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More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Flying the Jolly Roger?

- The Supreme Court is poised to remind states that the Constitution doesn't stop at the liquor store.

- Japan's PM Sanae Takaichi's party is set for a landslide win in the elections.

- Tesla unveils US-made solar panels

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- We are risking a Brave New World. He's not wrong.

- From the archives: Peter Attia on using James Clear's Atomic Habits to reach your health goals.

- Japan unveils a space to earth wireless solar power link. The amount of power generated is potentially tremendous.

- Jonathan Turley: the UK's healthcare disaster is a cautionary tale for America. Obamacare is a disaster.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Thinking of reserving one of these.

- The case for solar power. I like the AOTA idea and must say that I do know a solar sales person who does quite well in helping people convert their homes to solar.

- How popular snack logos have changed over time.

- Fact checking Russian history. (HT Execupundit)

Some Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- And all the married guys nod their heads.

- Analysis true!

- Real man of genius!

- This is believable

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Laughed way too much at this. (Old joke too)

- HSBC downgrades Anheuser-Busch stock. But only to "hold" when it should be sell! sell! sell! They aren't recovering from this mistake.

- Cool - VAST announces the Haven-1 and VAST-1 missions. The first commercial space station is scheduled for August 2025 using SpaceX Falcoln-9 rockets.

- The wind and solar power myth has finally been exposed. Excellent primer on why wind and solar power could never work. "Wind and solar are, in fact, completely pointless." Nuclear power is the way - it is known.

Solar and Wind Power are Not Sustainable

Worth repeating - solar and wind power provide just 3% of the world's energy. You want renewable energy but are against nuclear? That's makes you a fraud or a fool. 

Funny Because It's True

HT The View from Lady Lake 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Elon Musk this week announced that Tesla Solar Panels and Solar Roof will only be sold as a package with Powerwall batteries. I predicted this about a year ago. Many of the Tesla products make natural packages which are good for the consumer and also good for Tesla's bottom line... The Biden Administration is not doing a good job with India. A horrible job actually... The government's reaction to Covid-19 can be honestly summered up as "We're confused and afraid so we're going to take away your freedoms." That's it - that's been their whole reaction... Another natural package for Elon Musk would be to integrate a SpaceX Starlink receiver into the Tesla Semi and offer mobile Internet as a service for all Semi trucks sold... People aren't getting into journalism for the money because there isn't any (anymore). In the past gifted writers like David Halberstam did get into journalism (Halberstam most notably as a correspondent in Vietnam). But today "the best and the brightest" are seeking career paths elsewhere. Makes you wonder if the best and brightest aren't going into journalism then what does that make those who are?... 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Comedian K-von quadruples fan base with Biden barbs. Good for him.

-  Yes - you love to see it.

- Planning on having a lot of "infrastructure" this weekend. (HT Instapundit)

- VDH: Laudator Temporis Acti (Praiser of times past). He's not wrong. 

- Space-based solar power (wait isn't all solar power space-based?) getting key test aboard US Military's (Space Force) X-37B. I've long been fascinated by the X-37B which is the defacto replacement for the Space Shuttle. 

Linky Links

 Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Compounding Wisdom. (HT  The Happy Curmudgeon)

- How to build good habits

- Amazing! Burn up to 6,000 calories a day playing chess? Yes - interesting look at the physical toll that effects the bodies of top level Grandmasters.

- Solar panels are starting to die. What will we do with the megatons of toxic trash?

- Squirrels doing super hero landings

- Jacksonville Jaguars' Tyler Eifert to honor David Dorn on his helmet

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Groundbreaking trial in US rapidly cools trauma victims with catastrophic injuries to buy more time for surgery. The more click-baity are calling this "suspended animation."

- Too funny!

- From cooling to heating - a startup backed by Bill Gates has achieved innovative "solar oven" capabilities about equal to a quarter of the surface of the Sun. Concentrated solar energy.

