Behind the Blog: The Art of the ‘Catharticle’
This week, we discuss Star Wars’ weird little guys, catharticles, and spectacular views.
Cyber Security
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CBP Seizes Shipment of T-Shirts Featuring Swarm of Bees Attacking a Cop
Customs and Border Protection seized a shipment of t-shirts from a streetwear brand that sells an “Eliminate ICE” t-shirt and multiple shirts critical of police and capitalism. Among the shirts seized was a design that features a swarm of bees attacking a police officer. Emails seen by 404 Media indicate that the shirts are going…
‘Doom: The Dark Ages’ DRM Is Locking Out Linux Users Who Bought the Game
Doom: The Dark Ages, Bethesda’s recently released prequel to the demon slaughtering first-person shooter, is using anti-piracy software that’s locking out Linux users who paid for the game. According to multiple posts on Reddit, Doom: The Dark Ages uses the infamous anti-piracy software Denuvo. One Reddit user on the Linux gaming subreddit said that they…
This Chatbot Promises to Help You Get Over That Ex Who Ghosted You
A startup is throwing chatbots at “ghosting”—being abandoned by someone abruptly and without explanation—by roleplaying as your ex, former friend, or absentee job recruiter who is just so sorry about how it all went down. Closure is currently in open beta, and launched on Product Hunt on Thursday. The company has been running ads on…
Why Did Grok Start Talking About ‘White Genocide’?
For a few hours on Wednsday, X’s Grok AI wouldn’t stop talking about about white genocide. When the X account for a baseball podcast asked Grok about the stats for Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, it answered the question, then monologued about white farmers being attacked in South Africa. “Gunnar Henderson’s 2025 season WAR is approximately…
American Schools Were Deeply Unprepared for ChatGPT, Public Records Show
📄 This article was primarily reported using public records requests. We are making it available to all readers as a public service. FOIA reporting can be expensive, please consider subscribing to 404 Media to support this work. Or send us a one time donation via our tip jar here. In February 2023, a brief national…
Podcast: AI Avatar of Killed Man Testifies in Court
We start this week with Jason and Matthew’s story about an AI avatar that testified in court. It might be a sign of things to come. After the break, well, well, well, Meta is developing facial recognition for its smart glasses. In the subscribers-only section, Jason tells us all about AI in baseball. Listen to…
Kanye’s Nazi Song Is All Over Instagram
While other social media sites and streaming services rush to scrub Kanye West’s pro-Nazi song from their platforms , the curious or the enthused can find memes, remixes, and unedited audio of West’s new song, “Heil Hitler,” all over Instagram. Nazism is one of the only groups that Meta calls out by name in its…
Unity Is Threatening to Revoke Licenses From DayZ Developer Dean Hall
Game engine company Unity is threatening to pull the licenses for RocketWerkz, the studio founded by DayZ developer Deal Hall, for reasons Hall told me are unfounded. Hall first posted about this situation to the Reddit game development community r/gamedev on Friday, where he said “Unity is currently sending emails threatening longtime developers with disabling…
How Video Game Sex Scenes Are Made
Somewhere in Warsaw, Poland, two actors are pretending to have sex. It’s not the most intimate of environments. The mood lighting, if you can call it that, is fluorescent bulbs burning overhead, making the sterile, white walls look even brighter than they actually are. In lieu of a bed or couch, the actors fit tightly…