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From beef noodles to bots: Taiwan’s factcheckers on fighting Chinese disinformation and ‘unstoppable’ AI
Wed, 05 Jun 2024 02:02:25 GMT
Taiwan is the target of more disinformation from abroad than any other democracy, according to University of Gothenburg study
Charles Yeh’s battle with disinformation in Taiwan began with a bowl of beef noodles. Nine years ago, the Taiwanese engineer was at a restaurant with his family when his mother-in-law started picking the green onions out of her food. Asked what she was doing, she explained that onions can harm your liver. She knew this, she said, because she had received text messages telling her so.
Yeh was puzzled by this. His family had always happily eaten green onions. So he decided to set the record straight.
He put the truth in a blog post and circulated it among family and friends through the messaging app Line. They shared it more broadly, and soon he received requests from strangers asking to be connected to his personal Line account.
One of 2023’s blockbusters lands on the streamer, with Oscar in hand and more thrills than most Hollywood summer offerings
At a divisive time of much uncertainty and strife, a constant has emerged from the ocean to serve as a great uniter: Godzilla. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, from Warner’s MonsterVerse franchise, is the rare fifth movie to approach a series high; just ask its studio stablemate Furiosa, an acclaimed fifth installment that’s become one of many entertaining 2024 movies to struggle at the box office, how difficult that is. On either side of the Godzilla x Kong triumph sit several more wins for the big G, courtesy of Godzilla Minus One, the most recent entry from the Japanese company Toho. That movie did great business at the box office last December, won an Oscar for visual effects in March, and currently sits atop the Netflix charts in its long-awaited streaming debut, attracting plenty of the viewers who have opted to stay home this summer. Typically, US releases of Japanese Godzilla movies are niche, nerdy events; how is it, exactly, that the new one managed to outperform recent movies from Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon, Beyoncé and M Night Shyamalan, among others?
It would be a little churlish, not to mention disrespectful of Godzilla, to say that it comes down to the quality of Godzilla Minus One. It’s also tempting to do so anyway, because the movie, written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, is terrific – more stirring than a number of last year’s best picture nominees. There have been plenty of delightful Godzilla sequels over the years, but the series’ current approach, combined with negotiated limits based on the concurrent US-based movies, seems particularly conducive to making something special.
Continue reading...A viral video from a tourist showed that Yuntai falls in Henan province relies on some artificial help to keep the torrent of water flowing
It is a cherished natural beauty spot in China: the Yuntai waterfall sees plumes of water cascade hundreds of metres down a gorge, soaking the many tourists it receives with mist as they stare up at its heights to take photos.
However, officials have admitted the 314-metre falls in Henan province has received a “small enhancement” and relies partly on water pumped from a pipe during the dry season.
Continue reading...Sanmu Chen appeared to write the date of massacre in the air as anniversary becomes increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong
Hong Kong police detained an artist on Monday night after he appeared to write “8964” in the air with his hand, a reference to the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre, hours before Tuesday’s 35th anniversary.
Public acknowledgment of the events of 4 June 1989, when Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people – is banned in mainland China and increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Claudia Sheinbaum aims to continue the pursuit of social justice – her predecessor’s most outstanding quality – without his charisma
Claudia Sheinbaum made history this week by winning a landslide election to become Mexico’s first female president. A leftwing climate scientist, Ms Sheinbaum appears a technocrat with progressive views, everything her presidential predecessor, the folksy populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as Amlo, was not.
Yet the differences may be more about style than substance. Ms Sheinbaum has been by Mr López Obrador’s side for two decades, and has a deserved reputation for hard work, fidelity to her mentor and a thirst for social justice. One of the big questions for the new president is whether her win will translate into more political rights and protections for women, 11 of whom are murdered a day.
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Uncrewed Chang’e-6 lander is carrying rock and soil samples in ‘very important achievement’ after lunar liftoff
China’s uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe is on its way back to Earth carrying the first samples from the far side of the moon, in a major achievement for Beijing’s space programme.
The probe landed on the lunar surface on Sunday, within one of the oldest craters on the moon – the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin – then spent two days gathering rock and soil samples using its drill and robotic arm.
