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Starbase, LA

spacex.com

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Re: Starbase, LA

#601

Post by nrr »

remarkEon wrote: post #599
nrr wrote: post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forgive me, but I don't exactly follow. This isn't obvious to me.

No worries. Sufficient encryption, or encryption breaking, technology trends toward behavior as a weapon. As such, the military is highly, highly interested in mathematics generally, and cryptography specifically. There's a ton of really fun and riveting history there, if you're interested. For a long time, "encryption" to a certain degree was export controlled, but that's not really how it works today. The point is,…

Oh, I mean, I'm fully aware of the emphasis on codebreaking and on areas like operations research that provide optimization tools for tacticians, not to mention the ITAR restrictions on crypto export.

(I was there when only 40-bit SSL was unrestricted! I very much remember those days! They sucked!)

I guess the hangup I have is that my forays into areas like differential geometry and algebraic topology are extremely abstract, and I cannot control anyone who isn't me who misuses those tools in decidedly not-sober ways. I can only make sure that I don't have a direct hand in that kind of misuse.

Re: Starbase, LA

#602

Post by jrflowers »

testing22321 wrote: post #471
jrflowers wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is factually true that Elon Musk has a reputation for saying things will happen that do not end up happening. Picking out some things that you like about him and posting them while excluding the dozens of publicly documented examples of him either lying or ( very charitably) being so “hopeful” that he’s disconnected from reality is indistinguishable from volunteering support. If your Tesla (made by a company he to…

As both you and I said, Elon talks big and has failed to deliver on a ton of things That does not mean he has achieved nothing incredible. If John Carmack or Tim Cook or Henry Ford said they were going to make cheap, reliable fusion reactors in every home but never did, they would still be the legends they are for the things they did do successfully. The things they didn’t do don’t change what they did. The two are u…

Why are you listing other people that you imagine you wouldn’t mind if they were habitual liars

Re: Starbase, LA

#603

Post by imtringued »

slopinthebag wrote: post #497
wyre wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a bummer is that Walter is a smart and talented engineer, yet has a very stubborn and out of touch economic perspective that is at least half a century expired. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Bright

If he is a libertarian that perspective is more modern than socialism, technocracy, or pretty much any other political ideology. Modern libertarianism is from the mid 20th century. And if you share the view that societies gradually shift from materialist values (economic stability, physical safety, law and order, and maintaining traditional group norms) towards post-materialist values (individual autonomy, freedom of…

>What is outdated is authoritarian, statist, and technocratic rule.

And yet the most popular model for freeing us from the horrors of capitalism is exactly that:

Authoritarian, static and technocratic rule. Yes, that's what communism and Marxist socialism are. You could even say that Marxism is basically this idea: The capitalists are rushing to the top, trying to own the entire world, why don't we accelerate this foregone conclusion with a violent revolution to institute a government that owns everything?

What was the original justification for this again? Oh, it's because capital that is scarce in relation to labor has power over labor, but there is no physical capital rule that says that the capital formation process has to stop right there. That's a monetary rule called the zero lower bound that actively prevents capital formation and guess who instated that rule? The very government that is supposed to save us by owning everything, including the workers.

It's like having the arsonist in charge of putting out the fire.

Re: Starbase, LA

#604

Post by n4r9 »

testing22321 wrote: post #570
n4r9 wrote: post #565

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. That he's launched so many rockets to orbit is a fact. That this is an "incredible achievement" is a subjective interpretation.

How would you describe the achievement? Personally I describe nuclear weapons as incredible (though also horrific).

Remarkable, perhaps? I'd hesitate to use "incredible" because his background privilege and wealth makes it all... well, more credible; and using such an unalloyed, positive word feels wrong given the costs to his relationships and his promotions of far-right groups and conspiracy theories. His path is unique, but it's believable and nuanced.

That's beside the point though, which is that you can't say something being "incredible" is a fact. It's a subjective judgement.

Re: Starbase, LA

#605

Post by inemesitaffia »

staticman2 wrote: post #555
Dig1t wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These types of allegations are extremely common with basically every type of construction project, especially when contractors know the client has deep pockets. None of this has been adjudicated by a court. Plus this story is written by someone with bluesky link in their bio by a publication that has an obvious bias: >Elon Musk Just Said Something About AI That’s Literally Incomprehensible >Sure, man. https://futuris…

You are worried about bias but judge an author on whether they use X or Bluesky?

You can find the full picture elsewhere.

Futurism is a known source of easy to correct misinformation

Re: Starbase, LA

#606

Post by inemesitaffia »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #594
timschmidt wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ITAR requires them to employ US citizens.

To be clear, ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) restricts certain roles to "US persons". This is a weird term in US immigration/nationality law. A permanent resident (green-card holder) is classified as a "US person". As a result, SpaceX can employ non-US citizens for ITAR regulated roles.

SpaceX avoids hiring foreigners . Just like some companies/facilities only hire cleared people. Even though it may not be required.

Re: Starbase, LA

#607

Post by inemesitaffia »

estearum wrote: post #595
maxlin wrote: post #582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughMuskSpam/comments/9tgrzp/why_...

... a Reddit comment? I guess I assumed you meant "people who should have a pretty good idea said it was impossible" since that could be interesting, and not "a random person on the Internet said X", since that's not interesting for any value of X.

It's not particularly hard to find other ones.

Add one more and it's people.

Re: Starbase, LA

#608

Post by inemesitaffia »

estearum wrote: post #572
TMWNN wrote: post #567

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Did you watch the video? Yes, thus my posting it. His underlying tone is that reusability is "a dream" (his words). Without reusability, Starlink as a network of tens of thousands of satellites would not be practical. He said this in 2013, two years before the first Falcon 9 booster landing.

Calling reusability "a dream" is different from saying "Starlink is impossible." You can try to read the tea leaves on tone and some creative interpretation of implicature (despite Starlink actually needing fewer than 1000 satellites for its public launch), but they're different claims. Not sure why there's a need to exaggerate the victimhood of SpaceX lol, super strange. The Ariane guy was quite clear about what he…

Without reusability, SpaceX wouldn't achieve profitability in its connectivity segment.

Especially not by 2024

Re: Starbase, LA

#609

Post by inemesitaffia »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #550
chasd00 wrote: post #2

Man if this actually starts to happen it's a good time to be a welder, concrete worker, or any general contractor or tradesman in Louisiana. Coastal Louisiana is some of the poorest areas in the US even more so than the valley in Texas where Starbase Texas is located. Probably 10-20 years worth of solid work building out that site.

> even more so than the valley in Texas where Starbase Texas is located. Are you saying that Brownsville, Texas (closest city to Starbase Texas) is poor? Not at all.

The county was one of the poorest in Texas

Re: Starbase, LA

#610

Post by thrance »

kulahan wrote: post #585
thrance wrote: post #538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your strawman didn't show anything, except that you're unwilling to engage with other viewpoints in good faith and will immediately dismiss them as ridiculous instead of advancing actual arguments. Why should we be silent over the obvious political aspects of giving Musk more government contracts? Just to please you?

Why should you be silent about it? Because it’s not the topic. How is this SOOOO confusing and difficult for you? Do you not notice how annoyed everyone around you is when you desperately try to ram politics into every single conversation you have in life? Oh, you don’t really do that? You’re just being performative online? Got it.

Just say you agree with everything Musk does and be done with it, damn. No need to hide behind this disingenuous "no politics pls".
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