I’m tall enough that most things aren’t built for me. That’s why I was excited to review the Flexispot E7 Standing Desk — an absolute home office must, regardless of height.

Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk

5.0

$329.99

The Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk is a stylish, minimalist take on the tried and true standing desk concept. Rugged construction meets elegant materials with multiple options for tabletops and leg color.

Quick Verdict: After a few days with this product, I think I am finally a standing desk convert. At maximum height it is more than tall enough for a 6’5″ freelancer to work comfortably. The automatic settings are intuitive and super easy to program. The whole desk feels very well engineered — even though it took barely 30 minutes to set up. A premium item that is well worth the premium price tag.

Pros:

• Easy to set assemble and set up
• Bamboo tabletop is gorgeous, multiple options available
• Rugged build with minimalist style

Cons:

• The shipping boxes are extremely heavy
• Bamboo picked up a couple scratches during assembly (use a mat or rug, I didn’t)

Check Availability

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

I’ve worked many jobs and, therefore, have worked in many different offices. I don’t remember much about those temp jobs from 2005-2010, but no one had standing desks back then.

The most “in shape” office dwellers at the beginning of this century were the ones who sat on those weird yoga balls. Don’t yell at me; I’m sorry; a ball is not a chair.

Then, between 2010 and 2015, when I entered the white-collar workforce in earnest, the standing desk became a popular concept — among the type of guys who would keep their Bluetooth headset in while conversing with you IRL.

I can’t define it with any modern equivalent, but the 2015 Standing Desk Bro was a very specific sort of dude—the just-asking-questions type of middle management demon. Maybe that was just my own personal bias.

Fast forward to 2019, when I got a job at Big Telephone and was presented with my first standing desk. Although technically, my office was meant to use a “hot desk” system, no one adhered to the rule, and I claimed a desk from a few other senior creatives.

I loved it. I feared the worst — was I becoming a Standing Desk Bro? I looked around the office and saw all sorts using and loving their standing desks — hypebeasts, hipsters, weirdos, normies. The stigma had dissolved; standing desks were here to stay.

Then, less than a year later, COVID hit, and I was cruelly pulled away from my lower-Manhattan standing desk. For the next three years, I worked from home; I worked from the couch; I worked from bed; I worked from the floor; let’s be honest: I even worked from the bathroom.

Then one day, it arrived: the answer to a prayer I had no idea I was still reciting. I was asked to review the Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk for KnowTechie.

Elevate your home office

The first thing you’ll notice about the Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk is that the boxes are very, very heavy.

Your FedEx driver likely hates you now, oops. Worth remembering that on hot days, it’s nice to sometimes leave a cooler of Gatorade and water out for delivery folks.

I had planned to make a time-lapse video of me setting up the Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk, but my MacBook is over three years old — which means a mischievous ghost haunts it.

As a result, you do not get to see me bent over and likely turning beet red while setting this beast up.

Assembly took less than 30 minutes, including unboxing

Everything about this product feels, as the title says, Premium.

The large, challenging components are mostly already assembled or fit together so smoothly that you should have a relatively easy time — even if you don’t have decades of experience assembling Ikea furniture.

For instance, the mechanisms that make the legs extend are already built into the leg assembly as shipped.

So you Allen-wrench a few screws in place, grab your power drill to attach the tabletop to the base assembly, connect a few wires, and that’s that.

I felt a tiny bit of pride the first time I raised the Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk to its full height.

Style and strength

Flexispot sent me the bamboo top, which carries a $130 premium according to their site, and it’s obvious why. This solid bamboo slab is gorgeous and, as I said earlier, feels Premium.

Although their site says that the bamboo top resists scratches, I did pick up a couple during assembly. That’s on me — I forgot to use a mat or rug.

The scratches will hardly be noticeable once I have all my belongings on the desk. I built this thing three days ago, and it already has so much stuff on it that I’ve forgotten where the scratches were.

Flexispot’s website really hammers home two essential details about the E7 Premium Standing Desk.

First, the desk has been “Raved by top YouTubers,” including Linus Tech Tips, Hacksmith Industries, and someone named Basically Homeless, who I just looked up and has 1.7m followers. Very cool.

The second big selling point of the Flexispot E7 Premium Desk is that it can hold up to 375 lbs. This is quite impressive — don’t get me wrong! But I must question how they’ve chosen to illustrate this feature.

Maybe working from home for the past few years has made me too sensitive, but doesn’t this feel like an HR violation? If you sent this image to your work’s Head of Ops, you’d be internally flagged for review.

I personally am not brave enough to get up on this desk and jump around, so I’ll take their word for it.

The Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk certainly can hold 375 lbs. I’ll probably never find out if we’re being entirely honest.

It’s electric

What makes the Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk stand out from the one I had back at Big Telephone is that you can save up to four different height settings that can be recalled with a single button push.

For my top or “standing” height, I went up to 49.2″, which makes a nice platform for my tall frame to work. I’ve been standing at my Flexispot E7 the entire time I’ve been writing this review, and I haven’t felt the need to sit or stretch even once.

The lower or “sitting” setting I chose fits snugly above the arms of my (due for a replacement) office chair. It’s great to know that if and when I get a new chair, I can reprogram the “sitting” button to be a little higher or lower as needed.

To reprogram the settings on a Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk, all you have to do is bring the desk to the desired height, hit the “M” button, and then choose the 1, 2, “sitting,” or “standing” button.

This process was so intuitive that I double-checked the instructions because I had to miss something.

