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The world isn’t ready for deepfakes. Here’s what we need to do.

Jun28
by on June 28, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Podium


How well do you think you could discern between a genuine video of a politician or celebrity, and one that was generated to mimic their likeness, down to their body language quirks and accent? Thanks to illusory superiority, you probably think you’re better than average. You probably also think you couldn’t possibly be fooled by a computer program. After all, you just got back from seeing the latest superhero movie, and it was obvious which parts were CGI’d. But here’s the thing: deepfakes are getting so impossibly convincing, even the best discerners aided with the right technology are having trouble…

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Is Facebook really the corporate monster everyone wants it to be?

Jun28
by on June 28, 2019 at 4:48 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Podium


The ethics of Facebook, as a corporation, have come into question lately. Though criticisms of the platform have stretched back to its inception, the incident that inspired the most recent waves of ire seems to be the Cambridge Analytica data scandal of early 2018, in which it was revealed that a political consulting firm harvested data on millions of people without their knowledge or consent. Since then, there have been multiple waves of the #deletefacebook hashtag trending and millions of people leaving the platform, especially those between the ages of 12 and 34. Criticisms have ranged from serious lines of…

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Here’s how billionaires are planning their immortality

Jun28
by on June 28, 2019 at 3:18 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Space, syndication, world


While we all know that billionaires control a substantial amount of the world’s wealth – in fact, current projections see the richest 1% controlling 2/3 of it by 2030 – what they use their vast fortunes on may surprise you. When they aren’t investing in space shuttles, underground Hyperloops and sprawling tech campuses, the super-rich are looking at a range of mind-blowing methods to increase their lifespan. We’ve dug into some of the strangest and most extravagant approaches billionaires have turned to in their quest for immortality (or at least get a few more years in than the rest of us). “Young Blodd” Transfusions…

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Silk Road weed dealer fights Vancouver police over $2.6M in seized Bitcoin

Jun28
by on June 28, 2019 at 2:07 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


Vancouver police have been accused of misleading a justice of the peace in a plot to seize $2.6 million (CAD$3.5 million) in Bitcoin owned by a dark web marijuana trafficker, CBC reports. Authorities believe the Bitcoin, found on hard drives seized in 2013, to be the proceeds of illegal activity — specifically the selling of large amounts of cannabis via seminal dark web marketplace Silk Road. On the other hand, the trafficker (D.A.L.) says investigators applied to keep the hard drives despite receiving separate orders to return them – allegations reportedly deemed “extremely serious” in a ruling this week. In 2013,…

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German police raid another Bitcoin-powered dark web marketplace

Jun28
by on June 28, 2019 at 1:32 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


German police have busted Chemical Revolution, a dark web marketplace, which allowed consumers to buy narcotics with Bitcoin. According to a press release issued by Germany‘s Federal Criminal Police Office, officers have made 11 arrests in connection with the operation.  Additionally, the statement says the site’s servers were seized by German police officials and the French criminal police. The investigation began following the arrest of a 26-year-old from Brandenburg on the Havel, a town west of Berlin, in Spring last year.  Law enforcement seized a stash of narcotics, including almost 50 kilograms of amphetamine, 16 kilograms of cannabis, 2 kilograms of MDMA, 900…

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