istewart

joined 2 months ago
[–] istewart@awful.systems 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I don't think Trump's presence changes much regarding the AI bubble. It's still massive capital and operational expenditure, with ??? revenue to show for it. Trump very likely faces a big stock market correction in 2025 or no later than 2026, just as surely as Harris or Biden would have.

[–] istewart@awful.systems 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I am left thinking that many people here in the US are going to have a hard time accepting that having this person, at this stage in his life, as the national figurehead will do permanent damage to the US' prestige and global standing. Doesn't matter if Reagan was sundowning, media was more controlled then and his handlers were there to support the institution of the presidency at least as much as they were there to support a narcissist. In 2016, other countries could look at Trump as a temporary aberration and wait him out. This time, it's clear that the US is no longer a reliable partner.

An intentional sacrifice of the US' role as head manager of the global economy is not nearly as well thought out as the people pushing it think it is.

[–] istewart@awful.systems 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It doesn't even fit with the axioms of market logic! If the platform in question has terrible content moderation, primarily generates revenue from profoundly repulsive people, and was intentionally bought out to be used as the central propaganda organ for a destructive political movement... why wouldn't you leave?! Dude just doesn't want to admit he's too lazy to redo his follows elsewhere

[–] istewart@awful.systems 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (15 children)

Atlantic writer: "better dubble down on Twitter huhuhuhhuh"

https://archive.is/OtYCo

Calls to disengage from X, now that Elon Musk has turned it into a white-supremacist haven, certainly have a moral appeal. But if this election showed how difficult it is to meaningfully “deplatform” speakers you disagree with, it also demonstrated the danger of ignoring the platforms where they speak. Unfortunately, the only way to change what’s happening in an echo chamber may be to add your own noise.

This is your periodic reminder that Steve Jobs' widow owns that toilet-paper factory. And that they still pump out hot new singles from hitmakers like David Frum and, occasionally, my personal favorite, Eliot "GW Bush Did Nothing Wrong" Cohen.

[–] istewart@awful.systems 6 points 2 weeks ago

Given that Trump lost votes compared to 2020, I think it's past the peak of its relevance. Not many new people are entering the self-referential echo chamber. It's one of the main vectors for crypto and meme stock scams, as well as the main vector for Musk himself. When all those promises are broken once again, fatigue will start to set in among the bluechecks. It may linger, but it will be a spent force by the end of the decade. Keep up social pressure to get people to leave.

[–] istewart@awful.systems 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Malcolm McDowell successfully blew up a star in one of the Star Trek movies, even if it did immediately get reversed by a time-travel MacGuffin. Perhaps we just need new leadership?

[–] istewart@awful.systems 5 points 2 weeks ago

The more I think about it, the more "Day One" comes across as nonsensical.

I woke up this morning, we had multiple data centers across the globe filled with millions of servers... Day One.

I clocked into the swing shift, we have bins overflowing with unthinkable amounts of returned items, many of which are semi-perishable toiletries and personal hygiene products... Day One.

As a simple-minded catchphrase to orient one's thinking, it becomes more and more absurd as the company scales. But Jeff don't care, he punched out a long time ago.

[–] istewart@awful.systems 23 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Said it before, I'll say it again: if Americans are all temporarily embarrassed millionaires, HN is where the temporarily embarrassed billionaires go to hang out

[–] istewart@awful.systems 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The original statement was clearly meant to dereference a pointer to an object of type "reactionary," but I expected it to return maybe a Yarvin or at least a Catturd

[–] istewart@awful.systems 18 points 2 weeks ago

I especially want to be sure that everyone here is aware that the video thumbnail clearly shows that JD Vance was not seated upon, or otherwise interacting with, a couch. JD Vance was calmly seated in a standard office chair for the duration of this interview. Any posts containing out-of-context references to couches will be dealt with vigorously.

[–] istewart@awful.systems 9 points 2 weeks ago

Well, he was already practically an SS-Mann without the neck lapels, so why be surprised about this?

[–] istewart@awful.systems 8 points 2 weeks ago

Facebook platforms are likely to follow the same trajectory as Fox News, and perhaps Zuckerberg can see that. The main site is obviously full of bullshit and practically useless for its original purpose, and it's also increasingly abandoned by core demographics because it doesn't have enough of their preferred flavor of bullshit. I've known MAGA guys who make a game out of creating secondary accounts to avoid Facebook jail. That sort of pathological use case is surely driving somebody's OKR numbers, someplace in the company. After that game stops being fun, some of these people will either decamp for other platforms or (gasp, shock, horror) give up on social media entirely!

Instagram has almost completely subsumed the "my favorite celebrity might reply back to me" appeal that Twitter used to have, although TikTok is also stealing a lot of that. If they lose that shine, Zuckerberg's in real trouble.

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