Showing posts with label Elon Musk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elon Musk. Show all posts

Monday, January 13, 2025

$8 Billion Is Insufficient to End World Hunger





Here’s an $8 billion plan to address world hunger, combining immediate relief efforts with long-term strategies to create sustainable food systems:

1. Immediate Relief: Emergency Food Assistance ($2 Billion)

  • Target Areas: Conflict zones, disaster-stricken areas, and regions experiencing acute food insecurity (e.g., Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia).
  • Implementation:
    • Partner with organizations like the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF for large-scale food distribution.
    • Focus on delivering fortified food, high-nutrition meals, and therapeutic feeding solutions for children.
    • Leverage existing logistical networks (air, sea, and land) to quickly transport food to affected regions.
  • Technology Integration: Use blockchain for transparent tracking of food distribution.

2. Sustainable Agriculture Development ($3 Billion)

  • Goal: Empower smallholder farmers, improve productivity, and reduce post-harvest losses.
  • Key Initiatives:
    • Climate-Resilient Crops: Develop and distribute seeds resistant to drought, pests, and extreme weather.
    • Irrigation Systems: Invest in low-cost, solar-powered irrigation systems for water-scarce areas.
    • Training Programs: Educate farmers on modern agricultural practices, agroforestry, and sustainable land management.
    • Post-Harvest Infrastructure: Build storage facilities, cold chains, and transport networks to reduce food waste.
  • Regional Focus: Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and parts of Latin America with significant smallholder farming populations.

3. Nutrition Education & Microfinance ($1 Billion)

  • Nutrition Education:
    • Train local health workers to teach families about balanced diets and food preparation.
    • Partner with schools to include nutrition in curriculums and provide school meals as incentives for education.
  • Microfinance for Farmers:
    • Provide small loans to farmers for seeds, tools, and equipment to boost yields.
    • Support women-led agricultural initiatives to ensure equitable access to resources.

4. Urban Agriculture & Food Systems Innovation ($500 Million)

  • Urban Farming:
    • Create community gardens and rooftop farming initiatives in urban areas to improve food security.
    • Utilize vertical farming technologies for high-yield crop production in cities.
  • Food Recovery Programs:
    • Partner with supermarkets and restaurants to redirect surplus food to food banks and shelters.
    • Incentivize businesses to reduce food waste through tax benefits.

5. Policy Advocacy & Research ($1 Billion)

  • Advocacy:
    • Push governments to adopt pro-agriculture policies, including subsidies for small farmers and investments in rural infrastructure.
    • Advocate for gender equality in agriculture to empower women, who make up a large proportion of farmers in developing countries.
  • Research:
    • Fund research into agricultural technology, food fortification, and climate change adaptation.
    • Establish data systems to track hunger hotspots and allocate resources more effectively.

6. Digital Tools for Hunger Mapping & Farmer Support ($500 Million)

  • Hunger Mapping:
    • Use satellite data and AI to identify regions at risk of food insecurity.
    • Develop apps that allow local governments and NGOs to coordinate responses.
  • Farmer Support Platforms:
    • Build mobile apps that provide weather forecasts, market prices, and farming tips to rural farmers.
    • Leverage mobile payment systems to facilitate easy access to microloans.

Execution Strategy:

  1. Partner with international organizations (e.g., UN, FAO, WFP) for expertise and networks.
  2. Work with governments in target countries to ensure policy alignment and local support.
  3. Collaborate with the private sector (agribusiness, tech companies) to leverage innovation and scale efforts.
  4. Establish transparent governance to track fund utilization and impact using technology like blockchain.

Impact Metrics:

  • Short-Term:
    • Provide emergency food assistance to 50 million people annually.
    • Reduce malnutrition rates in target areas by 20%.
  • Long-Term:
    • Increase agricultural yields in target regions by 30%.
    • Lift 100 million people out of chronic hunger within a decade.
    • Reduce food waste globally by 25%.

This plan tackles hunger through immediate aid, sustainable agriculture, technological innovation, and systemic reform, ensuring both short-term relief and long-term resilience.



