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User: beltsbear

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Comments · 275

  1. Why not 16? on Intel Launches Xeon E5 V3 Series Server CPUs With Up To 18 Cores · · Score: 1

    I would have thought a 16 core config would be an efficient number.

  2. Re:Musk worship on Tesla Plans To Power Its Gigafactory With Renewables Alone · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am not for the tax breaks but the state of Arizona should come out ahead even after them. This factory will represent 3% of the states economy.

    Tesla is building the factory for the purpose of getting the cost of batteries down to make a 4 door sedan in the 30k range though I expect it to cost more like 35k in the end AFTER government incentives.

    As for the Toyota gas pedal thing, Tesla also got slapped with all of the 'fire' stories even though fires are more common in gas vehicles.

  3. Re:Oh, Argentina on Buenos Aires Issues a 'Netflix Tax' For All Digital Entertainment · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Close. Argentina did not play hardball. The US courts confiscated the money they had access to preventing the payments to the 92%. Argentina will not fund those payments anymore if the US courts re going to take the money before it gets to it's intended recipients.

  4. Re:So there is a problem... on Tesla Removes Mileage Limits On Drive Unit Warranty Program · · Score: 4, Funny

    Leave the Tesla plugged in, it will take care of itself.

  5. Re:So.. what? on TEPCO: Nearly All Nuclear Fuel Melted At Fukushima No. 3 Reactor · · Score: 2

    Unfortunately the price of Coal fired power is meaningless for the same reasons. The price of the cleanup of the pollution is not included. Even natural gas powered plants produce enough CO2 to warrant a cleanup cost. Sure, the cleanup is nowhere near the plant, and it might not be now (like nuclear) but in the end someone will pay.

  6. Re:Sensational headline is sensational... on Hotel Charges Guests $500 For Bad Online Reviews · · Score: 3, Informative

    I am not defending their stupidity but there is ZERO evidence that they have actually done this. They said it was a 'joke' and that they have never used that clause. Whether or not it is a 'joke', there is no real examples of people being charged for bad reviews.

  7. New way to profit..... on Ford, GM Sued Over Vehicles' Ability To Rip CD Music To Hard Drive · · Score: 2

    1) buy a used devalued car with this capability
    2) load it up with $10,000 worth of music
    3) sell it with the added value of the music for $2000 more then I paid
    4) PROFIT!

    Seriously though, one could do that with a laptop and iTunes and not need to deal with a DMV transaction and a 4000lbs vehicle.

  8. Re:I wonder how long it would've taken NASA? on SpaceX Releases Video of Falcon Rocket's Splashdown · · Score: 1

    The problem with the recovery of the boosters (for the Shuttle) was that it was almost as expensive to re-use them as to make new ones from scratch. By using a liquid fuel rocket and landing it on solid earth SpaceX will have a lot less work to do to refurbish the first stage of the Falcon 9.

  9. Re:ESPN on Comcast Customer Service Rep Just Won't Take No For an Answer · · Score: 2

    In an area with good over the air reception the signal is not compressed heavily as it is over cable. Here, Comcast is the worst, followed by the satellite services. FIOS has the least compression but I still see it on some fast moving stuff.

    Over the air can be as good (to me) as BluRay.

  10. Re:Visualing this? on Amazon Seeks US Exemption To Test Delivery Drones · · Score: 1

    I think that is what needs to be worked out by testing.

    While the FAA is probably not going to allow any of this, 300' would be too high as helicopters can be in that zone.

    If the FAA were to approve it (which they wont), it would have to be at a low height like 50' or less, limited weight, lots of safety features, human observation, not allowed in winds and probably a ton of things I have not thought of.

    One could make a foam covered, enclosed fan drone that could do the job that would do little (but not zero) damage if it failed. The problem is that it would still weigh something and could in a failure fall uncontrolled into anything.

  11. dumb clickbait article on Child Thought To Be Cured of HIV Relapses, Tests Positive Again · · Score: 2

    Why is this at all surprising? We know how HIV works and that it can hide in cells. So when someone is 'cleared' of it you can never be sure. The longer the drugs are taken increases the chances of clearing any dormant HIV (when it emerges). One can statistically figure out the best time to stop the treatment and many people could be free from reinfection for life but it is not a 100% certainty.

    The only news is that a mother stopped the drugs too early.

  12. Re:One hundred *billion* dollars? on Radical Dual Tilting Blade Helicopter Design Targets Speeds of Over 270mph · · Score: 2

    500 helicopters that are not quite as good as the cheaper ones we already had.

  13. Re:...Except when they're owned by Republicans. on NADA Is Terrified of Tesla · · Score: 1

    GM management wanted the closures, not the government because their business DID NOT SUPPORT all of the extra dealers. GM's sales were down to almost half of what they were and they still had almost all of the dealers. They definitely needed to downsize the network.

    Basically you made the whole political angle up to serve your petty DEM vs REP crap.

