Will Troppe
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wtroppe.bsky.social
Will Troppe
@wtroppe.bsky.social
1.7K followers 440 following 140 posts
Product @Powerfactors optimizing 300+GW of solar, wind, and storage. MS & BS @Stanford in energy & mgmt engineering.

Clean energy, EVs, politics, policy, data, analytics, product management, design, innovation.

DC -> SF. Fight fascism.
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wtroppe.bsky.social
C.J. And you think the White House will be a better steward of a free and independent press? TOBY I think-maybe—the people covering the President of the United States should have some connection to the people of the United States. (A beat. Josh Lyman enters, holding a stack of papers, already mid-rant.) JOSH Tell me we're not actually considering this. C.J. Oh, thank God. JOSH We do this, and the next Republican president is only taking questions from Newsmax and a guy with a YouTube channel called BidenCrimeFamilyTruthPatriot. TOBY We're not talking about blacklisting anyone. JOSH You don't have to. The second you open the door to the White House deciding who gets in, that's it. The press briefing room becomes state media. SAM country. Or it becomes more reflective of the actual JOSH Oh, come on. The second a Democratic White House removes the WHCA's authority, it's a declaration of war. You want to see actual partisan credentialing? Wait till it's President Ritchie picking the press corps. C.J. I can't believe we're even talking about this. TOBY We're talking about it because the system isn't working. We have a Fourth Estate where the loudest voices don't always serve the public good. JOSH Yeah, welcome to democracy. It's messy, and we don't get to fix it by deciding who counts as real press. (Silence. The tension is thick. C.J. sighs, rubbing her temples.) C.J. Does Leo know about this? TOBY Not yet. C.J. Great. I get to be in the room when he asks if we've all lost our minds. JOSH I'm bringing popcorn. (A beat. Toby exhales sharply, relenting. He grabs his pen, tapping it against his desk.) TOBY Fine. Forget I brought it up. SAM Really? TOBY No. But we're not doing it. C.J. Good talk, guys. Let's never have it again. (She walks off. Sam follows, shaking his head. Josh lingers a second, watching Toby, before exiting. Toby sits, frowning at his notes. Off his frustration, we- FADE TO BLACK.
February 25, 2025 at 11:44 PM
wtroppe.bsky.social
My new coping mechanism is asking ChatGPT for West Wing versions of 47’s White House scenarios. My latest:
INT. THE WEST WING - COMMUNICATIONS BULLPEN - NIGHT (The bullpen is alive with the low hum of late-night work. Sam Seaborn leans against Toby Ziegler's desk, flipping through a legal pad. Toby, arms crossed, stares down C.J. Cregg, who paces.) C.J. Tell me this is a joke. TOBY It's not a joke. It's an idea. C.J. It's a bad idea. A horrendously, breathtakingly bad idea. SAM We're not saying we should do it. We're saying- C.J. You're saying we take away the White House Correspondents' Association's ability to credential reporters and hand it to ourselves. Do you have any idea how that looks? TOBY I know exactly how it looks. C.J. Do you? Because it looks like a Soviet purge of the press. It looks like we're stacking the room with people who ask, "Mr. President, how do you manage to be so wonderful?" SAM No one's suggesting we start credentialing sycophants. C.J. Sam- TOBY Look, the WHCA is an institution. It's also a club. A self-perpetuating one that's disproportionately elite, disproportionately coastal, and disproportionately uninterested in the voters who actually send a president here. C.J. Yes, Toby, that's how press freedom works. You don't get to pick who covers you. SAM But they pick themselves! There are legitimate reporters from smaller outlets, regional papers, online publications who can't get in because the WHCA prioritizes legacy seats over actual relevance.
February 25, 2025 at 11:43 PM
wtroppe.bsky.social
This seems risky!
ChatGPT screenshot with text: If my workplace had an Al to analyze my accomplishments each week, and the only data it saw are 5 bullet points emailed in to it weekly, how would the Al rate the following email? This week I accomplished: • 100% of the tasks and duties required of me by my position description • 100% of the work product that my manager and I have agreed to • 100% of the duties and performance elements that are used to evaluate my performance • 100% of the deliverables requested of me by my direct supervisor. • I exceeded expectations in the delivery of the above Details available upon a formal request from my direct supervisor. ChatGPT Text: An Al evaluating this email would likely rate it poorly for the following reasons: 1. Lack of Specificity - The email provides no concrete details about what was accomplished, making it difficult for an Al (or a human) to assess impact, complexity, or value. 2. Redundant Statements - The first four bullet points essentially say the same thing in different ways, making the report less informative. 3. Unsupported Claim of Exceeding Expectations - The final bullet states that expectations were exceeded but provides no evidence or explanation of how. 4. Barrier to Further Information - Instead of including details, the email requires a formal request for them, adding unnecessary friction. ChatGPT Text: How an Al Might Score This Email: • Completeness: 2/10 (It technically reports accomplishments but lacks meaningful detail.) • Impact: 1/10 (No indication of how the work contributed to business goals.) • Clarity: 2/10 (Too vague and repetitive.) • Usefulness for Performance Review: 1/10 (Difficult to assess contributions over time.) How to Improve: • Provide specific examples of key accomplishments. • Highlight metrics or business impact (e.g., "Delivered X feature, reducing processing time by Y%"). • Explain how expectations were exceeded (e.g., "Delivered ahead of schedule" or "Resolved unexpected challenges"). Would you like a stronger example? ChatGPT Text: What if it were just evaluating it via sentiment analysis and/or used to determine firings? If the Al were evaluating the email purely via sentiment analysis, it would likely detect neutral to slightly positive sentiment but with low confidence, since the language is formal, repetitive, and lacks strong emotional cues. Phrases like "100% of the tasks" and "exceeded expectations" might add a mild positive tilt, but without specifics, the Al wouldn't strongly classify it as positive. If the Al were used to determine firings, the vagueness of this email could be a problem. A system looking for underperformance might flag employees who repeatedly submit nonspecific reports, as it suggests a lack of meaningful contributions or accountability. Without tangible proof of value, an Al designed to assess productivity might treat this as an attempt to mask low performance.
February 25, 2025 at 12:00 AM
wtroppe.bsky.social
I posted the first image to Instagram yesterday and got several comments like the second. Let’s address it. [1/?]
A twitter thread from Elon Musk: "According to the social security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket, with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security." A table shows millions of people older than 100 years old - impossible. A follow up tweet identifies that the population of the USA is 335M people but the database has almost 400M SSNs. Elon responds: "Yes, there are FAR more 'eligible' social security numbers than there are citizens in the USA. This might be the biggest fraud in history." My comment adds: "imagine the ego required to claim anything you don't understand = fraud" A screenshot of an instragram chat in response to the prior image, asking, "but what is the right explanation then?"
February 19, 2025 at 2:13 AM
wtroppe.bsky.social
Strong showing in #SanFrancisco #SF today! What’s next? @50501movement.bsky.social

