It is amazing how quickly @neatnik can roll out a new feature. His opt-in address directory at omg.lol was an idea I threw out during @HemisphericViews E071. Listen to the podcast and check out the directory!
If anybody finds Instagram isn’t loading on wifi, try disabling IPv6. That worked for me with my Eero 6. This will please my wife.
This sounds frightfully Trumpian:
In a tweet Thursday evening, Musk said: āThe best people are staying, so Iām not super worried.ā
Source: Hundreds of Twitter employees resign after Elon Muskās āhardcoreā ultimatum - The Verge
Microblogvember 2022, Day 18: I’ve knocked off 18 consecutive microblogvember posts. I will not tire before I reach 30.
Twitter Circling the Bowl as Employees Leave
Elon Musk walked into Twitter HQ carrying a sink; in hindsight it should have been a toilet, because Twitter is now circling the bowl.
Elon Musk eases return-to-office order - The Washington Post
One Twitter staff member said the numbers of employees seeking to leave had alarmed Twitterās managers, who had formed āwar roomsā to determine which employees should be asked to stay on.
Resignations and departures were already taking a toll on Twitterās service, employees said. āBreakages are already happening slowly and accumulating,ā one said. āIf you want to export your tweets, do it now.ā
Hate speech and other abuse was also likely to spike, employees said. Most of Twitterās Trust and Safety team, consisting of up to 40 people, was expected to resign.
Is it surprising that engineers are opting to leave and take a 3-month severance package, as opposed to staying where they have to work extensive hours for a mercurial owner, without the joy of working with colleagues?
Musk really doesn’t seem to understand that employment is a two-way street. These people are not indentured servants. If the deal isn’t good, they can/should/will walk.
Last one out, please switch off the lights.
What’s the bet that in a couple of months, Twitter is employing remote-work engineers working out of India?
Adam Newbold of omg.lol returns to Hemispheric Views E071 to discuss recent developments. I roll up my sleeves to offer some top-tier business advice while Jason and Martin back away slowly into a hedge.
Microblogvember 2022, Day 17: What exactly is a barrel of laughs, anyway? Were laughs once packaged in a barrel for easy transportation? I don’t get it.
Twitter News: Don't Criticise the Owner (But the Owner can Criticise You)
Musk fires Twitter engineers after critical posts on Twitter and Slack:
Musk had already tweeted Monday that he hadĀ fired at least one engineer who publicly criticized him on Twitter. The latest terminations come in the wake of Muskās decisionĀ to let go of about half of all Twitter employeesĀ in a bid to cut costs.
Some Twitter employees confirmed the layoffs on their verified accounts.
āLooks like i just got fired for s—posting too āļøāĀ one wroteĀ in response to another person who said they had been let go.
It’s never smart to criticise your employer in public, although some of this criticism was published on an internal Slack. A mature manager would probably look at the recent unrest and seek to counsel their employees. Not Elon, who has shown not maturity to date and continues to exhibit none. He fired the complainers, and gloated about it publicly afterwards:
āI would like to apologize for firing these geniuses,ā he (Musk) wrote on Twitter. āTheir immense talent will no doubt be of great use elsewhere.ā
Good to see he can criticise those individuals publicly without recourse, hey?
Microblogvember 2022, Day 16: Every sports team needs a franchise player to be truly successful. At the moment, for the Perth Wildcats, that guy is Bryce Cotton.
Microblogvember 2022, Day 15: Barenaked Ladies have a song entitled Aluminium on their album Everything to Everyone. It address the pronunciation elephant in the room. Track on Songwhip
I’ve been comparing two Read-it-Later services, Omnivore and Matter. Omnivore had the head start with earlier integration with Logseq but now Matter also has that feature. Matter is more attractive. Omnivore is open source. If there is one thing that the recent Twitter/Mastodon comparison has reminded me of, is that open source is probably the safer long-term bet.
Microblogvember 2022, Day 14: It will be fascinating to see how Twitter evolves and if all the people and organisations who decided to leave, stay away.
Own Your Content (A Reprise)
Precisely two years ago today, I wrote this, in the context of Instagram.
Blog of Drew - Own Your Content:
A personal website and domain name remains the most reliable way to avoid your content serving as feed stock for a commercial enterprise.
Today, it holds up in the context of Twitter.
The more things changeā¦
Microblogvember 2022, Day 13: My first experience with the game Deathloop left me unimpressed but after playing some more I may have to adjust my initial impression.
Shooting Hoops
Recently we have installed a cool basketball hoop in our front yard, ostensibly for our kids to play as they grow into their teenage and teenage years.
An unexpected benefit has been for me ā Dad. I used to play basketball. You may be aware that I now host NBL Pocket Podcast, have media accreditation for NBL, and commentate games for NBL1.
When I was younger, I was an athletic guy who could slam dunk and knock down 3s. Age, however, shoots 1.000 and I no longer have the leap I once did. In fact, my knees are basically destroyed.
Installing this hoop, however, has proven to me that a jump shot (or maybe a standing shot now) is like riding a bike. You don’t forget how to do it. You also don’t forget the love. There is something about shooting a basketball that is immensely soothing for me. Nothing else eliminates the worries and stresses of day-to-day life than hearing the shwoosh of a basketball ripping through a net.
I wish I had installed this basketball system a decade ago. Nevertheless, I remind myself that while the best time was 10 years ago, the next best time is now.
I have my now. I am shooting hoops. In my mind, I am young once more.
Micro.blog has changed my life trajectory. It has given me connections with a range of people across the Internet. Without micro.blog, I would not have @HemisphericViews and the group of friends that are part of that community. M.b has changed my life. @manton @jean
One thing the whole Twitter saga has done is re-energised my use of my own blog, as well as getting into Mastodon. Happy with the changes and improvements I’m making to my own web sites.
Microblogvember 2022, Day 12: I have a suspicion that things at Twitter are going to get worse before they get better. If they get better.
Sorry, Crypto Bros
Molly White, reporting on her brilliant site tracking all the happenings in the crypto/NFT world.
FTX files for bankruptcy, Sam Bankman-Fried resigns:
Aaaand there it goes.
FTX announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO.
I wonder how all the Diamond Hands crypto HODL bros are feeling.
There’s only one thing worse than a Ponzi scheme, and that is being the one holding the “asset” when the music stops and there is no next fool in line.
So uh, is Twitter Blue no longer available for purchase? Just when I thought things couldnāt get crazier over there.
More news from the front. Grey āofficialā check marks are back. Yes, Elon killed them yesterday. Now he has revived them.
This isnāt hard to follow at all, is it? I donāt know why you canāt keep up.
Twitter Loses Executives
So the Twitter executives responsible for selling ads and ensuring trust and safety have both left the company. You would think they’d be kind of important to the business?
In a normal company, two executives leaving would be bad, but maybe it would be an opportunity to promote others. Unfortunately, Twitter probably sacked those others a few days ago.
Musk is now talking about bankruptcy. I imagine this might be a way for him to wash his hands of the affair, and socialise the losses across his venture capital buddies. Remember that is a key edict of corporations: capitalise the gains and socialise the losses. It seems like Elon might be contemplating pulling an Adam Neumann.