We need a distributed social platform. Distributed currency system. Distributed personal information privacy. Distributed AI. Where’s the tech YC?

When the mass Tiktok exodus tsent Red Book [1] to the top of the App store, it was the first time in history that American citizens started talking directly to Chinese citizens in mass. I've heard all sorts of stories of both sides learning a lot about each other, including the lies and propaganda each others government places in the media, but mostly more positive things like art, fashion, cooking, food, healthcare and -- probably the most important, each other's different humor.

Video, and an AI algorithm to drive the For You page, is probably the most difficult part. We have some good ideas on privacy[2], and I can imagine some sort of crypto ledger system paired with AI learning, but video expensive to store/stream and at such a high volume of streaming, I don't know what kind of end points would really work to keep quality up.

Then there's the problem of policing such a system, and who the police would be. There's some dark places on the internet that I think everyone but a handful of people think should never be allowed on such a network, but more generally there's questions on politeness, stalking, harassment, "facts", memes, and other culture differences that would need to be ironed out.

Who's building this? We need it by Jan 19th, 2025.

[1] Not to be confused with SF's Redbook: https://www.wired.com/2015/02/redbook/

[2] Tim has been making the rounds about his Solid project: https://www.inrupt.com/

There's lots of real estate to rehab in all the smaller towns and even the tourist towns too. Book your flights already!

There's plenty of gray beards, the UC is starving for seasoned talent, and the HMO plans are inexpensive and cover a lot -- 5 years to vest in the pension that matches nearly 100% and you can take distributions starting at age 50.

As for the center bike lane design, I dislike it as a cyclist. The entry curbs make it difficult to pull out mid-block without someone behind me hitting me, and if I'm biking in the car lane I can't safely merge back to the bike lane with how the curbs are.

The best design is to make those blocks car free like Market St; deliveries, ADA drop offs, and local garage owners only. Ubers can drop off on the side blocks and back in parking can go in where it fits as well.

As an example of how much faster GPT-4 has made my workflow was the outage this evening — I tried Anthropic, openchat, Bard, and a few others and they were between not useful and worse than just looking at forums and discord it’s 2022.

I don't use any of the other features.

Remote: Yes, PST but flexible. On-site/hybrid in SF Bay only.

Willing to relocate: Relocation outside of the US negotiable. Prefer Portugal.

Technologies: AWS, Terraform, Ansible, Docker, ContanerD, Kafka, etcd, Vault, bare metal, Github Actions, Mysql, deployments at large scale, cloud security

Résumé: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZUxIM86Wih7WARnVp7dPe_Sd...

Email: ballew at sublinear dot net.

About me: Hey team, I'm Mark and I've been doing compute infrastructure for over 20 years. I specialize in deployment automation, computing at large scale, high performance computing, and identity management, and security. I have a strong interest in AI as well!

I'm interested in co-founding and early stage startups, but if you are doing something really cool in corp or gov/mil (Cage Code: 8Q152) drop me a note too! I'm available for W2 or C2C, a US Citizen, and have previously worked with clients in UK, EU, Japan, and Thailand.

As an aside, it's an interesting failure scenario because there's a loud explosion outside my window, then I get 120v 50hz power from whatever is left of the transformer so half the house lights work at an odd warm glow. :D

Over the last couple of years, I've had 4-5 power outages that lasted over 4 hours and I live in the middle of San Francisco. I do have a wood burning fireplace as a backup, but those have all sorts of restrictions on use and new ones aren't permitted. Imagine what a chilly 20 unit Tenderloin apartment is going to be like!

Unless cheap battery tech, microgrids, and major subsidies are put into place, it's going to be a cold winter when PG&E is out for hours at night in 2032.

I think there are plenty of low speed urban bicycle accidents a helmet is good for based on this.

If Elon turns brings Vine back from the dead, I might have to eat my shoe however.

I played with the PinePhone for a few days, but it really is still a development phone. It has promise but it'll be sitting in a box until the ecosystem matures. I'm really hoping more serious work gets done in making it a daily driver for someone like me, who is very technical but doesn't have the time to figure out why the screen stays dim or how to load in a game that works.

Recessions are good times to take risks since people are afraid and while capital isn’t cheap this time around, assets are.

In a major tech hub like San Francisco, where I live, it's possible to get 1gb/1gb in some areas for under $90, but which those are isn't consistent nor wide spread. Home cell coverage at 100/20 is spotty at best, and there is only one flat rate vendor (T-Mobile Home, no Verizon Home yet). For those outside of the Bay Area exurbs, I can only imagine the horrors of Comcast/Xfinity or only DSL people must deal with.

Looking forward, the FCC is assuming that people are just watching Netflix, Tiktok, and making angry Karen posts on Nextdoor. We're not sure where web3 will lead, and how much bandwidth will that take: Distributed file systems/data privacy? Fast crypto transactions? Metaverse/VR/AR glasses/contacts? And what about latency?

1000/500 should be the FCC goal.

Get out at Glen Park and and there's a the quaint Glen Park Village.

Get out at Balboa Park and head over a few blocks up Ocean for another neighborhood row of shops.

Or get on Muni Metro and take the KLM to West Portal. Or keep riding to Stonestown and do your shopping at Target, Wholefoods, or TJs, then go see a movie at the Regal.

Hop on the N and ride all the way out to La Playa and get yourself a cup of coffee and a sandwich at Java Beach. Then walk around the Sunset and see just how sleepy the western side is!

San Francisco is really 2 different cities rather than 11 counties. West side (where I live) has some minor problems but otherwise offers the best mix of culture, places to eat, parks, and transit. Downtown is rife with problems and if someday it does get cleaned up, it will wonderful since the right density and transit is there.