Elon Musk Buys Twitter

[Elegiac]

https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...ys-2024-04-19/

More fun news for Elon, all Cybertrucks being recalled due to stuck accelerator issue.

It’s actually really funny seeing someone try to apply the tech industry default of “release a broken product and patch in the fixed later” to physical goods.

As if we needed any more evidence that these aren’t functional vehicles as much as a required purchase for participation in the tech cult.

[Dontrike]

https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...ys-2024-04-19/

More fun news for Elon, all Cybertrucks being recalled due to stuck accelerator issue.

This time they'll use two pieces of chewing gum to make the parts stick together.

[Muzjhath]

It’s actually really funny seeing someone try to apply the tech industry default of “release a broken product and patch in the fixed later” to physical goods.

As if we needed any more evidence that these aren’t functional vehicles as much as a required purchase for participation in the tech cult.

It's honestly the reason the old car Manufacturers have raced past Tesla in the EV market. There might still be more Teslas as a total of "most common EV on the road". And especially in the US the Tesla charging network helps them.
In the EU that network being exclusive got struck down. Anyone gets to charge there they just need to pay. (But remember, a Tesla is less a car you buy and more a subscription service you buy).

Wendover Productions had an excellent video on the problems with Tesla.



Aka. They're a tech company. Not a car-manufacturer.

In Sweden Tesla is starting to be far outstripped by all others. KIA keep winning all EV best things possible.
Tesla was first. They helped EV marketing a lot by doing cool cars rich people wanted to buy.
But Hank Green said it best years (a decade?) Ago. "Give me an Electric Honda Civic" But Tesla never aimed for that market. Which probably helped downstream because it showed the old school makers that they could make luxury EVs and have them sell. Instead of it only being "Environmentalists who hate cars" who wanted them.

That might have been Elon pushing that. Being that "If we sell cool things marketed to rich people it'll sell".

But yeah, Tesla suffers from "Tech Company" thinking. The video linked goes over lots of those issues. (Changing parts in the middle of a production run for example.)

Lots of Teslas might also become fully illegal in the EU.
As any model without behind the steering wheel displays? Yeah that's up for legislation if it hasn't already been.

[Belize]

It's honestly the reason the old car Manufacturers have raced past Tesla in the EV market. There might still be more Teslas as a total of "most common EV on the road". And especially in the US the Tesla charging network helps them.
In the EU that network being exclusive got struck down. Anyone gets to charge there they just need to pay. (But remember, a Tesla is less a car you buy and more a subscription service you buy).

Wendover Productions had an excellent video on the problems with Tesla.

[video=youtube_share;xpUIZ32n9nw]https://youtu.be/xpUIZ32n9nw

Aka. They're a tech company. Not a car-manufacturer.

In Sweden Tesla is starting to be far outstripped by all others. KIA keep winning all EV best things possible.
Tesla was first. They helped EV marketing a lot by doing cool cars rich people wanted to buy.
But Hank Green said it best years (a decade?) Ago. "Give me an Electric Honda Civic" But Tesla never aimed for that market. Which probably helped downstream because it showed the old school makers that they could make luxury EVs and have them sell. Instead of it only being "Environmentalists who hate cars" who wanted them.

That might have been Elon pushing that. Being that "If we sell cool things marketed to rich people it'll sell".

But yeah, Tesla suffers from "Tech Company" thinking. The video linked goes over lots of those issues. (Changing parts in the middle of a production run for example.)

Lots of Teslas might also become fully illegal in the EU.
As any model without behind the steering wheel displays? Yeah that's up for legislation if it hasn't already been.

Tesla wanted to be the Apple of cars, aka being a brand that has social status associated to ownership. It worked for a while, until it didn't for a myriad of reasons.

[DarkTZeratul]

But Hank Green said it best years (a decade?) Ago. "Give me an Electric Honda Civic" But Tesla never aimed for that market.

Elon insisted they would, though, which is just yet another thing he promised and never delivered on.

[Rasulis]

But Hank Green said it best years (a decade?) Ago. "Give me an Electric Honda Civic" But Tesla never aimed for that market. Which probably helped downstream because it showed the old school makers that they could make luxury EVs and have them sell. Instead of it only being "Environmentalists who hate cars" who wanted them.

