Elon Musk

lol

i have a plan for a train that goes from boston to atlanta in 10mins, its called lasertrain and ill give you some cool drawings of it in a couple weeks, its ridiculous no one is building it btw it only costs $10

im not gonna build it tho cause im kinda busy

even i can afford that

unveiling this while CA is deep in the hole with it's bullet-train project (something I support wholeheartedly btw) is pretty arrogant

isn't his point that hyperloop would be fraction of the cost and twice as fast?

the douchey thing is that he made a big ol deal abt something thats not at all real

Which is how 70% of architecture and urban planning works.

sure 70% that sounds totally realistic too

I meant 94% sorry.

To me, it really sounds like a kickstarter project... but from a billionaire.

i mean who knows maybe its revolutionary technology but its so preliminary its p comical to call a press conference abt it

maybe this is the best way to convince someone else to give it a shot idk

LOL "elon musk"

This should keep us occupied for a while: http://www.spacex.com/hyperloop

markers, here are some of the people that were entertainingly scathing: kalebhorton, quartzcity, tcarmody, mikesonn

I wasn't scathing about Musk (I am about futurism in general) - if anything, he has a good track record on quixotic tech quests. I hope he's successful with this. I also hope there's a state left that can use it.

unveiling this while CA is deep in the hole with it's bullet-train project (something I support wholeheartedly btw) is pretty arrogant

Knowing how CA politics works (and the CA rail projects are amazingly political), how would you expect a non-arrogant to even get traction with this?

I have no doubt that Musk will solve the Hyperloop technical issues. I very much have doubts about him navigating Sacramento.

I was describing this to my wife today and kept calling it Supertube.

Bad connotations...

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supertrain-1_7696.jpg

lol @ the "open source" pdf proposal. build a section of the thing and then get back to us when you have it working.

Musk says the Hyperloop is best for distances of 900 miles. Beyond 900 miles, he thinks you're better off in a supersonic jet.

Lol

I never use my supersonic jet anymore as parking is always a total bitch

I have to say I rather like Elon Musk. He's made a massive pile of money and rather than sitting on it or managing it in mundane ways; he's making risky bets on thinks he's passionate about: Cars, Rockets, vacuum tubes.

Hyperloop seems a bit ridiculous to me, vacuum tube powered trains and trains in evacuated tubes are an old chestnut, almost as old as railways themselves. However, he's built a commercially viable private space programme and a car company* in the last ten years so anything is possible.

*Tesla isn't really a car company it's a power train company and if it is still making cars in 5 years I'll be surprised.

ya i'm kinda ll for crackpot genius billionaires actually doing interesting stuff, up until they become str8 up supervillains obv

lol @ the "open source" pdf proposal. build a section of the thing and then get back to us when you have it working.

― wk, Tuesday, August 13, 2013 2:23 AM

he might do this

is this dude one of the crazy silicon valley libertarian types or is he just beloved by them?

iirc he has liberal tendencies mixed in w the libertarianism

xp I heard him speak and he seemed not crazy and to have some kind of social or at least environmental conscience, unlike the usual libertarian types, but maybe he's just better at hiding it

(I like him too fwiw and right now he seems one of the most likely "crackpot genius billionaires" to solve some hard problems which are overdue for solving, so I hope he carries on with that. Also hoping that one day I'll get to see/read his computer game that appeared in some 8-bit micro type-in listings mag in the 80s)

he's not as bad as some of the other silicon valley libtards, I'll give him that.

nonetheless, this is a stupid proposal

do tell

curious to read a critique that amounts to more than 'hyperlol'

I think it's dumb that he's throwing around numbers when he doesn't even have a working prototype. It just seems like he's hoping to derail the other project. I also think the "open source" thing is pretty silly since it's not like code where an individual can make some kind of improvement and test it out to see if it works. I guess an open source design is an interesting idea after the fact if he actually gets it working and other people want to build his design, but it still seems basically irrelevant.

Didn't he make his fortune with Peter thiel?
I don't know if that is "guilt by association" or "looking better by comparison"

It just seems like he's hoping to derail the other project

^^^

A key part of his criticism of the other rail plan is that it's "more expensive to operate (if unsubsidized)." I'd like to see some more detailed numbers on that though. Why would we count the cost of unsubsidized rail against air travel which is heavily subsidized? All that really matters is cost to the traveller, and unlike airlines, I'm assuming the high speed rail system is not going to be run as a for-profit business. He also makes no comparison of the environmental costs of air flight vs. the planned high speed rail system.

markers, here are some of the people that were entertainingly scathing: kalebhorton, quartzcity, tcarmody, mikesonn

― eris bueller (lukas), Monday, August 12, 2013 11:24 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm generally contemptuous of futurists, primarily because they seem to think energy and climate change problems will just sort themselves out, but a mass transit system that relies on solar power and transports people across one of the busiest stretches of highway in America is a good thing. I looked at the first two feeds you suggested and they seemed to just be saying this is just a toy for rich people, which is afaict completely unsupported by his proposal. He's not suggesting a magic carpet for billionaires; it's mass transit that uses solar power. This is a good thing! Maybe it's completely impossible hogwash, but I'd like to see actual engineering criticism of it instead of casual dismissals based on suspicion of ideas from rich people.

