Could this be a milestone?

One thing to watch for is a development like this.  If SpaceX starts to raise investment funds, then look out.  That's a positive "look out".  It is negative for their competitors.  The money will roll in, and they won't have anything that will block their way, save their own mistakes.

The Starship will get built.  That much is sure.  Whether or not it will work is another story.

SpaceX raises more than a billion in investment capital https://t.co/h9s6O3UbhT

— Greg Meadows (@BootsandOilBlog) May 26, 2019

An asteroid might have your name on it

It's kinda in the news.

We could be like the dinos, which got wiped out by an asteroid.  I suppose cockroaches could do a better job of running things than humans.

Self-driving cars: A solution in search of a problem

This puts the cart before the horse.   Identify the problem first.    Then you can find the solution to that problem.

Here is a problem to solve.  Drunk driving is responsible for half of the fatalities on the highways.  Can self-driving cars solve that problem?

Let's imagine what technology could do for the drunk behind the wheel.

The kind of technology that enables self-driving cars could be used to enhance driving skills.   It could correct errors that could result in accidents.  Indeed, this kind of technology could help anyone become a better driver.   Why not use this technology this way, as opposed to replacing humans altogether?

DOZR

Well, this is a tweet embedded here to remind me to look into this one of these days.  It is supposed to be like Uber for heavy equipment, like bulldozers ---- get it?

In other words, rent the big equipment for a reasonable price.

Worth checking out.

Earthworks nation.#Construction #Earthmoving #HeavyEquipment #ConstructionLifestyle #ConstructingHistory #mgicorp pic.twitter.com/aEy9QnvZeY

— MGI Construction (@mgicorp_) May 1, 2019

Using geothermal plans to make the "coffin"

For a long time now, I have been studying ways to minimize power use so as to do the climate control function.  Climate control will use the most energy of all the functions for living out there.   Consequently, in order to make this a realistic project, there cannot be something that is going to require a lot of generating capacity.

The reason is that is won't be as secure.  You have to be aware of security out there, and if you have a lot of valuable equipment around, there are bound to be people who think they need it more than I do.

Another problem is in the building of something, if it involves the use of heavy equipment.  If you leave your equipment out there, that is also vulnerable to being stolen.  It is just a fact of life that you have to be aware of at all times.

This means that I have to build something that doesn't require heavy equipment, and is a realistic project for someone who doesn't have that many resources available.

The use of geothermal techniques intrigues me, but it is going to require some heavy earth-moving equipment.  Or so I am told.  I have no reason to doubt the advice.  No, the problem is that I don't want to go that way if that is what is going to be required.  Either I scale down my plans, or abandon these geothermal ideas.

So, I've have scaled down to about 4 feet.  My idea is to climate control a limited space, like the coffin concept discussed previously.  This would entail digging about 4 feet down, and building up about 2 feet.  It would only be about 8 feet long, and 4 feet wide.  That's still a lot of dirt.

This scaled down project still doesn't satisfy the critics.  Well, then, I got another idea.  I won't mention it here, only that the planning stages of this project are still ongoing, and the lack of posting doesn't mean anything except that I am into the planning stages only.

Come to think of it, all of this may be academic.  So, in a way, yes, it could mean that this off-grid project may never happen at all.

But if it can happen, I will do it.