Modern Social Media platforms all have common building blocks under the hood. Cancel culture attacks make them vulnerable in previously unthought of ways. Starlink, or something like it, is crucial
On what basis would you assume that Musk could get to where he is without being a creature of that same surveillance system?
To use your example, it would be a simple matter for a copy of that data traffic between you and your friend to be cloned to some off-site surveillance centre and you'll be none the wiser.
To take the point further, and as much as I'd love to have a champion in Trump for Truth, what evidence do we have that he's not a creature of that same swamp he decried (and decisively failed to drain during his tenure in the seat of power)?
That's a good question. I can't and won't speak for CC, but I think the answer is implicated here. It is two-pronged; we expose cancel culture for precisely what it is: authoritarianism in the disguise of virtue and ethics. We then spread that insight widely - exposure, mockery, truth. This requires bypassing the gatekeepers. Cancel-culture has thrived precisely because open critique has been stifled and bypassed, strangled slowly over time. It cannot bear naked scrutiny, and it will evaporate with mass exposure.
Couldn't have said it better! Bravo. Cancel culture only survives in an environment in which the left can control the manner and content of the dialog; because the ideas of the left in themselves largely do not withstand either scrutiny or debate. Break the stranglehold on speech and debate, and the dead ideas whither as they should under the intense light of reasoned debate.
Wasn’t it our “buddy” Dick Cheney that said “civility is good to a point”? (paraphrasing all the way through) - I think we all know where we’re at, at this point.
I have speculated for quite some time there is a connection between Elon Musk's Starlink and Trump's Truth Social... Facebook and Twitter are panicking... Twitter is on another massive purge..... Some very interesting times ahead 😉😎
How will Starlink communicate with services that are homed on legacy internet, like Breitbart? I could see legacy internet deny any traffic from Starlink which would make Starlink a closed network. Maybe that's okay, but it would make searches for news & information very cumbersome.
It's certainly the case that the bad guys could choke off legacy Internet access to certain DNS domains at the interface to Starlink. But there are already a variety of VPN-like solutions that could be brought to bear. It would be possible but difficult to block, especially as a StarLink type service gained critical mass. But one would expect that they'll try. We'll have to wait and see...
Great question I don't know the answer to. All I can say is that for me, personally, the answer shifted from a flat "No!" to "🤔" as I've seen him shift (or expose) his political views more. Have to just watch and take notes without reaching a conclusion for a while.
This is great information. The American People and the world will be in shock as the truth comes out. This is my second article I have commented on. I appreciate it's written at the 9th grade level vs. last post at 14th grade level. My point as a reader is this: My inbox says I have 1400 more posts to read. I don't like slugging through a high grade level for material that doesn't warrant it. When I read Medical Papers, experiments and such, I expect a high level, that's fine. Above you reference Ethical Skeptic's article where he disses his readers on this. How? They ask him to not write at such a high level. He defends himself by positing the Bridgman Point as a fact to justify not writing it simpler. Well I can take his stuff right down to 5th grade without a problem, he doesn't want to. And so as an example, I rewrote the last 6 paragraphs of this article at the 9th grade to the 5th grade level. The material no where came close to being on the edge of the Bridgman Point (and neither did his which is ironic). (These comments were 4th grade level). Now onto my 1400 other posts to read, many historical things in motion. Best.
5th Grade Reading Level. So now we get to the reason that StarLink, or something like it, is so important. What is StarLink? It is a network of space-borne satellites put aloft by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It will deliver internet pretty much anywhere in the world using a direct link to satellites. It bypasses all other existing ground-based network infrastructure.
Your device will connect to a Starlink antenna. Your message packets are then beamed up to it, processed, then returned. No cable, no wi-fi, no direct hook-up with any existing carriers.
It goes from me, to StarLink, to you. No AT&T and others (in bed with NSA, who has access to all the major router facilities operated by AT&T) need apply.
Let's go back to the home and neighborhood analogy. It’s like Elon Musk gives you a flying car that goes from your driveway to work without using the old roads. You are no longer under the Intel Agencies sensors anymore. Blockades by the cancel culture mob no longer work; you can go around any obstacle.
