You're going to want to read today's story. Gives you a better sense of the people who most closely surround Musk. Here's the lede:
At 49, Branden Spikes isn't just one of the oldest technologists who has been involved in Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As the current director of information technology at X/Twitter and an early hire at PayPal, Zip2, Tesla and SpaceX, Spikes is also among Musk's most loyal employees. Here's a closer look at this trusted Musk lieutenant, whose Russian ex-wife was once married to Elon's cousin.
krebsonsecurity.com/2025/03/wh…
Who is the DOGE and X Technician Branden Spikes?
At 49, Branden Spikes isn't just one of the oldest technologists who has been involved in Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As the current director of information technology at X/Twitter and an early hire at PayPal, Zip2, Tesla…krebsonsecurity.com
A man dared a hostess in Tokyo to a drinking game. She died several hours later. The story demonstrates how obscenely wealthy men use their power to take advantage of economically disadvantaged women for nothing but the sake of their own amusement.
#Japan #unseenjapan #ujwebsite
Dared to Death: Wealth, Sexism, and Tragedy in Tokyo - Unseen Japan
A "drinking game" in a high-end Tokyo bar that ended in a young woman's death has drawn attention to the abusive power wielded by rich men.Jay Allen (Unseen Japan)
opensource.org/blog/overcoming…
Overcoming barriers to Open Source procurement in the European Union
The EU has just started a review of European public procurement rules, and have asked for input on potential changes to the rules.Open Source Initiative
The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring
404 Media has obtained the list of sites and services that ICE contractor ShadowDragon pulls data from. ShadowDragon sources data from all over the web and lets government analysts easily search it and draw connections between people.Joseph Cox (404 Media)
Ultimately nothing in the world can ever be 100% secure.
But generally speaking. The accessible info on Signal is about signup.
I went down yet another Severance rabbit hole and now I'm even more obsessed. It's shocking how much I've missed and rewatching it with subtitles helped.
But what I'm learning from YouTube videos deep diving into the episodes, is there's so many theories out there and it's fun to learn about them =)
No spoilers but the latest video about the latest episode Sweet Vitriol from The Faceless Girl was eye opening for me, as it completely changed my perspective on the ending I thought was coming =)
#art #drawing #illustration #characterdesign #robotart
1: trash I will never click on that is sometimes downright insulting to have recommended to me in the first place
2: 90+ minute long "video essays" that I have less than zero interest in
3: videos I've already seen
Film Screening – Staff Picks from the Prelinger Archives
Prelinger Archives is in the final year of a three-year grant for mass-digitization of its film collection funded by Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. Since the start of the […]\nblog.archive.org
If there are 10 people in a room, and each of those 10 people looked out for everyone else in the room, each person would have 9 people looking out for them.
But if each of the 10 people only looked out for themselves, each person would only have 1 person looking out for them.
Can't recall where I heard this, but it stuck with me.
Another photo thread!! :3
This time starting in Hong Kong
All photos CC BY-SA 4.0 by Jana M. Hemsing
Middle age is a time when women are vulnerable to eating disorders
Doctors often miss the signs of eating disorders in middle-aged women due to cultural stereotypes around these illnesses.The Conversation
This message was sent to you by ##[url=https://hj.9fs.net?t=victimfulldomain]victimfulldomain[/url]##
oh no the rookie scammer fucked up the template 🙁
SGT1 - Chapter 14
We're 'coming home', and do brace for the landing.
archiveofourown.org/works/6290…
#PennedPossibilities 611 — Have you ever been able to relate to your antagonist / villain? If the answer is yes, then how so?
Yes... first I imagined him played by John Simm. Then I made him a chaotic character, whether he's being good or bad, he's playing it to the hilt and always going in unexpected directions.
He is extremely good at pitting friends and neighbours against each other, but those who stand firm against him are made stronger by the ordeal.