Continue reading...Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
Events marking 35 years since troops ended peaceful protest with deadly violence are banned in China and Hong Kong
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have arrested or put under surveillance several dissidents before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre this week, according to human rights groups.
On 4 June it will be 35 years since Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people.
Continue reading...Spacecraft to collect samples from rarely explored area after landing heralded as ‘enormous technical achievement’
China has landed its uncrewed Chang’e-6 lunar probe on the far side of the moon, marking an important step in the country’s 53-day mission to retrieve rock and soil samples from the “dark” lunar hemisphere, in what would be a world first.
The landing elevates China’s space power status in a global rush to the moon, where countries including the US are hoping to exploit lunar minerals to sustain long-term astronaut missions and moon bases within the next decade.
Continue reading...I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to predict that artificial intelligence will affect every aspect of our society. Not by doing new things. But mostly by doing things that are already being done by humans, perfectly competently.
Replacing humans with AIs isn’t necessarily interesting. But when an AI takes over a human task, the task changes.
In particular, there are potential changes over four dimensions: Speed, scale, scope and sophistication. The problem with AIs trading stocks isn’t that they’re better than humans—it’s that they’re faster. But computers are better at chess and Go because they use more sophisticated strategies than humans. We’re worried about AI-controlled social media accounts because they operate on a superhuman scale...
New banknotes to replace current notes ‘very gradually;’ Indian shares rise after Tuesday’s selloff when Modi’s ruling BJP party lost its parliamentary majority
By contrast, the UK services sector lost some momentum in May, as business activity and new orders eased from 11-month highs in April. That said, job growth and business confidence improved slightly.
On a brighter note, there was a substantial cooling in the rate of firm’s input cost inflation, which fell to its weakest since February 2021. This fed through to prices charged by businesses, which rose at the slowest rate in more than three years.
The PMI survey for May showed another reasonable rate of expansion in the UK service sector. Taken in tandem with our earlier-released manufacturing survey, the PMIs imply GDP growth of around 0.3% so far in the second quarter.
Of particular interest to the immediate outlook for the UK economy will be the prices measures, with the Bank of England potentially moving to cut interest rates as soon as this month. The PMI surveys show prices for UK services rising at the slowest pace for over three years. That’s now three months on the trot that selling price inflation in the service sector has eased – this will be very encouraging to the Monetary Policy Committee and suggests the trajectory of services prices is moving in the right direction.
Continue reading...The Indian Fever star has endured a brutal welcome to the professional ranks. But it was no different for the likes of Michael Jordan and Peyton Manning
On Monday the WNBA named Caitlin Clark its rookie of the month, a sweet reward for the 22-year-old that couldn’t come at a tougher time.
Since entering the league mere weeks ago as the top overall pick, Clark has not only been under pressure due to the outsized expectations that have come with her immense collegiate star status; she’s had to do so while being guarded the length of the floor, running blindly into screens and losing nine of her first 11 games with the Indiana Fever, who have finished last in their conference for the last three seasons. Even though many close WNBA followers expected Clark wouldn’t get by anywhere near as easily as she did at Iowa – not least former top pick Diana Taurasi, who a month ago warned, “reality is coming” – that hasn’t stopped Clark’s legion of fans from taking the slights against her personally and attributing them to a wider league conspiracy to cut down their shiny new meal ticket.
Continue reading...With Starmer’s election chances so high, would it really hurt to show more sympathy to the migrants who help this country to thrive?
I have never voted Conservative. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to a degree of delight when Rishi Sunak became prime minister. Not because I expected anything new, or that I agreed with him politically, but because I never imagined such a thing might happen in my lifetime.
Perhaps it’s a sign of where Britain is at that having a British Asian leader is hardly remarked upon. But there wasn’t an Indian family I knew that wasn’t privately thrilled when Sunak took power in 2022, even if only for a moment. We had arrived. I could allow my son to dream of holding the highest public office one day – a dream I never dared to have for myself when I was growing up in London in the 1990s, when the number of ethnic minority MPs was in single digits.
Angela Saini is a science writer and teaches at MIT. Her latest book, The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule, was shortlisted for the 2023 Orwell prize
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Continue reading...Latest results reveal unexpected blow to PM, forcing negotiation with coalition partners to regain power
Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.
