Tag Archives: SpaceX

Elon Musk Shares Vaccine Effectiveness Misinformation!

Elon Musk just shared a viral video which spreads misinformation on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Elon Musk Shares Vaccine Effectiveness Misinformation!

On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, Elon Musk shared a viral video which spreads misinformation on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, that was posted by Wall Street Silver a day earlier.

To top it off, he appeared to make a pun which suggests that the reported efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines was “dis information”.

Elon Musk : Have you heard dis information?

Wall Street Silver : “The Vaccine is 100% Safe and Effective”

Rob Schneider : My family is in the ‘Health Care Industry’…
If you fell for the non-stop fear fest propaganda, hopefully you won’t fall for it again when these mo-fo’s try the same thing NEXT MONTH.
You heard me correctly…
The same people who closed schools and masked children as young as 3 and closed gyms, churches and small businesses while keeping open liquor and Weed dispensaries, have notified hospitals who were told to mass order the same ineffective covid prevention equipment…
They are going back for Sloppy Seconds on the Medical Tyranny Cash Grab…
That is what happens when no safe guards are put in place to prevent its recurrence. Nothing has changed.
The only question they have is… will the people put up with it again?! And for how long?
Or will they have to fake an Alien invasion?! 😉
Have a good night everybody!

Recommended : COVID vaccines have 1000X death rate than safe limit?!

 

Why Elon Musk Should Not Share Such Vaccine Efficacy Misinformation!

The video appears to be legitimate, showing screenshots of news headlines accompanied by the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 – “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.

Let’s take a look at what’s wrong with the video, and why someone like Elon Musk should stop sharing such videos…

Fact #1 : This Is An Old Video From 2022

First, I should point out that this is actually an old video, which originally went viral on Instagram last year – at the end of November 2022.

Fact #2 : Video Timeline Is Not In Order

I should also point out that while the timeline is not in order – the news headlines do not appear in the right chronological order. For example:

0:06 – Pfizer vaccine 100% effective (March 31, 2021)
0:07 – Moderna vaccine 100% effective (May 25, 2021)
0:13 – Pfizer vaccine 97% effective (March 11, 2021)
0:14 – Pfizer vaccine 96.7% effective (May 6, 2021)
0:15 – Moderna vaccine 96% effective, Pfizer vaccine 89% effective (September 23, 2021)
0:17 – Pfizer and Modern vaccines are 94 percent effective (April 28, 2021)
0:18 – Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine still 93% effective (August 5, 2021)

If you look at them chronologically, they tell a different tale:

March 11, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 97% effective (0:13)
March 31, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 100% effective (0:06)
April 28, 2021 : Pfizer and Modern vaccines are 94 percent effective (0:17)
May 6, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 96.7% effective (0:14)
May 26, 2021 : Moderna vaccine 100% effective (0:07)
August 5, 2021 : Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine still 93% effective (0:18)
September 23, 2021 : Moderna vaccine 96% effective, Pfizer vaccine 89% effective (0:15)

Recommended : Do 2023 COVID-19 Vaccines Have “A Lot Of Red Flags”?!

Fact #3 : Video Shows Different Vaccine Outcomes

Now, you may be wondering – why do COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness jump up and down in the chronological order?

For one thing – they are based on different studies, and some variation is to be expected. But more importantly – the screenshots show different outcomes of those COVID-19 vaccine studies:

March 11, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 97% effective against symptomatic COVID-19
March 31, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 100% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in 12-15 year-old kids
April 28, 2021 : Pfizer and Modern vaccines are 94 percent effective in preventing hospitalisation of older adults
May 6, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 96.7% effective at preventing COVID deaths
May 26, 2021 : Moderna vaccine 100% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in 12-17 year old adolescents
August 5, 2021 : Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine still 93% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 after 6 months
September 23, 2021 : Moderna vaccine 96% effective, Pfizer vaccine 89% effective against symptomatic COVID-19

That is like comparing the results of a 100 m sprint versus a 5 km race and a 4 x 400 m relay race. They are all Olympic track events where the fastest competitor wins, but they are simply not comparable!

