Wind turbines used to absorb a power surplus?

[alan_m]

Is there any need for cats?

[alan_m]

Russian high grade fuel for their aircraft mover

[Clive Arthur]

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We moved house about 18 months ago. The previous owner had replaced all the LED bulbs with CFLs, presumably from their original boxes stored in a cupboard. Tight fucker.

[SteveW]

While I agree that wind turbines probably don't kill very many birds, the cat kill figures are somewhat suspect.

According to the RPSB, over spring and summer (the peak time), cats kill

27 million birds in the UK, a small fraction of the figure you state, which was, of course, worldwide.

From a recent newspaper report, even that figure may be wildly exaggerated. The stats were apparently extrapolated from a count carried out at one location - which was a farm, where the cats were not fed at all and HAD to live by hunting.

Further, it has been calculated that 2 out of 3 bird deaths are due to farm cats, feral cats and other unowned cats. Domestic cats are therefore likely to kill no more than 9 million birds in the UK (and probably far fewer, due to the distortion of the figures already mentioned).

Analysis of killed birds has shown that many are already injured or ill. A proportion are fledglings that failed to fly and would not survive anyway.

[invalid unparseable]

How bought Willie:

[Tim Streater]

Which I assume you've now replaced with LEDs and put in boxes in a cupboard? Ready for a future move?

[Max Demian]

I thought sellers remove all the existing bulb, and probably the sockets as well, leaving you with wires dangling from the ceiling.

[Bob Eager]

When we moved in, it took us a while to notice that the 6ft fluorescent tube in teh loft had been replaced by a single bulb. We thought we had imagined the tube until we looked at the surveyor's photograph.

The seller was an electrician. No big deal, though.

[alan_m]

When my mother moved into the current house the previous owners removed the light fittings and left pedant fittings. They had probably previously discarded the ceiling roses so they just twisted wires together and insulated with Sellotape.

[Tim Streater]

In principle, anything permanently attached is supposed to be left, otherwise it may be taken. But all this is subject to negotiation. A seller can simply advertise the house and say "we will be removing the Georgian fireplace".

[charles]

When my parents moved house in 1957, the vendor said she'd be removing the wall lights in one room. "There is only one other set like tham, and it belongs to the Queem Mother"

[John Larkin]

Our internet provider at work is MonkeyBrains, all microwave. We have a dish on the roof aiming at another building a few blocks away, although they can do miles. We paid for 50+50 mbits and get about

400+400. To get fiber we would have had to pay to dig up the sidewalk for a couple of blocks.

A 100 Mbit microwave link pair costs under $100 now. A better longer range Gbit dish pair is about $200. That's astounding.

[John Larkin]

Russia actually runs on vodka.

[John Larkin]

I like birds. I feed a bunch of them twice a day. They prefer Fritos to anything else we've tried; I'm sympathetic to that choice. I have one giantic raven and a one-legged blue jay that will fly and snatch a Frito out of my hand.

The tiny little Juncos clean up every spec of food off the deck

[John Larkin]

This isn't about Saving The Earth, it's about fame and power. Political power, not electrical.

[Cindy Hamilton]

We feed the birds, too. The rabbits also benefit.

One afternoon I came out and put some banana bread out. I barely had time to turn around and step away from it before a rabbit dashed out of cover and started in on it.

[Scott Lurndal]

[The Natural Philosopher]

Tell that to any operator of a steam locomotive. Of course they can. All reliable generators except hydro take a bit of time to get steam up, but there is energy in to boilers to cope with medium term peaks of a few minutes.

Rubbish. You mean wind generators who get paid not to produce

It is not, That is why you add batteries to the grid.

They take power form the grid to turn when there is no wind otherwise the main beraings deform

[The Natural Philosopher]

You can throttle a stem plant instantaneously. All that happens in the limit is a safety valve will blow of excess steam pressure.

The UK ran on pretty much 100% coal up until the 1960s. They managed.

[The Natural Philosopher]

And those also use street paving quality gunk, preheated to make it liquid.

I am not sure why they switched from steam turbines to diesel, I wouldn't think there was much difference in complexity

Ah. according to the net it was simply a matter of fuel efficiency. Diesels use less bitumen :-)