Posted on 11/11/2011 7:57:16 PM PST by Kevmo
NI And The eCat Money Trail
admin on November 11, 2011 — 68 Comments
Peswiki’s scoop on the National Instruments relationship with Rossi is a left-field slam that forces you to think anew. I have a feeling that AR has more of the same in store. He is doing things his own way, sticking a finger to those who tie themselves in knots trying to figure the trick, the small army with big voices who attack anyone associated with the inventor as in-on-the-scam or incompetent. Poor NI do not know what they have let themselves in for. They will undoubtedly become the focus of the razor minds behind the pseudosceptic handles .
The importance of such a link cannot be denied but we have to be careful of assuming too much. We do not know the depth of the relationship and we do not know if NI has had a private demonstration to convince them of AR’s sincerity. It is always possible that the company has done no more than sign up to build some control equipment for the eCat as defined by a spec presented to them by Dr Rossi. If we take such a cautious stance, however, the news is still important .
We are told by Daniele Passerini that talks have been going on since April. NI are well aware of the controversy surrounding the technology and apparently held off until now before making the jump. If – by some miracle – the conglomerate has done so while doubting Rossi, it must be reasonably certain of making money. They are either getting paid up front or believe him a good risk. In such an arena of controversy, that would be quite telling .
If we strip away all our hopeful assumptions and leave the bare-bones commercial deal of one company doing a job for another without trust then we must assume that Andrea Rossi’s financial circumstances have suddenly changed. A few weeks ago, he was running out of the stuff even after putting his house on the line. Remember, this is a businessman who sold a successful enterprise to fund the current venture; taking his life’s work to the wire amid a barrage of FUD disguised as reasonable doubt. Perhaps the pseudosceptics will say he has managed to trap a rich idiot behind the scenes after faking the 28th October customer test. In such a scenario, no real customer existed and Fioravanti was a Rossi plant. In my eyes this is risible but it is the only story capable of holding the weak argument they have .
Without twisting ourselves in knots to deny the mere possibility that the eCat does what it says on the tin, perhaps the following is true:
National Instruments believe they are going to make money. They fully understand the waters they are entering. They trust Rossi or they will be paid up front. Either way, a real customer or investor has stepped in .
We now have to decide what is more likely:
That the geniuses are right. Rossi fooled all those scientists (with stupid demos that would not fool them) built a series of machines using a different magician’s trick each time, hired an actor skilled in talking like an engineer to other engineers, got him to pretend to be the customer rep and then hired another group of ‘extras’ to hover in the background and say nothing afterward. Or that Fioravanti was a real engineer and did not notice the big genset (if only maryyugo had been there) and mistakenly thought he could do his job when he was as incompetent as all those other fools .
The 28th October 1MW Customer was real and paid up. And now the financial landscape has changed. Rossi has orders pushing out for the next two years. No matter how this is parsed, that is a lot of money. If we take a modest production rate of 30 per year, we have projected sales of $120 million right out of the gate .
So far, despite the constant cries of ‘foul’ from the usual suspects, Rossi has done what he said he would do all along. He delivered at the end of October and now, in November, he is in production. I continue to be open to the possibility that this whole thing is a mirage but such a stance takes a determined effort. This move by National Instruments – particularly their willingness to associate their name with the controversy and the implied financial confidence – should make any genuine sceptic wonder .
From the Peswiki Article:
On November 10, 2011 4:39 PM [MST], regarding the above story, I received the following from Trisha McDonell | Corporate PR Manager | National Instruments .
Subject: Re: final Re: contact info for E-Cat / NI contract
Thank you Sterling for allowing us to review. We approve the text, especially the National Instruments portion of the story that includes Stefano’s quote and information .
Best regards Trisha
- Jed
Perhaps NI is simply throwing Rossi a bone?
***I agree.
I don’t see NI’s involvement as that big of a sign at this point.
***True enough. NI probably stands to win big if this turns out real, and stands to lose very little if it’s a fraud. I work for a competitor, so I’m basically jealous at this point.
hype a very routine transaction into a major deal,
***That does appear to be the case here. There are so few verifiable facts being released that the “ecat people” make a big deal out of relatively small stuff.
***Then find the lie. Rossi’s claims seem to be expanding, so it will become easier to catch him in an outright scam if that’s what this is.All of the scams I've researched have taken between 5 and 10 years to fall apart. So, if Rossi is a con artist, I don't expect it to become so obvious that even the true believers give up anytime soon.
Still waiting for:
Recent bits of actual news (as opposed to breathless hype):
None of what you posted is finding the lie. For instance, just because you’re still waiting for independent confirmation does not prove a lie. Rossi has said that his demos are aimed at customers, and that this is how he will establish credibility. Just because he doesn’t do it the way you want, doesn’t mean he’s lying.
NASA found Rossi’s tests to be inadequate to prove his claims.
***They say that he has not tested long enough to them to prove that it’s nuclear. It could be a chemical reaction after all is said and done. If such is the case, NASA will be seen as falling down on the job.
None of what you posted is finding the lie.True, but none of what Rossi does is proving the truth.
Rossi has spent a year engaged in a huge publicity campaign, while at the same time refusing to perform the simple tests that would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is not engaging in fraud.
You believe that it's just "Rossi being Rossi", that is, he's eccentric and that excuses any shortcomings in his work. I contend that he is intentionally producing demos that entice but do not prove anything.
It could be a chemical reaction after allHe claims he is converting Nickel into Copper and Iron. That, by definition is a nuclear reaction.
Of course, since the sample of his spent "fuel" contained only natural isotopes, in the exact same ratio as in nature, it would have been extremely easy for him to have faked that. Contrast this with Miley, who discovered 39 different non-natural isotope concentrations. Producing a sample with 39 non-natural isotopes would be extremely difficult. Rossi's sample could have been faked with the contents of a kid's chemistry set.
Who writes this drivel?
None of what you posted is finding the lie.
True,
***Well, then, ‘nuff said.
None of what you posted is finding the lie.
True,
***Well, then, ‘nuff said.
None of what you posted is finding the lie.
True,
***Well, then, ‘nuff said.
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