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mlindner

2,908 karma · joined March 19, 2015

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mlindner··on SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth
Do you think Starlink is somehow extraterritorial or something? They're no more or no less a "private internet" than any other ISP. People need to get a reality check. Hacker news is becoming one of the most luddite places on the internet.
mlindner··on SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth
That's simply impossible. You must be seeing something else. They aren't that bright.
mlindner··on SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth
The post he was replying to is the reductionist and dismissive take.

And yes progress is good progress.

mlindner··on SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth
If you're seeing "strings" those are recently launched satellites. Operational satellites are below visual magnitude.
mlindner··on SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth
Starlink by itself does not have a net loss.
mlindner··on SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth
FWIW it may be tenable now as Starlink has gotten much better at tree/obstruction avoidance in the signal and will preemptively switch the satellite it's using when an obstruction is approaching. Id check again.
mlindner··on Grok 4.5
Companies are only going to do Level 5 self-driving unless they can own the vehicles.

You will never get a company to accept responsibility for crashes with hardware owned external to the company. I mean there's all sorts of things you could maliciously do to break hardware that you personally own. This is especially the case with something like Tesla where the people who absolutely hate Elon already go to extreme lengths to create news stories to attack him with.

There is just no advantage to the SAE level nonsense. It doesn't even make sense from a technical perspective as vehicles do not function based on "ODDs" (Operational Design Domain) that the SAE levels rely on for their definitions. The SAE levels were created by people who don't understand automated driving vehicles.

mlindner··on Apple WWDC 2026
Part of the problem with Apple Vision Pro was the sales strategy. They labeled it "Pro" but if you went into an Apple store they only let you play some simple games and watch some movies with it. The main feature I was interested in, desktop extension, they wouldn't let you test. I even explicitly asked and they said no. They wanted a guided experience thing which just turned me off from buying it.
mlindner··on How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?
SpaceX/xAI is investing in creating their own fab. If they can, Apple certainly can.
mlindner··on Your Smart TV is taking screenshots of your screen every 15 seconds
What is of value to watch on any of the streaming platforms?

Netflix content is atrophying. Disney Plus is dying. To say nothing of Hulu or others.

I watch youtube. The content is way more varied and interesting and less sanitized.

mlindner··on Your Smart TV is taking screenshots of your screen every 15 seconds (2024)
FWIW, I would not trust LG here to actually do nothing even after turning all the elements off, their GUI is especially "web"-like. Just leave it disconnected.

I don't understand why people can't just get a secondary device for accessing live streaming programs. There's numerous devices you can buy that do it.

TVs should not be connected to the internet. The incentive structures are just too bad against the user.

mlindner··on SpaceX strikes deal with Cursor for $60B
Can you change the title?
mlindner··on New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK
Because social media is embedded into many apps.
mlindner··on EFF is leaving X
Weird. I've shifted more and more of my social media use to X. Especially the last few weeks have been great with Artemis and an algorithmic accident that X's auto translation feature has been enabling tons of positive cross cultural communication with people from Japan. It's more fun than I've ever had on social media. Reddit on the other hand has been completely dying.
mlindner··on New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK
This has more to do with the UK government than a "for-profit company". Apple has been one of the biggest forces pushing back against this kind of thing forever, at least in the US where companies still have rights.
mlindner··on A simpler way to remove explicit images from Search
Google practically never shows explicit images to anyone anymore anyway. Even bing doesn't anymore. I feel like we've returned to a more prude society, at least on the mainstream internet.
mlindner··on YouTube's $60B revenue revealed amid paid subscriber push
I use Firefox and uBlock Origin but still pay for premium because I want to support the channels I watch but don't want to watch their ads.
mlindner··on Data centers in space makes no sense
I want to nitpick you here but a thermos is specifically good at insulating because not only does it have a vacuum gap, it's also got two layers of metal (inner and outer) to absorb and reflect thermal radiation.

