What happens when a chemical engineer, who’s previously built a hydrogen-powered drone, becomes a venture capitalist? Energy Revolution Ventures (ERV), that’s what. The VC has now closed an $18 million seed and Series A fund to invest in deep tech, such as energy storage, carbon capture, and, yes, hydrogen technologies. Marcus Clover, co-founder and partner […]
When the Sun is blazing and the wind is blowing, Germany’s solar and wind power plants swing into high gear. For nine days in July 2023, renewables produced more than 70 percent of the electricity generated in the country; there are times when wind turbines even need to be turned off to avoid overloading the grid.
But on other days, clouds mute solar energy down to a flicker and wind turbines languish. For nearly a week in January 2023, renewable energy generation fell to less than 30 percent of the nation’s total, and gas-, oil- and coal-powered plants revved up to pick up the slack.
Germans call these periods Dunkelflauten, meaning “dark doldrums,” and they can last for a week or longer. They’re a major concern for doldrum-afflicted places like Germany and parts of the United States as nations increasingly push renewable-energy development. Solar and wind combined contribute 40 percent of overall energy generation in Germany and 15 percent in the US and, as of December 2024, both countries have goals of becoming 100 percent clean-energy-powered by 2035.
How do you fit 32 terabytes of storage into a hard drive? With a HAMR.
Seagate has been experimenting with heat-assisted magnetic recording, or HAMR, since at least 2002. The firm has occasionally popped up to offer a demonstration or make yet another "around the corner" pronouncement. The press has enjoyed myriad chances to celebrate the wordplay of Stanley Kirk Burrell, but new qualification from large-scale customers might mean HAMR drives will be actually available, to buy, as physical objects, for anyone who can afford the most magnetic space possible. Third decade's the charm, perhaps.
HAMR works on the principle that, when heated, a disk's magnetic materials can hold more data in smaller spaces, such that you can fit more overall data on the drive. It's not just putting a tiny hot plate inside an HDD chassis; as Seagate explains in its technical paper, "the entire process—heating, writing, and cooling—takes less than 1 nanosecond." Getting from a physics concept to an actual drive involved adding a laser diode to the drive head, optical steering, firmware alterations, and "a million other little things that engineers spent countless hours developing." Seagate has a lot more about Mozaic 3+ on its site.
Prevent holiday clutter before it starts this year.
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Excessive holiday shopping can clutter your home, stoke anxiety, and worsen your debt.
Minimalist author Joshua Becker recommends breaking the mindset of "more is better."
Sustainability is key when it comes to decorations and gifts.
When I was a kid, my father didn't want a Christmas tree. As a minimalist, he didn't enjoy dragging it into the house only to throw it out a few weeks later. But my mother insisted, in order to create some magic for us kids. So every year, we went to the woods behind our house in Texas, cut down a cedar tree, carried it inside, and decorated it with family-heirloom ornaments and a string of chili pepper lights.
I now have a husband, two kids, and my own minimalist tendencies. I'm wary of Black Friday and other holiday sales that push a mountain of decorations, home goods, outfits, and presents. There's pressure, online and IRL, to throw lavish parties and fulfill everyone's wish list.
All that stuff can clutter our homes, reducing our usable living space and making us anxious. And it's expensive.
More than a third of Americans went into debt during the 2023 holiday season, a survey by LendingTree found. Of those, 65% said that going into debt wasn't in their plans. On top of that, we spend money on containers, storage units, and even larger homes to hold our multiplying possessions.
"We fall into this trap of thinking that more is better," Joshua Becker, the author of the popular blog Becoming Minimalist, said. "Parents just run themselves ragged, stressed, and tired, and they don't have to."
Adopting some minimalist ideas can help you ward off holiday clutter and stress before they start to pile up. Minimalism can be loosely defined as the pursuit of simplicity, which looks different for everyone. Here are some tips to get you started.
Make your decorations smaller and sustainable
Decorations can be a stressful part of the holiday season, Becker said, so less is more. They're burdensome to put up, time-consuming to take down and store properly, and expensive to buy and replace.
Many garages are bursting with large plastic decorations. They spend the year accumulating dust, stains, and holes, and often need to be thrown out. Instead of buying a new herd of inflatable reindeer, get (or make) a real wreath that can be composted or turned into mulch when the holiday is over.
Go old-school and make garlands from popcorn, cranberries, dried oranges, or candy canes. It'll turn decorating into a fun event you an do with your loved ones and remove the need to find space for storage.
Skip the new matching outfits
Many families fall into a pattern of buying new sets of matching clothes every year, including pajamas, costumes, party outfits, and "ugly sweaters." These clothes have holiday-specific patterns, so they're often worn just once, then forgotten or outgrown.
Instead of buying more, look for small matching accessories you already own — hopefully, ones that won't be outgrown, like antlers or jingle-bell necklaces. The simplicity of these accessories may make things easier if your kids drag their feet when it's time to dress up for the party or the family photo.
Don't upgrade your kitchen and dining accessories
When hosting a big party, you might be tempted to buy new kitchen tools, glasses, flatware, coasters, and other items to charm your guests. But you probably don't need them, and no one will remember that you had matching napkin rings or the new KitchenAid mixer with the wooden bowl. They'll remember having fun with one another. And besides, the "perfectly set table" will only look perfect until someone spills milk all over it.
Reimagine your gifts
Many families love to see boxes piled under the Christmas tree, but you might be just as happy with fewer objects and more experiences. "In a culture where excess is praised, and excess is championed and encouraged, there are very few people posting a photo of a Christmas tree with only an envelope underneath it," Becker said. But that doesn't mean you should let what we see on social media dictate how you spend your holidays.
Becker has four guidelines to keep your gifts from needlessly piling up: quality over quantity, needs over wants, experiences over possessions, and consumables over non-consumables. Personally, I enjoy giving a night in a hotel or a ticket to a show.
Ask your loved ones for help
Be open about your desire to reduce your clutter, and tell your loved ones that you need their help. This can be difficult when grandparents and other relatives want to spoil the little ones, but the conversation can be very productive, especially if you have it earlier in the season.
"Don't just say, 'We want experiences rather than physical gifts.' Give a nice long list of what some of those experiences might be," Becker said. And be patient; understand they may not fully grasp or understand what you mean the first year.
Focus on next year's wealth
Think about the money you'll spend on objects and storage "solutions" for your gifts and decorations. Commit to spending less, then use the difference for something you really need in the new year. Or use that money to create more money. Let it appreciate in a retirement, brokerage, or 529 college savings account.
A recent firmware pushed to QNAP network attached storage (NAS) devices left a number of owners unable to access their storage systems. The company has pulled back the firmware and issued a fixed version, but the company's response has left some users feeling less confident in the boxes into which they put all their digital stuff.
As seen on a QNAP community thread, and as announced by QNAP itself, the QNAP operating system, QTS, received update 5.2.2.2950, build 20241114, at some point around November 19. After QNAP "received feedbacks from some users reporting issues with device functionality after installation," the firm says it withdrew it, "conducted a comprehensive investigation," and re-released a fixed version "within 24 hours."
The community thread sees many more users of different systems having problems than the shortlist ("limited models of TS-x53D series and TS-x51 series") released by QNAP. Issues reported included owners being rejected as an authorized user, devices reporting issues with booting, and claims of Python not being installed to run some apps and services.
