Ron DeSantis’s long-anticipated 2024 campaign bid for the White House on Twitter Spaces was marred by a host of glitches that gave his political rivals enough ammunition to mock the Florida governor. Long silences and persistent echoes marred Mr DeSantis’s Wednesday announcement that he made on Twitter’s audio group-chat feature with billionaire Elon Musk who has long boasted about several overhauls to the social media platform to make it better than it was under previous leadership. The Twitter feature is a way in which users can gather in a “space” and have live audio conversations, with anyone in a space being allowed to “join, listen, and speak”, as per the website. At one point of time, the controversial Republican governor himself disappeared from the audio-only livestream. The Twitter app repeatedly crashed for users who tuned in for the announcement. Tech investor David Sacks, who was roped in to introduce the event, reportedly remarked that “the servers are melting”. When the former military officer-turned-politician finally managed to speak – about 20 minutes after the scheduled start – Mr Musk shut the initial Spaces event and started a new one. “That was insane, sorry,” said the Tesla billionaire. The buggy start to Mr DeSantis’s bid for the top job was dismissed by several Twitter users as a “disaster”. “Great start to his campaign!” said one sarcastic tweet. The second Spaces event kickstarted by Mr Musk, where Mr DeSantis read a short speech, seems to have attracted about 161,000 users, Twitter’s public-facing data revealed. Mr Sacks, however, claimed the number of attendees was one of the platform’s largest. He claimed that the glitches were an indication of people flooding Twitter, eager for Mr DeSantis’s entry into the presidential race. “We got so many people here that we are kind of melting the servers, which is a good sign,” Mr Sacks said in the first livestream. But this assessment was met with derision by former Twitter employee Earnest Wilkins, who helped produce the Twitter’s Spaces feature. “Lol this isn’t in the top 150 spaces by size in the history of the product,” he tweeted. Mr Sacks’s claim was also mocked by Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said her non-campaign-related Twitch stream of her playing Among Us in 2020 attracted more people. “There was so much enthusiasm for Governor DeSantis’ vision for our Great American Comeback that he literally busted up the internet,” tweeted Mr DeSantis’s press secretary, adding that the event raised “$1 million” for the the campaign in one hour. The Wednesday event, according to many users on the platform, is a reflection of how Twitter under Mr Musk is far from operating smoothly. “Holy f***ing shit, Ron DeSantis’s campaign launch crashed and burned faster than a Tesla,” said one tweet. Since the Tesla titan laid off nearly three-fourths of Twitter’s workforce after taking over the social media company, the platform has been mired with technical issues. Users have faced frequent outages and bugs that have surfaced frequently and inconvenienced them. Several users earlier this week flagged a bug that caused some of their deleted tweets from the past to resurface on their timelines and, weeks before that, many were unable to tweet with the platform mistakenly stating they went over “the daily limit for sending tweets”. In March, many users also reported problems with posting images and sharing external links, with the Tesla chief himself noting that the platform “is so brittle”. The embarrassing tech glitches in Mr Musk’s platform were mocked by Mr DeSantis’s rivals on both sides of the political spectrum. They have also likely become a source of embarrassment for the Tesla chief, who had previously proclaimed that he prefers “to stay out of politics”. Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner for president, gleefully dubbed the event Mr DeSantis’s “failure to launch”. Joe Biden’s official Twitter account also jumped in and tweeted a link to Mr Biden’s own fundraising page, saying, “This link works”. Mr DeSantis’s campaign launch was widely anticipated, with many Republicans viewing him as a contender against Mr Trump. His controversial policies as Florida governor, including moves to restrict transgender and abortion rights, and backing a law that restricts classroom instruction on race and racism, led to him amassing a following in the American far right. The NAACP and Equality Florida have issued travel advisories to the state, warning that it is no longer safe for Black people or for those from the LGBT+ community. Read More Ron DeSantis news – live: Elon Musk’s Twitter Spaces crashes ruining Florida governor’s 2024 campaign launch Trump and DeSantis' rivalry intensifies as Florida governor formally enters 2024 presidential race Elon Musk complains about David Duke comparison during disastrous DeSantis 2024 launch event Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