I can talk to you, and you can talk to me, over a new “Internet” that isn’t cancellable. That's the primary strength and beauty of the Truth Social Media Platform.
And that, dear friends, is why StarLink and Truth Social are such a threat to the powers that be.
I am super excited about TruthSocial and an internet that is free from bias. Thank you for a simplified explanation of web sites and why things can get so difficult
Theta Labs crypto does what you are talking about. Decentralized peer to peer video and internet. Theta labs partners (Samsung, etc) can download the software tonight on every Samsung smart TV to implement the Theta protocols. No Elon Musk required. Got Theta?
The issue I'm interested in digging into on Theta (and any other solution) is what the single points of failure are: what elements, if taken out/blocked/interefered with, will prevent the system from functioning?
Theta Labs have 5 patents now, I think. Maybe more. Basically, it can go on every smart tv, smart phone, some routers, and some standalone Theta machines. If you opt in on your connected device, you earn Tfuel (Theta Fuel, a sub-token). You can then use Tfuel to buy pay per view type movies/shows directly, or trade for other cryptos, or cash. The more devices you allow the application software to be downloaded to, the more Tfuel you earn. I'm just a dude, I actually own very little Theta, because 1) I'm poor and 2) it isn't sold on any US exchanges, yet. That's why it's still cheap.
I have some friends who are into Helium (and emrit.io) which has a similar business model. It's an interesting idea, for sure. I'll take some time when I can to study the patents more.
So, as I understand it, it's decentralized, if one device fails, the traffic gets rerouted through other devices. By utilizing currently unutilized internet, it can increase the speed and capability of current internet by 10x. To take it down, you would have to 1) cut the entire internet 2) create a virus that targets the App, crashing it 3) Make it somehow illegal, though enforcement would be hard, I think. 4) ???
Why would anyone want to depend on infrastructure from a charlatan and oligarch like Elon Musk, who is so inept he can't even equip his shoddily built Tesla BEVs with technology that can compete with a primitive fuel tank?
You picked a particular point and made a very broad accusation. Musk reduced the cost of rocket launches by 80% before factoring in reusable vehicles. ULA (United Launch Alliance) CEO was caught on record admitting he had no idea where all the money was spent on their contracts. HINT: it's NOT the actual launch part, it's unnecessary gov't requirements that don't add any value.
Many design trade offs must be made on a vehicle. Perhaps you could generalize less and discuss the merits of the decisions and each's impact on the whole value of the vehicle. Or not, if you just don't like Musk.
He's likely created more jobs and value than any other person in America in the past 50 yrs. In my opinion, he's earned the benefit of the doubt in most arenas, save politics. Jury's still out on that, as CC said.
I've had (and have) reservations about him as well. But I'm keeping a dispassionate eye on what happens, and why it happens, not so much what I or other people feel about him as a person.
Why can we not use VPNs, sort of like putting lead blankets around the car, so even if they see the car, they can't see in? Use the same roads but they don't know which cars to stop.
Put all your traffic through VPNs and no one even knows which traffic to target. Even if they know how to break the encryption, the sheer amount of data makes this problematic for them.
Seems like that should work, on the surface; but it isn't good enough. For example, you should do some research into who was behind TOR, and then think about WHY they were behind TOR.
You're aware that Starlink does not operate the way you have described, at least at this point in time. The current topology/design is single-hop user to Internet via a single satellite and gateway terminal. Additionally, there are insufficient phase 2 satellites with laser x-link capability that would be required to support bypassing ground-based infrastructure (or lack of infrastructure - just ask Tonga) and it will be years before that would even be possible. There are also additional limitations with the satellites themselves that would have to be addressed (spacecraft power, transponder bandwidth, number of supported users, etc.) that would be necessary to connect a user to Truth Social while bypassing terrestrial infrastructure - never mind that any user opting to go this route would require an antenna and subscription. I've subscribed so you have my email - feel free to contact me offline. BE
I don't know the specifics of Starlink, but I do know them for the first generation Iridium sat phone network. I worked in the control center when it was built for a couple of years.