  14. Re:Its the margins they are scared of losing. on NADA Is Terrified of Tesla · · Score: 2

    The margins are huge. Part of the thing dealers love is preying on people who just don't know about buying a car. Either a full sticker priced sale, or dealer add ons that are insane such as $2000 running boards are a great way to make money off a sucker. Just one item like that can be much more then the normal profit made on a car.

    It took me a week to buy my last vehicle. I felt dirty and angry after several of my purchase attempts because I was quite clear on the phone before visiting what I wanted and did not want to waste time going to a dealer who was not willing to do it. I wanted to pay invoice and get fair market value for my old vehicle. Some of the dealers tried to cheat (keeping rebates), others did a good deal but then offered be well below market for my old vehicle. It was a very frustrating process. In the end after failures at 4 dealers I found one that was at least honest. They still made dealer 'holdback' plus other incentives which is enough profit.

  15. Re:Bets, anyone? on Chinese-Built Cars Are Coming To the US Next Year · · Score: 1

    http://www.howtobuyamerican.co...

    Shows my truck Ram 1500 with the same US Engine, US body, US transmission that I have.
    The 2500's and up are made at that plant in Mexico. And the 1500 is most of the sales not the larger ones.

  16. Re:Bets, anyone? on Chinese-Built Cars Are Coming To the US Next Year · · Score: 1

    Yes. Actually it is and actually carries a 100% content label even though we know the sub components are not 100%. So I am not deluded at all but apparently my truck is not the normal for Dodge Ram. Many of the USA sold 1500's are made here at this plant:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...
    but apparently the 2500's and up are made in Mexico. My engine is made here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
    but apparently some of the engines are not. Finally the tranny is made in the USA as well:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

    to sum it up go below and see Dodge Ram 1500, backs it up:
    http://www.howtobuyamerican.co...

  17. Re:Bets, anyone? on Chinese-Built Cars Are Coming To the US Next Year · · Score: 1

    And yet my Dodge Ram is US body, US engine, US transmission, US tires and made within the last three years.

  18. Re:I can't buy one on Are US Hybrid Sales Peaking Already? · · Score: 1

    Agreed about the expensive part. Not really gutless though, they have good low end torque and do give very good MPG for non-lead footed drivers.

    I have looked at several hybrids and they are $10,000 more then the gassers such as the highlander. I am not paying that much for the hybrid option.

  19. Re:"Costing"? on Russian RD-180 Embargo Could Boost American Rocket Industry · · Score: 1

    And if the government got over it's SpaceX fear, it could launch many of them on the Falcon 9 for much less money.

  20. Re: thankX on Russian RD-180 Embargo Could Boost American Rocket Industry · · Score: 1

    Except the Atlas, Falcon, Anartes all having good reliable launches.

  21. Re: thankX on Russian RD-180 Embargo Could Boost American Rocket Industry · · Score: 1, Informative

    Just to underscore how unreliable the Proton is you are referring to not even the latest failure, that was the 2013 failure. Just last month ANOTHER failed. Russian rockets are not super reliable.

  22. Re: thankX on Russian RD-180 Embargo Could Boost American Rocket Industry · · Score: 3, Informative

    Care to back that up with anything? The last engine test that blew up was a Russian one for a Antares rocket. The last rocket to fail with payload was a Russian proton.

    Soyuz and space shuttle are almost identical for loss of crew rates. Russian rockets are not more reliable.

  23. Re:Would the government auction off Euros? on US To Auction 29,656 Bitcoins Seized From Silk Road · · Score: 1

    Why is there a requirement to turn them over in a single day? When the US offloaded GM shares it did it at a slower pace. In this case the government could offload them over two weeks and maximize return.

  24. Would the government auction off Euros? on US To Auction 29,656 Bitcoins Seized From Silk Road · · Score: 1

    If it did as opposed to going to a standard exchange this would make sense. If it would normally just change them for Dollars at a bank at a KNOWN RATE then this Bitcoin auction makes no sense. The government may get only 50% of the value or less of these Bitcoins by doing it this way when a known US company such as Bitpay or Coinbase could do it for them at a pre-arranged rate.

  25. Re:show me on Uber Demonstrations Snarl Traffic In London, Madrid, Berlin · · Score: 1

    I said 'may be'. I do not know. I am not an expert on laws in the UK.

    A scam would be someone who takes money for a cab ride but does not deliver it, or someone maybe who charges an undisclosed fee to unlock the doors at the destination. Uber is not a scam. The user is not being defrauded, nor is the provider.

    Confidence trick
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    "Con man" and "Scam" redirect here. For other uses, see see Con Man, Confidence man, and Scam (disambiguation).

    A confidence trick (synonyms include confidence scheme and scam) is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence, in the classical sense of trust. A confidence artist (or con artist) is an individual, operating alone or in concert with others, who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty, honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naïveté, or greed.