Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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merritt @merrittk.com · 1d

if you look at social media and dont immediately feel better what you should do is keep going back to it every five minutes or so. eventually you will find the Post that makes your life better

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jj skolnik @modernistwitch.myatproto.social · 2d

look at this absolute robber baron

Tammi, yeah, that one. 2.1 @tammi.bsky.social · 2d

I found a 19th century Cat Villain!

A huge chonk of a fluffy cat sitting on a table near an open fire. The cat is cream and grey and appears to be shaped like a barrel in a fur coat. They are scowling fiercely with their moustache and bewhiskered ears apparently flowing back into the cold wind. There's a definite vibe that this villainous cat twirls their moustache as they evict orphans into the aforementioned blizzard and think Scrooge was an easy-going lightweight. They are magnificent.

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WIRED @wired.com · 5d

Some sports gamblers are trying to predict WNBA players’ performance—and the outcomes of games—based on the athletes’ periods. One betting content creator has dubbed it “blood money." www.wired.com/story/men-ar...

Men Are Betting on WNBA Players' Menstrual Cycles

Some sports gamblers are trying to predict WNBA players’ performance—and the outcomes of games—based on the athletes’ periods. One betting content creator has dubbed it “blood money."

www.wired.com

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 5d

AI chocolate cake, buy one get one free 😔

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 5d

something something AI chocolate cake on Uber Eats something something Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation

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WIRED @wired.com · 5d

“We are going to do everything in our power to fight this,” says ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron after Apple removed his app from the App Store. www.wired.com/story/apple-...

Apple Took Down ICE-Tracking Apps. Their Developers Aren't Giving Up

“We are going to do everything in our power to fight this,” says ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron after Apple removed his app from the App Store.

www.wired.com

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Brian Barrett @brbarrett.bsky.social · 5d

Apple has removed at least three ICE-tracking apps from the App Store. WIRED spoke with the developers about where they go from here. from @thiccreese.bsky.social and @lhn.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/apple-...

Apple Took Down ICE-Tracking Apps. Their Developers Aren't Giving Up

“We are going to do everything in our power to fight this,” says ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron after Apple removed his app from the App Store.

www.wired.com

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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 5d

NEW: The developers whose ICE-related apps were removed from the Apple App Store say they're preparing to fight back. @thiccreese.bsky.social and @lhn.bsky.social report: www.wired.com/story/apple-...

Apple Took Down ICE-Tracking Apps. Their Developers Aren't Giving Up

“We are going to do everything in our power to fight this,” says ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron after Apple removed his app from the App Store.

www.wired.com

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 6d

jfc

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 6d

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

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strawbaby jam @strawbbfields4ever.bsky.social · 7d

always remember who was there for you at your lowest. thank you cigarettes

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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 7d

This week for @wired.com Big Interview pod, I talk to Patreon CEO Jack Conte, who wants to carve a different path in this era of IP theft and AI slop.

"We're sending rockets into space; we got self-driving cars. We should figure out how to get creative people paid for their work."

Patreon CEO Jack Conte Wants You to Get Off of Your Phone

The man who cofounded Patreon is tired of influencers making content to get clicks. He’d rather creators earn lifelong fans—and he has a plan for that.

www.wired.com

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lerrrGHOUL 👻 @lerrrgan.bsky.social · 8d

time for my afternoon pick-me-up

A fish bowl full of iced coffee and a person drinking it with a straw.

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 8d

be nice to the birds!!

micheal @godsboy.bsky.social · 8d

it makes me sad when people are mean to the nyc pigeons

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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 8d

"Now Wired — which has become indispensable and deserves your subscription dollars (🙏) — reports that DHS wants to create dedicated centers to mass monitor social-media in real time."

"Authoritarian Capacity" and the Trump Regime - Lawyers, Guns & Money

In May of 2022, the Department of Homeland Security tried to stand up a group to coordinate government anti-disinformation efforts. As Deepa Shivaram wrote at NPR, the “decision” resulted from a “coor...

www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com

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Vittoria Elliott @telliotter.bsky.social · 12d

NEW! Dept of Education workers say their OOO replies were forcibly changed to blame Democrats for shutdown. When employees changed their responses back to the more neutral language, it changed yet again to the partisan response.

