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Don't they use ceiling fans in the south ? maybe gunny can enlighten us.
Fans work up to a point after which only AC will work. I'm fine with them in Bangalore but in areas closer to sea level with high humidity i don't think ceiling fans are the answer. Electricity costs are the main reason we hold on to fans. AC power consumption is quite high and even more if you need to run off a generatr or inverter. Fans will work just fine in that case.
Quick googling says ceiling fans don't do shit when the ambient air temperature is above your internal body temperature, and will only make you feel warmer.
That's not often in the states, depending on where you are.
Other problem is sucking up extra humidity into your home...
"The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck
Don't they use ceiling fans in the south ? maybe gunny can enlighten us.
I think the South is more or less nowadays fully air conditioned. Unless you're living in poverty. The spread of air conditioning was actually one of the key factors that led the South to become more economically developed.
Before air conditioning, in a bygone and surely less comfortable era, people employed all sorts of strategies for keeping cool in the heat. Houses were designed with airflow in mind—more windows, higher ceilings. A style once prevalent in the American south, the dogtrot house, was really two smaller cabins—one for cooking and the other for living —connected under one roof with an open-air corridor between them. In addition, many homes had porches where families could spend a hot day, and also sleeping porches with beds where they could ride out a hot night. Many home designs took passive solar design principles into account, even if they didn't name them as such.
Many of the central changes in our society since World War II would not have been possible were air conditioning not keeping our homes and workplaces cool. Florida, Southern California, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and New Mexico all experienced above-average growth during the latter half of the 20th century—hard to imagine without air conditioning. In fact, the Sunbelt's share of the nation's populations exploded from 28 percent in 1950 to 40 percent in 2000. And hubs of business and technology in hot regions of the globe, such as Dubai, may never have taken off.
Quick googling says ceiling fans don't do shit when the ambient air temperature is above your internal body temperature, and will only make you feel warmer.
When it was ~120F (~49C) outside, it felt like death inside when without one, but very much more tolerable with one. That's just my anecdotal experience though.
"Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."
Quick googling says ceiling fans don't do shit when the ambient air temperature is above your internal body temperature, and will only make you feel warmer.
Aha that's the cut off point then. This is where an AC is needed for sure.
That's not often in the states, depending on where you are.
right, which is why it works where i am as well
Other problem is sucking up extra humidity into your home...
Not sure whether it sucks up more humidity but it doesn't remove anything unlike an AC
Before air conditioning, in a bygone and surely less comfortable era, people employed all sorts of strategies for keeping cool in the heat. Houses were designed with airflow in mind—more windows, higher ceilings. A style once prevalent in the American south, the dogtrot house, was really two smaller cabins—one for cooking and the other for living —connected under one roof with an open-air corridor between them. In addition, many homes had porches where families could spend a hot day, and also sleeping porches with beds where they could ride out a hot night. Many home designs took passive solar design principles into account, even if they didn't name them as such.
I've seen this with older homes. Windows for example have an opposing one or a door which stimulates airflow. This is just good design that has been forgotten unfortunately in modern homes. Modern here means 70s onwards.
I think the South is more or less nowadays fully air conditioned. Unless you're living in poverty. The spread of air conditioning was actually one of the key factors that led the South to become more economically developed.
I've seen people from the states post photos of their living rooms with ceiling fans, looked fairly middle class. Not poor. Could just be older rented homes too. Think i've seen them in movies as well.
When it was ~120F (~49C) outside, it felt like death inside when without one, but very much more tolerable with one. That's just my anecdotal experience though.
Am surprised you find a fan was enough. I suppose its better than nothing but an air cooler would be more effective provided of course humidity was low. They call these 'swamp coolers' in your place.
Not an option for me despite being in the interior, humidity is still fairly high
Oh and there is one more thing i want to tell you. A card with a chip, debit or credit is harder to clone than one with just a magnetic strip.
We use ceiling fans in conjunction with heating/air conditioning. It circulates the air.
You can lower the temp on the heat and raise the temp on the A/C. Circulating the air makes for a consistent temp throughout the room. And FYI blades should push the cold air up in the summer and the warm air down in the winter. You can switch the direction of rotation on every ceiling fan I've ever seen
I've seen people from the states post photos of their living rooms with ceiling fans, looked fairly middle class. Not poor. Could just be older rented homes too. Think i've seen them in movies as well.
A lot of people have them, but don't necessarily use them. Sometimes they're just there, they were installed when the house was constructed, but no longer see any use since AC was installed.
Am surprised you find a fan was enough. I suppose its better than nothing but an air cooler would be more effective provided of course humidity was low. They call these 'swamp coolers' in your place.
No, it wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing.
Oh and there is one more thing i want to tell you. A card with a chip, debit or credit is harder to clone than one with just a magnetic strip.