- I shouldn't laugh at this (and I can't help but hear it in my head in Christopher Walken's voice)

- Billionaire Guy Laliberte (founder of Cirque du Soleil) in trouble for growing marijuana on his private island in Tahiti 

- Interesting interview of Al Pacino (in which Bob DeNiro sometimes participates)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Boom! Trump's US Attorney in Philadelphia goes right after Philly DA over the shooting of 6 police officers. Good for him

- Cool NASA visualization of a black hole "eating" a sun

- And speaking of the sun - here's why the sun appears red at sunset. (Yeah I still don't understand why the sun appears red at sunset)

- The world's first "solar road" is an absolute disaster.

- Mike Leach is the best!

This Week in Musk World

SpaceX leads the news in Musk world this week.

Just yesterday morning the Crew Dragon capsule was captured and attached to the International Space Station. This comes after the successful Falcon 9 launch on Saturday.

Meanwhile more information was released on the "anomaly" that cause the destruction of a Crew Dragon craft a couple of weeks ago. This issue is troublesome and will cause delays in manned Crew Dragon missions to the space station until its resolved.

Tesla accounted for 78% of all-electric cars sold in the US in April. Who are these 22% who buy something other than a Tesla when buying an all-electric vehicle?

Tesla looks to raise $2 billion in new capital. This would basically double their current cash reserves. And in an effort to increase solar revenue Tesla will be slashing solar panel pricing to be more competitive. I haven't seen it broken out anywhere but I wonder how much of Tesla's $700 million loss last quarter was due to sluggish solar sales.

Long read about how a lawsuit over a Tesla autopilot fatality is likely to lose in court. And speaking of autonomous vehicles - Tesla's self-driving computer puts it 4-years ahead of the competition.

This is something I've long commented on - Tesla spends $0 on ads, still tops all automakers in organic social media engagement. The flip side of this coin is because Tesla doesn't advertise on traditional media - that traditional media has been quick to post negative stories about Tesla (especially content from those who engage in short-selling the stock). Those analysts and investors who defend Tesla seem to have their voices muted (which probably wouldn't happen if Tesla was buying ads on a network the way Ford or Toyota and the rest do).

Finally the below video of Elon Musk announcing the Tesla robotaxi service is fascinating. One of the details that stunned me a little was that Tesla is designing their cars for 1 million miles of service. This is a huge departure from the traditional gas engine cars where getting 150,000 miles is considered getting a lot out of a vehicle. I drive about 35,000 miles a year and at that rate it would take me just over 28.5 years to get to 1 million miles. Even if I doubled my miles by adding my (fictional) Tesla to the robotaxi fleet - that's still 14-years plus of ownership. This is really changing the paradigm.

This Week (and a Half) in Musk World

The big news from Tesla, of course, was the unveiling of the Model Y crossover SUV which Fortune Magazine suggests may be a "game -changer".  The Model Y compares very favorable to even the top crossover SUV's like the Porche Maycan.

That was hardly the only news as Tesla announced a new customer referral program which they rolled out this week. It also looks like there might be a tow package in store for future Model 3's and Y's. Meanwhile in the shorter term the new firmware update announced two weeks ago which will increase Model 3 power by about 5% (increasing top speed by 7 mph) is now available. Cool.

Lots of cool positive things going on at Tesla but if you read this review from Consumer Reports you would think things are doom and gloom. I know I'm an Elon Musk fanboy but this sort of biased reporting bugs me. How can I trust Consumer Reports on a laptop recommendation when I see obvious bias on something I pay close attention to? Clearly a case of Gell-Mann Amnesia.

As Consumer Reports points out  maintenance and repair of EV's in general are an issue but to help address this Tesla has announced a new college course which it will be utilizing at six North American colleges to train EV technicians.  Tesla may want to partner with some European colleges as well as the Model 3 has quickly become the top selling EV in Western Europe.

Over at SpaceX - American rockets launching from American soil. Elon Musk confirms that SpaceX rockets will be built in Texas and Florida.

SpaceX's Starship undergoing some serious tests this week. Remember that the goal of SpaceX is to get to Mars but landing heavy payloads on Mars will not be easy. Successfully getting the SpaceX Starship to Mars may be the easy part when compared to landing on Mars.

