[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', 'Y')eah, he makes cool cars for very rich people.

[Sixstrings]

The killer robots issue, about Musk anyhow, is dead, let it go. He's gonna write a blog on it and whenever that happens if you all want to dissect that then go for it.

I'm more interested in the big things he's doing.

If he starts just spamming his twitter and giving public statements about robot doom then yeah, ok, I'll join everyone else in saying something's wrong with him.

If nothing else he must focus on the darn rockets, and cars and gigabattery factories and solar panel factories and all of that, and watch his reputation.

Spacex is refitting the old space shuttle and Apollo launch pad, and that's where Falcon Heavy will make its first launch:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')ad 39A – SpaceX laying the groundwork for Falcon Heavy debut

SpaceX has confirmed it is now into the construction phase of converting Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A for its Falcon Heavy debut, with a large amount of work now taking place to build a new vehicle facility at the complex. The former Apollo and Space Shuttle pad is being re-purposed to host the maiden flight of SpaceX’s new rocket, set to launch as early as next summer.

...

The Falcon Heavy (FH) is a variant of the Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, utilizing a core stage with two additional F9 v1.1 first stages on either side. A total of 27 Merlin 1Ds engines will loft the rocket off the pad.

SpaceX claims that the FH sports the ability to lift over 53 metric tons (117,000 lb) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO): more than twice the payload capacity (and one-third the cost) of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy.

While the FH will have a West Coast home at Vandenberg Air Force Base’s SLC-4E, its debut launch is on track to occur out of KSC.

Preparations for the launch are now in full swing, with construction work visible at 39A – as seen in photos acquired by L2.



http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/11/pad-39a-spacex-groundwork-falcon-heavy-debut/

[dinopello]

Washington Post asks why is Musk so scared of the AI and killer robots? The Post provides no answer but has a good overview of some of Musks statement's:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n October: “With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it’s like yeah he’s sure he can control the demon. Didn’t work out.”

In August: “We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.”

In June: “In the movie ‘Terminator,’ they didn’t create AI to — they didn’t expect, you know some sort of ‘Terminator’-like outcome. It is sort of like the ‘Monty Python’ thing: Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition. It’s just — you know, but you have to be careful.”

Musk wouldn’t even condone a plan to move to another planet to escape AI. “The AI will chase us there pretty quickly,” he said.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'H')e's drinking his own Kool-Aid (tm).

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'I') think his views are naive and he's quite gullible when it comes to techno-wizardry. But, he probably is not a bad guy.

[Sixstrings]

It's not the old, and world-wise that create Change and create new wealth.

The "wise" and old already have it all figured out -- why change it?

It takes the young, the NAIVE to change the world and do NEW things. And we all laugh about it all, but then in a few years we're all using their products aren't we? And they are billionaires, once derided and called naive and laughed at, aren't they?

I'm reminded of something in Zen. About "naivite." It's called "beginners mind." You want a degree of that gullibility, and naivite -- those really aren't the best words for it, the zen idea of "beginner's mind" is better. It's more like, fresh eyes, without all the "it can't be done / that's all hogwash" filters that get put on with experience and age.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')hoshin (初心) is a concept in Zen Buddhism meaning "beginner's mind". It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would. The term is especially used in the study of Zen Buddhism and Japanese martial arts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'A') bunch of backyard tinkerers developed the modern EV decades ago. Not must.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'P')eople who were born on 3rd base and believe they hit a home run really bother me. Must neither developed the rocket nor the EV. My family developed the rocket with our tax dollars. We spent the nation's hard-earned money going to the moon decades ago. Musts little roman candle is a joke compared to the Apollo Missions.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'I') don't know so much about tesla, but with spacex the approach paid off, he founded it with 100 million dollars of his paypal money and just over ten years later it's worth $10 billion.

[Sixstrings]

Well, say what you will of him, but other than Vladimir Putin -- Elon Musk is one of the few people on the planet that are in the news every single day:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')img]http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/546fcd17ecad04ab5b5fd47e-480-/gigafactory-3.jpg[/img]

Elon Musk On Tesla's Gigafactory: We Didn't Trick Nevada Into Anything

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to critics of his plans to build a battery "gigafactory" in Nevada.

And he's not pulling any punches.

Musk defended his company's plans in a blog post entitled "The House Always Wins," a reference to casino gambling.

"There have been several articles recently implying that Tesla, through clever machinations, maneuvered Nevada into providing an overly large incentive package for the Gigafactory," said Musk.

...

Musk was presumably referring to an investigative report in Fortune that detailed how several states competed to build the factory by offering various incentives.

Musk noted that the state incentives for Tesla's factory were approved unanimously by Nevada's legislature.

"The deal is not merely slightly good for the people of Nevada, it is extremely good," said Musk.

The Tesla CEO denied receiving any cash from the state, but did acknowledge that his company had recieved a parcel of land from the deal.

"If you have been to Nevada, you will notice that there is quite a lot of extra land with nobody on it," he said. "This is not in short supply."

Musk said Nevada's contributions would only cover a small portion of the Gigafactory's cost.

"Of the $5 billion investment needed to bring the Gigafactory to full production in five years, state incentives will cover about 5%," he said.

That would value Nevada's contribution at about $250 million. The Fortune article said the "tally" for Nevada was $1.4 billion.

Musk also revealed that Nevada didn't write Tesla a blank check, so to speak.

"All of the incentives approved by the legislature are performance based," he said. "We must execute according to plan to receive them, meaning that, while the state and Tesla both share the upside, only Tesla suffers the downside."

Tesla has huge plans for this enormous facility in Nevada, and the company is making some major "forward-looking" claims about what it will be able to do.

Tesla put together a pdf with its future plans for the facility, claiming some major figures by 2020, including a vehicle volume of around half a million per year.




http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-on-teslas-gigafactory-we-didnt-manipulate-nevada-into-anything-2014-11

[dinopello]

Great, Musk's battery factory will be ready in 2020, right when Musk says the robots will kill us all and/or chase us off the planet. Isn't it obvious to him that they will use the batteries for their own purposes ? How smart is that ? Unless they are in control of him already...

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'I')sn't it obvious to him that they will use the batteries for their own purposes ?

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'A')s opposed to other AI's, such as IBM's Deepblue or Watson, which were developed for a pre-defined purpose and only function within its merit, DeepMind claims that their system is not pre-programmed: it learns from experience, using only raw pixels as data input.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'D')ude, if their system is 'not pre-programmed' then where does the 'intelligence' come from?

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'T')he problem is one of communication and understanding. The system only takes as dynamic inputs the pixels - I believe that. And, it's a learning system, meaning that the same input at a later time may result in different behavior because the internal structure of the perception-reason-action model has been modified by a previous input. There are probably a lot of patterns stored so that the image understanding can be accomplished. There is also a whole lot of preprogramming involving the whole generate-test-outcome dynamic that allows the knowledge representation to adapt. Unless there is a randomizer element built in, though - starting from the same initial state, the same sequence of inputs will lead to the same sequence of actions. So, the system learns how to optimize the control for space invaders (after the rules of the game are programmed) but it is programmed exactly how it should learn. And of course this is a very limited domain. This is how laymen get the impression that something is intelligent. A flow chart might be more helpful.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'D')ude, if their system is 'not pre-programmed' then where does the 'intelligence' come from? Six, you need to stop buying into the hype. They'll get into your pockets and then where will you be? Penniless, friendless, without a home. So sad