Why $8 Billion Is Insufficient to End World Hunger

While $8 billion can make a significant dent in alleviating hunger, it falls short of addressing the structural and systemic causes of food insecurity, which include poverty, climate change, conflict, and weak agricultural infrastructure. An effective solution requires addressing these interconnected issues simultaneously and at scale. Here's why a $20 billion plan is more realistic to sustainably end world hunger in five years:

  1. Scale of the Problem:

    • Global Hunger Statistics: Over 735 million people are undernourished, requiring resources far beyond $8 billion for food, agricultural development, and nutrition education.
    • Conflict Zones: Hunger is exacerbated by wars and crises, which need high-cost interventions like airlifting food and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure.

  2. Structural Barriers:

    • Climate change, poor infrastructure, and lack of access to technology cannot be solved with short-term funding.
    • Achieving global food security demands massive investments in long-term solutions.

$20 Billion Plan to End World Hunger in Five Years

Here’s how $20 billion can be allocated effectively:

1. Immediate Relief & Resilience ($5 Billion)

Goal: Address acute hunger and build systems to prevent future crises.

  • Emergency Food Assistance ($2.5 Billion):
    • Double the scale of operations by organizations like WFP and UNICEF to reach 100 million people annually.
    • Focus on high-risk regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen, and Afghanistan.
  • Resilience Programs ($2.5 Billion):
    • Stockpile emergency food reserves in strategic locations for rapid deployment.
    • Build disaster-resistant community food storage facilities.

2. Transforming Agriculture Systems ($8 Billion)

Goal: Ensure sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural production globally.

  • Climate-Resilient Agriculture ($3 Billion):
    • Scale up R&D for drought-resistant crops and eco-friendly farming methods.
    • Distribute seeds, fertilizers, and technology to 50 million smallholder farmers.
  • Irrigation & Water Management ($2 Billion):
    • Install low-cost irrigation systems in water-scarce regions.
    • Build reservoirs and invest in water desalination for agriculture.
  • Post-Harvest Infrastructure ($2 Billion):
    • Create storage and transport systems to reduce the 30% of food lost post-harvest.
    • Establish agro-processing hubs to add value to raw produce.
  • Market Access ($1 Billion):
    • Build rural roads and transport networks to connect farmers to markets.
    • Invest in digital platforms to enable farmers to sell directly to buyers.

3. Fighting Malnutrition & Education ($2 Billion)

Goal: End malnutrition through targeted nutrition programs.

  • Nutrition Programs ($1.5 Billion):
    • Expand therapeutic feeding for malnourished children.
    • Fortify staple foods with essential vitamins and minerals.
  • Education ($500 Million):
    • Integrate nutrition education into school curriculums.
    • Provide free school meals to 100 million children annually to incentivize education and improve health.

4. Conflict Resolution & Governance Support ($3 Billion)

Goal: Address political and systemic barriers to food security.

  • Conflict Mediation ($1 Billion):
    • Invest in peace-building initiatives in regions like Yemen, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
    • Protect humanitarian corridors to ensure food reaches conflict-affected areas.
  • Policy Reforms ($2 Billion):
    • Support governments to adopt pro-agriculture policies, including subsidies for small farmers and equitable land distribution.
    • Strengthen local food systems by creating safety nets for the poor.

5. Technology & Innovation ($2 Billion)

Goal: Leverage technology to modernize food systems and empower farmers.

  • Digital Platforms ($1 Billion):
    • Build apps for weather forecasting, crop advice, and market prices tailored for rural farmers.
    • Use mobile money platforms to provide microloans to farmers.
  • AI & Big Data ($500 Million):
    • Develop AI-powered systems to map hunger hotspots and predict food shortages.
  • Smart Farming ($500 Million):
    • Promote precision agriculture, drones, and IoT sensors for large-scale farms.

6. Urban Agriculture & Food Recovery ($2 Billion)

Goal: Tackle hunger in urban areas while reducing food waste.

  • Urban Farming ($1.5 Billion):
    • Scale vertical farming, rooftop gardening, and community gardens in cities.
    • Focus on densely populated regions like South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Food Recovery Programs ($500 Million):
    • Partner with corporations to rescue surplus food from supply chains.
    • Create tax incentives for businesses to donate food to shelters and food banks.

7. Global Partnerships & Monitoring ($1 Billion)

Goal: Ensure accountability and foster collaboration.

