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Comment Re:Antipodal eruptions (Score 1) 78

Now, where is the crater that formed the Siberian traps. And, did it end the Permian period?

Well, looking at a couple maps on Google of the continent positions during the Permian Period, It would seem someplace in or around Antarctica was Siberia's anitpode. So, the crater would be under a lot of cold water or a lot of ice.

Comment Re:Hmm (Score 1) 81

But railroads, power grids, aviation, oil infrastructure that supports global trade and 2-day deliveries of almost anything you could want, software and hardware that revolutionized society with personal computing... All these are boring commonplace things. Billionaires are just penny-pinchers that are screwing us out of our money for nothing in return.

Comment Re:Are they really that scared? (Score 3, Informative) 461

A solar array and grid tie inverter are expensive enough at the moment that a good portion of the developed world only has enough sunlight to get a ROI in 7-10yrs. That's a lot of electric bills to pay up front. Even with a dramatically reduced rate on batteries it will still at another good chunk to the investment and you need to upgrade to a more expensive inverter or as TFS suggests (by referencing an unregulated product) you could go without connecting to the grid, in which case you only get a return on the electricity you use. The rest of the potential energy production is wasted.

The economics make going fully solar a reasonable sacrifice for those who want to lower their environmental impact but it's not going to attract anyone who isn't willing to put their money where their mouth is. I hope that changes, and cheaper batteries will help, but I think we're several years out before solar is a good investment and several years past that before it's an investment most will be willing to afford.

When the economics of solar do swing that direction, the smart utility companies will be the first to jump on board and their advantage of scale will still give them an advantage. They are not shaking in their boots.

Comment It's been a long day (Score 1) 58

NSTIC points out that this is a great opportunity to leverage the technology to enable a wide array of new citizen-facing...

And this week I've probably watched to many movies about our dystopian future. My brain was really expecting that to end with the name of some type of weapon.
After reading everything again I am still left with a feeling that, while much smaller, it is still a step in that direction.

Comment Re:Doctor Mary's Monkey (Score 1) 162

So, then you know that Occam's Razor is not about finding truth, but rather making timely decisions on limited information to statistically come out ahead in the long run. If you don't need to make those decisions and have plenty of time to collect more information and discuss further Occam's Razor DOES NOT APPLY.

If you are not deciding how to act in a geopolitical event or deciding major financial positions to take, you're probably only using Occam's Razor to shut down and censor other ideas.

In the case of the nutjob that linked AIDS, the polio vaccine, and Occam's Razor-- He should be shut down and censored, but just laugh at him and call him a twit.

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