A tsunami warning was issued — and then cancelled about an hour later — for 400 miles of California coastline after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast near California's northern border with Oregon. "About 5 million people were under the warning while it was in effect," [1]reports a San Francisco news site .

Phones had sounded with an emergency tone in affected areas, with a warning that "You are in danger. Get away from coastal waters. Move to high ground or inland now." Warning sirens sounded in some areas, and as a precaution San Francisco [2]paused service for its BART trains travelling under the San Francisco Bay. But while tsunami waves were originally predicted to hit San Francisco at 12:10 p.m. — they didn't. New information prompted the cancellation of the tsunami warning.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [3]sinij for sharing the news.



[1] https://www.kron4.com/news/tsunami-warning-issued-after-strong-california-earthquake/

[2] https://x.com/SFBARTalert/status/1864748482248003637

[3] https://www.slashdot.org/~sinij

The Solana JavaScript SDK "was temporarily compromised yesterday in a supply chain attack," [1]reports BleepingComputer , "with the library backdoored with malicious code to steal cryptocurrency private keys and drain wallets."

> Solana offers an SDK called " [2]@solana/web3.js " used by decentralized applications (dApps) to connect and interact with the Solana blockchain. Supply chain security firm Socket reports that Solana's Web3.js library was hijacked to push out two malicious versions to steal private and secret cryptography keys to secure wallets and sign transactions... Solana [3]confirmed the breach , stating that one of their publish-access accounts was compromised, allowing the attackers to publish two malicious versions of the library... Solana is warning developers who suspect they were compromised to immediately upgrade to the latest v1.95.8 release and to rotate any keys, including multisigs, program authorities, and server keypairs...

>

> Once the threat actors gain access to these keys, they can load them into their own wallets and remotely drain all stored cryptocurrency and NFTs... Socket says the attack has been traced to the [4]FnvLGtucz4E1ppJHRTev6Qv4X7g8Pw6WPStHCcbAKbfx Solana address, which currently contains 674.86 Solana and varying amounts of the Irish Pepe , Star Atlas, Jupiter, USD Coin, Santa Hat, Pepe on Fire, Bonk, catwifhat, and Genopets Ki tokens. Solscan shows that the estimated value of the stolen cryptocurrency is $184,000 at the time of this writing.

>

> For anyone whose wallets were compromised in this supply chain attack, you should immediately transfer any remaining funds to a new wallet and discontinue the use of the old one as the private keys are now compromised.

[5] Ars Technica adds that "In social media posts, [6]one person claimed to have lost $20,000 in the hack."

The compromised library "receives more than ~350,000 weekly downloads on npm," [7]Socket posted . (Although [8]Solana's statement says the compromised versions "were caught within hours and have since been unpublished."



[1] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/solana-web3js-library-backdoored-to-steal-secret-private-keys/

[2] http://github.com/solana-labs/solana-web3.js

[3] https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-web3.js/releases

[4] https://solscan.io/account/FnvLGtucz4E1ppJHRTev6Qv4X7g8Pw6WPStHCcbAKbfx

[5] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/12/backdoor-slips-into-popular-code-library-drains-155k-from-digital-wallets/

[6] https://x.com/0xdrnoid/status/1864061435644416136

[7] https://socket.dev/blog/supply-chain-attack-solana-web3-js-library

[8] https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-web3.js/releases

11 years ago his hard drive ended up in a U.K. landfill — with 8,000 bitcoin. It's now worth $800 million... and James Howell wants it back.

The Guardian reports that his "bid to become extremely rich [1]reached a judge on Tuesday with a team of lawyers arguing that it was still possible to launch a hunt for his missing hard drive containing the bitcoin."

> They claimed that rather than searching for a "needle in a haystack", the position of the bitcoin hoard had been narrowed down to a small area and there was a "finely tuned" plan to retrieve it... [Howells] has been asking Newport city council for help in getting the hard drive back, and even said [2]he would share the money with the authority, to no avail ... James Goudie KC, representing the council, said Howells had no legal claim to the hard drive. He said: "Anything that goes into the landfill goes into the council's ownership."

>

> Goudie said Howells' offer to share some of the bitcoin with Newport council amounted to a bribe. He said: "He is trying to buy something the council is not in a position to sell...." Before the hearing, a spokesperson for Newport council said: "The council has told Mr Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area. "Responding to Mr Howells' baseless claims are costing the council and Newport taxpayers time and money which could be better spent on delivering services."

Howells was 28 when he lost the hard drive, and has said he may as well keep trying to recover it — because he'll always know that it's out there. Howells' legal teams are "working pro bono," the article notes, "on the basis that they get a share of the bitcoin profits if successful..." And [3]TechSpot points out that "There's also the question of whether the data on the drive would still be accessible after more than a decade of sitting under a pile of rotting garbage.

