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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 13 2018, @11:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the reality,-virtually dept.

Ex-Facebook exec ousted from company sparked controversy with pro-Trump views: report

A former top executive at Facebook who was ousted from the company may have been fired over his support for Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported Sunday that Palmer Luckey has recently told people that he was fired for supporting Trump before that year's presidential election. Luckey's donation in September 2016 to NimbleAmerica, a group that funded ads attacking Hillary Clinton, reportedly sparked backlash within Facebook.

Six months after making that donation, Luckey was no longer at the company. The Journal noted that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of Congress this year that Luckey's departure had nothing to do with his political beliefs.

According to the Journal, Luckey was first put on leave and later fired. In the fall of 2016, Zuckerberg pressured Luckey to voice support publicly for Gary Johnson, the libertarian nominee in that year's election, the Journal reported, citing internal emails and sources familiar with the conversations.

"Zuckerberg lied to Congress" could become a bipartisan statement.

Palmer Luckey.

Also at NBC.

Previously: Founder of Oculus VR, Palmer Luckey, Departs Facebook
Oculus Co-Founder Pitches Virtual Border Wall

Related: Oculus VR Founder Palmer Luckey on the Need for "Unlimited Graphics Horsepower"
Facebook/Oculus Ordered to pay $500 Million to ZeniMax
Palmer Luckey Donates to CrossVR Patreon
Oculus Co-Founder Brendan Iribe Leaves Facebook


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  • (Score: 2) by crafoo on Wednesday November 14 2018, @02:15AM (5 children)

    by crafoo (6639) on Wednesday November 14 2018, @02:15AM (#761548)

    The whole situation bums me out. The Oculus Rift is cool technology and so much better than the much more expensive headsets that came before it (Sony, etc.) All the old stuff felt like looking through toilet paper tubes. I got a DK1 and later a DK2. Oculus gave me a production Rift for free for being one of the original backers.
    As the Oculus library software evolved though I felt they made many bad choices, and it was obvious they were heading towards the black box mentality and shoving in network code for future required network connections and online storefront stuff. It was still very fun writing some basic demos and exploring the hardware, even on the DK1.
    When the sold the facebook it was an obvious cashout and the end of the line for the hardware. Certainly it doomed any hope of an open and documented hardware system. After that I didn't really care what happened.
    In general though I'm all for holding him accountable. Although, all anyone was talking about was his donations and political beliefs during that 6 months. To say it was irrelevant to what happened seems somewhat disingenuous.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 14 2018, @02:46AM (4 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday November 14 2018, @02:46AM (#761567) Journal

    There are plenty of competitors and much better hardware coming out down the line (better resolution, wider field of view, foveated rendering, etc.).

    The important part is the content. If Faceboculus grows the VR market with Go/Quest and encourages the creation of a lot of content, and most of that content can be played/viewed on other devices, then it is a good thing.

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    • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Wednesday November 14 2018, @03:48AM (3 children)

      by deimtee (3272) on Wednesday November 14 2018, @03:48AM (#761585) Journal

      I want one that has two cameras placed directly in front of your eyes, as close as the hardware allows, that just pump video straight in with minimum lag and maximum field of view. The video screens should have a maximum brightness that is incapable of hurting your eyes, and the cameras should be able to tolerate up to arc welding levels of light input. Bonus points for including focus adjustments so that you don't need prescription glasses, and magnification modes for fine work.
      Would make welding easier, and playing with lasers much safer.

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      • (Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday November 14 2018, @04:26AM (2 children)

        by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 14 2018, @04:26AM (#761598)
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        • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Wednesday November 14 2018, @05:29AM (1 child)

          by deimtee (3272) on Wednesday November 14 2018, @05:29AM (#761615) Journal

          The hardware is getting there, but that isn't quite what I want. Probably something designed for augmented reality rather than VR. I want a high res high frame rate view of reality, with enhancements like eye protection and magnification. Wider spectrum, colour enhancing, and IR options would be nice too.
          Data overlays/modifications on real video, not a reimaging of a computer model, even if it is generated from the cameras. I want to operate in the real world with eye protection and extra data. Hmm. Thinking about enhancements, I wonder how tough it would be to do sonar with one of these.

          And so we are not completely off-topic, Fuck Zuckerberg. If he lied to Congress, chuck him in prison for perjury.

          --
          If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday November 15 2018, @06:12PM

            by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 15 2018, @06:12PM (#762268) Journal

            Yes, I would love some sci-fi goggles too, please. Preferably ones that are nicer than my prescription glasses and will stop me from having to get new prescription glasses every couple of years.

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