Samantha Cole

Samantha Cole

Sam Cole is writing from the far reaches of the internet, about sexuality, the adult industry, online culture, and AI. She's the author of How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex.
275 posts
Behind the Blog: Feeling Smart Along the Way
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Feeling Smart Along the Way

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss cheating in job interviews, "scary good" surveillance tech, and prudes in payment processing.
This Website Is Running on a Wii
hardware

This Website Is Running on a Wii

Alex Haydock found a dusty old Wii console at a hardware swap and modded it to run his website.
How 404 Media Is Navigating 'Economic Headwinds'
PSA

How 404 Media Is Navigating 'Economic Headwinds'

The economy is bad. Here's how we're doing, and how you can help us.
Behind the Blog: Chat, Are We Cooked?
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Chat, Are We Cooked?

This week, we discuss Palantir scoops, coping mechanisms, and feeling God in this Samsung television.
AI Slop Is Breaking the Internet as We Know It (404 Media Live at SXSW)
podcasts

AI Slop Is Breaking the Internet as We Know It (404 Media Live at SXSW)

Here's our live panel and podcast from SXSW!
Following Layoffs, Automattic Employees Discover Leak-Catching Watermarks
wordpress

Following Layoffs, Automattic Employees Discover Leak-Catching Watermarks

The watermarks, which could identify people leaking screenshots to the press, are in the background of internal communications platform P2.
I Went to See ‘God’s Influencer,’ the Millennial Saint Carlo Acutis
influencers

I Went to See ‘God’s Influencer,’ the Millennial Saint Carlo Acutis

Carlo loved Halo and programming, but he loved God more. I went to see him, lying under glass in his Nikes for eternity, at a church in Assisi.  
Behind the Blog: The Economy, Robot Umpires, and Monsters
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: The Economy, Robot Umpires, and Monsters

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together.
Another Masterful Gambit: DOGE Moves From Secure, Reliable Tape Archives to Hackable Digital Records
News

Another Masterful Gambit: DOGE Moves From Secure, Reliable Tape Archives to Hackable Digital Records

DOGE claimed it saved "$1M per year" by converting 14,000 magnetic tapes to digital storage.
Behind the Blog: Ancient Civilizations and Modern-Day Driving
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Ancient Civilizations and Modern-Day Driving

This week, we discuss learning from civilizations past and learning to drive.
Massive, Unarchivable Datasets of Cancer, Covid, and Alzheimer's Research Could Be Lost Forever

Massive, Unarchivable Datasets of Cancer, Covid, and Alzheimer's Research Could Be Lost Forever

Days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that 10,000 HHS staffers would lose their jobs, a message appeared on NIH research repository sites saying they were "under review."
'I Want to Make You Immortal:' How One Woman Confronted Her Deepfakes Harasser
Deepfakes

'I Want to Make You Immortal:' How One Woman Confronted Her Deepfakes Harasser

“After discovering this content, I’m not going to lie… there are times it made me not want to be around any more either,” she said. “I literally felt buried.”