Tag Archive for: house

Ask Hackaday: Who Wants An All DC House?


Sometimes when working on a righteous hack, we get goosebumps while watching our code execute faster than we could ever possibly comprehend. Seeing the pixels of the LCD come alive, hearing the chatter of relays and the hum of fans…it’s an amazing thing what electricity can do. And it is equally amazing when you realize that it all started one hundred and thirty five years ago, when [Thomas Edison] changed the world forever with the first practical electric light bulb.

That bulb was lit by a Direct Current – the same thing that runs the computer you’re reading this article on. The same thing that runs many of the hacks you read about here on Hack a Day, and almost all electronic devices in your house. But somewhere in the mix must exist a device that changes the Alternating Current from your wall outlet to the needed DC. Why? Why is it that we transport electricity as AC only to convert it to DC in our homes? You might answer:

“This argument was played out in the War of Currents back in the 1880’s.”

Indeed, it was. But that was a long time ago. Technology has changed. Changed so much to the point that the arguments in the War of Currents might no longer be valid. Join us after the break, where we rehash these arguments, and explore the feasibility of an all DC environment.

a cluster of wall warts

Let’s see…110 AC in, 5V DC out, 1000ma…this should work. Quick check with the meter to make sure it’s actually 5V and not 50 and you’re up and running. Each and every one of us has done this at some point in our lives. But why do we have to? Is there any reason we can’t have DC outlets? We’ve seen USB ports built into outlets while strolling the isles of our favorite hardware stores, but most are unlikely to be switch mode supplies.

You would still need AC for kitchen appliances and such. But consider changing these over to DC. Imagine a house where everything ran on DC!

Let’s take it further and imagine running DC from the power station to your house. This brings us back to the War of Currents. We all know that it’s relatively easy to step AC voltage up and down. You just need a transformer. But it’s not that easy with DC, so running DC over long distances is just…

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5 seek SC House seat vacated by retiring Rep. Chip Huggins | Columbia News


COLUMBIA — A crowded field is running to fill the seat of retiring state Rep. Chip Huggins.

The Lexington County Republican served for 23 years in the district that covers the fast growing area north of Lake Murray, and parts of Irmo.

Now, five candidates — four Republicans, who will compete in a primary run off June 14, and one Libertarian — are seeking the office.

The Republicans include: Jay Kilmartin, a businessman who owns The Melting Pot restaurant; two Lexington-Richland School District Five board members Rebecca Blackburn Hines and Catherine Huddle; and Christian Stegmaier, a Columbia area attorney.

John Davis, the lone Libertarian, runs a computer security business.

Stegmaier, a Columbia area attorney, ran for office once before seeking the state Senate seat currently held by Democrat Dick Harpootlian. He said the growth around Irmo and Chapin is what drove him to run in the current race.

“We need someone focused on building roads and infrastructure that meet our significant needs,” he said.

Stegmaier also wants to increase funding for South Carolina’s public universities and K-12 education.

Kilmartin, a first-time candidate, calls himself a “liberty-minded” Republican with a pro-business stance.

Other candidates did not immediately return calls from The Post and Courier.

In other Lexington County races, incumbent Micah Caskey faces a primary challenger in District 89, covering most of West Columbia and Cayce, as does Cal Forrest in District 39, which falls south and west of Lake Murray with towns like Gilbert, Batesburg-Leesville and Saluda.

Caskey, an attorney, has held office since 2016, taking over the seat from the influential and long-serving former S.C. House Ethics Committee chairman Kenny Bingham. After defeating West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles in a runoff, Caskey went on to win that year’s general election. 

Caskey is challenged in 2022 by Melanie Shull, a former music teacher and founder of Christian faith magazine Living Real.

Forrest also has served since 2016, defeating the then incumbent Ralph Shealy Kennedy in the primary before going on to win the General Election.

Forrest is challenged by Katie Hall of Saluda, a mother and…

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House panel calls for manpower push to boost cybersecurity | Latest News India


The Parliamentary panel on information technology has adopted a report, suggesting an urgent need to boost manpower at the National Informatics Centre (NIC), people familiar with the matter said.

The centre deals with all government websites for secure exchanges, and additional funding for the Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) to ensure a cyber-safe environment.

In its report adopted last week, the committee, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, noted that NIC provides information and communications technology support to the government at all levels – central ministries/departments, 37 States/Union territories and 720+ districts.

“NICNET, the nationwide network, comprises over 1,000 LANs of government offices and more than five lakh nodes across over 8,000 locations. The data centres of NIC host more than 8,000 websites of the government in a secure environment. The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has informed the committee that NIC’s main focus is in providing the latest state-of-the-art ICT infrastructure. NIC under MeitY provides e-Governance support, state of the art solutions to the central government,” one of the persons cited above said on condition of anonymity.

NIC plays a pivotal role in the development and implementation of digital platforms and applications to ensure delivery of government services to the citizens, the person said.

The House panel, in its report, noted that budget constraints have caused the ministry to upgrade its infrastructure in a phased manner, the person added.

The House panel, however, also found that the organisation is facing challenges in terms of manpower and basic infrastructure. “The committee is disheartened to learn that despite their recommendation (in their last report in 2021) to undertake a comprehensive review of the manpower requirement and infrastructure needs of NIC, the ministry has done little to address the above issues. The committee once again recommends the ministry to look into the issue of manpower shortage in NIC. With regard to infrastructure,” the person said.

The report is yet to be tabled in Parliament.

Since 2015, there has been a steep rise in cybersecurity incidents,…

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House bill would keep cop killers only in maximum-security prisons in Georgia


Georgia lawmakers seeking to have those convicted of killing a police officer to serve their sentences in the state’s highest security prisons. This after a convicted cop killer was accused of using his privileges at a medium security facility to taunt the officer’s family on social media.

Capt. Robbie Bishop was killed in his patrol car on Interstate 20 back in 1999. He is legendary in Georgia law enforcement, so when it was learned his family was being taunted by his killer, Jeffrey McGee, from behind the bars, there was outrage.

Capt. Robbies Bishop with a trailer of seized drugs from a photo released at the time of his death in 1999

“The families of our fallen officers have suffered enough, and Bishop’s Law would prevent these families from ever being victimized again,” said bill sponsor Rep. Clint Crowe, R-Jackson. “When I was serving as a 911 dispatcher at 20 years old, Captain Bishop inspired me to become a law enforcement officer myself, so I am proud to carry this legislation on behalf of his family. Those who murder law enforcement officers should never have the chance to obtain contraband to harass the victim’s family. I want to thank Chairman Collins for helping me push this legislation forward and giving it a chance to become a law as soon as possible.”

Butts County Sheriff Gary Long said the family of Capt. Bishop contacted him saying the state had recently moved McGee from a maximum security prison where he was serving a life term for Bishop’s murder to a medium security facility, where he was posting pictures of himself online from behind bars and taunting the officer’s family.

Butts County Sheriff Gary Long

Sheriff Long said the prison officials told him and the Bishop family that they searched McGee’s cells and found a mobile phone, but said it belonged to his cellmate and no disciplinary action would be taken.

The sheriff posted about the incident on social…

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