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.

oh yeah i hadnt considered that elon just believed the false reports which actually makes a lot of sense when you consider that he was prob just reading tweets and didnt bother to ask anyone at twitter if it was true, elon and trump blaming each other for this is pretty funny americas two big geniuses

very Trumpian that he relies on randos on social media to inform him when he can just ask someone who works for him

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/musk-movie-tiktok-banned-theaters-showtimes-1236734308/

TikTok has banned the entire Musk film account, citing political content that violates its policies. The move, which comes just as the Alex Gibney’s investigation into Elon Musk expands to more than 470 screens across North America, raises concerns about Big Tech suppression that the very film seeks to expose.

Distributor Bleecker Street was informed Friday afternoon a “permanent suspension” was coming. The entire page disappeared from TikTok’s platform shortly after. The film company had been planning to spend ad money to boost certain posts; that will no longer happen.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4usmserhjqkvhldgedfjb3jw/bafkreigihflzjt47fp5xmcy4wdshrg3d2e65d3qqvcfdicaj2qdq4oncaa

WILDER THAN HOT WHEELS

Get this man a cozy coupe

that wild looping track in full

https://i.ibb.co/S46pkj2q/IMG-7381.png

*Elon vigorously plays with his toy cars, making gear shifting sounds with his mouth*

TikTok has banned the entire Musk film account, citing political content that violates its policies.

Unbelievable bullshit. There is plenty of “political content” on TikTok.

treesh has the guy who bought a cintrolling interest in TikTok taken any other bullshit actions that limit and control criticism of billionaires in the last year or is this a one-off

Got me. I am obviously in support of the Ellisons otherwise.

It’s clear there is a structural brokenness at play. But also it is worth recognizing how weak the defenses are even on their own terms.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/17/opinion/elon-musk-republican-politics.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JlE.0aaR.HGP32BGKuKDC&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Jamelle Bouie: If Democrats win Congress this November, they should use their investigative powers to scrutinize Musk’s companies, question his relationships to foreign governments and ensure his compliance with federal law. And a future Democratic White House should use the result of that investigation to re-evaluate the government’s ties to Musk, up to and including removing his security clearances, canceling his contracts, divesting from his companies, leveraging federal antitrust law to break up enterprises such as SpaceX and even placing some key functions under direct federal control.

yeah nationalizing all or parts of spacex is something for consideration to me

NY Times Pitchbot
@nytpitchbot.bsky.social
· 3h
The largest donor in the history of the GOP uses his massive social media platform to promote far-right, eliminationist, pro-Putin, and sometimes even pro-Hitler propaganda. Now here's another article about how Democrats must distance themselves from Hasan Piker.

I wonder how much of that money is paying his own America PAC to post on x dot com. Ended up over there for a moment and the three ads I was served were one from the PAC, one from spacex, and the last from… the epoch times

rumor is that he will put all his companies into tesla to get that sweet trillion dollar bonus.
not that it makes any sense profits-wise, putting unrelated companies into the one that's doing the worst.

Do you think this will happen?
Why not give one to every child in the solar system?

On Monday, Elon Musk announced on X that next year he would give every child in America one SpaceX share.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qp7anqcqescucfwi4wari2z4/bafkreih7q4i6p77qm2ebr2wnhbo2fqfqz3vjlqjzozgkto32a4ptk4qzpm

ok bud

I said the same thing to some bullies in elementary school. Turns out they were working for Soros.

richest man in the world: who’s pulling the strings 🤔?

i swear by god to heap righteous vengeance upon those who attempt to stop me from doing the the most obvious crimes in the world in full view of every law enforcement agency and really anyone who happens to be looking in my direction

I also swear by god to completely misunderstand the proverb "live by the sword, die by the sword"

I guess it's kind of funny that neckbeard culture has turned a clear statement of pacifism understood for centuries into a faux-bushido credo for internet hardmen

Live by the sword and help to contain
The helpless minds of you all
Die by my hand in pools of blood
Clutch yourself as you fall

richest man in the world posts like a 14-year old trying to sound tough on an anime fanfic mailing list

While we were partying, he studied the blade.

and also ate your children sometimes it’s hard to remember