"Howells has a team of data recovery engineers who are also working pro bono..."

Thanks to Slashdot reader [4]jjslash for sharing the news.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/dec/03/500m-bitcoin-hard-drive-landfill-newport-wales-high-court

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/14/man-newport-council-50m-helps-find-bitcoins-landfill-james-howells

[3] https://www.techspot.com/news/105839-man-narrows-landfill-search-771-million-bitcoin-hard.html

[4] https://www.slashdot.org/~jjslash

An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from Defense News :

> Following a pattern of undersea cable damage across European waters in the last year, with the most recent disruptions happening just weeks ago, top NATO officials have begun envisioning a capability that would allow the alliance to have permanent eyes above and under the waterline. In an interview with Defense News , Admiral Pierre Vandier, the alliance's Norfolk, Virginia-based commander for concepts and transformation, likened the idea to police CCTV cameras installed on street lights in urban trouble spots for recording evidence of crimes. "The technology is there to make this street-lighting with USVs," he said, using the military's shorthand for unmanned surface vessel. Vandier said his team is in the early stages of developing an unmanned surface vessel fleet so that "NATO can see and monitor daily its environment."

>

> The first step would be to achieve this at a surface level, and then later under water... According to Vandier, the goal is to launch the drone surveillance fleet before the next NATO Summit, which will be held in the Netherlands next June.

The article notes the U.S. Navy's Task Force 59 (launched in 2021) is already "dedicated to [2]integrating unmanned systems and AI in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of operations." This prompted Admiral Vandier to say the technology for an unmanned cable-watching fleet "already exists... everything is known and sold, so it is much more a matter of adoption than technology."



[1] https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2024/12/03/nato-draws-up-plans-for-its-own-fleet-of-naval-surveillance-drones/

[2] https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3977042/task-group-591-conducts-digital-talon-30

The Carnegie Endowment for Peace, a nonpartisan international affairs think tank, points out that when subsea internet cables were cut in November, [1]Europe was more prepared :

> Where in the past there were no contingency plans for sabotage, there are now [2]more maritime patrols , an attempt to [3]forge deeper intelligence connections , and the beginnings of a [4]new relationship with the private sector ...

>

> Even before the October 2023 incident, NATO, the EU, and certain European governments began to increase their efforts to boost subsea cable resilience and security. In February 2023, NATO [5]stood up a new Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell in Brussels to convene stakeholders and enhance coordination between the public and private sectors. In July 2023, NATO allies at the Vilnius Summit [6]established a Maritime Center for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure as part of the alliance's Maritime Command in Northwood, UK. In October 2023, after the first incident, NATO defense ministers [7]endorsed a new Digital Ocean Vision, an initiative aimed at improving undersea surveillance. And in February 2024, the European Commission [8]released its first "Recommendation on Secure and Resilient Submarine Cable Infrastructures," encouraging member states to conduct regular stress tests, improve information sharing amongst themselves, and improve cable maintenance and repair capabilities.

The article points out that the Chinese ship suspected in the 2023 cable cutting "ignored requests from [9]Finnish and [10]Estonian authorities to halt" and returned to China. But the Chinese ship suspected in November's cable-cutting "remains in international waters in the Kattegat, with naval and coast guard vessels from [11]Denmark , [12]Germany , and [13]Sweden circling close by." Yet "Under international maritime law, these countries' authorities are not allowed to board..."

> Current provisions of international law are neither formulated to adequately protect subsea data cables from sabotage nor hold perpetrators accountable. This reality should lead the EU, as a body inherently focused on the resilience of international legal regimes, to push for updates that are better suited for the current geopolitical reality... Lawmakers should also explore ways to increase penalties for subsea cable damage, in part to deter acts of sabotage in the first place....

>

> A forthcoming Carnegie Endowment report will detail more in-depth recommendations on how Europe can both protect itself against future subsea cable damage and help expand trusted networks around the world.

The article also notes that "Of the hundreds of disruptions to cables that [14]occur each year, the vast majority are caused by accidental human activity, like fishing, or natural events, like earthquakes."



[1] https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2024/12/baltic-sea-internet-cable-cut-europe-nato-security?lang=en

[2] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_219500.htm

[3] https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/06/24/nato-undersea-cable-network-russia-infrastructure-defense/

[4] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_214322.htm?selectedLocale=en

[5] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_211919.htm

[6] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_217320.htm

[7] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_219441.htm

[8] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/recommendation-security-and-resilience-submarine-cable-infrastructures

[9] https://poliisi.fi/en/-/national-bureau-of-investigation-has-clarified-technically-the-cause-of-gas-pipeline-damage

[10] https://news.err.ee/1609470556/new-balticconnector-pipeline-damage-facts-come-to-light

[11] https://x.com/forsvaretdk/status/1859195509866381402

[12] https://gcaptain.com/german-and-swedish-coast-guards-arrive-near-yi-peng-3-in-escalating-cable-damage-incident/

[13] https://gcaptain.com/german-and-swedish-coast-guards-arrive-near-yi-peng-3-in-escalating-cable-damage-incident/

[14] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240227617128/en/Message-from-the-International-Cable-Protection-Committee-Recent-Events-Involving-Submarine-Cables-in-the-Red-Sea

Bitcoin just [1]broke $100,000 USD for the first time and reached as high as $104k, and is now sitting at $102,857 at the time of this writing.

