: A US citizen detained for a peaceful protest. Media companies investigated for their reporting. ICE …
: What a terrible story: according to news reports, Gene Hackman’s wife died of a respiratory …
: Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian and Digg cofounder Kevin Rose are rebooting Digg, and they have some …
: State Dept. plans to use AI to scan social media and then revoke the visas of foreign students who …
: In this week’s Torment Nexus newsletter, I wrote about the reboot of Digg by cofounder Kevin …
: This is what the White House cares about – not helping Ukraine, or food prices, or affordable …
: If you were extremely online in the early 2000s, this is like the Hatfields and the McCoys joining …
: A recent federal court ruling on AI and copyright was hailed by some as a landmark event, but that …
: Maybe taking some things out of copyright and putting them in the public domain wasn’t a great …
: Maybe taking some things out of copyright and putting them in the public domain isn’t such a …
: This is wild: Microsoft says its new quantum chip uses the “Majorana particle,” named …
: If you fire the people who handle FOIA requests, then you can’t respond to FOIA requests. …
: Julianne Moore’s children’s book Freckleface Strawberry is part of a “compliance review” …
: The FT is reporting that Trump plans to withdraw troops from the Baltic states, which could have …
: Cool Canadian fact: the ceremonial gavel of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada is …
: Joan Baez with Margo Price, Linda Ronstadt, Lucinda Williams, Roseanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie …
: I know there are lots of other factors, but on a fundamental level I think Trump and Musk are just a …
: Norovirus, or as the Australians call it “Ornor-ovirus.” (Sorry not sorry)
: A judge ruled that DOGE is an official gov’t agency so it can have access to records, but that …
: Trump State Department official has repeatedly called for mass sterilization of ‘low-IQ trash’ …
: “Information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate, and disconnected …
: Some eager beavers saved the Czech government $1.2 million From National Geographic: “Officials in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic were at an …
: Stacking cups as a game was invented by this guy’s dad From Defector: “If neighbors peeking behind curtains at the idling 18-wheeler thought to call …
: Does Elon Musk want to buy OpenAI? Yes and no If you’ve been reading the news at all, you probably know that Elon Musk — and/or a group of …
: The short life and strange death of rock ‘n’ roller Bobby Fuller From Discover Music: “No matter how memorable Bobby Fuller’s signature hit was – and his …
: I think we should force those who use DEI as a swear word to say explicitly which part they are …
: The world’s third richest man bought Tolkien’s local pub From The Oxford Clarion: “The Eagle & Child is Oxford’s most storied inn. It was here that the …
: She discovered the greenhouse effect 150 years ago From the NYT: “In the 1850s, Eunice Foote, an amateur scientist, made a remarkable discovery …
: This village claims Jesus moved to Japan and became a farmer From The Smithsonian: “On the flat top of a steep hill in a distant corner of northern Japan …
: Oneida silverware started out as a sex and eugenics commune From USC: Oneida. For most Americans, the name conjures up fine silverware. Few are aware that …
: How did Rationalism lead to the creation of a murder cult? From SFist: Clockwise from top left: Gwen Danielson in a 2019 mugshot; Jack “Ziz” …
: This bestselling author lives a secret life as a brain doctor From The Sunday Times: “Somewhere in Boston there is a doctor who treats disorders of the …
: The good news: Everyone who was afraid of technobros like Sam Altman and Elon Musk controlling AI …
: I know this is a small thing, but we should make the use of the word “discontinued” …
: In this week’s Torment Nexus, I looked at a question that has taken on a new level of urgency …
: I see a lot of media outlets pursuing what feels like cargo-cult behavior — building the equivalent …
: Some perspective on the TikTok saga, which is becoming stupider by the minute: …
: So the incoming president of the United States is promoting a crypto coin named after himself. I …
: The argument that TikTok is a national-security risk reminds me of the Underpants Gnome sketch: 1) …
: Are people arguing that an app where people watch video clips of cats riding Roombas is a threat to …
: The publisher of SCOTUSblog allegedly borrowed $9.5 million between 2014 and 2016 and lost most of …
: In a spectacularly bad – perhaps even deliberately bad – example of terrible UI, when I …
: New from me in this week’s edition of The Torment Nexus: The TikTok saga has gotten even …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” the new hot party drug is blueberry-flavored …
: FreeOurFeeds seems like a worthwhile effort, but I don’t know why they include Mark Ruffalo …
: In this week’s Torment Nexus, I looked at the recent changes at Meta and how Mark Zuckerberg …
: Just a reminder that I publish two newsletters: When The Going Gets Weird is daily and contains …
: Not to be too contrarian on the whole “AI slop” problem, but human beings produce an …
: Nate Silver says the idea of “fact-checking” as a separate subset of specialized …
: New from me at The Torment Nexus: Now Mark Zuckerberg can finally stop pretending that he cares …
: In today’s edition of When The Going Gets Weird, a researcher says Time Inc. colluded with the …
: In today’s edition of When The Going Gets Weird, the secret reason that the US beat Russia to …
: I wound up at Pinterest and it wanted my birthdate before it would show me anything, but it just had …
: Qualifications required in a job ad says “53+ years of editorial experience” LOL
: In 1952, the nuclear reactor at Chalk River in Ontario suffered a partial meltdown, and the team …
: In 1962 the nuclear reactor at Chalk River suffered a partial meltdown, and the team sent in to fix …
: What (or who) is copyright for? What purpose was it designed to serve? And does AI indexing of …
: Saw someone at a coffee shop with this on the table in front of them
: In today’s “When The Going Gets Weird” newsletter, a Miami sophomore created a …
: Let’s normalize making Rudolph and the Bumble and Yukon Cornelius part of the Nativity scene …
: For this week’s Torment Nexus newsletter, I wrote about AI chatbots and mental health, given …