  • Global Coalition: Establish a coalition of governments, NGOs, and private sector stakeholders.
  • Monitoring & Transparency: Use blockchain and AI for real-time tracking of funds, resources, and outcomes.

Impact Goals:

  • Eliminate chronic hunger for 735 million people in five years.
  • Reduce global food waste by 50%.
  • Achieve sustainable food systems in 50+ countries.
  • Build climate-resilient agriculture for 500 million people.

Why $20 Billion Is Realistic

  • It represents just 0.02% of the global GDP (~$100 trillion).
  • Public-private partnerships and global collaboration can easily mobilize the funds.
  • The scale of interventions ensures the money addresses both immediate needs and structural reforms.

This $20 billion plan balances urgency with sustainability, ensuring the world not only ends hunger but prevents its recurrence.



at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Friday, December 27, 2024

27: Elon Musk

at No comments:
Labels:

Saturday, December 21, 2024

21: Elon Musk

at No comments:
Labels:

Thursday, December 19, 2024

A 2T Cut



Reducing the U.S. federal budget by $2 trillion is a significant task that would require carefully considered policy decisions and trade-offs. Here’s an outline of possible strategies across various sectors:

1. Discretionary Spending Cuts

  • Defense Spending: The U.S. defense budget is substantial, making it a prime area for targeted reductions. Potential savings could come from:
    • Reducing overseas military operations.
    • Closing underutilized military bases.
    • Cutting investments in redundant or outdated weapon systems.
    • Streamlining procurement processes.
  • Other Discretionary Programs: Identify and trim underperforming or duplicative federal programs in areas such as education, housing, and public works.

2. Mandatory Spending Adjustments

  • Healthcare Programs:
    • Reform Medicare and Medicaid to reduce costs, such as negotiating drug prices or promoting value-based care models.
    • Introduce means-testing for higher-income recipients of Medicare benefits.
  • Social Security:
    • Adjust the formula for benefits to account for longer life expectancy (e.g., gradually raising the retirement age).
    • Implement progressive benefit reductions for higher-income retirees.

3. Reforming Tax Expenditures

  • Tax expenditures are effectively government spending through the tax code (e.g., deductions, credits, and exemptions). Reforms could include:
    • Capping the mortgage interest deduction.
    • Limiting or phasing out tax breaks for specific industries (e.g., oil and gas subsidies).
    • Scaling back retirement savings incentives for high-income individuals.

4. Revenue Increases

  • Corporate Tax Reforms: Close loopholes and enforce a minimum effective tax rate for corporations.
  • Individual Tax Adjustments:
    • Raise income taxes on the wealthiest earners.
    • Implement a financial transaction tax on trades of stocks, bonds, and derivatives.
  • Carbon Tax or Pollution Taxes: Generate revenue while promoting environmental goals.

5. Improving Efficiency and Reducing Waste

  • Increase investment in anti-fraud initiatives for government programs.
  • Improve oversight and reduce improper payments in Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlement programs.
  • Optimize government operations by leveraging technology to reduce overhead costs.

6. Growth-Oriented Policies

  • Encourage economic growth through infrastructure investments and education reform to increase productivity and tax revenues over time.
  • Pair budget cuts with initiatives to improve workforce participation and reduce dependency on government programs.

Considerations and Risks:

  • Economic Impact: Sudden, deep cuts could harm economic growth, especially in sectors reliant on federal spending.
  • Public Resistance: Many cuts may face opposition from voters and interest groups.
  • Fairness: Ensuring the burden of cuts and reforms is distributed equitably across income levels and regions is crucial.



at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Saturday, November 30, 2024