With all votes counted early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in polls had not materialised and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country.
Continue reading...Narendra Modi says India has placed its faith in the ruling coalition ‘for a third consecutive time’, as figures show his BJP party unlikely to secure an overall majority
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance, the NDA bloc, is enjoying an early lead as votes are counted, pulling ahead in 154 seats of the total 543 in the lower house of parliament.
Early trends show the opposition INDIA alliance leading in 120 seats.
The first votes counted are postal ballots, which are paper ballots, mostly cast by troops serving outside their home constituencies or officials away from home on election duty.
This year, postal votes were also offered to voters over 85 years of age and people with disabilities to allow them to vote from home.
According to some exit polls, Modi and the BJP could be headed for a two-thirds majority in parliament, giving them an even stronger victory than in the 2019 elections.
Continue reading...Exit polls had projected overwhelming victory for the BJP and an even stronger mandate for India’s strongman
India’s elections may return Narendra Modi to power for a third term but Tuesday’s results did not have the flavour of victory for the strongman prime minister.
Indeed, as the early counts of the votes began to roll in, it was clear this was going to be one of the most humbling moments for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in over a decade.
Continue reading...The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
Continue reading...Modi’s ruling BJP may gain a two-thirds majority, amid allegations of intimidation of opposition candidates and Muslim voter suppression
Voting has come to a close in India’s mammoth elections, as exit polls widely predicted prime minister Narendra Modi would win a historic third term in proceedings marred by allegations of irregularities.
The election, the longest and largest in India’s history with almost a billion eligible voters, began in mid-April. As it progressed over seven phases until 1 June, a deadly heatwave gripped the country, with temperatures almost touching 50C in areas, leading to deaths of dozens of voters and polling officials.
Continue reading...Prime minister claims victory but opposition dismisses poll results as fixed and unscientific
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)-led alliance is projected to win a big majority in the general election that concluded on Saturday, TV exit polls said, suggesting it would do better than expected by most analysts.
Most exit polls projected the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could win a two-thirds majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament, where 272 is needed for a simple majority. A two-thirds majority will allow the government to usher in far-reaching amendments to the constitution.
Continue reading...“It’s hard to see this wildly disproportionate response as anything other than an attempt to chill speech on this issue.”
The post Columbia Coincidentally Rewrites Disciplinary Rules Just in Time to Screw Over Student Protesters appeared first on The Intercept.
Bring some Caribbean heat to this veggie dish that works great as a standout main or flavour-packed side
Aubergines roasted over fire, glazed with umami-rich miso and the fruity heat of Encona West Indian Original Hot Pepper Sauce – yum! Encona has done a lot of the work already – the sauce has heat and fruitiness from scotch bonnets and tang from vinegar – so you’re building flavour from a really delicious, complex base. Cook a load of these to pile high as a side for guests to feast on, or have them as a quick and tasty midweek dinner.
This recipe is veggie (and can easily be made plant based by replacing the honey with maple syrup or agave nectar), and has loads of flavour, which makes for a deeply satisfying meal.
Continue reading...All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
The post The Little-Known Reason Counties Keep Building Bigger Jails: Architecture Firms appeared first on The Intercept.
Found guilty on 34 counts by a New York jury, Trump might find himself campaigning behind bars.
The post These Convictions Thwart Trump’s Plan to Pardon Himself appeared first on The Intercept.
CEO Jensen Huang tells packed stadium in Taipei ‘next Industrial Revolution has begun’
Nvidia has unveiled new products and plans to accelerate the advance of artificial intelligence, with the AI hardware company’s chief executive telling a packed stadium in Taipei on Sunday that “the next Industrial Revolution has begun”.
Jensen Huang is in Taiwan for the island’s leading tech expo, Computex, along with the CEOs of some of the world’s biggest semiconductor companies – including AMD, Intel and Qualcomm – and their plans for a tech industry dominated by AI are top of the agenda.
Continue reading...Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
Biden's plan to cozy up to Arab dictators is right out of Donald Trump's playbook — but even worse.
The post Joe Biden’s Terrible Israel Policy Is Really About Getting in Bed With Saudi Arabia appeared first on The Intercept.
