Re: McCain runs away from his top adviser's comment.

allan.sanger@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Jun 24, 7:59 am, Islander <nos...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
allan.san...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Jun 23, 9:47 pm, Islander <nos...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Rita wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:32:25 -0400, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
<mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com> wrote:
Harry Hope wrote:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD91G29A00
John McCain distanced himself Monday from a top adviser who said
another terrorist attack on U.S. soil this election year would benefit
the Republican presidential candidate.
Barack Obama's campaign called the comment a "complete disgrace."
Black said Monday he regretted the comment.
I fully expect his resignation within 24 hours. What an incredibly stupid thing
to say to a reporter. I don't doubt he regrets the comment.
He is one of McCain's top honchos -- very close to him. I doubt he
will resign. McCain has already lost several from his campaign staff.
Candidates do have problems when campaign staff babble to the press.
The fuss took some of the attention away from McCain's $300 million
battery. I think we should just pass up fuel and batteries and such
and give a huge reward for the invention of a perpetual motion machine
that uses nothng at all. Once it is jump started it would go on
forever and ever.
Black evidently thought that he could pull of a Rove attack and failed
terribly. An example of a campaign that is already in disarray.
McCain has come up with some interesting ideas and the battery bounty is
one of a series. He is attempting to build a reputation of thinking
outside the box.
There are some notable examples of government programs that have
leveraged results by offering a bounty for some development instead of
attempting to contract for the development - a process that the military
seems to be having some trouble with.
IIRC, there was an Air Force competition for a fighter jet a few years
ago. The leading Defense manufacturers competed with each other to
produce the first model and there was a fly-off for the production
contract. I don't remember the details.
But, my old employer, DARPA, has had a competition for an autonomous
land vehicle, run three times so far. It has stimulated a lot of
creativity and they have gotten a lot for their $2M prize.
http://www.darpa.mil/GRANDCHALLENGE/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge
http://www.darpagrandchallenge.com/
Pretty fun stuff for a techie!
But, back to McCain's idea. There is presently a LOT of research going
on in battery technology. It is not obvious that McCain's $300M prize
will stimulate anything that is not already happening.
I always thought the solar challenge was a great idea.
http://www.americansolarchallenge.org/
al
Yes, indeed! I was at Stanford when this began with the race across
Australia. It produced a lot of interdisciplinary excitement between
the several departments at Stanford that participated in building their car.

How much of the technology has moved into a commercial space? Any
idea?

al

No idea, but there is a strong tradition of entrepreneurship at Stanford. I know of no place where it is easier to launch a new company and no place where you can find everything you need nearby. The entire region is a massive business incubator.

IIRC, there was a Stanford Professor who was working on high efficiency solar cells. They were not up to competing with GaAs technology produced by the Japanese at the time, but had promise for economical production in volume as lightweight and flexible panels. He launched a company which now produces panels where the solar cells are deposited on a continuous stainless steel substrate. Very rugged, inexpensive, and beginning to be used in private homes.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: McCain runs away from his top advisers comment.
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  • Re: McCain runs away from his top advisers comment.
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