Jump to content

Elon Musk: Officially a fraud and piece of shit. Official or unofficial war criminal?


MaybeACoordinator

Recommended Posts

48 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

We need to get used to thinking differently, we have a new class of aristocrats. I can’t think of something that would be less interesting to Elon than more money, can you? The fact that he partnered with the royal family of an authoritarian petrokingdom should be a clue that making X turn a profit isn’t the goal here; it’s not a good bet to hope that the Saudis are going to come calling for their money back. 

Elon's goal is to shelter himself from any criticism and to provide cover/aid to authoritarian dictators. See his aid for Erdogan, Modi, Xi and MBS that is already public. 

  • Hook 'Em 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/first-two-satellites-for-amazons-broadband-megaconstellation-launch-today/

Quote

The first two prototype satellites for Amazon's broadband network launched Friday from Florida, the first in a series of at least 77 rocket launches the retail giant has booked over the next six years to deploy a fleet of more than 3,200 spacecraft to rival SpaceX's Starlink system.

These first two satellites for Amazon's $10 billion Internet megaconstellation, called Project Kuiper, took off on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:06 pm EDT (18:06 UTC).

Thats Nice Reaction GIF by MOODMAN

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, Hawndoh said:

Now that F150 and Silverado have EV offerings I'm not sure Rivian stands any chance whatsoever.

The truck market is so very brand loyal and it's nearly impossible to break decades of branding momentum from Ford and GM.

I think you’re discounting all the customers who just to be hardcore edgelords 

image.thumb.jpeg.a8c9eb0eb960f3b4ef1684f6da968dd2.jpeg

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Hawndoh said:

Now that F150 and Silverado have EV offerings I'm not sure Rivian stands any chance whatsoever.

The truck market is so very brand loyal and it's nearly impossible to break decades of branding momentum from Ford and GM.

The Rivian R1T got much better reviews than Ford or Chevy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/6/2023 at 11:15 AM, Captain Ron said:

The Washington Post has an article up about the Jeremy Banner/Autopilot crash from March 1, 2019. This is one of over 700 crashes (19 of which were fatal, including this one) that occurred while Autopilot was engaged. This crash is the similar one to the Joshua Brown crash from 2016 (also fatal) where a Tesla went under a semi truck.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/tesla-autopilot-crash-analysis/

(Warning - there is a video of the crash from a side angle in this article)

This is notable because this case is in court to determine if Tesla has some fault for this accident. 

I don't know how many read this article but a couple lowpoints.

image.thumb.png.de50139fe791d28a128c85ce6996e609.png

 

The accident at issue occurred in FL in 2019. After driving under the semitrailer and having the top shorn off while on "autopilot", the Tesla continued to drive one-third of a mile before lazily coasting to a stop in the median of a parkway. The video of the accident was obtained by the Post from a video cam of a nearby farm.

Tesla argues autopilot was not designed to reliably detect cross-traffic, or traffic moving perpendicular to a vehicle

Tesla also argues Autopilot was not designed to operate on roads with cross-traffic, their lawyers say in court documents. But they don't explain why Tesla allows it to be activated on such roads, nor why they allow operators to set crusing speeds on those roads far above the speed limit.

The lawsuit is on hold while issues pertaining to potential punitive damages are considered. This is a "gifted link" so anyone should be able to read it without a sub or without 12 foot ladder type apps. https://wapo.st/46i8YP2

It has some interesting graphics and video. I don't consider it "graphic" so I didn't spoiler the image of the wreck.

 

 

Edited by Chopper
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, Chopper said:

Tesla argues autopilot was not designed to reliably detect cross-traffic, or traffic moving perpendicular to a vehicle

Tesla also argues Autopilot was not designed to operate on roads with cross-traffic, their lawyers say in court documents. But they don't explain why Tesla allows it to be activated on such roads, nor why they allow operators to set crusing speeds on those roads far above the speed limit.

Tesla is in for a world of hurt once the law catches up to his games with his so-called FSD module. There's no planet earth in which a control system using only raster image inputs to evaluate the outside world will have enough data appropriately handle the chaos of the real world. Hell, even in extremely controlled and low speed environments with only a single entity, computer vision can drift pretty significantly.

 

I don't understand how Tesla hasn't gotten sued into the ground yet with some of the injuries and property damage being accomplished by their 100% safe autopilot system

  • Hook 'Em 6
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Captainant said:

lulz elon's language is ridiculous - "maximally accurate" is such a strange phrase. If only he could get some doubleplus good contributors for his site

Musk saying this:

Quote

“Martyrs” is not an objective or accurate word, nor is “murdered”. The former implies dying for a cause in battle and the latter implies a deliberate attempt to kill those specific people. While reporting both sides is fair, please use maximally accurate words or I must withdraw my recommendation to follow your account."

