It is the same in the UK.

But because we have a smart meter, our energy price can change every 30 minutes. So if our provider predicts that tomorrow lunchtime will be expensive for electricity, it could charge us more. Or it could tell the battery to take over.

Yes, there are magnetic USB cables which do data. Here’s my review of one https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/10/gadget-review-subbytech-magnetic-charge-sync-cables/

Magnets. (How do they work?)

I replaced all my USB-C and Micro-USB connectors with magnetic ones. No more orientation worries, no more fumbling in the dark, no more not-inserting-it-hard-enough. Just bring the two into proximity and them magically snap together.

Bliss.

Discord is where information goes to die.

Please just stick things on a website. I’m happy to help you set one up.

Yup - I quite agree. I have a portable powerbank which will also charge gadgets using USB-PD. I fill it up from solar and use it when I’m out and about.

Even my eReader has USB-C. Makes going on holiday much more convenient.

OMG! I still have my DataLink watch somewhere. I remember thinking it was amazing and showing off all the phone numbers I’d programmed into it.

Will your code work with any flashing LED? Or does it need special hardware?

What?! That boggles my mind - and would probably break my brain.

Cheers! It is actually a very lightly customised version of Atkinson. See https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2022/08/an-update-to-the-atkinson-hyperlegible-font/

Oooof! Yeah, I don’t think I could cope with that.

I used mine to inspect the solar panels on our roof - https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2017/03/inspecting-solar-panels-using-a-drone/

I wanted to see if they were covered in bird shit. They weren’t.

Note when I did this, it was legal to fly a drone that close to private property. I don’t think it still is.

Could be worse. Could be a Nokia T9 predictive text input!

Bill Gates didn’t say that https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/02/26/lazy-job/

That stupid Goose game. Pissed me off how simple and repetitive it was. Completed it in a few hours and felt like a total rip off. I still get angry when I see the memes.

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2020/01/the-value-of-videogames-or-why-i-think-untitled-goose-game-was-a-rip-off/

If a device needs 65W and you give it 22W one of two things will happen

1. It will charge very slowly
2. It will not charge at all

There is no risks of overheating.

Yes, it is not possible for a USB-C charger to deliver too much power to a device. You should be able to use any USB-C device with any charger - with three caveats.

Firstly, not all USB-C chargers will go up to the maximum limit of your device. If you have a 5v 2A charger supplying 10Watts - that’s going to take a long time to fill your device.

Secondly, not all USB-C devices support all possible charging profiles. So you may have a charger which can give one device 65W but not another.

Thirdly, the cable matters. A cheap £1 cable isn’t going to be able to to charge at maximum power. Get a cable which is specified for the job.

Here’s my review of a USB-C charger which experienced these problems - https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2020/06/review-ylpower-87w-usb-c-charger-msh-87pd/

Just to expand on the other (excellent) answers.

Why can’t you buy a bottle of ketchup directly from Heinz? Well, Heinz only sell wholesale to other businesses, like supermarkets. That’s a simple model for them - not having to sell to end users. They don’t want to be in a retail business because it’s cheaper selling to other businesses.

Additionally, most people don’t want to go to the Heinz shop for their ketchup and the Hellmans Shop for their mayonnaise. Most customers want one place where they can buy all their condiments together.

Registrars buy domains wholesale from registries. So you can go to a registrar and buy a .com or .co.uk and email hosting and a blogging platform.

I don’t think there are any Registries which sell direct to end customers. They don’t want your £10 - they want a Registrar’s £10,000.

It’s my understanding that HDMI can supply a small amount of electricity - but it is from the computer to the display. See https://web.archive.org/web/20150319112324/http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/kb.aspx?c=13

How do you stop your instance getting out of hand?

I think that’s a lovely idea - which doesn’t work in reality. At some point someone will need to be cast out. That can’t be done by peer pressure, because scammers, spammers, and griefers don’t care about that.

Individual blocks also don’t work because they leave unaware users open to being abused.

Sure, you could have a town council vote on a block, or have software which blocks a user for all if they have been blocked >=N times, but that’s still moderation.

That’s brilliant. I hope one day it becomes viable for in-home use. I have a small solar setup and sell a lot of electricity back to the grid. My 2kWh battery can’t hold much.