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There have been numerous stories over the years, apocryphal maybe, but they were coming out even when the media loved Muskrat... anyway, the stories were frequently about how employees of companies like SpaceX believed him to be an absolute idiot and upper management believed that their main role with him was to block him from getting in the way. One of the most famous stories was about some fuel tank that was fracturing in flight. The engineers had some ideas, but Muskrat came up with some idea to put a layer of fast-set glue/resin on the outside that would stay liquid - and when the cracks started to appear in the tank, the adhesive would leak out and set, automatically healing the crack. All of the best engineers in the company said that the idea could not possibly work and explained why it couldn't. Yet, Muskrat insisted on an all hands on deck and everybody worked non-stop with the vessel and the resin until... Muskrat finally acknowledged that the idea couldn't possibly work. It sort of fits with a man who has basically failed upward for most of his life - such as how he got fired as CEO of PayPal after nearly running the company into bankruptcy with his bad ideas, but still owning a bunch of stock so that when Thiel transformed it to a profitable company and sold it to eBay, Muskrat came out with billions. Would SpaceX exist without him? No. Would Starlink exist without SpaceX? Also no. Did he invent Starlink? Also no. Would Neuralink exist without him? No, and who cares? It's a good accessibility play for people who can't otherwise operate a computer, but for the rest of us, do you know anybody who is loudly complaining that they don't have some shitty device in their head that will ultimately be used to shovel ads directly into their brain? Do you spend every day glaring at your computer wishing that your brain could directly control it? For Tesla, he didn't invent it at all. Outside of having a strong first mover advantage in terms of modern electric cars, they aren't very good. Quality control has always been lacking. Muskrat decides that for full self driving, they don't need industry-standard tools like proximity sensors, but instead they'll rely only on cameras. He did, apparently, invent the truck that looks like a small child drew it and which is almost universally reviled. So yay. Otherwise, what has Muskrat invented? Hyperloop - the dumbest mass transit invention in the history of humanity? 12 years later, there isn't a single operating hyperloop that you can go ride. And it turns out that vactrain concepts had existed for years before he "invented" that too. So... has he had a single novel idea in his entire history? Or is his "genius" really just in ways to exploit existing wealth to extract more money, mostly from the government?

I interviewed a university professor recently that said that these AI companies don’t even understand how their own AI’s work. Unlike any other technology in history where all the work it took to create the tech means the creators have a complete understanding of how it works, he says AI is “alien tech” to its makers. Puts a new perspective on all these tech companies and the markets betting so big on AI… they have little idea what will happen. So glad the entire U.S. economy is propped up by it at the moment.

Yet it would not exist without him.

Elon Musk did not invent SpaceX alone. He stood on: NASA contracts public research global supply chains skilled labor pools created by public education Not to mention striking it lucky with PayPal and the sellout to eBay for billions.

I really don't think your hurt feelings should come into the conversation at all. They are not going to further the debate at all. "Feelings" are ironically why the world is in such a mess in the first place. If people listened and thought about reconsidering their misguided opinions when someone tells them the facts, the world would be a better place but instead they get all emotional, like a baby.

I want to see it. Real world subjects only (like landscape scenes, people, and so on).

Thanks for the very open-minded and respectful exchange.

To everyone I offended this year... work on yourself so I don't have to do it again next year. If after all you have seen, you still drink the Elon koolaid you deserve all the personal attacks coming to you. I have absolutely zero respect for your opinions or your feelings on the matter. It is entirely your responsibility that you feel insulted by what I said above even though it was objective fact and not at all personal. Elon is not a rocket scientist. He's a fucking twat face, alleged Nazi drug addict. I suppose you think his little fascist bromance with Trump was furthering the future of Planet Earth as well?

I found out what he's been up to and it's the greatest irony in the history of the camera world. He has pivoted to cat videos. Very occasionally you will see a long review of a camera. This is his one on the Nikon Zr. I also tuned into another favourite of mine, Gerald Undone. He's done a Q&A where people throw money at him like a stripper. Except he's a bloke so can't tuck the money into his bra. I actually think this one of the purist examples of autism I have seen. And if we look at the top fans, Philip is 7th... I have no idea who the others are. TechMixr? That's quite a good question on the chat box... Which of the companies standard H.264/H.265 4K codecs at 100Mbit has the least noise reduction, aka most filimic, that I would like somebody to show. I can't be bothered and have sold all my gear to fund the forum hosting fees. Do you think the camera community would have worked out differently without all the narcissist Americans and Canadians? I think it would have. You'd have women in it for a start. Some real, talented actresses might be about... lending their opinions to DPs and gracing camera test scenes, instead we have some blokes being herded around like sheep by PR people from Sony and Panasonic! Maybe we'd have an alternative platform to YouTube... like the early days Vimeo with original file downloads, forums, and beautifully curated portfolios of work. Instead I do feel that the community has been rather sold out... And to an extent, those in it have sold yourselves out by being silly. You have worshipped at the feet of the social media influencer, lapped up the rumours site clickbait like gullible little fools, whittered on and on and on about what your camera strategy is for 2025, changing cameras like underpants, and dropping thousands on 8K RAW cinema cameras to shoot Instagram material with, delivered onto a 5 inch smartphone screen at 480p resolution in a 10 second endless loop.

This reply feels unnecessarily hostile. We can disagree about Musk or his companies without resorting to personal attacks. I was simply sharing a perspective.

