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Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

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Re: Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

#351

Post by ethn »

pdxww wrote: post #346
ethn wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is an analogy not an abstraction but if you had read the paper or the single quote I provided, you would know that even relatively simple eyes (such as those of the frogs which cannot see still objects) don't only process a distribution of light intensity and frequency. The eye measures other information that is lost by the camera including photon phase, arrival time, polarization, orbital angular momentum, line…

It's great that eyes can detect polarization and orbital momentum. My point is that none of that info is needed to drive a car.

That's true, but the main point is that current software still relies on sampling. Eyes don't sample.

Re: Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

#353

Post by hermitdev »

darkpuma wrote: post #307
hermitdev wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, because I honestly dont know, how does LIDAR perform in suboptimal environments such as heavy fog , a Midwest downpour or a blizzard? So far, everything I've read has these cars testing in sunny day (no pun intended) scenarios, with the worst environmental threat being night-time.

Every system known to man, including man, struggles in those sort of conditions. But this is an important factor to consider when evaluating safety statistics. Humans operate cars in all sort of adverse conditions and human accident rates include accidents in those kind of conditions. Accident rates for autonomous systems that refuse to attempt operation under anything less than ideal conditions won't be directly com…

This is basically my concern with the hype over automated driving. I live in the upper Midwest. 6 months or more of the year have unideal driving conditions. A purely autonomous vehicle is worthless to me if it can't get me to where I need to go half the time.

Re: Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

#354

Post by MikeCapone »

Sniffnoy wrote: post #223
MikeCapone wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Owning shares is not a negative. It's a positive. It means that he's more aligned with shareholders than with management. Boards full of non-shareholders tend to prioritize the paycheck they get as board members, so they tend to not want to rock the boat or get into conflicts with mangement. Those that are shareholders first tend to have a bigger incentive to confront or fire management if they start doing things tha…

Yeah, but this is Larry Ellison we're talking about. Do you want to trust his idea of "good for shareholders"?

I was making more of a general statement about the dynamics involved. Of course, then you have to look at it case-by-case.

Re: Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

#355

Post by CaptainZapp »

DevX101 wrote: post #242
dotancohen wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My thoughts exactly. I've lusted over the Model S for years, and the minute that they become available in my country I'll be the first in line. But, now that means doing business with a company owned by One Real Asshole Called Larry Ellison? I wouldn't dare. The way his most well-known company treats its clients is so grotesque that I wouldn't even want to work at a company that uses its products. They are extremely…

How does Oracle treat their clients badly? Honestly curious, never worked with them.

A tad late to the party. You find tons of information about Oracle's business model, which essentially is suing customers.

This report is a good starting point (PDF) [1]

Edited to add : Check the appendix at the end (Appendix – Anecdotal Feedback). It may cure you from the idea of ever wanting to license any Oracle products if you have any say.

[1] http://www.itassetmanagement.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/...

Re: Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

#356

Post by mbesto »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #344
mbesto wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not Tesla, and given what we know about Ellison, I very much doubt he will encourage this to happen. No, but he might put some board level pressure to get more rigorous about profitability. I know that's a dirty word around here, but Tesla is not exactly well known for it's cashflow prowess. Those are the types of things board members do...not figure out whether service manuals come with the product.

What would you expect a normal timeframe for an automobile startup to exhibit cash flow prowess?

I expect an automobile company that is no longer considered a startup and is publicly traded to exhibit either (1) positive cash flow or (2) a clear path to positive cash flow.

Re: Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

#357

Post by pdxww »

ethn wrote: post #351
pdxww wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's great that eyes can detect polarization and orbital momentum. My point is that none of that info is needed to drive a car.

That's true, but the main point is that current software still relies on sampling. Eyes don't sample.

And this is irrelevant also, because we can introduce sampling the way I described and can continue driving just fine.

Re: Tesla Adds Larry Ellison and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as Board Directors

#358

Post by ethn »

pdxww wrote: post #357
ethn wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true, but the main point is that current software still relies on sampling. Eyes don't sample.

And this is irrelevant also, because we can introduce sampling the way I described and can continue driving just fine.

I've thought about it and yes this does make sense.
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