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Trying to figure out how much battery storage, inverter size, type of charger and what have you to power my houseboat. My plan is to have enough battery storage to run everything using an inverter for AC power using batteries and by charging those batteries daily using a generator for a few hours. The biggest draw would be an occasional few minutes of a microwave to heat food, and also run a tv/monitor along with computer. everything else runs on DC current for short periods of time like fresh water pump. I do have a small a/c air conditioner that...

Step into an unassuming industrial building in Teltow, just outside Berlin, and a bright, clacking universe unfolds: around 50 pinball machines line 200 square metres, from classics like Wizard and The Addams Family to modern hits such as Game of Thrones. Welcome to Flipperhalle Berlin - proof that pinball is back in vogue. The United States, the world's largest pinball market, has seen a dramatic revival since the mid-2000s, fuelled by the rise of arcade bars, or "barcades," that pair vintage games with food and drink. The trend has spread far beyond the US: pinball machines now pop up in...

his is the hilarious moment that a dog owner tries to outsmart his German Shepherd while offering her a treat, but it backfires as the smart girl works it out.Our pets deserve a treat every now and then – especially as a reward for good behaviour. And recently, one dog parent decided to make her German Sherpherd earn their treat. He thought it would take a while for the pooch to figure things out – but it quickly backfired when the clever girl managed to figure it out in seconds. So it was actually the owner who ended up learning...

We're all guilty of saving something 'for a special occasion' - but it turns out when doing so, we might just be ruining the very thing we're waiting for. One man learnt this the hard way after keeping a bottle of whisky for 17 long years, only to be left gutted when he finally came to open it to savour its taste. Taking to Reddit, he revealed how he tucked away a bottle of Johnnie Walker Green Label almost two decades ago - and completely forgot about it until recently. However, when he went to open it, he found the...

Forget your TikTok influencers and Ibiza super-clubs. Sweden’s hottest DJ is an 81-year-old great-grandmother who refuses to slow down the beat. Madelein Mansson, better known to her glitter-soaked fans as DJ Gloria, has become the unlikely star of Stockholm’s nightlife scene. She will not even spin a record unless you are over 50. Sweden’s nightlife revolution: proving the party doesn’t stop at 50 Sweden has long been famous for exporting pop powerhouses such as ABBA, Avicii and Zara Larsson, but DJ Gloria is proof that the nation’s music scene is not just a young person’s game. In fact, Stockholm’s ageing...

Leandro Bojko and Micaela García danced off with the top prize in the grand finale of the World Tango Championships at the Gran Rex theatre in Buenos Aires. Argentine dance partners Leandro Bojko and Micaela García are celebrating after winning the stage category, the last competition at the World Tango Championship finals on Tuesday, during a competitive dance-off at Buenos Aires' Gran Rex theatre. The enormously followed event draws dancers from more than 50 countries for several rounds of intense dramatic competition in over 20 theatres. Both amateur and professional couples showcased their skills in the two main categories: Tango...

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the...

Requests for advice and help with computer issues seem to produce more jokes than anything else, but I'm wondering if someone here who is more tech-savvy than I am can help me. I had a rectangular Dell monitor for a long time and it did great, until eventually the text and images began (I don't know what to call it. Bleeding? Ghosting?) rightward across the monitor. I am not talking about light spots around the edges of the monitor, nor am I talking about some sort of reflection following moving objects. I simply mean that, text or picture, there is...

If you grew up in the '70s and '80s, there's a good chance that you had at least one Fisher-Price toy sitting on the living room floor, waiting to trip your dad. But these weren't just toys. Fisher-Price had a knack for shrinking the world down to kid size. A ringing doorbell on the Play Family House, an incredibly realistic "mooo" from the toy barn doors, or the oddly loud bell on the parking garage elevator, these sounds all played an important part in the soundtrack of our childhoods. FISHER-PRICE FARM Part of what made Fisher-Price toys so special (and...

They use AI more but also check it moreFor those who thought AI vibe coding was just for the youngsters, newly published research shows that developers with over 10 years of experience are more than twice as likely to do it. According to a July survey of 791 US developers from cloud services platform Fastly, around a third of senior developers with more than a decade of experience are using AI code-generation tools such as Copilot, Claude, and Gemini to produce over half of their finished software, compared to 13 percent for those devs who've only been on the...

