Elon Musk

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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.

Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 04:40 (eleven years ago)

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

"Turkey In The Straw" coming from someplace in the clouds (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 05:14 (eleven years ago)

Bad connotations...

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

Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 05:21 (eleven years ago)

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, 13 August 2013 06:23 (eleven years ago)

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

joe sixpac hologram (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 11:33 (eleven years ago)

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

joe sixpac hologram (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 11:35 (eleven years ago)

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.

American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:18 (eleven years ago)

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

darraghmac, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:23 (eleven years ago)

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

markers, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:23 (eleven years ago)

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

carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:27 (eleven years ago)

iirc he has liberal tendencies mixed in w the libertarianism

lag∞n, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:28 (eleven years ago)

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)

the supreme personality of Godhead : a summary study (a passing spacecadet), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:35 (eleven years ago)

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

nonetheless, this is a stupid proposal

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:35 (eleven years ago)

do tell

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

BIG HOOS aka the denigrated boogeyman (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 15:48 (eleven years ago)

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.

wk, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 16:15 (eleven years ago)

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

Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 16:15 (eleven years ago)

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

^^^

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 16:18 (eleven years ago)

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.

wk, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 16:26 (eleven years ago)

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.

Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 16:41 (eleven years ago)

the main challenges are not engineering-related, their political

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 16:43 (eleven years ago)

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.

wk, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 16:54 (eleven years ago)

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

Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:08 (eleven years ago)

right, that aspect has been p funny

BIG HOOS aka the denigrated boogeyman (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:10 (eleven years ago)

haha, I missed that part

wk, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:11 (eleven years ago)

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

lag∞n, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:12 (eleven years ago)

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.

the late great, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:13 (eleven years ago)

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

carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:15 (eleven years ago)

there already are freight trains

wk, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:16 (eleven years ago)

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.

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:17 (eleven years ago)

there are a lot more trucks xp

carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:17 (eleven years ago)

what exactly are you proposing?

wk, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:20 (eleven years ago)

a solar powered superhighway paved with bitcoins duh

BIG HOOS aka the denigrated boogeyman (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:21 (eleven years ago)

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

carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:21 (eleven years ago)

HOOS otm

carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:21 (eleven years ago)

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.

wk, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:24 (eleven years ago)

If this thing actually worked the political will would develop pretty quickly. If the Acela line was shipping people 400 miles in 30 minutes every state would want one.

Which is why yeah, he should just fucking build one. I wonder what a good demonstration distance would be.

Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:30 (eleven years ago)

L.A. to S.D.?

cops on horse (WilliamC), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:52 (eleven years ago)

http://www.humancannonball.us/IMAGES/photos/017.jpg

HOOS next aka won't get steened again (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:53 (eleven years ago)

what are the possible operating failure modes on one these loops

you're better off in a supersonic jet (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:56 (eleven years ago)

giant pillow deployment

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:57 (eleven years ago)

halp im stuck in a tube inside of a tube

you're better off in a supersonic jet (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:58 (eleven years ago)

*giant sucking sound*

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:59 (eleven years ago)

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/rsjem23/HomerWaterslide.jpg

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:01 (eleven years ago)

homerloop

BIG HOOS aka the denigrated boogeyman (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:14 (eleven years ago)

i don't understand why this would be a good alternative to commuter flights

I'd rather see the money spent on suburb-to-city trolley lines

the late great, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:18 (eleven years ago)

commuter flights are very carbon-intensive, for one thing

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:23 (eleven years ago)

There are ways.

http://opinion-forum.com/index/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/airplane_hybrid.jpg

Here's the storify, of a lovely ladify (Phil D.), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:25 (eleven years ago)

wouldn't even a dependable normal rail line be comparable to commuter flights by the time you figure in airport screening and boarding times and shit?

carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:33 (eleven years ago)

n/m, I am being way optimistic about rail speeds

carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:33 (eleven years ago)

there is a rail line that runs the California coast, it's called Amtrak

joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:34 (eleven years ago)

Better start practicing talking to people again.

xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 08:55 (yesterday)

You will get better at it, predictably.