30: DOGE



How Native Americans guarded their societies against tyranny When the founders of the United States designed the Constitution, they were learning from history that democracy was likely to fail – to find someone who would fool the people into giving him complete power and then end the democracy. ......... Twelfth-century Cahokia, on the banks of the Mississippi River, had a central city about the size of London at the time. ....... The American Colonists and founders thought Native American societies were simple and primitive – but they were not. ........ Native American communities were elaborate consensus democracies, many of which had survived for generations because of careful attention to checking and balancing power. .......... As they formed these new and more dispersed societies, the people who had overthrown or fled the great cities and their too powerful leaders sought to avoid mesmerizing leaders who made tempting promises in difficult times. So they designed complex political structures to discourage centralization, hierarchy and inequality and encourage shared decision-making........... the oral history of the Osage Nation records that it once had one great chief who was a military leader, but its council of elder spiritual leaders, known as the “Little Old Men,” decided to balance that chief’s authority with that of another hereditary chief, who would be responsible for keeping peace. .......... Another way some societies balanced power was through family-based clans. Clans communicated and cooperated across multiple towns. They could work together to balance the power of town-based chiefs and councils. ........... Many of these societies required convening all of the people – men, women and children – for major political, military, diplomatic and land-use decisions. Hundreds or even thousands might show up, depending on how momentous the decision was. .......... In some societies, it was customary for the losing side to quietly leave the meeting if they couldn’t bring themselves to agree with the others. ........... Leaders generally governed by facilitating decision-making in council meetings and public gatherings. They gave gifts to encourage cooperation. They heard disputes between neighbors over land and resources and helped to resolve them. Power and prestige came to lie not in amassing wealth but in assuring that the wealth was shared wisely. Leaders earned support in part by being good providers. .......... The Native American democracy that the U.S. founders were most likely to know about was the Iroquois Confederacy. They call themselves the Haudenosaunee, the “people of the longhouse,” because the nations of the confederacy have to get along like multiple families in a longhouse. ........... In their carefully balanced system, women ran the clans, which were responsible for local decisions about land use and town planning. Men were the representatives of their clans and nations in the Haudenosaunee council, which made decisions for the confederacy as a whole. Each council member, called a royaner, was chosen by a clan mother. .............. The Haudenosaunee Great Law holds a royaner to a high standard: “The thickness of their skin shall be seven spans – which is to say that they shall be proof against anger, offensive actions and criticism. Their hearts shall be full of peace and good will.” In council, “all their words and actions shall be marked by calm deliberation.” ............. The law said the ideal royaner should always “look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground – the unborn of the future Nation.” ............. Of course, people do not always live up to their values, but the laws and traditions of Native nations encouraged peaceful discussion and broad-mindedness. Many Europeans were struck by the difference. The French explorer La Salle in 1678 noted with admiration of the Haudenosaunee that “in important meetings, they discuss without raising their voices and without getting angry.” ......... Leaders looked ahead and sought to protect the well-being of every person, even those not yet born. The people, in exchange, had a responsibility to not enmesh their royaners in less serious matters, which the Haudenosaunee Great Law called “trivial affairs.”

at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Sunday, November 24, 2024

24: DOGE

at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Thursday, November 21, 2024

21: DOGE



Musk, Ramaswamy lay out plans for ‘mass’ federal layoffs, rule rollbacks under Trump Tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday that their brand-new government efficiency panel will identify “thousands” of regulations for President-elect Trump to eliminate, which they argue will justify “mass head-count reductions” across government. ...... “The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings,” they wrote. “We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws.” .......... Slashing regulations should allow for “at least” proportional cuts to the government workforce .......... “A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy” .......... “Not only are fewer employees required to enforce fewer regulations, but the agency would produce fewer regulations once its scope of authority is properly limited” ............ Musk and Ramaswamy pointed to several recent Supreme Court decisions that have taken aim at the power of the administrative state, arguing that a “plethora of current federal regulations” exceed agency authority and could be on the chopping block. ............

“A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy”

........... “Not only are fewer employees required to enforce fewer regulations, but the agency would produce fewer regulations once its scope of authority is properly limited” ........... Musk and Ramaswamy preemptively addressed arguments about civil service protections that could potentially block Trump from firing federal workers. ......... “The purpose of these protections is to protect employees from political retaliation,” they wrote. “But the statute allows for ‘reductions in force’ that don’t target specific employees. The statute further empowers the president to ‘prescribe rules governing the competitive service.’ That power is broad.” ........ “With this authority, Mr. Trump can implement any number of ‘rules governing the competitive service’ that would curtail administrative overgrowth, from large-scale firings to relocation of federal agencies out of the Washington area” ........... Government workers are already mobilizing in the face of potential mass cuts, reportedly hiring lawyers and preparing public campaigns while also hoping Congress will step in ........... Musk has spent much of his time at the Palm Beach, Fla., resort over the past two weeks, reportedly weighing in on Trump’s Cabinet picks and attending meetings, including those with world leaders. ........ He also hosted Trump in Texas to observe the launch of a SpaceX rocket Tuesday afternoon.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy: The DOGE Plan to Reform Government Following the Supreme Court’s guidance, we’ll reverse a decadeslong executive power grab. ....... Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections. ........... On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it. .......... The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic .......... We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs. .......... We are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America. This team will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget. The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings. We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws. Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden’s tenure.

