Anybody considering leaving Twitter?

[milk]

Karl will like this tweet I just saw:

"For your consideration. The world's wealthiest man has made the largest purchase of his life at 44 billion dollars. The product? A machine that shows him the thoughts of millions of people who all have one thing in common: they hate him. Tonight...On the Twilight Zone."

It does sound pretty dumb but there are already millions of Twitter users who don't know who he is and don't care about American politics. What direction is SM heading? This all seems very of-the-moment.

[Todd]

What direction is SM heading?

Depending on the outcome in 2024, potentially toward explicitly legislated federal regulation.  Until then, the government will keep coercing private companies to act in desired ways as part of the surveillance state under the Patriot Act.

[Brian]

What direction is SM heading? This all seems very of-the-moment.

My partner, who works in a state-funded science research lab, just got an all-employees email last week reminding everyone that the state government has officially banned the use of Tiktok on all state computers, phones, premises, wifi networks, etc.

[Todd]

My partner, who works in a state-funded science research lab, just got an all-employees email last week reminding everyone that the state government has officially banned the use of Tiktok on all state computers, phones, premises, wifi networks, etc.

Hopefully maselreb migrates to YouTube.  Her court transcript readings are delightful.

There is increasing talk about a national ban of the app.  But beware the power of Big Tech:

TikTok might be too big to ban, no matter what lawmakers say

Some people once warned that breaking up AT&T was impossible.

[71 dB]

Why does the goverment want to ban TikTok? Isn't it just idiotic dance videos that keep people ignorant so that the goverment can keep screwing people over?

[JBS]

Why does the goverment want to ban TikTok? Isn't it just idiotic dance videos that keep people ignorant so that the goverment can keep screwing people over?

The Chinese connection: the CCP apparently can use it as spyware on any phone or computer which has it. (Or at least geoloacation and some personalized data that ought remain private to the user.)

[Todd]

The Chinese connection: the CCP apparently can use it as spyware on any phone or computer which has it. (Or at least geoloacation and some personalized data that ought remain private to the user.)

It is a legitimate concern.  Anecdotally, a former employer in the financial industry purchased a Chinese made security system and learned later that the system sent data to the Chinese corporate headquarters without the knowledge of anyone in the company and outside of the contractual terms.  Upon learning this, the system was immediately shut down and a US made system installed.  Federal financial regulators have been scrutinizing non-US made security systems for years.  And just a few weeks ago, the FCC banned authorizations for certain Chinese manufactured equipment under the Secure Equipment Act of 2021: FCC Bans Authorizations for Devices That Pose National Security Threat

The cited bill passed 420-4 in the House and unanimously in the Senate.

The extent to which any potential TikTok ban, the Secure Equipment Act of 2021, and similar legislation and executive orders are overreactions on security grounds, or benefit special interest groups, and so on can certainly be debated.

One can certainly ponder which central government monitors Americans more closely, the Chinese government or the US federal government.

[SimonNZ]

twitter.com/iamraisini
Just overheard Elon Musk discussing investment opportunities from the Amir of Qatar
@TamimBinHamad & other Saudi Royals for his businesses, specifically Twitter,but from their body language & diplomatic response, it didn't seem very positive. They asked him to find a suitable CEO


oh and:

Musk blamed a Twitter account for an alleged stalker. Police see no link.

[greg]

reputable source.

Okay, maybe this is off-topic and a bit on the weird side.

I just don't buy into the idea of a "reputable source" existing at all, other than my own senses. Yes, of course, there's tabloids and there's news sources which can be semi-consistently accurate, and you prioritize one over the other. But I'd never call anything a "reputable source." It just feels weird (I'm not calling you weird, just that I don't understand the attitude). 

