mysteries - Gizmodo

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Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
What in the Hell Is This Thing? A Skateboard Etch-A-Sketch?
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Thangka
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
Guy also has one of the largest private yachts in the world.

Shit like this raises Socialist hackles on my back. #larryellison
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pdok
11/08/09

@Thangka: Who do you think got paid the $10 million it took to make that mast, or the whole yacht? That money pays a lot of wages down the line.

It's kind of like the current rant against private jet ownership. That kind of money is made to be spent, and it goes back into the pockets of a lot of people working for a living in the form of salary. #larryellison
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Thangka
11/08/09

@pdok: The egregious disparity of wealth is what raises my "socialist hackles." Of course there's a trail of money left in his wake (hah, pun fun). #larryellison
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ludwigk
11/09/09

@pdok: No, the problem with private jet ownership is that it is essentially subsidized by regular fliers, commercial airlines, tax allowances, and dodgy accounting, etc. such that private jet fliers do not bear the true costs of their usage. That, and trickle down economic theories simply do not work.

But, I don't begrudge Ellison his $10M yacht masts. Hell, he's one of the fun billionaires, and I'd keep him around just for the lulz. It's those *boring* billionaires, the ones who are snorting gold dust and crack cocaine off of an 18-year old's ass, then wiping their nose off on another 18-year old's ass, and not telling me about it. They fail to amuse me one bit. Who needs 'em? #larryellison
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pdok
11/09/09

@ludwigk: My comment wasn't about the economics of jet ownership, but about the "rant" against it. There are many hands in the till, obviously, which is true of sports teams, brothels, or your choice of money-making ventures.

My perception is that people react to the indulgence of the rich with a mixture of disgust and envy, preventing an objective look at what their money does in the economy.

I'm not going to debate economics (I'd lose), however it's fair to say that with the government's perpetual orgy of spending, any trickling down is probably coming from an orifice best unnamed. #larryellison
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fastm3driver
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
And from a engineering perspective: If the mast broke, why would you want to put another one of the same type back on the boat? #larryellison
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bobofish
11/08/09

@fastm3driver: Super high performan.ce stuff breaks all the time. Stuff like that is not usually built for durability, but pure performance.

We're not talking about your run of the mill bamboo or wood mast lovingly goldplated by virgins. Rather, it's going to be a hand built composite mast where every single inch of it is designed for optimal performance.

A formula 1 car can cost a good 15 million. The handbuilt engine, about $8mill worth, is good for maximum two races and then needs to be scrapped. Ferrari could build it to last 15 races, but then it wouldn't get the revs and power that they need to win a race.

Often performance and durability are on opposite ends of a design scale. For a racing team on the ground or in the water, it's an art to figure out where the balance between the two is for any given application. #larryellison
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fastm3driver
11/08/09

@bobofish: If a part breaks in F1 they improve on it before making another one. Do you think they designed the mast to last one run?
I get your point though. I'm a M.E., a F1 fan and I grew up in Newport RI. :) #larryellison
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ludwigk
11/09/09

@bobofish: I can squint really hard and accept your argument with regard to F1 cars, where performance = speed and power, but how is this germane to the America's Cup? What sort of race is this? #larryellison
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bobofish
11/09/09

@ludwigk: If I squint really hard, I can see Wikipedia from my house.

There you will find exactly what kind of a race it is.

Just because a race is one on one does not mean it's any less of a race.

Going back to the F1 analogy, a lot of people would gladly eat their livers to have seen Ayrton Senna vs. Schumacher head to head, or even more recently Alonso and Schumacher one on one with nobody else on the track.

Come to think of it, the F1 analogy to America's Cup isn't bad. Both are as much fundraising and organisational efforts as they are actual racing. Maybe that's fair or maybe not, but it is what it is and people are obsessed about both sports. #larryellison
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ludwigk
11/09/09

@bobofish: Nope. Wikipedia did NOT contain the substantive information about the race sufficient to establish that performance would be a much higher priority than durability. #larryellison
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Kaiser-Machead
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
Yeah, that's real fine expensive gear you brought out here, Mr. Ellison. 'Course I don't know what that bastard shark's gonna do with it, might eat it I suppose. Seen one eat a rockin' chair one time. #larryellison
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Gordonium
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
Yeah, Ellison's spot-on when he said that it was a "minor setback." Those professional racers have pit crews loaded with replacement parts at every single port of call they make, every leg of every race. A broken mast will kill their chances of winning a leg, but those two reserves are waiting quietly for the Oracle boat to pull into harbor.

