Since ZachXBT began pursuing his career as a crypto vigilante, he has also kept his mask firmly in place. Online, he appears only as his avatar, a kind of platypus cartoon figure in a detective’s trench coat or sometimes a hoodie. To avoid retaliation from his many enemies in the world of crypto criminals and […]
A High-Profile Geneticist Is Launching a Fusion-Power Moonshot
Eric Lander is a Big Science heavyweight. A geneticist, molecular biologist, and mathematician, he led the International Human Genome Project and is founding director of the powerful Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. His countless accolades include a MacArthur “genius” grant and 14 honorary doctorates. When Joe Biden became president, he tapped Lander to be […]
Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity Are Promoting Scientific Racism in Search Results
Google added that part of the problem it faces in generating its AI Overviews is that, for some very specific queries, there’s an absence of high quality information on the web. And there’s little doubt that Lynn’s work is not of high quality. “The science underlying Lynn’s database of ‘national IQs’ is of such poor […]
AT&T and T-Mobile Claim Locked Phones Are Good, Actually
T-Mobile and AT&T say US regulators should drop a plan to require unlocking of phones within 60 days of activation, claiming that locking phones to a carrier’s network makes it possible to provide cheaper handsets to consumers. “If the Commission mandates a uniform unlocking policy, it is consumers—not providers—who stand to lose the most,” T-Mobile […]
Peter Todd Was ‘Unmasked’ As Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Now He’s In Hiding
In the week before the documentary was released, online betting markets had Len Sassaman, a cryptographer who moved in similar online circles to Satoshi, as the most likely candidate to be revealed as the Bitcoin creator. Sassaman took his own life in 2011 at the age of 31, shortly after Satoshi disappeared. The case for […]
In the Kentucky Mountains, a Bitcoin Mining Dream Turned Into a Nightmare
In both cases, Biofuel claims, the firms shipped equipment from China to its hosting facility in Eastern Kentucky, then walked away with the bitcoin produced, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid energy bills and hosting fees. Biofuel reached a settlement with Touzi in early 2022 for $60,000, but despite having handed back […]
Protesters Say Uber and Lyft Are Still Failing Their Blind Passengers
Michelle Barlak, public relations manager for The Seeing Eye, which provides guide dogs for people with visual impairments, tells WIRED that the organization has received “frequent and increasing reports of rideshare access denials from Seeing Eye dog handlers.” A survey by the nonprofit Guide Dogs for the Blind found 83 percent of members said they […]
I Made a Wholesome OnlyFans to Try to Make Ends Meet
As I leave my house on an overcast Tuesday morning to walk the dog, I’m accosted by a neighbor who cheerily calls down the street: “I hear you have an OnlyFans now!” I start to wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake. OnlyFans has—how shall I put it—a reputation. Like many online platforms, it matches […]
Sam Altman’s Eye-Scanning Orb Has a New Look—and Will Come Right to Your Door
While the biometric-scanning Orb and the World network have their roots in crypto tokens, “crypto” wasn’t an oft-mentioned word during the event. Instead, Altman and Blania emphasized World’s blockchain service, digital asset management, and virtual communication tools. Blania claimed during the press briefing that, in the future, World hopes to build the “largest finance network” […]
GPS Jamming Is Screwing With Norwegian Planes
From the ground, northeastern Norway might look like fjord country, peppered with neat red houses and dissected by snowmobile tours through the winter. But for pilots flying above, the region has become a danger zone for GPS jamming. The jamming in the region of Finnmark is so constant, Norwegian authorities decided last month they would […]