Google has dropped wireless charging for the Nexus 5X.

Google has dropped wireless charging for the Nexus 5X. The reason they give is due to thinness but I suspect the other part of the story is too many returned Nexus 5 phones with cooked batteries.

Don’t use a cheap Qi charger on a Nexus 5 if you want to keep temperatures below 45°C. A long living battery is a battery that has been kept cool.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3mzrl9/hi_im_hiroshi_lockheimer_here_at_google_with_the/cvjjnp0

Bitcoins are a waste of energy — literally

Bitcoins are a waste of energy — literally

Vast amounts of electricity go into feeding the Bitcoin delusion. Fortunately, it’s unlikely that the digital currency will survive long enough to generate the environmental disaster that would arise if it became a major part of the financial system, writes John Quiggin.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-06/quiggin-bitcoins-are-a-waste-of-energy/6827940

I love that Google Now works on my Watch.

Originally shared by Christopher B

I love that Google Now works on my Watch. Not only did it tell me I needed to leave earlier to get to my daughters soccer game on time, but it told me the reason why. Which was the Amtrak derailed in Vermont (http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/05/us/vermont-train-derailment/) and the school she was playing against was the town where the wreck happened at. 

On another note, the game was obviously canceled. 

It will suck when I move back to Android that I will have to buy another watch to get useful stuff from Google on my wrist, since my Apple Watch only works with an iPhone. The good news is the Android Gear watches are a lot cheaper, but a lot uglier. 😦

Musk says VW actions proof oil’s time is over – he’s right too

Originally shared by Naoki Watanabe

Musk says VW actions proof oil’s time is over – he’s right too

Combustion engines hit their thermodynamic limit a long time ago, since then we’ve just been trying to deal with their emissions. It’s been over 150 years since J. J. Étienne Lenoir built his double-acting, spark-ignition engine. It lacked compression and had low efficiency compared to modern engines so we saw some rapid improvements over the next hundred years. But there is no escaping physics. The maximum efficiency from a combustion engine is 46-50% (Otto / Carnot cycles). In the real world we see only 15-35%. 

The available energy typically breaks down into :

– 33% lost in exhaust gasses released into atmosphere

– 24% lost in coolant

– 5% lost in friction

– 33% goes to moving vehicle and powering accessories (radio, A/C, etc)

Even a bad electric motor is 80% efficient which is why EVs top rankings in efficiency.

The highest efficiency combustion engine cars for 2015 are small body, small engine vehicles like the Honda CR-Z and Scion IQ. They manage 37 MPG. Hybrids like the Toyota Prius manage 42-50 MPG despite being larger vehicles.

Pure electric vehicles smash those numbers. The Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, Kia Soul Electric, BMW i3, get over 100 eMPG.

The lack of headroom when it comes to combustion engines is clear in the actions taken by VW. Consumers want improvements in efficiency and are more than ever aware of the costs and global consequences of burning oil. 

But if your engine can’t deliver, and won’t ever deliver, what do you do? Cheating seems to be one of the options available to businesses.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/elon-musk-vw-shows-weve-reached-the-limit-of-whats-possible-with-gasoline

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/elon-musk-vw-shows-weve-reached-the-limit-of-whats-possible-with-gasoline

Welcome to “hell”. Um.

Welcome to “hell”. Um.

Oh please. Somebody call the waambulance. The Verge as well as being a big crybaby is also one of the worst offenders when it comes to laggy, spammy, phishy “content” on the web. http://blog.lmorchard.com/2015/07/22/the-verge-web-sucks/

Treat your readers with contempt and they’ll happily return the favour. So if this is a case of “you’ll miss us when we’ve gone” then I’d like to test that prediction.

Via Ben Carew​​

http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/17/9338963/welcome-to-hell-apple-vs-google-vs-facebook-and-the-slow-death-of-the-web