The author isn't saying there has been no progress, his main complaint is around the PR hype machine, companies cutting away from their livestreams of launches for their CFO to talk about investor confidence, promises of hotels on the moon. That sort of thing. There were a couple good points specifically about Space X in TFA:

"SpaceX’s Starship saga is another emblem of this phenomenon. Yes, progress requires trial and error. But we must stop measuring success by launch views and splashy animation reels. When the same core systems fail in similar ways, time after time, we must ask whether this is aggressive iteration or just poorly managed ambition. Failure alone isn’t innovation. Only failure followed by measurable, demonstrable improvement is."

"It was a baffling shift, almost as if the financial narrative mattered more than the flight outcome. The same disconnect can be seen in SpaceX’s messaging. While the company routinely frames each Starship explosion as a necessary step in rapid iteration, two consecutive full-stack flights, Flight 7 and Flight 8, failed during stage separation. That’s not fast learning. That’s failing to fix a known issue but the saying they will spend their investor’s money on a more ambitious attempt. At some point, calling repeated, preventable failures “progress” ceases to be engineering — and starts to look like marketing."

Spaceballs sits nicely between cannon built around elders coming back in shimmering blue and parody based on over-commercialization removing the soul of entertainment. I sincerely hope they are getting their AI version of Mel Brooks ready because finishing his movie in the event he dies by "recasting" a crappy AI version of him for the scenes he couldn't film sounds like parody gold to me.

I really appreciate your post and stand with what you are saying. I volunteer with a local environmental nonprofit and they created a design for a trash catcher called the Trash Trout that floats on top of the water that can be installed on the streams and creeks that feed major rivers to trap the trash upstream of the major river. There was some push-back about releasing the design publicly and foregoing any licensing fees but ultimately they told the naysayers to pound sand and published a design PDF on their website because their goal is to clean up trash, not make money.

Just wanted to share an example of a group making the right call and also it's a cool, cheap design that nerds might appreciate. Link to the design doc below or you can google it if you prefer since the link is generic.

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic1.squarespace.co...

I would suggest checking out mini-split heat pumps. You can get the best of both worlds without having to duct your whole house. I will be needing a new system in the next 5 years and was pleased to see mini-split heat pumps are available and work very efficiently. This is on the word of the people I've talked to for quotes as I'm not an HVAC tech but was curious about what options are out there.

TFS left out a few interesting details that make the story noteworthy. The salvaged RAM and SSDs absolutely do not hold up to 3-5 year newer tech but these components are new enough to used in CXE controllers for backwards compatibility and then paired with more powerful and efficient AMD Bergamo processors to keep them relevant. They are essentially making a B-team of server capacity and have created a software layer in their cloud infrastructure that will assign tasks to it that won't suffer from the sub-optimal performance.

I agree they haven't done anything groundbreaking but they have taken enough small steps in coordination towards Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to help their bottom line and the planet that I'm impressed.

A company this year unveiled a circular recycling process to break down the turbine blades, returning them to their previous materials so new blade can be made out of the same materials. It even works for blades that are already in landfills. Neat stuff!

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vestas.com%2Fen%2Fmedi...

Yes, well, that's capitalism for you.

Most Americans have no choice in insurer. And their choices are controlled by a powerful cartel that colludes to keep prices high. There is no competition in the health insurance field.

No American gives a rats ass about the "choice" of insurer. They want a choice of doctors and services, but really, and I can not stress this enough, REALLY hate all insurance companies. More than they hate the government even!

And yet, taxes have been cut again and again and again. How do you reconcile that fact with your statement that "Because the people raising taxes will never reach a point when they say "the government has enough money now, let's cut taxes"."

Seems that it's very, very easy for the government to cut taxes, at least for the rich. Why are you afraid of "the people who want to raise taxes" when those people have never actually done so? Seems you are imagining a scenario that is not just unlikely, but counter factual.

No, people want to pay for things with their taxes. The are not, in fact, idiots. They don't want predatory capitalists taking a cut, and figure, correctly, that government is more trustworthy than a man with a profit motive and no morals.

People recognize that certain endeavors are just not well served by a capitalist free market. Health care is a primary one that simply doesn't work unless heavily regulated or run by the government. You do not know what is wrong with you. You do not know how to fix it. You can not shop around for a new liver.

As it is, we are basically running health care like a for profit government, and we are getting the worst of both the public and private worlds. Health insurance amounts to a system of taxation that forces the healthy to pay for the sick, and lets a third party take a huge cut. Replace health insurance with actual government taxation and what have you lost, except for the greedy bastard trying to mark up your heart medications? Nothing.

You showed no proof of anything.

You assholes have no problem with kids reading those same types of sex scenes if it's straight. Just ask Beverly Cleary. Most YA novels have sex scenes. Doesn't make them pornographic or unsuitable for kids.

You aren't American so stop talking as if you know us or our culture, asshole.

You don't know shit then. Stop talking like you know America if you aren't from here, asshole.

We need to raise taxes on the rich back to what they were in the good old days Republicans pine for. Marginal tax rate of 90%. "Oh!" you whine, "Nobody paid that!" Yes, but they paid more than they do now and that's the point. Raise taxes on capital gains, raise corporate taxes, lower taxes for the middle class and boom! Deficit fixed.

Normal people are not lazy, they just don't want to be taken advantage of. The real drag on our economy is billionaires and other tax cheats.

Oh stop lying. You can't provide any evidence for any of your wild claims. You censorious assholes only ever talk in generalities. Be specific. What fucking books are you talking about?

What normal people have figured out is that it is the right wing and religious figures who are abusing kids. So many right wingers who shout "groomer!" have been caught with child porn. You disgust normal Americans.