𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼

Ephesian heretic.

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

programmers like to talk about code that is good or bad on merits that the real world very rarely cares about

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

quickly, men of war! for the next six months use opus 4.6 as much as you can so we can distill it into wargpt

[josh @eudaemonea]

@SecWar "Anthropic’s stance is fundamentally incompatible with American principles"

the stance:

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

unc went too far with the restylane

[Oli London @OliLondonTV]

Jim Carrey goes viral over his ‘unrecognizable’ appearance with fans saying he ‘doesn’t look or sound the same.’

[developing valhalla @valhalla_dev]

Take note of every single VC taking a pro-Department of War stance against Anthropic.

Take note of every single TPOTer or culture account or technocrat or online thinker.

Those are your enemies. Do not ever forgive them and do not forget what they stand for.

[jin @dankvr]

Long-range, encrypted, self-healing mesh networks built on open source software. Become ungovernable.

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

@redaction youve basically just described my entire career

[Session @session_app]

Privacy is the key to a life worth living.

[Neil Renic @NC_Renic]

I miss the evil billionaires who'd try to buy their way into heaven by funding massive public libraries

[developing valhalla @valhalla_dev]

Manufacturing consent can be a lot of things but one of the most common, low-effort ways to manufacture consent is to simply talk about or mention an unpalatable idea or action or philosophy as many times as possible so it starts to feel more normal.

this is why they're repeating the word "insurrectionists" as many times as possible on the news. it's to get you used to hearing these people called insurrectionists, so that some day soon, they can invoke the insurrection act to send the active duty military to quell the insurrection.

[theo luminati 👁️‍🗨️▲ @theoluminati]

Makes sense the guys that read the Bible & think the message is that you’re supposed to live like you’re in ancient times also think 1984 is saying it’s a good thing to hate and be suspicious of everyone around you

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

the cloud is a corporation's computer
corporate wageslaves are being told to vibe code faster
quality *will* decrease at these companies
and then things like this happen.

[Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End, etc @JasonKPargin]

onedrive just deleted all of my motherfucking files off my motherfucking computer without motherfucking asking me are you motherfucking kidding me you evil shit-eating motherfuckers.

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

political power grows out of the barrel of a gun

[François Chollet @fchollet]

In a geopolitical landscape where might makes right and the veneer of international law has dissolved, a fragmented and weak Europe will inevitable be carved up and sold for parts.

To survive the next 20 years, the democracies of Europe must stay united and aggressively seek total strategic autonomy, in particular by investing heavily in a unified defense force centered on drone warfare and credible nuclear deterrence.

Reciting "international law" or "treaties" like a mantra is like bringing a polite request to a knife fight.

[Crémieux @cremieuxrecueil]

Something for the last night of Chanukah:

When George Washington learned there were Jews in America, he wrote them a letter basically saying:

'Wow, this proves America really is the most based and liberal country around. Live long and prosper.'

[Nym @nym]

Just because you have nothing to hide, does not mean that you have nothing to protect.

[Todd Spence @Todd_Spence]

We should simplify the internet again and just start over

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

where is this generation's rockefeller center? what about even something small, like the wanamaker pipe organ?

there's no room for romanticism in today's oligarchy, just more chips.

[Rambo Van Halen @RamboVanHalen]

Steve Jobs was a prick.

Among other things, he always parked in handicap spots. And no, he didn't pay the ticket.

He exploited a loophole in in the California DMV system which allowed new cars to go unregistered for up to 6 months. So he would lease a new AMG every 6 months and never had to get plates--which effectively made his car ticket proof.

BUT... people loved Steve Jobs. And they loved Apple.

Because Steve Jobs convinced the world that Apple wasn't just another evil corporation, and that he wasn't just another evil billionaire.

In the early 2000s I was living in the Bay Area. I was getting into film work, but to make ends meet I was temping as a litigation assistant at a Silicon Valley law firm.

One night, I was at an artsy party in The City. Someone asked me what I was working on, and I explained that I was working on a lawsuit against Apple. Apple had been marketing their OS as "Unix based" without permission from the entity that owned the Unix copyright, so Apple was being sued.

It was pretty mundane stuff. Nothing scandalous. This was just business. But this neckbeard art professor type turned to me and said "Apple would NEVER do that."

I explained that I'd seen all the discovery documents (because all I did was read discovery documents) and told him yes, they did in fact "do that".

Neckbeard got up out of his chair, stood up straight, and with self righteous indignation said, "Well I'm an Apple person" and walked away.

Then some Asian chick gave me a look of sheer contempt--as if I told her I enjoy hunting pandas-- and said, "We are ALL Apple people" and she walked away too.

So what could I do? There was no rational argument to make. Because by informing them that Apple was involved in a minor copyright dispute I had offended them personally.

That's how much they identified with the Apple brand.

They'd made the brand part of their persona.

This was before the iPod or iPhone when owning an Apple product was a niche thing. Outside of education and creative industries, nobody really used Apple. So owning a Mac made you part of a select tribe.

But more than that, Mac users were emotionally invested in the products. Because Steve Jobs (with help from ad agency Chiat Day) understood the value of emotions.

He also understood beauty. Apple made (and still makes) beautiful products. And they came in beautiful packaging. The design and UI was important. The products were made to be LOVED.

Jobs understood this.

Furthermore, Apple's marketing equated ownership with being a good person. Boring and/or evil people used PCs. But the GOOD people who were changing the world for the better used Mac.

And the people who should have known better--the creative class types who'd read Chomsky and considered themselves immune to propaganda--they ate it up. They loved it.

They loved feeling that they were special, and that they were "good ", and that they were doing good things for the world and making it a better place and all the other hippy bullshit.

And they loved Apple.

And they loved Steve Jobs.

The loved him despite his flaws.

And so what if he went to great lengths to park in handicap spaces and not pay the ticket. In fact, they wouldn't hear of such blasphemy. And if you brought it up you wouldn't have been invited to the San Francisco art parties.

So... this Billionaire Tax is probably going to pass in California. But I have to wonder, would this happen if Steve Jobs was still around?

Because he knew how to make people love him--which is something our current crop of Tech Overlords haven't been able to pull off. In fact, the publics hates them.

Now, I think most of them are admirable people--and I'm sure they pay their parking tickets. But they don't understand what the people really want.

I see them trying to explain their value to society. They cite facts and figures and "empirical evidence" about how they drive the economy and create wealth.

But if you're trying to use facts and figures and "logic" then you've already lost the argument.

Because no amount of rationality will defeat irrational emotions like envy and resentment.

So they'll leave California for Austin or Miami, and maybe they'll be okay for a while. But this thing will come for them eventually--just like it's coming for all of us.

Personally, I'd prefer to see the Tech Lords stand their ground and fight.

And maybe, instead of looking for the best ROI, they should fund art and culture and other beautiful things. Because that would put them on the side of the good and the beautiful.

Just like Steve Jobs.

Just like Apple.

This isn't an original idea. This is what wealthy men have always done when faced with angry resentful mobs.

The Medici did this.

The 19th Century Robber Barrons did this.

And there's no reason why the Tech Lords can't do it to.

Because if they made things that people love, they'd make the people love them.

And maybe they could stand their ground and win--even if they're pricks in real life.

[developing valhalla @valhalla_dev]

There’s no rule of law folks. Law is what you can enforce. Benji and Don will get away with whatever they want because the neoliberal institutions supposedly keeping their worst tendencies at bay are paper tigers.

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

clausewitz was right about war.

[𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 @futuraperdita]

this may be the year i truly divorce apple.
liquid ass is an irreconcilable difference