Beyond Cupertino

51 'Beyond Cupertino' stories February 2023 - November 2023

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Beyond Cupertino is for tech news which has no Apple connection, but is sufficiently newsworthy or interesting to be worth including in the feed. Most of these pieces are asides, so easy to skip if they don’t interest you.

Data brokers selling even more sensitive info; national security risk, says report

Ben Lovejoy Nov 14 2023 - 6:33 am PT

Data brokers selling even more sensitive info | CCTV camera with array of red lights

A new report says that personal information sold by data brokers is even more sensitive and detailed than previously thought, making so-called anonymized data even easier to tie back to specific individuals.

The report says that those buying data are able to target people working in extremely sensitive professions, including military personnel and “decision makers” working in national security roles …

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Musk may block X in Europe, to avoid having to fix disinformation problem

Ben Lovejoy Oct 19 2023 - 5:01 am PT

Elon Musk reportedly thinks it may be simpler to block X in Europe, rather than fix the massive problem with disinformation on the platform.

The issue is now so bad that video game footage has been passed off as news coverage of the terrorist attack in Israel, and Musk himself has been promoting accounts known for racist content and conspiracy theories …

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X CEO shows her iPhone’s Home Screen with her favorite apps – and X isn’t there

Filipe Espósito Sep 28 2023 - 8:53 pm PT

X CEO shows her iPhone's Home Screen with her favorite apps – and X isn't there

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding X (formerly Twitter) since the company was acquired by Elon Musk last year. Earlier this year, Musk appointed former NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino as CEO of X. On Thursday, Yaccarino joined an interview at Vox Media’s Code 2023 conference, at which point she decided to show off her iPhone to the audience. To some people’s surprise, the X app is not on the first page of the Home Screen.

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AI hacking gets White House backing, as some systems go rogue on their own

Ben Lovejoy Aug 9 2023 - 5:54 am PT

AI hacking | Robot head image

A group of white hat hackers are competing to make AI go rogue – with the backing of the White House. The contest, at this year’s Def Con event, is intended to expose vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence systems, so that their developers can work on fixes.

A smaller event has already seen AI systems expose personal medical data and help plan a bank robbery, while some AI systems don’t seem to need any help from hackers, as they promote eating disorders …

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Reddit verification shown in screengrab

Social media roundup: Reddit verification; users leaving Threads; CSAM-posting Twitter user reinstated by Musk

Ben Lovejoy Jul 28 2023 - 4:40 am PT

A form of Reddit verification is currently being tested, in the form of an “official” label for some accounts confirmed as authentic.

For now at least, verification is only available to organizations, and not individuals, and the current test is extremely limited …

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Social media roundup: CSAM on Mastodon; Zuckerberg faces contempt charge; Twitter’s bank plans

Ben Lovejoy Jul 25 2023 - 4:53 am PT

CSAM on Mastodon | Abstract image of servers

An investigation by the Stanford Internet Observatory has found worrying volumes of CSAM on Mastodon. Of particular concern is that the child sexual abuse material included many known examples that should have been automatically detected by digital fingerprinting.

Researchers say that a large part of the issue is the open and decentralized nature of the social media platform …

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Reddit protests see moderators removed, communities move to Discord

Ben Lovejoy Jul 21 2023 - 4:14 am PT

Reddit down

Reddit protests have been continuing, despite threats by the company to take over subreddits which refuse to end them. The company has now carried out its threat against one of the biggest subreddits – a move which seems set to backfire.

Additionally, a fun crowdsourced art project on Reddit is now being used to post messages protesting against the company’s decision to charge extortionate amounts for API access …

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Netflix Basic gone in the US and UK, doubling price of dumping ads

Ben Lovejoy Jul 19 2023 - 6:34 am PT

Netflix Basic gone | Watching Netflix on MacBook

The Netflix Basic tier – which the company had previously attempted to hide – has now been withdrawn in both the US and UK, following the same move in Canada last month.

Removing the package will now force anyone wanting to dump the ads to pay more than twice as much for the Standard plan …

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Reddit chats missing? You may be able to get some back

Ben Lovejoy Jul 17 2023 - 4:52 am PT

If you’re finding lots of your Reddit chats missing, that is a feature, not a bug, says the site. The company did actually announce the plan, but in a very low-key way …

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Threads won't have ads for now | App splash screen on iPhone

Threads won’t have ads for now; fact-checking planned; brands at risk

Ben Lovejoy Jul 11 2023 - 7:29 am PT

Newly-launched Twitter competitor Threads won’t have ads for now, says the company. Despite hitting 100M registered users in less than a week, parent company Meta has told potential advertisers that it hasn’t yet hit “critical mass” …

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Twitter is blocking Threads links in searches

Ben Lovejoy Jul 11 2023 - 5:07 am PT

While Twitter’s new CEO has been trying to convince us that the platform can’t be replaced by Threads, it seems the company is privately rather less confident. A developer noticed that Twitter is blocking Threads links in searches, with others confirming it …

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The death of Twitter: Is it real this time, thanks to Threads?

