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texasdago

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Posts posted by texasdago

  1. 2 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

    The proposal that humans will ever sustainably colonize Mars (much less in the next 30 years) is painfully stupid.

    Never mind the obvious issues that Mars has no food and virtually no oxygen or water, so we would need to haul all that shit out there just to set up a small enclosure that could support life.

    The bigger problems are geological. Mars has no global magnetic field. Couple that with the thin atmosphere, and the sun would bombard any human on Mars’s surface with ionizing radiation.  Even assuming we could eventually set up a colony there, its inhabitants would need to be artificially shielded (in spacesuits, under ground, etc.). 

    And Mars has only 38% of Earth’s gravity. Living in reduced gravity long term could have all kinds of negative impacts on human health and could potentially fuck up our ability to reproduce. And the low gravity coupled with the lack of a magnetic field means any attempt to terraform Mars (i.e. create an Earth-like atmosphere) would be doomed to failure - the Sun would eventually blast it away. 

    Can we solve this problem? Not in our lifetimes. You’d have to somehow slam Mars with asteroids or some shit for millennia, and wait for it the resultant composite to form a solid planet of sufficient mass. We’re talking about geological time scales here. And even then, there’s the problem of how to get a global magnetic field going on Mars. 

    And further: even if we could do all of that, compared to Earth, Mars is 50% further from the Sun. Which means we can’t just add an atmosphere and some water and hope to replicate Earth’s climate there. (This problem would be exacerbated if we don’t go to the trouble of scaling Mars up to Earth’s size and mass).

    It’s fun to ponder extraterrestrial colonization and space exploration is important if for no other reason than it expands our knowledge. But talk of a near-term sustainable colony anywhere outside of the thin little habitable shell on our home planet is fucking idiocy. 

    I agree.

    People who are all bought in on this idea of a Utopian society on Mars believe that Sea Monkeys look like this...

    image.thumb.png.3fe05bdbe739741bbdff738aa7eb0562.png

  2. 27 minutes ago, tbone_ said:


    Outstanding

    99% sure my wife will not be interested in attending.  I anticipate it to be an amusing train wreck.  It is very cringe-worthy on so many level which is why my teenager likes it.  I will look like the chaperone for the show, I'm sure.  Then again, I don't care.

     

    image.png

  3. 40 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

    Elon was one of the first investors into Tesla and was actively involved before they produced their first EV car. That’s a founder in my book.

    I love how he sued so that he could be called a co-founder

    Founding (2003–2004)

    The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors, Inc. on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.[8][9] They served as CEO and CFO, respectively.[10] Eberhard said that he wanted to build "a car manufacturer that is also a technology company", with its core technologies as "the battery, the computer software, and the proprietary motor".[11]

    Ian Wright was Tesla's third employee, joining a few months later.[8] In February 2004, the company raised US$7.5 million (equivalent to $12 million in 2023) in series A funding, including $6.5 million (equivalent to $10 million in 2023) from Elon Musk, who had received $100 million from the sale of his interest in PayPal two years earlier. Musk became the chairman of the board of directors and the largest shareholder of Tesla.[12][13][10] J. B. Straubel joined Tesla in May 2004 as chief technical officer.[14]

    A lawsuit settlement agreed to by Eberhard and Tesla in September 2009 allows all five – Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, Musk, and Straubel – to call themselves co-founders.[15]

    Roadster (2005–2009)

    Elon Musk took an active role within the company, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations.[16] The company's strategy was to start with a premium sports car aimed at early adopters and then move into more mainstream vehicles, including sedans and affordable compacts.[17]

    In February 2006, Musk led Tesla's Series B venture capital funding round of $13 million, which added Valor Equity Partners to the funding team.[18][13] Musk co-led the third, $40 million round in May 2006 which saw investment from prominent entrepreneurs including Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and former eBay President Jeff Skoll.[19] A fourth round worth $45 million in May 2007 brought the total private financing investment to over $105 million.[19]

    In August 2007, Eberhard was asked by the board, led by Elon Musk, to step down as CEO.[20] Eberhard then took the title of "President of Technology" before ultimately leaving the company in January 2008. Co-founder Marc Tarpenning, who served as the Vice President of Electrical Engineering of the company, also left the company in January 2008.[21] In August 2007, Michael Marks was brought in as interim CEO, and in December 2007, Ze'ev Drori became CEO and President.[22] Musk succeeded Drori as CEO in October 2008.[22] In June 2009, Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Musk for allegedly forcing him out.[23] The case was dismissed in August 2009.[24]

    Tesla began production of the Roadster in 2008 inside the service bays of a former Chevrolet dealership in Menlo Park.[25][26] By January 2009, Tesla had raised $187 million and delivered 147 cars. Musk had contributed $70 million of his own money to the company.[27]

    In June 2009, Tesla was approved to receive $465 million in interest-bearing loans from the United States Department of Energy. The funding, part of the $8 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, supported the engineering and production of the Model S sedan, as well as the development of commercial powertrain technology.[28] Tesla repaid the loan in May 2013, with $12 million in interest.[29][30]

    • Haha 2
  4. 1 hour ago, C-Man said:

    Some of these fuckers are actively seeking raw milk WITH H5N1, aka bird flu.