That constellation used the sat's just as described here. Phones connected to the sat overhead, then got routed to the nearest radar to the destination phone's location that then connected to the telco system leading to the destination phone. They did that with 66 sat's. Had some territories where the sat's didn't xmit/receive due to lack of approval to communicate in the country's air space. That was back in the early 90's.
Point being, it will not take as long as you think... the concept has been in use for 30+ yrs.
Good feedback, thank you. This is why I caveated with "or something like it". I recognize that StarLink isn't there yet; it doesn't have enough units aloft yet either, particularly given last week's loss. Yes, it would be the case that any user wanting to eventually do this would need to have an antenna and subscription. But having an Internet connection that can work almost anywhere and one that cannot be blocked and tapped is a great incentive for many to switch--when it is feasible to do so. The thrust of my post, however, is why it is important for something like StarLink to exist; it is a necessary step to decouple "free communications" from the current shackles and chokepoints. The other point is that the *threat* of such a thing (eventually and plausibly) existing will make certain players take certain actions. And I believe we are beginning to see the sweat pop out on brows over this.
Thanks for your response. I agree wholeheartedly that shackles and chokepoints need to be addressed in some manner and that Starlink or something similar could, at some point in the future, very well be a major step in that direction. In support of that, I would even offer your readers links to a tinyurl.com/YT-video and
tinyurl.com/associated-writeup which was produced years ago to illustrate and partially explain the concept. There are also a couple of interactive maps which illustrate the current state of the Starlink constellation and could be mistakenly construed as progress aimed toward that concept, which can be found here https://starlink.sx/ and here https://satellitemap.space/
However, one aspect that the writeup explicitly omits is throughput capacity (as well as implicitly, other key aspects) and, more importantly, it completely excludes the original intent and design of the Starlink network which is to compete with existing satellite Internet provides to extend hi-speed Internet service to users in areas with few-to-no other service options - a last-mile solution for the underserved. Anecdotal accounts and objective reviews exist which illustrate the current state of the original intent and design of the Starlink network, including:
Simply put, Starlink is still in its infancy stage and, for various reasons, is struggling somewhat to provide even its originally intended service which in no way includes functioning as an alternative to the existing fiber optic Internet backbone or terrestrial-based routed inter-network. The notion being touted on Telegram that Starlink and DWAC are teaming up to provide a work-around to the valid issues you've raised is simply a pipe dream in the near-term, and years away -if ever- once the proof of concept is actually demonstrated.
Again, thank you for your great comment; it's obvious you've got quite a bit of knowledge in this area and have thought about it in depth. I appreciate your insights.
I need to go back to two of my main points here: (1) the two recent posts I wrote regarding Truth Social and Starlink talk about what NEEDS to exist and why--to make deplatforming difficult or impossible. I acknowledge that the state of play is not there yet on a number of fronts, including the networking layer; but (2) that the growing perception of a plausible threat posed by Starlink (or other technologies that are worth covering in future posts) are causing states of anxiety to arise in certain parties and it makes them show their hand prematurely. One can begin to see this in the narrative escalation against Musk. This tells me that the direction things are going with Truth Social and Starlink and/or something like it...is precisely the right direction. For the sake of humanity, it MUST happen; censorship and deplatforming and the surveillance state mindset must be eradicated from the face of the earth, or civilization will suffer for a thousand years.
Thanks for the comment, CC; that's precisely a few people I know have recently switched knowing the potential - as you have outlined - is at least theoretically there.
And we don't know what we don't know...yet. this comment from Kash Patel about SpaceX...and "WiFi" left me wondering. Don't be surprised that there is a whole lot more there...there when he's done. Great post!
On what basis would you assume that Musk could get to where he is without being a creature of that same surveillance system?
To use your example, it would be a simple matter for a copy of that data traffic between you and your friend to be cloned to some off-site surveillance centre and you'll be none the wiser.
To take the point further, and as much as I'd love to have a champion in Trump for Truth, what evidence do we have that he's not a creature of that same swamp he decried (and decisively failed to drain during his tenure in the seat of power)?
I was thinking this exact thing. What or who can control Musk? And is Truth Social using Starlink? Lots of questions that need answered
Great article and information but it avoids the real question. How to stop the cancel culture that has come to dominate so much of our society.