So how does it stand up to testing?

I’ve been using the Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk for about four days now, and I don’t see myself returning any time soon. I think my next purchase will be an anti-fatigue mat of some sort, even though my knees are responding well to today’s writing session.

The Flexispot E7 Premium Desk is, as its name states, Premium. The version with the bamboo top comes in at about $450 if you buy directly through their site, and I have to say — it’s worth every penny.

If you’re working from home for the foreseeable future or planning to revamp your small business office space, the Flexispot E7 is a great choice.

Still not convinced? Check out this short video I made showing how quickly the Flexispot E7 Standing Desk can extend to full height.

Specs

The Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk I received came in the C-Frame alignment. This chart from their website shows how the different frame types measure up.

Alternative options to consider

Low-range	Marsail Standing Desk Adjustable Height 3.5 $159.99	Check Availability
Mid-range	FEZIBO Height Adjustable Electric Standing Desk 3.5 $239.99	Check Availability
Upper-range	FLEXISPOT EW8 Comhar Electric Standing Desk 3.5 $499.99$299.99	Check Availability

Low-range

Marsail Standing Desk Adjustable Height

3.5

$159.99

Check Availability

Mid-range

FEZIBO Height Adjustable Electric Standing Desk

3.5

$239.99

Check Availability

Upper-range

FLEXISPOT EW8 Comhar Electric Standing Desk

3.5

$499.99$299.99

Check Availability

01/26/2024 03:21 am GMT

Final Verdict

After testing this standing desk for several days, I’m convinced of its benefits. Its maximum height provides ample room for tall users like myself to work comfortably.

The pre-set height adjustments are intuitive to the program. Despite quick and easy assembly, the desk feels sturdily constructed with quality engineering. While expensive, it’s a worthwhile investment for the premium design.

Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk retails at $329.99 and can be found via the company’s website or other retailers like Amazon or Office Depot.

Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk

5.0

$329.99

The Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk is a stylish, minimalist take on the tried and true standing desk concept. Rugged construction meets elegant materials with multiple options for tabletops and leg color.

Check Availability

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Review: HP Sprocket Studio Plus WiFi Photo Printer
• The best JBL speakers
• Review: Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier
• Review: SwitchBot Outdoor Spotlight Cam

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Additionally, a sample unit was provided to KnowTechie for this review. Click here for more.

The post Review: Flexispot E7 Premium Standing Desk appeared first on KnowTechie.

It shouldn’t take much to make the best air purifier. Or so I thought until I met the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier.

Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier

4.6

$219.99

Quick Verdict: The Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier surpasses expectations with its top-notch performance. Its LCD display, LED lights, and smart app add to its appeal, while its ease of use and sleek design make it a must-have.

What We Like:

• Powerful Performance: Optimal for larger rooms, purifies up to 2030 sq ft in just 1 hour.
• Advanced Air Purification: True HEPA filtration captures 99.985% of particles down to 0.3 μm.
• Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring: Large LED display shows detailed readings from across the room.
• Smart Compatibility: Works with Alexa and Google Home for voice control and app access.
• Enhanced Filter Life: Smart care algorithm optimizes filter usage and sends timely reminders.
• Early Detection Sensor: Provides fast and accurate air quality readings.

Pros:

• Very easy to set-up
• Intuitive app
• Displays are easy-to-read

Cons:

• Short power cable, may need an extension depending on where you use it

Check Availability See at Dreo

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

01/25/2024 03:46 pm GMT

Airing it out

Over the past ten years or so, I’ve bought a couple of very simple air purifiers off Amazon, based entirely on price and reviews.

They work well, but both lack any sort of sensor or info screen — so I’ve been basing their efficacy entirely on vibes. With the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier, I no longer have to wonder. It even has an app.

I’m not going to bury the lede here; I’m obsessed with this thing.

What’s in the box?

The box is surprisingly light. The purifier itself weighs in at just under 12 lbs, so it’s relatively to pick up and move around if you have to.

The device comes fully assembled with an H13 True HEPA Filter installed. Unlike some air purifiers, this is a cylindrical filter that apparently goes for about $50 on Amazon.

A grounded plug with about 6′ of line grants limited mobility within a space, but I doubt many people will be dragging these around too much.

Also included are a “Quick Start Guide” and a manual.

Let’s talk about specs, baby

• Power input: 120V ~ 60Hz
• Noise level: 24-50 dB
• CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate): 464m³/h / 273ft³/min
• Effective range: 423ft² / 39 m²
• Weight: 11.89lb / 5.35kg
• Dimensions: 11.22 x 11.22x 20.86in / 285 x 285 x 530 mm

Does it work?

For a bit of background, we have cats. Three of them. Longhaired cats. Here’s one:

So I figured the best place to start testing would be the room where they hang out the most, the bedroom.

I turned the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier on and was greeted by a quick countdown as the device turned on. The front LED cycled through its colors — fun!

An LCD display can cycle through a few modes, showing either “PM 2.5 μg/m³” or “Clean Air” expressed as a %, which correlates to the color of the LED, and “Filter Life” also expressed as a percentage.

According to the Indoor Air Hygiene Institute, PM 2.5 is a measurement of particulate matter that has a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. Most studies indicate that keeping the PM 2.5 level below 12 μg/m³ is typically considered healthy with no risk for exposure.

The first thing I noticed was how quiet it was; even at “turbo” speed, it wasn’t much louder than a box fan at its top setting.