the main challenges are not engineering-related, their political

anybody who is over the age of 25, has lived in a city for any length of time, and paid a modicum of attention to the world around them knows that these kinds of massive public works projects tend to be underbid by shady contractors and then they go wildly over the original schedule and budget. so the fact that he's coming in saying he can do it so much cheaper with a totally new and untested technology is a huge red flag. to me it immediately suggests that the whole thing is not serious.

if he honestly thinks this is a feasible plan he should raise some funding and build a private line from LA to Vegas.

It's transparently unserious in that he doesn't want to do it himself and "regrets even mentioning it"

right, that aspect has been p funny

haha, I missed that part

ya seems like he said something offhandedly then realized abt his celebrity

a mass transit system that relies on solar power and transports people across one of the busiest stretches of highway in America is a good thing.

people don't commute the LA to SF corridor though. i have a hard time believing a transit system would fill the role of the 5 freeway. it's mostly trucks anyway.

You know what would do really well in transportation corridors like that? Plain old freight trains.

I swear, the interstate highway system and the fact it's mostly used for semi truck freight is the biggest money hole in our post-WW2 car-dependent wonderland

there already are freight trains

people don't commute the LA to SF corridor though.

?! they most certainly do. there are these things called commuter flights, they are booked solid all the time.

there are a lot more trucks xp

what exactly are you proposing?

a solar powered superhighway paved with bitcoins duh

that we subsidize more public transport of freight in addition to passengers? or at least reallocate money away from interstate highways

idk, iatee and his ideas about gas prices to thread

HOOS otm

ah, ok. I thought maybe there was a problem with CA's existing freight lines. I don't really know anything about them but I do see freight trains going up and down the state all the time.

ahem, that’s a Zero and a negative zero, sir

the two best kinds of zero

please clap

https://bsky.app/profile/vantazach.bsky.social/post/3mczkai3a3223

oh my gosh what

Zac Estrada zacestrada.com‬

Wow. Tesla expects to end Model S and Model X production in Q2, giving them an "honorable discharge"

Converting space at Fremont to Optimus production space

yeah sure the robots

is this the soonest hes ever promised to do some fake thing, its too soon you cant just say youre going to stop making half your cars in a few months gotta think this stuff through man

Sales on the S and X have dropped 50% over the last year

‪e.w. niedermeyer‬ niedermeyer.online‬

Musk posits a hypothetical scenario where Optimus robots could build a rare earth refinery, but they would need an "orchestra conductor" to guide that work, which is where Grok would come in.

What could go wrong

What could go right is if the robots and grok become sentient and decide to make beautiful music instead.

rare earth? no, heavy metal

Musk posits a hypothetical scenario

yeaahhhhh I feel like he does this alot

For some reason I got a free copy of Washingtonian magazine this month with a pretty amusing snarky article about the Hyperloop and how unimpressed local govt was with Musk and Co. They humored him for a while, then it became clear there was zero plan.

Rare earth? Get ready!

Sales on the S and X have dropped 50% over the last year

Never fear! The cybertruck's soaring global popularity will send tesla's automotive profits to the moon!!!!

how is this company worth anything

fathomless credulity on the part of some, encouraging speculative greed on the part of others

Rare earth? Get ready!

I Know I'm Losing You Tesla

The rare earth minerals feat the forever chemicals

niedermeyer‬ niedermeyer.online‬

Musk posits a hypothetical scenario where Optimus robots could build a rare earth refinery, but they would need an "orchestra conductor" to guide that work, which is where Grok would come in.

― lag∞n, Wednesday, January 28, 2026 6:30 PM bookmarkflaglink

What could go wrong

― tobo73, Wednesday, January 28, 2026 6:52 PM bookmarkflaglink

What could go right is if the robots and grok become sentient and decide to make beautiful music instead.

― Heez, Wednesday, January 28, 2026 7:01 PM bookmarkflaglink

rare earth? no, heavy metal

― lag∞n, Wednesday, January 28, 2026 7:19 PM bookmarkflaglink

god damn, where's an excelsior thread when you need one

hahahaha, I already put that exchange in the current excelsior thread!

just checked on elons twitter and every reply is calling him a pedo

how is this company worth anything

The power of pot commitment.

cant he just block them

hes trying to play it cool

imagine being such a loser that you’re asking to go to pedophile island at 6am on Christmas morning https://t.co/aU0p7Uwn02

— wyatt dunkin (@WyattDuncan) January 31, 2026

Even sadder is getting pushed off to Ghislaine to deal with and then getting brushed off by her. Even they didn’t want Elon at the island.

the email with the Ghislaine brush-off reply is fake