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User: jklovanc

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Comments · 5,286

  1. Re:cost? on Elon Musk Plans To Build Hyperloop Test Track · · Score: 1

    Notice that the pump you reference has a 2.5 CFM air capacity. The tube will have leaks and the pumps will have to be powerful enough to move enough air.

  2. Is Richard Branson trying to compete with Elon Musk for media exposure? They both seem to be making dubious statements that seem to be designed to garner coverage.

  3. Re:dupe on Simple Rogue WiFi Hotspot Captures High Profile Data · · Score: 1

    I just thought of another reason. Maybe since the original post had lass than 70 comments they may have thought adding the term 'Rogue WiFi' might garner more attention. If it doesn't get enough traffic then sensationalize it.

  4. Re:dupe on Simple Rogue WiFi Hotspot Captures High Profile Data · · Score: 1

    Maybe the editors are getting Alzheimer's. Twelve hours is a pretty short time for a dupe though.

  5. Re:Scams are specific to models ... on Bitcoin Volatility Puts Miners Under Pressure · · Score: 1

    Have you seen this graph. Notice how the price of gold is pretty stable up till about 1971? There is no way one could have a dollar tied to a physical amount of gold with the volatility of gold prices these days.

  6. Re:Over 50 drug purchases. on US Government Lurked On Silk Road For Over a Year · · Score: 1

    Maybe it was good shit and they wanted to stock up, especially since they knew other agents would steal 90% of it from the evidence storage.

    That is what I call police bashing. Care to quote any actual evidence that agent theft of drugs is anywhere near 90% or is that an assumption based on your opinion?

  7. Re:Scams are specific to models ... on Bitcoin Volatility Puts Miners Under Pressure · · Score: 1

    You missed a very important point. Gold standard only works when the trading price of gold is fixed as it was in the US between 1944 and 1971. That was done by the Bretton Woods system.

  8. Re:golden rule on Bitcoin Volatility Puts Miners Under Pressure · · Score: 1

    I thought Bitcoin was a currency that could be used day to day to purchase things. If the value is too volatile Bitcoin's use as a currency is diminished.

  9. Re:Welcome to the real world on Bitcoin Volatility Puts Miners Under Pressure · · Score: 1

    Volatility is a relative term. Some things are more volatile than others. Show me one fiat currency that has lost over 80% of its value in a year and it has not been considered a disaster for the country. Precious metals are much more volatile than currencies as governments work to limit currency volatility. That is one reason that people were not allowed to own a lot of gold when currency was based on gold. The buying and selling of gold would make currencies too volatile for a stable economy.

  10. Re:Nothing has been lost! on Bitcoin Volatility Puts Miners Under Pressure · · Score: 1

    You can only lose your direct investment

    You are correct if you only look at the Bitcoin miners. The people who bought Bitcoins then they were anywhere over the current price will lose money if they need to convert them to conventional currency. Also the buying power of Bitcoins will be less as prices in Bitcoins go up as the value of Bitcoins go down.

  11. Re:Over 50 drug purchases. on US Government Lurked On Silk Road For Over a Year · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Last I've heard, they can arrest and charge with a single transaction without any problem, so why so bloody many for this?

    Police do that to establish a pattern of ongoing criminal activity and counter the "it was a one time thing" defense.
    Good segway to unsupported police bashing.

  12. Re:Small subset on Authors Alarmed As Oxford Junior Dictionary Drops Nature Words · · Score: 1

    Here is where set theory and averages do not match. Even is the average person only knows 15,000-30,000 each person will know a different set of words. For example one person might not know the word "elucidate" but another one might not. If you union the sets of words each person knows that set will be much bigger than 15k-30k.

  13. Re:More EVs = More Infrastructure = More Sales on Tesla To Produce 'a Few Million' Electric Cars a Year By 2025 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Comparing Telsa with Delorean is not valid.

    The company failed because the high expectations and desires of the founder John DeLorean did not match the realities of the level of manufacturing technology and market demand of the late 70's and early 80's. The car was also an under performing over priced piece of junk. The only unique aspect of the car was the gull wing doors and stainless steel skin, everything else was a technological compromise that resulted in lack luster car.

    Tesla actually makes decent vehicles.

  14. Re:Rail line on China's Engineering Mega-Projects Dwarf the Great Wall · · Score: 1

    A major advantage of the rail route is speed. The train took just three weeks to complete a journey that takes up to six weeks by sea.

    Is that compared to a huge container ship that could not pass through the Suez Canal and therefore has to go around Africa? Going around the Horn will add thousands of kilometres, and therefore time, to the trip. The China-US route is the opposite in that the rail route is 13,000km while the sea route is 7,000km.

