric here in Western WA has a very nice feature showing usage by hour by day (using their smart meters). We live in a relatively small home, and do not use electric heat. Yesterday our "vampire draw" was about 0.5 kwh per hour (12am to 5am -- nothing really active). Once we got up, fired up the coffee pot, and lights, etc. we used 1.3 kwh from 6am to 7am. Pia looks like a good UPS for standard appliances, but as a whole house solution... Folks really need to understand how their home would work using a combinations of Pias. For us, we spent about $1k for a Westinghouse 9,000 kwh generator which runs on propane, and I put in the fairly inexpensive breaker and lock-out in our service panel. Costs were well below $2K. When our power goes out (which it does A LOT), simply fire up the gen, shut down all the high amp circuits in the house panel, and switch service panel input to the gen. Takes less than 5 minutes, and everything works apart from some high amp devices which we can easily live without short term. Having a good backup is important -- moreso with the power system strained and more "once a century" events.
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. Probably the best expose about the vileness of politicians and command ladder climbers within the service as they related to Vietnam.
I wrote an app for my daughters years ago using Adobe Air and it was quite successful in the early days of the app store when it was easy to load such apps. Was really useful for my daughters as they have always excelled at math. May not be suitable for a 5 year old, but depends on the kid and parent. The idea is to provide a simple interface for learning single digit arithmetic "patterns".
The objective was to create a UI that let kids relax re: feeling the need to always find the right answer. They just need to "imagine" (right mind) the right answer and click on the answer presented. Over time associative memory response leads them to recognize the patterns for single digit arithmetic, and the "arithmetic" part of math becomes instantaneous. That makes things like factoring fractions (an early hurdle) quite a lot easier because no real thought is involved in seeing the common denominator, etc. (See the chart of one of my daughter's progress in the video below to see how she learned associatively.)
After mastering single digit arithmetic, the app allows kids to move on to seeing how the "algorithmic" approach for multi digit problems is easy. (Note: the reliance on the algo approach is very much WRONG in the current "common core" approach to math in the USA. I acknowledge the "additional understanding" provided by the common core, but I do not see the algo/memory approach as the evil many common core folks see it as.)
I knew some older kids who really hated math (middle school), and found they really struggled when asked "What is 6 x 9 ??" or any other simple arithmetic problem. Finger counting and taking 10-20 seconds for just one step in the process of doing multi-digit multiplication or division is a real hindrance which definitely keeps them from progressing/appreciating math.
Some of the older kids did work though my App, and it had a very, very positive effect. Some sampling issues re: who I knew so YMMV.
I ported the app to a pure HTML/JS app, and hope to soon release it as an Github open source app that can be run locally as a PWA. Unfortunately I am way behind getting this done. Happy to share the code via my private Github account if anyone wants to help with this relatively trivial task.
Right now it runs fine, of course, in a browser with the exception of Safari because Apple is pretty aggressive about not supporting Indexeddb for local storage. Just be sure to be aware of how all the browsers will automatically delete local storage is an app is not used within N days. Any Chrome-based browser should be fine. (The fix for Webkit is not hard as it involves a very longterm bug Apple has never address, so well understood. Again, just have not had time to get to it.)
Makita Brushless 5amp drill combo set. I have used a wide variety of battery powered drills and drivers for decades. If you do a lot of home projects building things, you will use these tools often. Never was dissatisfied with other brands (Ryobi, Bosch), but decided to treat myself one year as I believe Makita Brushless is top of the line today and I wanted more powerful batteries. Best decision ever. So much power, the 5 amp batteries last so long. I have driven 1/2 x 6 inch lag bolts into fence posts with the driver and it did not complain. Just an amazing upgrade (notably because of the 5 amp batteries). If you are starting out building a tool set, splurge and get these. Just remember to store them in your house not the garage as heat/cold cycles can really reduce the batteries cycle count. Only negative is that the driver is so powerful one must be careful when driving smaller screws. Also, spend the extra money to get a good set of bits. I went with Makita for this as well, and the bits are very, very good relative to the many, many others I have used (Dewalt, Milwaukie, etc.) Links (I bought the drill/driver set at a good price thru Amazon with the smaller/lighter drill which proved a very good decision for me):
https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/XT269Thttps://www.makitatools.com/products/details/E-01644
Actually there is. When my daughters were on the Airgun 10 meter team (recent national champs), I spent some time investigating how to create a low-cost SCATT system using a relatively inexpensive laser with 3D-printed mount, USB connected cameras, and OpenCV. Something kids could use in a hallway at home vs. the range. The solution was very feasible as I got to the point of mocking it up and testing it. Daughters decided to drop shooting, and other side-dev projects took over. But you sound like you might love doing this. Cheers.
I have a proven, novel means to gain insight about System1 response. Issued a patent for it (which I think is reasonably well written). Worked great applying it improve response to P&G's branded ads (then was part of McD's SG&A cuts). Would love to use it to improve romantic outcomes (better than survey response measures; e.g. "love at first [System1] sight" would make Kahneman/Tversky proud). Etc. Same coin, opposite side. If I was you, I would hang around some grabybeards who are 50+ and have been working in logistical positions for corporations, expand your network, and hire a great salesman. The GB's will have ideas, but not the where-with-all to act -- notably if they have a family HC plan. The network (also a good GB win), and your sales team are more important than a great idea. You really just need a "good enough" idea, execution, plus sales to get started, then adjust. HTH.
I have a proven, novel means to gain insight about System1 response. Issued a patent for it (which I think is reasonably well written). Applied it working with P&G to improve response to their branded ads. Would love to use it to improve romantic outcomes (better than survey response measures). Etc. Almost too old and tired now after a decade+ of having proven I am a terrible salesman. Same coin, opposite side. If I was you, I would hang around some grabybeards who are 50+ and have been working in logistical positions for corporations. They will have lots and lots of idea, but no where-with-all to act. HTH.
...an ex-Arpeture user.
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