Bitchin Dave Newsletter - September 5

   

September 5, 2023 Insights, news, ramblings, and other serious nonsense from Dave

Dave’s Musings

I was sick, and never got around to producing a newsletter last week. Feeling better now, so here we go.

During a football game between Kent State and UCF this weekend, the announcers mentioned the Kent State massacre, which happened in 1970. They were short on actual details but did remind us that the National Guard opened fire on students protesting Vietnam, killing 4. They also mentioned that the band Devo had also gone to Kent State. One of the announcers had no idea who Devo was, or that there was a deeper connection between the band and the shooting. You can read more about that here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-kent-state-massacre-music-20180504-story.html

But this lack of appreciation for history didn't quite stop there. UCF won the game (handily) and posted something to social media that read "SOMEONE CALL THE NATIONAL GUARD!" .... which was instantly a regrettable decision. They deleted the post and apologized.

Oops. I think its important we understand and embrace our own past, regardless of how painful it feels. We can't just be ignorant to things that happened.

  

We had an interstellar visitor recently. No really! A half-meter meteor was detected in 2014, and seen streaking through the sky by people on the ground. US Space Command determined its speed and suggested that to reach that speed, it likely came from outside the galaxy. A group of scientists went off in search of fragments of the meteor, and found traces of Beryllium that would indicate the object had originated from outside of our galaxy. An amazing discovery. Cosmos Magazine Article

In my video (below), I talk about Tesla's secret sauce, which is their charging network. I don't talk about a specific detail: how they manage that network. In the past, they had a driver reporting system, coupled with some simplistic monitoring. But today, they use a fairly sophisticated monitoring system that allows for them to see the status and usage of charging stations, and to integrate it into your car so that they route you to less busy and/or working units. Its a very, very cool use of technology and a sort of AI. Charging

Here's a little something of interest. According to public filings, Disney will pay around $190 million in taxes to the state of Florida. That amount is about 85% of the total tax collected by Reedy Creek - now the Central Florida Oversight Board. Its unclear how that compares to other central Florida tourism businesses, but it is more than 50% of the total revenue generated. In the state of Florida, Disney provides between 3% - 5% of the overall tax collected. That is the largest individual contribution by any company. In summary, why did the governor pick a fight with his largest single tax contributor and employer?

During the pandemic, movie theaters naturally struggled. Some closed, some negotiated deals with distributors, some took on loans or other debt. More direct-to-streaming also contributed to a change, in spite of lawsuits related to royalties. And the writers strike isn't helping matters. What was clear to me was that the model that was in use pre-pandemic was not sustainable. Sure there's a "return to the box office" ongoing, but its nothing like it had been. Last week, I saw what could be the future. Taylor Swift announced a limited engagement movie-theater viewing for her successful world tour. Possibly, it violated some "rules" that were in place for movie distribution and pricing. But that really doesn't matter. The future may be more on-demand, event types of entertainment - and less traditional movie distribution.

One Little Spark …  … for your imagination

Sustainability and Climate Action are inseparable.  Or so says an article in Nature.  Essentially, they note that while there are agreements among various nations, there needs to be some specific action and trust among us.  We all live on this planet, and need to work toward a common goal and essentially build on the trust that we are in it for the right reasons, and al have a goal of reducing emissions and helping our environment.

Dave’s latest video

I talk about Tesla and their secret sauce. https://youtu.be/e0l32Rjxong?si=p_PHf6wr5ZdbHJNY

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