Tom Coates
@tomcoates.bsky.social
11K followers 690 following 11K posts
English technologist, founder and product designer living in San Francisco. Prev: BBC, Yahoo, Time Out, Nokia, Jawbone, Wired & Eero. Founded things too. Currently trying to find something to get excited rather than angry about. Http://plasticbag.org
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tomcoates.bsky.social
Have a nice day, Logan. I think I’m done with this conversation.
tomcoates.bsky.social
They don’t generally let you use the likeness of living people. It’s apparently only okay to exploit the dead.
tomcoates.bsky.social
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure this is a very reasonable criticism and I think I’m going to just ignore it and move on.
tomcoates.bsky.social
Also presumably you also think they were awful for using it to illustrate it too?
tomcoates.bsky.social
And if I want to make a different point?
tomcoates.bsky.social
How would you suggest I illustrate how creepy and wrong it is without using it and showing people what it can do?
tomcoates.bsky.social
Current mini-project, using Sora to explain why Sora is deeply problematic.
tomcoates.bsky.social
Weirdly I have too much respect for Bowie and his family to do that.
tomcoates.bsky.social
Current mini-project, using Sora to explain why Sora is deeply problematic.
tomcoates.bsky.social
Current mini-project, using Sora to explain why Sora is deeply problematic.
Reposted by Tom Coates
indivisible.org
The largest demonstration during Trump’s first term was around 750 events.

“We’re now expecting about 2,500 events around the country on No Kings. So we’re talking about literally four times as many.” - @leahgreenberg.bsky.social

Please join us on Saturday: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
Reposted by Tom Coates
davidosland.bsky.social
On the centenary of Thatcher's birth, there have been predictable calls for a memorial to her memory. But Britain's 2300 food banks serve that purpose already.
tomcoates.bsky.social
All the good gays raptured out. I haven’t been fabulous enough so I have to wait for the next one.
tomcoates.bsky.social
I just saw an AI video of Mike Johnson saying all kinds of truly horrific things, and not I’m like… is it really so bad? Maybe I can live with all the ethical problems / collapse of civilization.
a cartoon of batman wearing a blue cape and mask with his hand on his chin .
ALT: a cartoon of batman wearing a blue cape and mask with his hand on his chin .
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Tom Coates
tomcoates.bsky.social
I mean, I live in San Francisco, I’m a gay man in his fifties, I think trans people, women, people of color, the LGBTQA+ community and disabled people deserve protections from discrimination and equal opportunities. Maybe I’m a communist? I dunno. Their stuff doesn’t seem that out there.
tomcoates.bsky.social
I keep seeing people refer to people like @aoc.bsky.social and @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social as radical Democrats, and ... I dunno, I don’t really see it. They just seem like competent young politicians with a fairly mainstream progressive message. Which is why they got elected.
Reposted by Tom Coates
rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social
Chris Christie: “Thie is no longer, the Department of Justice, is no longer the premier prosecuting office in America. What it is now is a capo regime who goes out and executes hits when directed by the Don to do so. That’s what it is.”
Reposted by Tom Coates
briantylercohen.bsky.social
Multiple airports are now announcing they will refuse to play Kristi Noem’s government-funded video blaming “Democrats” for the government shutdown.

“We believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging,” one airport said.
Reposted by Tom Coates
niedermeyer.online
Elon Musk is a white nationalist. Anyone who needs more data points to reach this conclusion is beyond help or persuasion.

If you buy, rent, service, or supercharge a Tesla you are supporting the most powerful white nationalist on earth. Period.
tomcoates.bsky.social
Nonetheless, this thing has happened and (whatever my concerns) it seems a lot better than things were like a couple of weeks ago. And given that, I guess I should be feeling positive about it and giving Trump some credit. But I have this suspicion that the whole story/situation hasn’t come out yet.
tomcoates.bsky.social
The other (a bit more depressing but I’m more convinced by) is Trump likes the Qataris and Saudis for various business reasons, and because they bought him a plane - hence the Qatari air facility in the US. And those moves made Netanyahu nervous about the strength of his commitment.
tomcoates.bsky.social
And I guess you could come to one of two opinions on that - one that Trump, as a sane political figure who wanted a stable Middle East was concerned about the breaking of international law and Israel’s increasingly dubious activities, and decided to step in. History would suggest this isn’t true.
tomcoates.bsky.social
If I had to make a guess (and I’m afraid it would be a fairly cynical one) about what has gone in here it would be the level of widespread condemnation for the Israeli government’s actions at the moment was only sustainable while Trump was on board, and the Qatar attacks destabilized that.