Hi everybody and welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast, where
we're diving into the big news surrounding X, the social media
platform formerly known as Twitter.
And our main topic today revolves around a brewing
controversy concerning X's recent commandeering of the AT
music handle from open source developer Jeremy Vaught, A
notable case that has sparked crucial debates over
intellectual property rights and user trust in social media
platforms. Navat, who established the app
music handle back in 2007 and successfully built a robust
community of nearly half a million followers, found his
long term dedication to the platform countered by the recent
rebranding efforts from X. This and more is causing waves
of unease among the community and presents an interesting
discussion about the future of user rights on social media
platforms under new corporate leadership.
But before we delve further into the intricacies of this
situation, we'll be taking a quick commercial break, so stick
around. You don't want to miss the
insights we're about to unpackaboutx.com, Elon Musk, and
this controversial topic of the AT music handle.
All right, welcome back everybody.
And as a user driven social media platform, X, formerly
known as Twitter, has always relied on its diverse and
passionate community of users to fuel its growth and its
prominence. Now, however, recent actions by
the company commandeering the handle at music from open source
software developer Jeremy Vaught are raising eyebrows and
sparking fresh debates about intellectual property rights and
the trustworthiness of social media platforms.
Now let's go back to 2007, Bought a dedicated music
enthusiast and creator, set up the AT Music handle, then
successfully build a thriving community of approximately half
a million followers. Now, despite the enormous worth
of such a handle on the social media platform, X's recent
rebranding efforts saw it repossessed the handle from him,
presenting him and said with a list of other music related
usernames to choose from. Bot's new access side account AT
Music Fan is far from ideal, according to the software
developer, but he's decided to accept it for now.
His followers were transferred to the new account, providing
some continuity in the wake of this unexpected change.
Still, he remarked to CNBC that this development could
discourage creators from investing long term in X due to
fears of suddenly losing their handles.
He had primarily used his Music handle as a platform to review
consumer hardware products, notably those associated with
music and with an influential social media status, he was
frequently sought up by manufacturers of headphones,
earbuds and other related accessories.
The account, however, was not a revenue stream for him, and
under previous management, there were times when Von fretted over
the possible takeover of his app Music Handle by Twitter.
However, the social media giant had opted to leave at Music
untouched and establish its own at Twitter Music Handle.
This all changed after Elon Musk took over and rebranded Twitter
as X. It remains unclear what plans X
has for the at Music handle. As of this report, the company
has posted a photo of musician Ed Sheeran holding a copy of his
2014 album X Pronounce Multiply to the account.
Neither representatives for Sheeran, X or Musk have
responded to requests for our comments.
Now ironically VOT, who once invested in another Musk led
company Tesla, still uses X. He set up new accounts on Metas,
text based competitor threads and also Mastodon explaining
that the software development community remains active on X,
making it quote the most interesting social that I have
now. His history with Musk's venture
also includes paying a $100 refundable fee to reserve a
Tesla cyber truck. This is the pickup truck from
Tesla, and it's not been released yet.
And there's no real final specs or pricing out there as we write
this. So the repercussions of X's
commandeering move had rippled beyond the loss of the music
handle, though. This instance of impersonal
corporate takeover from a user who had contributed 16 years to
the platform brought forth questions about intellectual
property and users rights on social media Follows a similar
incident when X took over the handle at X from another
longterm user during its rebranding.
That's what an NBC News report says now.
The sequence of these events has led to an increasing level of
discomfort among X's users. For instance, Vaught felt uneasy
when he discovered that his new handle at Music Fan had been
created back in 2011, leading him to wonder whether X had
repossessed it from another user.
While he could not get definitive answer edit this out
While he could not get a definitive answer from the
company, he described the entire process as quote skeezy and an
unfair result of 16 years of dedicated engagement with the
platform. This discontent echoes broader
criticisms of Accents Musk's acquisition and rebranding of
Twitter last year. The shift to X is seen as part
of a larger restructuring effort amid declining ad revenues.
