Power outage
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Tesla Powerwall knows when to stop charging your EV during power outages
An update to Tesla's Powerwall will slow or even stop charging your EV to keep your house running during a power outage.
Lyft offers free rides to relief centers during PG&E blackouts
With the planned power blackouts in California expected to continue for the next several days, Lyft is offering free rides until the end of October 15th to respite centers across parts of northern California. Each center includes restrooms, bottled water, a place to sit and charge your mobile devices, as well as air conditioning. Just note that they'll only be open during the day. Visit Lyft's website to view the full list of relief centers to see if there's one near you.
800,000 Californians could be without power by the end of the day
By the end of the day, more than half of all California counties could be without power. In an attempt to prevent wildfires, the state's largest utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is rolling out a planned power outage. Once fully implemented, it will leave an estimated 800,000 customers in the dark and span from Silicon Valley to the Sierra.
Tesla warns California customers to charge their EVs ahead of outages
With dry weather and windy conditions on the horizon, California's Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) utility is planning a mass power outage to prevent electricity lines from sparking wildfires. That could be bad news for electric vehicle owners, so Tesla is taking a proactive approach. The company issued an in-car alert warning owners to charge their vehicles fully ahead of the outage. Tesla is also activating the 'Storm Watch' feature on its PowerWall to store excess electricity before the lights go out.
BioLite launches disaster preparedness kits in time for hurricane season
Even though Hurricane Dorian has slowed down, the storm has left behind plenty of damage in its wake. Given that hurricane season lasts until November, it's a wise idea to stock up in the event of another natural disaster. BioLite has launched a set of disaster preparedness bundles for use during a power outage. Each bundle contains solar-powered lights, chargers, headlamps and a water filtration straw. The kits come in three sizes; solo, family and apartment.
GM will offer free OnStar crisis support during Hurricane Dorian
As Hurricane Dorian begins crawling towards Florida's coast, automakers are doing their part to help. GM announced today that they will offer free OnStar Crisis Assist services to all owners of properly equipped Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles who live in the impacted region. The connected car platform can help those fleeing disasters with real-time directions, free calls, routing to shelter, food and water, providing an in-vehicle WiFi hot spot, booking hotel rooms and more.
Power goes out in India, affecting 600 million
A power outage struck India's northern and eastern electrical grids earlier today, hitting around 600 million people -- that's roughly half of the country's population of 1.2 billion -- cutting off electricity to businesses, transit and traffic lights, to name but a few. The power failure hit around 1pm local time "without warning" according to the electric company. The incident follows another major outage the day prior, which affected around 300 million people. Regions have taken to seeking out alternative energy sources such as hydro power, with local business utilizing backup diesel generators and the like, which have helped keep hospitals and airports in service. [Photo by NASA]
Hand-cranked vending machine offers products sans power, refreshments during emergencies (video)
Ever needed to grab a bottle of water only to find the vending machine you've spotted is without power? The folks in Japan have, especially in the period immediately following natural disasters. The solution? Easy. A hand-cranked vending machine that still affords you the option of your desired food or beverage even during an emergency when the power is down. Sanden, a Japanese vending outfit, has developed the system that would allow the country's 5.5 million machines to run sans electricity or solar power and rely on good ol' fashioned muscle. You'll just need to dish out 70 cranks, in addition to the cost of your selection, and in about 20 seconds the kit powers on. The machine shown here will dispense around seven bottles before needing a full re-crank and there's no word on what the additional cost per vending unit will be. For look at the tech in action, hit the video above and prepare for a bicep workout.
The Perfect Ten: Excuses for ditching a dungeon run (from least to most insane)
I never knew I suffered from narcolepsy before I started playing MMOs, but it only took a few late-night dungeon-runs before I started to experience extremely rapid transitions between being an active member of my team and snoring somewhere in the vicinity of the WASD keys. I'm not saying that all dungeons are boring or anything, but rather that when you start one, you've kind of committed to seeing it through (unless you're the jerk who always teams up with me through the LFG tool). Unfortunately, that means you're locked into an unknowable span of time during which narcolepsy, hunger, and brilliant flashes of insight about how to cure Chronic Giggling Syndrome (CGS) can strike. What can you do? Usually, nothing other than to suffer through the slow plodding of your four other ball-and-chains and start burning small sacrifices to your deity of choice in hopes that this run will end soon. Or you can pull out an excuse and get out of Dodge. I'm not saying you should use these every night -- you will build up a very negative reputation, quickly, if you do so -- but sometimes you just need an escape hatch so you can go sleep, eat or call the CGS laboratories in Albuquerque. That's what I'm here to help you with today by providing 10 tested excuses to ditching that disastrous dungeon run and getting on with your life.