You want to see some catastrophic yacht racing damage? Check out some of the footage of this year's Volvo Ocean Race. Nothin' like replacing an exploded rudder, in the middle of a freezing ocean, getting dunked in the drink!

[www.volvooceanrace.org] #larryellison
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Curves
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
I can hear the sound of that snapping mast in my soul. Gorgeous craft. #larryellison
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ridgecity
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
What materials does that mast have to use to cost $10,000,000?

I think these guys are getting ripped-offs... #larryellison
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Darksider1972
11/08/09

@ridgecity: Considering how huge that thing is and it's made of completely Carbon Fiber, Price sounds about right.. #larryellison
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njdevil
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
For a lot less than $10 million I would build a boat made out of strippers and cocaine, powered by the Pope's piss and shaped like nunchucks. #larryellison
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Mazzle
11/08/09

@njdevil: Chuck Norris called, he wants his blueprints back #larryellison
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Mike Zuniga: That was Unexpected
11/08/09

In reply to Anyone Have a Spare $10 Million Racing Yacht Mast Lying Around?
Ten dollars for a mast? Completely unreasonable! #larryellison
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Jack Loftus
11/08/09

@Mike Zuniga: That was Unexpected: No kidding. Unfortunately, it's $10 million, and I'm an idiot :-) #larryellison
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rjp: This is my rebuttal
11/08/09

@Mike Zuniga: That was Unexpected: I bought some $10 mast the other day. The guy had some in the back of a white van and was telling me it was a killer deal. I now have five and no idea what to do with them. I guess if the going rate on them is $10 million, I could sell a few of them. #larryellison
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Curves
08/14/09

In reply to What in the Hell Is This Thing? A Skateboard Etch-A-Sketch?
This is why I love engineers.
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GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee
08/13/09

In reply to What in the Hell Is This Thing? A Skateboard Etch-A-Sketch?
Wait! Did you know that there's a direct correlation between the decline of Spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Think about it.
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bosskev
08/13/09

@GitEmSteveDave'sAPeacefulMandalorian...:

Indeed. In my neighborhood, we're going on 45 years now of ever-spiraling gang warfare, with the inner radius Hypotrochoids drawn in deadly turf battles against the outer radius Epitrochoids.

Talks to unify all gangs as HasBro's have only gone in circles.

(Sorry it took me so long, GitEm, I was asleep at the wheel.)

(And by wheel *clears throat* I do not mean Apple's fabled new product.)
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reddingofish
08/10/09

In reply to What Is This?
It's the Monolith.
Yes I read the book.
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DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star.
08/10/09

In reply to What Is This?
"Well, if it's caught in Saturn's gravitational pull, it's not anything WE need to worry about, is it?"
"Actually, General, I'd say it's definitely something we should worry about, as it is currently moving AWAY from Saturn"
"What are you saying?"
"Sir, what I'm saying is that it is headed our way. And it just made a course correction. Naturally occurring objects don't course correct."
*dun dun DUUUUUUN!*
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Razta
08/10/09

In reply to What Is This?
If you didnt say it was from around Saturn, I would have guessed a long exposure of the ISS flying by.
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diehippiedie
08/10/09

In reply to What Is This?
**SPOILER**
That's the moment rebel BaseStar jumped into the Saturn orbit, Galactica will soon follow, i guess the school bus gadget missed the rest of the fleet.
They are 250,000 years late, but the horny crews aboard those ships will still try to mate with you earthlings, be warned...
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MessYoSelf!
08/10/09

@diehippiedie: and this is a problem how?
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DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star.
08/10/09

@mespenlaub: It's not the horny Cylons from the newer series, it's the horny Cylons from the original series.
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shawnaroo
08/09/09

In reply to What Is This?
It's a bit more than a million kilometers away to saturn's F-ring. Closer to a billion and a half actually.
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Jack Loftus
08/10/09

@shawnaroo: Definitely right. Corrected the mistake. Thank you.
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Edited by Jack Loftus at 08/10/09 11:39 AM Jack Loftus was starred Jack Loftus was unstarred

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