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Reading these articles is like listening to five year olds arguing. "These guys says it's enough!" "These other guys say it's not!" "But what if it's cloudy?" Y

Reading these articles is like listening to five year olds arguing. "These guys says it's enough!" "These other guys say it's not!" "But what if it's cloudy?" You can picture the journalist holding a toy microphone and nodding intently at each source, the argument going entirely over their head. The entire argument revolves around the distribution of power usage and of power generation throughout the day and throughout the year. So why not explain that for your readers? Show us charts with that information? Tell us how much energy is produced by solar on the cloudiest days? Show us a chart of power usage over solar power production over the last year, and tell us the minimum and maximum percent? At least explain the difference between minimum, maximum and average production, and when each of those matters! But no, none of that. We get a graph showing the increasing share of solar generation, and another with absolute figures of the curtailed solar capacity. And a bunch of pictures and animations, of course. This is what innumeracy looks like.

cuckcuckspruce 9y ago
This article was produced by a newspaper for a region where butt implants are a thing and the hottest gossip is what stars are fucking each other. This article was not read by the majority of its intended audience, and even if it was, was not understood by a majority of those that read it. Asking for it to contain more information is silly given those facts.
Brakenshire 9y ago
> This is what innumeracy looks like. I don't know whether it's innumeracy so much as lack of time, and also the specific expertise (not just ability to understand numbers, but expertise in this specific area) to be able to understand the information. For a general reporter (not an 'energy correspondent' or something similar) the article you're proposing would take at least a week of study and research, probably more, this 'he said, she said' stuff can be knocked off in a few hours.
- cuckcuckspruce 9y ago
  Not only that, but the results couldn't fit in a tweet so people could retweet it over and over again like masturbating monkeys, so in the mind of legacy media, why produce it?
- throwaway76543 9y ago
  It's innumeracy. I don't need to know anything about the subject matter to understand why the concepts, numbers and relationships mentioned above are important. In fact, I am absolutely not a solar expert -- I have no expertise in this specific area -- and I know that I am entirely qualified to understand the basics of load variation over time.
- andreyf 9y ago
  Imagine understanding this was something you were assigned at work. What would you ask first? I am a web programmer with no specialty in any of this, but here's my top list: - what's min / max usage and production? - density plot of usage throughout the state - density plot of usage over typical 24h? typical 356d? - what kind of special events w.r.t. usage are there? - cost of storage, improvement over past decade? - cost of transport, improvements? This is off the top of my head, non-expert studied math but never professionally. How many of these are answered in the article?
twelvechairs 9y ago
What gets me is their articles key line is 'it depends on who you ask' then they ask you to subscribe because they are "telling fact from fiction". I hope journalism changes soon. Id love a higher-cost service that actually looks at the broader picture and takes a side (edit: an informed side, clearly explained, rather than an ideological one) rather than focussing on headlines, 'he said she said' and too much undistilled text
- a13n 9y ago
  That takes a side? You mean like fox news or the New York Times? Doesn't all media these days take a side?
  - twelvechairs 9y ago
    Okay lets go with an informed side, not an ideological one
    - a13n 9y ago
      Deal
EGreg 9y ago
NYTimes pioneered a lot of data visualization techniques. I think the lead guy on the project built the now-famous d3 library.
caminante 9y ago
Your tone is gratuitously negative. The article's central point doesn't "revolve around the distribution of power capacity and generation." It's more precise. Specifically, it's highlighting the current state of CA renewables policy (with a specific knock on effect for emphasis) and the missing money problem. I found the article insightful and accurate.
spangry 9y ago
This is what makes this issue so frustrating to discuss. People care so very much about it, yet often know surprisingly little.

cuckcuckspruce 9y ago

This article was produced by a newspaper for a region where butt implants are a thing and the hottest gossip is what stars are fucking each other. This article was not read by the majority of its intended audience, and even if it was, was not understood by a majority of those that read it. Asking for it to contain more information is silly given those facts.

Brakenshire 9y ago

> This is what innumeracy looks like. I don't know whether it's innumeracy so much as lack of time, and also the specific expertise (not just ability to understand numbers, but expertise in this specific area) to be able to understand the information. For a general reporter (not an 'energy correspondent' or something similar) the article you're proposing would take at least a week of study and research, probably more, this 'he said, she said' stuff can be knocked off in a few hours.

cuckcuckspruce 9y ago
Not only that, but the results couldn't fit in a tweet so people could retweet it over and over again like masturbating monkeys, so in the mind of legacy media, why produce it?
throwaway76543 9y ago
It's innumeracy. I don't need to know anything about the subject matter to understand why the concepts, numbers and relationships mentioned above are important. In fact, I am absolutely not a solar expert -- I have no expertise in this specific area -- and I know that I am entirely qualified to understand the basics of load variation over time.
andreyf 9y ago
Imagine understanding this was something you were assigned at work. What would you ask first? I am a web programmer with no specialty in any of this, but here's my top list: - what's min / max usage and production? - density plot of usage throughout the state - density plot of usage over typical 24h? typical 356d? - what kind of special events w.r.t. usage are there? - cost of storage, improvement over past decade? - cost of transport, improvements? This is off the top of my head, non-expert studied math but never professionally. How many of these are answered in the article?

twelvechairs 9y ago

What gets me is their articles key line is 'it depends on who you ask' then they ask you to subscribe because they are "telling fact from fiction". I hope journalism changes soon. Id love a higher-cost service that actually looks at the broader picture and takes a side (edit: an informed side, clearly explained, rather than an ideological one) rather than focussing on headlines, 'he said she said' and too much undistilled text

a13n 9y ago
That takes a side? You mean like fox news or the New York Times? Doesn't all media these days take a side?
- twelvechairs 9y ago
  Okay lets go with an informed side, not an ideological one
  - a13n 9y ago
    Deal

EGreg 9y ago

NYTimes pioneered a lot of data visualization techniques. I think the lead guy on the project built the now-famous d3 library.

caminante 9y ago

Your tone is gratuitously negative. The article's central point doesn't "revolve around the distribution of power capacity and generation." It's more precise. Specifically, it's highlighting the current state of CA renewables policy (with a specific knock on effect for emphasis) and the missing money problem. I found the article insightful and accurate.

spangry 9y ago

This is what makes this issue so frustrating to discuss. People care so very much about it, yet often know surprisingly little.