There is also an “automatic” option, where the air purifier uses “ParticleIQ” tech to modulate the fan speed up and down. For the purpose of my testing, I mostly just ran it in “Turbo” mode for 2 or more hours at a time.

To the basement

Cat den sufficiently cleaned, I turned to a more difficult testing ground — the basement. I set up the purifier and let it go to work. The sensors immediately detected 69% air quality, so I was excited to see how quickly it would get back up into the 90s.

It didn’t take long — I checked the device about an hour later, and it was already back to “Excellent” air quality levels. So far, the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier had passed every test — it was time to go extreme.

The cat’s pee-yew

Cats are great, but their litter boxes stink. I’d never really thought of air purifiers for straight-up odor-removal purposes, but I figured this was worth a try. I set up the tower by the cats’ bathroom and let that turbo button fly.

The effects were nearly immediate. Within 15 minutes, I noticed a drastic reduction in odor, and, like the basement, within a few hours, the sensor was picking up “Excellent” air quality, even though the box had been used multiple times since I started the test.

Like I said above, I’m obsessed with this thing.

What’s the app for?

I’m no Luddite, but I also don’t necessarily think I need an app to run my air purifier. In the interest of journalistic completionism, I figured I’d give it a go.

The “Dreo” app is very intuitive, and pairing it to the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier only took about 10 seconds. You’ll have to enter your WiFi password, so have that handy if it’s not saved on your phone.

Alternatives to consider

Personal option	Pure Mini Portable Air Purifier 4.3 $49.99$39.99	Check Availability
Mid range option	Govee Smart Air Purifier H7122 4.0 $169.99	Check Availability
Higher end option	WELOV P200S Air Purifier 3.5 $189.99$159.99	check Availability

Personal option

Pure Mini Portable Air Purifier

4.3

$49.99$39.99

Check Availability

Mid range option

Govee Smart Air Purifier H7122

4.0

$169.99

Check Availability

Higher end option

WELOV P200S Air Purifier

3.5

$189.99$159.99

check Availability

01/25/2024 03:30 pm GMT

The app offers full control over your Dreo device, including fan speed, toggling modes, and access to the child lock, adaptive brightness, and other options.

This is pretty cool but not nearly as useful as the dashboard that gives you up-to-the-minute data on air quality in an easy-to-understand graph.

Although I’m sure I won’t be continuously checking this app, I can absolutely see its utility in institutional settings (like a doctor’s office).

So, what’s the verdict?

Unsurprisingly, and as I’ve mentioned multiple times in this review, I think the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier is absolutely top-notch.

It is certainly the best air purifier I’ve ever used, and the additional features like the LCD display, LED lights, and app put it over the top.

It’s easy to use, relatively quiet, and honestly fairly handsome. You can even link it up with your smart home if that’s the kind of thing you’re into. If you’re in the market, I highly recommend the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier.

Where can you buy the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier?

You can buy the Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier directly from Dreo or at fine retailers like Amazon for $219.99.

Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier

4.6

$219.99

Quick Verdict: The Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier surpasses expectations with its top-notch performance. Its LCD display, LED lights, and smart app add to its appeal, while its ease of use and sleek design make it a must-have.

What We Like:

• Powerful Performance: Optimal for larger rooms, purifies up to 2030 sq ft in just 1 hour.
• Advanced Air Purification: True HEPA filtration captures 99.985% of particles down to 0.3 μm.
• Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring: Large LED display shows detailed readings from across the room.
• Smart Compatibility: Works with Alexa and Google Home for voice control and app access.
• Enhanced Filter Life: Smart care algorithm optimizes filter usage and sends timely reminders.
• Early Detection Sensor: Provides fast and accurate air quality readings.

Pros:

• Very easy to set-up
• Intuitive app
• Displays are easy-to-read

Cons:

• Short power cable, may need an extension depending on where you use it

Check Availability See at Dreo

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

01/25/2024 03:46 pm GMT

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Take a deep breath of fresh air with the P200S air purifier by Welov
• Dreo introduces smart air purifier with daily air quality monitor
• Air purifiers are the perfect solution to spring allergy concerns
• Review: Sensibo Pure – an affordable, discreet, and easy-to-use air purifier

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

The post Review: Dreo Macro Max S Air Purifier appeared first on KnowTechie.

The automaker’s CEO was grilled with a barrage of incisive questions that would’ve made David Frost proud. Just kidding, the NBC Universal-owned cable news network sent its friendliest Musk stan to do the duties.

Musk claims that he only interviewed at the behest of his friend Ari Emmanuel, the CEO of Endeavor Entertainment.

Endeavor Entertainment recently purchased UFC and will soon complete a deal to merge it with WWE.

It is, of course, worth mentioning that the soon-to-be former X/Twitter CEO named Linda Yaccarino as his successor.

Yaccarino most recently worked at NBC Universal as the chair of global advertising and partnerships.

Let me be clear that I am not accusing Yaccarino of colluding with the CNBC editorial team to give a softball interview that would soften her landing at Twitter. But let’s be honest; the conspiracy chart wouldn’t need that much red string.

But that speculation is immaterial to the content of the interview, which is, to quote Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred after plunging a toilet, “batshit.”

Weird stuff a very rich man said on cable TV

I’ll save you the psychic damage of listening to or reading the conversation that covers everything from the Allen, TX outlet mall mass shooting to George Soros with straight-up white nationalist talking points strewn along the way.

Here, in no particular order, are the most absurd things Elon said to David Faber on CNBC.

