[Newfie]

That's pretty much what the wire systems like Dopplemeyer do. But they have to be stopped to change wires.

http://www.dcc.at

[jedrider]

Solution to the population problem: We can promise a better life on the other side and have them pay for it, too.

[Cog]

So they plan to put people in the equivalent of a tin can, put the can into a tube with no air, and shoot them around the country at the speed of sound? Yeah nothing could possibly go wrong with this.

[jedrider]

Seems like a very round-about way to get to Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

[Newfie]

This latest revelation?

Stuuuupid!

[Newfie]

I want to see the evacuation plan. How do you rescue a stranded vehicle? Also the ridership numbers. Ho do you do ventilation during a fire? On and on.

IF built it would just be another prop for the elite, like Accela.

[Cog]

Will it need a TSA check-in so everyone can be groped? Putting a bullet through the can and everyone dies from lack of oxygen. Earthquakes, water leaks, some dude sneaks down there and gets hit by the tin can moving 700 mph.

This has movie of the week written all over it.

[ROCKMAN]

Just on the news today: the first proposed project: an underground tube running 700 miles from DC thru NY to Boston. I can't wait to hear the realistic cost must to build that 700 mile tunnel. Maybe we could use the "Big Dig" in Boston as a model. A traffic tunnel: after 5 years of planning construction began in 1991. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 1998 at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion (in 1982 dollars, US$6.0 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2006). However, the project was completed only in December 2007, at a cost of over $14.6 billion ($8.08 billion in 1982 dollars, meaning a cost overrun of about 190%) as of 2006. The Boston Globe estimated that the project will ultimately cost $22 billion, including interest, and that it would not be paid off until 2038.

So $22 BILLION for 3.5 miles. Maybe the vacuum tunnel will cost less per mile...or more. But let's just assume its the same. So 700 miles would cost $4.4 TRILLION and take many decades. Might be a tad more: imagine building just that section under NYC.

Yep, a very realistic idea. LOL.

[SeaGypsy]

Musk is a cornucopian demigod. His wacko ideas keep his name & face in the news feeds, free publicity for his less eccentric ideas & enabling his packaged AA battery packs to be sold at huge profit. The guy is certainly not stupid.

[Newfie]

Elon Musk

"I have exposure to the very cutting-edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned about it," Musk told attendees at the National Governors Association summer meeting on Saturday (July 15). "I keep sounding the alarm bell, but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react, because it seems so ethereal."

If, instead, the government waits until AI actually starts harming people before imposing regulations, that may already be too late, Musk said. Musk is worried not only that AI will take over human jobs, but also that it may kill people. This isn't the first time Musk has warned of AI's potential for doom; in 2014, he called AI humanity's "biggest existential threat," and in 2015, he, along with other tech luminaries, urged the United Nations to ban killer robots. [History of A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Infographic)]

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.dailydot ... e-warning/

So maybe he wants to build robot proof shelters to survive the AI doom machine.

[Cog]

Electronics and water do not mix well. Particularly sea water. Rising sea levels and killer robots. Problem solved and problem staying solved.

[SeaGypsy]

Just another attention grab. We are part of his AI here now, blabbing about his blabbing about whatever.

Perhaps the most telling thing is the fact the guy never invented anything, he's a packaging artist & salesman.

The way people swoon to him is quite pukeworthy, i find.

[SeaGypsy]

Salespeople in general. The amount of money going in their pockets for producing nothing but hype is quite incredible, at least Musk does produce some stuff.

That I'm aware of, Ibon is the only active member here who made his fortune in sales, by establishing new markets in Latin America for medical equipment. Most salespeople i have met have the same slimy vibe as every politician I've met.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sMDxK_Su_n4 (Aussie punk response).

[SeaGypsy]

I'm a contradiction. Homeless guy with a full time job & a nice Mercedes. Broken marriage with good relations with the ex. Peak oil doomer putting $500 a week into oil via my job & personal transport. Depending on the day, i might be stoned out of my scone or totally straight. I hang out with ladyboys, black & brown people. I can talk Jesus with Christians, Krishna with Hindus, Buddha with Buddists, atheism with non believers (which i mostly am). Brand me, i will go out of my way to prove you wrong. I am an anomaly, a contradiction. I'm human.

[SeaGypsy]

Always. I didn't take it personally, know what you mean. Has always seemed to me most people can't accept either reality internally or externally, everything & everyone has to fit into a package, a slot. This is fundamentally a weakness of human nature, everyone does it, including me. Some of us are ok with being wrong sometimes, including about our slotting activity. This makes us a little better as people.