A similar comparison- in the gaming world, certain leakers have been consistently accurate- and recently, I heard they predicted the next big game I'm looking forward to launching on July 22nd... a few weeks later, it is officially announced, so they were accurate. IIRC they got the last 10 out of 11 things right- so would I ever say they are a "reputable source?" It just doesn't feel right- more like I'd say that they are usually accurate, moreso than most, but they can still be wrong. It feels like anyone that calls certain sources "reputable," and just believe and trust them are pretty much outsourcing their perception of reality.

Like, you ever hear certain words and just know you couldn't comfortably use them? There's something possibly profound in that, I think.

Anyways, off topic comment over.   

[SimonNZ]

That's not what the word means.

[Todd]

I just don't buy into the idea of a "reputable source" existing at all

The phrase is ideological. 

[SimonNZ]

The phrase is ideological.

No, but I don't doubt its been misused in that way. I can name a number of right-leaning outlets I'd call reputable.

But you know this - you just want to have a stir.

[Todd]

A web outlet named The Daily Dot has resurrected themes covered early in the year by the august The New York Times and Joy Reid at MSNBC making hay of Musk's nationality:

Elon Musk accused of going back to his 'apartheid roots' after losing Twitter CEO vote, proposing poll tax

I do like how people can and willfully do conflate a poll tax with a paid membership. 

Musk has promised to give up the CEO title once a replacement is found.  Then some people can pretend that the person who owns the privately owned company doesn't ultimately call the shots.  So many possible candidates. 

[greg]

That's not what the word means.

"reputable"- having a good reputation.

In the context of reputation, I'm talking about the reliability aspect of a "reputable source."
A source becomes reputable by becoming reliable/accurate, by perceiving reality correctly. (the opposite example given, tabloids, are not reputable because they do not perceive/portray reality accurately).

Maybe not so much as in a broader context of something like "a reputable ice cream shop."
So was just commenting moreso on the reliability angle that leads to good reputation, which then leads to people quoting the source as fact, or being able to use them as a "trusted source" on a college essay, etc., that sort of thing.

A web outlet named The Daily Dot has resurrected themes covered early in the year by the august The New York Times and Joy Reid at MSNBC making hay of Musk's nationality:

Elon Musk accused of going back to his 'apartheid roots' after losing Twitter CEO vote, proposing poll tax

I do like how people can and willfully do conflate a poll tax with a paid membership. 

Musk has promised to give up the CEO title once a replacement is found.  Then some people can pretend that the person who owns the privately owned company doesn't ultimately call the shots.  So many possible candidates. 

Myspace's Tom commented, now that would be a hilarious twist of events if it were him. 

[SimonNZ]

Elon Musk Becomes First Person Ever to Lose $200 Billion

"Elon Musk was the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of more than $200 billion, breaching that threshold in January 2021, months after Jeff Bezos.

The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer has now achieved a first of his own: becoming the only person in history to erase $200 billion from their net worth."[...]

[Karl Henning]

Elon Musk Becomes First Person Ever to Lose $200 Billion

"Elon Musk was the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of more than $200 billion, breaching that threshold in January 2021, months after Jeff Bezos.

The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer has now achieved a first of his own: becoming the only person in history to erase $200 billion from their net worth."[...]

Perhaps he should consider leaving Twitter ....

[Que]

Perhaps he should consider leaving Twitter ....

Twitter will probably leave him... 

[Todd]

Twitter used the phrase "government partners".  Being a veteran of corporate America, I understand the use of jargon.  Having worked for heavily regulated companies, one word that was never used to describe either federal or state government officials was "partners".  Eh, this is a nothingburger.  Everyone acted in good faith.  Russia, disinformation, public safety, democracy, and all that.

[Todd]

Dozens of media companies set 2023 content deals with Twitter

[Brian]

As of about 15-20 minutes ago, Twitter appears to have implemented strict limits on how often free users can tweet. I triggered a "you have exceeded your daily allowed tweets" by writing an 8th tweet. Someone else told me she'd gotten the message while trying to write tweet #3 of the day.

But, being run by idiots as the company now is, there is currently an easy workaround: schedule your tweet for 1 minute in the future, and it will be readily accepted.