bfe

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151.
by bfe 14y ago
The cars aren't just assembled in the U.S., they're built here; Tesla does a lot more radically vertically integrated end-to-end manufacture than any other car company. Other than a few ready-made components such as the batteries, the touc
152.
by bfe 14y ago
I watched this launch live with my children under the giant maple tree in front of our library. I was surprised when they called me out on my predictions of the timing for first and second stage separation. They are learning from this. I lo
153.
by bfe 14y ago
The way to think about this is: burn rate = (runway)^(-1) Reining in your burn rate as much as feasible is one of the easiest ways to extend your runway, and your chance of getting to awesomeness. A typical job is a better way to maximize o
154.
by bfe 14y ago
Drew Houston originally applied as a single founder (and then lined up a talented and committed co-founder) and turned into one of YC's two biggest successes so far, so take heart.
155.
by bfe 14y ago
I took the guidelines to say the important thing about the idea submission is that it provides evidence the founders are smart. Wouldn't smart founders still want to take advantage of every opportunity to provide such evidence?
156.
by bfe 14y ago
Great point. And if you look at Elon's record, he's shown a pattern of setting increasingly ambitious goals after working his way through (relatively) easier projects -- e.g., going from two software startups into hacking hardware, going fr
157.
by bfe 14y ago
"We want to make our own rockets and spaceships from scratch. But that's just the beginning, to pave the way to settling Mars and making it affordable for middle-class customers to relocate to Mars." I imagine if Elon Musk had pitched Space
158.
by bfe 14y ago
Excerpt: "...Established companies in an industry are naturally resistant to disruptive innovation, which threatens their existing capabilities and cannibalises their existing products. A collection of all the businesses which might be tran
159.
Why Sony did not invent the iPod (excerpt in comments)(ft.com)
3 points by bfe 14y ago|1 comments
160.
by bfe 14y ago
If they developed an adaptation to step eating for over a day by associating a dead bird with poisoned food or some other danger, wouldn't a more effective response be to leave for somewhere else? They stop eating for over a day while also
161.
by bfe 14y ago
cf. Kyle Bass had to have his banker get clearance from the Federal Reserve to buy one million dollars in nickels.
162.
Bringing back extinct species: Revive and Restore(edge.org)
1 points by bfe 14y ago|0 comments
163.
by bfe 14y ago
More images and info at http://www.msl-chemcam.com/blog/
164.
by bfe 14y ago
Two Barclays commodities analysts produced a gleefully scathing research note on this project, and the Financial Times concluded that "The space mining talk amounts, however, to no more than hot air and gobbledegook", all based on laughably
165.
by bfe 14y ago
Please help my friend Eric. He really is awesome! And he really could use your help!
166.
1 way HN could REALLY help: ERIC NEEDS YOU(bfe242.com)
2 points by bfe 14y ago|1 comments
167.
by bfe 14y ago
As best as I understand it, no other sterilization techniques we have are nearly as effective as launching an object into space for several months or more. So, unless it's directed to portions of a spacecraft that are meaninfully protected
168.
by bfe 14y ago
I'd think this is right, because the answer that gives the 2.5 million loc number also says that this code is descended from the code for Spirit/Oppie and further from Soujourner, but the EDL system for Curiosity is so different from the on
169.
by bfe 14y ago
What a great achievement of heroic engineering! I can't wait to watch what comes next.
170.
by bfe 14y ago
The top tier firms still pay $160,000 as starting salary, same as since 2007, but they are hiring a lot fewer people. New law grad salaries have been more and more binodal over the last few decades, with the other local maximum at around $5
171.
by bfe 14y ago
Have you found any multiple-order-of-magnitude spike of processing time for any other "hard" ones? Or, more generally, any quantization of time as a function of difficulty?
172.
by bfe 14y ago
Sorry -- here are excerpts: "Imagine a pharmaceutical company 20 or 30 years from now. Moving beyond conventional drugs that interact biochemically with the body, it will have built a big “bioelectronics” business that treats disease throug
173.
The future of healthcare: electronic brain implants(ft.com)
2 points by bfe 14y ago|2 comments
174.
by bfe 14y ago
Link to abstract of the original research paper in the journal Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6093/457.abstract ...and for accompanying news article in Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6089/1629
175.
by bfe 14y ago
I hadn't seen the rabbit mascot before, but I hope it's meant as a nod to Mr. Rabbit from Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End.
176.
by bfe 14y ago
On Mars, you're surrounded by easily processed carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, and you have close to a 24-hour day/night cycle. Bring hydrogen with you, and you can quickly start producing air, water, fuel, and food. On the Moon, you're stuck
177.
by bfe 14y ago
This is very true - for example, his VP Propulsion Development, Tom Mueller, spent 14 years as a rocket product manager at TRW, and spent 6 years leading a team of 80 engineers developing a candidate engine for the Delta IV, and winning pla
178.
by bfe 14y ago
Also, here's Max Levchin's explanation: "One of Elon's greatest skills is the ability to pass off his vision as a mandate from heaven... He is very much the person who, when someone says it's impossible, shrugs and says, 'I think I can do i
179.
by bfe 14y ago
He's extremely smart and extremely hard-working; he has personally, aggressively recruited others whom he's identified as the key people he wants working for him, and by all accounts he inspires them to work as hard as him; he's trained him
180.
Communal living in vogue among Silicon Valley tech workers(ft.com)
2 points by bfe 14y ago|0 comments

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