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.

has there been a “grok made me do it” homicide defense yet?

i overheard two guys probably in their late 60's yesterday while getting coffee, and the one guy with health issues said he didn't need to see a doctor because Grok already diagnosed him.

Jesus

Doc Grok

Grok is thinning the heat to make more room for the spawn of Musk.

Elon wants to bore tunnels under Houston to help with flood relief, line pockets etc.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2025/08/28/a-texas-congressman-is-quietly-helping-elon-musk-pitch-building-760m-tunnels-under-houston-to-ease-flooding/

thought that url was clickhole for a second

CNN with the Tesla Diner Puff Piece, an attempt at 'Epic Baconing Elon':

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/31/business/tesla-diner-elon-musk

Jacob Towe, a high-end lighting designer, visited the diner while on a trip from Florida. He told CNN that before the diner opened, fans were limited to visiting exclusive supercharger stations, going on factory tours or visiting SpaceX’s Starbase. The diner is a more “down-to-earth” and “natural” place to “chat with like-minded people,” he said.

Towe, who owns five Teslas, several Starlink satellite internet devices, as well as Tesla powerwall and powerbank charging systems, said he sees Musk as one of the world’s rare innovators.

He said he appreciates Musk’s ability to ignore public opinion — even to a fault. “It’s entertaining, if nothing else,” Towe said, adding that it’s an example of Musk being “100% data, 0% noise.”

He also admires Musk’s jump into politics and Musk’s vow to start his own political party after a public squabble with Trump. Towe called the political undertaking “pretty impressive” and an example of Musk choosing “a hard path.”

“(Musk will) come up with something that everyone says should not be done, or it’s actually really hard and … way too expensive,” Towe said. “Musk will somehow do it and figure it out and then somehow make money out of it.”

A group of fans recently presented Musk with “thank you” letters and a compilation video as part of the annual “X Takeover” event in Silicon Valley. The effort started as a Tesla fan event but evolved into a celebration of Musk’s companies.

John Stringer, one of the event’s organizers and the president of the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley group, told CNN that the video came about because of the way Musk and his companies have been treated.

“I’m a believer in the things that he’s doing because it’s having an impact, and no one else is driving this type of impact,” Stringer said, before adding that Musk is “the greatest mind on the planet.”

“He is out here trying to help the world and make it better,” Stringer said.

adding that Musk is “the greatest mind on the planet.”

We all need our heroes. If you're a clown, it's only natural that your hero is the biggest clown on earth.

One of the most striking things about these people is how evident it is that they have never helped anyone else in their entire lives, so they don’t know what helping anyone or trying to make this sad world a better place actually looks like. Totally braindead.

and its all part of their status game anyway

probably a >50% chance this hyundai battery plant raid was done as a favor / appeasement to elon yeah?

https://www.axios.com/2025/09/10/larry-ellison-net-worth-oracle-stock

Elon Musk no longer the world's richest man

Battle of the Iron Man 2 cameos.

Houston already has a shit ton of tunnels underneath it

xp i heard ai might blow up oracle

Thread of Enoch Musk speaking via video at an Anti-Immigration Rally in the UK today.
https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3lyqfcyxgjk2a

...and he's also aiding in the doxxing of regular working people who dared to be not sad about Kirk biting it.

https://bsky.app/profile/jsweetli.bsky.social/post/3lyqs7kehqc22

if Trump dies in office these ppl may die too of overwork

Is there a drag king named Elon Masc?

Pilot dies after plane carrying nearly 200kg of SpaceX-branded cocaine crashes in remote Brazil
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/pilot-dies-after-plane-carrying-nearly-200kg-of-spacex-branded-cocaine-crashes-in-remote-brazil/ar-AA1MFyhv

Got a tear in my eye hear, because if the Outback wrangler case has taught us anything it’s that if you want someone truly incompetent to fly your cocaine around, no one does that better than an Aussie pilot.

She’ll be right, mate!

It's John DeLorean all over again!

Only if the Australian government entrapped him

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/23/errol-elon-musk-father-sexual-abuse-accusations

never would have guessed the dad was a wrong 'un

grim reading though

not sure how that article omits mentioning he's married to a stepdaughter

nasty stuff

Festen was a documentary, etc

he's not actually married to her, but they have a child together

the NYT article goes into detail on it