In other news - a very valid question - what exactly is Tesla's strategy with solar? Elon Musk said at the Model Y unveiling that "this is definitely going to be the year of the Solar Roof and Powerwall."  Since many of the Solar Roof customers seem to also be Tesla car customers - maybe they should institute a new customer referral program that packages both car and solar products? Maybe that's in the works and why Tesla reversed course in closing their product showrooms?

One last thing - this is pretty mind-blowing especially when you remember that Elon Musk is only 47-years old and far from finished.

This Week in Musk World

This week in Musk World.

Tesla cut the price of its Model 3 once again this week - this time by $1,100. The stated goal is to get the price down to $35,000 which could happen in 6 months or so but that would require trimming another $7,900 off the price. These price reductions could be achieved by "a combination of workforce reduction, manufacturing improvements, and greater economies of scale from higher-volume production." The higher volume should be helped with new markets and speaking of - Model 3's started being delivered in Europe so Elon Musk went over to tour the operations.

Also helping higher volume production will be the introduction of the Model Y - the all-electric Tesla SUV.

Even traditional media like CNN have taken note that the Model 3 was the top selling luxury car in America last year. The article brings up a good point though - Tesla didn't have a Super Bowl commercial. In fact I can't recall ever seeing a Tesla commercial. Maybe that's why traditional media have been so negative to Tesla - other car manufacturers buy lots of ads.

The Model 3 basically was a dead-heat in a drag race vs a 560-horsepower BMW M5. The Model 3 seems to be getting most of the media attention these days but the Model S remains perhaps the most badass EV out there.

In other car news - is Tesla going to work with Mercedes on an electric Sprinter van?

CNBC wants to know whatever happened to Tesla's Solar Roof tiles? It's a valid question but now I wonder if Tesla bought broadcast ads if the question would be asked in a more positive way. Meanwhile - even old homes can be fitted with solar and with Tesla Powerwalls. My opinion is that it is the Powerwalls that will be the real game-changer (for a number of reason).

SpaceX has a goal of 24-28 launches in 2019. SpaceX's website says that they have "secured over 100 missions to its manifest, representing over $12 billion on contract." By itself SpaceX is looking like a formidable company.

It really is amazing how much happens every week in Musk World. Being Elon must be exhausting!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, did a Reddit AMA

- AGAIN! Spider bites Australian man on penis again.

- The battle between Disney and Netflix will be interesting to watch. Buried in this article is the fact that Disney plans a live action Marvel series based upon Loki and starring Tom Hiddleston.

- Heh Heh

- Interesting - scientists create liquid fuel that can store solar energy for up to 18-years.

- I'm a bad person because from hereon I will always think of Ann Coulter as a "throat model"

- Cool memo from Lin Wells to Donald Rumsfeld in April 2001

99 Good News Stories You Might Have Missed in 2018

99 good news stories you probably didn't hear about in 2018.

Although some of these stories could be bad news depending on your point of view. Half the world's counties are now below "replacement level" birth-wise? Is that actually good news for the economies of those countries? California going carbon neutral by 2045? That's going to wreck their economy (unless they change their mind on nuclear power).

Trying my best not to be a "cup half empty" type but it is a struggle.

There is no denying that we live in an age of abundance though.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Where do we find such men

- Why alcohol is the secret to humanity's success (long read)

- Socialism and autocratic rule by one man, first Chavez and now Maduro, have turned Venezuela into a shithole.

- And it looks like Turkey wants to follow the same path. Except of course they'll blame the Jews when the economy tanks.

- Organic solar cells the next big thing?

- Zdeno Chara is still the Bruins best defensemen. He's the 3rd best defenseman in Boston's history and a sure Hall of Famer. And even at 40 - there's nobody in the NHL who wants to fight Chara.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Communism in a nutshell

- See you can read this report one way and come to one conclusion - I read the report and I say the report shows the Marines are the best drinkers in the military! And 5 drinks isn't binge drinking - that's pre-gaming.

- Interesting - Intel vets say hacking of DNC server was inside job not Russians.

- Speaking of the Marines

- Tesla to build world's largest solar farm in Australia. Tesla really is a power company that also happens to make cars.

- Cool - the power of lightning

- Interesting - Russia liquidates its US Treasury holdings