4 ms·

surreal we live in a time when discussions like these are public and on twitter.

comboy 10y ago
Indeed. Sorry for off-topic, but is there anybody reading this who could help me claim a twitter username that is inactive for almost 10 years now? Any hints are welcome. AFAIK twitter doesn't do that officially anymore. It would be really awesome.
Anderkent 10y ago
Isn't the discussion happening in public a good thing?
- wastedhours 10y ago
  Good, and surreal.
  - mirimir 10y ago
    What will be surreal is watching WWIII break out in real time ;)
    - adventured 10y ago
      I know you're mostly joking, but it's not going to happen. There aren't enough powerful countries on the theoretical opposition side to sustain a WW3 engagement. There are only a few consequential military powers today that can seriously attempt to fight a major war outside their own borders while simultaneously enduring opposition: US, Russia, China, Germany, France, UK. All the next tier powers down from that can be trivially crippled, locked down to their own territory and prevented from substantially joining the battle. IE there can be no WW3 until or unless the world changes a lot.
      - lefstathiou 10y ago
        To add to that, you need a large and consistent oil supply to sustain a war on that scale and it is no accident that the North American, South American and Middle Eastern oil regions are effectively all under US control.
        mirimir 10y ago
        Not Russia, though. But anyway, I misspoke. Not a protracted war.
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - mirimir 10y ago
        Yes, I'm mostly joking. But sadly enough, rather darkly :( And I misspoke in saying "WWIII". What I meant was a nuclear exchange between the US, Russia and their allies. That's almost happened more times than most people realize. The Cuban Missile Crisis did pretty much happen in public. What would that have looked like on Twitter?
      - mikeash 10y ago
        Nothing says WWIII would have to be sustained. It's been generally expected for the past several decades that it would last a day or less.
shaydoc 10y ago
Its wonderful actually. It shows how technologists and technology can be a hope for the future as opposed to politics. Seems to me alot of real change is being driven by technology and sharing of information. Well, lets be honest, Elon Musk is a very unique individual, and I really like his style.
CapacitorSet 10y ago
It's free PR for Elon Musk, no wonder it's - well - public.

Indeed. Sorry for off-topic, but is there anybody reading this who could help me claim a twitter username that is inactive for almost 10 years now? Any hints are welcome. AFAIK twitter doesn't do that officially anymore. It would be really awesome.

Anderkent 10y ago

Isn't the discussion happening in public a good thing?

wastedhours 10y ago
Good, and surreal.
- mirimir 10y ago
  What will be surreal is watching WWIII break out in real time ;)
  - adventured 10y ago
    I know you're mostly joking, but it's not going to happen. There aren't enough powerful countries on the theoretical opposition side to sustain a WW3 engagement. There are only a few consequential military powers today that can seriously attempt to fight a major war outside their own borders while simultaneously enduring opposition: US, Russia, China, Germany, France, UK. All the next tier powers down from that can be trivially crippled, locked down to their own territory and prevented from substantially joining the battle. IE there can be no WW3 until or unless the world changes a lot.
    - lefstathiou 10y ago
      To add to that, you need a large and consistent oil supply to sustain a war on that scale and it is no accident that the North American, South American and Middle Eastern oil regions are effectively all under US control.
      - mirimir 10y ago
        Not Russia, though. But anyway, I misspoke. Not a protracted war.
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
    - mirimir 10y ago
      Yes, I'm mostly joking. But sadly enough, rather darkly :( And I misspoke in saying "WWIII". What I meant was a nuclear exchange between the US, Russia and their allies. That's almost happened more times than most people realize. The Cuban Missile Crisis did pretty much happen in public. What would that have looked like on Twitter?
    - mikeash 10y ago
      Nothing says WWIII would have to be sustained. It's been generally expected for the past several decades that it would last a day or less.

shaydoc 10y ago

Its wonderful actually. It shows how technologists and technology can be a hope for the future as opposed to politics. Seems to me alot of real change is being driven by technology and sharing of information. Well, lets be honest, Elon Musk is a very unique individual, and I really like his style.

CapacitorSet 10y ago

It's free PR for Elon Musk, no wonder it's - well - public.