Wednesday Tweets (and a few quick thoughts on Twitter)

There is a lot about Twitter that falls in the bad to indefensible range. You could make a pretty good case that we'd all be better off without it, but since that point is moot, I might as well get what I can out of it while avoiding the really nasty spots.

Twitter is a badly designed platform and the search functionality sucks, but it's still a reasonably good place to jot down ideas or to make a note of interesting article and apt anecdotes in a form that's more or less permanent and is easy to share or embed in a post.

I follow around fifty people. That's a manageable number. When I see a tweet, I know the person who wrote it (or at least retweeted it). I know their areas of expertise and their biases. For retweets, if I'm interested and unfamiliar the writer, I check out the profile, look at the replies, possibly do a quick Google search before I pass anything on. The filter isn't perfect but it catches most misinformation and almost all disinformation. 

O, Canada!

"Good people on both sides" - @CandiceBergenMP https://t.co/rVPJcp5rRa

— Alex Usher (@AlexUsherHESA) February 6, 2022

She's named after Candice Bergen but she has the brain of Charlie McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/gGFUzQIlfO

— Mark Palko (@MarkPalko1) February 5, 2022

Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham all ran segments tonight promoting the far-right/anti-vaccine convoy in Canada. They have a combined audience of 11.5+ million people.

As long as they’re stoking the flames, this will continue to escalate. pic.twitter.com/kkslut35jo

— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) February 8, 2022

It’s worth pointing out that one of the reasons that I (and others) are watching the far-right/anti-vaccine convoy so closely is because it only takes a small % of the population to shut down supply lines and throw financial markets into chaos.

Some people want this to happen… https://t.co/PdQSkub8x2

— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) February 8, 2022

Big corporations are historically hotbeds for leftists.

Comparing private speech decisions to “totalitarianism” is the kind of thing only Marxist lunatics used to do. Now it’s rhetoric in the title of Heritage Foundation papers. A shocking and shameful turn for an institution whose policies toward the Net I helped author 25 yrs ago. https://t.co/ZlbOd6LmKB

— Adam Thierer (@AdamThierer) February 7, 2022

Peter Thiel leaving Facebook/Meta board, says he wants to spend more time with fascism https://t.co/ZwKls7PJ9o

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 7, 2022

Fun week on the Tesla beat.

In which "Full Self-Driving" responds to fanboy patter about its safety benefits by lunging directly at the nearest cyclist.

This would be absurdly heavy-handed if it were satire. https://t.co/bgHAFbXNrX

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 8, 2022

Implausible FUD. Everyone knows Tesla's gap tolerances make it impossible to achieve an airtight seal. https://t.co/Et7XWmTqhE

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 7, 2022

“…it’s becoming clear that {Tesla} simply had a superior command of technology and its own supply chain.”

This NYT story said nothing about removing backup safety systems.

Hats off to @lorakolodny and @CNBC for setting record straight. https://t.co/0Bir9LG7cU

— Russ Mitchell (@russ1mitchell) February 8, 2022

One of these outlets got the story right. It wasn’t The NY Times.

Important reporting today from CNBC’s @lorakolodny. https://t.co/nuDFNFbuCo pic.twitter.com/EEB1zWUdVx

— David Zipper (@DavidZipper) February 8, 2022

Of course if what you're really selling is an L3/L4 test vehicle, you might argue you don't need the redundancy.
In an L3/L4 test vehicle a human driver is there anyway. In an L3/L4 production vehicle the whole point is human isn't paying attention to DDT; redundancy is critical.

— Phil Koopman (@PhilKoopman) February 8, 2022

Tesla removing redundancy from its steering controls is a good way to understand the massive difference between L2 ADAS and true autonomy/self-driving: in an L2 system, any error or failure gets caught by the handy, attentive human driver. A true AV must catch its own mistakes.

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 8, 2022

That's how Tesla has convinced countless people that it's close to true autonomy: they don't realize that Tesla has done the easy ~80% (or whatever) and that each step toward a system that doesn't need a human to achieve safety-critical reliability gets harder and harder.

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 8, 2022

Lora also providing more evidence that Elon committed securities fraud:

“It also means Tesla can’t turn all its existing cars into driverless vehicles with a mere software update, undercutting what CEO Elon Musk recently said on an earnings call” @GaryGensler @SECEnfDirector

— StillKickin (@ValueExpected) February 8, 2022

it is still a mystery to me how this is legal pic.twitter.com/iOWdFhrKCc

— site specific carnivorous occurrence (@atomicthumbs) February 7, 2022

This individual also believes lidar adds nothing of value to an automated driving system.

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 8, 2022

Politics

If you wanna know why this Republican Party cannot be saved, don’t listen to a crazy like Marjorie Taylor Greene, listen to a coward like Marco Rubio. https://t.co/SGyPEu8CWL

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 6, 2022

for fucks sake, no pic.twitter.com/WnSMaaxrzc

— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) February 7, 2022

Dems tried to ban gerrymandering. GOP blocked it.

Now Dem states are gerrymandering as a counterbalance to GOP gerrymanders.

So of course the GOP cries hypocrisy.

I’m anti designated hitter, but I don’t want the @Royals to bat their pitcher just to make a point.

— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) February 5, 2022

(Bongino's show additionally appears to have mixed up Irving, Texas with Irvine, California.)

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 6, 2022

I supposed we should be grateful it wasn't a chance to win Miller Lite NFTs.

Stop by Decentraland and check out our new Meta Lite Bar for the chance to win free Miller Lite in the real world!

*NO PURCH. NEC. Open to legal res of the 50 US/DC, 21+ only. Ends 2/13/22. Rules: visit https://t.co/vRHjyM0Cop. Void where prohibited.**Awarded as $500

— Miller Lite (@MillerLite) February 3, 2022

And a few to lighten the mood.

Have y'all seen this? Perfection :)https://t.co/gqEde2JLQL

— AxeDame🎸 (@Axe_Grrl) February 6, 2022

Shape rotators have failed us?

(Reminds me of having to move a sofa through a window after failing to get it through two different doors, despite the help of two CS PhDs.)pic.twitter.com/JDTNvqq2lX

— Dean Eckles (@deaneckles) February 8, 2022

The art is not in doing something, but in leaving people wondering how you did it … pic.twitter.com/rrnvqKtNmx

— Mark Haydock (@MarkHaydock5) February 5, 2022

Teachers deserve a bazillion dollars a year.

Wait for the smile… https://t.co/CjKFQafmLd

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) February 5, 2022