The saga of PC title The Day Before is finally over. Like, completely over. Whatever this game was, and that is still very much an open question at a 10,000 foot level, it’s now gone. And I can’t say that I know for sure that the speed with which this game went from being launched […]
When we last checked in with what’s left of Sports Illustrated, its owner, The Arena Group, had just got done baring its ass as part of a giant ‘AI’ related scandal. Company executives apparently thought it would be a great idea to create a bunch of fake, AI-generated writers to shit out lazy, uninteresting clickbait, […]
On February, 19, 2021, the government — taking the form of Nevada State Troopers (and an assist via phone by the DEA) — stole former Marine Stephen Lara’s life savings. Lara was traveling from Texas to California in a rental vehicle to visit his daughters. He had $86,900 in his car with him, along with […]
Going back nearly 15 years, we had a story raising the question of whether or not legal filings were (or should be?) covered by copyright. As we noted at the time, it seems pretty clear that, under today’s somewhat absurd copyright, it is entirely possible that such filings are technically covered, though they really shouldn’t […]
Texas is in a close race with Florida for the title of “Most Unconstitutional Laws Enacted.” Florida’s legislators will probably end up taking this title because they seem crazier/more productive than their counterparts in Texas. But let’s not encourage those Texas underachievers! These are bad laws written by worse people. They’re almost universally incapable of […]
With five comprehensive modules and over 40 Linux technologies covered, the Complete Linux Training Bundle offers a detailed program tailored for absolute beginners. The curriculum includes a compilation of important topics such as security, DevOps, and cloud, combining all the necessary elements to become a well-rounded Linux professional. It’s on sale for $30. Note: The […]
One of the dumber things we’ve seen over the last couple of years is the supposed “war on woke” and (more recently) attacks on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” efforts (often shortened to the acronym DEI). In almost every case, these attacks misrepresent reality to generate culture war bullshit, and make a bunch of false claims […]
It’s equal parts annoying and bizarre that we’ve normalized the fact that scammers, scumbags, debt collectors, partisan operatives, and marketers have made the U.S.’ primary voice communication platform largely unusable. Americans received 3.8 billion robocalls last month, and despite some modest inroads in fighting the problem, it continues to grow for reasons we’ve already well […]
There can’t really be much doubting the fact that the fracturing of streaming content and the silos that are being built around that content are not a good thing. Examples of what was an ecosystem that mostly consisted of Netflix and Amazon being ruptured into streaming services offered by content producers themselves, such as Disney […]
It shouldn’t need to be said, but it bears repeating: the First Amendment definitely protects speech the listener doesn’t like. This holds true even if the one doing the speaking is personally and professionally unlikable. There’s some backstory to this First Amendment retaliation suit, which explains why certain government employees might have wanted to arrest […]
I don’t think I’ve ever had so many people send me a “Streisand Effect” story as the one about a small town having nearly every copy of a newspaper stolen. Many people assumed that the culprit who stole the papers did so to try to perhaps protect the perpetrators of a sexual assault (or possibly […]
A far-right state lawmaker in the Oklahoma state legislature has started his first term on the civil liberties shortbus. Sen. Dusty Deevers, a Republican lawmaker and Southern Baptist pastor, introduced a complete ban on consensual pornography despite its First Amendment protections. Senate Bill 1976, sponsored by Deevers alone, features fascistic language looking to completely ban the viewing, […]
Any school shooting is horrific. But the Uvalde school shooting went far beyond the usual nightmarish levels of something that happens so often in the United States, we can actually use the modifier “usual.” Police officers entered the school three minutes after the shooter did. But they did not actually end the terror until more […]
Color is everywhere and, with the innovative Nix Mini 2, you can now capture and recreate it anywhere you go. This compact, portable, and highly sophisticated device is designed for those who find color inspiration in everyday life. Now, you can harness the power of technology to bring color into your creative, professional, or personal […]
A couple of weeks ago, a friend sent me Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s and Rep. Madeleine Dean’s proposed NO AI FRAUD Act, which purports to “protect Americans’ individual right to their likeness and voice against AI-generated fakes and forgeries.” Now, there are legitimate concerns about uses of generative AI tools to create fake images, videos, […]
The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), part of the 2021 infrastructure bill, currently provides 23 million low-income Americans a $30 broadband discount. While it didn’t get much hype, that’s a big deal in a country where broadband affordability is a massive obstacle due to muted competition. But those 23 million Americans are poised to soon […]
Lots of tech is being thrown at cops with the intent of helping them work smarter. While this might sound like the early waves of a sea change, the end result — at least so far — is just more of the same stuff we’ve seen for decades. Crime rates may be at historic lows […]
Last year, I wrote here about FutureCast, a very adaptable “game” framework that was designed as a foresight tool, to help explore pathways to change. It was developed by myself and our partner in all things game related, Randy Lubin of Leveraged Play. Randy and I created it in partnership with the United Nations Global […]
I mean, there was no way not to see this coming. Last year we wrote about how Trump had lost his vexatious lawsuit against the NY Times regarding its interactions with his niece, Mary Trump. Mary had leaked some tax documents to the NY Times, and Trump sued the Times, arguing (laughably) that this constituted […]
Journalists have long used Google News to track news cycles. But for years users have documented a steady decline in product quality parallel to similar complaints about the quality of Google’s broader search technology. Many stories and outlets are often no longer indexed, low quality clickbait and garbage are everywhere, and customization seems broken as […]
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