Deterrence policy against asylum seeker boats is under strain, with three vessels arriving in a week in May
The number of asylum seekers on Nauru appears to have topped 100, with a further two groups of 37 people sent to the Pacific Island.
The people, classified as “unauthorised maritime arrivals”, include 33 Bangladeshis who were found on Christmas Island on 9 May, one of who is a woman. Their boat was destroyed by bad weather.
Continue reading...Kuo Chiu, known as KC to his friends, teaches urban design at Tunghai University in Taiwan. He’s also one of many of the country's citizens who practises rifle skills in his spare time, in case of a Chinese invasion.
The population of Taiwan has long grown familiar with Beijing’s pledge to one day ‘unify’ what it claims is a breakaway province. But recently, there has been a significant increase in aggressive and intimidatory acts.
Taiwan’s 160,000 active military personnel are vastly outnumbered by China’s 2 million-member armed forces, leading many civilians to turn to voluntary medical and combat training to protect themselves.
The Guardian's video team spent time with KC to see how he is preparing
Continue reading...We know turbulence is a common part of flying – but are some routes more prone? And where is it the worst? Turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries to crew and passengers and after the fatal Singapore Airlines incident and injuries to passengers above Turkey on a Qatar Airways flight, you might be wondering if flights are about to get bumpier. Incidents of severe turbulence are on the rise – increasing by 55% between 1979 and 2020 – and the climate crisis is thought to be a responsible factor
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Continue reading...He tells the world he intends to be an authoritarian. So why won’t journalists repeat it?
The post The Media Still Doesn’t Grasp the Danger of Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
Khaled Al Serr, a young surgeon, vanished from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis two months ago. He hasn’t been heard from since.
The post Hundreds of Palestinian Doctors Disappeared Into Israeli Detention appeared first on The Intercept.
Ban Khun Samut Chin, a coastal village in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, has been slowly swallowed by the sea over the past few decades. This has led to the relocation of the school and many homes, resulting in a dwindling population. Currently, there are only four students attending the school, often leaving just one in each classroom. The village has experienced severe coastal erosion, causing 1.1-2km (0.5-1.2 miles) of shoreline to disappear since the mid-1950s
Continue reading...Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
The post The Little-Known Reason Counties Keep Building Bigger Jails: Architecture Firms appeared first on The Intercept.
The megadonor’s plan for a $25 million research center at Cornell fell apart. So he took his money to Texas A&M.
The post Leonard Leo Built the Conservative Court. Now He’s Funneling Dark Money Into Law Schools. appeared first on The Intercept.
Researchers tested for bias in Facebook’s algorithm by purchasing ads promoting for-profit colleges and studying who saw them.
The post One Facebook Ad Promotes a For-Profit College; Another a State School. Which Ad Do Black Users See? appeared first on The Intercept.
Government prosecutors claimed they didn’t know a former detainee recanted his testimony in interviews with the government.
The post Guantánamo Prosecutors Accused of “Outrageous” Misconduct for Trying to Use Torture Testimony appeared first on The Intercept.
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Vote is Congress’s first legislative rebuke of war-crimes court since ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek arrests of leaders of Israel and Hamas
The House passed legislation on Tuesday that would sanction the international criminal court after its chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
The 247-155 vote amounts to Congress’s first legislative rebuke of the war-crimes court since prosecutor Karim Khan’s decision last month to seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and Hamas. The move was widely denounced in Washington, creating a rare moment of unity on Israel even as partisan divisions over the war with Hamas intensified.
Continue reading...Congressman bids to replace Menendez, who plans to run as independent despite being charged with accepting bribes
Democratic congressman Andy Kim has won New Jersey’s Senate primary, putting him in strong position for the general election in the blue-leaning state, though the win comes a day after Democratic senator Bob Menendez filed to run as an independent amid his federal corruption trial.
Menendez, who has denied allegations that he accepted bribes to promote the interests of the Egyptian government, has chosen not to seek the Democratic Senate nomination. Kim’s win comes after a bruising battle that led New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy to withdraw from the race in March.
Continue reading...Attorney general defends stewardship of justice department and accuses Republican lawmakers of peddling conspiracy theories
US attorney general Merrick Garland has defended his stewardship of the justice department in a combative display on Capitol Hill that saw him accusing Republicans of attacking the rule of law while telling them he “will not be intimidated.”