Slashdot was [2]pretty early on Bitcoin.

Thoughts, nocoiners?



[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/bitcoin-100000-rcna181008

[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/07/11/1747245/bitcoin-releases-version-03

[1]The Guardian reports :

> People working in the music sector will lose almost a quarter of their income to artificial intelligence within the next four years, according to the first [2]global economic study examining the impact of the emerging technology on human creativity. Those working in the audiovisual sector will also see their income shrink by more than 20% as the market for generative AI grows from €3bn (A$4.9bn) annually to a predicted €64bn by 2028.

>

> The findings were released in Paris on Wednesday by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), representing more than 5 million creators worldwide. The report concluded that while the AI boom will substantially enrich giant tech companies, creators' rights and income streams will be drastically reduced [3]unless policymakers step in ...

>

> The study concluded that under current regulatory frameworks in most countries, creators stand to lose on two fronts. Unauthorised use of their works by generative AI models will eat into remuneration earned through copyright, while at the same time work opportunities will shrink as AI-generated outputs become more competitive against human-made works. The report predicted that by 2028, exponential growth in generative AI music would account for about 20% of traditional music streaming platforms' revenues, and about 60% of music libraries' revenues.

The report warned of revenue "derived directly from the unlicensed reproduction of creators' works, representing a transfer of economic value from creators to AI companies," according to the article.

On a hopeful note, it adds that the CISAC's president also applauded Australia and New Zealand for their thoughtful response to the issue. "By setting a gold standard in AI policy, one that protects creators' rights while fostering responsible and innovative technological development, Australia and New Zealand can ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance human creativity rather than replace it."

Thanks to Slashdodt reader [4]Bruce66423 for sharing the news.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/dec/04/artificial-intelligence-music-industry-impact-income-loss

[2] https://www.cisac.org/Newsroom/news-releases/global-economic-study-shows-human-creators-future-risk-generative-ai

[3] https://www.cisac.org/Newsroom/articles-lobbying/global-creators-and-performers-demand-creative-rights-ai-proliferation#:~:text=The%20cultural%20sector%20and%20international%20creative%20community%20acknowledge,AI%20systems%20are%20transparent%2C%20ethical%2C%20fair%20and%20lawful.

[4] https://www.slashdot.org/~Bruce66423

An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from Reuters :

> Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI plans to expand its Memphis, Tennessee, supercomputer to house at least one million graphics processing units (GPUs), the Greater Memphis Chamber said on Wednesday, as xAI races to compete against rivals like OpenAI.

>

> The move represents a massive expansion for the supercomputer called Colossus, which currently has 100,000 GPUs to train xAI's chatbot called Grok. As part of the expansion, Nvidia, which supplies the GPUs, and Dell and Super Micro, which have assembled the server racks for the computer, will establish operations in Memphis, the chamber said in a statement.

The Greater Memphis chamber (an economic development organization) called it "the [2]largest capital investment in the region's history ," even saying that xAI "is setting the stage for Memphis to become the global epicenter of artificial intelligence." ("To facilitate this massive undertaking, the Greater Memphis Chamber established an xAI Special Operations Team... This team provides round-the-clock concierge service to the company.")

Reuters calls the supercomputer "a critical component of advancing Musk's AI efforts, as the billionaire has deepened his rivalry against OpenAI..." And the Greater Memphis chamber describes the expansion by Nvidia/Dell/Super Micro as "further solidifying the city's position as the 'Digital Delta'... Memphis has provided the power and velocity necessary for not just xAI to grow and thrive, but making way for other companies as well."



[1] https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2024-12-04/musks-xai-plans-massive-expansion-of-ai-supercomputer-in-memphis

[2] https://memphischamber.com/blog/general/xai-memphis-announces-expansion-of-supercomputer-with-addition-of-tech-companies-in-digital-delta/

Amazon is [1]offering $25 (one-way) plane tickets to 5,000 students (or young adults between 18 and 24 years old) who have a Prime membership (up to $700 off the ticket's original price). [2]CNET REports :

> Last year, Amazon offered the $25 flight deals to Prime Student members, but this holiday season, the retail giant is expanding the limited-time offer to those enrolled in its Prime for Young Adults [3]plan ... Once again, Amazon is joining with [travel-booking site] [4]StudentUniverse to offer several thousand $25 flights you can book between December 9, 2024, and January 14, 2025. The offer is for a one-way domestic ticket within the U.S., including Washington, DC, while supply lasts. Amazon said it's making available 1,000 tickets to Prime Student and Young Adult subscribers each day for five days, starting at 10 a.m. PST on December 9.



