jp555

49 ms·

451.
by jp555 12y ago
With the "technological moat" SpaceX is building, does it matter how few customers they have today if no one can compete with them? Didn't a SpaceX competitor install second-hand 1960s Russian rocket engines in a launch vehic
452.
by jp555 12y ago
Amazon reinvests all operating income from today to build the Amazon of the future. SpaceX reinvests all operating income from today's offerings (launch vehicles) to build the SpaceX of the future. Both companies appear to be boots
453.
by jp555 12y ago
I'm not comparing what Amazon & SpaceX are making, but the very-long-horizon vision both companies are committing to. Amazon reinvests today's income to work towards what they want to be in the 2030s and beyond.
454.
by jp555 12y ago
I'm not sure what your point is exactly. Making money is about making things people want. Colonizing Mars is the thing that people want; and every step towards that goal (launch vehicles, human spacecraft, etc) bootstraps them onto the
455.
by jp555 12y ago
"a company can only survive for so long without positive returns and that limits their risk tolerance tremendously" Don't you think Amazon's stock price says differently? To me, a private Mars colony sounds a lot like an
456.
by jp555 12y ago
Ah I see where I mixed things up. Although I understand that at C "time stops". But since time and space are the same thing, this is the same thing as "all distances are zero". From the point of view of a photon the Univ
457.
by jp555 12y ago
slowing down or speeding up? I could be mixing things up but I understand that if I was falling into a BH (lets imagine I'm infinity tough and not torn to shreds due to tidal forces) the universe would appear to be slowing-down/ge
458.
by jp555 12y ago
Does that not depend on your relative point of view?
459.
by jp555 12y ago
Ah that makes more sense. He seemed to mean it as we use Stone Age, Bronze Age, etc. After we got bronze, we could not continue with stone alone. That below-absolute-zero is in the quantum sense, not the classical sense. Entropy cannot be s
460.
by jp555 12y ago
I understand that a singularity by definition can never be reached. It's like the speed of light or absolute zero; infinity just out of reach no matter how much energy you spend trying to get there.
461.
by jp555 12y ago
That depends on your mass. A human ovum can escape Earth's - and even the Sun's - gravity well on solar pressure alone. At this very movement Earth-dust is making its way into space and even leaving our solar system without fuel.
462.
by jp555 12y ago
I can understand that one might seek sterile meat after a bad experience, but unless they went CSI on everywhere they were for the time around the incident they cannot know exactly what the source of the poisoning was. It might have been a
463.
by jp555 12y ago
Sterile meat? Yuk! Why would someone want sterile meat? The best beef for example has been tenderized by bacteria for several weeks before being butchered. There's maybe a couple dozen kinds of bacteria that pose a threat, the vast ma
464.
by jp555 12y ago
You think the people at the WSJ should work for free? I think that's absurd. Have you never attempted to read original scientific papers? Most are hidden behind paywalls. Search for yourself - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2
465.
by jp555 12y ago
How exactly does shifting 100% liability for fraud to the user make for a "better shopping experience"? No matter how many coupons they offer, this is a deal breaker. My grocery added an extra tap for their CC/loyalty card at
466.
by jp555 12y ago
Due to toughening CO2 standards, ICE automakers are going to see their costs rise over the next decade. Meanwhile Tesla's gigafatory will reduce the cost of batteries ~30%, which will significantly increase the gross margin on the Tesl
467.
by jp555 12y ago
You are correct, Credit Card users are not liable for legitimate fraud. About half of the credit card fees charged to merchants is to cover fraud.
468.
by jp555 12y ago
That is eavesdropping a transaction, not soliciting one. Plus every NFC transaction generates a new token. Even if you record it as the transaction takes place, that information cannot be used again.
469.
by jp555 12y ago
I didn't mean to suggest only capital taxes incure opportunity cost, you're right that all taxes do. I have been thinking lately as well that we have probably shifted to taxing labour too heavily, but as it is really complicated,
470.
by jp555 12y ago
"if one agrees that taxing regular personal income makes sense, one should also tax capital income." I don't see this as logical, because agreeing that it makes sense has nothing to do with whether it's effective or not.
471.
by jp555 12y ago
Then why do we tax consumption and capital as well? I agree with you but feel it's more a balancing of policy to manage the complex mix of our intentions as a society.
472.
by jp555 12y ago
Good point that stopping pedophiles from using the web won't stop pedophiles. It's that kind of global view of these things that we need more of, and I suspect was missing when this tax-bandwidth idea was put together.
473.
by jp555 12y ago
As much as I agree that the internet should be as free as possible, all technology has negative externalities that we should not ignore, and good policy can solve. Do we want pedophiles unencumbered access to the internet? Nope, but we also
474.
by jp555 12y ago
"The reason to have income tax is to have people who can afford it contribute to society." I don't think this is why we have income tax. All taxes are artificial. They're artificial rules inserted into the natural market
475.
by jp555 12y ago
UPS & FedEx can't deliver to private mailboxes in the US? What about private newspaper delivery?
476.
by jp555 12y ago
Sounds very similar to Crown Corporations here in Canada; they're not private enterprises, but not government agencies either. Kind like a private corporation who's owners are the government - with corporate fiduciary responsibili
477.
by jp555 12y ago
Isn't it an independent agency of the government? Maybe there's no difference, but it seems that the definition of "independent" means "exist outside of the federal executive departments ... agencies that, while con
478.
by jp555 12y ago
Exactly. In the short term you have some kind of monopoly. Maybe you have the only ice cream shop with a licence to sell booze, or a new supply restricted piece of equipment, or exclusive supply of a rare ingredient, famous partner, etc.
479.
by jp555 12y ago
"a substantial cost of production" is often a barrier of entry exploited via a monopoly, whether in the form of superior patetended technology, exclusive production agreements, government subsidy, a distribution cartel, etc, etc.
480.
by jp555 12y ago
Maximizing profit is the pursuit of monopolies. In a market with perfect competition there are no profits.

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