What will talking power meters say about you? - The Red Tape Chronicles - msnbc.com

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-Michael

They will know when your HID turns on, and off, and which type of cfl's you are usuing, how much power your vent fans take etc etc etc....not good.

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Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

this is inevitable, and is to be expected. you should google "smart dust" if you want to see something really interesting. give you an idea of things to come.

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They can stick there discount where the sun don't shine

This is really creepy feeling just reading about it.. sounds like something you have seen in the movies,, It's like OMG people, we had better pay attention yesterday before we lose all rights and privacy to anything and everything, what we do and when we want on our time,,,,,Scary

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That is moe than creepy!! Never in a thousand years would you get me to sign up to that.
NB

Quote:

To advocates, the Smart Grid means appliances will work in electric harmony: Icemakers will operate only when the washing machine isn't

We have a similar system, it is called a trip switch everywingle person has one. It is impossible to draw too much power... no Dishwasher and Tumble Drier, or Oven and Kettle etc. Simple low tech method for the power company to know exactly what the maxium possible draw is. You can pay extra each month and a one time fee to upgrade to a higher Ampage (or what ever it is called). Very few poeple do unless they are a small business with machines or what ever, but then it is normal here to spontaniously covert one's main room into a hair dressers or beauty salon, or tanning parlor etc.

Bugger that though, they want to know not just how much juice, but also what you are running. Don't befooled its a sledghammer to crack a nut. I'd pay 100 bucks a year for my privicy.


Someone should start a class action suit against them, it seems like a protection racket.

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Oh, bell the cat? I thought you said ball the cat!
Check out my Journal of Disaster management

<sarcasm>
But, Lumix, that's a whopping $8 a month! Save up for a couple of months and you can go see a movie (a matinee - alone) and maybe even buy a hamburger (but not a very good one)!!

I'm too poor to look that kinda loot in the face and turn it down!!
</sarcasm>

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-Michael

That's definitely not good news. If it gains enough participation there's no telling how soon it would be pushed to be compulsory. Hope solar panels become cheaper, and their usage less regulated. Bummer.

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"A word to the wise is infuriating."
"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."
"Buy the ticket, take the ride."
- The Immortal Hunter S. Thompson

i can imagine that one day it will be illegal to be self sufficient and go off the grid. now that i think about it, perhaps The Matrix should have been called The Grid....

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That sounds pretty scary too. And you brought up another point, they already do meddle in what you're using. Service upgrades, for their permit, require calculated loads in some detail for their approval, in most locales. Businesses, especially industrial in nature, have regulations in place on efficiency for their equipment and lighting, often enforced with fines. The electric company has the power to monitor the nature of usage on any given point in the grid with very little effort and to a pretty accurate detail. It is still at this point, more of a corroborative evidence and not usually the primary evidence against growers (rats and narcs are still the number one initiations of raids nationwide and worldwide) but it is disturbing to see further intrusions that may shift this potential against the people. The only thing we have going for us is that the electric company is still a for profit business. Thankfully incentive programs trying to persuade whistle-blowers have been for the most part ineffective. Electric companies like money, the more the better. That's why it is advisable to pay your bills on time, every time, if you are going to grow in a hostile environment. Hopefully this continues to stave off this potential threat to our freedom and our liberties.

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"A word to the wise is infuriating."
"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."
"Buy the ticket, take the ride."
- The Immortal Hunter S. Thompson

i predict there may be a 2nd civil war in the US.

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A civil war would require that more people stop sitting idly by letting the gov get away with trampling our rights... I don't think we are at that point. I would predict one man or a small group acting way outside the norm and probably with violence and they will be made into crazy radicals and the gov will use them to erode our rights even farther. We need to be collected on this front and not let anyone act with violence cause then it will nullify our entire cause.

Yes the trip switch is a pain, but at least it only thinks two thoughts, the right amount of power or two much power. Being a mechanical device and all.

Of course anyone here who uses a computer regularly gets an uninteruptable power supply (UPS) to save data.

Another fun feature, it is a great tool for civil protest. The locals managed to get a nuclear power plant cancelled (the reactor was actually delivered - though not installed).

They just agreed to all switch everything on in the house, and switch the mains power on and off on and off, regularly at an agreed time, the surge tripped bigger relays all over the place (difficult access mountain region) it was costing them so much is was more cost effective to cancel the project.

Perhaps people affected by this could give that a shot. Remember the big black out in the 1970s... it was caused by one single relay tripping out at Niagra Falls...

A thought for you

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Oh, bell the cat? I thought you said ball the cat!
Check out my Journal of Disaster management

We have "Smart Meters" where we live. These little digital puppies have a chip in them that sends info directly to the utility. Mostly meter readings at month end and some diagnostic stuff they say. But, in reality they can be designed to broadcast at the flip of a switch. Each time the timer goes on or off can be set up to send out on large consumption usage too. They are already watching. I'm just glad I'm legal.

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why dont they just vaccume our brains out through our noses when we are born and get it over with. what they want is mindless sheep...

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