[1] https://amazon.com/25flights

[2] https://www.cnet.com/deals/amazon-offers-students-and-young-adults-25-plane-tickets-for-holiday-travel/

[3] https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-prime-student

[4] https://www.studentuniverse.com/

In March, 2023 the Internet Archive [1]lost in court , with a judge ruling they couldn't scan entire books and then lend them as ebooks. The Internet Archive appealed to a higher court, which also [2]ruled against them in September of 2024 .

Today, the Internet Archive made an announcement: that "While we are deeply disappointed with the Second Circuit's opinion in Hachette v. Internet Archive, [3]the Internet Archive has decided not to pursue Supreme Court review ."

> We will continue to honor the Association of American Publishers agreement to remove books from lending at their member publishers' requests.

>

> We thank the many readers, authors and publishers who have stood with us throughout this fight. Together, we will continue to advocate for a future where libraries can purchase, own, lend and preserve digital books.



[1] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/23/03/25/0112229/internet-archive-loses-in-court-judge-rules-they-cant-scan-and-lend-ebooks

[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/04/1728215/internet-archive-digital-lending-isnt-fair-use-2nd-cir-says

[3] https://blog.archive.org/2024/12/04/end-of-hachette-v-internet-archive/

"Are Primordial Black Holes real...?" [1]asks Universe Today . "If they do exist, a " [2]new paper suggests they may be hiding in places so unlikely that nobody ever thought to look there..." — in planets, in asteroids, and here on earth.

> Physicists hypothesize that Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) formed in the early Universe from extremely dense pockets of sub-atomic matter that collapsed directly into black holes. They could form part or all of what we call dark matter. However, they remain hypothetical because none have been observed... The authors claim that evidence for PBHs could be found in objects as large as hollowed out planetoids or asteroids and objects as small as rocks here on Earth. "Small primordial black holes could be captured by rocky planets or asteroids, consume their liquid cores from inside and leave hollow structures," the authors write. "Alternatively, a fast black hole can leave a narrow tunnel in a solid object while passing through it."

>

> "We could look for such micro-tunnels here on Earth in very old rocks," the authors claim, explaining that the search wouldn't involve specialized, expensive equipment... "The chances of finding these signatures are small, but searching for them would not require much resources and the potential payoff, the first evidence of a primordial black hole, would be immense," said Dejan Stojkovic [the paper's co-author from the State University of New York]. "We have to think outside of the box because what has been done to find primordial black holes previously hasn't worked...." Cosmology is kind of at a standstill while we wrestle with the idea of dark matter. Could PBHs be dark matter? Could they behave like the authors suggest, and be detected in this manner?

>

> "The smartest people on the planet have been working on these problems for 80 years and have not solved them yet," Stojkovic said. "We don't need a straightforward extension of the existing models. We probably need a completely new framework altogether."



[1] https://www.universetoday.com/169986/could-primordial-black-holes-be-hiding-in-plain-sight/

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212686424002449?via%3Dihub

America's next president "announced Wednesday he has selected Jared Isaacman, a billionaire businessman and space enthusiast who twice flew to orbit with SpaceX, to become the next NASA administrator," [1]reports Ars Technica :

> In a post on X, Isaacman said he was "honored" to receive Trump's nomination. "Having been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history," Isaacman wrote. "On my last mission to space, my crew and I traveled farther from Earth than anyone in over half a century. I can confidently say this second space age has only just begun...."

>

> "Jared Isaacman will be an outstanding NASA Administrator and leader of the NASA family," said Jim Bridenstine, who led NASA as administrator during Trump's first term in the White House. "Jared's vision for pushing boundaries, paired with his proven track record of success in private industry, positions him as an ideal candidate to lead NASA into a bold new era of exploration and discovery. I urge the Senate to swiftly confirm him." Lori Garver, NASA's deputy administrator during the Obama administration, wrote on X that Isaacman's nomination was "terrific news," adding that "he has the opportunity to build on NASA's amazing accomplishments to pave our way to an even brighter future."

>

> Isaacman, 41, is the founder and CEO of Shift4, a mobile payment processing platform, and co-founded Draken International, which owns a fleet of retired fighter jets to pose as adversaries for military air combat training... Isaacman, an evangelist for the commercial space industry, has criticized some of NASA's decisions on the Artemis program. In several [2]posts on [3]X , he questioned the agency's decision to fund two redundant lunar landers, while not planning for any backup to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which costs $2.2 billion per copy, not including expenses for ground infrastructure or the Orion spacecraft itself. One of those casualties might be the SLS rocket. The program is managed by NASA, with suppliers spread across the United States and prime contractors working under cost-plus arrangements with the space agency, meaning the government is on the hook to pay for any delays or cost overruns.