    Please please tell me the venn diagram showing these morons and the "mah rights!?" antivaxxers is an overlapping circle.  

  5. On 5/13/2024 at 9:35 AM, HookEm said:

    I don't think this is an unusual story. If you have a great GPA and test extremely well, I don't think it matters if you go to UT vs. NC State, Minnesota, South Carolina, UC San Diego, Oregon State,  Arkansas or similar schools. In fact, I think a great GPA at those schools will be seen more positively than an "ok" GPA at UT.

    I'm glad I never had an interest in graduate school because I would have been screwed.  My GPA at UT was really low... very low.  Like, just made it out.  The only person I know of who had a lower GPA at UT is our CEO.  If you're not going into graduate studies or engineering (you know, aggy bridge-builders), I cannot overemphasize the importance of using college to help you build your social and influencing skills.  Personality can be a cheat code, so to speak.  Not that mine is a winning personality but you know what I mean.  I've met a lot of aggies because of what I do and some of their personalities are stunningly bland.  That impacts future career prospects.  

  6. 8 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

    It’s so weird how the same psychotic idiots keep showing up in DT threads, spouting conspiracy theories, get roundly rejected and mocked, and then show up again in similar threads. Fuck you internet, fuck you. 

    They have a promising future in elected office

  7. Yeah it's interesting they key in on Top 40 because I think Taste Freeze applies to most new music.  I'm not a huge pop top 40 fan but soak up most of what gets played on stations like XMU or Alt Nation... same with KUT which is a great way to get educated on local bands.  Have to say KEXP is a great source for lots of good music.  

  8. I've never suffered from the Taste Freeze phenomenon.  I think it's because I've always had really broad taste in music that even in my.college years I would feel out on Van Halen, New Order, Eric Dolphy, Hello man, The Dead Milkmen, Dvorak, Front 242, Sisters of Mercy, INXS and everything in-between.

    When Bearshare rolled around, it's possible I may have enjoyed thousands of songs, many of which I had never heard.  I was introduced to the brilliance of Thievery Corporation, DJ Cam, Kruder & Dorfmeister, DJ Shadow and more.  

    So now... I still really love new music.  ACL and Levitation are great because you get to see bands you know and then discover a bunch of new bands.  So, I don't understand the Taste Freeze concept but see it allll the time.  I don't get it.  It's people getting a case of the olds and you see it in full force when the ACL lineup drops.  Levitation seems to draw a more "open, crowd.  

    Thoughts?  I'm just north of 50, for context.

    https://www.techtimes.com/articles/55096/20150527/spotify-study-finds-that-musical-taste-stagnates-at-age-33.htm

  9. On 5/13/2024 at 8:49 AM, nolongerU2horn said:

    Pretty Lights is absolutely closing out one of the main stages. Just look at the poster.

     

    Unless you think Khruangbin or Leon Bridges are. Which they're not.

    and it looks like they'll be opposite Dua Lipa

    Was listening to Sir Chloe today... really good sound.  Going to be mid-day on Friday based on that poster.  And I'm thinking the Mannequin Pussy timing may be good for Friday.

  10. 45 minutes ago, utee94 said:

    Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely check it out.  I love reading their story.

    Yeah, the whole "escape from Belarus" angle is inspiring.

  11. Ah belly flops...

    Diving board is one of the best parts of BSP.  So, last summer these two guys were doing some amazing dives and wowing the usual spectator crowd.  Anyway, towards the end, one guy signaled to the other that he was ready to go so they talked about one last dive.  Guy #1 goes and stands in line while Guy #2 waits to the side, by the ladder, with his camera phone.  Anyway, its finally Guy #1's turn.  I'm behind him in line so next up.  He jumps up, gets an amazing amount of air and lands flat and I mean F L A T onto the water with his arms to his side.  

    Picture this (below) but coming from about 10 feet in the air and landing straight down on the water.  I cannot describe the sound of him hitting the water and the crowd's reaction.  It was brutal.  I could not even climb up the stairs for a good 30 seconds.  Really hard to describe.  The guy finally came up the ladder looking like he was two tone... red on one side, white on the other.  Unbelievable.

    image.png.bbcaaa9fb47f292c9a17ef22a1d0b4f8.png

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