ICE Appears to Be Buying Immigrants’ Tax Identifiers from a Data Broker
A $10 million procurement reviewed by 404 Media indicates ICE is buying records related to immigrants’ tax identifiers. “It looks for all the world like Trump is trying to skirt…
The OPSEC Rave Wave (with Imani Thompson)
We get into how platforms have tried to make surveillance cute, why that damn Duolingo owl emotionally manipulates you, and why learning about privacy best practices when…
Hackers Are Hijacking Entire Roblox Games Now
Whereas Roblox hackers were previously focused on stealing players' high value items, some have taken over entire Roblox games, stealing their ownership and Robux in the process.
It Is Trivially Easy to Use Reddit to Manipulate AI Search, Research Suggests
"We show that a tiny snippet—just 13 words—of retrieved text on a UGC website like Reddit, Wikipedia, Quora, or Facebook can change AI agents to output spam / scam content pretty…
Scientists Discover Vast Ancient ‘Necropolis’ Teeming With Strange New Creatures
A massive whale graveyard in the Indian Ocean contains the remains of hundreds of extinct whales dating back more than five million years, along with recent carcasses that support…
Disclosure Day's Delusion Is That People Would Think Alien Videos Are Not AI
The only plausible response to videos of aliens on television, at this point, would be cries of “that’s AI,” “fake,” and propaganda flowing in all directions.
Judge Rules Blacked.com Can Sue Meta for Scraping Its Porn
The judge found that Meta’s attempt to blame the pirating of thousands of Vixen.com and Tushy.com porn videos on rogue employees “strains credulity.”
‘You Will Not Speak on Flock Tonight’: County Commissioner Refuses to Let Residents Opposing Flock Speak at Meeting
"I’ve spoken. I’m not debating this."
Amazon Data Centers In Mississippi Have Already Raised Electricity Rates for Local Customers, Report Suggests
Three Amazon data centers aren't even open yet, but local residents are already paying at least $10.60 extra per month for them, according to a new study.
Behind the Blog: World Cup Madness and Film Reviews
This week, we discuss Trump fucking up the World Cup, some thoughts on ICE coverage, and movies.
Software Update Automatically Turns off Amazon Delivery Drivers’ AC During Dangerous Summer Heat
A new software update is turning off the AC in Amazon delivery vans after 10 minutes or 30 seconds under certain conditions.
Flock Leaked Cops’ License Plate Searches via DuckDuckGo, Bing
Flock, the automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company, exposed some of the license plate cops were looking for and the reason for doing so.
Scientists Just Accidentally Discovered a Strange, Hidden Rule of Human Nature
Researchers report a "serendipitous" discovery while watching videos of crowds: an inexplicable bias toward counterclockwise turning that may be rooted in biology.
FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs
The FCC wants to legally force telecoms to collect new and renewing customers’ government issued identity number and physical address, impacting everyone from the…
Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People
There have been more than a dozen cases around the country where police use Flock to obsessively and illegally stalk people.
Chatbots Keep Telling Stories About Lighthouse Keeper 'Elias Thorne'. We Might Know Why
LLMs including ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude are obsessed with telling stories about lighthouse keepers and clockmakers, and one character named 'Elias Thorne' has made his way from…
Hackers Publish Knicks and Madison Square Garden Data Online
The data contains a list of "talent," including former Knicks players and coaches, and whether other celebrities are considered "Low Risk" or "High Risk." The data also contains…
Podcast: The Government Wants to End Anonymity on Phones
The FCC's proposed changes to getting a phone plan; cops keep stalking with Flock; and a software update changes the AC in Amazon vans.
Podcast: Google Employees Meme About How Bad Their AI Is
Memes at Google; Microsoft wants to make its new AI assistant addictive; and manipulating Reddit.