If confirmed he'll be the 4th NASA administrator who's actually flown in space, according to the article.

And [4]according to Wikipedia , Isaacman was the commander of [5]Inspiration4 , a private spaceflight using SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience that launched in 2021.

> The crew returned to Earth on September 18, 2021, after orbiting at 585 km (364 mi) in altitude. The mission was part of a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to which Isaacman [6]pledged to donate $100 million .

Thanks to Slashdot reader [7]FallOutBoyTonto for sharing the news.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/12/jared-isaacman-entrepreneur-and-private-astronaut-is-trumps-choice-to-lead-nasa/

[2] https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/1767893365541032333

[3] https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/1767880381175374132

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Isaacman

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspiration4

[6] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/spacex-inspiration4-launch-here-is-what-you-should-know.html

[7] https://www.slashdot.org/~FallOutBoyTonto

"$15.8 million every 60 seconds. That's how much US consumers spent in two hours on Monday night," [1]reports CNN , "capping off a five-day spending spree that smashed previous records."

> U.S. consumers spent a total of $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, up 7.3% from the previous year, according to [2]Adobe Analytics ... Consumers spent a record $41.1 billion across the five days beginning Thanksgiving Day, according to Adobe. "While Cyber Monday remained the season's and year's biggest online shopping day, year-over-year growth was stronger on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday," Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement... The company's data projects that holiday spending from November 1 to December 31 will surpass $240 billion, up 8.4% from the previous year.

>

> The record sales on Cyber Monday were boosted by US consumers shopping on their mobile devices, which accounted for $7.6 billion in spending. This year, 57% of online sales came through a mobile device, compared to 33% in 2019, as shopping on mobile phones has surged in popularity... Buy now, pay later" programs also contributed nearly $1 billion in spending on Cyber Monday, a record high. About 75% of these types of transactions occurred through a mobile device.

>

> Cyber Monday shopping wasn't just confined to the US, either. Global sales reached $49.7 billion, up 3% from the previous year, according to [3]data from Salesforce .

The top-selling items included consumer electronics like the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch OLED, the article points out (adding that "About 78% of all consumer smartphones and 87% of consoles were imported from China in 2023, according to a report from the Consumer Technology Association.")

More interesting statistics from CNN:

"Discounts on apparel peaked at just over 23% off, while TVs and computers peaked at almost 22% off, according to Adobe. And the discounts might last: Adobe projects discounts of up to 18% off computers through the end of the year... "

"For US retail sites, the share of revenue from affiliates and partners like social media influencers was 20.3% on Cyber Monday, up almost 7% from the previous year. "

"Additionally, companies employed AI chatbots to assist consumers, like [4]Amazon's Rufus . Traffic to retail sites from chatbots increased by nearly 2,000% on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe."



[1] https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/03/business/cyber-monday-record-sales/index.html

[2] https://business.adobe.com/resources/holiday-shopping-report.html

[3] https://www.salesforce.com/retail/peak-holiday/?d=cta-body-promo-1018

[4] https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/black-friday-sales-results-amazon-online-shopping

"Okay, we're doing this," begins [1]a new announcement at The Verge :

> Today we're launching a [2]Verge subscription that lets you get rid of a bunch of ads, gets you unlimited access to our top-notch reporting and analysis across the site and our killer premium newsletters, and generally lets you support independent tech journalism in a world of sponsored influencer content. It'll cost $7 / month or $50 / year — and for a limited time, if you sign up for the annual plan, we'll send you an absolutely stunning print edition of our [3]CONTENT GOBLINS series, with very fun new photography and design... A surprising number of you have asked us to launch something like this, and we're happy to deliver. If you don't want to pay, rest assured that big chunks of The Verge will remain free — we're thinking about subscriptions a lot differently than everyone else...

>

> If you're a Verge reader, you know we've been covering massive, fundamental changes to how the internet works for years now. Most major social media platforms are openly hostile to links, [4]huge changes to search have led to [5]the death of small websites , and everything is covered in a layer of [6]AI slop and weird scams. The algorithmic media ecosystem is now openly hostile to the kind of rigorous, independent journalism we want to do.

>

> A few years ago, we decided the only real way to survive all this was to stand apart and [7]bet on our own website so that we could remain independent of these platforms and their algorithms. We didn't want to write stories to chase Google Search trends or because we thought they'd do well on social media. And we definitely didn't want to compromise our famously strict [8]ethics policy to accept brand endorsement deals from the companies we cover, which almost all of our competitors in the creator economy are forced to do in order to run sustainable businesses...