That specific aspect is NOT true in space because there's nothing stopping thermal radiation.

Now you're correct that you can't remove heat by conduction or convection in space, but it's not that hard to radiate away energy in space. In fact rocket engine nozzle extensions of rocket upper stages depend on thermal radiation to avoid melting. They glow cherry red and emit a lot of energy.

By Stefan–Boltzmann law, thermal radiation goes up with temperature to the 4th power. If you use a coolant that lets your radiator glow you can conduct heat away very efficiently. This is generally problematic to do on Earth because of the danger of such a thing and also because such heat would cause significant chemical reactions of the radiator with our corrosive oxygen atmosphere.

Even without making them super hot, there's already significant energy density on SpaceX's satellites. They're at around 75 kW of energy generation that needs to be radiated away.

And on your final statement, hyperloop was not used as a "distraction" as he never even funded it. He had been talking about it for years and years until fanboys on twitter finally talked him into releasing that hastily put together white paper. The various hyperloop companies out there never had any investment from him.

mlindner··on xAI joins SpaceX
Trying to make a point out of whether he did or didn't found Tesla kind if defeats the rest of your post. He paid over 90% of the first funding round and brought in key people like JB Straubel. When the company was basically an incorporation paper and no assets. Under most companies people would have argued for founder/co-founder status at that point. So yes he didn't "found" Tesla but for all intents and purposes he basically did.
mlindner··on xAI joins SpaceX
It's interesting as the space fans (who often dismiss AI) say this is a project to get SpaceX's space/Starlink profits for AI. But the AI people seem to think this is to get AI money for space projects.
mlindner··on xAI joins SpaceX
We seem to be using 100% of our DRAM manufacturing for AI. So it's not completely out of the question.
mlindner··on xAI joins SpaceX
We have radiators on the ISS. Even if you kept the terrible performance of those ancient radiator designs (regularly exposed to sunlight, simplistic ammonia coolant, low temperature) you could just make them bigger and radiate the needed energy. Yes it would require a bit of engineering but to call it an "unsolved problem" is just exaggerating.
mlindner··on xAI joins SpaceX
It's always better to generate electricity on the ground than attempt to beam it to the ground from space. The efficiency loss of beamed power is huge.
mlindner··on De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)
I'm not sure what you're quoting but that is fan fiction of some sort divorced from reality.
mlindner··on De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)
> No, actually to be frank, I'd rather the Nazis go back to hiding under the floorboards in fear of public retribution.

You're defaming me and spreading lies. Any actual Nazis can go fuck themselves.

mlindner··on De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)
I've said for a while that ICE needs to go after businesses that hire illegal immigrants. So if you're looking for some kind of conflict in what I'm saying that isn't it.

That's why I said that ICE isn't doing enough.

mlindner··on De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)
I'll tell you the same thing I told the other person:

I love immigrants lol. I just want immigrants that integrate and come into the country without breaking the law.

mlindner··on De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)
I love immigrants lol. I just want immigrants that integrate and come into the country without breaking the law.
mlindner··on De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)
I'd agree with most of what you said, but there is no "raising a Gestapo". ICE has existed for 25 years. And the laws that give it permission to act haven't changed. It has gradually grown over the decades but what it fundamentally does has not.

What's new is finally the federal government pushing back against locales that refuse to allow local police to cooperate with federal law enforcement by means of massive influxes of federal officers to offset the lack of local support.

Also ICE has widespread support for what they are actually doing. Only when you ask manipulative questions that presume something is happening that isn't, do you get poll results that support a widespread dislike for ICE.

mlindner··on De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)
There's one of these articles it feels like every month. And as usual, Betteridge's Law of Headlines is at play here.

There's no replacing the US dollar until a better option comes along. You need a currency that's open (which rules out Yuan), a currency that is backed up by a strong government (which rules out places like Russia, India, Japan, and the UK), and you'd want something that isn't subject to the same geopolitical rules as the US dollar (which rules out the Euro).

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