That's a good question. I can't and won't speak for CC, but I think the answer is implicated here. It is two-pronged; we expose cancel culture for precisely what it is: authoritarianism in the disguise of virtue and ethics. We then spread that insight widely - exposure, mockery, truth. This requires bypassing the gatekeepers. Cancel-culture has thrived precisely because open critique has been stifled and bypassed, strangled slowly over time. It cannot bear naked scrutiny, and it will evaporate with mass exposure.
Couldn't have said it better! Bravo. Cancel culture only survives in an environment in which the left can control the manner and content of the dialog; because the ideas of the left in themselves largely do not withstand either scrutiny or debate. Break the stranglehold on speech and debate, and the dead ideas whither as they should under the intense light of reasoned debate.
Canceling cancel culture requires polite people to stop being politely tolerant. Rock the damn boat!
Wasn’t it our “buddy” Dick Cheney that said “civility is good to a point”? (paraphrasing all the way through) - I think we all know where we’re at, at this point.
I have speculated for quite some time there is a connection between Elon Musk's Starlink and Trump's Truth Social... Facebook and Twitter are panicking... Twitter is on another massive purge..... Some very interesting times ahead 😉😎
That was an amazing way to teach us. I’m so educated now I feel like I’m six years old. Haha ☺️ Thanks for the great article.
How will Starlink communicate with services that are homed on legacy internet, like Breitbart? I could see legacy internet deny any traffic from Starlink which would make Starlink a closed network. Maybe that's okay, but it would make searches for news & information very cumbersome.
It's certainly the case that the bad guys could choke off legacy Internet access to certain DNS domains at the interface to Starlink. But there are already a variety of VPN-like solutions that could be brought to bear. It would be possible but difficult to block, especially as a StarLink type service gained critical mass. But one would expect that they'll try. We'll have to wait and see...
Perfect
Can we trust Elon Musk???
Great question I don't know the answer to. All I can say is that for me, personally, the answer shifted from a flat "No!" to "🤔" as I've seen him shift (or expose) his political views more. Have to just watch and take notes without reaching a conclusion for a while.
I concur!
Thank you very much for the explanation.
welcome!
This is great information. The American People and the world will be in shock as the truth comes out. This is my second article I have commented on. I appreciate it's written at the 9th grade level vs. last post at 14th grade level. My point as a reader is this: My inbox says I have 1400 more posts to read. I don't like slugging through a high grade level for material that doesn't warrant it. When I read Medical Papers, experiments and such, I expect a high level, that's fine. Above you reference Ethical Skeptic's article where he disses his readers on this. How? They ask him to not write at such a high level. He defends himself by positing the Bridgman Point as a fact to justify not writing it simpler. Well I can take his stuff right down to 5th grade without a problem, he doesn't want to. And so as an example, I rewrote the last 6 paragraphs of this article at the 9th grade to the 5th grade level. The material no where came close to being on the edge of the Bridgman Point (and neither did his which is ironic). (These comments were 4th grade level). Now onto my 1400 other posts to read, many historical things in motion. Best.
5th Grade Reading Level. So now we get to the reason that StarLink, or something like it, is so important. What is StarLink? It is a network of space-borne satellites put aloft by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It will deliver internet pretty much anywhere in the world using a direct link to satellites. It bypasses all other existing ground-based network infrastructure.
Your device will connect to a Starlink antenna. Your message packets are then beamed up to it, processed, then returned. No cable, no wi-fi, no direct hook-up with any existing carriers.
It goes from me, to StarLink, to you. No AT&T and others (in bed with NSA, who has access to all the major router facilities operated by AT&T) need apply.
Let's go back to the home and neighborhood analogy. It’s like Elon Musk gives you a flying car that goes from your driveway to work without using the old roads. You are no longer under the Intel Agencies sensors anymore. Blockades by the cancel culture mob no longer work; you can go around any obstacle.
I can talk to you, and you can talk to me, over a new “Internet” that isn’t cancellable. That's the primary strength and beauty of the Truth Social Media Platform.
And that, dear friends, is why StarLink and Truth Social are such a threat to the powers that be.