US has just begun in the last few years to issue cards with the chip in them on a mass scale. We were about 10 years behind Europe on this. I think it was the Target breach in 2013 that got the ball rolling on US banks and credit card companies finally taking card security seriously. Before that credit card fraud seems to have been mostly written off as the cost of doing business.
A lot of people have them, but don't necessarily use them. Sometimes they're just there, they were installed when the house was constructed, but no longer see any use since AC was installed.
Something curious i noticed with homes in upstate NY. They don't like anything on the ceiling. Not even lights. Affects selling price apparently. This isn't hard and fast but i did see a pattern.
US has just begun in the last few years to issue cards with the chip in them on a mass scale. We were about 10 years behind Europe on this. I think it was the Target breach in 2013 that got the ball rolling on US banks and credit card companies finally taking card security seriously. Before that credit card fraud seems to have been mostly written off as the cost of doing business.
My bank only recently rolled these out last year. The reason is the same as in the US. POS everywhere has to be replaced so the usual foot dragging. The Euros are now on contactless cards so the switch to phone pay is easier. Chips on cards is a french thing. Smart cards. They had chips on their phone cards in the late 80s. The Brits didn't have them even a decade later. Only magnetic strip. I don't think the US ever used phone cards like these, always coins. The phone cards you got in the US were slightly different. Scratch the back to get a code. So you'd buy a card, call a number then enter the code and you'd get calls at a reduced rate and even abroad from any phone.
It's true they wrote it off as cast of ding business. $100+bn in business with up to $2bn in fraud was acceptable
In an Era of ‘Smart’ Things, Sometimes Dumb Stuff Is Better
A wristwatch vs. Apple Watch
The Apple Watch’s screen wakes up when you tilt your wrist at an angle, which indicates you are trying to check the time. That helps conserve battery life. But any Apple Watch wearer is familiar with situations where this feature gets frustrating.
While riding a bicycle, for example, you often have to let go of the handle bar and lift the watch toward your face to check the time. When you’re standing on a bus or subway train and holding onto a pole, it is difficult to tilt your wrist at the correct angle to look at the time. Or when you’re in a meeting and want to see if you’re staying on schedule, flicking your wrist isn’t very subtle.
Until the Apple Watch manages to constantly display the time without sapping the battery, a normal wristwatch is better for telling the time in all those scenarios. That’s why you’ll see me wearing a normal watch at work but an Apple Watch at the gym.
An alarm clock vs. Amazon Echo Spot
Amazon recently introduced the Echo Spot, a smart alarm clock with a touch-screen and the Alexa virtual assistant. A less desirable feature is a built-in camera for placing video calls.
A camera on your nightstand that is constantly pointed at your bed? It’s like asking for your privacy to be violated. You might as well shop for your groceries in your underwear or post all your smartphone photos publicly on the web.
Amazon promises the camera software on the Echo Spot can be turned off whenever you aren’t using it. But it’s an obvious feature for hackers to target with malware.
So if your primary goal is to have a device that wakes you up on time to go to work, just get an old-school alarm clock.
A kitchen timer vs. Amazon Echo
One of the most common uses of Amazon’s Echo is to set a kitchen timer. Just say “Alexa, set a timer for 80 minutes” while you’re busy chopping vegetables.
But there are reasons a cheap kitchen timer can be superior.
Cooking timing can vary depending on your heating element, among other factors. So if you have to check your food for doneness and change the kitchen timer, an old-school timer — either the analog variety or the type with a digital time display and two or three physical buttons — can be easier. It simply dings or beeps when the time is up and it’s quicker to add or subtract a few minutes by turning a dial or pressing a button or two.
You can also constantly see how much time is left on the timer, whereas with the Echo, you have to open a smartphone app to see the remaining time or ask Alexa to tell you how much time is left. Over the long term, using a smart speaker as a timer gets tedious.
A piece of paper vs. a tablet
When people buy new iPads or Amazon Fire tablets, they often give their older tablet a second life by designating it for the kitchen. There, the ancient tablet gets mounted to the refrigerator with a magnet and becomes a glorified recipe reader.
Having tried this experiment, it’s a hassle. You often have to clean the tablet after smearing food on the screen. The battery eventually needs to be recharged. And if you want to double or halve a recipe, you have to do some mental math, which makes multitasking more challenging when you are busy in the kitchen.
Printing out or jotting down a recipe on a piece of paper is just simpler. You can easily scribble additional notes, like changes and improvements to the recipe. Assuming you have decent handwriting, it’s easy to read the steps and ingredients.
And if it gets covered in food, you can just throw it away.
"Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."
Change that to anything in your bedroom with a camera and a microphone. A hacker can easily listen in and/or watch anything going on in your bedroom, and this includes listening in via one's smartphone. I'm being Captain Obvious again here, but a smartphone can be used as a bugging device by anyone with the technical means to utilize it as such.
