I haven’t reached the point yet where I’m personally dumpster diving, but I have a friend who has an inside connection at a major grocery store. They call when it’s time to take out the garbage, set it outside the compactor, and my friend swings by to snag it. It’s incredible how much gets thrown out. He preserves what can’t be used immediately and gives it away to those who don’t have a problem with the source. I’ve benefited from a 5 lb bag of jerky and a box full of dried fruits, veggies, and other items.
Otherwise, I’m always on the lookout for sales and deals. When I find one I stock up, like the one going on now at Amazon for Sweet Sue canned chicken that worked out to 78 cents for a 5oz can.
I’m fortunate enough to have a few acres and access to water at agricultural rates, so I grow enough produce to supply myself and a few other families that subscribe to my farm-to-home service. It’s enough to pay the costs and buy the grandkids some nice presents, but I ain’t getting rich off it.
Can someone explain to me what the difference is between AI art and students imitating an artist? What happens when the AI actually gains the ability to experiment “outside the box” - what we call creativity?
Charcoal is wood that has been heated above combustion temperature without oxygen. That does drive off water, but it also chemically decomposes the lignin and other organics into primarily carbon while creating a volatile mixture of gasses known as woodgas.
Source: Have a woodgas generator. Byproduct is charcoal.
These solar lanterns just don’t have enough solar cell area to fully charge in the short winter days. If you can deal with them not being as bright, you can double or triple the value of the resistor in series with the LED to double or triple the time the light remains on.
Another way to deal with the lack of charging is to add a small solar panel. But these solar lights will all eventually fail within a couple years because of battery degradation. I finally gave up and installed low-voltage LED lighting, which actually produces a useful level of light.