    It is also more environmentally friendly than road transport, which would produce 114 tonnes of CO2 to shift the same volume of goods, compared with the 44 tonnes produced by the train – a 62% reduction.

    I find it interesting that the compare rail to truck and not ship. Ships are known to burn less fuel per ton/km.

    I wonder how much it cost to pull this off. With 3 train swaps due to rail gauge differences and 16 engine swaps this would be an expensive trip. That was a publicity stunt as it only involved 30 rail cars. In the arena of Chinese trade 30 rail cars is insignificant. I doubt they could economically do this on a large scale.

  15. Re:Rail line on China's Engineering Mega-Projects Dwarf the Great Wall · · Score: 1

    Containers destined for rail cars wait at the station for the train to come in, wait while to be moved around the train station, wait till the other containers are loaded on the train and till everything is ready and then a similar dance at the other train station. Loading a container onto a train is very similar to loading onto a ship.

  16. Re:Rail line on China's Engineering Mega-Projects Dwarf the Great Wall · · Score: 1

    Regarding ships there's the time and expense wasted in loading/unloading and warehousing (sort of the equivalent of your TSA and checking luggages). It should be a lot easier to drive your container to a freight rail station and have it loaded on a train.

    Ships take containers too so no warehousing is involved. Most sipt transport is now either bulk or containerized now.

    Especially, the train would allow a "get this shipped under two weeks" scenario

    Except that blizzards in Siberia and Alaska would close the track possibly for days. We are talking about a route through some pretty harsh territory.

  17. Small subset on Authors Alarmed As Oxford Junior Dictionary Drops Nature Words · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Oxford Junior Dictionary contains about 3% of the Oxford English Dictionary. Some words need to be swapped out to make room for words that are more relevant to the users.

  18. Re:questionable experimental design on Human Language May Have Evolved To Help Our Ancestors Make Tools · · Score: 2

    I bet the students that could speak would succed more at any of the following tasks;
    Planning/carrying out a hunt.
    Sending people to good food gathering areas
    Warning of danger
    Etc

    All this study shows is that language is a good way of exchanging information.

  19. Re:Rail line on China's Engineering Mega-Projects Dwarf the Great Wall · · Score: 1

    Do you have any idea the cost of keeping a rail line through Siberia, Alaska and Northern BC open during the winter?

  20. Re:Rail line on China's Engineering Mega-Projects Dwarf the Great Wall · · Score: 1

    Even cargo is an issue as the line is designed to be high speed. The average speed of US for freight trains is 29 kmh. To go 13,000km it would take about 18 days. That is about the same as ship transit time. I agree, I doubt it can compete on freight either.

  21. Rail line on China's Engineering Mega-Projects Dwarf the Great Wall · · Score: 1

    In November, for example, the powerful National Development and Reform Commission approved plans to spend nearly $115 billion on 21 supersize infrastructure projects,

    There is an estimate that the China-Russia-Canada-US line may cost $2T or almost 17 times the budget for those projects. I doubt it will ever be built. I love one of the quotes from the article;

    Who would ever take a two-day train journey from Beijing to San Francisco when they could fly there in 12 hours?

    There may be a few but I doubt enough to pay for and support 13,000km of track through some very harsh terrain which gets worse in winter and a 200km tunnel under water.

  22. Re:Open Source Tax Preparation Software on Intuit Charges More For Previously Offered TurboTax Features, Users Livid · · Score: 1

    One word; gaurantee. If the correct information is entered into a Turbotax and they make a mistake in calculation you can get re-paid for penalties and interest under their Turbotax accurate calculations guarantee. Open Source software can not do that.

  23. Re:Secret Ballot? on How Bitcoin Could Be Key To Online Voting · · Score: 1

    Print the code on the paper and fold it in half so that the code is not visible. The employee shows the card but the employer can not read the code. Problem solved. If the employer goes any further it is an invasion of privacy.

  24. Re:Lobby = Corruption on Tesla vs. Car Dealers: the Lobbyist Went Down To Georgia · · Score: 1

    probably pays for two full-time lobbyists

    Who, according to the OP in this thread, should be put in jail. The point I am trying to make is that every organization lobbies and contributes to campaigns. Making statement like "lobbyists and anyone connected with them should be in jail" as just stupid.

    There have been no instances of prominent politicians going to lucrative jobs at the ACLU.

    Do you have any evidence of prominent politicians getting plumb jobs with any of the automobile dealers associations? Otherwise that point is not relevant to this issue.

  25. Re:Another State Incentive on Tesla vs. Car Dealers: the Lobbyist Went Down To Georgia · · Score: 1

    To which state?