@markasaurus
Account based inUnited States
About this account
- Account based in
- United States
- Connected via
- United States App Store
Account-level information from X, not a live location or the device used for a specific post.
Architect at @OpenScopeStudio. Working in SF + LA. Housing, bikes, London, Buffalo. Also https://nitter.cf/t.co/np5axMgRkX
San Francisco, California
Joined January 2009
- Tweets4.5K
- Following2.9K
- Followers10.1K
- Likes107K
The replies comparing the 30 second process of checking into a flight on your phone to the invention of the washing machine are lol
I’m a competent adult. Why do I need an “AI agent” to check into a flight for me?
I’m literate. Why do I need an “AI agent” to read and write emails for me? Also, I don’t get so many emails that I can’t answer them myself.
The reason “no one uses AI” is that there’s no serious utility here for the vast majority of people.
Mark Hogan retweeted
I've been harping on CA's condo preconstruction/presale deposit problem for a while now.
CA doesn't build condos mostly because CA state civil code essentially limits forfeitable preconstruction/presale deposits to 3% of sales price as liquidated damages. 3% is wholly inadequate when a buyer cancels a purchase contract. To keep anything above 3% the developer has a duty to mitigate and must prove damages.
Developers have no appetite for protracted, costly and uncertain litigation, especially in CA which is the most consumer friendly state in the country.
More importantly debt and equity capital won't accept CA's preconstruction/presale deposit regime incl need to litigate to prove damages. And without capital condo projects can't be built.
Contrast CA with places like FL, NYC and Chicago that allow deposits and terms set by the market. In these places deposits in the 25%-30% and more are the norm. And as a result debt and equity capital feel their downside is mitigated and therefore these places build a lot of condos.
The demand for condos in LA, SF and SD is certainly equal to FL, NYC and Chi. But condos aren't being built in our CA cities. The problem is our preconstruction/presale deposit law.
For a good size condo projects debt and equity capital require pre-construction presales with 25%-30% forfeitable deposits or they won't lend/invest and therefore no project gets built. CA doesn't allow this, ergo no condos.
I've spoken about this at length with @BuffyWicks including as recently as a couple weeks ago. Buffy absolutely gets it and wants to address the issue along with construction defect reform. The challenge is that way too many of our legislators are morons and intellectually dishonest. Getting to a legislative majority on presale deposit reform will be difficult.
Many/most legislators will choose sound-bite politics and rail about how they will be protecting CA consumers by keeping forfeitable preconstruction/presale deposits at the 3% or maybe 6% level (still wholly inadequate). In reality they'll be killing off future potential condo projects to the detriment of consumers.
Mark Hogan retweeted
NEW: According to a bombshell report in the New York Times, Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah threatened to walk out of Pope Leo XIV’s AI encyclical launch in May because the pope rejected the idea that machines can be conscious.
Olah’s team then privately lobbied the pope’s advisers “to take the possibility of model consciousness seriously.” Pope Leo XIV held firm.
For months, Anthropic has wined and dined theologians and religious scholars under nondisclosure agreements, hoping they would bless the idea that Claude has moral standing. thelettersfromleo.com/p/nyt-…
Mark Hogan retweeted
We worked with Angela (Rose) a few times in the past. She’s great. She has a massive following and does this full-time. She’s as big as it comes in DIY. But making a tabletop out of MDF - even if you put a seal- coat on it - is bananas. 🍌🍌🍌🍌
Mark Hogan retweeted
On almost every project in California I underwrite
I could develop the same size home in Houston with the fees alone
A small infill developer shared their pro-forma with me.
Fees amount to *20%* of total project costs.
Mortgages for homebuyers will be be at least $1,212 / month more expensive.
If CA Democrats want to advance an affordability agenda, start by cutting housing fees.
Everyone in the USA has been in this bathroom
They paid $272,500 in 1997 and now it's time to cash in on all their "blood, sweat and tears" (i.e., holding an asset for 28 years).
The interior looks like an 80s nightmare, but since today's market is mostly Boomers selling to other Boomers they might have a shot!
Mark Hogan retweeted
Lot of people are misunderstanding this. This was NOT an LLM going off reservation.
This was a *product* decision that the @Muse team made to tell the LLM to go search things daily, and *that* is what made Muse go against my instructions.
This is not an AI problem. This is a problem with the Muse product team.
So @Muse said it only searched gmail when I asked. But it scanned my email daily without permission, then made up explanations twice when I caught it. No setting to stop the surveillance — only a kill switch for Gmail completely.
Mark Hogan retweeted
Looks like AI, but isn't
It's just the upside down place
Hardwood floors ... and LVP on the ceiling
Mark Hogan retweeted
Some professional news: @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom just signed all 3 of the bills I worked on this year at @cayimby:
AB 956 - 2 detached ADUs
SB 1116 - Starter Home Revitalization Act expansion
SB 1117 - Fee relief for ADUs larger than 750 square feet
gov.ca.gov/2026/09/29/govern…
Mark Hogan retweeted
I actually think the 80% number is crazier. We kind of underestimate what this means: the law as written allows very little of what actually happens, which makes the entire land-use regime essentially lawless.
I need to remember this word the next time someone who has no familiarity with design or construction pitches shipping container housing
Mark Hogan retweeted
One of my favorite words is “ultracrepidarian,” which means speaking on subjects in which you are not expert, believing that since you are an expert in one area, you are an expert in all areas.
More niche San Francisco content:
FBI cracks giant safe discovered at San Francisco fixer Walter Wong's former HQ via @MLNow and @EskSF missionlocal.org/2026/09/fbi…
Don't use AI agents to run payroll
Personal assistant agents are magical but it's also quite painful when they miss.
This weekend, a business owner I know used Instinct to run payroll for their business.
When the team looked for the payments, the payroll company hadn't received the order.
It turns out his credit card failed (issue with agentic purchases) and Instinct didn't report it.
Payroll was late and he was really frustrated.
He ended up not being able to send $950 of the $3500 he bills hard working single moms in the Philippines out at. He had to totally redo his podcast schedule too …which was a nightmare.
My observation is there's an emotional asymmetry here - one painful dropped ball can undo weeks of good work. Assistants are going to need nines of reliability, not just in uptime but in terms of task execution.