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It’s been 10 years since Jeffrey Bush disappeared in his own home, and no trace of him has ever been found. The 37-year-old was asleep in bed at his home in Seffner, Florida, when the ground caved in around him, swallowing him into a massive sinkhole. On the night of February 28, 2013, his brother Jeremy heard a loud crash and ran into Jeffrey’s room only to find a vast crater in place of his sibling’s bed. Jeremy jumped into the hole in a desperate bid to rescue his brother but was swiftly pulled to safety as the ground around him continued to cave in. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," he told The Guardian at the time. "But I just couldn't do nothing. "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him." Within minutes, local law enforcement had arrived and engineers lowered a microphone into the pit to try to pick up signs of Jeffrey. However, a second collapse sucked the equipment down into the sinkhole and the property was deemed too dangerous for rescue or recovery. Video released of Seffner sinkhole that claimed life of Jeff Bush youtu.be The house was subsequently fenced off and eventually demolished, with the gaping 20ft-wide cavity filled in with gravel. But then, more than two years later, on August 19, 2015, the hole reopened. Specialists at the time pointed out that it was very rare to see such a phenomenon reemerge in the exact same spot. Florida is particularly susceptible to sinkholes as it is home to a high number of underground caverns which are made up of limestone, a rock which easily dissolves in water. In fact, they’re so common, that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. And, indeed, someone had visited the Stevens’ home just weeks before the tragedy to check for sinkholes and other risks on the property, apparently for insurance purposes. "[The inspector] said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing,” Jeremy told The Guardian. “And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole.” So what happened to Jeffrey’s body? Well, Philip van Beynen, a University of South Florida environmental scientist, concluded that it had most likely dropped into a 60ft-tall water-filled void between the sinkhole and the lower bedrock. The body would have sunk much deeper than the gravel pit seen from the street, van Beynen told USA Today. He stressed that any attempt to retrieve it would have been unwise, if not impossible, as the ground around the hole could have collapsed as well. "It would be extraordinarily difficult and incredibly expensive," he noted. Still, that’s little comfort to the Stevens’ who never got to bury their loved-one or, even, to properly say goodbye. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The crypto-mining company formerly known as Hive Blockchain Technologies is pivoting to artificial intelligence and web3, and has

There's nothing better than a hot bath to warm up and unwind on a chilly winter evening - but water bills don’t come cheap, so it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re making the most of your time in the tub. So how long should we be spending in the bath? Well, a recent study has uncovered that 22 minutes is the optimum length of time to spend in the bath. The study conducted by Victorian Plumbing sought to discover ULTIMATE bath time for relaxation, hydration and a good night’s sleep. There were 20 participants involved in the experiment - half male and half female - who took baths of varying lengths and rated how they felt afterward based on a number of factors. The study concluded that 22 minutes is the optimum amount of time to spend in the tub - to feel relaxed, hydrated, and sleep well after. Soaking should stop at 27 minutes if you don’t want to stay feeling hydrated post-bath, according to the study. This supports the advice of some professionals, who suggest that baths should be no longer than 30 minutes. It was also uncovered that baths impact men and women slightly differently. Women have a better night’s sleep after a longer bath, ideally, 30 minutes long, whereas men sleep better after 19 minutes. Those who felt more relaxed after the baths had scrolled on their phone during their time in the tub, whereas those who watched TV were found to be the least. Sorry to burst your bubble bath lovers, but the findings also suggest that people who take more baths are generally more stressed - although they find them more relaxing than shower- on the whole. “When the nights start getting colder in the UK, we tend to see an increase in Brits looking to buy a bath. And who can blame them? There are a number of benefits of a bath; they’re soothing, and cleansing and studies have even suggested that there are similar benefits to exercise," Brenna Ryan from Victorian Plumbing said about the study's findings. “To help you get the most out of your bath, we conducted a study which found that the optimum time to spend in the tub is 22 minutes - to leave you feeling relaxed, hydrated and sleep like a baby.” How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.