U.K.-based startup Yepic AI claims to use “deepfakes for good” and promises to “never reenact someone without their consent.” But the company did exactly what it claimed it never would.
In an unsolicited email pitch to a TechCrunch reporter, a representative for Yepic AI shared two “deepfaked” videos of the reporter, who had not given consent to having their likeness reproduced.
decay
Dead trees around the world are shocking scientists
knowablemagazine.orgForests once deemed resilient are suffering surprising die-offs. To predict the fate of the world’s woods in the face of climate change, researchers need to understand how trees die.
A key feature of NFTs has completely broken
theverge.comOne of the big promises of NFTs was that the artist who originally made them could get a cut every time their piece was resold. Unfortunately, that’s not the case anymore.
OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace still fully enforcing royalty fees, said today that it plans to stop the mandatory collection of resale fees for artists. Starting March 2024, those fees will essentially be tips — an optional percentage of a sale price that sellers can choose to give the original artist. If the seller doesn’t want to hand over any money, that’ll be their choice.
Scammers be scamming.
Mojo Dojo Casa House
mcmansionhell.com


The internet is unusable now
newstatesman.comPop-ups, farmed content and sponsored posts have ruined a web that once told us whatever we needed to know.
Linked for the content, and the irony of the article being behind a cookie popup and paywall. Maybe read it here instead.
Groundwater Pumping Causes Earth's Rotational Pole to Shift: New Study
businessinsider.comBelow the Earth’s surface lies over a thousand times more water than all the rivers and lakes in the world.
This groundwater accounts for almost all the freshwater on the planet.
But in many areas of the world, groundwater is being extracted faster than the rate that it naturally recharges.
A recent study found that humans are pumping so much groundwater that it’s not only increasing sea levels, it’s actually shifting the entire planet on its axis.
I am leaving
briefs.videoWho killed Google Reader?
theverge.comTen years after its untimely death, the team that built the much-beloved feed reader reflects on what went wrong and what could have been.
Apollo will close down on June 30th
reddit.comReddit not learning the lessons of Twitter.
Searching for Meg White
elle.comIt’s been over a decade since we’ve heard from the elusive White Stripes drummer. Could renewed attention over a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination coax her back into the spotlight?
Captcha Is Asking Users to Identify Objects That Don't Exist
vice.comThe issue with hCaptcha’s strange AI generated prompts highlights two issues with machine learning systems. The first is that the AI systems require an enormous amount of human input to not be terrible. Typically image labeling is outsourced to foreign workers who do it for pennies on the dollar. The other is the issue of data drift. The longer these machine learning systems run, the more input they require. Inevitably, they begin to use data they’ve generated to train themselves. Systems that train on themselves long enough become AI Hapsburgs, churning out requests to identify incomprehensible objects like “Yokos.”
Noise Is All around Us—and It's Affecting You More than You Think
thewalrus.caSound aesthetic is important for another reason besides our pleasure. It might lead to a more ethical relationship with our environment and the people around us. Jordan says, once we deal with harmful, excessive noise that causes physical and psychological damage, we might want to reconsider how we deal with the soundscapes we live and work in. He thinks it would make us better citizens and better humans.
See your identity pieced together from stolen data
abc.net.auHave you ever wondered how much of your personal information is available online? Here’s your chance to find out.
badidea.zip
badidea.zipTitanic: First ever full-sized scans reveal wreck as never seen before
bbc.com