Archives by date

You are browsing the site archives by date.

Zoom agrees to $85M settlement in litigation over privacy and ‘Zoombombings’

Hi guys! I found an interesting article about recent litigation Zoom was in for customer security and privacy! It was back in late 2021, but I thought it was really interesting! You can find the article linked here: https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/zoom-agrees-to-85m-settlement-in-litigation-over-privacy-and-zoombombings

NFTs Are Here to Ruin D&D

Here is the article: https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-nft-gripnr-blockchain-dnd-ttrpg-1848686984? How the service will work is as follows: “To sum up: Players will buy a pre-generated D&D character, play with it in pre-generated adventures, level it up on the blockchain, and then sell it. It sounds like easy money, right? You’ll get paid to play your favorite game.” The article […]

Worldcoin: large scale retina scans in exchange for worthless crypto

I honestly am struggling with this, but somehow these articles are not an April Fool’s joke: MIT Tech Review: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/06/1048981/worldcoin-cryptocurrency-biometrics-web3/ Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/richardnieva/worldcoin-crypto-eyeball-scanning-orb-problems Surreal as this may sound, there is, actually, a Crypto company, with real employees, who have built a handheld “Orb,” which they are bringing around the world, scanning the retinas of as many […]

The Link Between Social Media and Plastic Surgery

Hi guys, I stumbled upon a really interesting research study that got me thinking about the links between what we see on social media and the important choices we make in the real world. These researchers out of Saudi Arabia looked at the link between social media use, viewing cosmetic surgery content, and actually getting […]

Cryptocurrency: UK Treasury to regulate some stablecoins

The article can be found here: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60983561 “So-called “stablecoins” will become recognised forms of payment to give people confidence in using digital currencies, it said. Stablecoins are designed to have a stable value linked to traditional currencies or assets like gold. They are considered less volatile than cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.” Following the presentation on […]

How false news can spread

Hi everyone, Here is an interesting TED video that YouTube happened to suggest to me about misinformation. It was made 6 years ago, but its lesson is as relevant as ever. – Adam Sanders

Disinformation Perpetuated by Russia

This brief assignment will be discussing Russia’s use of disinformation as a war tactic. It will begin by outlining how disinformation has been defined, where such information is presented, and motivations for perpetuating such narratives. It will follow by discussing how the Russian government has been using strategies and narratives of disinformation, particularly since the […]

Elon Musk Becomes the Largest Shareholder of Twitter

Elon Musk purchased 9.2% of Twitter today making him the largest shareholder of the company. It is believed that he pursued such a large ownership stake over free speech concerns and the prevalence of “wokeism”. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/04/investing/elon-musk-twitter-shares-stake/index.html

It’s not too late for self-regulation: a follow-up

Hi everyone! Yesterday, Lily and I posted our presentation on echo chambers and social media algorithms: Presentation: Echo Chambers, Algorithms, and Social Media At the end of our presentation, we discuss potential means of regulation and conclude that a self-regulated framework focused on disclosure and transparency is perhaps the most effective means to deal with […]