Quote

As always, please try stay as close to the truth as possible, even for stuff you don’t like. This platform aspires to maximize signal/noise of the human collectiv

I'm picturing it in Stewie's voice

Stewie Griffin Laughing GIF

And when people bail on twitter for the latest fuck-up/policy change, this is also Musk:

Family Guy Love GIF

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh boy.  A new ad format that can't be reported or blocked
 

https://mashable.com/article/twitter-x-new-clickbait-ad-format

 

Quote

X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter, has begun serving its users with a weird new ad format and it's one of the company's least transparent products yet.

The rollout of these ads also provides the public with a hint regarding just how much the company is struggling to attract advertisers.

Multiple X users have reached out to Mashable over the past few days to report seeing a new type of ad in their For You feed that they had not previously come across on the platform. These new X ads don't allow users to like or retweet the ad posts. In fact, the new ad format also doesn't disclose who is behind the ad or that it is even an advertisement at all.

 

images-1.fill.size_2000x1432.v1696612481

 

Quote

Mashable has confirmed this ad format with numerous users from across X and have seen a variety of different ads running this bizarre new format that just consists of written copy text, a photo, and a fake avatar that's sole purpose is to make the ad look like an organically posted tweet. 

The type of content being promoted in the ads that Mashable has viewed appear to be consistent with ads found in spammy, low quality "chumbox" advertising – typically defined as those clickbait ads found at the bottom of posts on content farm sites – made popular by native ad networks like Taboola. 

 

Quote

"This Seems Unbelievable, But Happens in Dubai Everyday" reads one ad that takes users to a third-party content mill website, overloaded with ads of its own. "These Incredibly Cool Gadgets That Are Going To Sell Out This Year. Action Now!" and "If you suffer from ringing ears (Tinnitus) you're going to love this recent breakthrough" are other examples of some of the content found in these X ads.

 

images-2.fill.size_2000x1374.v1696612481

 

Spoiler

Users who have seen these X ads report being taken to a third-party website in a new window upon clicking anywhere within the ad, including when they try to click on the fake avatar. There is no X post to open nor is there a user profile attached to the ad to visit. So far, Mashable has seen these ads served to users within X's mobile apps. Its unclear if the ads are also running on the web version of the platform. 

Mashable was able to find advertisements similar to the aforementioned X ads using the same exact text copy running through ad networks on Yahoo and Taboola competitors like RevContent. Mashable could not locate this X ad format in the platform's ad campaign manager so it appears these ads are actually being served by a third-party ad provider. 

The presence of these ads is actually quite telling about the state of advertising on Musk's social media platform.


X turns to the chumbox amid direct ad sale decline
Since Musk's acquisition of the company, X has struggled to attract advertisers to the platform. Half of the platform's biggest advertisers stopped running ads shortly after Musk's takeover. Furthermore, according to a new report from Media Matters For America, the advertisers who have returned are spending up to 90 percent less on advertising on X than they did prior to Musk acquiring the company. Another recent report from Reuters found that Musk's X has faced declining revenue each and every month since he became the owner of the company.

In order to help with declining ad revenue, X has turned to partnering with third-parties within the adtech industry to sell available advertising inventory. Just last month, Google announced it would be partnering with X to sell programmatic advertising. Earlier this year, X also partnered with InMobi, a mobile-focused programmatic ad sales company.

 

 

X ad in feed

images-4.fill.size_2000x2713.v1696612481
This is how the new X ads look among real, organic posts in the For You feed. 


So, what does that mean? Users are likely seeing these ads because X no longer has any direct ad inventory to serve them. This could mean that these particular users seeing these ads are not being targeted by any brands that are running ads at the moment. Or brands that are advertising on X and targeting these users have exhausted their ad spend for the moment. It's also possible that these users have blocked brand accounts that would've targeted them with ads otherwise. 

Whatever the reason these users aren't being served ads directly from the platform, the point is that they aren't seeing them. And that means that X hasn't been able to sell enough ad space directly to brands and need to instead serve advertisements from ad networks. In turn, X makes less money as direct ad sales typically generate much more revenue for a company.

 

These new clickbait X ads
Typically, how it worked on Twitter and then on X until now, ads on the platform were just normal posts that an advertiser paid to show users in their feeds, replies, or profiles. 

However, this new ad format completely breaks that as these ads are technically not posts, even if they somewhat look the part. All the engagement buttons on these new X ads are completely grayed out. For example, users are unable to click like, retweet, or reply. These ads cannot be clicked to open in full tweet view like every other X ad format. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/7/2023 at 7:51 AM, Hawndoh said:

Now that F150 and Silverado have EV offerings I'm not sure Rivian stands any chance whatsoever.