Fact #4 : Vaccine Effectiveness Is Different From Vaccine Efficacy

When COVID-19 vaccines started to be approved, the results of their Phase 3 clinical trials were announced. You may have seen tables like this one showing the efficacy of those COVID-19 vaccines:

COVID-19
Vaccine
Protection Against
Symptomatic
Infection
Severe
Disease
Death
Pfizer 95.0% 100% 100%
Sputnik V 91.6% 100% 100%
Moderna 94.1% 100% 100%
AstraZeneca 62% ~ 90% 100% 100%
Sinopharm 79% ~ 86% 90% 100%
Sinovac 50.65% 83.7% 100%
J&J Janssen 66.0% 85% 100%
CanSino 65.7% 90.98% 100%

What many people may not understand is that – the above table shows vaccine efficacy, and that is a little different from vaccine effectiveness mentioned in those screenshots.

Vaccine efficacy is the reduction in disease (in percentage) that occurs in a vaccinated group under optimal conditions, compared to an unvaccinated group.

Do not confuse it with vaccine effectiveness, which is the real world ability of the vaccine to prevent the disease. Vaccine effectiveness may be lowered by underlying chronic conditions, medication, age, and even how the vaccine is stored and administered.

You can read more about this difference in my earlier article – Why COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy Does NOT Matter!

Read more : Why COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy Does NOT Matter!

Fact #5 : Vaccine Effectiveness Varies With COVID-19 Variants

The video also (deliberately?) mixes up news headlines comparing the vaccine effectiveness against different COVID-19 variants.

The first-generation COVID-19 vaccines were developed to prevent death and severe disease from the original (or ancestral) SARS-CoV-2 virus. Their Phase 3 clinical trial efficacy results were (mostly) based on that ancestral virus.

However, the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves rapidly, and some new variants will be more capable at evading the antibodies produced by the vaccine, or a previous infection.

That does not mean that those vaccine are useless. It simply means we have to progressively adapt the first-generation vaccines to better deal with the new variants. Those in the military may better recognise this – a classical progression between weapons and armour.

For example, tanks were invented to protect against bullets in the battlefield. Anti-tank guns were then invented to defeat these new tanks. As tanks developed thicker armour, anti-tank guns got bigger and more powerful. After shaped charge rockets (Panzerfaust, RPG) were invented, tank were given spaced armour and later, reactive armour to defeat them.

Similarly, as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves over time, COVID-19 vaccines must evolve to target those new variants.

Fact #6 : COVID-19 Vaccines Have Been Proven Effective

The truth is – COVID-19 vaccines have been proven effective. We see it every day. No more lockdowns. No more overcrowded ICUs or hospitals, with COVID-19 patients gasping for breath in makeshift tents.

Over 13.5 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered worldwide in the past 2.5 years, and they are responsible for allowing the world to reopen safely and completely.

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Starlink Donation : What A Brilliant Way To Make $$$!

Elon Musk just stumbled on a great way for SpaceX to make more money – add a Starlink donation option!

 

Starlink Donation : Way Out For Elon Musk + Brilliant Way To Make $$$

Right after being forced to withdraw his demand for more Starlink funding, Elon Musk just found a fortuitous escape hatch for that PR debacle, and a new and brilliant way to make more money!

Chipper CEO Ham Serunjogi tweeted a day earlier that he would be happy to donate money to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.

Musk jumped on it and asked if anyone else would be interested to donate Starlink to places in need.

Are there others that want to donate Starlinks to places in need?

Without waiting for a poll or positive response from his legion of fans, the SpaceX CEO announced 6 minutes later that SpaceX will add a donate option for Starlink.

