Ah the mix tape! Sharing a playlist on iTunes just isn’t the same is it!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What’s on your mind?
- Thread starter Gutwrench
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No.
It isn't.
Not at all.
The mix tape was invariably the outcome of much thought (the giver, the curator, wondering what he thought you might like, or hope that you would find interesting, and hope that you - or, your family - didn't already have this album), and time - planning the sequence of music, and having to time the respective tracks so that everything fitted neatly onto the cassette.
Mind you, one of the nicest mix tapes I ever received was from a good friend (a mix tape specialist, whose father had an excellent collection of music) who taped the entire Carmina Burana album for me, (he had to return to his dad's home one week-end - around 50-60 miles away, 80-100 kms away in order to tape it) and offered it, along with a bottle of wine, to me when he turned up for a dinner I hosted - we were both postgrads at the time - while my parents were away; I listened to it endlessly.
Anyway, this - the mix-tape - was a gift (a gift that cost considerable thought and time, not money) that I always greatly appreciated, as those who crafted and curated them were invariably knowledgeable and enthusiastic about music and wanted to share their pleasure with you.
Last edited:
This .. I love it!
Give some details and pictures of the installation.
I’ve looked into solar panels last summer, life got busy.
It’s on my bucket task list for 2026.
We’re a full 100% electric home, no gas.
Closed loop Geothermal provides very efficient heat & AC
This is our whole home electric usage, typically January our highest month
Its a 23-panel system producing 10.12kW. The panels are JA Solar 440w paired with Enphase IQ8M microconverters. We didnt get a whole home battery yet (I balked at the coin that would add), but probably next year. We're getting some quotes to replace the hot water heater with an electric one, and I'm not sure if I want to go tankless or not. Our HVAC room is huge so I'm not hurting for space, but I just think a tankless heater would be so cool.
Here's a pic of the panels - the installer has been very good to work with and they came out and cleaned up some of the issues that were present after install (mainly some issues with the skirt and the critter guards). For the array over the garage, they actually set it down a little lower and more toward the back of the garage, so its not exactly placed like when we spec'd it out. It should be 6 inches or so up and over to the right. I'm seeing what they will do regarding that, but its not getting any shadow from the other garage once the sun is at its highest point. This image below was from shortly after 7am today.
Without a battery you will only get the benefit in the day right? Do the ‘grid’ pay you a pittance for the units you don’t use? That’s how it works here. If they paid a reasonable amount people wouldn’t need the batteries.
Yep, with net metering we're exporting overage back to the grid and get re-imbursed. Part of the reason I wasnt going with a battery for the moment is the micro-inverters can be switched to grid-forming mode, so as long as the sun is out, if the grid goes down, we'll still have power (doesnt do anything for night time).
We'll also get some reimbursement from the solar renewable energy credits at the end of the year. Probably not much all in all, but not bad.
So my Dad has had his around 10-15 years and is on a legacy contract. So he gets paid more per Kwh than he pays at night. Cost was much higher back then, but he's more than had his money back and he's laughing every year now.
Here they pay you about a 10th of what you pay them. if it was more like 50% you could go without the need for a battery. If you drive an EV and you are home in the day that helps I suppose, but I charge at work for free, so no gain for me. That said we are looking at an EV for Mrs AFB so that will swing getting solar as a bigger priority.
Truly thx for sharing, Q’s:
“Critter guards”, like bats, squirrels, possibly raccoons even?
I’m in a loghome and had a huge bat issue around 2014, went thru 2 years of filling every seam to mitigate them.
Bats will find and roost lots of places.
No storage battery, understood.
Have you looked into EV cars and “battery sharing” with your system?
Your solar array feeds the EV, EV available to feed your home if needed.
Where you set parameters on how much EV discharge you’ll let it use (say stop at 80% , could vary based on schedules ).
Hot water tanks:
In my geothermal system I have 2 hot water tanks, both 80 gallons.
1st is a pre-heat tank that goes from 65deg f water (year round ground temp) to about 104deg f, “free” waste heat from geothermal pump, there’s a heat exchanger coil on it.
It’s actually a “solar storage tank” by design, nicely insulated.
There no electric heat coils in it, purely holding tank to step up the water temp as water circulates thru the heat exchanger on the geothermal pump.
Then 2nd is actually a Rheem air pump electric water heater, steps up to 125deg f.
Very efficient.
I installed everything you see, copper plumbing is “fun”, we have 1” hot and cold supply lines for whole home.
My father in 2015 went from gas to a Rheem air pump and saw decent savings.
My mother in law has gas on demand tankless system, meh soso imo.
Here’s a summary I made showing a traditional 50 gallon gas water heater at $284 per year, vs 50 gallon hybrid water heater at $198 per year and 80 gallon hybrid water heater at $149 per year.
Good for ROI studies.
Last edited:
Earlier today, I was reading about the extraordinary 19th century Quaker prison reformer, Elizabeth Fry, (who had, as it happened, married a cousin of the famous J. S. Fry & Sons of Bristol, the legendary Chocolate company; pondering her surname, I had wondered whether she had a connection to the chocolate company, and discovered, that yes, she did indeed, and that - perhaps unsurprisingly - some of the family supported her).
That, in turn, prompted some reading about some of the other British, Quaker owned, confectionary and chocolate companies, - legendary names such as Cadbury of Birmingham, Rowntree of York, along with the aforementioned Fry's of Bristol - companies that were both profitable and ethical, well known for treating their staff (as well as those with whom they did business) with respect, and offering some sort of response to a question that has been troubling me recently, as I have wondered whether it is possible in our age for profit and ethics to exist together in commercial enterprises.
