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.
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.”
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Silent Retreat
This week, we discuss going into the woods, a "he admit it" moment, and a tofu sandwich.
AI
Google Earth’s New AI Lets Anyone Fabricate Completely Bullshit Satellite Images
"Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam."
asmr
YouTube Bans Popular ASMR Artists, Accusing Them of Making 'Sexually Gratifying' Content
YouTube told ASMR artists including Bunnii, Slight Sounds, Rose, and others that their content broke the platform's sex and nudity policy. Creators say these bans are unfair and potentially life-altering.
Impact
Company Offering Printed Books to Train AI Stops After 404 Media Coverage
Citing backlash, ISBNdb removed its webpages about training AI, denied ever buying, scanning, or selling a book for AI training, and said the site was a "test of market interest."
The Abstract
A Hidden 'Dark Dimension' Could Rewrite Our Understanding of the Universe
The nature of dark matter and dark energy are among the biggest mysteries in science. Scientists think an extra “dark dimension” could explain both, and they are putting the idea to the test.