Testifying before the House judiciary committee, Garland accused GOP congressmen of engaging in conspiracy theories and peddling false narratives.
Continue reading...In Gainesville, Florida, children are on the front lines of the hazards long ignored by local and state government officials.
The post For Decades, Officials Knew a School Sat on a Former Dump — and Did Little to Clean Up the Toxins appeared first on The Intercept.
The leader of the Morena party could pass legislation and budgets unopposed through congress
Claudia Sheinbaum seems poised to cement her historic victory as Mexico’s first female president with a supermajority in congress that would let her party pass legislation and budgets unopposed – and perhaps even change the constitution without need for compromise.
Sheinbaum, a 61-year-old climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency with 59.5% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority.
Continue reading...Party will have to pick coalition partners and then try to reform itself in response to declining support
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has lost its three-decade electoral majority in devastating fashion. As the former liberation movement faces the task of building a coalition government, it remains to be seen how it will respond to the message sent to it by voters.
The ANC’s vote share collapsed from 57.5% in 2019 to 40.2% in last week’s elections, amid chronic unemployment, degraded public services and high rates of violent crime.
Continue reading...Former Mexico City mayor’s Morena party also on track for possible two-thirds supermajority in Congress
Claudia Sheinbaum has won a landslide victory to become Mexico’s first female president, inheriting the project of her mentor and outgoing leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose popularity among the poor helped drive her triumph.
Sheinbaum, a leftwing climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency with between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority.
Continue reading...ANC says demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa must step down is ‘no-go area’ as rival Jacob Zuma stokes fears of violence
Final results from Wednesday’s seismic South Africa elections have confirmed that the African National Congress (ANC) party has lost its majority for the first time in 30 years of full democracy, firing the starting gun on unprecedented coalition talks.
The ANC, which led the fight to free South Africa from apartheid, won just 159 seats in the 400-member national assembly on a vote share of just over 40%. High unemployment, power cuts, violent crime and crumbling infrastructure have contributed to a haemorrhaging of support for the former liberation movement.
Continue reading...After 30 years in power, the African National Congress, which took 40.2% of the vote, must engage in tricky coalition talks with rivals
The African National Congress’s (ANC) three decades of political dominance in South Africa has come to an end after it was announced that it had won just 40.2% of the vote in last week’s general election.
The ANC’s dramatic decline – the first time it has failed to win a majority of the votes since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic election in 1994 – will lead to a chaotic round of coalition negotiations, with all of its potential partners posing difficulties.
Continue reading...Found guilty on 34 counts by a New York jury, Trump might find himself campaigning behind bars.
The post These Convictions Thwart Trump’s Plan to Pardon Himself appeared first on The Intercept.
Collapse in support means ANC may not reach 50% vote share needed to rule alone. Which parties are contenders for coalition?
South Africa is facing the uncertain possibility of a coalition government after a collapse in support for the ruling African National Congress party in Wednesday’s election meant it probably will not reach the 50% vote share needed for it to rule on its own. Here is a guide to the three main contenders for coalition partners:
Continue reading...The Intercept’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft shows how digital outlets are uniquely vulnerable.
The post Scarlett Johansson Isn’t Alone. The Intercept Is Getting Ripped Off by OpenAI Too. appeared first on The Intercept.
He tells the world he intends to be an authoritarian. So why won’t journalists repeat it?
The post The Media Still Doesn’t Grasp the Danger of Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
The battalion has a dedicated U.S. nonprofit to support its operations — whose president is supporting AIPAC’s political agenda.
The post This AIPAC Donor Funnels Millions to an IDF Unit Accused of Violating Human Rights appeared first on The Intercept.
British institutions face possible closure as 52 out of 90 are given lower positions this year in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings
UK universities will have their international reputations dented and face possible closure because of continuing funding pressures, according to an authoritative league table that named Imperial College London as second in the world.
Imperial overtook Oxford and Harvard universities and was behind only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the annual Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university rankings.
Continue reading...The megadonor’s plan for a $25 million research center at Cornell fell apart. So he took his money to Texas A&M.
