The Power: Difference between revisions
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<b>nb: if this reads like a script, that's because it was originally going to be a video in my [[DANKTECH]] series. maybe it still will, one day.</b> | |||
hey there, my hax0rs and hax0rettes! it's been a good long time since we last | hey there, my hax0rs and hax0rettes! it's been a good long time since we last | ||
got together, but i hope to make up for paucity and exiguity with a surfeit of | got together, but i hope to make up for paucity and exiguity with a surfeit of | ||
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with a critical ear and watch with a scrupulous eye, but, you know, you really | with a critical ear and watch with a scrupulous eye, but, you know, you really | ||
ought be doing that all the time. if i have a general theme tonight, i suppose | ought be doing that all the time. if i have a general theme tonight, i suppose | ||
that theme is: <b>power</b>. | that theme is: <b>power</b>. in the world of huey lewis and the news, love can be measured in watts, the SI unit of power. love applied over time would furthermore be work, and measured in joules. but i'm an engineer, so this evening we'll be quantifying the power of love, but mainly the love electrons feel towards cations. | ||
in the world of huey lewis and the news, love can be measured in watts, the SI unit of | |||
power. love applied over time would furthermore be work, and measured in joules. but | |||
i'm an engineer, so this evening we'll be quantifying the power of love, but mainly | |||
the love electrons feel towards cations. | |||
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So the highest voltage we can get from the PSU is 12V, so that's what the CPU | So the highest voltage we can get from the PSU is 12V, so that's what the CPU | ||
wants. And thus ATXV12 was born | wants. And thus in February 2000 ATXV12 was born, adding a 4-pin Molex Minifit | ||
Jr 39-01-2040 carrying an extra 3.3, 5, and 12V pin (plus an extra ground). Now | Jr 39-01-2040 carrying an extra 3.3, 5, and 12V pin (plus an extra ground). Now | ||
we already had 3x 3.3V pins and 4x 5V pins, so our capacities there rose 33% | we already had 3x 3.3V pins and 4x 5V pins, so our capacities there rose 33% | ||
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polarity. when you plug a conductor in, a path is made, and now electrons can | polarity. when you plug a conductor in, a path is made, and now electrons can | ||
shuffle along. nuclei don't move, but the valence electrons do, each | shuffle along. nuclei don't move, but the valence electrons do, each | ||
representing one fundamental charge. an amp is about 6. | representing one fundamental charge. an amp is about 6.24x10¹⁸ elementary charges. | ||
to conduct more amps, you need a bigger conductor; the number of charges that | to conduct more amps, you need a bigger conductor; the number of charges that | ||
can move is directly proportional to the cross-section of the wire, and thus | can move is directly proportional to the cross-section of the wire, and thus | ||
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itself. the charge is propagated along as a change to the electric field, | itself. the charge is propagated along as a change to the electric field, | ||
exploding forward far more quickly than the electrons themselves (indeed, faster | exploding forward far more quickly than the electrons themselves (indeed, faster | ||
than any massive particle will move | than any massive particle will or can move, as we know | ||
from special relativity). a final speed we want to look at is thus the signal | from special relativity). a final speed we want to look at is thus the signal | ||
propagation velocity, the speed with which this change to the field ripples out. | propagation velocity, the speed with which this change to the field ripples out. | ||
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would raise the temperature, and that denatures proteins. most enzymatic | would raise the temperature, and that denatures proteins. most enzymatic | ||
proteins base their tertiary structure on hydrogen and van der waals bonds, | proteins base their tertiary structure on hydrogen and van der waals bonds, | ||
and we're talking weak hydrogen bonds here a few kilojoules per mole. | and we're talking weak hydrogen bonds here: a few kilojoules per mole. | ||
well, a square meter receives about 1.4 kilojoules every second in full | well, a square meter receives about 1.4 kilojoules every second in full | ||
sunlight. a nutritional calorie is 4 kilojoules. and that's per mole. | sunlight. a nutritional calorie is 4 kilojoules. and that's per mole. | ||
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energy budget, but it's fascinating. as one last note, if you've ever | energy budget, but it's fascinating. as one last note, if you've ever | ||
wondered why carbs and proteins are considered 4kcals a gram, and fats are | wondered why carbs and proteins are considered 4kcals a gram, and fats are | ||
9 kcals, know that it's the Atwater system, it's | 9 kcals, know that it's the Atwater system, it's digestibility-scaled (proteins | ||
have more raw energy, but we piss away 20% of the protein we take in), and | have more raw energy, but we piss away 20% of the protein we take in), and | ||
fats lack oxygen, supplying only energy-rich CH bonds (oxygen being the | fats lack oxygen, supplying only energy-rich CH bonds (oxygen being the | ||
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==Let's do the do== | ==Let's do the do== | ||
alright, with this information from the previous five sections, we can pretty | alright, with this information from the previous five sections, we can pretty | ||
much | much conclude that our workstation is going to need to accept 120VAC/60Hz | ||
alternating current sourced from a utility. some people would have just taken this on faith, but like i said, i like to get to the bottom of things. | alternating current sourced from a utility. some people would have just taken this on faith, but like i said, i like to get to the bottom of things. | ||
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==Final words== | ==Final words== | ||
We've gone back to the big bang and seen how fourteen billion years and three generations of stars nucleosynthesized the elements we use to build and power our machines and ourselves. We've looked at the results of three and a half billion years of terrestrial evolution, probably not the only life in the universe, but definitely the only life we know. We talked about five hundred million years of pressure and desiccation, and how | We've gone back to the big bang and seen how fourteen billion years and three generations of stars nucleosynthesized the elements we use to build and power our machines and ourselves. We've looked at the results of three and a half billion years of terrestrial evolution, probably not the only life in the universe, but definitely the only life we know. We talked about five hundred million years of pressure and desiccation, and how they gave rise to the fossil fuels that powered the Industrial Revolution and now present a bill in the form of climate change. | ||
We, as individuals or as a species, don't get billions of years, but only a brief existence, an absurd blink of the eye, our identities and senses of selves arising from a short-lived ensemble of low-entropy neurons, decaying like all things back into the lukewarm slurry of thermodynamic equilibrium. It is our duty in this interim to learn what we can, to improve our species, and to live bravely despite heat death's ineluctable execration. To <i>differentiate</i>. To put energies to use, to work and to extract work. Yet all remain destined for a night that is eternal and without name. One by one they will step down into the darkness before the footlamps. | We, as individuals or as a species, don't get billions of years, but only a brief existence, an absurd blink of the eye, our identities and senses of selves arising from a short-lived ensemble of low-entropy neurons, decaying like all things back into the lukewarm slurry of thermodynamic equilibrium. It is our duty in this interim to learn what we can, to improve our species, and to live bravely despite heat death's ineluctable execration. To <i>differentiate</i>. To put energies to use, to work and to extract work. Yet all remain destined for a night that is eternal and without name. One by one they will step down into the darkness before the footlamps. | ||
Until that time, we shall overclock | Until that time, we shall overclock. Thanks for reading. Hack on. | ||
<i>“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”</i>—Albert Camus | <i>“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”</i>—Albert Camus | ||