Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Company Comments and a Party Recap
This week, we discuss companies' responses to being monitored by an ICE contractor, caring about the little things, weight loss drug ads, and how our SXSW shindig went.
Surveillance
The Open Source Project DeFlock Is Mapping License Plate Surveillance Cameras All Over the World
DeFlock has mapped the locations of more than a thousand ALPRs around the United States and thousands more around the world.
The Abstract
This Black Hole Is Eating So Much Matter that It Defies Known Science
May I present: a hungry singularity, movie brains, Pompeii bling, and elephant showers.
News
Apple Quietly Introduced iPhone Reboot Code Which is Locking Out Cops
On Thursday 404 Media reported that police were freaking out about mysteriously rebooting iPhones. Now multiple experts have found that Apple introduced code that reboots locked phones after a period of time.
News
Nintendo Sues Streamer of Emulated, Pre-Released Games
The streamer, who opened new channels when Nintendo shut them down, said he “can do this all day.”
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: iPhone Mysteries and Sex Strikes
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 talk about the question "are people nutting to that?", doomscrolling on election night, and calls for Lysistrata 2024.
Donald Trump
Why the Work Still Matters
When Donald Trump won in 2016, we weren't sure if good journalism mattered anymore. Now, we're more sure than ever it does.
TikTok
South Korea's ‘4B’ Movement Goes Viral in US After Trump Elected
No heterosexual marriage, childbirth, dating, or sex with men
News
Police Freak Out at iPhones Mysteriously Rebooting Themselves, Locking Cops Out
Law enforcement believe the activity, which makes it harder to then unlock the phones, may be due to a potential update in iOS 18 which tells nearby iPhones to reboot if they have not been in contact with a cellular network for some time, according to a document obtained by 404 Media.
News
Reddit’s ‘Interesting as Fuck’ Community Rules That AI-Generated Video Is Not Interesting
An AI-generated video of a cute parrot got thousands of upvotes before moderators removed it and locked the thread.
News
Vincent Ramos, CEO of Encrypted Phone Company That Sold to Sinaloa Cartel, Freed From Prison
Phantom Secure started legitimate before turning into a tech company for organized crime. Its owner, Vincent Ramos, is now out of prison.
News
Voted in America? This Site Doxed You
Voting rolls are technically public records but can be laborious to get hold of. A right-wing site weaponizes that information by allowing anyone, anywhere, to search for a voter’s physical address and party affiliation.
News
'Scared the Life Out of Me': Here Are the FCC Complaints After Texas 'Blue Alert' Blast
After getting hit with a 4 a.m. emergency alert about a shooting hundreds of miles away from where they were sleeping, a lot of Texans were very pissed.