Ok, we will add a donate option to Starlink

It took Elon Musk only 6 minutes to realise the genius of the idea. A Starlink donation option would kill two birds with one stone.

Not only would it absolve him of the need to (partially) donate to Ukraine or Iran, or impoverished communities, SpaceX gets to financially benefit from those donations, AND reap the PR benefits on top of that!

That’s a pay nothing, and get all three FREE deal right there! What is there not to like?

Read more : Elon Musk Withdraws Demand For Starlink Funding!

 

Elon Musk + SpaceX Do Not Need A Starlink Donation Option!

Call me a cynic, but this is nothing more than a ploy to enrich SpaceX by squeezing the common people to donate Starlink.

Of course, we don’t yet know how the Starlink donation option will work – it was just a declaration of intent. But neither Elon Musk nor SpaceX actually need to add a Starlink donation option.

SpaceX received and continue to receive tens of millions of dollars in donations to provide Starlink to Ukraine, and we know that because their letter of demand leaked inconvenient details – some 85% of Starlink terminals were donated by third party entities like:

  • USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
  • Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
  • US : almost 1,700 terminals

In other words – there are already institutions donating vast amounts of money to fund Starlink for such “places in need”. Elon Musk himself can fund a lot of CSR projects with his wealth of over $200 BILLION, even if he ends up buying Twitter.

Elon Musk didn’t become a multi-billionaire by donating his money; and despite signing the Giving Pledge in 2012, he has done very little of it.

What is clear though is that neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk need us common folks trying to make ends meet, to donate Starlink.

Read more : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!

 

Why Is Ham Serunjogi Even Asking For A Starlink Donation Option?

I don’t even understand why Ham Serunjogi is publicly asking Elon Musk if there’s a way to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.

As far as I can tell – SpaceX hasn’t even applied for regulatory approval for Starlink in Uganda. So donating to Uganda is a non-starter, the question moot. Pointless.

But if Ham Serunjogi or any other rich technopreneur wants to help connect “places in need” under Starlink coverage, they can simply order and pay for Starlink. As the Nike motto says – Just do it!

Unless the purpose is to get some nice PR without actually doing anything, or heavens forbid – to give Elon Musk a way to switch the topic away from SpaceX’s less than heroic donations to Ukraine.

Here I lay to rest my cynicism, in hopes that I’m wrong, and Ham Serunjogi and other rich people will do their bit to bring Internet connectivity to people who don’t yet have access.

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Elon Musk Withdraws Demand For Starlink Funding!

Elon Musk has officially withdrawn SpaceX’s demand for more Starlink funding in Ukraine!

 

Elon Musk Withdraws Demand For Starlink Funding!

Elon Musk was seen as a saviour to Ukrainians, after his company – SpaceX, shipped thousands of its satellite terminals to Ukraine, and activated its Starlink satellite Internet services.

But he came under fire after a SpaceX letter demanding more funding leaked, exposing how most of Starlink service in Ukraine was being funded by third party entities, including the US, UK and Polish governments.

The backlash resulted in an angry “The hell with it” retort by Musk, which could either mean he was going to continue subsidising a small part of Starlink services in Ukraine, or he was just being sarcastic.

That was finally clarified when he tweeted that SpaceX officially withdrew its request for (additional) funding.

SpaceX has already withdrawn its request for funding

He could barely hide his indignation at being “exposed” for only subsidising a small percentage of Starlink services in Ukraine, with his follow-up tweet to “clarify” that SpaceX was only getting paid for 42% of Starlink users in Ukraine.

To be precise, 25,300 terminals were sent to Ukraine, but, at present, only 10,630 are paying for service

While that sounds “bad”, the truth is – SpaceX was charging an ultra-premium $2,500 for its Starlink service in Ukraine, when most users only needed the much cheaper $500 connectivity, or the $60 consumer connectivity.

That’s like charging them for Gigabit broadband, when they only need 50 Mbps or 100 Mbps connectivity. The cost is the same, but the company gets to claim that they are being fleeced, when the truth is – they are looking to profiteer off a country desperately trying to fight off a Russian invasion.

