Silicon Valley Techno-Utopianism

I used to hear sonic booms fairly often growing up, because we lived near a Navy base where supersonic jets would sometimes fly.

lol cmon

Mark Zuckerberg is really naming all his kids with Roman imperial names. Respect 🫡 https://t.co/OtkWp9rPV9

— Bryan Cheong (@bryancsk) March 24, 2023

things are certain to end well for the imperial line, as they always do

also the first hapsburg was called RADBOT ffs

Literally the conclusion of PALO ALTO is Silicon Valley tech firms becoming prime military contractors after avoiding doing that for 100 years https://t.co/cvFJSxqaDf

— Malcolm Harris (@BigMeanInternet) March 27, 2023

Well, after they've show real promise as grifters they're invited to play in the big leagues of scamming citizens out of their money: defense contracting.

bout how much i keep in my checking too

Gruenberg: The ten largest deposit accounts at SVB held $13.3 billion in the aggregate.

— Nick Timiraos (@NickTimiraos) March 27, 2023

lol

NEW: An internal model at Silicon Valley Bank warned that higher interest rates could have a crushing impact on its finances. So executives changed it: https://t.co/Ru5ZOn6wxF with @tcfrankel @josephmenn

— Daniel Gilbert (@ByDanielGilbert) April 2, 2023

+ Theoretically, if publicly hanging say, 5 fentanyl dealers led to saving the lives of hundreds, is it morally reasonable?
+ Why would most San Francisco residents view my question above as horrifying and immoral?
+ What do other countries do with their fentanyl dealers?

— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) April 9, 2023

Whole thread is nuts obviously but the application of the logic of effective altruism is wild

Timothy @_timothyjm
21m Replying to @michelletandler
Theoretically, if publicly hanging say, 5 venture capitalists led to saving the lives of hundreds, is it morally reasonable?

Timothy gets it.

ha nice

Theoretically, if my granny had two wheels, would she be a bicycle?

xxp hahahahaha yes more of that please

Just drumming up angel investors for her lnchmb startup

someone plz explain ichellemay andlertay’s grift to me… idk how she still has oxygen

People who have always been disappointed the trolley problem is only theoretical.

incredible

Hey Michelle, this you? https://t.co/d6jIJcw6Wa pic.twitter.com/vTXVeKR9Ft

— Czarina (@fishontherun2) April 10, 2023

of course

I wonder if she knew Buttigieg?

this lady is insufferable, like Michael Shellenberg, they start with a statement I agree with: SF is fucked up, shit is NOT working, it is indeed extremely, extremely bad and dire; and then they take that to places where I would never wind up. That thread started with how horrible it is that no one in this tech executive meeting said they would have stopped and responded to Bob Lee's cries for help. That is fucked. How that leads to "let's hang drug dealers" is beyond me. Leave alone the fact that no one knows yet why that guy got killed but I have a feeling it wasn't some rando homeless crazy drug addict attack; I suspect he was murdered by someone for some reason. Which has nothing to do with the situation in SF.

SF America is fucked up, shit is NOT working

FTFY

that too

sorry that was not supposed to be snarky, just a recognition that shit is hard (esp for you, been thinking of yr hospice sitch and wishing well)

wow, I wonder how she would solve Oakland's problems! ... if she thinks SF is fucked up ...

*Update* - For those who are confused, I am not advocating for public hangings.

I've been reading The Barbary Coast (a book about crime in SF after the Gold Rush) so it was top of mind.

With that said, I *do* believe that fentanyl & meth dealers should serve time in jail. pic.twitter.com/2T28BqRi5F

— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) April 10, 2023

lol I WAS JUST ASKING QUESTIONS

The lesson I took from reading 19th century American history is that everything was groovy.

SF seems considerably more fucked up than oakland to me.

Start regularly recording your parents, elders and loved ones. With enough transcript data, new voice synthesis and video models, there is a 100% chance that they will live with you forever after leaving physical body. This should be even possible by end of the year.

— Pratik Desai (@chheplo) April 8, 2023

why

like my to do list wasn't long enough already

My kids, into an app, years after I died: Dad...we could really use your advice right now
The app, after loading for 30 seconds: CHILdren..you must resPECT..MY BIG round Ass https://t.co/gFXsFgmWtE

— Mr. Bedtime (@InternetHippo) April 10, 2023

*Hearing my reedy, wheezy 75-year-old voice reading an article about the Sino occupation of Peru*

GREAT-GRANDKIDS: "And he use to work on the 'radio'?"

lol about a year ago I told my mom that she should do something like this and have it integrated into the GPS on my dad's car, so that even if she is no longer there, she can still give my dad driving directions so he doesn't get lost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdfeXipkBt4

Years ago, an older relative bought one of the kids a teddy bear that when squeezed, played a very loving greeting from the older relative.

The older relative is still with us, but I still have thoughts that I've kept to myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg29TuWo0Yo

this was the premise of the pretty good Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica which was unceremoniously cancelled.

Has Michelle Tandler been kicked in the head by a mule or something pic.twitter.com/D9SwXHShEH

— Elai (@elaifresh) April 10, 2023

lmao

Saw the Black Mirror episode everyone is suggesting. I get it now. It’s very personal issue and I sincerely apologize for hurting anyone’s feeling. 😔

— Pratik Desai (@chheplo) April 10, 2023

"I'm not a ghoul"

that guy got a hell of a lot of attention for that tweet when he's just some rando

he should do some more black mirror episodes

otm

out there building the utopia

MBS and friends.

How many techfluencers do you recognize in this photo?

(Hi, Sam Altman!) pic.twitter.com/LjTRgskXik

— Jonathan Guyer (@mideastXmidwest) April 11, 2023

normal

other weird shit from a16z's investment portfolio: newnew, a project described by the BBC as "the app that lets you pay to control another person's life"

indeed, the app invites you to "sign up to become a creator and have people pay to vote and bid on your life decisions!" pic.twitter.com/XWzMrVezwe

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) April 11, 2023

I think there was an Orville episode abt that

wow THAT is super Black Mirror

The techno utopia is still apparently a sausage fest.

As for one of its notably non-sausage fest types:

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has been rebuffed in her attempt to stay out of federal prison while she appeals her conviction for the fraud she committed while overseeing a blood-testing scam that exposed Silicon Valley’s dark side.

In an 11-page ruling issued late Monday, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila concluded there wasn't compelling enough evidence to allow Holmes to remain free on bail while her lawyers try to persuade an appeals court that alleged misconduct during her four-month trial led to an unjust verdict.

The judge’s decision means Holmes, 39, will have to surrender to authorities April 27 to start the more than 11-year prison sentence that Davila imposed in November....

Holmes could still file another appeal of Davila's latest ruling, a maneuver her co-conspirator at Theranos — Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani — successfully used to delay his scheduled March 16 date to begin a nearly 13-year prison sentence. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected that appeal, and Balwani is now scheduled to report to a Southern California prison on April 20.

Davila has recommended Holmes serve her sentence in a Bryan, Texas, prison. It hasn’t yet been publicly confirmed if that will be the facility where she reports.

I can't imagine how she's paying her lawyers.