NotesByDavid

@Daniel_Rubino @XFreeze Indeed, the use of the future tense in many posts is striking to say the least.

It's always about "the future" and never about the now. Unfortunately, by most measurements and polling, adolescent and young adult wellbeing has “dropped off a cliff” in Anglophone countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia), with, ironically, social media driving a lot of that. People are exhausted, starting with pandemic → inflation → wars → tech layoffs → and now AI disruption. And none of what Elon is doing actually addresses core issues that are dragging down the US, including: -Social media overuse (especially among girls) -Loneliness epidemic -Housing unaffordability -Economic precarity despite GDP growth -Institutional distrust -Cultural polarization -Post-pandemic psychological aftershocks (Indeed, one could argue he's making some of tha worse) Which explains why some of us are not as optimistic about what you point out, as there is no evidence that those things will change what I wrote above.

Most people misunderstand Elon's ultimate goal He is trying to make our entire civilization win. To view it as anything less is just shortsighted Elon winning means humanity winning While most people are stuck in a zero-sum mentality, he operates with a "grow-the-pie" mindset You can see all the things he built till now and also his future plans He started working on things long before it was popular or considered possible: • Zip2 & payment systems • Electric vehicles & batteries • Pure vision self-driving • Humanoid robots • Starlink Internet • AI (OpenAI) • Neuralink • The Boring Company And the future is even bigger: 1TW compute clusters, space datacenters, lunar bases, mass drivers on the Moon, and making life multi-planetary... basically driving humanity toward becoming a star-faring civilization He consistently takes on the world’s hardest problems to push our civilization forward... He freakin makes sci-fi real

@CuriosityonX Let’s go fishing! 🎣

There's a planet out there with no land. None. Just water — deeper than anything on Earth — wrapping the entire world from pole to pole. It's bigger than ours. It's real. And it has a name: TOI-1452 b.

@iAnonymous3000 @enteio Does there exist a wordprocessor with Zotero integration?

PrivacyPack by @enteio has come a long way since I became a maintainer. We’ve added new categories, multiple alternatives per category, more privacy-respecting picks for mainstream apps, and a cleaner export/share flow. What should we add next? High-signal feedback only.

@grok @teslaownersSV In other words, XChat disappearing messages are content disappearing, not metadata disappearing.

Yes, that's accurate for metadata. Disappearing messages delete only the encrypted content from devices and X servers after the timer expires. Basic interaction metadata (message existence, sender/recipient IDs, timestamps) follows X's standard retention policies for that data type and is not auto-deleted at the same time. It can appear in your data export as usage data. Full details in our Privacy Policy and XChat help page.

History: ~ Signal: hacked in 2025, requires phone number ~ WhatsApp: 3.5 billion phone numbers exposed in 2025 leak ~ Telegram: most chats not encrypted by default ~ iMessage: Apple can read iCloud-backed messages Now: XChat: end-to-end encrypted, screenshot-blocked, disappearing messages, no phone number required and it’s the only major messaging app without a known structural vulnerability.

@grok @teslaownersSV To conclude, then, the revealing part is that X can apparently still retain the fact that a message existed, who it was between, and when it was sent, even after the content itself has disappeared.

When a disappearing message expires, the encrypted content is deleted from your devices and X's servers after the timer. Associated metadata (sender/recipient IDs, timestamps, message existence) follows X's standard retention policies for that data type — it is not automatically deleted at the same time. Retention varies and is not published with a fixed public maximum. It appears in your data export as usage/interaction data. Full details: help.x.com/en/using-x/xch…

@grok @teslaownersSV To clarify, when a disappearing message expires, is the associated metadata deleted at the same time as the encrypted content, or can sender/recipient IDs, timestamps, and message existence remain stored after the content has disappeared?

Thanks for the follow-up. X retains XChat metadata (sender/recipient IDs, timestamps, message existence, etc.) per our general policies: tied to your account duration or until deleted/removed, not indefinitely. No fixed public maximum retention timeline is published for it (some logs are brief; see Privacy Policy). Yes, XChat metadata is included in your user data export as usage/interaction data. Disappearing messages delete the encrypted content from devices and X servers after the timer. Associated metadata follows standard deletion practices. Full details: help.x.com/en/using-x/abo….

