Nicholas
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thebigtenfour.bsky.social
Nicholas
@thebigtenfour.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.4K following 6.9K posts
Geographer. Cartographer. DataViz. Florida Man. Formerly in Kyiv. IG: https://www.instagram.com/thebigtenfour/ 🐊
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Me: In bed early, big, important day tomorrow!

My last two brain cells at 3am:
Yeah, that and putting it through Google Lens for hits, it only appears in a single Ukrainian news site starting today.

If there was an official govt/press photo of a signing it would be more used by a wide variety of news sites.
There aren't enough stars on that EU flag. 10 instead of 12.

AI.
Reposted by Nicholas
Considering adding "But will this project be far more extensive than initially let on?" to every single NYT story about Trump and his admin.
Breaking News: President Trump is having the White House’s entire East Wing demolished to make way for his $200 million ballroom. The project is far more extensive than he initially let on.
Trump Will Demolish Entire White House East Wing for Ballroom: Live Updates
nyti.ms
FT on top of their game again with graphics too, as @jamiesmythft.bsky.social notes, if you ever want to learn how a new generation of sodium-cooled small modular reactors work if they come to life in the US.

Gift link at the top of the thread! Enjoy.

bsky.app/profile/jami...
With an amazing graphic that explains how sodium-cooled fast reactors work @on.ft.com/4ovgxuv @financialtimes.com
And anytime I see irrational exuberance like this for a questionable firm in any industry that needs a lot of initial capital, R&D, and long lead times to get things to market, I feel the worst for the others in the industry doing good work, much like the effect of biomed investment after Theranos.
Only quibble here is a company founded in 2013 might be suddenly upstart, but is it really a "start-up" still? We were laughing at newly-released Vine clips on our iPhone 5s in 2013. Feel like start-ups are still virtuous in many people's eyes and the term gives Oklo cover to be dumb and disruptive
Of course this has an AI connection, Sam Altman's hyping and a direct, corrupt connection with the White House.

But I still can't get over that the valuation isn't some blackbox private valuation, but one being traded by institutional and retail investors as a public listing on the stock market.
Okay, but that that look delicious, has utility, and doesn't require handling pure liquid sodium or weapons-grade plutonium.

The only thing that needs clarifying before investing: is it mayo, smetana, or vinegar based?
"Oklo has *no revenues*, no licence to operate reactors and no binding contracts to supply power. But this has not stopped the start-up from riding a wave of investor enthusiasm that has propelled its *stock market* valuation above *$20bn.*"

Emphasis mine. What are we doing here

on.ft.com/4htuN4O
Inside Oklo: the $20bn nuclear start-up without any revenue
Silicon Valley company with links to Trump administration rides wave of investor enthusiasm
on.ft.com
Over in Ireland and the election for their next President, a preview of the terrifying and depressing next stage of the information world we live in.
We knew this would happen. Note how realistic the visuals and voices are.
This AI deepfake video of Catherine Connolly ‘withdrawing’ from presidential contest and that Friday’s poll is ‘cancelled’ is live and viral on Facebook tonight.
1000s watching, commenters believing it.
And one is a 36-year-old that has raised over $3mil in his campaign so far. There's also still months to declare candidacy. It doesn't seem like it needs to only be Mills vs. Platner.
I'm sincerely sorry to Ukrainians and the world that he's lost any object permanence and everyone has to play the game of "last person he spoke to is right".

I expect Europeans to be heading to Washington soon to jangle keys in front of his face again.
Lavrov reiterates maximalist demands and "Putin continues to make clear that, despite a willingness to engage with the White House, Russia is not interested in ending the war"

Putin only engages when needing to distract and derail and Trump takes the bait every time www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Trump’s second meeting with Putin is off
Russia’s foreign minister said he made clear to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a call on Monday that their demands in Ukraine haven’t changed.
www.politico.com
It's a non-political MSD, but the Cinnamon Toast shrimp tail guy got nuked from existence in about 48hrs
The Doug Ford-run government of Ontario running Reagan's words against Trump's dumb tarrifs in an ad in Game 7 of the ALCS, what a world we live in now.
I honestly looked at that and thought you gotta do all three skills in 14 minutes, certainly. Right? Apparently not.
Plenty of damage is done, but there's some small comfort in the fact they're so incompetent.
LMFAO at Anna Bowers' rightful bewilderment and contempt woven throughout this bonkers article.
I spent six years monitoring and reporting on a "ceasefire" and have no illusions that these agreements are a lasting answer to the fighting.

But objective monitoring and reporting informing enforcement efforts by the int'l community are a basic requirement if you want any chance for it to work.
So, I'm gathering the the ceasefire agreement has no meaningful monitoring, reporting, or enforcement mechanisms other than the begrudging cooperation of the sides and Trump flying these nuggets in every other week to get played.

Color me skeptical this thing holds up.

on.ft.com/3L4mLTz
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrive in Israel to shore up Gaza ceasefire
Visit by US envoys comes day after series of attacks threatened to derail fragile accord
on.ft.com
Reposted by Nicholas
"At times, using Neon felt a bit like working with a hapless intern we’d never asked for." 💀