I also remember it was cautioned early on that they had limited bandwidth and so focused on rural areas and a backup for cell phones. For rural areas this is better than having to run fiber (rural areas typically didn’t have cable, though they were running fiber close enough to get DSL - better than nothing but very slow)

Fiber without cell towers are pointless. Ships and boats commonly have starlink internet now, because it is so much better than any alternative. Cell towers are needed for fiber to compete.

The pacific has some deep trenches, I don’t think fiber runs across them.

I’d like to see someone setup cell towers across the pacific ocean. I even started dreaming up what it would take/cost - but I soon realized it would never be worth it so I’m not asking for investors. (though probably I should have… Anyone know a VC with money to burn?)

You want it at home. The real value in your of gold is when society collapses it still is a nice metal and so has value. Iron would work to but your house isn’t big enough for your life savings in iron.

I don’t think society will collapse and lacking that scenario gold isn’t a better investment.

What I still miss from uunet is the concept of 'I’ve already read this ’ going back to old threads is tedious because I keep re-reading the same things I did last time.

Just remember that the definition of literal has changed over the years. I’m close to the original definition, but nothing like today’s.

Hate is too strong a term.

I get carsick when I read on the bus. So that doesn’t apply to me. I also have a family that time at work or on the bus is taking away from. If it works for you great, but it doesn’t for everybody.

There should be a mechanical override emergency brake. However it need not be a pedal. The typical use should be the mechanic verifying it works at the yearly inspection

Inflation. You can be confident that these guarantees won’t last unless not only are they in writing but they are backed by independent financial insurance. Same with any life membership. It is very unlikely that they are actually charging enough to continue the service for life and so they are likely going to be forced to do something about it at some point. Often that something is bankruptcy.

Still, it sucks.

More not leftists. Some tolerance for not left wing political views would be nice too. (the people I’m talking about will just down vote me because they are part of the intolerant left wing here. There are plenty of tolerant left wing people, but they don’t get attention)

Get lucky - just as this was starting I saw a failed disk notification on my NAS so I ordered a new drive just before they went up. Then I realized it was a stale notification for the drive I replaced a year ago so I have a spare should one fail.

somebody is going to want cash in

Maybe. The hard drive makers have long experience with boom-bust cycles. They are likely trying to figure out if this is real, or just a blip and in a two years (when the new factory opens!) demand drops again.

If there is new capacity in the future my guess (guess!) is that this is a case of a new factory to replace the old, and they just keep running the old for another year instead of scrapping it right away.

I’m not sure what research you have done, but you should find some. There are things that make your a better signer short term but will ruin your voice long term. I’m not really an expert in this so I’ll just leave you with the warning to get some advice from someone who is trained if you haven’t. (What you shared so far seems okay, but I don’t know what else you are doing)

Thus the 5 year contract - even if someone else starts adding supply they still get today’s high prices.

There are only a small number of RAM chips that are not already bought. If you make computers and want at one of those chips you can get priority if you sign a 5 year contract. They are betting that the supply/demand problems ease and so the price they can get will go down in a year - but you are locked into the high price for 4 more years. If prices go up even more you get a great deal, if prices go down you lose - make your bets, but remember this bet also comes with supply today and so you may not have a choice.

I own a trailer because even though I rarely need it, renting is too difficult. I did rent a trailer a couple times. However finding one that was available and fit my needs is harder than you would think. There are many different types of trailers, each serving a different purpose, and most won’t work for my purpose. When I need one is also the weekend others need one and so it is highly likely to be unavailable because someone else has it.

I’ve tried to make your “rent when you need it” for those rare uses. However every time I do I realize that the cost of a rental is very high, and most rentals have restrictions such that I can’t even use it for what I wanted. I’ve been lucky to never arrive to find my reserved vehicle isn’t there, but that has happened to many people I know as well (leaving them at an airport with no way to get around)

I collect antique tractors, this is one of those rare niches that make me unusual. Having to have a trailer for them to get to shows is part of the costs (and fun). To ensure I can do what I want when I want I have to own a truck and trailer.

While you are correct the cars are depreciating assets, so it life. I have more than enough money for the basics: I don’t need more appreciating assets. Most of my money is reserved for things that bring me happiness, and I don’t care (nor should I care!) if it is a good economic investment. Investing everything to grow a number on paper seems like a boring wasted life to me (but this is just me, if your happiness is that number then by all means invest more)

It is likely impossible to rent a truck for pulling your trailer. Most contracts have a no towing clause. Uhaul only allows towing their trailers. When you find the rare exception you are risking they are sold out that week. And the cost when you do find it is high enough to pay for the additional payments for most of the year.

If there is enough money they will. Though I agree with your doubt that enough people will buy this to make it worth it.

I understood this as camping in one location, or parking in one remote location and hiking for a week. This is a fairly common way to camp. Over a week you can get a useful charge if you are not driving. Likely just 1kw would be enough to get a useful charge over a week. If you are driving to a new spot every day this doesn’t work (unless the drive is really short).

I wouldn’t bet on that - the Silverado EV looks nice on the spec sheet (except no android auto/car play - GM needs to be beat up for this every time their cars are mentioned) and you can get it today. 3X the cost of the Slate, but if you need a truck it is more than 3x the Slate for being a real truck (much larger tow capacity, bigger bed)