On advertising (part 1: Tesla)

Well, I mean, I believe in listening to shareholders and I actually was surprised by the level of enthusiasm for advertising. […] I think they probably have a good point. Well, I mean, I think it’s worth a try and we’ll see how effective it is.

What this likely means: Shareholders are desperate for Elon to right the ship and make Tesla into the revolutionary tech company Musk promised over a decade ago.

He mentions in the interview that the shareholders he spoke to believe he’s operating in something of an echo chamber, or as he says, “preaching to the converted.”

On advertising (part 2: Twitter)

We’ve lost some advertisers on Twitter because Community Notes applies to advertising too. If somebody advertises something that is perhaps a bit inaccurate, then it gets Community Noted, and then they get mad and stop advertising. But we care enough about the truth that we’re willing to give up advertiser give up advertising dollars.

What this likely means: Despite Musk’s claims that Twitter is now operating at break-even, as of March, over half of Twitter’s top advertisers have not returned to the platform.

The best bet here is that he is really, genuinely hoping that Yaccarino’s expertise and connections will get marketers excited about jumping back into the Twitterverse.

Who can blame him? Thanks to Community Notes, I knew better than to buy this Teflon grill bag that allegedly releases toxic materials.

On Tesla’s safety record

Teslas are also the safest cars on the road in so many ways that people actually at Tesla don’t even know.

What this likely means: Elon is well aware of Tesla’s reputation among non-believers.

He goes on to describe a few safety features like firmware updates and overheat protection, but it’s unclear why he thinks that even his own employees at Tesla wouldn’t know about these features.

On how your Tesla can work for you

The value of a fully autonomous car is, we think, perhaps five times more valuable than a non-autonomous car. 

What this likely means: In response to Faber’s follow-up, Musk explains that he thinks FSD Tesla owners will, uh… allow their cars to freely roam the city while they work — picking up rideshare fares and the like.

I don’t know; I don’t even like the idea of having friends get into my car.

Say there’s 168 hours in a week, and probably as a rough guess, an autonomous car will be able to be active instead of for 10 hours a week, probably in our view for about 50. But it’s the same car and it costs the same to build.

On how it felt to take over Twitter

I’d say that the analogy I was using was like being teleported into a plane that’s in a nosedive, headed to the ground with the engines on fire and the controls don’t work. 

What this likely means: As we outlined in our comprehensive timeline of Musk’s Twitter takeover, it’s pretty clear Elon didn’t want to do it. He saddled himself with a bunch of debt because his ex-wife was mad that The Babylon Bee got banned.

It is, of course, worth noting that the company wasn’t “four months from bankruptcy” under its previous ownership.

On how he manages his time running so many companies

Time triage is a real thing. Yeah. In fact, I say the only real currency is time. Time is the only true currency.

What this likely means: We all know that Elon Musk is a big advocate for new and innovative types of currency. Since he is no longer the richest man in the world, he has decided to be bullish on the ancient concept of “time.”

On working from home

I kind of think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, “let them eat cake.” 

What this likely means: I’m just gonna guess that he thinks Marie Antoinette is the hero of said apocryphal anecdote who shared all her delicious cake with the lazy French folk she ruled over.

He goes in later in this reply to describe the kinds of jobs that can’t work from home and wraps it up by saying it’s a “moral issue.”

On why he always gets six hours of sleep a night

I tried less. But my productivity, even though I am awake more hours, I get less done. The brain pain level is bad if I get less than six hours.

What this likely means: Honestly, I only pulled this one because I want to get “brain pain level” into the lexicon. Mine is currently at a seven out of ten.

On George Soros

I said he reminds me of Magneto. This is like, you know, calm down people. Let’s not like make a metaphorical case out of it.  

What this likely means: In advance of Tesla’s quarterly meeting, billionaire investor George Soros’ fund dumped its entire holding of $TSLA stock. 130,000 shares worth.

George Soros, a holocaust survivor, has been something of a globalist bogeyman for antisemitic bad-faith actors for a while now. It is, of course, worth noting that the fictional X-Men villain Magneto’s is often portrayed as a holocaust survivor as well.

Even Brian Krassenstein (remember him?) tried to get Elon to retract his Tweets about the subject:

On white supremacy and the Allen, TX mass shooting

I’m saying that I thought ascribing it to white supremacy was bullshit.  

What this likely means: Elon and his sycophants have been banging on with this talking point since the May 6, 2023 mass shooting at an Allen, TX outlet mall.

For some reason, they don’t believe that the assailant, who police have confirmed had literal nazi tattoos, was a white supremacist.

One of their primary justifications for this, and I’m not joking here, seems to be that they think if he was a real white supremacist, he would have a Twitter or Facebook account.

Checkmate, Libs.

What does it all mean?

The interview in full shows a man who is out of his depth. He switches topics freely and David Faber never even makes the slightest attempt to push back on any of the nonsense Musk says.

In fact, when Musk incorrectly accused award-winning investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat a “psy-op,” Faber simply replied “Right.”

It’s clear that Elon Musk is becoming radicalized by the Blue Check army he has recruited. We are likely witnessing one of the first examples of someone being fully echo-chambered out of their own fortune.

Who will be next in line to clothe the mad emperor?

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter’s encrypted DM feature is a mess, and you shouldn’t trust it
• Elon Musk teases a new Twitter CEO, what is he hiding?
• Airlines abandon Twitter customer service amid high API fees
• Totally normal and cool Twitter CEO pretending to be son tweets about porn

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

The post 10 absurd quotes from Elon Musk’s softball CNBC interview appeared first on KnowTechie.

