Category: 404 Media

Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the stories this week that shook the Earth, birthed a universe, exploded in space, and sought the fountain of lepidopterological youth. First, a wave from a disastrous earthquake journeyed to the center of the Earth and back, revealing a phenomenon that has never ...

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss questionable analysis, mysterious parcels, and the Knicks (sorta). SAM: I was in Amsterdam for most of this week and walked by something ...

🌘 Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week. Ancient fossils have revealed that the earliest animals to walk on land more than 300 million years ago did not experience a metamorphosis similar to modern ...

Salesforce has an internal dashboard which tracks each team’s use of AI, including which teams are using specific tools such as ChatGPT and how much, with the company also handing out digital badges that describe its employees as a “Champion,” “Innovator,” and “Legend” depending on the AI training courses they’ve ...

In a viral essay about how ludicrous the idea that LLMs are conscious is, science fiction writer Ted Chiang asked us to consider Microsoft Word: “Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious, or, more ...

We start this week with Joseph’s story about the FCC’s wild proposal to require peoples’ government ID numbers to even get a phone plan. The FCC is doing it to curb robocalls, but also said it would be useful for a bunch of other stuff. After the break, Jason tells ...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appears to be purchasing records related to immigrants’ tax identifiers from a data broker, potentially skirting a court order that banned ICE from sourcing such information, according to Senator Ron Wyden and government procurement records reviewed by 404 Media. The contract, worth nearly $10 million, ...

Hackers have long targeted Roblox accounts to steal a player’s valuable items, which can sometimes be worth many tens of thousands of very real dollars. But that wasn’t enough for some. Now, hackers are taking over Roblox developer accounts and stealing ownership of entire video games and digital worlds. Multiple ...

Hackers have published data stolen from Madison Square Garden online for anyone to download, including what they say is customers’ personal information. A sample reviewed by 404 Media includes files mentioning specific sports teams, and specifically Knicks-related personalities, with fields such as “address,” “claim to fame,” “cost of talent,” and ...

*This article contains spoilers for Disclosure Day* Disclosure Day a perfectly entertaining, fun blockbuster movie built around the wildly flawed premise that the human race could be brought together by being shown blurry videos of aliens on primetime news programming—or that they would believe it at all. Its core delusional ...