SOE's services disrupted by massive California blackout [Updated]
A massive power outage that is affecting southern California this evening has severely hampered Sony Online Entertainment's services. The outage, which began during the late afternoon, has cut power to millions in San Diego, southern Orange County, and Palm Springs, as well as sections of Mexico across the border. Because of this interruption, some of SOE's MMOs and websites have gone offline, as SOE's servers are located in San Diego. The company sent a brief note over Twitter and Facebook saying that players might not want to hold their breath at regaining these services tonight: "The San Diego power outage could persist throughout the night affecting login servers, forums, and websites. We appreciate everyone's patience as the City attempts to restore power." According to authorities, power is expected to be restored by Friday. [Update: Some of SOE's services, such as EverQuest II, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and Clone Wars Adventures, appear to be back up and running.] Update #2: SOE tweeted the following on Friday morning: "We appreciate everyone's patience during the recent power outage. Power has been restored and all services should be back online."] [Source: Twitter]
Sony intros 200-pound battery to power businesses, government agencies during a blackout
In the five months since a tsunami and 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, we've seen various technology companies struggle to get their manufacturing operations back in order, but Sony appears to be the first to introduce a product seemingly inspired by the disaster itself. The outfit's Japanese division just announced the ESSP-2000, a 90kg (198-pound)battery whose 2.4kWh of power should keep businesses and government agencies afloat for at least a few hours in the event of a blackout or natural disaster. All told, the battery can support a maximum load of 1000VA, and can recharge to 95 percent in about two hours -- not bad, considering the capacity of this thing. Sony also went with olivine-type lithium-ion iron phosphate batteries, which it says will last ten years. With a price of ¥2 million ($25,700), this battery's clearly not meant to be a savior for home users, though for businesses it could be a small price to pay for an uninterrupted power supply.
Split second power outage may lead to drop in Toshiba chip shipments
It's more than a little crazy to think about, but a 0.07-second power disruption in Japan yesterday may have just caused as much as a 20 percent drop in chip shipments from Toshiba. The root of the problem is that the backup system at Toshiba's Yokkaichi memory chip plant failed to kick in because the brief drop in voltage was more severe than the system was designed for, which has not only forced the plant to halt production until Friday, but may have caused irreparable damage to scores of chips in production at the time of the outage. As The Wall Street Journal reports, it's still not clear exactly how much damage was caused, but if, for instance, the systems controlling the so-called clean room were shut off, all chips inside would likely be ruined. The good news, such as it is, is that there isn't likely to be a worldwide shortage as a result of the outage -- Toshiba plans to adjust their output accordingly early next year, and it notes that demand is usually slow in January and February anyway following the holiday shopping season.
Samsung to receive insurance payout for power outage damage
Merely hours after a substantial blackout halted six chip production lines in a complex operated by the world's largest flash memory producer, Samsung is now expected to "get insurance payments from a local insurer for the damage received during Friday's power outage." Reportedly, the firm's contract with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will cover the damage, which is currently estimated to be somewhere near $40 million. Of note, the exact cause of the outage is still unknown, and it was stated that it would take "considerable amounts of time" to look into before the losses are finally calculated. Furthermore, some analysts have speculated that it "would take weeks for the plants to reach full capacity," and if this does indeed prove true, supplies to electronic-product makers "will likely remain constrained and prices will stay high." Read - Samsung Gets Insurance Payout for Power Outage DamageRead - Samsung Restarts Plants, Damage Resulting [Subscription required]
Samsung resumes chip production, minifies losses
Merely hours after Samsung was staring at "at least" $54 million in losses from an unexpected power outage at its Giheung complex, the firm is now reporting that the half dozen production lines are "fully operational." Moreover, the outfit is now projecting losses to peak at around $43 million, which actually doesn't sound too horrific compared to prior estimates. It was noted, however, that the disruption could extend a shortage of NAND flash memory through "at least the first half of August," and reports are already claiming that prices of select NAND chips have risen "6.3-percent to a record $19.02."
Power outage halts Samsung's flash memory production, shortages expected
Samsung, the worldwide leader in flash memory production, has been forced to "shut down six of its chip production lines after a power outage occurred at a plant near Seoul," and while recent reports suggest that "operations should be restored within a day," the lasting effects could linger on for quite some time. Reportedly, the outage occurred at Samsung's Giheung complex and disrupted production of flash memory, DRAM, and logic chips, and while this may not sound too significant to the average outsider, estimates are already pegging losses at around $54 million. Notably, Samsung wouldn't say whether or not the hiccup will affect supplies of memory chips to Apple (one of its top customers), but analysts are already purporting that we could see "a severe shortage of NAND chips" and increased prices in the coming weeks.[Thanks, Patrick M.]Read - Samsung Electronics chip output hit by power cutRead - Samsung operations should be restored within a day
Cellphone lights enable operation to proceed in blackout
Hearing that a cellphone saved someone's life isn't exactly surprising these days, but it was the manner in which a bundle of handsets enabled doctors to continue on in a recent operation that differentiated this one from the rest. Reportedly, the backup generators at the Policlinico Juan D. Peron hospital in Argentina failed to activate after the power went out whilst an appendix surgery was ongoing, but rather than panicking, a family member gathered up a number of phones in order to provide enough light for the surgeons and anesthetists to keep on keepin' on. According to the hospital director, the operation went on without proper lighting for no more than 20 minutes, but thanks to the beaming LCDs, the fellow under the knife came through just fine.[Via Switched, image courtesy of foto8]
How-To: Network your UPS
Lately, the power grid appears to have gone to hell. An Uninterruptible Power Supply(UPS) just isn't an optional piece of equipment anymore -- it's not for nothing that very decent UPS has a computer interface port. If your computer is connected to the port, and the software is set up, the UPS can tell your computer to safely shut down before the battery runs out.Got a couple of machines sharing a UPS? In today's How-To, we'll show you how to use your network to shut down all of the computers plugged into it and keep your precious data safe.