at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

13: Elon Musk

at No comments:
Labels:

‘$2 trillion’ Worth Of Waste

at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Sunday, November 10, 2024

The Structure Of Trump's Victory

He won all so-called swing states. He has the Senate. He might as well get the House. And if he does not, I got to know Hakeem Jeffries before he ever ran for public office. :)

In a democracy, you try to read the political mandate. Trump has won a mandate. What does it mean? Different people will interpret it differently, of course.

(1) America In Decline

The slogan Make America Great Again can be seen as wanting to face the fact that America is in decline, but it does not have to be.

(2) Defunding NATO

This is not about not being serious about defense. This is about asking allies to foot the bill.

(3) The Border Blame

America has not just been a country of immigrants. It has been a country of illegal immigrants. When there were no airplanes, Europeans came to the American shore on boats, and they did not exactly have papers, and they were not exactly royalty. They tended to be the misfits. Illegal immigration rejuvenates America. It is not like they are increasing the quota for the legal ones, either. Crime is a separate topic. The crisis is the economy.

(4) The Bloated State

How do you downsize the permanent state? It's like, how do you build a wall? How do you deport 25 million people and still harvest food in Central Valley, California? How do you get rid of overregulation?

(5) Ukraine

North Korea, South Korea. Frozen conflict?

(6) Political Realignment

The composition has changed. More Hispanics coming in does not mean a bigger Democratic Party. It is not automatic. 2024 is proof.

(7) The Tariff War

Used to be the US government was funded not by taxes but by tariffs. That is ancient.

And, of course, there is a distinct possibility Trump is a bullshitter. "We will buid a wall and Mexico will pay for it." That was the promise in 2016. Was never going to happen.

at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

22: Elon Musk

at No comments:
Labels:

Monday, October 14, 2024

14: Robotaxi



Adobe Launches AI Video Generator
Nobel economics prize goes to 3 economists who found that freer societies are more likely to prosper
How have social media algorithms changed the way we interact? “the features of social media platforms don’t allow for free and fair competition of ideas to begin with… the ‘value’ of an idea on social media isn’t a reflection of how good it is, but is rather the product of the platform’s algorithm.” .......... “algorithms on social media platforms have fundamentally reshaped the nature of free speech, not necessarily by restricting what can be said, but by determining who gets to see what content” ......... “Rather than ideas competing freely on their merits, algorithms amplify or suppress the reach of messages… introducing an unprecedented form of interference in the free exchange of ideas that is often overlooked.” ......... Facebook is one of the pioneers of recommendation algorithms on social media, and with an estimated three billion users, its Feed is arguably one of the biggest. ......... Determined by the interactions on each post, this came to prioritise posts about controversial topics, as those garnered the most engagement. .......... Because contentious posts are more likely to be rewarded by algorithms, there is the possibility that the fringes of political opinion can be overrepresented on social media. Rather than free and open public forums, critics argue that social media instead offers a distorted and sensationalised mirror of public sentiment that exaggerates discord and muffles the views of the majority. .......... is “free speech” purely about the right to speak, or also about the right to be heard? ......... Our era has been labelled “the algorithmic society” – one in which, it could be argued, social media platforms and search engines govern speech in the same way nation states once did. .......... While Professor Candeub is a “free speech absolutist”, he’s also wary of the power concentrated in the platforms that can be gatekeepers of speech via computer code. “I think that we would do well to have these algorithms made public because otherwise we're just being manipulated.” ............ There is a right to freedom of speech online but not a right for everyone to be heard equally: it would take more than a lifetime to watch every TikTok video or read every tweet.” ......... “Chronological feeds are not … neutral: They are also subject to rich-get-richer effects, demographic biases, and the unpredictability of virality. There is, unfortunately, no neutral way to design social media.” ............ Platforms do offer some alternatives to algorithms, with people on X able to choose a feed from only those they follow. And by filtering huge amounts of content, “recommendation engines provide greater diversity and discovery than just following people we already know”, argues Bertram. “That feels like the opposite of a restriction of freedom of speech – it’s a mechanism for discovery.” ............. “Regular TikTok users are often very deliberate about the algorithm – giving it signals to encourage or discourage the recommendation engine along avenues of new discovery” ........... just 28% of Americans say they like documenting their life in public online, down from 40% in 2020. People are instead becoming more comfortable in closed-off group chats with trusted friends and relatives; spaces with more accountability and fewer rewards for shocks and provocations. .......... Meta says the number of photos sent in direct messages now outnumbers those shared for all to see.

