Notices by 404 Media (404mediaco@mastodon.social)

You need to use Signal's nickname feature

Encryption can’t protect you from adding the wrong person to a group chat. But there is also a setting to make sure you don’t.

https://www.404media.co/you-need-to-use-signals-nickname-feature/

How three alleged Tesla vandals got caught

Automatic license plate readers, Instagram captions, and fingerprints.

https://www.404media.co/how-three-alleged-tesla-vandals-got-caught/

AI Slop Is a Brute Force Attack on the Algorithms That Control Reality

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

@index Between this and things like Surf from Flipboard, we're really excited re: the future of longer form written content and unified ActivityPub feeds!

@index So far the bugs are pretty interesting. It's not picking up every article, not every ActivityPub client is picking everything up, and it's not picking up our profile image. But the beta just launched yesterday.

The feature we're most excited for is Notes, which is going to let us post social-first posts that will hopefully eventually be able to show up directly on our website. So we can do a mix of our normal articles and shorter things that don't rise to level of "article"

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. Eventually as it gets better that will probably become our main account but for now we'll crosspost

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/

Here are the 200+ sites an ICE surveillance contractor is monitoring.

https://www.404media.co/the-200-sites-an-ice-surveillance-contractor-is-monitoring/

Spotify Removes Andrew Tate 'Pimping Hoes' Class After Employees Complain

https://www.404media.co/pretty-vile-spotify-removes-andrew-tate-pimping-hoes-class-after-employees-and-users-complain-2/

Judges Are Fed up With Lawyers Using AI That Hallucinate Court Cases

https://www.404media.co/ai-lawyer-hallucination-sanctions/

Y Combinator Supports AI Startup Dehumanizing Factory Workers

https://www.404media.co/optifyeai-ycombinator-startup-ai-factory/

Why is a government contractor trying to buy iPhone hacking tech from us?

https://www.404media.co/why-is-a-government-contractor-trying-to-buy-iphone-hacking-tech-from-us/

A German researcher captured the contents of "DEI.gov" before it was put behind a password wall. It contained a list of things USAID was funding filtered through the worst possible light:

https://www.404media.co/dei-waste-gov-doge-list-behind-password/

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/

A "True Crime" documentary YouTuber racked up millions and millions of views with fully AI-generated murders that did not happen

https://www.404media.co/a-true-crime-documentary-series-has-millions-of-views-the-murders-are-all-ai-generated/

New Microsoft study finds that using generative AI at work makes employees' critical thinking skills "atrophied and unprepared"

https://www.404media.co/microsoft-study-finds-ai-makes-human-cognition-atrophied-and-unprepared-3/

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/

The Air Force redacts almost all of its documents about generative AI: https://www.404media.co/air-force-documents-on-gen-ai-test-are-just-whole-pages-of-redactions/

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/