Notices by Jason Koebler (jasonkoebler@mastodon.social)

23andMe as a functioning company was a privacy disaster. 23andMe as a bankrupt, for sale company is a fucking nightmare

https://www.404media.co/dna-of-15-million-people-for-sale-in-23andme-bankruptcy/

We are testing Ghost's ActivityPub beta integration for 404 Media! We're really excited about the future of the decentralized internet, we're stoked that Ghost is leading the way, and we're proud to be one of its first adopters. You can follow us @index

Right now things seem pretty buggy but it's obviously very early. Looking forward to messing around with it and making the product better

Tucker Carlson and others alleging new Deep State conspiracy about JFK records. Someone at National Archives with knowledge of the situation, meanwhile, tells me that thousands of pages of 60-year-old documents don't just magically digitize themselves

https://www.404media.co/why-all-of-the-jfk-assassination-documents-havent-been-released-yet/

My latest: Generative AI is enabling a brute force attack against the algorithms that control reality. AI slop is taking over every algorithmically controlled social media platform and search platform, and the tech platforms are helping:

https://www.404media.co/ai-slop-is-a-brute-force-attack-on-the-algorithms-that-control-reality/

A French University has so much interest from American scientists trying to flee the country that it is now asking other European universities to begin taking them into "scientific exile"

https://www.404media.co/nasa-yale-and-stanford-scientists-consider-scientific-exile-french-university-says/

We've confirmed that the TSA credit cards it uses to pay for stuff for bomb-sniffing dogs have been cut off

https://www.404media.co/tsa-k9-bomb-sniffing-dogs-funding/

Pokemon Go sale to a Saudi Arabian company owned by govt comes with six separate corporate announcement blogs, not one of them directly addressing what happens to 100 million people's location data, AR mapping capabilities, or the AI maps they have been training:

https://www.404media.co/saudi-arabia-buys-pokemon-go-and-probably-all-of-your-location-data/

We're at the "French University is offering grants to refugee scientists censored by the regime" stage of our country

https://www.404media.co/french-university-to-fund-american-scientists-who-fear-trump-censorship/

A team of archivists has recreated the pre-Trump CDC website as a live, easy-to-navigate website that should be indexed by Google. The team is hosting it in Europe. Cool project that is sadly necessary:

https://www.404media.co/archivists-recreate-pre-trump-cdc-website-are-hosting-it-in-europe/

OK I see ... I have been using Elk and link previews are just not showing in that client for most posts now. But is working on the normal Mastodon client

very dumb question but does anyone know why 404 media links arent expanding on Mastodon anymore? Worked for a very long time, and still works on other social media platforms:

https://www.404media.co/facebook-cybertruck-owners-group-copes-with-relentless-mockery/

Bluesky moderators deleted the AI protest video of Trump sucking Musk's toes broadcast inside HUD office, called it 'non-consensual explicit material'

https://www.404media.co/bluesky-deletes-ai-protest-video-of-trump-sucking-musks-toes-calls-it-non-consensual-explicit-material/

Scoop: The databases powering doge. gov are insecure, and people outside the government have already pushed their own updates to the site to prove it:

https://www.404media.co/anyone-can-push-updates-to-the-doge-gov-website-2/

Wikipedia is rolling out anonymity features piloted in countries with authoritarian governments in the US & is making a change to not show editor IP addresses in response to a global "increase in threats" from Elon Musk, Heritage Foundation, and governments

https://www.404media.co/wikipedia-prepares-for-increase-in-threats-to-us-editors-from-musk-and-his-allies/

NEW: DOGE employees have been ordered to stop using Slack while the agency transitions itself to a legal regime that is not subject to FOIA and other government transparency laws

https://www.404media.co/doge-employees-ordered-to-stop-using-slack-while-agency-transitions-to-a-records-system-not-subject-to-foia/

scoop: Musk's DOGE has brought in Stephanie Holmes, an HR consultant & attorney focused on "non-woke" HR and a version of DEI "aligned with our faith." Has spoken at Federalist Society, with members of Heritage Society, at religious conferences:

https://www.404media.co/musks-doge-brings-in-hr-consultant-focused-on-non-woke-dei-aligned-with-our-faith/

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a declassified World War II-era CIA guide to sabotaging fascism in the workplace has become one of the most popular free ebooks on the internet:

https://www.404media.co/declassified-cia-guide-to-sabotaging-fascism-is-suddenly-viral/

Turns out "incinerate money and boil the oceans" was not the smartest strategic gambit

https://www.404media.co/deepseek-mania-shakes-ai-industry-to-its-core/

New: The manufacturer of a medical device that costs six figures has told hospitals that they will no longer be allowed to fix them. Hospitals must now sign repair contracts with the manufacturer if they want the device fixed. Repair monopoly in action:

https://www.404media.co/medical-device-company-tells-hospitals-theyre-no-longer-allowed-to-fix-machine-that-costs-six-figures/

The last few weeks have really highlighted just how fragile corporate social media is, and just how beholden to political power it is. To build any sort of ground-up power we must continue to invest in decentralized alternatives that are resistant to intervention

https://www.404media.co/decentralized-social-media-is-the-only-alternative-to-the-tech-oligarchy/