The popular micro-blogging social media platform has been struggling to turn a profit since 2019.

In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.

— jack (@jack) April 26, 2022

In celebration of the one-year anniversary of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey publicly endorsing Elon Musk’s initial takeover bid, we’ve decided to compile a definitive timeline of Elon Musk’s relationship with Twitter.

Join us as we take a journey through the key moments that led to this significant milestone in the tech world.

Where it all began

Elon Musk created his Twitter account around June 2009 when he was roughly 38 years old.

A Wayback Machine archive from August 1, 2009, provides a glimpse into the early days of his account, revealing the first 20 accounts he followed.

You can see see a mix of meme accounts, Star Trek actors, journalists, and a handful of others.

A few of these accounts may have been among the recommended ones, but even at this early stage, we can already see Elon’s eclectic taste for curating his Twitter timeline.

The first 20 accounts Musk followed were: PeoplePETS, Wil Wheaton, Tony Hawk, Michael Ian Black, Google, Jack Gray, Kimberly Cole, Cake Wrecks, LeVar Burton, 50 Cent, Digital Royalty, Terry Moran, SomeEcards, I Can Has Cheezburger, BreakingNews, ReadWrite, Tim O’Reilly, Steven Johnson, Kevin Rose, and PoliticalNotes.

Elon’s first Tweet

To Elon’s credit – his first Tweet, dated June 4, 2010, is still live. Strangely it seems he has not yet muted notifications on this post, because as of 2021 he was still replying to the thread.

That’s right, Elon Musk’s first post on Twitter was about how someone had been impersonating him on Twitter. Surely impersonation on Twitter won’t become a problem for him in the future (but I’m getting ahead of myself.)

It’s also worth noting that he had a mere 414 followers at the time – truly a man of the people!

Elon’s sense of “humor” solidifies

By June 9, 2013 – Elon had acquired a small army of followers but mercifully had only tweeted 713 times, a respectable rate of one new post every 1.5 days.

This is probably due to the fact that Twitter didn’t launch threaded Tweets until late 2017.

The joke itself is a CS101-level quip about Transmission Control Protocol, but it really lays the groundwork for his style of “comedy,” which Rolling Stone brilliantly laid out in an exhaustively reported article.

A noteworthy thing about the June 2013 edition of @ElonMusk is his avatar. He’s holding a violin, possibly for Epic Bacon reasons, but one can’t be sure.

Musk has never Tweeted about the instrument. A reverse image search brings up this incredible AliExpress listing:

Elon hits a milli

Somewhere around October 9, 2014, Elon Musk achieved an auspicious milestone.

He joined an elite rank of users in acquiring his millionth follower. Not that you asked, but according to the Guinness Book of Records, the first to reach “two commas” was Ashton Kutcher in 2009.

At first glance, it appears that Elon Musk has turned over a new leaf. His avatar now features a professional headshot, and his most recent post celebrates a significant milestone: Tesla vehicles have cumulatively driven 500 million miles worldwide.

But then you scroll down to his two prior timeline tweets, which are still live and…

Elon’s 🤣🤣🤣 era

The next few years saw Musk’s influence grow as he took reply-guying and simping to a new level while building his companies (and personal wealth.)

The period from October 2014 to March 2022 also saw his follower count balloon to 75.8M.

If you’re in the mood to stare into the abyss, you’ll get a pretty good sense for Musk’s posting style in this era by scrolling through the hundreds of times he replied to a Tweet using just the “🤣” emoji.

One very important thing did happen during this period. On May 7, 2018, Elon tweeted “Rococo Basilisk” in reference to the Roko’s Basilisk thought experiment, and as a result he started dating Grimes.

The inciting incident

On March 20, 2022 Far Right Christian “satire” site The Babylon Bee got put into a 12-hour timeout after sharing a transphobic article about Dr. Rachel Levine, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health.

Babylon Bee editor Seth Dillon refused to remove the Tweet and eventually, Twitter “permanently” banned the account.

What does this have to do with Elon Musk, you might ask?

Well, during Musk’s eventual Twitter purchase in October 2022, text conversations between the soon-to-be “Head Twit” and his ex-wife Talulah Riley came to light.

Turns out that on March 24, 2022 the English Actress texted her billionaire ex to encourage him to “buy Twitter and delete it” because “America is going INSANE” as proven out by the satire account not being allowed to post hate speech on Twitter.

That same week, on March 26, 2022, the @WSBChairman account challenged Elon to buy Twitter and change the logo to Doge – which he eventually did in April 2023.

The foreplay

What started as idle speculation quickly snowballed into Elon’s initial pitch to Twitter’s investors. On April 4th, Musk purchased 9.2% of Twitter’s stock, 73.5 million shares, for about $3B and Tweeted:

One day later, April 5, 2022, then-CEO of Twitter Parag Agrawal announced the purchase would net Musk a board seat.

Setting the tone for the next few months, on April 10, 2022, Agrawal announced that Musk would not be joining the board.

The proposal

On April 14, 2022 – a mere 20 days after Riley texted Musk, Elon posted that he had, in fact, made an offer to purchase Twitter.

Musk was offering $54.20 per share (get it… 420, like the weed number?), representing a $43.4B all-cash purchase.

He began posting threads about free speech and how an Elon Musk-run Twitter would be an open forum of discourse and conversation, even involving his haters:

Twitter’s board initially resisted the bid, planning to invoke a “poison pill” to stop the takeover, but eventually Musk was the one showing doubts.