And yet the recent uprising of user handles has drawn increased
scrutiny, forcing users, intellectual property advocates,
and industry watchers alike to question the implications of X's
new direction on user rights, trust and the future of the
platform. Now Vaught encapsulates these
sentiments best, saying 16 years is a long time to invest in
something and then just have it ripped out from underneath you.
And as X charts its future course, the company will need to
find a balance between its cororate objectives and the
community that built the platform from the ground U.
And now we're going to move our focus down to Tarbase Boca
Chica, Texas. Our SpaceX has tested the
Booster 9 for the upcoming Starship flight.
SpaceX moved a step closer to realizing its deep space
aspirations, conducting a brief yet significant test of its
Starship booster and it accompany Water Delu system at
the Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Now, there's a little bit of background of this test, so
let's get into that before we move on.
Now, they've been gearing up for the next launch of the Starship
Rocket. This is a vehicle designed for
missions to the Moon, Mars, and anywhere in the solar system,
and to achieve this, the Starship system requires a
powerful booster known as the Super Heavy.
Now, this booster is equipped with 33 Raptor engines, all of
which ignites simultaneously for liftoff.
Now, previously during an April launch test, the Starship didn't
quite meet its goals due to complications, and this resulted
in SpaceX intentionally destroying the vehicle mid
flight. Now during that attempt, the
power of the Raptor engines, even though just thirty of them
were ignited, wreaked havoc on the launchpad.
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, termed the result damage a rock
tornado, which led to widespread damage and debris and concerns
over future tests. Now, understanding the severity
of the damage and potential risks and future launches,
Spacex's engineering teams innovated.
They introduced steel plates to the launchpad underneath the
rocket, and they serve as barriers against the intense
heat and force produced by the Raptor engines.
Now the company conceptualize a water deluge system to to
further reduce the effects of the ignition.
Let's get into this test a little bit.
It was very short, but it's really important.
Sunday marked the day when both systems, the engine ignition and
the water deluge system would be tested together for the first
time and the ignition lasted just 2.74 seconds, while most of
the engines function is expected 4 stopped prematurely now,
concurrently, the deluge system released a huge surge of water
under the launchpad and the entire process was briefly
strained by SpaceX. So we got John Insbrucker, one
of the best commentators in spaceflight, who anchored this
live stream, and when it concluded he noted that there
was stable condition of both the pad and the vehicle.
However, SpaceX has maintained a level of secrecy around this,
and we don't know the tests, absolute success, or any of the
results of this test quite yet. Now what's ahead though?
Because SpaceX has a lot to look forward to.
The definitive date for the second flight, the I FT-2?
We don't really know yet, but earlier, during an interactive
session, Musk shared projections of launching the rocket within a
few months. The April 20th launch, despite
its shortcomings, has been a significant learning curve for
SpaceX. The aftermath saw the company
revisited strategies and reinforced safety measures,
including the installation of the water deluge system.
And the water deluge system is designed to manage the intense
energy of the Rockets engines. It ejects water to
counterbalance the heat from the grafter engines, and it also
protects the pad and dampens the sound in that area.
However, there's still concerns. Though the damage from the April
launch hasn't gone unnoticed by regulators and watchdogs, the
Federal Aviation Administration or the FAA is closely monitoring
the situation, and they're ensuring that all safety and
environmental standards are met. Now, this scrutiny has also led
to legal challenges around the licensing process for subsequent
launches. Moreover, there's a matter of
the Rockets Flight Termination System, which plays a crucial
role during any anomalies in flight.
There were noted delays in this activation during the first
flight or the I FT1 which Musk and his team are currently
addressing now. The next anticipated Starship
flight will involve Booster 9 in another prototype named Ship 25
with technical, environmental and legal checkpoints ahead.
The I FT-2 is possibly a few months away according to Elon
Musk. So let's see where this goes.
Thank you very much for listening to the show today,
everybody. I do appreciate you and I
appreciate all of your support. O please, if you could take a
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And also take care of yourselves and each other, and I will see
you in the next one.