Also, baby monitors. It's really disturbing what some people are doing with "smart" baby monitors.
The fridge
Voting machines
Nuclear weapons
Agreed.
Touchscreens vs buttons for things such as radios, climate control, etc. in cars... I saw these comments on the subject over on Reddit, and they make some pretty good points.
In cars, a radio with buttons instead of a touch screen. You can press buttons and turn knobs without looking, and touch screens get covered in fingerprints.
No, it would still be bad. I cannot reliably work the controls of a touch screen without looking at it, which makes it unsuitable for a car radio.
Change that to anything in your bedroom with a camera and a microphone. A hacker can easily listen in and/or watch anything going on in your bedroom, and this includes listening in via one's smartphone. I'm being Captain Obvious again here, but a smartphone can be used as a bugging device by anyone with the technical means to utilize it as such.
Also, baby monitors. It's really disturbing what some people are doing with "smart" baby monitors.
A phone could be used as a bugging device but phones are relatively harder to break into than a simpler device like a smart tv or baby monitor. It's not impossible though. The simplest advice is not to install anything that does not come from an approved app store. App store for ios and playstore for android. That's it. There is a setting on android phones that is default set not to install anything other than from the playstore unless overridden. Side loads unless vetted are risky.
The way to break into a phone is to con a user into installing something. Like Nancy said, just say no.
We use ceiling fans in conjunction with heating/air conditioning. It circulates the air.
You can lower the temp on the heat and raise the temp on the A/C. Circulating the air makes for a consistent temp throughout the room. And FYI blades should push the cold air up in the summer and the warm air down in the winter. You can switch the direction of rotation on every ceiling fan I've ever seen
Same here in Virginia. We have them in every room. In my old house I even had one in the ceiling of my screened in porch.
Also in the winter the ceiling fan in the living room allow the heat from our gas fireplace to spread through more of the house.
“Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
Mark Twain
A lot of people have them, but don't necessarily use them. Sometimes they're just there, they were installed when the house was constructed, but no longer see any use since AC was installed.
Here you go, this is the photo i was thinking of, a living room in AZ, and person who took the pic told me they are common in homes in AZ & NM. And he uses his fan most of the year even when its 110 outside.
No, it wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing.
“We hope you will experience many years of enjoyment from your new VIZIO HDTV,” portended our television’s user manual. The “hope” was doing a lot of work in that sentence.
We’ve had the TV since 2012, back when it was new, and have indeed experienced years of enjoyment from it. Even now, the picture is clear, the remote works, the sound is good enough. But the end is near; we can sense it...
What’s changed is the speed at which slightly new, upgraded iPhones are being released. Of the 18 total iPhone versions (including “S”, “C”, and “Plus”) that have been released onto the market since 2007, 10 have been introduced since late 2014. And with that deluge of releases comes the speed at which consumers are slightly upgrading. In 2016, nearly 1.5 billion smartphones were sold. Meanwhile, there were 2.1 billion smartphone users. That either means folks are walking around with second and third phones, or heaps of them are getting left behind, first at the bottom of their desk drawers, before ultimately making their way to (hopefully) e-waste recycling or (more likely) landfills. This is what people are talking about when they mention a culture of disposability.
I opt for the $50 smartphone. I've had the model I have now for about 18 months now, and the only reason I bought it then was because I lost my previous phone in a car rental, and was never able to get it back. The $50 phone does everything I need. That's my only criteria for a smartphone. Does what I need. Make and receive calls, texts, and emails, has internet, can take pictures. I need those things for work. A $500 phone doesn't offer any additional features I have to have, and as phones are easy to lose, break, etc., and obsolescence is forced, I'd rather only be out $50 every few years, rather than $500 every year. The fact that it costs so little makes it relatively inconsequential if it's lost, broken, stolen, etc.
If I were to lose or break the phone I have now, I'd probably opt for the LG Phoenix 3. Costs only $39 at just about every retailer that sells it. Half inch bigger screen, Android 6 would be the only beneficial upgrades. It does have twice as much storage, and a higher megapixel front camera, but I don't even use the 8GB of storage I have, and I don't take non-work related photos of anything, so those upgrades are of no practical use to me.
“We hope you will experience many years of enjoyment from your new VIZIO HDTV,” portended our television’s user manual. The “hope” was doing a lot of work in that sentence.
We’ve had the TV since 2012, back when it was new, and have indeed experienced years of enjoyment from it. Even now, the picture is clear, the remote works, the sound is good enough. But the end is near; we can sense it...
My grandparents had a TV of either this model or one very similar to it:
They kept it for 40 years. The quality of the display was in poor shape at the time they got rid of it, but that being said, it seems LCD TVs get thrown out every few years. They're typically only designed to last that long. The viewing experience is far, far better than old CRTs, it's a pity they're not made to last decades like many CRTs were.
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