"In addition to terminals, we have to create, launch, maintain & replenish satellites & ground stations & pay telcos for access to Internet via gateways.

We’ve also had to defend against cyberattacks & jamming, which are getting harder.

Burn is approaching ~$20M/month.
1:44 AM · Oct 14, 2022" https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1580811694225653760

Lol: "In retrospect, it was inevitable" https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1582388928870748161

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Full disclosure saying that "I have never in my life used 'social media,' and thankfully I never will."

I must simply say that I have utterly no(!) idea what-the-hell Mr. Musk is doing – nor why. I'm just glad that he is not spending any of my money.

(Very glad for you that you are now among "the world's richest men," but I have no idea how the hell you did it, and maybe I don't need nor even want to know.)

Of course I am very glad (??) that he somehow now has "a bottomless-pit supply of Money," which I guess is supposed to be the "Get Out of Jail Free" Card these days. [...]

Nevertheless, I cannot now even begin to fathom what thought-processes are now in his head.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585341984679469056
"Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!"

Elon Musk
@elonmusk
"the bird is freed"
10:49 PM · Oct 27, 2022

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585841080431321088

Musk also said he wants a warm and welcoming platform that isn't a "free for all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences!". With most of Twitter's revenue coming from advertising it isn't just the users he has to please. Twitter must also comply with appropriate laws of each country. It should be obvious that someone like Kanye West should be and remain permanently banned.

When Musk posted "The bird is freed", an EU commissioner replied "In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules."

It seems that he's back.

Fake newz but IMHO that would be a mistake and probably the start? of twitter becoming a cesspool.

Elon Musk: "Ye’s account was restored by Twitter before the acquisition. They did not consult with or inform me."

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/...nse-1971184%2F

"Start?" Nah, we're way past that. Twitter has been a cesspool for years.

Blue checkmark verification for $8 a month.
"Elon Musk
@elonmusk
·
3h
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bull****.

Power to the people! Blue for $8/month." Editing mine. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1587499283573530625

AAAAND the first wave of 30 day suspensions for those who have published things Elon did not like have already begun. Free speech my left foot!

Example please. As far as I know he never said there would be NO moderation.

IMHO the net assessment of Elon Musk is that he is a national treasure and a hero for the entire human species... so far. I am a bit concerned that he brags about his tax payments, which by any metric is HUGE but as someone pointed out it nevertheless represents a percentage of income of only 2% while hardworking people who can't afford quality healthcare, dignified and secure retirement, and struggle with the costs of mobility pay 20%-30%. I am a bit more concerned with the possibility that he could stop at simply deleting his own tweet of the link to a despicable "journalism" conspiracy rag, but that has yet to play out.

As for "Ye", I suggest those who buy into all of the bad press watch Lex Friedman's interview. It is sad that a man so brilliant can also be so twisted but Free Speech is arguably, and actually demonstrably, the single most important right, not privilege, that even CAN exist. Algorithms are at fault since they have changed the landscape of communication and hopefully we will figure out how to best deal with their "rabbit hole" confirmation bias, dangerous ugliness but hiding it, let alone censoring it, cannot be the solution.

I fervently wish big thinkers would come up with a far better example of the need for ANY limitations on Free Speech than "yelling 'Fire!' in a crowded theater" since it is so obvious that anyone doing so would likely also die in the resulting crush. Checks and Balances is a by now a proven concept and that can't happen in an atmosphere of censorship. Withholding information is nearly as criminal as disseminating bad or false information. This may become even more important as AI develops. One only has to look at the collaboration between Arthur Clarke and Stanley Kubrick on "2001" and "2010" to see how such perversions of reality can result in disaster.

I am withholding judgment on Mr. Musk's acquisition of Twitter (which I barely scan and do not participate in) until it plays out a bit more. I also hope Elon manages to not be too distracted by it's demands that could take him away from his larger, more long term, positive contributions.

At this point it should be clear to everyone that the previous management had been operating with a political bias and tended to only use the ban hammer on their ideological opponents. Maybe this is a sign that those on the left are no longer going to get a free pass and will be held to the same standards as those on the right.

What remains to be seen is whether the pendulum finds equilibrium, or swings back the other way under Musk's ownership. Time will tell.