On May 13, 2022, he said the deal was “temporarily on hold” because Elon didn’t believe Twitter’s claim that spam/fake accounts “do indeed represent less than 5% of users.”

He would know, because as we wrote at the time, nearly 23% of Elon’s 93M followers were phony.

Elon’s claims that bots and/or fake spam accounts are one of the main functional problems with Twitter have continued to today, as evidenced by this recent tweet touting Twitter Blue’s features.

That sinking feeling

Over the next few months there was a steady back-and-forth. Elon continued to rant about bot armies and fake accounts and Twitter called out his stall tactics.

On July 12, 2022, Twitter sued Musk to force him to finalize the deal.

On October 26, 2022, Twitter HQ in San Francisco received an unexpected plumbing upgrade. Elon Musk announced that he has purchased the social media platform in the most normal way possible.

Oh wait, no he didn’t. He walked into the company he had just pledged to purchase for $44B with a damn sink. A whole ass sink.

That porcelain washtub was more prescient than we thought at the time – in the six months since Elon bought the social platform, we’ve watched Twitter’s valuation, reputation, and functionality all “sink” considerably.

The reign of King Musk

So that brings us, roughly, up to speed with how we got to this point. I’m going to lightning-round a few of Elon’s “accomplishments” since taking over Twitter.

• He fired a good portion of Twitter’s staff and leadership nearly immediately, including support for moderation and marketing.
• He blamed Twitter’s massive drop in advertising revenue on “activists” despite the push coming from major corporations and agencies.
• He immediately paused Twitter Blue Verification after a fake verified Eli Lilly account tanked the pharma giant’s stock value by promising insulin would be free.
• He stopped paying rent on Twitter’s San Francisco HQ.
• He doubled down on Twitter Blue, announcing that eventually only Blue subscribers and people you follow would be in your “For You” tab.
• He announced an end to Twitter’s free API access.
• He reportedly flew directly from Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas to Twitter HQ to demand that engineers flood users’ “For You” tabs with his Tweets.
• He disabled 2FA support for accounts that do not subscribe to Twitter Blue.
• He started a war with newsletter platform Substack after they launched their “Notes” feature.
• He changed the Twitter logo to a “Doge” and it stayed that way for a few days.
• He labeled NPR as “state media” and they abandoned their accounts in protest.
• He “personally” paid for Twitter Blue on certain popular accounts that that refused to pay, like Lebron James and Steven King, even adding a label that claimed some deceased celebs were paying for verification.
• His very weird burner account was unmasked.

So that’s most of it, as far as I could find. I’m sure I missed a lot of really good (bad) stuff.

Either way, there you have it: a comprehensive timeline of Elon Musk’s time on (and at) Twitter. I’m going to go take a long shower and think about what led me to this moment and wonder if it was all worth it.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Totally normal and cool Twitter CEO pretending to be son tweets about porn
• Is Substack Notes the new Twitter?
• Elon Musk says Twitter’s For You page is now pay-to-play
• Someone leaked Twitter’s source code and no one knows who did it

The post Elon Musk & Twitter: a definitive timeline appeared first on KnowTechie.

Mission Local broke the news this morning, April 13, after Emeryville (CA) officials took out a warrant for the tech exec.

Initial speculation was that it was an act of random violence or a robbery gone wrong, but last night San Francisco Mayor London Breed hinted at “surprising facts” in the killing.

Who was Bob Lee?

Bob Lee was one of the founders of peer-to-peer (P2P) payment platform CashApp and had most recently been serving as the Chief Technology Officer of Block and Chief Product Officer of MobileCoin.

Born in St. Louis on December 20, 1979, Lee worked for tech giants like AT&T and Google, helping develop the first Android operating system before stepping into (and redefining) the mobile payments space.

On April 4, 2023 he was found dead in downtown San Francisco, the victim of multiple stab wounds.

Who is Nima Momeni?

Nima Momeni is the owner of Expand IT and is believed to have been driving with Lee prior to the killing.

On the morning of April 13, 2023, San Francisco PD coordinated with Emeryville (CA) police to execute a warrant and arrest Momeni for the alleged murder of Bob Lee on April 4, 2023.

According to their website, Expand IT “specialize[s] in providing technical support and fulfillment solutions at scale to startups, SMEs, public sector, and nonprofit organizations.”

It is unknown at this time how the two men were affiliated, but it is purported that they knew each other.

What are the details of Bob Lee’s killing?

Despite the initial reports and a week of online discourse centered around San Francisco’s unhoused population, it now appears that Bob Lee’s killing was not a random act of violence.

Some outlets, including MissionLocal.org had speculated about the claims:

And this is unfortunate, in many ways. First of all, the public facts in the case remain vague; at present we simply have no idea what Lee was doing walking alone through a bereft section of downtown at 2:30 in the morning. We have no idea who stabbed him, or why. The fact he still had a phone in his hand to vainly call 911 in his dying moments points toward this being an entirely irrational, random attack — or one that was not random at all. – Mission Local

According to police, Momeni and Lee were driving in Momeni’s car after 2:30 am when a confrontation occurred, and they exited the car near the 300 block of Main Street in San Francisco.

Momeni allegedly stabbed Lee multiple times before leaving the weapon on the ground and fleeing the scene.

