The South By Southwest music-showcase-turned-general-tech-and-media-industry-hobnobbing-event faced some controversy in 2024, when the organizers announced a special partnership with the US Army. It's certainly not uncommon for a major corporate entity… Read the rest of the article: SXSW quietly drops US Army sponsorship

It seems like every company in the world right now is eager to push their large-language modeling algorithms as a brilliant innovation in the realm of generative general artificial intelligence.… Read the rest of the article: Google's AI search summaries use 10x more energy than just doing a normal Google search

The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that the local library board in East Bonner County, Idaho has had some serious concerns about SAGA, the acclaimed space opera fantasy comic book… Read the rest of the article: Idahoans claim that SAGA comic causes "unnecessary risk to children"

Toys 'R' Us—the once-ubiquitous big box toy store chain—doesn't really exist in a traditional since, at least not anymore. The company was bought by a gaggle of venture capital firms… Read the rest of the article: Private Equity asset formerly known as Toys 'R' Us releases creepy AI generated origin video

Back in February 2024, the BBC reported that the United Kingdom had rejected resettlement applications for Afghan commandos who fought alongside British soldiers in the fight against the Taliban. From… Read the rest of the article: UK Special Forces veto immigration applications for Afghan troops they fought with

Shrub Oak International School is a "specialized" "boarding school" in New York state that opened in 2018, ostensibly with the goal of providing services to students with disabilities. The student body… Read the rest of the article: Unregulated boarding school for autistic kids sounds more like a prison

Yesterday, Ruben wrote about rich folks poisoning view-blocking trees irrespective of the enormous fines faced. The Boston Globe has an absolutely wild ride through the weeds of the story, whose… Read the rest of the article: Poison used to kill view-blocking trees may have poisoned beach below—and the sea

An AI startup called Luma recently launched a new AI-generated video product called "Dream Machine." On the website, the company pitches the tool as: …An AI model that makes high… Read the rest of the article: AI video generator "accidentally" included Disney character in demo reel

Rolling Stone reports that Universal Music Group has just inked a deal with a new AI music tech startup called SoundLabs. From the article: UMG's artists and record producers will… Read the rest of the article: Universal Music Group partners with AI voice-cloning company

Not to be outdone by forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry signed another new bill this week legalizing the state-sponsored surgical… Read the rest of the article: Louisiana legalizes surgical castration for felons

My kid just turned 4 years old, and as he tries to make sense of the magical mysteries of spelling words, there's one question that he keeps returning to: why… Read the rest of the article: In defense of the hard C

Mixtapes are (supposedly) cool with the kids these days, so a company called 90s Time Machine is now selling what they present as a complete "DIY Mixtape Kit." The kit… Read the rest of the article: This pre-packaged "DIY Mixtape Kit" is $69

For at least 200 years, the people of Gloucester, England have held an annual cheese-rolling race. Held annually on the Spring Bank Holiday, the event involves a 3-4 kilogram wheel… Read the rest of the article: German man defeats man in gorilla costume in annual English cheese-rolling race

I've been a huge fan of Belfast hip-hop crew KNEECAP since the group dropped its first single back in 2017. That song, "C.E.A.R.T.A." — the Irish word for "rights" —… Read the rest of the article: Watch the trailer for KNEECAP, a raucous new docudrama about Irish hip-hop

A Sussex businessman named Steve Endacott has created an AI avatar of himself that is currently running for Parliament in Brighton Pavilion in the UK. "AI Steve," as the AI… Read the rest of the article: AI-generated politician running for UK Parliament

Over at The Verge, a recently published piece by writer David Pierce goes behind-the-scenes of the Excel Spreadsheet World Championships, recently held at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.… Read the rest of the article: Inside the weird world of competitive Microsoft Excel spreadsheeting

Back in 2010, The AV Club launched a series that was perhaps the site's greatest contribution to popular culture: AV Undercover. The basic premise of the video series was that… Read the rest of the article: Hail Satan! AV Undercover is finally coming back!

Martin Shkreli, infamously known as "PharmaBro," was convicted of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy back in 2017 for his involvement in some casual pharmaceutical price fixing, and swiftly… Read the rest of the article: Convicted PharmaBro Martin Shkreli sued for allegedly copying rare Wu-Tang album

In April 2023, an elderly Black man came into the emergency room at Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren, Michigan with chest pains. He explained to the staff that he may… Read the rest of the article: Four Tops singer forced into straitjacket during a heart attack for claiming to be Four Tops singer

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Ibram X. Kendi's comprehensive breakdown of the development and proliferation of racist ideas, was originally published in 2016.… Read the rest of the article: How Ibram X. Kendi's STAMPED became a stunning graphic novel history of racism