Humane
The Humane AI Pin: A $700 Brick of E-Waste
In Loving Memory of Humane AI Pin (April 2024-Feb 2025).
Elon Musk
Musk Ally Demands Admin Access to System That Lets Government Text the Public
A worker resigned in protest rather than giving Thomas Shedd access to Notify.gov, which they said would allow him to see "all personally identifiable information moving through the Notiy system, including phone numbers," 404 Media has learned.
News
Trump Admin Adds Note Rejecting ‘Gender Ideology’ on Sites Court Ordered Them to Restore
FDA and HHS sites now note that “The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children.”
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Backdoors and the Miracle of Wikipedia
This week, we discuss Apple's iCloud, Wikipedia as a miracle of humankind, and good soup.
Waste.gov
Elon Musk's Waste.gov Is Just a WordPress Theme Placeholder Page
Musk told reporters all of DOGE's actions are "maximally transparent." The website tracking waste is currently about an imaginary architecture firm.
Podcast
Podcast: AI Is Breaking Our Brains
This week we discuss a new Microsoft study that finds using generative AI is "atrophying" people's cognition and critical thinking skills, the right's war on Wikipedia, and, in the subscriber's section, the idea of posting against fascism.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia Prepares for 'Increase in Threats' to US Editors From Musk and His Allies
The Wikimedia Foundation says it will likely roll out features previously used to protect editors in authoritarian countries more widely.
archives
Trump Fires National Archives Director Colleen Shogan
“This evening, President Trump fired me. No cause or reason was cited."
FEMA
'For Immediate Compliance': FEMA Workers Responding to Wildfires Ordered to Say 'Alien' Instead of 'Immigrant'
"This is the most 1984 email I've ever seen," one worker said.
archives
National Archives Workers Unsure If Marco Rubio Has Secretly Been Their Boss for Weeks
The current Archivist of the United States held an all-hands this week in which she still seemed to be in charge, 404 Media has learned.
DOGE
DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA
Employees at Elon Musk's agency have been told "OMB is asking us to stop generating new slack messages starting now."