That, in turn, prompted some reading about some of the other British, Quaker owned, confectionary and chocolate companies, - legendary names such as Cadbury of Birmingham, Rowntree of York, along with the aforementioned Fry's of Bristol - companies that were both profitable and ethical, well known for treating their staff (as well as those with whom they did business) with respect, and offering some sort of response to a question that has been troubling me recently, as I have wondered whether it is possible in our age for profit and ethics to exist together in commercial enterprises.
Last edited:
As an ongoing observer of large and small companies and corporate governance, I’d say the profit part has to exist in every business that is not about to close down, save a select few that have deep pocketed investors or are perceived as having such a bright future that losses are accepted by funders and lenders, but the ethics part depends on how “ethical” is defined.
One framework is to define a firm’s key stakeholders as the society in which it operates, its employees, its customers, and its owners. So if we say ethical means to strive to benefit all of these groups, combining profits and ethics is possible but relatively rare. However, I think it is very difficult to benefit each group equally or equitably—however those would be measured (or if they even can be)—because each group is dissimilar in composition, goals, and addressability.
Quakers have been surprisingly important industrially here in the UK. In addition to those - Clarks (shoes) is probably One of the most famous Quaker companies. They’ve always been quite present in the South West and I tend to think it tends to explain why places like Somerset are have always been bastions for the liberal party in its various forms. I’ve known a few and have always had a lot of time for them. Like the Methodists I’ve tended to think of them as social movements as opposed to religions - I guess that came from their original genisis in the social upheavals of the 1640s
A colleague of mine lives in a Bournville trust property. Still owned by the Quakers as I understand it. Apparently they have no off licences or pubs allowed in the estate.
Absolutely - go to ‘chapel’ and you sign the pledge!
Methodist central hall despite holding commercial big band gigs didn’t used to be able to serve alcohol (that might have changed now).
I guess all were part of the attempt of those movements to improve the lot of the working man
No red wine on a Sunday morning even? With some bread maybe?
The the weather temperature changes in the interior of Alaska. Earlier this week the temperatures at night reached -40 degrees, while today it is 30º F, cloudy sky, and a precipitation of rain and snow mix. At least we have a little over 5 hours of daylight, and hopefully the temperatures in the near future won't reach -40º and colder. January usually is the coldest month, and in March the temperatures tend to be milder, although sometimes the snow falls even in May 
Nope - was always non alcoholic. Any excitement came from your direct communion with God, in the case of the quakers - the quaking ecstasy - something of joke directed at them that stuck.
A bit of a random question, but have you ever run into a situation where you made a process so seamless that it actually started to work against you?
The context is that I was showing a colleague how to remap the app launcher on the lock screen of her iPhone, and she picked her favourite food delivery app (Grab here in Asia). By the end of the week, I learnt that she had removed the app. It was proving to be too convenient and accessible for her and she found herself ordering way more food delivery than she otherwise would have.
I can’t say I have run into a similar situation, but curious as whether any of you have any such scenarios to share?
The context is that I was showing a colleague how to remap the app launcher on the lock screen of her iPhone, and she picked her favourite food delivery app (Grab here in Asia). By the end of the week, I learnt that she had removed the app. It was proving to be too convenient and accessible for her and she found herself ordering way more food delivery than she otherwise would have.
I can’t say I have run into a similar situation, but curious as whether any of you have any such scenarios to share?
I thibk I heard a story of snow falling the day in May when my grandmother graduated from high school. This was in North Dakota. I think I heard a claim once that that state has seen snow every month, except August.
Likewise: I have always had a lot of time, respect and admiration for Quakers, as well, and - were I ever to grope my way towards any sort of religious expression - this is one that I do find attractive in ways.
Well, yes.
There is this.
Nothing is perfect, alas.
And, therefore, one may strive heroically for the heights but still struggle (hard) to sustain any such elevation.
Indeed.
Worthy endeavours, all.
Not even that, I'd imagine.
Since Alaska is such a large landmass with several mountain ranges, it is possible to experience snow falls in May or September in some of the elevations. For example the Denali and Healy areas of the Parks Highway (between Fairbanks, and Anchorage), the higher elevations by the Alaska Range and Summit Lake- along the Richardson Highway, and even the Denali Highway. I am naming two or three areas, but there are numerous mountain passes that I haven't.
What is on my mind today are my birthday and the Europe. Basically I am getting some money and was going to put it towards a new Apple Watch Ultra 3, but my birthday isn’t until newer the end of February, and it has been announced tariffs will be placed on US exports into Europe.
So my question is does that impact the pricing of the Apple Watch in the UK? Should I get it sooner as I can do that?
(Please don’t delete my post Mods as I am genuinely concerned)
So my question is does that impact the pricing of the Apple Watch in the UK? Should I get it sooner as I can do that?
(Please don’t delete my post Mods as I am genuinely concerned)
Tariffs are on IMPORTS into the US. Apple prices in Europe won't be affected.
Sadly they are going to go the other way too now. Do not want to say more as it is verging on Political.
Last edited:
Had a great gig last night. I hadn't played jazz in over a month before this (so focused on the absurd amount of classical stuff I have to learn), so that was really fun. Just straight-ahead stuff in quartet format.