Come on, Elon…

Read more : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!

 

Elon Musk / SpaceX Is Making Money Off Starlink In Ukraine!

As a capitalist and a corporation respectively, Elon Musk and SpaceX are entitled to profit off the Starlink satellite service. But it is also important to note that Ukraine has offered SpaceX a unique opportunity to showcase the advantages of the Starlink system.

The overwhelmingly positive media coverage of Starlink’s importance in the Ukraine War is something money can’t buy. So it is important that Elon Musk and SpaceX do not abuse their unique position, to focus on profit, profit, profit.

Not only do they stand to lose that positive news coverage, it could also open a bag of worms… like when the leaked letter exposed that SpaceX was not as charitable as everyone thought.

According to the leaked SpaceX letter, about 85% of the 20,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine were paid or partially paid for by countries like the US, the UK and Poland. Those countries also paid for about 30% of the Internet connectivity, which costs $4,500 per month per unit.

That service cost was also brought into question since it was their top-tier pricing, when the majority of users in Ukraine only needed the much cheaper $500 per month connectivity, and consumer connectivity only cost $60 per month. It looked like SpaceX was profiteering off Ukraine’s desperation.

The SpaceX letter naturally rankled the Pentagon, with one senior defence official saying that SpaceX has “the gall to look like heroes” and present them with a bill for tens of millions of dollars, when Starlink service in Ukraine was already being sponsored in large part by outside sources.

Let’s hope that Elon Musk and SpaceX has learned their lesson on trying to profit off the Ukraine War…

Read more : Elon Musk Personally Blocked Starlink In Crimea!

 

Earlier : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!

According to an exclusive report by CNN, SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote a letter to the Pentagon, warning that it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service.

SpaceX delivered about 20,000 Starlink satellite terminals to Ukraine so far, with CEO Elon Musk stating on Friday that the “operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year“.

We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.

In the letter that was sent in September, SpaceX asked the Pentagon to fund the Ukraine government’s use of Starlink, which would cost $124 million for the rest of the year, and could cost as much as $380 million for the next 12 months.

Here is a breakdown of Starlink costs in Ukraine, and who paid for what:

  • USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
  • Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
  • US : almost 1,700 terminals

SpaceX priced the two Starlink satellite terminal models it sent to Ukraine at $1,500 and $2,500, even though the consumer model is cheaper at just $599.

SpaceX claims to have paid for about 70% of the service provided to those Starlink terminals, but that’s based on their claim to have offered the highest level of service at $4,500 per month, even though the majority only signed on for the cheaper $500 per month service. Starlink consumer service in Ukraine, in comparison, costs just $60 per month!

 

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Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Elon Musk To Keep (Partly) Funding Starlink In Ukraine!

Amidst the recent funding controversy, Elon Musk has begrudgingly agreed to keep (partly) funding Starlink services in Ukraine!

 

Elon Musk To Keep (Partly) Funding Starlink In Ukraine!

Elon Musk was seen as a saviour to Ukrainians, after his company – SpaceX, shipped thousands of its satellite terminals to Ukraine, and activated its Starlink satellite Internet services.

Starlink has been critical in providing the Ukrainian government and military forces with secure communications, and the ability to control drones to monitor or attack Russian forces.

But that burnish was just soiled by the raging controversy over SpaceX’s reluctance to “keep paying” for Starlink in Ukraine, especially when it’s revealed that most of the “free” terminals and services were funded by other parties!

In what appears to be a rage post, Elon Musk begrudgingly agreed to keep (partly) funding Starlink services in Ukraine on Saturday, October 15, 2022:

The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.

Of course, that could be nothing more than Musk’s sarcastic response to what he probably perceives as a lack of appreciation for SpaceX’s efforts.

Read more : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!