The truck market is so very brand loyal and it's nearly impossible to break decades of branding momentum from Ford and GM.

The Rivian pickup is kind of ugly. The SUV is beautiful.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neuralink's "Grisly Monkey Experiments" (great band name, BTW)

https://futurism.com/neoscope/neuralink-implant-ruptured-monkeys-brain

Quote

The behind the scenes details of Neuralink's grisly monkey experiments just keep getting worse.

Now, a followup investigation by Wired reveals that a Neuralink implant "deformed and ruptured" the brain of one female macaque, after an experiment caused severe cerebral swelling.

The trials, conducted at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) at UC Davis by Neuralink scientists, had left the seven-year-old monkey with "severe neurological defects."

After noting the severity of its brain swelling, the researchers realized that the primate was terminal. But instead of easing its suffering, the scientist overseeing the experiment insisted the monkey be kept alive another day.

Its final 24 hours were torturous. Per documents obtained by Wired, the monkey seized and vomited, lost control of her right leg, and shook uncontrollably. It also appeared to have trouble breathing, scratching at its throat and gasping for air.

A postmortem revealed the extent of the damage. Leaked adhesive from the implant had inflamed the part of the brain that secretes cerebrospinal fluid. The effects were so severe that the rear of the monkey's brain protruded from its skull, though how the cavity was created is unclear.

But as bad as all this sounds, we may still not even know the half of it, as the photos that document the trials are being kept secret, Wired adds.

Ethics groups like the Physicians Committee, which sued UC Davis, have been pressing for the release of hundreds of photos documenting Neuralink's grisly brain implant experiments. As a public institution, the committee argues, UC Davis has an obligation to transparency. So far, this has been to no avail.

Questions about whether animals should be made to suffer for research that could one day benefit humans often haunt biomedical research.

It's a thorny issue, but it does sound as though UC Davis and Neuralink — like many of Musk's ventures — has pushed norms to the brink and leveraged aggressive tactics to keep the research quiet. For example, even though the brain rupturing incident with the macaque was acknowledged as a violation of the US Animal Welfare Act by federal regulators, Wired says the CNPRC preempted being legally implicated by self-reporting the violation.

"If you want to split hairs," an anonymous former Neuralink employee told Wired, "the implant itself did not cause death. We sacrificed her to end her suffering."

This only scratches the surface of the legal tricks being used to withhold the potentially damning photos. We won't wade too far into the weeds here, but the most important argument used by UC Davis is that the public is simply unequipped to properly interpret the photographs.

By extension, the institution claims that backlash caused by the content of the photos would not only endanger the scientists, but discourage them from taking such photos in the first place.

But this issue is bigger than Elon Musk's Neuralink, UC Davis, or the CNPRC. They're undoubtedly not the only bodies out there conducting questionable tests on animals, and the Physicians Committee has vehemently argued that the public has a right to know the nature of any animal testing funded by taxpayers.

That certainly doesn't exonerate Neuralink from wrongdoing, however, and its publicity — and that of its eccentric owner — quite rightly invites further scrutiny, its opponents argue.

"Disclosure of the footage is particularly important because Neuralink actively misleads the public about, and downplays the gruesome nature of, the experiments," an attorney representing the Physicians Committee in the lawsuit told Wired.

Nevertheless, the negative press hasn't deterred Neuralink going ahead with human trials — though the outcome of the Physician Committee's lawsuit may cast a long shadow over those experiments.

 

  • Rage+1 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Pay to reply is going to work out so well 

image.thumb.jpeg.a406d00e220303876cde1a4d2b400ca2.jpeg

I have no doubt that this was done to prevent groups like the NAFO folks from shutting down disinformation.  Now the Russian trolls/bots* can post their bullshit in peace, and it'll probably impact community notes.

* And it was never going to stop the bots, because plenty of people were more than happy to caught up $8 a month if their bots could push shit all over the place while looking official.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/4/2023 at 8:18 PM, Pods said:

Saw my first Rivian up close the other day. I've gone by them on the highway, but this one was parked, so I could actually see it. 

That's a fucking sharp looking SUV. Classic SUV style with a few modern tweaks. 

I've seen two up close recently and my reaction.

Napoleon Dynamite Want GIF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, F250 said:

I've seen two up close recently and my reaction.

Napoleon Dynamite Want GIF

Not sure is srs. Rivan's are fine from the sides and back... until you see the front of it. It looks like a bad Japanese cartoon character

 

2022 Rivian R1T First Drive Review: The Electric Pickup Revolution Is Real,  and It's Here

Astro Boy (character) - Wikipedia

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...