This tech is inevitable, barring a civilizational collapse. Which it may cause.
Category Archives: Business
Vivaldi
I may give it a whirl. Not sure if there are rpms for it yet, though. Might have to build it.
If You Want To Work At SpaceX
We’ll see how long they can keep that up.
Our Kids Don’t Eat Organic
I agree, it’s largely a scam. I buy “organic” kale at Ralph’s, but only because, for some reason, it’s the only way they sell it, and it’s reasonably priced.
Trump’s Campaign Staff
Remember, he hires the best people.
Remember when Obama’s people claimed that he could manage the government because his campaign was being run so well? Well, Trump can’t even manage a campaign.
[Update mid-afternoon]
Why I’ve changed my mind on Trump:
I realized — like I was shot with a diamond bullet — that there is no “there” there. Trump has no ideas, no philosophy, and no governing principles. He is little more than a salesman selling himself. He is a hollow man, a stuffed man, headpiece filled with straw.
Not only doesn’t he know much, he doesn’t care to find out, which is much worse to my mind. Read this article from Spengler about how Trump doesn’t read. (“What I noticed immediately in my first visit was that there were no books,” says D’Antonio. “A huge palace and not a single book.”) If somebody like this were to run the foreign policy of the world’s most powerful country, it would be an unmitigated disaster. In a narcissistic fit, he may start World War III without a clue as to what to do after it begins. Only then will it dawn on him that not everything in the world is a transactional deal.
Once I realized this, other examples became evident. There are Trump’s extensive ties with top Democrats, like Senator Harry Reid and the Clinton family, as well as establishment Republican figures like Senator Mitch McConnell. There is also his (very recent) past support of left-wing causes, including illegal immigration. Most tastelessly, he has personally attacked conservatives who have been fighting the good fight for a lot longer than Donald Trump has, and with much fewer resources. Take his disgraceful feud with Michelle Malkin. Donald, Michelle was pulling her weight back when you were cutting checks to Anthony Weiner and employing illegal aliens.
A con man, a show man, and empty-headed buffoon.
Where Is Superman When We Need Him?
A bald supervillain threatens to destroy California.
Heh.
Pro tip to Jerry Brown: If something doesn’t make sense economically, it can’t possibly make sense morally or socially. It just destructive virtue signalling that wrecks lives (particularly those of young people).
Blue Origin’s Plans
An update from Eric Berger in the wake of the successful third flight of New Shepard. The long setback to reusability caused by the Shuttle is finally coming to an end.
[Update a few minutes later]
I wrote a piece a while ago with this theme, but I may have never published it:
Some people have also questioned whether it’s safe to reuse rockets, but Bezos thinks that perception will flip 180 degrees. “That is an argument that’s been made, but I have a different opinion,” he said. “I would much rather fly in a used 787 than on that 787’s first flight. Let somebody else take that first flight. Look, the fact that you just flew it yesterday means that it’s probably really good to fly right now. And that’s going to be true of rocket vehicles, too. In the future, because of reusability, nobody with a really expensive satellite is going to want to put it on an unused rocket. They’re going to decide that’s too risky. Now that will take a while, but that’s what’s going to happen.”
…”Our first orbital vehicle will not be our last, and it will be the smallest orbital vehicle we will ever build,” Bezos said. And to make it all affordable, says the man who has upended online retailing with Amazon.com, rockets must launch, land, and then fly again. When he’s asked about plans by government agencies and others to build large, expendable rockets, Bezos seems unable to understand that kind of business practice in the 21st century.
“What I know you cannot afford is throwing the hardware away,” he said. “Hardware is so expensive. Look around at the precision you see here. The turbopumps with beautifully machined propellers. It’s just a tragedy to throw all of that away. You can never make a step function change in cost if you’re throwing the hardware away.”
In a couple decades, people will marvel at the stubborn persistence some in throwing expensive hardware away.
Treating Symptoms
I’m not as shocked that cholesterol-reduction drugs don’t alleviate heart problems as these “scientists” are. There’s plenty of good science out there, but it doesn’t fit the orthodoxy, and encouraging better (not low-fat or low-cholesterol) diets don’t generate revenue for drug companies.
One other point: Nowhere in that article is the fact that taking CoQ10 can alleviate muscle pain from statins discussed. What a bunch of crap.
Political Bias On Campus
The real victims (as usual) are the students.
The GAO And Commercial Crew
I agree with the comments over there. This is ridiculous.
I’m particularly amused by the hand wringing about “space-rated” parts (which is as silly and meaningless these days as “human rating”), and the (completely arbitrary) LOC probability of 1 in 270.