@wired.com @leahfeiger.bsky.social

www.wired.com/story/govern...

Government Workers Say Their Out-of-Office Replies Were Forcibly Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown

Some employees at the Department of Education changed their responses back to the more neutral language, only to have it changed yet again to the partisan response, multiple sources tell WIRED.

www.wired.com

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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 12d

NEW: Government workers tell @wired.com that their out-of-office replies are being forcibly changed to blame Democrats for the government shutdown.

Scoop from @leahfeiger.bsky.social @telliotter.bsky.social

Government Workers Say Their Out-of-Office Replies Were Forcibly Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown

Some employees at the Department of Education changed their responses back to the more neutral language, only to have it changed yet again to the partisan response, multiple sources tell WIRED.

www.wired.com

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Tim Marchman @timmarchman.bsky.social · 12d

Not trying to join the dunk party here, just want to note that the author is on Anthropic's economic advisory council.

Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 12d

I'm sorry: "if I wish to see a virgin on-screen"?

My Favorite Actress Is Not Human
Tilly Norwood doesn’t need a hairstylist, has no regrettable posts, and if you wish to see a virgin on-screen, this is one of your better chances. That’s because she’s AI.

A picture of some AI girl standing on an AI landscape with an AI monster behind her. I'm gonna be so real: she looks about 14

By Tyler Cowen

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 13d

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 13d

huh?! never noticed this before

Google search including a copy button for the 🤷

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evy kwong @evystadium.bsky.social · 13d

meanwhile in china: the pop mart empire has grown to $45 billion; more than the makers of transformers, barbie, and hello kitty combined all because of a demonic rabbit we all know as labubu. @zeyiyang.bsky.social has the inside story of how it happened, and what it means for china’s soft power

Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅 @zeyiyang.bsky.social · 13d

In college, I'd always walk past an unremarkable store in Beijing that sold a variety of trendy, but tacky, toys. That store has turned into Pop Mart, the $45-billion Chinese toy empire behind Labubu, the biggest global fad of 2025.

This is my big story/pilgrimage trip to explain how they got here

A Journey Into the Heart of Labubu

I made an epic trek across four countries to answer one question: Why is the world going mad for a plushie monster?

www.wired.com

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Micah @rincewind.run · 13d

an extraordinary person with an extraordinary legacy who nevertheless didn’t take herself too seriously

when Gary Larson published this cartoon, she was in Africa and her institute was horribly offended and drafted a complaint

the whole thing was defused when she returned - she found it funny

Far Side cartoon with a female chimpanzee grooming a male chimpanzee

“Well, well - another blond hair. … Conducting a little more ‘research’ with that Jane Goodall tramp?”

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Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅 @zeyiyang.bsky.social · 13d

In college, I'd always walk past an unremarkable store in Beijing that sold a variety of trendy, but tacky, toys. That store has turned into Pop Mart, the $45-billion Chinese toy empire behind Labubu, the biggest global fad of 2025.

This is my big story/pilgrimage trip to explain how they got here

A Journey Into the Heart of Labubu

I made an epic trek across four countries to answer one question: Why is the world going mad for a plushie monster?

www.wired.com

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 13d

These Sora videos feel like a more capable version those “Elf Yourself” videos from a decade ago. Except this time, any silliness is overcome with a nagging sense of dread.

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 13d

The “cameo” tool warps a user’s image into different situations using a simple prompt.

In the handful of AI slop videos @wired.com generated to test the release, the outputs were often absurd.

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Reece @thiccreese.bsky.social · 13d

What if deepfakes were entertainment? Not of celebrities and public figures. Deepfakes of you.

That’s the chilling, central question at the heart of OpenAI’s new Sora app.

www.wired.com/story/openai...

OpenAI’s New Sora App Lets You Deepfake Yourself for Entertainment

OpenAI’s latest app encourages users to generate a personal digital avatar and scroll AI-generated videos of themselves and their friends.

www.wired.com

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