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1. feld (feld@bikeshed.party)'s status on Thursday, 24-Feb-2022 04:32:39 UTC feld

   • Caleb James DeLisle
   • feld
   • M. Grégoire
   Don't forget that our Large Power Transformers are a major weakness. And they can't be replaced. They're custom made in Germany by Siemens to the exact size/specs of the load and cost millions and take 3 years to manufacture last I checked
   
   There's a DOE paper showing how many we have that are near EoL and there's no plan to replace them before they fail.
   
   We had one blow up in Madison a couple years ago. So now we're down to one at the generating facility downtown. Last I checked it still wasn't replaced.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 24-Feb-2022 04:32:38 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     • M. Grégoire

     @mpjgregoire @feld
     Fortunately for our fragile society, there aren't a lot of ways to pull a military victory out of wiping out absolutely everything.

   • M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@mamot.fr)'s status on Thursday, 24-Feb-2022 04:32:38 UTC M. Grégoire

     in reply to

     • Caleb James DeLisle

     @cjd @feld Well putting aside those who "just want to watch the world burn", it seems like credibly threatening to cause terrible damage might be useful to achieve geopolitical ends.

     "You know how Oslo lost power and froze a month ago? It would be a shame if something like that happened to Chicago, don't you think? Now, what was that you were saying about Taiwan?"

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   • M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@mamot.fr)'s status on Thursday, 24-Feb-2022 04:32:39 UTC M. Grégoire

     in reply to

     • Caleb James DeLisle

     @feld @cjd There are many, many weaknesses in our societies for intelligent attackers. Electricity supply is one, water supply is another, railways, airplanes, pipelines. And of course software often fails to work properly even without someone trying to break it.

     #fragility
     #apocalypse

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   • feld (feld@bikeshed.party)'s status on Thursday, 24-Feb-2022 12:33:06 UTC feld

     in reply to

     • Caleb James DeLisle
     • M. Grégoire
     Not familiar with what those are, sorry
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 24-Feb-2022 12:33:06 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     • M. Grégoire

     @feld @mpjgregoire
     Diesels from the 90s and earlier have no electronics at all to control the engine, they use a mechanical plunger pump to time the fuel injection and it has a bunch of internal linkages and fly-weights to regulate it.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 24-Feb-2022 12:33:07 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     • M. Grégoire

     @feld @mpjgregoire
     Does the US military still run mechanical injection pump vehicles ?