: “I’m wearing what look like ordinary glasses in a room surrounded by Google and Samsung …
: Job opening says in the description that the successful applicant will “craft AI-first …
: In this week’s edition of The Torment Nexus, I wrote about why Australia’s ban on teen …
: In this week’s edition of my newsletter The Torment Nexus, I wrote about why Australia’s …
: New in my “When The Going Gets Weird” newsletter: How bicycles are changing what …
: Today in my newsletter “When The Going Gets Weird”: How the Great Cranberry Scare of …
: Description for a piece of luggage on Amazon says that “after multiple ratios, it reaches the …
: If you’re interested in whether Bluesky is truly a decentralized social network, I looked …
: I’ve been going through some old pieces of mine and this one was particularly memorable. It …
: New at The Torment Nexus: Is Bluesky decentralized? It’s complicated …
: In today’s version of my “When The Going Gets Weird” newsletter, a member of Blue …
: Just wanted to say that I know the headline item in this newsletter is a difficult read, and I …
: One thing this interview with Vincenzo Barney makes clear is that he knows he has won the literary …
: I also write a weekly newsletter about tech and culture called The Torment Nexus, which is published …
: If you’re looking for something to read on the weekend, try my newsletter of interesting links …
: Based on past DoJ antitrust cases like Microsoft, where the remedy came long after the technology …
: In my newsletter The Torment Nexus, I argue that — believe it or not — Elon Musk has made a good …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” previously unseen footage of the JFK shooting …
: I wrote about how Bluesky has a lot of potential as a Twitter replacement, but people like Cory …
: I’ve been going through some of my older columns and I came across this piece from 2017 in …
: Bankruptcy judge halts The Onion’s purchase of Alex Jones’ InfoWars citing a lack of …
: Elon Musk’s X sued to block a California law aimed at curbing AI-generated deceptive election …
: Hi @manton – keep getting errors when crossposting to Bluesky, and it seems to have something …
: There’s been a lot of attention on Bluesky lately, so for this week’s edition of The …
: I encourage you to read the entire thing, but my favourite fact in my piece about Bluesky at The …
: Today in my “When The Going Gets Weird” newsletter, some heart transplant recipients …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” the untold story of the world’s biggest …
: I still don’t think Trump knows or cares about most of the things he was supposedly elected …
: A reminder that I write two newsletters – one daily collection of interesting links called …
: There’s been lots of commentary about how social media swung the election for Trump via …
: New at The Torment Nexus: “Social media is a symptom, not a cause” …
: Trump’s win is unlikely to affect me much personally, since I’m Canadian. But I have …
: I wrote about a project I ran for a number of years at the Columbia Journalism Review called Galley …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” a legendary gambler who won and lost a fortune …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” how trying to avoid peanut allergies actually made …
: Need something to read? I publish two free newsletters (payment is encouraged but not required). …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” the Stanford Prison Experiment was faked, and no …
: Ahead of the election, social media platforms have given up www.wired.com/story/tec…
: The Economist magazine endorses Kamala Harris, saying “being independent and being …
: “In evaluating WordPress-as-risk, the flag has been raised. Regulatory, compliance, and …
: “It finally shows the world what WordPress really is, an abusive, predatory …
: Great interview with John Todd, founder of the free open DNS service Quad9: …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” they said she died in a fire as a baby but she was …
: I talked with Charlotte Henry on her podcast The Addition about the turmoil at the Washington Post …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” he’s still in prison for a crime that …
: Media elites are the last people to ask about the future of journalism: “The whole exercise is …
: New from me at The Torment Nexus: Some existential thoughts about the web in honour of …
: I’ve seen the best minds of my generation spend their days trying to invent new games so …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” the French government gave him a patent for ads on …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” a Kentucky man who was declared dead wakes up …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” someone died and left the US $7 billion in estate …
: Note to writers everywhere: Not everything is a “liminal moment” or a “liminal …
: New from me at The Torment Nexus: “Is AI going to save us or kill us? Even the experts …
: Great interview with Kevin Rose, about everything that Digg did right – and wrong. He even …
: I’ve updated my post on Matt Mullenweg and WordPress with information on a number of incidents …
: When Matt Mullenweg talks about contributing to open source, he says that he doesn’t own the …
: Got a good look at Comet A3 just after sunset tonight
: An update to my post on WordPress: Matt sent me a Google Doc with responses to some of the points I …
: I got a heart-warming DM from someone the other day who remembered something I wrote about their …
: Great interview with Caitlin Dewey, who writes one of my favourite newsletters, “Links I Would …
: “As usual, Elon Musk is trying to compete in the Tour de France on a tricycle.” Dan O’Dowd, …
: In this week’s edition of my newsletter The Torment Nexus, I look at why Google deserves to …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” how a former YouTube influencer wound up in prison …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” inside the Russian bot army that conquered online …
: The latest entry in The Torment Nexus, a newsletter featuring my analysis and perspective on …
: Using the social web as a distribution platform for news has become increasingly problematic. Is …
: So Israel didn’t just hijack some pagers already in the supply chain — they set up a front …
: Today in “When The Going Gets Weird,” doctors saved her life but she didn’t want …