Israel faces a fierce and evasive foe in Hezbollah’s drones The unmanned aerial vehicle, laden with explosives, evaded Israel’s multilayered air-defense system and slammed into a mess hall at a military training camp deep inside Israel, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens. .......... Hezbollah, which said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, said the drone was “able to penetrate the Israeli air defense radars without being detected” and reach its target. It claimed it had outsmarted Israel’s air defenses by simultaneously launching dozens of missiles and “squadrons” of drones simultaneously.......

Drones are harder to detect and track than rockets or missiles

.......... Israel has a formidable arsenal of drones, capable of carrying out spy missions and attacks. It has developed a drone capable of reaching archenemy Iran, some 1500 kilometers (1,000 miles) away. .......... In July, a drone launched from Yemen travelled some 270 kilometers (160 miles) from Israel’s southern tip, all the way to Tel Aviv, slamming into a downtown building and killing one person without it having been intercepted. .......... The Israeli security official said drones are harder to detect for a number of reasons: They fly slowly and often include plastic components, having a weaker thermal footprint with radar systems than powerful rockets and missiles. The trajectory is also harder to track. Drones can have roundabout flight paths, can come from any direction, fly lower to the ground and — because they are much smaller than rockets — can be mistaken for birds. ........... Israel spent years focusing on strengthening its air defense systems to improve protection against rockets and missiles. But drones were not seen as a top priority. ........ The militant group has launched roughly 1,500 surveillance and attack drones since it began striking Israel in October 2023 ...... Hezbollah has also used drones to erode Israel’s air-defense capabilities by slamming them into the very batteries and infrastructure meant to take them down. Earlier this year, Hezbollah said it used an Ababil explosive drone to down Israel’s Sky Dew observation balloon, a component of its aerial defense. ........... there were ways to combat the drones that could be considered. Detection capabilities could be expanded to include acoustic radars to pick up on the sound of the drone’s engine or electro-optics, which could allow Israeli surveillance to better identify them. He said rockets, fighter jets and helicopters could be deployed for interception, and that electronic warfare could be used to overtake the drones and divert them . ......

'Petty, partisan, un-American': Social media on Harris-Biden Not Congratulating Elon Musk On SpaceX Feat Elon Musk had a clash with California as it rejected Elon Musk' request for more frequent SpaceX launches from the state's central coast and it cited Elon Musk's politics as the reason for the rejection



US to send anti-missile system and troops to Israel, Pentagon says The United States has been privately urging Israel to calibrate its response to avoid triggering a broader war in the Middle East, officials say, with Biden publicly voicing his opposition to an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites and his concerns about a strike on Iran's energy infrastructure........ The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, is a critical part of the U.S. military's layered air defense systems and adds to Israel's already formidable anti-missile defenses. ....... "While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests," Araqchi posted on X.

