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VOICE ARCHIVE

S. E. Smith

@sesmith.lol
9 posts
2026-03-04
Ad blockers and rejecting cookies aren't just things I do for readability or because of annoyance!
2026-03-04 View on X
404 Media

An internal DHS document shows CBP used location data sourced from the online ad industry to track phone locations; ICE has bought access to similar tools

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bought data from the online advertising ecosystem to track peoples' precise movements over time …

2026-03-03
Ad blockers and rejecting cookies aren't just things I do for readability or because of annoyance!
2026-03-03 View on X
404 Media

An internal DHS document shows CBP used location data sourced from the online ad industry to track phone locations; ICE has bought access to similar tools

An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations.

2026-01-11
Love this @anildash.com longread on Markdown; I learned so much about the early history of blogging and the evolution of Markdown, which is indeed everywhere now.  (Fond memories of fiddling around with HTML on my blog aside.)
2026-01-11 View on X
Anil Dash

A look at the history and rise of Markdown, which has been adopted across the tech industry in the decades since its quiet launch in 2004 by John Gruber

Nearly every bit of the high-tech world, from the most cutting-edge AI systems at the biggest companies, to the casual scraps …

2026-01-10
Outstanding, why stop at running a CSAM machine when you can also profit off it?  And of course it's called SuperGrok.
2026-01-10 View on X
The Guardian

Grok says image generation and editing are now limited to paid subscribers, after outcry over its use to create sexually explicit and violent imagery

X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action

Outstanding, why stop at running a CSAM machine when you can also profit off it?  And of course it's called SuperGrok.
2026-01-10 View on X
The Verge

X is restricting Grok's image capabilities via the @grok command for free users, but they can still create sexual deepfakes via X's “Edit image” or Grok's app

X's sexual deepfake machine is still running, despite Grok saying otherwise.

2025-10-04
Really interesting read on caste bias in OpenAI's products and what that means for users in India (and the diaspora!).
2025-10-04 View on X
MIT Technology Review

An investigation finds rampant caste bias in ChatGPT and Sora; a researcher also finds caste bias in Sarvam AI, which touts itself as a sovereign AI for India

When Dhiraj Singha began applying for postdoctoral sociology fellowships in Bengaluru, India, in March, he wanted to make sure …

2025-07-08
AI bot scrapers are an absolute scourge that are slowing down the entire internet as they nonconsensually devour content to regurgitate in generative AI products that never credit (or pay) their sources.
2025-07-08 View on X
404 Media

A look at some options for fighting AI companies' scraping, including open-source Anubis' cryptographic JavaScript math challenges and Cloudflare's AI Labyrinth

If you are a website owner you should definitely check it out! [embedded post] Brewster Kahle / @brewster.kahle.org : Interview of the new librarian of the British Library :  —  ww...

2025-06-26
Love it when reporting like this from @404media.co forces sleazy companies to change their practices now that they've been forced into daylight.
2025-06-26 View on X
404 Media

License plate reader company Flock has stopped US agencies from accessing cameras in CA, IL, and VA after reports of lookups related to ICE and an abortion case

www.404media.co/flock-remove... S. E. Smith / @sesmith.lol : Love it when reporting like this from @404media.co forces sleazy companies to change their practices now that they've b...

2025-04-23
‘That unique combination of ephemerality, anonymity, and organized chaos proved to be a potent mix, immediately creating a race-to-the-bottom gutter culture unlike anything else on the web.  The dark endpoint of the techno-utopianism that built the internet.’
2025-04-23 View on X
Wired

A week after a hack, 4chan remains down, apparently pushed off the internet by rival hackers; its toxic legacy carries on across social platforms and culture

It's likely that there will never be a site like 4chan again.  But everything now—from X and YouTube to global politics—seems to carry its toxic legacy.