Ben Lovejoy Jul 4 2023 - 7:30 am PT

The death of Twitter | Closed sign

Reports of the death of Twitter have so far been somewhat exaggerated. Musk may have made dumb decision after dumb decision, but each time either did a rapid U-turn shortly afterwards, or the sheer momentum of Twitter as the default social media app has carried it through.

But this time, Musk has not only achieved Michael Scott levels of ineptitude, but Meta has brought forward the launch of its Twitter rival Threads in order to take advantage of the chaos …

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Reddit going dark | Dim light bulb

Reddit going dark in protest at API pricing; Apple cut Twitter ad spend

Ben Lovejoy Jun 5 2023 - 5:16 am PT

Reddit is going dark in protest at Reddit’s new API pricing, after third-party app Apollo was faced with an unaffordable bill of $20M per year. Dozens of the biggest subreddits plan to go private for two days, with hundreds of others joining in.

In other app news, Elon Musk’s claim that Twitter advertisers have returned appears to be misleading …

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Twitter valuation and Pentagon explosion hoax (shown)

Twitter valuation fell massively; Pentagon explosion hoax; anti-harrassment app closing

Ben Lovejoy May 31 2023 - 5:34 am PT

Elon Musk recently admitted that Twitter is now worth less than half of the $44B he paid for it, but it now appears that the current Twitter valuation may actually be a third of the sum he paid …

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AI could make humans extinct | Google DeepMind image

AI could make humans extinct, say top experts and CEOs in stark warning

Ben Lovejoy May 30 2023 - 5:54 am PT

There have been conflicting views on the risks to humanity posed by artificial intelligence, with some even going as far as suggesting that AI could make humans extinct. Surprisingly, however, that latter view is shared by many leading experts in artificial intelligence – including the CEOs of both OpenAI and Google DeepMind …

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Delete Twitter data, or pay $42K/month, company tells academics

Ben Lovejoy May 26 2023 - 4:07 am PT

Academics have been told to delete Twitter data used for research purposes, unless they sign up for API access costing $42,000 per month …

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Facebook privacy breach sees parent company Meta fined a record $1.3B

Ben Lovejoy May 22 2023 - 4:15 am PT

Facebook privacy breach | Camera 'looking through' smartphone screen

A Facebook privacy breach has seen parent company Meta fined $1.3B – the largest amount ever imposed for breaking Europe’s tough GDPR privacy laws, according to WSJ sources. The news is expected to be officially announced later today.

The fine also raises questions about the privacy of US Facebook users, as it was levied for exposing European citizens to the much looser rules that apply to American users …

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Twitter advertising now safe | People using smartphones

Twitter advertising now safer, says biggest spender; TikTok ban challenged in court [U]

Ben Lovejoy May 19 2023 - 6:06 am PT

Twitter advertising is now safer – or, at least, no longer “high risk” – according to the world’s biggest ad agency, GroupM. In other social media news, a group of TikTok creators has filed a lawsuit, calling Montana’s ban on the app “unconstitutional” …

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New Twitter CEO is Linda Yaccarino

New Twitter CEO named, with likely moderation clashes ahead

Ben Lovejoy May 15 2023 - 5:11 am PT

As widely rumored, the new Twitter CEO has been named as former NBCUniversal advertising exec Linda Yaccarino. Platform owner Elon Musk was making good on a promise he made last year, to abide by the results of a poll telling him to resign as the company’s head …

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AI cannot be stopped, says Steve Wozniak; we must prepare for more convincing scams

Ben Lovejoy May 10 2023 - 5:12 am PT

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak (aka Woz) has said that the march of AI cannot be stopped – even though he has called for a pause in development – and that we must prepare ourselves for people abusing it to create harder-to-spot scams …

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Twitter emergency alerts | Hurricane Ida radar map

Twitter emergency alerts U-turn; Musk threatens NPR

Ben Lovejoy May 3 2023 - 5:18 am PT

Twitter emergency alerts were one of the casualties of the company starting to charge for the API access that allows automatic tweeting. Many public services and transport companies were facing unaffordable bills to continue to use the service.

Twitter has now announced a partial U-turn on this, though details remain unclear …

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Twitter Inc | Hand With Care message on box

Twitter Inc. ceases to exist; Musk’s messy battle with Substack

Ben Lovejoy Apr 11 2023 - 4:05 am PT

Twitter Inc. – the company that owned the social network purchased by Elon Musk – no longer exists, according to a court filing. Instead, Twitter is now directly owned by a new Musk company, X Corp …

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AI development beyond GPT-4 should be paused – Woz, Musk, academics

Ben Lovejoy Mar 29 2023 - 5:22 am PT

Woz calls for pause in AI development | Steve Wozniak

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak has joined Elon Musk and leading AI academics in calling for a pause in advanced AI development. Specifically, the open letter asks for a minimum six-month pause in the development of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4 …

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Twitter now wants to become a payments platform to compete with Apple Pay and PayPal

Twitter timelines filled with Musk tweets; API change delayed; Chinese dissidents invisible

Ben Lovejoy Feb 14 2023 - 5:24 am PT

A significant number of users are finding that their Twitter timelines are dominated by tweets from Elon Musk.

It follows the company’s owner complaining to engineers that his tweets weren’t getting as much attention – firing a senior one who told him it wasn’t a technical issue, just people being less interested in what the billionaire had to say …

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