I am super excited about TruthSocial and an internet that is free from bias. Thank you for a simplified explanation of web sites and why things can get so difficult
glad you found it useful!
Theta Labs crypto does what you are talking about. Decentralized peer to peer video and internet. Theta labs partners (Samsung, etc) can download the software tonight on every Samsung smart TV to implement the Theta protocols. No Elon Musk required. Got Theta?
Found the patent, will add it to my reading list... interesting, and thanks
The issue I'm interested in digging into on Theta (and any other solution) is what the single points of failure are: what elements, if taken out/blocked/interefered with, will prevent the system from functioning?
Theta Labs have 5 patents now, I think. Maybe more. Basically, it can go on every smart tv, smart phone, some routers, and some standalone Theta machines. If you opt in on your connected device, you earn Tfuel (Theta Fuel, a sub-token). You can then use Tfuel to buy pay per view type movies/shows directly, or trade for other cryptos, or cash. The more devices you allow the application software to be downloaded to, the more Tfuel you earn. I'm just a dude, I actually own very little Theta, because 1) I'm poor and 2) it isn't sold on any US exchanges, yet. That's why it's still cheap.
I have some friends who are into Helium (and emrit.io) which has a similar business model. It's an interesting idea, for sure. I'll take some time when I can to study the patents more.
So, as I understand it, it's decentralized, if one device fails, the traffic gets rerouted through other devices. By utilizing currently unutilized internet, it can increase the speed and capability of current internet by 10x. To take it down, you would have to 1) cut the entire internet 2) create a virus that targets the App, crashing it 3) Make it somehow illegal, though enforcement would be hard, I think. 4) ???
Why would anyone want to depend on infrastructure from a charlatan and oligarch like Elon Musk, who is so inept he can't even equip his shoddily built Tesla BEVs with technology that can compete with a primitive fuel tank?
You picked a particular point and made a very broad accusation. Musk reduced the cost of rocket launches by 80% before factoring in reusable vehicles. ULA (United Launch Alliance) CEO was caught on record admitting he had no idea where all the money was spent on their contracts. HINT: it's NOT the actual launch part, it's unnecessary gov't requirements that don't add any value.
Many design trade offs must be made on a vehicle. Perhaps you could generalize less and discuss the merits of the decisions and each's impact on the whole value of the vehicle. Or not, if you just don't like Musk.
He's likely created more jobs and value than any other person in America in the past 50 yrs. In my opinion, he's earned the benefit of the doubt in most arenas, save politics. Jury's still out on that, as CC said.
I've had (and have) reservations about him as well. But I'm keeping a dispassionate eye on what happens, and why it happens, not so much what I or other people feel about him as a person.
Thank you CC, well done. Excited for Truth Social and Starlink. Truth is a great start.
Why can we not use VPNs, sort of like putting lead blankets around the car, so even if they see the car, they can't see in? Use the same roads but they don't know which cars to stop.
Put all your traffic through VPNs and no one even knows which traffic to target. Even if they know how to break the encryption, the sheer amount of data makes this problematic for them.
Win with numbers.
Seems like that should work, on the surface; but it isn't good enough. For example, you should do some research into who was behind TOR, and then think about WHY they were behind TOR.
You're aware that Starlink does not operate the way you have described, at least at this point in time. The current topology/design is single-hop user to Internet via a single satellite and gateway terminal. Additionally, there are insufficient phase 2 satellites with laser x-link capability that would be required to support bypassing ground-based infrastructure (or lack of infrastructure - just ask Tonga) and it will be years before that would even be possible. There are also additional limitations with the satellites themselves that would have to be addressed (spacecraft power, transponder bandwidth, number of supported users, etc.) that would be necessary to connect a user to Truth Social while bypassing terrestrial infrastructure - never mind that any user opting to go this route would require an antenna and subscription. I've subscribed so you have my email - feel free to contact me offline. BE
I don't know the specifics of Starlink, but I do know them for the first generation Iridium sat phone network. I worked in the control center when it was built for a couple of years.
That constellation used the sat's just as described here. Phones connected to the sat overhead, then got routed to the nearest radar to the destination phone's location that then connected to the telco system leading to the destination phone. They did that with 66 sat's. Had some territories where the sat's didn't xmit/receive due to lack of approval to communicate in the country's air space. That was back in the early 90's.