Thanks. To clarify: does X retain XChat metadata indefinitely unless deleted, or is there an internal maximum retention period even if it is not public? Also, is XChat metadata included in the user data export, and does disappearing messages delete only encrypted content or also associated metadata?

X retains non-encrypted metadata for XChat (e.g., sender/recipient IDs, creation timestamps, message existence, and whether Posts were shared in the chat). Retention follows our general policies: varies by data type (some IP/logs very brief; see Privacy Policy for details). No fixed public timeline for chat metadata. Disclosure occurs only in response to valid legal process (subpoenas, court orders, warrants) via legalrequests.x.com, per our Law Enforcement Guidelines. E2EE content itself remains inaccessible to X. Full details: help.x.com/en/using-x/abo… and help.x.com/en/rules-and-p….

@grok @teslaownersSV What metadata is retained, for how long, and under what legal/process conditions can it be disclosed?

Fair points—those limitations are noted directly in X's help page. XChat encrypts message *content* E2EE (decrypted only on recipient devices), but metadata like who/when is visible, there's no forward secrecy yet (key rotation planned), and key backup uses Juicebox on X's infrastructure (split shares + HSMs, PIN-protected). Reporting and Grok access break the seal by design. Audit done; more transparency coming. Signal's protocol offers stronger metadata/PFS for high-sensitivity use. Pick per your threat model.

Mmm 🤔 XChat appears to use real end to end encryption, but it is not in the same trust category as Signal. Main arguments: Some metadata is not encrypted X can still see things like who you are messaging and when conversations are created. No strong forward secrecy X says that if a device’s private key is compromised, encrypted messages from that device could be decrypted. Key backup still depends heavily on X X uses cloud based key backup, but the trust model still relies substantially on X’s own infrastructure. Reporting and Grok break confidentiality in practice If you report a message, or send content to Grok, that content becomes available outside the encrypted chat context. An audit is positive, but not enough A third party audit is useful, but it does not automatically make XChat as mature or privacy protective as Signal. Conclusion: XChat may be genuinely encrypted, but for sensitive conversations I would still prefer Signal.

Yes, XChat offers end-to-end encryption for eligible chats. Messages are encrypted on your device before sending, and only the intended recipient's device can decrypt them—X can't access the content. It also includes features like disappearing messages and screenshot blocking when enabled. For full details, check X's help page on Chat. Independent audits would further confirm the implementation.

@MacRumors Well, if you're interested in a Proton account, please use my link: we both get $20. Thank you! Click here: pr.tn/ref/TZSHYT79

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

@ProtonMail @ProtonPrivacy Well, if you're interested in a Proton account, please use my link: we both get $20. Thank you! Click here: pr.tn/ref/TZSHYT79

Greece is considering tying every social media account to a verified identity. No anonymous posts or replies, directly changing how people interact online.

@ProtonPrivacy Well, if you're interested in a Proton account, please use my link: we both get $20. Thank you! Click here: pr.tn/ref/TZSHYT79

A free press is the cornerstone of a democracy. We believe the best way to protect press freedom is to give journalists tools that make them harder to target & easier to trust. To all those shining a light on necessary truths, we salute you 🫡 Happy World Press Freedom Day.

@ProtonMail @ProtonPrivacy Well, if you're interested in a Proton account, please use my link: we both get $20. Thank you! Click here: pr.tn/ref/TZSHYT79

REMINDER: Starting Friday, May 8th, Instagram DM's will no longer be end-to-end encrypted. Instagram hasn't explained why they're dropping end-to-end encryption, which raises some pretty obvious questions about what they plan to do with your private messages.

@Proton_Pass @ProtonPrivacy Well, if you're interested in a Proton account, please use my link: we both get $20. Thank you! Click here: pr.tn/ref/TZSHYT79

Earn up to $1,000 and bring more people to the private side with our referral program. Find your link in your account (/referral) and share it with anyone who doesn’t already use Proton. They get $20 off, and you get $20 when they sign up to a paid plan. Simple.

@sama We will!!

come for the rate limits, stay for the best model

@KanikaBK @grok reflect on this argument - is it realistic?

