Sunday, January 3, 2016 -- "Milliards And Milliards" To Quote Carl Sagan

Updates

Later, 10:04 a.m. Central Time: I was "somewhat" wrong regarding the statement I made about The Guardian and $7.3 million (the reader posting the first comment was exactly correct -- it should have been "$7.3 milliard" if using a British term):

The link: http://eyeful-tower.com/muse/billion.htm.

Also, another typo: I did not mean, "addicted to the blog." I meant "addicted to the net." But, yes, I am addicted to both.

And finally, another great link from today's Guardian: VisiCalc.

Original Post

 

If you arrived at the site looking for news on the Bakken, scroll down or to the sidebar at the right. This post will have nothing about the Bakken.

For those addicted to the blog, the #1 on-line newspaper is The [London] Guardian. It has:

• all the stories that the Drudge Report links
• more in the arts section than The New York Times
• it has a world edition, a US edition, and a UK edition
• it has no paywalls

Some articles from the Guardian today:

• The Boston Globe has a delivery crisis on its hands; I was not aware of this; it's not being reported at The Boston Globe site or at the Drudge Report
• folks have trouble understanding big numbers; The Guardian reported that the ESPN 12-year contract for the college bowl games was for $7.3 million. In fact, it was for $7.3 billion; this was not a typo; folks simply have trouble understanding big numbers 
• the midwest floods are going to "get ugly": I think more folks and I know a much larger geographic area was involved than what Hurricane Katrina did, but has the president even flown over the devastation; oh, that's right; he flew over the area when he flew out to Hawaii; my bad
• an article on AA
• the Coen brothers have a new movie coming out, February, 2016; looks like a winner
• Gillian Anderson is featured; X-Files is returning -- can you believe that? Wow

And that's just for starters; I could  have gone on for quite some time. I did not see any articles about the Bakken boom going bust.

******************************

US Car Sales

Updates

Later, 3:05 p.m. Central Time: Tesla says it missed its original target, but with self-fulfilling guidance hit a new, revised, lower number. It appears Bloomberg simply printed the Tesla self-congratulatory press release:

Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors Inc. hit the low end of its latest target to deliver at least 50,000 vehicles for the year, shipping 17,400 vehicles in the fourth quarter.

The maker of electric cars and energy storage devices delivered 50,580 Model S sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles in 2015, Tesla said in a statement Sunday.

While that’s less than the 55,000 Tesla had projected in a February letter to shareholders, it was in line with its revised estimate of 50,000 to 52,000 from November.

Yeah, a month ago. Hard to miss on a forecast less than a month old.

Original Post

 

The numbers should be out tomorrow. This article is a nice prelude.

Automakers have enjoyed an unequaled run of success in the United States because of pent-up consumer demand, cheap gas prices and low interest rates. But despite record sales, manufacturers must continue updating their vehicles and improving technology to keep the good times rolling.

As the auto industry tallies its final numbers for 2015, it appears certain that annual sales in the United States will eclipse the previous record of 17.4 million set in 2000. Yet while the industry basks in its accomplishment of returning to sales levels not seen since before the most recent recession, the market looks far different today than it did 15 years ago.

And it's only going to get better. Have you all seen the new Ford commercial? I can't find the one I'm looking for, so this will have to do:


The subway-riding-New York Times reporter who said cars would be obsolete / gone by 2025 is a nutcase.

*****************************

Best Short History of Great Britain

A Concise History of England: From Stonehenge to the Atomic Age, with 225 illustrations, F. E. Halliday, c. 1964 and 1980.