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.
365 posts
Behind the Blog: Trolling on the Internet
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Trolling on the Internet

This week, we discuss getting back on our AI slop bullshit, deepfakes in schools, and epistemic virtues.
Major Porn Studios Join Forces to Establish Industry ‘Code of Conduct’
porn

Major Porn Studios Join Forces to Establish Industry ‘Code of Conduct’

The newly-formed, first of its kind Adult Studio Alliance is founded by major porn companies including Aylo, Dorcel, ERIKALUST, Gamma Entertainment, Mile High Media and Ricky’s Room, and establishes a code of conduct for studios.
Visualize All 23 Years of BYTE Magazine in All Its Glory, All at Once
archives

Visualize All 23 Years of BYTE Magazine in All Its Glory, All at Once

Software engineer Hector Dearman built a zoomable map of every issue of BYTE magazine.
Danish Redditor Charged for Posting Nude Scenes from Films
Reddit

Danish Redditor Charged for Posting Nude Scenes from Films

A man running a Danish copycat of the r/WatchItForThePlot subreddit was assured of posting no less than 347 nude scenes from films, and downloading over 25 terabytes of data from copyrighted works.
Podcast: A Massive Archiving Effort at National Parks (with Jenny McBurney and Lynda Kellam)
Podcast

Podcast: A Massive Archiving Effort at National Parks (with Jenny McBurney and Lynda Kellam)

This week we have a conversation between Sam and two of the leaders of the independent volunteer archiving project Save Our Signs, an effort to archive national park signs and monument placards.
Behind the Blog: Paywall Jumping and Smart Glasses
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Paywall Jumping and Smart Glasses

This week, we discuss archiving to get around paywalls, hating on smart glasses, and more.
Automattic Inc. Claims It Owns the Word 'Automatic'
wordpress

Automattic Inc. Claims It Owns the Word 'Automatic'

Automattic, the company that owns Wordpress.com, is asking Automatic.CSS to rebrand.
Behind the Blog: Making Things for Humans
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Making Things for Humans

This week, we discuss Pavlovian Chartbeat response, when to say "cum," and the wave of making things for humans, by humans.
New Research Shows Deepfake Harassment Tools Spread on Social Media and Search Engines
Deepfakes

New Research Shows Deepfake Harassment Tools Spread on Social Media and Search Engines

An analysis of how tools to make non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes spread online, from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, shows X and search engines surface these sites easily.
OpenAI Catches Up to AI Market Reality: People Are Horny
OpenAI

OpenAI Catches Up to AI Market Reality: People Are Horny

Just two months ago, Sam Altman acknowledged that putting a “sex bot avatar” in ChatGPT would be a move to “juice growth.” Something the company had been tempted to do, he said, but had resisted. 
News Outlets Won't Describe Trump's AI Video For What It Is: The President Pooping on America
Trump

News Outlets Won't Describe Trump's AI Video For What It Is: The President Pooping on America

Major outlets said the President dumped "brown liquid" that "appeared to be feces" in an AI-generated video. They refused to call a spade a spade, or poop, poop.
Behind the Blog: Engaging the Public
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Engaging the Public

This week, we discuss crowdsourced resistance and a big government data dump.