I think Tesla, pricewise, did a good job.

Model 3 is around 40k. Not too crazy for a mid-size sedan. With tax credit the price goes down to around 32k - 35k.

Base price for Cybertruck is around 60k, fully loaded 100k. With tax credit, it is slightly higher than upper end Ford F150.

I got a chance to drive a neighbor's Cybertruck over the weekend. First impression, freaking huge! It is almost twice as long as my 2017 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport double cab, and about a foot wider. Visibility sucks. When backing up, you pretty much have to rely on the camera. I am very uncomfortable doing that. The rest seems normal. The lack of feedback on the steering did feel weird. But that's likely because I am not used to it.

There are three Cybertrucks on my street. All three owners are in tech. None of them are handy with tools. The last time I let one try my chainsaw, I thought he was going to cut his leg. I have yet to see the truck at any of my construction projects.

Would I buy one? Nah. I rather stick with my mid-size Tacoma.

[Kathranis]

The cyber truck looks like an industrial oven turned inside out and origami folded into a low poly approximation of a truck from a PS1 game.

I'm surprised they had issue with the accelerator sticking because, just looking at it, I'd expect it to start vibrating and then clip through the floorboard.

I can't fathom the mind of anyone who thinks it's cool.

[Jotaux]

I love my Tesla but since I bought it a lot of electric vehicles have come out. I think a lot of people like me bought a Tesla as it was the only viable EV at the time. Either way I don’t think I’m ever going back to gas.

[Jastall]

The cyber truck looks like an industrial oven turned inside out and origami folded into a low poly approximation of a truck from a PS1 game.

I'm surprised they had issue with the accelerator sticking because, just looking at it, I'd expect it to start vibrating and then clip through the floorboard.

I can't fathom the mind of anyone who thinks it's cool.

It's one of the ugliest cars ever made. It doesn't even look bad in a goofy and fun way like say a PT Cruiser, it just looks plain bad.

[Rasulis]

Bad news for X.

“So far in April, Threads has averaged an estimated 28 million daily active users, so people who have opened the app at least once in a 24-hour period […] X has averaged 22 million DAUs, a usage rate that’s 21% lower than Threads.”

Threads just dethroned X.

It is noted that the numbers are only for US user base. The largest user base of Threads is actually India. US a close second.

For whatever reason, the Indians love all of Meta's products.

[diller]

I don't really think this is accurate in the real world, I still find Threads very lacking and basically if you have an instagram account you automatically have a Threads account as well.

[Odinfrost]

I don't really think this is accurate in the real world, I still find Threads very lacking and basically if you have an instagram account you automatically have a Threads account as well.

But does opening instagram count as opening threads? Because the number is based on how many opens the app and not how many accounts there are

[diller]

But does opening instagram count as opening threads? Because the number is based on how many opens the app and not how many accounts there are

No idea but it just doesn't seem plausible to me.

[Rasulis]

No idea but it just doesn't seem plausible to me.

I don't use X, Instagram or Threads, so I'll take your words on the usability.

The data used in the article came from third party internet analytic companies such as Apptopia.

It does not appear that Instagram click is counted as Threads click. Instagram DAU is 990M vs. Threads DAU of 28M.

[NED funded]

Tesla wanted to be the Apple of cars, aka being a brand that has social status associated to ownership. It worked for a while, until it didn't for a myriad of reasons.

Tesla used to be a luxury brand for electric cars. The cybertruck is that but it doesnt have any of the benefits of a luxury car

[Dontrike]

Tesla used to be a luxury brand for electric cars. The cybertruck is that but it doesnt have any of the benefits of a luxury car

I don't know if you can call the truck luxury when it starts to rust in a few weeks without constant washing and you void the warranty when taking it into a car wash.

[Breccia]

Hey, remember this thread?

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of misleading investors when he tweeted that he had funding lined up to take the company private.

The agency said Musk fabricated the claim in his August tweet, which sent Tesla shares higher.

“In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source,” the SEC said in complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, less than two months after Musk’s tweet.

