Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Speculation, Distraction, and Smart Glasses
This week, we discuss Wikipedia's ethos and zooming in on a lot of pictures of cops' glasses.
The Abstract
Million-Year-Old Evidence of Epic Journey Near ‘Hobbit’ Island Discovered by Scientists
Stone tools found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi reveal a long-lost population of human relatives; their identity, and how they crossed the sea, is a mystery.
art
Watch This Guy’s Interactive Wooden Pixel Machine Make Art in Real Time
Kilopixel by Ben Holmen turns a CNC machine and a thousand wooden blocks into pixel art.
Podcast
Podcast: Google Is Exposing Peoples’ ChatGPT Secrets
Shared ChatGPT indexed by Google; how Wikipedia is fighting AI slop; and the history of how we got to Steam censorship.
age verification
Florida Sues Huge Porn Sites Including XVideos and Bang Bros Over Age Verification Law
The lawsuit alleges XVideos, Bang Bros, XNXX, Girls Gone Wild and TrafficFactory are in violation of Florida's law that requires adult platforms to verify visitors are over 18.
News
ICE Is About To Go on a Social Media and TV Ad Recruiting Blitz
Contracting records reviewed by 404 Media show that ICE wants to target Gen Z, including with ads on Hulu and HBO Max.
News
Wikipedia Editors Adopt ‘Speedy Deletion’ Policy for AI Slop Articles
“The ability to quickly generate a lot of bogus content is problematic if we don't have a way to delete it just as quickly.”
News
Nearly 100,000 ChatGPT Conversations Were Searchable on Google
A researcher has scraped a much larger dataset of indexed ChatGPT conversations, exposing contracts and intimate conversations.
Steam
The Anti-Porn Crusade That Censored Steam and Itch.io Started 30 Years Ago
Keywords and tags have never been a useful metric for distilling nuance. Pushing for regulations based on them is repeating a 30-year history of porn panic online.
The Abstract
Scientists Detect Unprecedented Energy ‘Tidal Wave’ from the Sun
The afterlife of Puerto Rico’s Arecibo telescope continues with the detection of a powerful “tidal wave” from the Sun.
Tesla
'Honk If You Hate Elon:' Two Days of Protest at the Tesla Diner
Protesters outside LA's Tesla Diner fear for the future of democracy in the USA
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Party Vibes and Spilling Tea
This week, we discuss meeting a bunch of you in LA, the ongoing Tea saga, and age verification sweeping the UK.
News
Steam Doesn't Think This Image Is ‘Suitable for All Ages’
The decision highlights hurdles faced by developers as they navigate a world where credit card companies dictate what is and isn't appropriate.