The trouble with Elon Musk’s robotaxi dream Scaling up self-driving taxis will be hard, and competition will be fierce .......... Elon Musk’s choice of Warner Bros Studios for the long-anticipated launch of his robotaxi on October 10th is entirely appropriate. Hollywood’s film studios are as much a dream factory as Tesla, his electric-car company. The vision he served up, accompanied by whoops of delight from the superfans in the audience, is an autonomous Cybercab so cheap that it will serve as “individualised mass transit”. But Mr Musk’s promises were, like many Hollywood movies, long on bombast and short on reality. The road to self-driving taxis will be long, and Tesla will have tough competition along the way............ The Cybercab, a two-seater without steering wheel or pedals, will be on sale “before 2027”, according to Mr Musk, though his timelines often slip—he once promised a fleet of 1m robotaxis by 2020. He also showed off a Robovan, which will carry 20 passengers, and pledged that his humanoid robot will be the “biggest product ever of any kind”. Yet the event, which was light on details, disappointed investors; Tesla’s share price slumped 9% the following day. ........... Waymo, a division of Alphabet, has raced ahead in America. After 15 years and perhaps $30bn of investment it now has a fleet of 700 self-driving cabs running in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix, and will soon launch in Atlanta and Austin. ........... China has also become a hotspot for autonomy. Apollo Go, the robotaxi unit of Baidu, a Chinese tech giant, launched its service in Wuhan in 2022 and has since expanded to ten other Chinese cities. It aims to double its Wuhan fleet to 1,000 robotaxis by the end of the year. Other Chinese firms including Pony.ai, WeRide, and Didi, the country’s biggest ride-hailing firm, are also trying out robotaxis in several big cities. ............ Waymo and its competitors so far mostly operate in places where the weather is fine and the roads are straight and wide. ............. The cost of the self-driving cars themselves—around $150,000 a piece for Waymo—also remains a problem. Around two-thirds of that is estimated to come from hardware. To run their vehicles autonomously, Waymo and others are relying on a battery of expensive sensors including cameras, radars and lidars, which use lasers to create a 3D image of the vehicle’s surroundings, as well as lots of in-car computing power to make sense of it all. .......... Human drivers account for well over half the fare of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, which suggests a big opportunity for self-driving cabs. ............. Bernstein, a broker, calculates that once all costs are considered, self-driving taxi fares will remain higher than human ones for some time. What is more, replacing the fleet of Uber and Lyft cars in America with robotaxis would require up to 400,000 vehicles, Bernstein reckons. At the current cost of a Waymo vehicle, that would mean an investment of around $60bn. ............ Tesla is betting it can make a cheaper option work. Its “Full-Self Driving” system, which will be the underlying tech for its robotaxis, relies only on cameras to collect information. Data from these will go into an “end-to-end neural network”—an algorithmic black box trained on 9bn miles of driving data from the 6m Teslas already on the road—to produce driving commands. As a result, Tesla says its robotaxis will cost under $30,000 and will be easier to transfer from one city to another. .................. JPMorgan Chase, a bank, does not expect “material revenue generation...for years to come” from Tesla’s robotaxi efforts.



New ChatGPT prompt goes viral with Sam Altman’s approval this particular ChatGPT prompt has found a way of resonating with people, providing an instant peek into their own psychological makeup......... Responses on Reddit ranged from Newmoonlightavenger who said simply “It was the best thing anyone has ever said about me” to Jimmylegs50 who wrote, “Crying. I really needed to hear this right now. Thanks, OP." .......... User PopeAsthetic wrote, 'Wow I did it, and GPT gave me the most profound advice and reflection of myself that I’ve ever received. Even told me I seem to have a desire for control, while at the same time having a desire to let go of control. I’ve never thought about it like that.' ............ It turns out that ChatGPT doesn’t mess around when you ask it to roast you, and the results can be quite brutal! ........ In fact, when I tried the same prompt the results were scarily accurate: “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, you’re probably the type to say, 'Draw me like one of your French girls,” only to immediately follow it up with, “But make sure my espresso is ready in exactly 1 minute 45 seconds. And don’t forget to set up the camera – I’m planning a tech review after this sketch.”'

U.S. officials say Israel has narrowed down its targets for strike on Iran The strike could happen at any time, U.S. and Israeli officials told NBC News, and could come during this weekend's Yom Kippur holiday. ........ Iranian military and energy infrastructure. ........ There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations ........ Iran's attack caused little damage in Israel. ........ U.S. and Israeli officials said a response could come during the Yom Kippur holiday........... U.S. officials have continued to urge the Israeli government to make their response proportional, sticking to military targets and avoiding oil, gas and nuclear facilities.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)