Lots of People Make Money on Fanfic. Just Not the Authors

Fanbinding has exploded in popularity in the past few years. Many fanbinders do adhere to a strict gift-economy stance in line with the writers whose work they’re binding, often limiting the money they collect, if any, to covering material costs. But the people selling bound versions of popular fics for profit are cut from a… Continue reading Lots of People Make Money on Fanfic. Just Not the Authors

Biden Executive Order Bans Sale of US Data to China, Russia. Good Luck

US president Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday aimed at preventing a handful of countries, including China, North Korea, and Russia, from purchasing sensitive information about Americans through commercial data brokers in the United States. Administration officials say categories of sensitive data, including personal identifiers, precise location information, and biometrics—vital tools for… Continue reading Biden Executive Order Bans Sale of US Data to China, Russia. Good Luck

Amazon Just Got Banned From the EU Parliament

Amazon has become the second company ever to have its lobbyists banned from the European Parliament, amid accusations the company does not take the institution seriously. The ban, which means the 14 Amazon employees who had access to the European Parliament can no longer enter the building without an invitation, follows the company’s decision not… Continue reading Amazon Just Got Banned From the EU Parliament

Emergency Planners Are Having a Moment

Also, in a disaster, there are no good decisions, there are only least-worse decisions. Every decision will come with a set of consequences. What the government really struggled to do was mitigate the consequences of decisions they felt that they had to take. My personal view is that what the UK’s going through at the… Continue reading Emergency Planners Are Having a Moment

Dictators Used Sandvine Tech to Censor the Internet. The US Finally Did Something About It

When the Egyptian government shut down the internet in 2011 to give itself cover to crush a popular protest movement, it was Nora Younis who got the word out. Younis, then a journalist with daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, found a working internet connection at the InterContinental Cairo Semiramis Hotel that overlooked Tahrir Square, the heart… Continue reading Dictators Used Sandvine Tech to Censor the Internet. The US Finally Did Something About It

Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack: BlackCat Hackers Quickly Returned After FBI Bust

Six days before Christmas, the US Department of Justice loudly announced a win in the ongoing fight against the scourge of ransomware: An FBI-led, international operation had targeted the notorious hacking group known as BlackCat or AlphV, releasing decryption keys to foil its ransom attempts against hundreds of victims and seizing the dark web sites… Continue reading Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack: BlackCat Hackers Quickly Returned After FBI Bust

The Weird, Wacky Gizmos and Gadgets We Saw at MWC 2024

The camera can recognize objects and read out text, so imagine if you’re in a grocery store in a foreign country—you can show the camera an item, ask what it is, and ask it to translate the text. The company says it’s working on adding voice recognition so you can command the camera with your… Continue reading The Weird, Wacky Gizmos and Gadgets We Saw at MWC 2024

Alabama IVF Patients Are Running Out of Time

In October, Melissa began an in vitro fertilization cycle. A resident of Birmingham, Alabama, her fertility journey to that point had been not just difficult, but harrowing—earlier that year, she had nearly bled to death during a procedure to resolve a second-trimester miscarriage. When the IVF process yielded just a single viable embryo, she had… Continue reading Alabama IVF Patients Are Running Out of Time

The US Supreme Court Holds the Future of the Internet in Its Hands

The US Supreme Court seems torn over whether to trigger a radical transformation of the internet. The nation’s highest court heard arguments Monday over state laws in Florida and Texas that restrict how platforms like Facebook and YouTube moderate speech. If the court lets them take effect, social media feeds could look very different, with… Continue reading The US Supreme Court Holds the Future of the Internet in Its Hands