Lee was the 12th murder victim in San Francisco in 2023 so far.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Google TV’s latest update adds 800 free live channels
• Android users, malware riddled apps are flooding the Play Store
• Musk’s Twitter hits new low as NPR publicly quits the platform
• YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket pricing: touchdown or fumble?

This is a developing news story – we will update with more information as it becomes available.

The post Tech exec arrested for allegedly killing CashApp founder Bob Lee appeared first on KnowTechie.

On April 5, 2023, National Public Radio (NPR)’s Twitter accounts were labeled “US state-affiliated media.”

This ominous-looking tag was introduced by Twitter’s erstwhile leadership prior to the 2020 election so users would “have context on [an account’s] national affiliation and [be] better informed about who they represent.”

On April 12, 2023, a week after receiving the label, NPR announced that they will be leaving Twitter entirely, saying the social media platform is “taking actions that undermine our credibility.”

Is NPR “state-affiliated media”?

The short answer is no, NPR is not “state-affiliated media,” at least not by Twitter’s own guidelines.

State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled. – Twitter Rules & Policies

To cover their tracks, Twitter even removed specific language from their policy site that stated “media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy.”

NPR’s leadership insists that “NPR is a private, nonprofit company with editorial independence. It receives less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”

According to InfluenceWatch.org, “NPR receives funding for less than 1% of its budget directly from the federal government, but receives almost 10% of its budget from federal, state, and local governments indirectly.”

Despite “Head Twit” Elon Musk Tweeting that the tag “seems accurate” his $44b social media platform eventually amended NPR’s tag to read “Government-funded Media.“

What does this all mean?

NPR feels that the “Government-funded Media” tag is still “inaccurate and misleading,” and as a result will not be publishing new content on any of their 52 Twitter accounts.

The news org posted a thread describing the different, non-Twitter, ways that readers can find NPR’s reporting.

Paired with Twitter’s April 2nd removal of the New York Times’ verification, this represents the Musk-owned platform’s most straightforward clash with American news organizations.

It’s hard to see how any of these actions support the billionaire’s claims of “Free Speech” on Twitter.

It’s even more difficult to imagine how quarreling with generally trusted media companies is going to convince brands to start advertising on Twitter again.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter is blocking Substack links – here’s how to get around it
• Is Substack Notes the new Twitter?
• Twitter replaces its logo with Doge
• Elon Musk says Twitter’s For You page is now pay-to-play

The post Musk’s Twitter hits new low as NPR publicly quits the platform appeared first on KnowTechie.

UPDATE 3/9/2023: Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, denied any wrongdoing and claimed that Twitter was not blocking links to Substack. In a sudden reversal, the company is now allowing users to like and share Substack links. However, when searching for “Substack,” the results still only display “newsletter” as the search term.

On the morning of April 7, 2023 – Rohit Krishnan, author of the Strange Loop Canon newsletter, noticed something was amiss with his most recent Substack link.

“In other news, any link with substack in its name is now blocked on Twitter. You can post it, but you cannot like it or comment on it or retweet it,” wrote Krishnan in his tweet.

“Things that happen when your equity value is zero,” referring to Substack’s recent financials.

Krishnan, and many other Twitter users, pointed out that the timing seems suspicious, given that Substack recently announced its own short-form micro-blogging timeline, Substack Notes.

Initially, this was only happening on desktop – but users quickly reported having engagements limited on mobile, as well.

Twitter is now making it impossible to respond to new posts that link to a Substack pic.twitter.com/RFLxaR41vg

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) April 7, 2023

What happens when you post a Substack link on Twitter?

Like many “features” that have been rolled out by Twitter’s zombie skeleton crew, this change seems to have come with no warning or explanation.

“Elon Musk has blocked all Substack links on Twitter from being RTed or liked. This gives huge advantage to the MSM he claims is bad, but ok, writes scientest and author, Erik Hoel in a tweet.

Users are reporting that they cannot “Pin” Substack links to their account or reply to/Quote Tweet some posts with Substack links.

Additionally, as of April 6, 2023, Twitter is apparently blocking Tweets from being embedded in Substack newsletters – possibly related to Twitter’s sunsetting free API access.

Didn’t Twitter do something similar a few months ago?

Back during “Head Twit” Elon Musk’s first month on the job, Twitter announced that the company would limit links to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and other social media platforms.

In a now-deleted thread, @TwitterSupport claimed that the move was because the (supposedly) $44b tech giant’s new policy to “no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter.”

As of writing, Twitter had not made an official statement – but we did get a reply to our request for comment:

How to get around Twitter’s Substack link ban

First suggested by Ed Zitron, CEO of media relations firm EZPR, there is a workaround to skirt the Substack link ban. Here’s how:

• Use a link shortner
• Use a bespoke URL/redirect

If you use a link shortener or bespoke URL/redirect, you should still be able to link to Substack’s site, as long as you don’t say the other website’s name in the tweet.

I confirmed this in my own testing and the workaround seems to be legit. Now, how long this will last is another story.

In a new post, which Substack emailed to all its writers, the company addressed the latest Twitter episode and noted “The Substack model is thriving. The proof is that the imitations are failing and the incumbents are resisting.”

Despite this, the company expressed its concern that users are unable to share links to Substack and hoped that the issue was temporary.

“However, even if this change is not temporary,” the post continued, “it is a reminder of why cracks are starting to show in the internet’s legacy business models.” The statement went on to suggest that writers and creators should own their relationships with their audiences, regardless of the platform they use.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Elon Musk says Twitter’s For You page is now pay-to-play
• Someone leaked Twitter’s source code and no one knows who did it
• Twitter may soon let Blue subscribers hide in plain sight
• How to mute Elon Musk on Twitter and remove him from your timeline

The post Twitter is blocking Substack links – here’s how to get around it appeared first on KnowTechie.

