Linky Links

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

- Why it is as hard to flee an echo chamber as it is to leave a cult. "Maybe political allegiance has replaced basic reasoning skills." Maybe?

- Elon Musk's Boring Company set to expand its Las Vegas tunnel system to two Strip resort properties

- Some common sense, well-thought out law-enforcement reforms from Dan McLaughlin

- Heh Heh

- Unnecessary lockdowns created social turmoil, global suffering. Lockdowns were a false choice - NEVER AGAIN!

- Interesting

Few Weeks in Musk World

To me the biggest thing in Musk World these past few weeks has been the unveiling of Neuralink.

I have to admit that a billionaire who can read people's minds through technology and control their vehicles has a bit of a Doctor Who Rise of the Cybermen vibe to it.

Somehow I wasn't even aware of Ad Astra's existence. A minor foray into education by Elon Musk but somehow its now the most sought after and exclusive private school in California. (And what better way for an "evil" billionaire in a science fiction story to groom his technology henchmen? Just saying the narrative is veering scarily close to a decent Terminator, Battlestar Galactica or Borg storyline.) Only partially kidding.

A reminder that Tesla's success selling cars in the US is happening despite anti-free market roadblocks still set up in many states. And despite 68% of respondents to a JD Power survey saying they've had no experience with electric vehicles. So very impressive!

The Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada is bigger than you expect. When it is finally complete it will have the largest footprint of any building in the world!

Some of that space is possibly going to be used to make the Megapack utility scaled battery back-up system which was unveiled last week. I think this is another winner from team Musk. It is tough to keep up with all the technologies they are leapfrogging the competition on.

Elon Musk and SpaceX got some exposure last week on CBS Sunday Morning. A nice dovetail interview to go along with the Apollo 11 anniversary.

Couple of weeks ago SpaceX also successfully launched its 18th commercial cargo mission to the International Space Station on Thursday and successfully docked with the ISS that Saturday.

Also this week SpaceX announced a small sat "rideshare" program for smaller satellites. The pricing on these missions should be much less than traditional satellite launching services.

Musk says that the Starship and Super Heavy (BFR) combo will have 41 Raptor engines. This will give it more than double the thrust capacity of NASA's Saturn V rockets. That much thrust would destroy existing launch pads. So SpaceX will be creating new, better launch pads in Texas and Florida.

NASA selects SpaceX as one of 13 companies they will be working with on their Moon and Mars missions. And Europe admits that the SpaceX model of reusable rockets is the way to go.

And not to forget The Boring Company news - Elon Musk to attend Conference on AI in China at the end of the month where he will also be launching The Boring Company China.

This Week in Musk World

Liftoff of the Falcon Heavy early Tuesday morning - NASA photo

Another jam packed week in Musk World.

SpaceX had another successful launch early Tuesday morning. This time it was the Falcon Heavy STP-2 mission for the DoD.

This mission also marked the first time the side boosters that flew on a previous Falcon Heavy mission were reused. Big item in making Falcon Heavy more cost effective than the competition.

This past week SpaceX also got its (extremely) tentative NASA dates for the first Crew Dragon astronaut launch.

BBC's Top Gear does a Model 3 road test and comes away very impressed, "This [the Model 3] is the traffic light king. It's an AK-47 disguised as a butter knife." Host Chris Harris was so impressed he announced he was buying one.

Speaking of the Model 3 - it is probably the safest car on the planet (according to NHTSA testing).

James May (formerly of Top Gear) reviews the Model S P100D and calls it the "greatest muscle car that America has ever produced." I think his admiration is a little more than grudgingly given from this traditional motorhead and there's a more than a little bit of snark even in his compliments.

And speaking of the Model S - this past week marked the 7th year anniversary of its availability. In 2012 2,650 were delivered and last year 245,240 customers got their Model S's. I'm sure that number will be surpassed when the 2019 numbers are finalized.

Tesla will now also now be offering some collision repair via their service centers and mobile repair service. I really like how Tesla is moving to becoming a full one-stop shop for all car related needs. The car, the charging (Superchargers and Powerwall), the maintenance and repair and even soon insurance for the vehicle.  Oh and also "fast pass" access to The Boring Company's tunnels (very cool video).

Finally - Tesla Powerwalls now starting to be used in the telcom sector to replace diesel generators. This could be significant when coupled with solar recharging for remote cell sites and towers.

This Week in Musk World

Perhaps the most historic event in Musk World this week was the successful splashdown of the Crew dragon capsule. American astronauts launching on American rockets from American soil once again just became one step closer.

Tesla Model 3 quickly becomes #1 in the Netherlands. The Model 3 is also a hit in France. And "crushing it" in Norway. And in the US the Model S has been proclaimed "America's greatest muscle car" by no less an authority than Top Gear's James May.

What I've long said was the unappreciated "muscle" behind Tesla's long-term are the network of charging stations which this week got a big boost as Supercharger V3 was unleashed. Short-term the financial "muscle" of Tesla coming out with a $35,000 Model 3 has caused competitors to react with price drops of their own.

Meanwhile the Model Y is teased on Tesla's website. The question is how the Model Y will stack up against the announced Audi e-tron Q4. The Model Y is scheduled to be unveiled on Thursday. With the Model Y - Tesla's product line will officially be S3XY (pun obviously intended) And speaking of sexy teases - what the heck is this bad boy?

Let's not forget The Boring Company - Las Vegas might be the site of the next tunnel for the company.Makes sense. You don't want conventioneers too tired from walking all day to gamble at night.