 

Elon Musk / SpaceX Is Making Money Off Starlink In Ukraine!

As a capitalist and a corporation respectively, Elon Musk and SpaceX are entitled to profit off the Starlink satellite service. But it is also important to note that Ukraine has offered SpaceX a unique opportunity to showcase the advantages of the Starlink system.

The overwhelmingly positive media coverage of Starlink’s importance in the Ukraine War is something money can’t buy. So it is important that Elon Musk and SpaceX do not abuse their unique position, to focus on profit, profit, profit.

Not only do they stand to lose that positive news coverage, it could also open a bag of worms… like when the leaked letter exposed that SpaceX was not as charitable as everyone thought.

According to the leaked SpaceX letter, about 85% of the 20,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine were paid or partially paid for by countries like the US, the UK and Poland. Those countries also paid for about 30% of the Internet connectivity, which costs $4,500 per month per unit.

That service cost was also brought into question since it was their top-tier pricing, when the majority of users in Ukraine only needed the much cheaper $500 per month connectivity, and consumer connectivity only cost $60 per month. It looked like SpaceX was profiteering off Ukraine’s desperation.

The SpaceX letter naturally rankled the Pentagon, with one senior defence official saying that SpaceX has “the gall to look like heroes” and present them with a bill for tens of millions of dollars, when Starlink service in Ukraine was already being sponsored in large part by outside sources.

Let’s hope that Elon Musk and SpaceX has learned their lesson on trying to profit off the Ukraine War…

Read more : Elon Musk Personally Blocked Starlink In Crimea!

 

Earlier : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!

According to an exclusive report by CNN, SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote a letter to the Pentagon, warning that it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service.

SpaceX delivered about 20,000 Starlink satellite terminals to Ukraine so far, with CEO Elon Musk stating on Friday that the “operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year“.

We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.

In the letter that was sent in September, SpaceX asked the Pentagon to fund the Ukraine government’s use of Starlink, which would cost $124 million for the rest of the year, and could cost as much as $380 million for the next 12 months.

Here is a breakdown of Starlink costs in Ukraine, and who paid for what:

  • USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
  • Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
  • US : almost 1,700 terminals

SpaceX priced the two Starlink satellite terminal models it sent to Ukraine at $1,500 and $2,500, even though the consumer model is cheaper at just $599.

SpaceX claims to have paid for about 70% of the service provided to those Starlink terminals, but that’s based on their claim to have offered the highest level of service at $4,500 per month, even though the majority only signed on for the cheaper $500 per month service. Starlink consumer service in Ukraine, in comparison, costs just $60 per month!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!

SpaceX is no longer willing to pay for Starlink satellite service in Ukraine!

 

SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!

The stars are shining for once on Russian President Vladimir Putin in his invasion of Ukraine!

According to an exclusive report by CNN, SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote a letter to the Pentagon, warning that it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service.

SpaceX delivered about 20,000 Starlink satellite terminals to Ukraine so far, with CEO Elon Musk stating on Friday that the “operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year“.

We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.

In the letter that was sent in September, SpaceX asked the Pentagon to fund the Ukraine government’s use of Starlink, which would cost $124 million for the rest of the year, and could cost as much as $380 million for the next 12 months.

Here is a breakdown of Starlink costs in Ukraine, and who paid for what:

  • USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
  • Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
  • US : almost 1,700 terminals

SpaceX priced the two Starlink satellite terminal models it sent to Ukraine at $1,500 and $2,500, even though the consumer model is cheaper at just $599.

SpaceX claims to have paid for about 70% of the service provided to those Starlink terminals, but that’s based on their claim to have offered the highest level of service at $4,500 per month, even though the majority only signed on for the cheaper $500 per month service. Starlink consumer service in Ukraine, in comparison, costs just $60 per month!

Read more : Elon Musk Personally Blocked Starlink In Crimea!