Some thoughts from film industry workers in Hollywood: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dyy47qy82o They can't decide whether a streaming company or right wing oligarch is the solution. I suppose it's a bit like trying to choose between Epstein and Jimmy Saville because the usual babysitter isn't available and the restaurant was booked in advance 3 weeks ago. You'll notice that not many of the people in the article still have a house. Even fewer want to be identified, presumably because they DO have a house and wish to keep it. Although I feel sorry for them, I am coming to terms with the thought that maybe a bit of a reset for cinema is what's needed. Not just because most of what's being made nowadays is complete shite anyway, but that theatre going can be removed, extracted, saved from the general public who have the combined IQ of 1000 PE teachers. Perhaps actual cinema-lovers can then go in peace to our smaller niche cinemas and watch actually good movies with emotional depth in them and substance. Leaving the Homer Simpsons of the world to stay on the sofa watching League of legends: the movie on their fucking phone with one hand and wanking to AI porn with the other. Wait. Did I just describe the average American?

I don't remember Bill Clinton's government combing through a non-US citizen's personal politics at customs. It makes tourism a bit shit, doesn't it? If I had to go to NAB or to the US for work I would just not bother. Really I didnt know that It was him was it? Have you ever considered it might instead be the thousands of employees of these companies backed by billions in venture capitalist funds and government NASA contracts. Also as far as "the world" and "the future" goes, they haven't moved the needle that far. SpaceX is just a private NASA contractor and they haven't even gone to the moon. Tesla is a failing car company, completely outgunned by China. Starlink consists of some satellites that ruin photos of the sky. And Neural link is an allegedly deeply immoral pig experiment. No. Critical thinking, and criticism is not the issue. Gullible bastards are.

Well honestly I am not sure the old style of politics was even better. Before social media, there was TV and newspapers (there still is). And the story was very onesided. Allthough they claim to be impartial, they were/are def not. And classic media was more easy to control. (yet also easy to pay ads for social media..) For example, I read an article about Elon Musk gets 96% more negative media coverage (not sure who wrote it or funded the research, but in my experience it def feels true). The man is a wacko, sure, but he is def the n1 executing entrepreneur who pushing the world towards the future. (spacex, tesla, starlink, x, neuralink, ...) The media criticizes every step he does and reposts it daily. Yet he saves 2 astronauts, and its almost crickets everywhere unless you are looking for that specific news. Offcourse bashing/hatefull posts get more attention over positive news, and that might also have an big part of the (human) problem.

Was it all a bit of a sham? EOSHD investigates... https://www.eoshd.com/news/users-are-complaining-openai-wreaked-sora-2-eoshd-takes-a-look-at-what-happened/

I believe it's just mainstream social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, LinkedIn etc., that they care about, not small niche forums on very specific topics not related to politics. I think it's safe to visit the US unless you have a written record of publicly speaking against Trump or his policies, in which case it might not currently be safe.

Yes, I misunderstood you. I completely agree. It makes me smile a bit when I read such clear-cut opinions for or against a camera, judging by what is posted on YouTube. I also understand that it's the only place we have to express opinions, short of buying every camera that comes out just for the fun of it. I am firmly convinced that the only thing we can appreciate in a YouTube video is the author's skill with editing, color correction, and color grading. I do underwater filming, and since the housings for the Canon C50 and Nikon ZR have been presented, I was anxiously awaiting the first tests. And here is a test of the ZR. I don't want to criticize the messenger (literally: "shoot the pianist"). He was probably given the camera and tested it quickly. The video has obvious color correction flaws. In several clips, the magenta got out of control... Anyway... was reading enthusiastic comments and I remembered that this shark-filled spot is very famous, and there are hundreds of videos made over the years that can be used for comparison. This was shot six years ago with, ehm... a GH5 And this one, 4 years ago with a mix of GH5 and OG Komodo (speaking about matching cameras) So what are we seeing really?

Same here. I had to leave my PRO account after 15 years. I didn't renew after what they did to the European accounts, who pay the subscription like all users worldwide. I hope they fail miserably. I moved everything on Youtube. Such a shame.

All of politics, completely out of control everywhere, and nobody seems to be able to get a grip. What's the common theme in all of our countries? Well, it has turned into a TV show, an attention economy, and that the people who enter politics for the right reasons have to play the game too, with a hostile media, be it old style TV debates, tabloid journalism or the new hellscape that is social media. Nobody has felt it necessary to protect the culture of politics or nurture a better calibre of politician, through better education and training... So you just get a load of narcissists or lackies going into it instead. It has become The Apprentice, it even has the same host. Everyone took the old style of politics for granted - we have never much liked the culture of it in the first place anyway, but as a result - it's even worse now.

Crazy times, the UK lately has also been batshit crazy, now europe wants to introduce digital euro. Some politicians in Belgium wanted to approve an AI that scans all bank accounts of citizens to find frauds... I can't understand who finds this a good idea??

Not much problem for christian nationalists who don't want to see non white tourists and non religious white tourists walk on their country's soil.

I haven’t been there for a while and was toying with a trip next year. To paraphrase King Arthur now though.

Yes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Sirui 35, especially for $500. I also expect Sirui to update their 1.6X lineup soon and add wider/longer lenses in the process. This is a really great time to be getting into anamorphic. There are so many great options amongst the newer Chinese made lenses...I can also recommend the Blazar Cato 2X lenses. I like 2X, especially with open gate and the Cato 85 & 125 are pretty nice lenses. I can get better results with an anamorphic adapter setup, but not without some hassles.

I guess you only need a couple of months to inventarise all your socials of the last five years. Is that including public forums like these ? also, every person you emailed, even if you got a new computer a year ago and do not have your complete history. On top of that all addresses and phone numbers of all family members, best friends, exes and current affairs you might be having. Probably that includes the number of deceased parents or family, if they did that within the last five years. so we basically need a P.I. to investigate ourselves to get into that shithole the US have become ? i think I’ll give a pass then … My guess is tourism will be booming the next couple of decades !