By “regular” batteries I assume you mean alkaline ones like your standard AA and AAA. Lithium Ion batteries aren’t really more “powerful”, more likely the circuit was simply designed for constant 5V because that is cheap and easy nowadays. Small lithium batteries like the one used here and a simple charging circuit and port are dirt cheap when purchased in bulk.
Not to mention there’s a size difference both for the battery itself and mounting area for it. For something like a AA battery there needs to be a user accessible battery compartment to replace them. It’s cheaper and easier to just not do that.
A normal AA battery is probably more powerful than this tiny thing. That cell is probably 3.7v 250 mah at best. My “shitty” ikea rechargeable AAs are like 900 mah, and the good ones are 2400 at 1.2V. 3.7 * 250 is 925 watt hours, 1.2* 900 is 1000, and 1.2 * 2400 is 2800.
The biggest benefit is these are easily and quickly rechargeable.
An alkaline AA may have more capacity, but the LiPo has lower internal resistance and it’s electrolyte is flammable. The worst the alkaline would do it shorted or punctured is get warm and poop out KOH.
We laugh but this is not uncommon. I remember reading manpower contributions to the war in Afghanistan back in ‘17 and there were two Estonians and four Icelanders on the list. Hilarious when put next to the 10s of thousands of Americans.
I wonder how the military units get organized when stuff like this happens, do the people from the tiny countries militaries just get told to go be part of a different military for awhile and follow those guy’s orders? Do they get their own little tent and individual unique assignments from their home country?
I believe they are attached to the troops of larger nations. The bilateral military integration agreements some countries in Europe have work similarly, for example a Dutch Grenadier (IIRC) unit is attached to the german Bundeswehr. For all practical purposes they are considered part of the German forces for the duration of that exchange.
Well generally everyone on joint bases like that reports to the base commander. There’s always a clear chain of command that transcends nations when it comes to NATO operations.
Also, I expect that most small detachments like that are just technical experts, not just straight infantry or anything lol
I mean they could easily say max of 100 or some percentage. And if 100 soldiers make a significant chunk of your army, you probably shouldn’t send any soldiers as your country can even easily be invaded by rabbits.
At least a complete platoon, so something like 20-50 soldiers. That way it’s big enough to handle missions independently instead of just creating issues for whatever platoon they’re assigned to.
That would also ensure that your soldiers have some of their countrymen to fraternize with. I’m sure it’s probably pretty lonely being the only Estonian in a war.
Also not uncommon going the other way too. NATO countries will commonly station just a few soldiers in countries like Estonia. It’s trip wire kind of thing, it means if Russia attacks that country then there will immediately be soldiers from many different NATO countries (even just a few soldiers each) fighting to defend the country on day one.
There’s more than just a handful of soldiers from each NATO countries in the Baltic countries now to deter Russia from doing something stupid. And it doesn’t make sense for Estonia to deploy a lot of their military to the Red Sea given the situation with Russia. So they send one soldier as a statement that they support the operation, they simply don’t currently have the military resources to contribute significantly.
The tripwire concept applies here too, an attack on a ship that soldier is on is an attack on Estonia. Doubt that will deter the Houthis (they’re psychos) but it’s still a show of support.
I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.
“Bad news, detective. We got a situation.”
“What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?”
“Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of bitcoins.”
The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. “What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?”
“Not yet. But mark my words: we’re going to figure out who did this and we’re going to take them down … provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so.”
“Easy, chief,” I said. “Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair.”
He laughed. “That’s why you’re the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m on it.”
I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.
“Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®” I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. “Nobody move unless you want to!” They didn’t.
“Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.
“Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”
It didn’t seem like they did.
“Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”
Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.
I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.
“Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.
Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.
“Stop right there!” I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.
I was losing him. “Listen, I’ll pay you to stop!” I yelled. “What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I’ll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn ‘Bob Barr ‘08’ extra-large long-sleeved men’s T-shirt!”
He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.
“All right, all right!” the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. “I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins.”
“Why’d you do it?” I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers,” he said. “I’m a central banker.”
I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.
“Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street,” I said. “No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you’ll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom.”
He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me for arresting him.
I’ve done lots of construction and many years ago I started wearing rubber gloves every time I do dishes. I used to not wear gloves but there’s nothing like losing big chunks of your callouses from dish pan hands.
And if you play guitar and want to maintain callouses on your fingertips, you have to wear gloves all the time.
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