This Week in Musk World

The big news this week was the opening of The Boring Company's 1.14 mile tunnel in LA. The $10 million tunnel has one end in a parking lot owned by SpaceX and the other end in Hawthorne, CA. Next up for The Boring Company may be a 17-mile tunnel from downtown Chicago to O'Hare Airport. It might be a "bumpy" ride before these tunnels become reality. Right now the tunnel that just opened in LA might just be the world's greatest amusement ride.

The cost of just under $10 million per mile could be The Boring Company's "killer app" as underground subways in the US cost anywhere between $600 million per mile (Seattle U-Link) and $920 million per mile (LA Regional Connector). And Must thinks he can do it even more cost effectively than $10 million per mile.

For some Tesla owners the big news this week might be the ability to make your car "fart". Technically it's Tesla's Emissions Testing Mode but it comes with the choices from six different fart noises. Lost in all the fart hubbub is that a "Romance Mode" was released at the same time.

Meanwhile CNBC reports SpaceX is raising $500 million to pushing its valuation to $30.5 billion. I remain skeptical of the Starlink network because of latency issues that are inherent in satellite broadband and other consumer related issues. In other SpaceX news - the Dragon 2 capsule got a high profile visitor last week in VP Mike Pence.

For investors Tesla was by far the best auto stock to invest in for 2018. With profitable quarters forecast for 2019 and things like the 54,000 square foot showroom that opened this week in Eindhoven my guess is that Tesla will be the best auto stock of 2019 too.

Just saying but Tesla stock would make a nice last minute Christmas gift (Hint Hint).

This Week in Musk World

We start off this week in Musk World with the above video of Jay Leno explaining why Americans should be rooting for Elon Musk and Tesla. I agree with Jay 100%! Tesla has created close to 50,000 new jobs. How can you not root for a company that does that?

To be fair not all the jobs at Tesla will be in the US with Gigafactory 3 set to open in China mid 2019.

Yet the big media attention story was Elon's appearance on 60 Minutes. Not exactly a love story but even 60 Minutes couldn't diminish the company's accomplishments.

Tesla is growing with 11 new stores opening this week. And as always no need to have an appointment for a test drive at any of the locations. These new locations also mean more new jobs - for the people who built these locations and those who will staff these locations.

In other Musk World related news - the SpaceX Dragon has visited the Space Station 16 times. The latest this past Saturday.

Tesla may also be getting into the GPS business. Which when you think about it would be a natural crossover expansion of their auto-driving electric cars and SpaceX experience.

Next week Musk World sees the Boring Company product launch. And as usual probably some surprises. Never "boring" in Musk World. (Sorry couldn't resist.)

This Week in Musk World

Mostly good news in Musk World this week.

The SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is certified to launch NASA's top missions. Practically this means the Falcon 9 can now compete with ULA's Atlas V for NASA's big launches. Up next for certification - the Falcon Heavy. It should be noted that both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy will be much more cost effective for NASA. With that in mind it will be interesting to watch the politics involved here as the Atlas V is a joint venture of the very politically connected Boeing and Lockheed Martin companies.

Tesla shows off the Model 3 in Japan for the first time. Foreign markets being added and production profitable for the first time seems to indicate blue skies ahead for Tesla.

CNBC takes an "exclusive" look inside Telsa's Gigafactory where the Tesla batteries are made.

Perhaps the big news of the week is the Boring Company finished the LA/Hawthorne tunnel. At the LA end of the tunnel will be a watchtower and Elon Musk would like to hire a knight with a French accent to guard the watchtower and maybe taunt you a second time. I hope that really happens!

This Week in Musk World

Oh my God! Elon Musk smoked weed with Joe Rogan! Yes the Tesla stock took an immediate dive from people who overreacted but almost as quickly rebounded to where it belongs.

Lefsetz has his take on the Rogan interview.  My take is Joe Rogan did the best he could to engage Musk on a series of topics and that Elon's genius was obvious to anyone paying attention. The problem was that Musk lies somewhere on the communication spectrum between Nobel Prize physicists Paul Dirac (infamously reticent) and Richard Feynman (famously outgoing and humorous). No wonder it's the 15 seconds of pot smoking that gets the attention. I for one wish the Spaceballs story of why Musk sells flamethrowers got more attention (shout out to another genius - Mel Brooks).

Likewise this week when his side, side project The Boring Company announced that the space-age bricks made from displaced earth would be given away free to low cost housing projects - the media chose to instead focus on Musk using those same bricks to create a medieval watchtower for the HQ of the company. (OK I can kind of see the point being more interested in the Watchtower but now I'm curious if Musk gets sued by the Jehovah's Witnesses.)

But the real news of the week in Musk World was when Musk announced SpaceX has signed up their first private passenger for an around the moon voyage. Who is this mysterious private passenger? You'll have to tune into the next episode of Musk World to find out!

Linky Links

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

- So now is spanking the hippo a thing? Thankfully not according to the Urban Dictionary (yet)

- Interesting - elephants have a secret weapon against cancer.

- An argument that David Hume is the philosopher (and philosophy) we need today.

- I would counter that it is Hume's good friend Adam Smith who is the philosopher we need today. And that Russ Roberts How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life is the place to start.

- 15 skills you can pick up in a month. Already proficient in 5 on the list but in September I might just look into becoming a notary or learning to juggle.

- SEC sends subpoena to Telsa over Elon Musk's Tweets. It's always something in Musk World.

-  Meanwhile one of Musk's other companies, The Boring Company, announce a planned underground loop to Dodger Stadium. See this is another example why we need the weekly soap opera Musk World.