Except this time around, the “prank” was real.

The world’s most famous erinaceid had fallen victim to a murder most foul.

What happened to Sonic? Is he okay?

Calm down, it’s just a video game.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a point-and-click style detective game, in the the style of LucasArts classics Grim Fandango, Maniac Mansion, or The Secret of Monkey Island.

The freeware game was released via Steam and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and currently has a rating of 87 on Metacritic.

The game is killing it on Steam

On April 5, 2023, Sonic the Hedgehog social media manager Katie Chrzanowski, posted that the game had reached an auspicious milestone.

In six days, the game had reached 1,000,000 downloads and now boasts 11,146 positive reviews, ranking it in the top 100 best-reviewed Steam releases of all time.

And she had good reason to celebrate, because she was part of the team that developed The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog – as she detailed in a thread when the game dropped.

If you like the Sonic the Hedgehog series, or point-and-click detective games, put your sleuthing skills to the test and try to solve this intriguing mystery on your own.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog game is available for free download on Steam.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Is Starfield an open-world game?
• Asus ROG Ally gunning for Steam Deck in portable gaming war
• Free Xbox Games with Gold in April 2023: new titles revealed
• Budget-friendly expandable storage cards are coming to Xbox

The post Sonic the Hedgehog’s murder goes viral with one million downloads appeared first on KnowTechie.

Sentry Mode is a souped-up alarm that monitors the vehicle when parked and records any suspicious activity via the vehicle’s exterior cameras.

If you drive a Tesla, it might be worth checking out what the cameras can actually see because, according to former employees, you may be revealing more than you think.

What kind of “intimate” situations are we talking about?

According to the report, content shared internally ranged from the mundane, such as funny road signs and dogs, to the intimate, including people doing laundry or being nude (presumably not at the same time).

On at least one occasion, employees passed around a video of a child getting hit by a Tesla in a residential area. “The child flew in one direction, the bike in another,” the report states.

According to one ex-employee, videos like this spread via one-on-one chats “like wildfire” in Tesla’s San Mateo office.

Siri, play “Somebody’s Watching Me”

Officially, Tesla says that customer privacy “is and will always be enormously important to us.” Its Customer Privacy Notice states, “camera recordings remain anonymous and are not linked to you or your vehicle.”

By contrast, the ex-employees said that if owners consented to allow the vehicle to record on a whim, information like location data could easily be divined by anyone with access to the system.

“We could see inside people’s garages and their private properties[…] Let’s say that a Tesla customer had something in their garage that was distinctive, you know, people would post those kinds of things.” – Former Tesla employee (per Reuters reporting)

Smile for the camera

Tesla’s Sentry Mode has caused a legal stir in the past, with regulators in Europe, like the Dutch Data Protection Authority launching investigations into possible privacy violations.

That particular investigation ended in Tesla making changes to their vehicles’ cameras.

The controversial tech is integral in the carmaker’s push towards its Full Self Driving mode, which promises to replace human drivers one day. However, the feature remains firmly in beta mode.

At the time of reporting, Tesla had not responded to Reuters‘ request for comment.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Tesla drops prices on the Model S and Model X SUV
• Tesla opens up charging station network to more EVs
• Tesla’s decision to open its charging network is lame
• Is it cheaper to charge a Tesla at home or at a Supercharger station?

The post Tesla staff accused of sharing “intimate” Sentry Mode footage appeared first on KnowTechie.

In fact, for 45 years running, Piper Sandler has published the results of their exhaustive teen surveys that “highlight discretionary spending trends and brand preferences.”

This year’s report garnered responses from 5,690 teens across 47 U.S. states with an average age of 16.2 years.

Virtual reality is not a priority for Gen Alpha.

Despite companies like Meta making massive bets on Virtual Reality and the “metaverse,” it seems teens are still lukewarm on the tech.

Piper Sandler’s report, titled Taking Stock With Teens, found that:

• 29% of teens own a VR device
• 14% used their VR device weekly
• 4% used their VR device daily
• 7% planned to purchase a VR device any time soon

This could be bad news for Meta, which has already lost $13.7 billion on its Reality Labs project.

What do “the teens” like?

Aside from the Virtual Reality numbers, the report shows that teen culture is becoming more fractional and niche. Highlights from Taking Stock With Teens include:

• Food was the #1 spending priority for males at 24%
• clothing was #1 for females at 28%
• CashApp is the most popular peer-to-peer money app with 41% share, Venmo is #2 with 39%
• 57% of teens report Amazon to be their favorite shopping site
• Top three restaurants are Chik-fil-A (13%), Starbucks (12%), and Chipotle (7%)
• Top three social platforms are TikTok (37%), SNAP (27%), and Instagram (23%)
• Top two video platforms are Netflix (31%) and Youtube (28%)

If you’re interested in a deeper dive, you can request the full report from Piper Sandler directly. It’s not a crystal ball, but it contains key learnings for anyone trying to make sense of “kids today.”

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Teens speak out against being used as viral social bait by parents
• Instagram now has a ‘Quiet mode’ to help distracted teens
• Discord acquires Gas, a positivity-focused app popular with teens
• Here are the secret emojis teens are using to buy drugs online

The post American teens are virtually ignoring virtual reality appeared first on KnowTechie.