F-1 HEINEKEN DUTCH GRAND PRIX 2025 Live Thread, Circuit Zandvoort, First Grand Prix 1952, Number of Laps 72, Circuit Length 259 km, Race Distance 306.587km, Lap Record 1:11.097 by Lewis Hamilton (2021), Sunday, 9:00AM ET

A large package set for delivery has caused quite a stink for one courier company, causing it to dial in the help of the police. After the box was dropped off at New Zealand Couriers in New Plymouth, an employee noticed it was emitting the “distinctive odour” of cannabis. But the police didn’t have to look far to figure out who was behind the package, with the source having provided his name and contact details on the package receipt. Today, Anthony Ellison, 40, appeared in the New Plymouth District Court charged with possession of cannabis and cultivation of cannabis, to...

A 17-year-old handed just $100 to ChatGPT and let the AI run a stock portfolio for one month. The results stunned finance watchers, with gains far beyond major Wall Street benchmarks. =============================================================== In late June 2025, 17-year-old Nathan Smith from rural Oklahoma gave ChatGPT control over a $100 stock portfolio. Four weeks later, the results shocked many: a 23.8% gain—far above the Russell 2000 (+3.9%) and biotech ETF XBI (+3.5%) during the same period. Smith shared his experiment on Reddit, and it quickly spread across tech and finance communities, with coverage from Decrypt, Futurism, and others. Smith is quick to...

The practice facility office of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was hit with a bullet, penetrating the glass while he was inside working in 2024, according to a report Wednesday night from the Kansas City Star. Reid, 67, wasn’t hurt in the incident, said Kansas City Police Department spokesperson Capt. Jake Becchina while speaking with the outlet. Per the Star, the shooting took place outside of the Chiefs team facility in Kansas City, hit Reid’s office by going through glass and then got stuck into a wall around 15 feet from Reid. It happened May 4, 2024 just...

Ford’s $30,000 electric pickup aims to reinvent its future, but its past may weigh it down. Last week, under the blistering heat of an August day at a Ford plant in Louisville, Ky., Ford CEO Jim Farley, a self-proclaimed lifelong petrol head, announced a $30,000 electric pickup truck slated for release in 2027. Farley pitched it as a new “Model T moment,” a breakthrough meant to reinvent how cars and trucks are assembled. The company hopes the move will help Ford remain a profitable U.S. automaker despite rising tariffs, softening EV demand, higher labor costs, and a political climate that...

A burglar shot and killed by a mother as she hid her baby in a closet during a home invasion was a serial criminal who'd only recently been freed from jail... Well, this is Illinois, where democrat prioritize criminals over actual citizens. You don't really expect criminals to serve out sentences. Fortunately, this time someone was willing to do what democrats won't do - hold criminals accountable for bad decisions. Nice shooting Mom.

Once a symbol of rural grit, the presence of the best-selling pickup truck in a song may now mean something else.Country singer-songwriter Jenna Paulette drives a white Ford F-150 pickup truck, a gift from her cattle-rancher grandfather when he retired from driving. “He called me and said, ‘Hey, sug, I got a 2010 F-150 with sixty thousand miles on it, and I was wondering if you’d drive it for me,’ ” the native Texan, who grew up in Lewisville, recalls. “I still drive that truck to this day; I’ll never get rid of it. It keeps me connected to him...

Animal rights advocacy group PETA is requesting that Nintendo redesign an animal character in its new game, "Mario Kart World," due to a nose ring.Released in June, "Mario Kart World" for the Nintendo Switch 2 console features a cow character with a brass nose ring. On Friday, PETA shared an image of the anthropomorphic cow character on its social media channels, accompanied by a message directed at Nintendo."Hey Nintendo. Let the cow race free -- remove the nose ring!" the graphic read. "It's not a style choice -- it's a cruel tool used to control and hurt cows in the...

A few words, said the right way, can help you run faster. Not next month or after a few training sessions, but immediately. A study with elite athletes in their teens found that simple, environment-focused word cues instantly improved sprint speed over a distance of at least 20 yards. The effect of using these word cues was an increase of about three percentage points, a change that typically takes weeks of hard work and practice to achieve. The study was led by Dr. Jason Moran at the University of Essex, working with Tottenham Hotspur’s academy. It tested how phrasing shapes...

The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wis. (mini visual tour)