The post Leonard Leo Built the Conservative Court. Now He’s Funneling Dark Money Into Law Schools. appeared first on The Intercept.
Researchers tested for bias in Facebook’s algorithm by purchasing ads promoting for-profit colleges and studying who saw them.
The post One Facebook Ad Promotes a For-Profit College; Another a State School. Which Ad Do Black Users See? appeared first on The Intercept.
The narrative that took hold ignored inland campuses, like in the Rust Belt and into Appalachia, where students formed their own encampments.
The post Not Just Coastal Elites: Here’s How Three Rust Belt Colleges Protested Israel’s War in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
“It’s hard to see this wildly disproportionate response as anything other than an attempt to chill speech on this issue.”
The post Columbia Coincidentally Rewrites Disciplinary Rules Just in Time to Screw Over Student Protesters appeared first on The Intercept.
Is this what the “pro-life” movement wanted?
The post Sterilization, Murders, Suicides: Bans Haven’t Slowed Abortions, and They’re Costing Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
One man is trying to revive zero-carbon cargo routes by sailing produce along England’s eastern seaboard – and taking paying passengers along for the thrilling ride
The water glitters, rippled by a rising wind, and Victorious glides silently on three huge, maroon sails. We’re the only boat in sight, surrounded by grey sea and vast sky. Every direction offers a subtly different picture: patches of blue and fluffy clouds, billowing blue-black clouds, occasional rays of sunshine beaming into the Wash. A flock of Brent geese flies across our bows.
“It just feels like she’s made for these waters. It’s magical,” purrs one of my five fellow sailors, . We’re taking potatoes from the Fenland channel of Fosdyke to make chips in Norfolk, and the hold of our immaculately restored 42ft shrimping smack will be packed with extra goods when we reach King’s Lynn.
Continue reading...Work your way in for a free pass, club together with friends for gear – and don’t forget the toilet rolls and wet wipes
You can get into festivals for free by offering to work during the event. Websites such as Festaff offer easy ways to volunteer for roles such as stewarding.
Continue reading...Did you know that Croydon used to attract Hollywood stars? Or that grotesque sculptures once welcomed patients to Bedlam? Such things you’ll learn visiting the capital’s more bijou exhibitions
The V&A? The Science Museum? I’m sure, during childhood visits to the capital, that my parents must have shown me some of London’s biggest attractions, but the memory that’s really stayed with me is of something much smaller. We had called in at a Georgian townhouse late one dusky afternoon – and once inside were invited to climb up on to the roof. There, as evening fell over the skyline, I found a scaled-down railway station with a miniature train, steam pouring from its chimney, that skated over a pond and occasionally plunged into a tunnel. It was the stuff of Mary Poppins. Anything is possible in London, I thought.
That rooftop train ride helped ignite my fascination with the capital and its cornucopia of museums. The London Toy and Model Museum, as I later found out it was called, was only open from 1982 to 1999. And yet it was the start of a journey that wound up with me writing for Londonist, a website that enlightens people on the best – and often more unexpected – things they can get up to in this city.
Continue reading...Interesting story of breaking the security of the RoboForm password manager in order to recover a cryptocurrency wallet password.
Grand and Bruno spent months reverse engineering the version of the RoboForm program that they thought Michael had used in 2013 and found that the pseudo-random number generator used to generate passwords in that version—and subsequent versions until 2015—did indeed have a significant flaw that made the random number generator not so random. The RoboForm program unwisely tied the random passwords it generated to the date and time on the user’s computer—it determined the computer’s date and time, and then generated passwords that were predictable. If you knew the date and time and other parameters, you could compute any password that would have been generated on a certain date and time in the past...
Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
Brian Krebs reports on research into geolocating routers:
Apple and the satellite-based broadband service Starlink each recently took steps to address new research into the potential security and privacy implications of how their services geolocate devices. Researchers from the University of Maryland say they relied on publicly available data from Apple to track the location of billions of devices globally—including non-Apple devices like Starlink systems—and found they could use this data to monitor the destruction of Gaza, as well as the movements and in many cases identities of Russian and Ukrainian troops...
Is this what the “pro-life” movement wanted?
The post Sterilization, Murders, Suicides: Bans Haven’t Slowed Abortions, and They’re Costing Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
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