If it can conceivably be considered a “third party record,” the government is going to seek warrantless access to it. The Third Party Doctrine — ushered into existence by the Supreme Court in 1979 — says there’s no expectation of privacy in information shared with third parties. That case dealt with phone records. People may […]
ByteBoi is an open-source retro game console that you can assemble and code yourself. It can be coded in Make Code Arcade – an awesome online coding interface with a bunch of examples and tutorials. You can even use your ByteBoi for remote controlling your Wheelson because of the built-in Wi-Fi chipset. Build your own […]
We knew that Elon Musk had driven away tons of top advertisers, which is kind of a big deal, as the company has been desperate for revenue, if only to cover the interest payments Elon loaded the company with by using a $13 billion loan as part of his $44 billion purchase. Elon keeps talking […]
Apple has never looked too kindly upon users actually repairing their own devices. The company’s ham-fisted efforts to shut down, sue, or otherwise imperil third-party repair shops are legendary. As are the company’s efforts to force recycling shops to shred Apple products (so they can’t be refurbished and re-used). That’s before you get to Apple’s often comical attacks on […]
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is PaulT with a comment about just one of the many problematic details about the DoNotPay “AI lawyer”: “Josh added a clause to the TOS prohibiting users from testing the website prior to using it in a live dispute.” Because if there’s anything a software […]
Five Years Ago This week in 2018, the FCC was backing off its plans to weaken the definition of broadband, but still couldn’t admit that limited competition is a problem, and was apparently hoping that some phony dedication to rural broadband would distract people from how it just killed net neutrality. The State of Montana […]
You will recall that we spent a great deal of words and posts in 2021 discussing the problems Twitch created for itself by deciding to suddenly change the way it enforces copyright infringement claims for its streaming community, mostly without informing that community of those changes and remaining extremely opaque and vague about the standards […]
Well, a lot has happened since I first started looking into the “World’s First Robot Lawyer,” from DoNotPay. First, Joshua Browder, DoNotPay’s CEO, reached out to me via direct message (DM) and told me he would get me access to my documents by 2 PM the next day – Tuesday, January 24th – saying that […]
About a half-decade ago, major social media companies finally did something to prevent their platforms from being used to engage in mass surveillance. Prompted by revelations in public records, Twitter and Facebook began cutting off API access to certain data scrapers that sold their services to government agencies. Twitter blocked both Dataminr and Geofeedia from […]
It’s impossible to be the “aggressor” of the free world. Those words just don’t make sense together. “Defender of the free world,” maybe. If you’re going on the offensive, it seems unlikely you’re there to protect anyone’s freedoms. But that appears to be where America is heading: the aggressor that somehow protects rights and freedoms […]
We’ve explained how telecom and media giants have pulled out all the stops trying to block Gigi Sohn from being seated at the FCC. That has involved a sleazy smear campaign, seeded in the press by non-profits linked to companies like News Corporation, AT&T, and Comcast, falsely accusing Sohn of being a radical extremist who […]
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There have been a whole bunch of antitrust lawsuits filed against Google over the last few years. The DOJ filed one in October of 2020 that was pathetically weak. That one seemed like it was Attorney General Bill Barr appeasing then President Trump with what Trump hoped would be an election-boosting attack on “evil woke […]
We’ve already noted how HBO and Discovery executives keep demonstrating the immense, pointless harm of media megamergers. You’ll recall AT&T’s $200 billion acquisition of Time Warner and DirecTV wound up being a hot mess, forcing AT&T to take a huge loss and run for the exits after laying off more than 50,000 employees. The subsequent […]
In a move that shouldn’t really surprise anyone, Meta has said that both Facebook and Instagram will be restoring Donald Trump’s accounts, which it had “indefinitely” suspended in the wake of the January 6th insurrection two years ago. As you’ll recall, after that suspension, the Oversight Board had agreed to hear Trump’s appeal of the […]
You might recall how struggling satellite TV network DirecTV recently kicked right wing propaganda channel OANN off of its cable lineup because it simply wasn’t profitable. That prompted weeks of performative hysteria by the GOP about how they were being “unfairly censored,” even prompting involvement of numerous Republican AGs who apparently had nothing better to […]
Who is the Barbra Streisand of Bollywood? There’s a new documentary, produced by the BBC about India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Specifically, the documentary is focused on Modi’s relationship with India’s Muslim community, including his apparent role during some anti-Muslim riots (where over 1,000 people were killed) two decades ago. And, apparently, it doesn’t make […]
The TSA isn’t great at catching terrorists. It isn’t even great at catching contraband, failing nearly 100% of the time in audits of its efficiency. What it is good at is catching eye-catching things, most of them completely unrelated to providing safer travel. Just recently, the TSA sent out a press release detailing the contraband […]
WOMBO Dream is expanding art to the masses. You don’t need a paintbrush, pencil, or any art supplies to make beautiful artwork, all you need is an idea. Take a back seat and let WOMBO Dream be the paintbrush to your artwork. Share your art with your friends and family and save your artwork to […]
This week, the NY Times had an article detailing how House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has formed a close bond with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a situation that many thought was impossible just a couple years ago when McCarthy seemed to see Greene as a shameful example of the modern Republican party’s infatuation with conspiracy theories, […]
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