News
How a 'Refund Fraud' Gang Stole $700,000 From Amazon
Court records and online research reveal how a highly professionalized industry uses malicious insiders at Walmart and fake shipping labels to get high-end items for practically free.
RAM
In Defense of RAM
Apple Silicon is not magic, and RAM still matters. On the MacBook Pro, 8 GB is not enough.
Adblock
As YouTube Declares War on Ad Blockers, Google Sponsors Ad Blocking Conference
Five Google employees recently presented at the Ad Filtering Dev Conference, highlighting the company's complicated relationship with ad blockers.
YouTube
YouTube's ‘War’ on Adblockers Shows How Google Controls the Internet
Google's anti-ad scripts are breaking browsers and privacy plugins. It could get worse because Google controls the ad market, Chrome, and the extension store.
Labor
UAW Tells Other Unions to Align Contracts to Set Up Possible National General Strike in 2028
Auto workers ask other unions in other industries to collaborate with them to "take on the billionaire class."
AI
AI Seinfeld Is Broken, Maybe Forever
Nothing, Forever is getting another round of virality as people gawk at what might be the end of the first big AI show.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: 'Transcendence,' Blogging on an iPad, and Freedom of Information
This week, we discuss what a sci-fi movie from 2014 has to say about our AI debate today, what it's like to blog on an iPad, and the importance of freedom of information laws.
Israel
Elon Musk Broke All the Tools Historians Need to Archive Tweets About Israel-Gaza War
“It’s really important for there to be a persistent, trusted archive of who said what and when for public figures, because it’s not always clear at the time what’s going to be significant.”
Lost Media
A 104-Year-Old Lost Silent Movie Has Been Found in a Basement
'Sealed Hearts' was made in 1919 and had been thought lost forever. "The film had been in the cellar for many years," a film historian said. "Exciting!"
Social media
Mastodon Is the Good One
Mastodon is interoperable, decentralized, operated by a nonprofit, lively, and, ACTUALLY, isn't hard to use. So why is everyone championing Threads as the main Twitter alternative?
News
Town Repeatedly Surveilled Man's Yard With Drone Without a Warrant
A town in Michigan hired a commercial drone company to repeatedly take photos of Todd Maxon's property. The case is now going to the Michigan Supreme Court.
News
Disgruntled Game Dev Sneaks Goatse Onto a Dozen Sites That Stole His Game
“Let this be a lesson to you: If you are using an iFrame to display a site that isn’t yours, you have no control over that content—it can change at any time. One day instead of looking into an iFrame, you might be looking at an entirely different kind of portal.”