In the aftermath of Twitter being rechristened to X, the letter or symbol X can now boast of a new nonmathematical meaning.
The Lawsuit of the Century
Would the world soon be witnessing the legal case of the year: X vs. Math Educators? Or Musk vs. Math?
What on earth is behind the choice of the letter or symbol or logo X to rebrand a once-beloved app, whose shelf life now looks shaky, to say the least?
The X of Singapore Math Publishing
Earlier, I’d x-ed (or “tweeted”) tongue-in-cheek that
“Changing Twitter’s iconic bird logo to a white “X” hoping to launch a "super app" is like Singapore math editors—who’re responsible for their publishers’ MOE-rejected titles—rationalizing that by joining a competitor, their odds of approval would be higher.”
Most mediocre math editors are often deluded into thinking that their new higher position or pay in another publishing house would magically make them a better “word doctor,” thus increasing the chances of their manuscripts getting approved by the Ministry of Education.
Twitterdamus: The Fall of Twitter
Late last year, when the founder of SpaceX started downsizing Twitter’s workforce, the temptation to coin Twitterdamus was just too strong.
Threat from Threads
Below are some tweets I recently posted related to the privacy or security of our personal data.
Your metadata has now a choice. Who’s your less trusted or beloved billionaire? [Cartoon from FRusty.creates]
Threads’s Threat: Is the Threads app an Alibaba version of Twitter? Sounds like the social media equivalent of Trump’s frivolous lawsuits against those who expose him! Why isn’t Twitter also suing Weibo—China’s copycat?
When Free is often costly: If the product or service is free, you are the product. Think of Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, which have sold or resold your personal data multiple times for billions.
A prayer for millions of anti-𝕏 followers who sorely miss the little blue bird: Let 𝕏 Be Twitter Again!
© Yan Kow Cheong, July 27, 2023.
