Forgot your password?

Comment: Re:And... (Score 1) 669

by rjstanford (#46477277) Attached to: 70% of U.S. Government Spending Is Writing Checks To Individuals

Not quite true, since you're paying payroll taxes regardless and just not anything for "federal income tax withholding". However, since payroll taxes are a 16% proportional tax on your income, its a little unfair to characterize them as escaping all income taxes, especially in the context of social security and medical benefits, which are taxed regardless even in the "0%" bracket.

Comment: Re:Bit coin is highly misunderstood by many (Score 1) 191

by rjstanford (#46436061) Attached to: The Tangled Tale of Mt. Gox's Missing Millions

Doesn't this story of MtGox completely invalidate the idea of Bitcoin? It was made to appear safe due to an algorithm, but obviously it can disappear without a trace and then what? There was never any sovereign authority behind that currency. Thus no international muscle to go track down the bad guys or figure out what happened. If anything, the international banking community will simply say "told you so..."

Exactly the opposite. Mtgox's failure stresses the need for the original purpose of Bitcoin; removing the need for counter-party trust. Storing your assets in any third party or hot wallet goes against the intention of the Bitcoin protocol and is foolhardy. Bitcoin is just as susceptible to being stolen by con artists, governments, and corporations as greenbacks are. Some users learned the hard way that Bitcoin is as safe or dangerous as you choose to make it.

Worse. Let's say that you accept Bitcoin payment years from now and it turns out that that money was part of the MtGox heist. Congratulations, you've now received stolen property, which in many jurisdictions means that it may be taken away from you at any moment, all quite legally.

Comment: Re:Get your popcorn ready! (Score 1) 191

by rjstanford (#46436049) Attached to: The Tangled Tale of Mt. Gox's Missing Millions

The value of a currency is often predicated on having enough of a market in which to spend it.

The US government backs the USD in two important ways; the first, though FDIC et al, by ensuring that there are safe places to store your USD while you're not using them. As we can see, that's not an insignificant benefit.

The second is by guaranteeing that you'll be able to use those USD to pay all of your public debts - taxes, fees, permits, &c. That automatically grants a critical mass as far as having places to spend USD, which means that other people will accept the currency, which then snowballs until you have an effectively universal acceptance rate.

Currently, no Bitcoin backers offer anything close to either of those two benefits.

Comment: FOSS? Who cares? (Score 2) 205

by rjstanford (#46431095) Attached to: Firefox OS Will Become the Mobile OS To Beat


If this really can work for ~3.5 billion people who currently don't have a decent mobile OS (a claim about which I remain skeptical), I guarantee you that at least 3.49 billion of them won't give a damn whether its FOSS or not. Of the remainder, most surely won't care whether its GPL, BSD, or PirateBay licensed.

Comment: Re:Why not badging of the doors ? (Score 1) 130


Comment: Re:One thing that gets overlooked (Score 1) 318

by rjstanford (#46345315) Attached to: Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model S Is Best Overall Vehicle

Unfortunately, it is already wired for 200 amp service for a reason. Many American homes with dryer, range, electric AC/heat, and electric hot water cannot take another 50 amp load without the real possibility of exceeding 200 amps. Having a 200 amp service is no guarantee your ready to add Tesla charging.

So set your charger to run between midnight and 6am - easy. Or some other time when you're unlikely to be running the dryer, cooking, cooling your house, and heating lots of water all at the same time.

Comment: Re:Stock Bump too (Score 1) 318

by rjstanford (#46345301) Attached to: Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model S Is Best Overall Vehicle

The stock was up as high as 17%, and closed up just under 14% (+$30 on the day to $248). With Morgan Stanley estimating a $320 price there is probably significant growth left, It seems they will have no problem funding that 5 to 7 Billion dollar battery plant.

You realize that unless they do another offering, are are buying another company with stock, the rise of fall of the price in the secondary market has absolutely no affect whatsoever on Tesla's ability to build a plant?

Comment: Re:Another Tesla story? (Score 1) 318

by rjstanford (#46345143) Attached to: Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model S Is Best Overall Vehicle

Still only barely competitive with a carpool, which is a shame - though again, to be fair roads are also subsidized somewhat.

Urban roads cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million per lane mile (and up from there). Also remember that most roads have at least two lanes. Even adding a lane to an existing road can cost ~$5 million per mile. Commuter rail is usually dirt cheap in comparison to road expansion, but since maintenance and construction costs are so much less they have far fewer voices during bond elections than the concrete guys do.