>

> [W]e intend to keep making this thing together for a long, long time. So many of you like The Verge that we've actually gotten a shocking number of notes from people asking how they can pay to support our work. It's no secret that lots of great websites and publications have gone under over the past few years as the open web falls apart, and it's clear that directly supporting the creators you love is a big part of how everyone gets to stay working on the modern internet. At the same time, we didn't want to simply paywall the entire site — it's a tragedy that traditional journalism is retreating behind paywalls while nonsense spreads across platforms for free.

The print premium for subscribers is described as a "beautiful / deranged print product" that's drawn from a series of articles "about what Google had done to the web, capped off by a feature about search engine optimization titled ' [9]The People Who Ruined the Internet .'" But it ships with a satirical cover that instead proclaims it as "The Verge Guide to Search Engine Optimization". A [10]tongue-in-check announcement explains:

> [A] year has passed, and we've had a change of heart. Maybe search engine optimization is actually a good thing. Maybe appeasing the search algorithm is not only a sustainable strategy for building a loyal audience, but also a strategic way to plan and produce content. What are journalists, if not content creators? Anyway, SEO community, consider this our apology. And what better way to say "our bad, your industry is not a cesspool of AI slop but a brilliant vision of what a useful internet could look like" than collecting all the things we've learned in one handy print magazine? Which is why I'm proud to introduce The Verge Guide to Search Engine Optimization: All the Tips, Tricks, Hints, Schemes, and Techniques for Promoting High-Quality Content!

Whoops — slip off the cover and the real title appears: "CONTENT GOBLINS" (written in green slime). Again, it's "an anthology of stories about 'content' and the people who 'make' it."

> In very Verge fashion, we are meeting the moment where the internet has been overrun by AI garbage by publishing a beautifully designed, limited edition print product. (Also, the last time we printed a magazine, it won [11]a very prestigious design award .) Content Goblins collects some of our best stories over the past couple years, capturing the cynical push for the world's great art and journalism to be reduced into units that can be packaged, distributed, and consumed on the internet. Consider Content Goblins as our resistance to that movement. With terrific new art and photography, we're making the case that great reporting is vital and enduring — and worth paying for.

>

> This gorgeous, grotesque magazine can be yours if you commit to [12]an annual subscription to The Verge — while supplies last.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/3/24306571/verge-subscription-launch-fewer-ads-unlimited-access-full-text-rss

[2] http://theverge.com/subscribe

[3] https://www.theverge.com/e/24071581

[4] https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/14/24155321/google-search-ai-results-page-gemini-overview

[5] https://www.theverge.com/24167865/google-zero-search-crash-housefresh-ai-overviews-traffic-data-audience

[6] https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/24131162/ill-see-your-shrimp-jesus-and-raise-you-spaghetti-jesus-on-a-lambo

[7] https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/13/23349876/the-verge-website-redesign-new-newsfeed-blogs-logo

[8] https://www.theverge.com/ethics-statement

[9] https://www.theverge.com/features/23931789/seo-search-engine-optimization-experts-google-results

[10] https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/3/24307540/verge-print-magazine-seo-content-goblins

[11] https://www.theverge.com/press-room/2023/2/24/23613507/the-verge-wins-the-2023-asme-award-for-design-receives-two-national-magazine-award-nominations

[12] http://theverge.com/subscribe

Have you been to [1]Enron.com lately?

"It's the comeback story no one asked for," [2]reports CNN , "the resurrection of a brand so toxic it remains synonymous with corporate fraud more than two decades after it collapsed in bankruptcy.

"That's right, folks: Enron is back. But only kind of."

> TL;DR: A company that makes T-shirts bought the Enron trademark and appears to be trying to sell some merch on behalf of the guy behind the [3]satirical conspiracy theory "Birds Aren't Real ...."

>

> On Monday, the 23rd anniversary of Enron's [4]filing for bankruptcy , rumors began to spread that the former Texas energy giant had come back from the dead. A sleek new website, enron.com, appeared to show that the company had done some serious soul-searching and, inexplicably, reincorporated under its original brand. As a modern energy company, it would be dedicated to "solving the global energy crisis," its press statement reads. The site is packed with the kind of stock art and benign corporate platitudes that lend it credibility. There's a link to job openings, employee testimonials and even a minute-long video titled "I am Enron," a movie-trailer-style mashup of cityscape time lapses, rockets launching into space, a ballerina twirling on a beach — a mess of imagery and baritone voiceover so trite it's almost believable.

>

> But the site and its associated social media accounts are, like Enron's balance sheets, mostly fiction. Unlike the Enron scandal, however, this one appears to be little more than performance art designed to sell branded hoodies. Publicly available [5]documents show that an Akansas-based LLC called The College Company bought the Enron trademark for $275 in 2020... You can tab over to the site's "Company Store" page to browse a selection of Enron-branded hoodies ($118 before tax and shipping), puffer vests ($89), tees ($40) baseball hats ($40), beanies ($30) and water bottles emblazoned with the slogan "you've got great energy."

