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Thomas A. Fine 🇺🇸 Profile picture
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4 Mar, 5 tweets, 2 min read
I didn't really get how big the SpaceX Starship is until seeing SN11 being assembled.
And the fact that they're building these things so quickly underscores the fact that they basically expect them to blow up at this point. These are expendable test vehicles. When SN9 crashed, SN10 was already on the launch pad. SN11 is already assembled.
It was a super smart decision to make these things out of stainless steel. Seemed crazy at first. But if they can build these things super cheap, then they can afford lots more testing.
The images of the nose being attached to SN11 were plucked from this video, by the way.

If you watch that video, you see that they already have pieces of SN18 built. Clearly they had no expectation of having 18 working Starships. These are expendable.

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More from @thomasafine

Thomas A. Fine 🇺🇸 Profile picture
4 Mar
This is amazing.
You know what would be awesome? If @SIRIUSXM dedicated a few channels solely to exploring this material.
Here's Bing Crosby singing with Duke Ellington in 1932.
archive.org/details/78_st-…
Read 6 tweets
Thomas A. Fine 🇺🇸 Profile picture
27 Feb
It's not wrong to criticize Biden on this but keep in mind how much Biden has done and how fast he has done it and how much more he has on his plate.
Also, it seems to me that Biden's refusal to speak to MBS might be more significant than it seems. MBS' political power takes a big hit. Yes you can argue that's not enough and we should sanction and that's fine.
But if you do think sanctions were more appropriate, don't just grouse about it here, contact your Senators and Rep, and also send a message to Biden. This can actually bring change, while social media criticisms are a double edged sword that may do more harm than good.
Read 4 tweets
Thomas A. Fine 🇺🇸 Profile picture
25 Feb
All corporate media — even if it is claimed to be left-leaning — is hungry for the nonsense generated by the right because they make everything into a juicy scandal with the appearance of newsworthiness.
I've been talking about this for years, but I think most people still don't see how deeply the profit motive drives all news coverage.

MSM covered every Trump press briefing like a pack of hungry wolves, because Trump was guaranteed to throw them meat.
The meat could have been lies, or insane policy, or name-calling or whatever. But it generated eyeballs.

Psaki's press conferences are about "boring" things like solving problems and avoiding divisiveness, and so MSM has already abandoned full coverage of them.
Read 5 tweets
Thomas A. Fine 🇺🇸 Profile picture
12 Feb
Let's talk about Avi Loeb and his theory about alien visitors.
scientificamerican.com/article/astron…
First, I should disclose that I work at the fame research facility as Dr. Loeb, though I work in a different department and to my recollection we've never met.

He's a scientist; I'm in computer support.
With that out of the way...
The interview above is worth a read, and a lot of serious thought, because there's an idea there that's really critical to science, and it isn't whether or not aliens have visited (exactly).
Read 29 tweets
Thomas A. Fine 🇺🇸 Profile picture
12 Feb
The hit piece against @SethAbramson has really gotten under my skin. And it's not because I worship the ground he walks on. I've been critical of him many times in the past and I'm sure I will be in the future.
I might even agree with some elements in the story. There's probably a very good piece to write about the relative merits and problems with Seth's approach to journalism does, but this piece isn't it.
The real problem is the highlighted section of this early paragraph in the story.
Read 29 tweets
Thomas A. Fine 🇺🇸 Profile picture
7 Feb
So is Apple's anti-theft security a wonderful boon to users?

Or is it just another evil corporation strengthening it's monopoly power?
I had the misfortune of buying a 2018 Mac Mini on ebay a few days ago. Unfortunately, it had not been wiped, and it's security defaults had never been changed.

This essentially turns it into a very shiny paperweight.
And this is where everybody jumps to blame the victim. "But everybody knows you have to make sure the seller wipes the Mac."

My how the corporate overlords have trained us to be their apologists.
Read 39 tweets

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