tvladeck

25 ms·

211.
by tvladeck 14y ago
He never had to go from being rich to poor or face years in prison if he had just plead guilty to the crime that he plainly committed. The choices and the risk that he faced were entirely of his own volition. It's very sad, but it's not the
212.
by tvladeck 14y ago
I'm not sure about investing in corn, but these are the credits that i'm speaking of -- and they apply to renewable energy. http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=... http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Ince
213.
by tvladeck 14y ago
This is not a bet for / against anything. This is an investment into tax equity. Because Google has large tax liabilities, they can deploy tax equity more efficiently than most investors. That's why they're in this game -- and I'm glad that
214.
Adobe Buys Portfolio Powerhouse Behance(forbes.com)
2 points by tvladeck 14y ago|1 comments
215.
Ask HN: What do you use for inventory tracking?
1 points by tvladeck 14y ago|0 comments
216.
by tvladeck 14y ago
not sure if this is the place for feedback, but i've been a hardcore user of prismatic since it came out (love it!), but one thing i've been getting is pretty bad repeated text. just sentences repeated over and over again.
217.
by tvladeck 14y ago
I skimmed the whole paper and expected to see some math. There were no equations. While it's possible to have a real model with no math, it's a lot less likely that that's true, and my first inclination is to believe that this has not been
218.
by tvladeck 14y ago
Another great example of Betteridge's law of headlines.
219.
by tvladeck 14y ago
I don't know if this story is illustrative, helpful, or whatever. But to me it's a damn fine read.
220.
by tvladeck 14y ago
Well, I think monetary policy is more a symptom of a larger trend than the cause, but since the massive deleveraging (or Lesser Depression) the world has been awash in excess savings looking for somewhere to go. A good explanation is here:
221.
Cost of Coastal Living to Climb Under New Flood Rules(nytimes.com)
1 points by tvladeck 14y ago|0 comments
222.
by tvladeck 14y ago
NB: buying green power and / or RECs is _very_ different from investing directly into a renewable energy development. I would agree with your larger point that there are other (non-financial) sources of return to these investments.
223.
by tvladeck 14y ago
For the nine months ending 2012-09-30, they paid USD 1.6bn in cash in taxes. (from Google Finance.)
224.
by tvladeck 14y ago
Just so everyone's clear, the reason that Google (along with Chevron, Wells Fargo, and a number of other big companies with large tax liabilities) are investing in renewable energy is to take advantage of the massive tax credits that come w
225.
by tvladeck 14y ago
Well, that's representative democracy for ya. I'm not sure what to say except that I agree with you on the facts, but probably not on their ramifications.
226.
by tvladeck 14y ago
I'm not sure I was clear. In the cases I'm discussing, society has made an explicit deal with a group of providers within an industry. Essentially that deal is: purchase a license, run your business this way, charge these prices, etc., and
227.
Putting Brands in Their Place | Adweek(adweek.com)
1 points by tvladeck 14y ago|0 comments
228.
by tvladeck 14y ago
I really like Lyft. I use it when I need a taxi and it works very well. Although I do agree that a world where these types of "collaborative consumption" services (like AirBNB) are essentially unregulated (or at least more open to competiti
229.
by tvladeck 14y ago
Wow, this is really inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
230.
by tvladeck 14y ago
Tidal power is amazing from a grid-cost perspective. Unlike other forms of renewable energy, you can literally set your clock to the tides, making it much easier to schedule into the grid. I am so happy to see these advances, and look forwa
231.
Hurricane Sandy, Climate Change, and Market Signals(tomvladeck.com)
2 points by tvladeck 14y ago|0 comments
232.
by tvladeck 14y ago
i'm sure you're correct. i actually don't know the nitty-gritty technical details. i only know wind from a policy perspective. any power source imposes costs on the grid (transmission congestion, ramp rates, supply/demand mismatches, active
233.
by tvladeck 14y ago
oh, absolutely - this doesn't consider the social cost of carbon, or even the social cost (health costs) of particulate emissions.
234.
by tvladeck 14y ago
You are correct, but the problem is tuning the production from wind farms to match demand exactly, in real time, which is what is required to operate the grid. When it comes to renewable energy wind is the hardest in this regard, because pr
235.
by tvladeck 14y ago
This is also one of the main environmental premises behind electric vehicles. They charge themselves overnight, soaking up excess baseload power that is producing emissions but is not really going to productive uses. That is, the power they
236.
by tvladeck 14y ago
You generally leave the baseload (coal + nuclear) on, and shut down "peaking" capacity, which is, at least in the US, mainly natural gas. Coal is more expensive to build, more expensive to turn on, and cheaper to operate. Nat Gas is cheaper
237.
by tvladeck 14y ago
This is correct. In addition there are a number of other ways that grid operators can displace power. This has happened a few times before in Western Europe, and prices have even gone below zero, incentivizing industrial facilities to do th
238.
by tvladeck 14y ago
There are a bunch of competing technologies: flywheels, water pumps, electric arcs, etc. It's a really interesting space.
239.
by tvladeck 14y ago
This is really helpful - thanks.
240.
by tvladeck 14y ago
Again, fair point - but then by definition the second clause of my statement is correct - the user's wishes are unknown, so any direction taken is then... arbitrary? :) At any rate, you seem well-versed in this area, so let me ask you a que

More ›