The suit seeks an order from a judge barring Musk from serving as an officer or director of a public company, a request often made in SEC lawsuits, as well as unspecified monetary penalties.

Shares fell about 10 percent in after-hour trading on news of the lawsuit. The company, which wasn’t sued, and an attorney for Musk didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The SEC has scheduled a press conference for 5 p.m.

Even before the tweets, the SEC was investigating issues at Tesla including its car sales projections. The Justice Department is also looking into whether Musk misled investors, Bloomberg News has reported.

“Musk made his false and misleading public statements about taking Tesla private using his mobile phone in the middle of the active trading day,” the SEC said. “He did not discuss the content of the statements with anyone else prior to publishing them to his over 22 million Twitter followers and anyone else with access to the Internet. He also did not inform Nasdaq that he intended to make this public announcement, as Nasdaq rules required.”

In his Aug. 7 tweet, Musk said he had financing to take the company private at $420 a share, a considerable premium, if he wanted to. As a result, Tesla shares closed up almost 11 percent. Musk has since said he’s not taking the company private, and shares have fallen considerably since the initial tweet.

"Musk’s false and misleading statements and omissions caused significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla’s stock and resulting harm to investors," the SEC said in its complaint.

Funny story. The SEC won.

Supreme Court declines Musk's "Twitter sitter" appeal over Tesla posts

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Elon Musk's appeal over the terms of a settlement agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding his social media posts about Tesla.

Musk had argued that the agreement's provision that a company lawyer review his public communications about the car company violated his free speech rights.

Last year, an appeals court's rejected Musk's bid for the so-called "Twitter sitter" provision to be modified because it violated his First Amendment rights and was "unenforceable."

In December, Musk asked the Supreme Court to take up the case.

The Supreme Court's decision not to take the case means that the appeals court's ruling stands and the provision will remain in place.

Musk landed in hot water with the SEC in 2018 after he tweeted that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private — a statement the SEC claimed was misleading.

Musk reached a settlement agreement with the SEC in 2018, which mandated that he get a Tesla attorney to pre-approve communications about the company, step down as chairman of the company and pay a $20 million penalty.

That's it. Musk will have to follow the fair and legal terms of his own settlement.

[Edge-]

Weird that conservatives continue to need babysitters to make sure they don't illegally move money around their businesses that are involved in a fraud lawsuit or to stop one of them from manipulating public stock prices.

What do you mean that we can't say anything we want without any consequences?! IS THERE EVEN FREEZE PEACH?!

Also I guess he laid off the entire supercharger team of 500+ at Tesla because he woke up and saw that his car company was performing like a car company and realized he had to DO SOMETHING big to save it.

The world's richest man or whatever really does need a fuckin babysitter.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/29/polit...ors/index.html

Google and X, formerly Twitter, recently provided hundreds of files to Michigan prosecutors for their 2020 election subversion probe, complying with search warrants that investigators obtained after CNN revealed secret social media accounts belonging to pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who played a major role in the fake electors plot.

The previously unreported warrants gave prosecutors access to new Chesebro emails and his private direct messages on Twitter. The warrants make clear that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is still gathering new information in her probe, nine months after she charged the state’s fake electors with forgery and other crimes for signing certificates falsely claiming Donald Trump won the state in 2020.

I wonder how some Twitter users might feel after they're reminded their DM's are subject to subpoena demands.

[Edge-]

https://thehill.com/policy/technolog...tes-x-account/

Elon keeps bringing the Nazis back. He says he'll be unbanning Nazi Nick Fuentes, which I hope hastens European regulators shutting the platform down in the region.

Musk briefly reinstated Fuentes’s account in January 2023, after acquiring the platform then known as Twitter in late 2022. Twitter suspended the 25-year-old’s account less than 24 hours after he was allowed back on the platform.

Gosh, I wonder if a repeat will happen this time?

“This will probably cause us to lose a lot of advertisers and makes me sad, but a principle is a principle,” he continued.

And he'll cry about it a lot, too. A whole lot.

Elons brain is pickled.

[PACOX]

Every time I log onto Twitter the ads get worse...sex toy ads while scrolling, OF ads in the the comment sections. On an account I only use for news and business contacts.


Musk really did scare advertisers away.