Somewhere on the site CNN spotted [6]a list of "key pillars " which included a commitment to "permissionless innovation," which CNN took to be "a nod that prompted some speculation online that the new 'Enron' would launch some kind of digital token." That phrase has apparently been changed now to "continuous innovation."

> An Enron-branded [7]X account posted and later deleted a message teasing at a crypto offering, saying "we do not have any token or coin (yet). Stay tuned, we are excited to show you more soon."

But sharp-eyed X.com users also found the key context to add: that the [8]Terms of Use at Enron.com declare the site's information "is First Amendment-protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only."

Still, the site includes this testimonial from someone it says is a current employee. "Like many of my peers in the Enron family, I was skeptical at first.

"Now, not only do I have complete confidence in the integrity of the company, I also genuinely believe that we are leading the way for a new chapter of American business."



[1] https://enron.com/

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/02/business/enron-resurrected-joke-nightcap/index.html

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/21/12/11/0421223/whats-behind-the-birds-arent-real-protests

[4] https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/02/us/enron-fast-facts/index.html

[5] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn88914633&docId=APP20200516085347&linkId=17#docIndex=16&page=1

[6] https://enron.com/pages/newsroom

[7] https://x.com/Enron

[8] https://enron.com/pages/terms-of-use

59-year-old Alex Mashinsky, the founder/former CEO of cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, "pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of fraud," [1]reports Reuters .

He'd been indicted in July on seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and market manipulation charges, according to the article, and federal prosecutors in Manhattan "said he misled customers of Celsius to persuade them to invest, and artificially inflated the value of his company's proprietary crypto token."

> On Tuesday, during a hearing before U.S. District Judge John Koeltl, Mashinsky said he pleaded guilty to two out of the seven counts he was initially charged with: commodities fraud, and a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the price of CEL, Celsius' in-house token. In court, Mashinsky admitted to giving Celsius customers "false comfort" by giving an interview in 2021 in which he said Celsius had received approval from regulators for its "Earn" program, which it had not. That program offered to deploy customers' cryptocurrency assets to yield investment returns. He said he also failed to disclose that he had been selling his holdings of CEL, the platform's in-house token.

>

> "I know what I did was wrong, and I want to try to do whatever I can to make it right," Mashinsky said. As part of his plea deal with prosecutors, Mashinsky agreed not to appeal any sentence of 30 years or less — the maximum he faces for the two counts. Koeltl is set to sentence him on April 8, 2025.

>

> Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have said Mashinsky also personally reaped approximately $42 million in proceeds from selling his holdings of the Cel token. "Mashinsky made tens of millions of dollars selling his own CEL at artificially high prices, while his customers were left holding the bag when the company went bankrupt," Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement on Tuesday... Founded in 2017, Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022 after customers rushed to withdraw deposits as crypto prices fell. Many were initially unable to access their funds... Celsius' former chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, [2]pleaded guilty in September 2023 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors' investigation.

"The company exited bankruptcy on Jan. 31, and has [3]pivoted to Bitcoin mining..."



[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/celsius-founder-alex-mashinsky-intends-plead-guilty-two-fraud-counts-2024-12-03/

[2] https://www.reuters.com/legal/cohen-pavon-ex-executive-crypto-lender-celsius-pleads-guilty-us-criminal-charges-2023-09-14/

[3] https://www.reuters.com/technology/celsius-network-wins-court-approval-shift-bitcoin-mining-2023-12-28/

Tuesday the Wikimedia Foundation [1]released its annual list of the most-visited Wikipedia pages . (Scroll down to where it says "The full top 25"...)

But while the top subjects seem to be politics and pop culture, [2]CNN reports that in the end "a list of deaths in 2024 was the most visited page, garnering over 44 million views."

> A page about deaths in a given year has ranked at the top of the list five times since 2015, when the Wikimedia Foundation began releasing the data. The topic has never fallen below third place on the list.

>

> People also searched for U.S. political figures... [The #2, #3, #5, #7, and #9 most-visited pages were, respectively, for [3]Kamala Harris , the [4]2024 United States presidential election , [5]Donald Trump , [6]J.D. Vance , and [7]Project 2025 .] While U.S. politics was a notable search subject, popular culture had the largest share of the top 25. The fourth most-visited page was about Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers who were sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 murder of their parents and are now facing a resentencing trial. The case received renewed public attention after a [8]Netflix documentary was published this year. The Wikipedia page about the brothers received over 26 million views in 2024.

>

> The "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Dune: Part Two" movies were eighth and 23rd, respectively... [Other high-ranking pop-culture pages included [9]Taylor Swift (#11)and the [10]2024 Summer Olympics (#14).]