Sensitive content
I’d like to invite you to vote in our 1980s Top Twenty Chart Poll
Match-Up #20
Eternal Flame - Bangles v Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
Please vote below 👇
#Music #PopMusic #RockMusic #Songs #Poll #SoulMusic #RockNRoll #1980s
- Eternal Flame (46%, 67 votes)
- Total Eclipse of the Heart (53%, 77 votes)
I am inordinately fond of that song because it was the first 7" single I ever bought (well, the second, but the first was a rather embarrassing novelty song so I pretend it never happened).
Also it's a fantastic piece of cheesy, over-the-top, bombastic rock-pop. Yay for Bonnie Tyler!
The liberal obsession with Russia... Look, I fucking hate Vladimir Putin. I hate him for what he's done to Russia and the world. If the Russian people rose up and overthrew him tomorrow I would not be sorry. But neither he nor "Russia" is responsible for all the ills of the world, and they're not the final Big Boss of evil whom we must fight.
The Republicans are fascists. I know liberals are having a hard time with that. But they're not fascists because "the Russians." Honestly, it's far more sensible to say that the United States is to blame for Vladimir Putin. We're not the good guys either. The Republicans are obsessed with China and the Democrats are obsessed with Russia, and neither is rational.
The sheer scope of the misinformation campaign coming out of Russian servers, and the actual open warfare with Ukraine would seem to blunt your message.
There is no big bad. The US government is currently fascist. Russia's government is currently fascist. The FOTUS is currently beholden to Putin.
We're in the worst timeline.
There are new batteries and new motors with silicon carbide semiconductors.
arstechnica.com/cars/2025/03/t…
Glyn Moody reshared this.
I find following Lemmy discussions from Mastodon easy on desktop, though it involves a lot of copy-pasting. On mobile, it's even more frustrating.
Interoperability is great, but it would be much more convenient if we could fully use the Lemmy or Pixelfed interfaces with just a Mastodon account. Right now, it still feels like having a separate account is necessary to access the full feature set and user experience.
$42.5 Billion Broadband Grant Program Being Rewritten To Benefit Elon Musk
We’ve often noted how there are $42.5 billion in broadband grants headed to the states courtesy of the 2021 infrastructure bill. The GOP voted against the bill, but have repeatedly turned aro…Techdirt
I know he means well.
Republican Refers to Transgender Member as a Man, Cutting Short a House Hearing
Representative Keith Self of Texas insisted on calling Representative Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, “Mr. McBride,” and adjourned the session when challenged about it.
[15:37] Duiken voor mensen met een beperking is geen sprong in het diepe. ‘Mooi dat ze zelfstandig kunnen zweven onder water’
Duiken voor deelnemers met een beperking is geen sprong in het diepe voor onderwatersportvereniging De Emmer Duikers, die in 1997 is opgericht. De drie instructeurs weten exact waar ze mee bezig zijn bij het begeleiden van dit speciale groepje duikers. Locatie is steevast zwembad Aquarena op sportpark Meerdijk, vlakbij het stadion van FC Emmen.
In the first QUARTER of 2024, Truth Social posted a loss of $327.6 million. I know that the purchase of Twitter wasn't really financial, but that has been valued at 80% of its purchase value. That's a loss - just disappeared into nothingness - of $34.6 billion. In the last two months alone, Teslas value has been wiped out, losing $655 billion. However SpaceX is up $140 billion in valuation due to new government contracts, but in total that still represents a massive overall loss.
I realise I'm preaching to the choir here, but if I lost £425 billion in two years (greater than the GDP of Austria, or 2 Hungarys, 3 Ukraines, 4 Slovakias or 5 Bulgarias), I'm not sure I would be the best person to speak to about financial efficiency.
Artistic portrait of a leopard high in a tree, photographed in Botswana Africa.
#leopard #bigcat #feline #botswana #africa #safari #artistic #wildlife #wildlifephotography #portrait #animal #nature #painterly #spotted #AYearForArt #buyIntoArt #giftideas #wallart #artforsale @joancarroll
joan-carroll.pixels.com/featur…
Shelly
in reply to Jon Shute • • •