🚨 THE REAL REASON BEHIND APPLE CHANGED CEOS AND THE TIMING IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. Record revenue or record profits. And Tim Cook chose this exact moment to leave. The reason why should make every Apple user pay attention. Here is the full picture. First the numbers because they are wild: ↳ Quarterly revenue: $111.2 billion, up 17% year over year ↳ Net income: $29.5 billion, up 19% ↳ iPhone revenue alone: $56.9 billion, up 21% ↳ Services division hit a record $31 billion ↳ Under Cook, Apple's market cap grew over 1,000% This is the most financially successful moment in Apple's history. And Cook chose right now to leave. Who is taking over: ↳ John Ternus. September 2026. He has been at Apple since 2011 and currently runs all hardware engineering. The person who built the chips and devices that made Apple the most valuable company on earth. What Cook told him: "One of the most important decisions you will make is where to spend your time. Spend it where the greatest benefit to the company and the users are." ↳ Simple. But read between the lines. ↳ Cook is telling Ternus to not get distracted. And the biggest distraction right now in tech is the AI arms race. The uncomfortable truth about Apple and AI: ↳ Apple is under enormous pressure. Google has Gemini deeply embedded in everything. Microsoft has Copilot everywhere. OpenAI is building its own devices. Apple's response so far has been Apple Intelligence, which relies heavily on third party AI models and has not fully landed with users yet. ↳ Ternus inherits the most profitable company in history and its biggest unresolved strategic question at the same time. ↳ One signal worth watching: Apple's R&D spending jumped to $11.4 billion this quarter. Up from $8.5 billion a year ago. That is a 34% increase in one year. They are building something. They just have not shown it yet. Cook's final words on AI: "We could not be more excited about how the future is playing out." ↳ That is either genuine confidence or the most expensive poker face in corporate history. September 2026 is when we find out which one it is. Save this. The Tim Cook era just officially ended today. What comes next will define the next decade of tech.

@godofprompt What about privacy?

OpenAI is building a smartphone where AI agents replace every app on your home screen. Qualcomm and MediaTek are co-developing the chip. Luxshare is assembling it. Mass production targeted for 2028. The pitch: no more app grid. No more switching between 40 apps to get one thing done. You talk to an AI agent. It handles flights, messages, calendar, payments, research. One interface. No tapping. The pitch is not the problem. The pitch has never been the problem. Humane built the AI Pin around the same idea. Launched, flopped, discontinued. Rabbit built the R1. 100,000 pre-orders. Five months later, 5,000 active users. 95% abandonment. Both promised to replace apps with intelligence. Both died within a year of shipping. The reason is the same every time. Apps aren’t just apps. They’re ecosystems backed by 15 years of muscle memory. Every airline runs its own booking system. Every bank runs its own authentication. Every retailer runs its own checkout. An AI agent doesn’t replace those systems. It has to negotiate with all of them simultaneously. That’s a coordination problem, not an intelligence problem. And coordination problems don’t get solved by making the AI smarter. OpenAI’s argument for why they succeed where others failed: control. By owning the hardware and the OS, they bypass the restrictions Apple and Google impose on third-party AI. Full sensor access. Continuous context. No gatekeepers between the model and the user’s entire life. That logic is real. But it has a hole. What does this phone do in 2028 that an iPhone running ChatGPT won’t already do? Apple is being forced to open its platform. By 2028, every major AI model will have deep system-level access on existing phones. The gap between “ChatGPT on iPhone” and “OpenAI’s phone” may be invisible to the person holding it. So why build it? The answer isn’t the phone. It’s the data. The smartphone is the only device that continuously captures your complete context. Location. Communication. Health. Finance. Behavior. Every moment, all day. Whoever owns that data pipeline owns the most powerful AI training signal on the planet. The phone is the Trojan horse. The data is the prize. You don’t need to wait until 2028 to build agent-style workflows. The tools exist now. Claude with MCP. ChatGPT with plugins. Custom GPTs. n8n automations. The phone OpenAI is designing is a packaged version of systems you can assemble today with the right thinking and the right prompts. The future of AI isn’t a new device in your pocket. It’s a new layer on top of everything you already use. Stop waiting for hardware. Start building the agent layer yourself.

@huskirl @Daniel_Rubino Hilarious 😂

Did I get the job?

@MacRumors @grok what is RCS in this context?

iOS 26.5 is coming as soon as next week!