Point being, it will not take as long as you think... the concept has been in use for 30+ yrs.
As someone who is the proverbial five year old here, this did a lot to help understand the problem even if the solution isn't quite there yet.
awesome! Thank you for the feedback.
Good feedback, thank you. This is why I caveated with "or something like it". I recognize that StarLink isn't there yet; it doesn't have enough units aloft yet either, particularly given last week's loss. Yes, it would be the case that any user wanting to eventually do this would need to have an antenna and subscription. But having an Internet connection that can work almost anywhere and one that cannot be blocked and tapped is a great incentive for many to switch--when it is feasible to do so. The thrust of my post, however, is why it is important for something like StarLink to exist; it is a necessary step to decouple "free communications" from the current shackles and chokepoints. The other point is that the *threat* of such a thing (eventually and plausibly) existing will make certain players take certain actions. And I believe we are beginning to see the sweat pop out on brows over this.
Thanks for your response. I agree wholeheartedly that shackles and chokepoints need to be addressed in some manner and that Starlink or something similar could, at some point in the future, very well be a major step in that direction. In support of that, I would even offer your readers links to a tinyurl.com/YT-video and
tinyurl.com/associated-writeup which was produced years ago to illustrate and partially explain the concept. There are also a couple of interactive maps which illustrate the current state of the Starlink constellation and could be mistakenly construed as progress aimed toward that concept, which can be found here https://starlink.sx/ and here https://satellitemap.space/
However, one aspect that the writeup explicitly omits is throughput capacity (as well as implicitly, other key aspects) and, more importantly, it completely excludes the original intent and design of the Starlink network which is to compete with existing satellite Internet provides to extend hi-speed Internet service to users in areas with few-to-no other service options - a last-mile solution for the underserved. Anecdotal accounts and objective reviews exist which illustrate the current state of the original intent and design of the Starlink network, including:
Tonga - https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/starlink-establishes-emergency-ground-station-in-fiji/
Alaska - https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/s376k7/alaska/
General availability - https://www.satelliteinternet.com/resources/starlink-beta-sign-up/
Comparative review - https://www.satelliteinternet.com/providers/starlink/
Simply put, Starlink is still in its infancy stage and, for various reasons, is struggling somewhat to provide even its originally intended service which in no way includes functioning as an alternative to the existing fiber optic Internet backbone or terrestrial-based routed inter-network. The notion being touted on Telegram that Starlink and DWAC are teaming up to provide a work-around to the valid issues you've raised is simply a pipe dream in the near-term, and years away -if ever- once the proof of concept is actually demonstrated.
Cheers, BE
Now do Iridium satellite constellation network... the new, upgraded one.
Again, thank you for your great comment; it's obvious you've got quite a bit of knowledge in this area and have thought about it in depth. I appreciate your insights.
I need to go back to two of my main points here: (1) the two recent posts I wrote regarding Truth Social and Starlink talk about what NEEDS to exist and why--to make deplatforming difficult or impossible. I acknowledge that the state of play is not there yet on a number of fronts, including the networking layer; but (2) that the growing perception of a plausible threat posed by Starlink (or other technologies that are worth covering in future posts) are causing states of anxiety to arise in certain parties and it makes them show their hand prematurely. One can begin to see this in the narrative escalation against Musk. This tells me that the direction things are going with Truth Social and Starlink and/or something like it...is precisely the right direction. For the sake of humanity, it MUST happen; censorship and deplatforming and the surveillance state mindset must be eradicated from the face of the earth, or civilization will suffer for a thousand years.
Thanks for the comment, CC; that's precisely a few people I know have recently switched knowing the potential - as you have outlined - is at least theoretically there.
And we don't know what we don't know...yet. this comment from Kash Patel about SpaceX...and "WiFi" left me wondering. Don't be surprised that there is a whole lot more there...there when he's done. Great post!
https://t.me/https://t.me/drawandstrikechannel/29118/29118
Previous link may not work for all.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DWAC_Stock/comments/rlxemj/kash_patel_former_chief_of_staff_for_sec_of_def/