 

Loss Of Starlink In Ukraine Will Be Disastrous

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service has been vital to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield, proving its government and military with secure communications and Internet connectivity.

It not only provides Ukrainian forces with secure communications, it allows them to control drones to monitor and even attack Russian forces.

However, that reliance on SpaceX and its Starlink satellite service is a double-edged sword – it appears to be highly reliant on whims and fancies of its erratic CEO – Elon Musk.

Revelations about this letter raises concerns about Musk’s allegiance in the Ukraine War, after his much-derided Ukraine peace plan on October 3, 2022.

Not only did Elon Musk personally block the use of Starlink in Russia-occupied Crimea, the Ukrainian counteroffensives in the South and East were recently stymied by outages on the battlefield.

That has affected every effort of the Ukrainians to push past that front. Starlink is the main way units on the battlefield have to communicate.

According to SpaceX, about 85% of the 20,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine were paid or partially paid for by countries like the US, the UK and Poland. Those countries also paid for about 30% of the Internet connectivity, which costs $4,500 per month per unit.

The SpaceX letter rankled the Pentagon, with one senior defence official saying that SpaceX has “the gall to look like heroes” and present them with a bill for tens of millions of dollars, when Starlink service in Ukraine was  already being sponsored in large part by outside sources.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Elon Musk : China Says No To Starlink!

Elon Musk just revealed that the Chinese government directly told him they do not want Starlink operational in China!

 

Elon Musk : China Says No To Starlink!

In an interview with Financial Times, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that he was directly contacted by representatives of the Chinese government over Starlink.

He was told, in no uncertain terms, that Beijing disapproved of his rollout of Starlink in Ukraine, and demanded that he won’t sell Starlink in China.

Beijing has made it clear that it disapproves of his recent rollout of Starlink […] in Ukraine… [and] demanded assurances that he would not sell Starlink in China.

It is odd that Beijing would make a personal demand to Elon Musk, as it has the regulatory authority to determine if SpaceX is allowed to market and sell Starlink in China.

What the Chinese government is probably trying to do is get Musk to “turn off” Starlink in Chinese territory, like how he blocked Starlink in Russia-occupied Crimea.

Musk did not say whether he would obey Beijing’s request to never export Starlink to China. However, it is doubtful he would defy such a personal “request” by the Chinese government.

After all, Tesla has a major factory in China that produces hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles. Even if China does not shut down Gigafactory Shanghai to protect local workers and suppliers, it can cut off supply of critical EV components to Tesla’s other Gigafactories around the world.

The Starlink Services Map does not show any plan by SpaceX to roll out the satellite Internet service in China. In Asia, Starlink just started operations in Japan, and is “pending regulatory approval” in Taiwan, Vietnam and Mongolia.

 

Why CCP Fears Elon Musk Will Activate Starlink In China

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government has been keenly monitoring Elon Musk and the effect Starlink has on bypassing censorship.

Since February 2022, SpaceX shipped over 25,000 Starlink dishes to Ukraine, providing its military forces with secure satellite communications that has been game-changing. It not only kept Ukraine online, it allowed the Ukrainian military to launch drones to monitor and attack Russian forces.

Then in September 2022, Elon Musk activated Starlink in Iran to help its citizens bypass Internet restrictions and censorship during the government crackdown on protests over the death of Mahsa Amini.

China is understandably very concerned about how Starlink could allow its citizens to bypass its much vaunted Great Firewall to access the Internet, unfiltered.

Chinese military scientists have even called for their government to develop a “hard kill” weapon to destroy Starlink satellites.

Thus it is very unlikely that CCP government will ever approve the marketing and sale of Starlink in China. In fact, they are likely to demand that Starlink be blocked in Chinese territory.

The CCP government certainly does not want Chinese citizens to be able to bypass its Great Firewall by smuggling in Starlink dishes.

And the only way to do that is to pressure Elon Musk into blocking Starlink in China.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Elon Musk Personally Blocked Starlink In Crimea!

