iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 1h

you absolutely don't have to hand it to Sam Altman, but the first part of this quote gets at something that almost the entire elite fails to appreciate: folding to Elon gets you nowhere, the only response that gets you anywhere with him is punching back

Look, I don’t like bullies, and I think Elon’s a bully. And so I think once in a while you got to punch a bully back in the nose. And I also think Elon, like many bullies, only respects people who do. So if you want me to be able to work with him, maybe you should be happy I hit back once in a while, but I will work with Elon, of course.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 21h

*honda investor relations voice* you know we've always been something of a SI play...

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 08/10/2026

between the coder job losses and the possibility of breaking crypto, I think I'm starting to understand why all the AI bros assume they're creating an apocalypse

the "call an ambulance but not for me" meme, except the gun is facing back toward the guy holding it and the caption reads "call an apocalypse, but not for you"

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 08/10/2026

the more Musk spends on the midterm elections, the more ubiquitous this image needs to be

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 04/10/2026

just one of many wonders the traveler encounters in the magical lands of

A sign in Disney's Animal Kingdom, that reads "ASIA" in a script that emulates south Asian scripts

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 02/10/2026

got roasted by the entire Monsters Inc stand-up comedy show, and am not sure there's a path back to dignity from this

Sticker certifying that I was That Guy at the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 02/10/2026

in other unfortunate metaphor news, the Carousel of Progress is closed

The Carousel of Progress, from the 1964 World's Fair, at Disney World

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 02/10/2026

exhaust huffing aside, getting chauffeured by my big sister for the first time was absolutely peak

A woman with purple hair and a leopard print top drives a test track car at Disney

Another view of the driving woman, grinning ear to ear

A selfie with the woman (my sister) and me in the seats of the test track car

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 02/10/2026

it's just too bad there's no other way to do this

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 29/09/2026

literally saw this one in the wild today and was like

Leo DiCaprio pointing at the TV in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 28/09/2026

I'm sure there are things to do in NY that aren't the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but...

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 28/09/2026

pray for New York City fam... they just got slammed by a nasty nor'easter and now they're getting hit with the worst nor'wester on record (me)

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 26/09/2026

a friend won a dolly parton lookalike contest at a bar and a stranger just handed this to her and I almost passed out

a coloring book image of dolly parton that has been gorgeously colored, capturing the legends vivacious energy

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 25/09/2026

pov: you're pitching bookstores about an in-person event

meme image of girls at a party looking at the camera with pity and disgust

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 25/09/2026

the self-driving analogy is so perfect: Google is actually developing these things, albeit at tiny, experimental scale, and meanwhile Elon Musk is raising billions off the hype that they're right around the corner

“We don’t expect, to be perfectly frank, that we’ll have anything usefully operational in the next few years,” he said, comparing the mission to the company’s early efforts to build driverless cars. “Remember how Google was researching for like 15 years, before anything showed up? I think this is going to look like that.”

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 25/09/2026

whether it's cars or robots, Tesla just can't stop Tesla-ing

Per The Information, the hand and forearm contain over 100 screws and small components that workers still assemble by hand. Fixtures on several stations, including hands, joints, and electronics testing, can’t consistently line up parts that are far smaller and tighter-tolerance than anything on a car. The result is more robots needing rework after coming off the line.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 25/09/2026

yeah, it's OK to be wrong, but why on earth is the point of a company that takes ten years to understand the basic realities their users face when there are plenty of perfectly competent semi companies making electric trucks?

On Thursday, Priestly offered a mea culpa. He called the original design “not sufficient” and revealed that the new Semi now has standard roll-down windows.

“We fully admit we were wrong about the windows,” he said. “Turns out there’s a lot of infrastructure in the world, whether it’s a badge reader, or your toll booth, or you’re talking to somebody on a call box. There’s all kinds of stuff right at that height, and it became evident that we needed a roll-down window in order to make that infrastructure easier to interface with.”

“It’s okay to be wrong, Dan,” Moravy added.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 25/09/2026

the cool thing about just kinda winging your own chile verde without getting too hung up on trying to make it "authentic" is that you end up feeling free to serve it on polenta and enter an entirely new dimension

Fully cooked pork in a green chile broth, over polenta

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 25/09/2026

congrats to Tesla for getting Colin Robinson to host this livestream

Colin Robinson, the energy vampire from What We Do In The Shadows

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 25/09/2026

they made the semi's headlight go all the way across, because the boss definitely didn't need them to make it look more like the Cybertruck

the updated Tesla semi, with its Cybertruck-like light bar

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 24/09/2026

anyway fuck ICE, make chile verde, don't take your eye off the ball

lightly seared chunks of pork shoulder about to start simmering in broth, chiles, cilantro, and more

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 24/09/2026

I didn't post this photo earlier for a bunch of reasons, but realizing that kids and old people were being hit by a giant wall of gas more than a block from the ICE building was such a earth-shaking moment and I actually don't want any of us to forget it

