Flock
Cities Are Ditching Flock, Immediately Replacing It With Axon License Plate Readers
Rather than get rid of ALPR cameras entirely, many cities and towns are switching to Axon, whose cameras can be mounted to an existing streetlamp, helping them blend into their surroundings.
The Abstract
Scientists Designed a Virtual Alien Lifeform to Hunt for Extraterrestrials
A model of a microbe cell revealed that methane-producing organisms could potentially emerge on a wide variety of exoplanets, which can inform the search for extraterrestrial life.
Flock
Cities Are Ditching Flock, Immediately Replacing It With Axon License Plate Readers
Rather than get rid of ALPR cameras entirely, many cities and towns are switching to Axon, whose cameras can be mounted to an existing streetlamp, helping them blend into their surroundings.
Flock
Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed
"The vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source state for marijuana as it is legal there," a probable cause justification reads.
Podcast
Podcast: This Man Might Go to Prison for Wiping His Phone
The case of Samuel Tunick allegedly wiping a phone before DHS could search it; inside an AI-powered TIkTok Shop; and Google Earth's dumb AI tool.
Apple
Apple's ‘Private Relay’ Is Exposing Users’ Real IP Addresses
Researchers found a group of issues that mean Private Relay isn't actually protecting users' real IP addresses. 404 Media verified the issues do expose IP addresses.
age verification
The SCREEN Act is a Christian Nationalist Nightmare
Mike Lee's SCREEN Act, which heads to Senate Commerce Committee for markup on Wednesday, would expand age verification requirements to a nearly limitless scope of websites, and is supported by the architects of Project 2025.
AI
Microsoft Tells Engineers ‘Tokenmaxxing Is Not What We Are Optimizing For’
Microsoft is introducing budget limits for AI use but says it still wants to be an ‘AI-first’ company.
Flock
‘DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of Flock
“DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT."
Privacy
The SEC Bought Airline Data to Monitor Flights Worldwide
The SEC bought access to worldwide airline ticketing records. Airlines including Delta, United, and American sold the data.
Flock
‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech
"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of concerned citizens."
Flock
Why a Flock Worker Quit: ‘They Lied’
Jonathan Paz’s job was to convince cities to buy Flock cameras. After initially being enthusiastic about the company, he started to get disillusioned.
The Abstract
We Need to Quarantine Aliens on the Moon, Scientists Propose
Researchers argue that a lunar biocontainment facility for extraterrestrial samples could prevent “the potential ecological devastation of an invasive extraterrestrial organism.”