www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joe...
Protesters in front of San Francisco City Hall. Protest signs read “impeach.” American flags are waiving.
February 17, 2025 at 9:13 PM
wtroppe.bsky.social
@pivotpod.bsky.social
Screenshot of a Threads post. pivotpodcastofficial 2h Time for a listener question! What do you wish Democrats would do in response to the Trump administration's actions? Let us know in the replies! wtroppe 2h 1. Form a Shadow Cabinet, call it a Sunlight Cabinet. Show voters what a Dem government would look like - speeches, press releases, conferences. Flood the zone. 2. Withhold unanimous consent until decorum is restored 3. Oppose every single Trump nominee 4. Deny, delay, obstruct, oppose 5. Protest visibly, authentically. Be in the streets. Lead. 6. Leverage every communication medium available - legacy media, new media, social media
February 14, 2025 at 12:18 AM
wtroppe.bsky.social
How is your bank keeping your account secure?

Musk and his co-conspirators performed a massive heist of sensitive financial data into private hands over the weekend.

What could he, or adept adversaries, do with this information?

Banks have power. Time for them to use it!
A screenshot of a secure message sent from a person to his bank. The message reads: Hi, I'm concerned that personal routing and account numbers are now residing in insecure private servers hosted by Musk and his DOGE team, accessed via the US Treasury Dept, and whomever else successfully secures access to their servers. Can you let me know what Ally Bank is doing to keep my account secure, and also to work with other banks to apply pressure on the US government to secure my personally sensitive information? Thanks! Will
February 6, 2025 at 1:39 AM