People of all ages flee in dismay as a massive cloud of tear gas wafts into the midst of a large, peaceful protest against ICE. A prominent sign reads "WE THE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT LIVE IN FEAR"

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 24/09/2026

this exchange leaped out to me, because Yudkowsky's own framing makes his entire philosophy seem like an outgrowth of Elon Musk thought (risk revolves around 'reaching the stars') and it's not entirely clear to me if it's just an appeal to SV consensus or if there's something more going on here

Twitter exchange in which Eliezer Yudkowsky argues "There should be enough survivors on Earth in close contact to form a viable reproductive population, with room to spare, and they should have a sustainable food supply. So long as that's true, there's still a chance of reaching the stars someday."

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 23/09/2026

profoundly embarrassed by my emotional reaction to a comic with a cover that includes the message "BRAND NEW FORMAT! SPECIAL PRICE!"

Cover of the "Loving The Alien" edition of Saga Of The Swamp Thing by Alan Moore

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 23/09/2026

GOSH IF ONLY THERE WERE SOME TANGIBLE STAKES AROUND THESE VAGUE "CONCERNS ABOUT POLITICAL INFLUENCE"

ROHAN'S VIEW: An investment from Musk would be a significant vote of confidence in the combined Paramount Warner Bros. from a businessman who also has a devoted retail investor following. A check from Musk or other big financial backers would also give Paramount a more diversified investor base, and reduce Larry Ellison’s financial burden.

But having Musk in this deal would also be politically fraught: Musk’s dollars and political influence were concerning to Democrats during the 2024 election, given his control of X. The possibility of him having even partial ownership in CNN and CBS would likely raise alarm bells in Washington, even though it is unlikely Musk would have formal input over the company’s operations.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 23/09/2026

OK, so Waymos can drive... what would you call the thing that they were unable to do here?

I had seen enough. Against the advice of my remote interlocutor, I unbuckled my seatbelt, pushed the passenger door open, and fled into the 38C Dallas heat. Behind me, the agents continued to remonstrate with the recalcitrant vehicle. I looked back one last time to see the car, flanked by officers, finally start to crawl forward with its hazard lights on.

After making it to the conference centre, this time with an Uber under human control, I received a call from a Waymo representative. It was, they said, “not really the experience that we wanted you to have”.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 22/09/2026

drives an i3? it's on sight with Elon Musk? he just like me fr

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 22/09/2026

my love and respect for Larry David grows all the time pagesix.com/2026/09/22/h...

After the dressing down — which ended up having the crowd in tears, of laughter and joy, the agent writes — Emanuel recalls, “Seating Larry at the same table as Elon Musk: Not my best decision.”
As soon as the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star sees the Tesla mogul,”he starts cursing, yelling, saying things many people would like to say to Elon” about the SpaceX’s leader’s politics.
David was “right up in Elon’s face, before the dinner starts,” and, guests had to separate them.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 18/09/2026

gonna need you to define some of these terms, sport

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 18/09/2026

when ur corrupt oligarch homies fail to stop the release of a movie that documents ur words and actions

a disheveled and corpulent Elon Musk looks up in annoyed surprise, a glass of wine in one hand and french fries in the other

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 17/09/2026

so Universal is advertising its cowardice... so Gibney can just sell distribution rights all over again, having benefitted from the publicity? absolute scenes

Universal would be required to pay filmmakers a kill fee not to release the movie, according to a person familiar with the deal’s structure. The filmmakers would then be free to sell it anew, essentially allowing it to profit twice off the same rights sale.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 15/09/2026

bsky, if it were possible to differentiate "a bad thing happened to me, personally" and "a major structural problem exists in our society"

meme image of a glorious high-tech utopia

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 09/09/2026

the forecast was quite warm, so I went with light checked jacket and slacks... nothing fancy, just basic Italian summer stuff

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 09/09/2026

I somehow managed to miss the red carpet, as well as the last train home, but the premiere of MUSK was still an incredible experience. Alex Gibney has captured the Musk phenomenon for a mainstream audience in a way we haven't seen, and which makes many lonely years feel more worthwhile.

Flags of many nations adorn a building of the Venice Film Festival, with bikes out front

Alex Gibney enters the Gran Sala from the red carpet, at the premiere of "MUSK" at the Venice Film Festival

Ashley St Claire on the red carpet, through a window

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 08/09/2026

Zoe Schiffer adds that there's a perception among Silicon Valley elite that right-wing politics "are more pay-to-play" than mainstream politicians, which is central to the appeal

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 08/09/2026

"How dangerous is Elon Musk to the world's democracies?" Gibney is asked. "Extremely," he answers, in a single word.

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 08/09/2026

Alex Gibney: Musk is "old wine in a new bottle: a stock promoter" He says the film is an effort to "reframe" a story that Musk has dominated, and blurred the line between reality and fantasy.

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