Elon Musk personally blocked Ukraine from accessing Starlink in Russia-occupied Crimea over concerns it could start a nuclear war!

 

Elon Musk Personally Blocked Starlink In Crimea!

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, Elon Musk and the US government have provided Kyiv with thousands of Starlink systems, providing Ukrainian forces with satellite communications.

The low energy requirements of the Starlink satellite receivers also made it useful in controlling reconnaissance drones which provide valuable, real-time intelligence on Russian forces.

So it’s no wonder Elon Musk has been kind of a hero to the Ukrainian people, until he suggested that Russia should be allowed to keep Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk.

After that suggestion met with a collective “Fuck off” from Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk and the Ukrainian government in general, Musk was embroiled in more controversy.

According a report published on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, Elon Musk personally rejected a request by Ukraine to use the Starlink satellite Internet service in Russia-occupied Crimea.

Apparently, the SpaceX CEO feared that a Ukrainian assault to retake the peninsula from Russia could lead to a nuclear war after a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Read more : Ukraine : 60K Russian Soldiers + 2.4K Tanks Killed!

According to Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer, Elon Musk was asked by the Ukrainian defence ministry to activate Starlink in Crimea, which had been annexed by Russia since 2014.

Musk “refused, given the potential for escalation“, after recently speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin who said that he was “prepared to negotiate“.

That was what apparently led to Elon Musk to propose his much-derided Ukraine peace plan on October 3, 2022.

Ukraine-Russia Peace:

– Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people.

– Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).

– Water supply to Crimea assured.

– Ukraine remains neutral.

This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end – just a question of how many die before then

Also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war

 

Elon Musk Denies Speaking With Putin, But Not Blocking Starlink

Elon Musk flatly denied speaking with Vladimir Putin recently, stating that his last conversation with the Russian President was “18 months ago” on “space“.

He also stated that it was “pointless” to speak with Putin, as “there is currently no overlap between Russian and Ukrainian demands” and that “it’s not even close“.

The Russian government backed Musk, with a Kremlin spokesperson stating on Tuesday that Musk and Russian President Putin had a phone call around a year and a half ago, but didn’t specify what was discussed.

Interestingly, even though Elon Musk was quick to deny any recent contact with Putin, he did not deny personally blocking Ukraine from using Starlink in Crimea.

That decision to block Starlink would likely make it very difficult, if not impossible, for Ukrainian forces to send drones to monitor or attack Russian forces in Crimea.

It is also troubling that Musk has the personal power to make decisions that directly affect Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian aggression.

On one hand, Ukraine needs Starlink for secure communications. On the other hand, their secure communications is now dependent on the whims and fancies of one man – Elon Musk.

 

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NVIDIA, IBM and Toyota Keynotes For GTC 2016

Singapore, April 4, 2016NVIDIA today announced that the three keynote addresses at its upcoming GPU Technology Conference (GTC) will be webcast live on the NVIDIA blog.

GTC 2016 Keynote Schedule

Day 1: Jen-Hsun Huang, NVIDIA co-founder and CEO, April 6, 12 to 2am (Singapore)
Day 2: Rob High, IBM Watson CTO, April 7, 2 to 3am (Singapore)
Day 3:Gill Pratt, Toyota Research Institute CEO, April 8, 2 to 3 am (Singapore)

GTC 2016 will showcase the vital role GPU technology plays in some of the industry’s biggest trends, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality and self-driving cars. This year’s event will feature more than 500 sessions with speakers from Alibaba, Audi, Baidu, Boeing, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Pixar, Raytheon, Samsung, Siemens, SpaceX and Twitter, among many others.

GTC 2016 also includes a day-long event, the Emerging Companies Summit, on April 6, focused on GPU-based startups. Nearly 100 startups will participate this year, including an onstage competition among a dozen companies vying for US$100,000. Many more startups will show VR, drones, robots, and other advanced technologies in the GTC Expo Hall.

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