Naledi, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 11:39 (yesterday)

We can all start reading books again.

And play outside.

xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 11:41 (yesterday)

We can kick a ball on the street

Blake the Messenger (Tom D.), Wednesday, 9 July 2025 11:43 (yesterday)

you kick it, I'm tired

Proust Ian Rush (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 9 July 2025 11:59 (yesterday)

I just had to mute "grok" on bluesky. Only my 2nd muted word after "Eurovision" (sorry Ned).

Well I hey

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 12:10 (yesterday)

Separately: paywalled but lol

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/doge-elon-musk-left-control-92770407?mod=e2tw

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 12:11 (yesterday)

Sounds like a new frontier if chatbots can impersonate their owner or any other person. Imagine this at scale. The internet is done for.

― Naledi, Wednesday, July 9, 2025 3:32 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's probably really easy to do for Elon Musk, not just because he never shuts the fuck up but also because all his opinions are derived from people who post online 18 hours a day. I've seen people use it to imitate bloggers and message board posters and it's generally pretty bad at it.

frogbs, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 13:26 (yesterday)

I don't think that's even a good Musk impersonation tbh. Musk's posts and those screengrabs do share the hideous racism but behind it the AI still has the same sort of sentence construction and perky tics. Also tbf Musk lacks the attention span to write posts as long as the ones itt.

a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 9 July 2025 13:37 (yesterday)

Sounds like a new frontier if chatbots can impersonate their owner or any other person. Imagine this at scale. The internet is done for.

― Naledi, Wednesday, July 9, 2025 3:32 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is like, half of the stupid shit on LinkedIn that I see people commenting on elsewhere. people sending their "agent" to a Teams/Zoom meeting to take notes and possibly interact, ghost meetings where every participant is an AI agent and no humans are in attendance, etc.

this is by no means widespread and is going to come off as dumb or goofy to most people. dumb bots impersonating or creating personas and baiting reactions has been a problem on social media for some time now! it's just an extension of dead internet theory

ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 9 July 2025 13:53 (yesterday)

Wasn't aware of the "theory", thanks for sharing. Nor did I know that the bot density is estimated to be over 10% on Twitter and potentially worse on Reddit. I was still thinking of the Russian troll farms and speculating that a chatbot could create an army of puppets and corrupt / kill online social interaction on any space that is not specifically protected for it. I'm less worried for the professional space.

Naledi, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 14:34 (yesterday)

you don't need automation for that, you just need to either hire contractors or whip up public sentiment by placing the right agitators in the right space, like on a racist WhatsApp or Facebook group

via wikipedia:

In 2013, a Freedom House report stated that 22 of 60 countries examined have been using paid pro-government commentators to manipulate online discussions, and that Russia has been at the forefront of this practice for several years, along with China and Bahrain. In the same year, Russian reporters investigated the St. Petersburg Internet Research Agency, which employs at least 400 people. They found that the agency covertly hired young people as "Internet operators" paid to write pro-Russian postings and comments, smearing opposition leader Alexei Navalny and U.S. politics and culture.

Russian efforts were notable, but not in any way unique. The troll farm method still exists, but it kind of became eclipsed by doing something more straightforward -- identifying individuals who are already well-placed to disseminate views sympathetic to your country or cause, and funding them: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/well-known-right-wing-influencers-duped-to-work-for-covert-russian-operation-u-s-prosecutors-say

ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 9 July 2025 14:42 (yesterday)

or in Elon's case, you just buy Twitter and then make it so that anyone not aligned with your views is disincentivized from using the platform, and make it harder to bring new information to the platform by not propagating links to other websites. maybe make people think the only on-site way to get outside information is via your chatbot, that only allows views you personally like

he's just bad at it and is slowly burning the whole thing down

ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 9 July 2025 14:44 (yesterday)


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