>

> "Wikipedia readers in India continue to make a big impact on the list, [11]a trend we saw in 2023 as well ," Wikimedia Foundation's Alikhan said. The Indian Premier League, a cricket league in India, garnered over 24.5 million views this year as the site's sixth most visited page... [The 2024 [12]Indian general election came in at #10]

Wikipedia's entry on [13]ChatGPT came in at #12, while [14]Elon Musk came in at #17.

"When people want to learn about our world — the good, bad, weird, and wild alike — they turn to Wikipedia," explains [15]the blog post from the Wikimedia Foundation , calling Wikipedia "the largest knowledge resource ever assembled in the history of the world" and "a reflection of all the people who live on our planet. its story is your story, your interests, your questions, and your curiosity."

Other statistics about Wikipedia in 2024:

Nearly 3.5 billion bytes of information were added this year via over 31 million edits.

People spent an estimated 2.4 billion hours — nearly 275,000 years! — reading English Wikipedia in 2024, according to data from the Wikimedia Foundation.



[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2024/12/03/announcing-english-wikipedias-most-popular-articles-of-2024/

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/03/business/wikipedia-most-viewed-2024/index.html

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Harris

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JD_Vance

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025

[8] https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/08/entertainment/menendez-brothers-netflix-documentary/index.html

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Summer_Olympics

[11] https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/tech/wikipedia-chatgpt-oppenheimer-indian-entertainment/index.html

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Indian_general_election

[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT

[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

[15] https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2024/12/03/announcing-english-wikipedias-most-popular-articles-of-2024/

An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from NBC News :

> Amid an unprecedented cyberattack on telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Verizon, U.S. officials have recommended that Americans use encrypted messaging apps to ensure their communications stay hidden from foreign hackers...

>

> In the call Tuesday, two officials — a senior FBI official who asked not to be named and Jeff Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — both recommended using encrypted messaging apps to Americans who want to minimize the chances of China's intercepting their communications. "Our suggestion, what we have told folks internally, is not new here: Encryption is your friend, whether it's on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible," Greene said. The FBI official said, "People looking to further protect their mobile device communications would benefit from considering using a cellphone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption and phishing resistant" multi-factor authentication for email, social media and collaboration tool accounts...

>

> The FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies have a complicated relationship with encryption technology, historically advocating against full end-to-end encryption that does not allow law enforcement access to digital material even with warrants. But the FBI [2]has also supported forms of encryption that do allow some law enforcement access in certain circumstances.

Officials said the breach seems to include some live calls of [3]specfic targets and also call records (showing numbers called and when). "The hackers focused on records around the Washington, D.C., area, and the FBI does not plan to alert people whose phone metadata was accessed."

"The scope of the telecom compromise is so significant, Greene said, that it was 'impossible" for the agencies "to predict a time frame on when we'll have full eviction.'"



[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-americans-use-encrypted-apps-cyberattack-rcna182694

[2] https://www.fbi.gov/about/mission/lawful-access

[3] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/china-phone-target-hack-trump-vance-harris-rcna177383

The Verge is applauding Hyundai's electric SUV, the IONIQ 5 for " [1]Fake shifting, real fun ." And others agree. "The Ioniq 5 N is also special for how it simulates the 'feel' of gear shifting," [2]writes the blog Inside EVs , "including the jolt and brief interruption in power that happens and the mechanical resistance that's normal upon downshifting.

"The Ioniq 5 N also simulates engine sounds through the speakers, will let you rev the 'engine' while parked and has a 'redline' you'll hit before you need to shift again. It's all great fun."

> [E]very single person who drives the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, whether they're a die-hard EV person or the most hardcore electro-skeptic, [3]absolutely loves it . And they [4]love the fake shifting most of all ... Shut up and embrace the fake EV shifting, you nerds. Find some joy in your life for once.

>

> And joy will definitely be on order with the new 2025 Kia EV6 GT. The U.S.-spec version of Kia's updated crossover made its debut [November 21] at the L.A. Auto Show. And while there's still a lot we don't know about it, we have power specs and one key detail: the EV6 GT now gets a simulated gear shift feature. "The GT's new Virtual Gear Shift feature enhances driving immersion by simulating gear shifts with visuals, engine sound effects, and a tactile sensation through motor torque adjustments," Kia officials said in a news release.

The Verge [5]points out that Hyundai's Ioniq 5 N even uses speakers — both inside the car and outside — to broadcast the sounds of ignition, a boosted EV sound, and a third sound which "sounds like a robotic version of a fighter jet."

> Paired with the seemingly endless power and torque offered by the electric motors, I couldn't stop grinning. It's just like a little kid making car noises as they push a Hot Wheels car around a track, but combined with the driving experience in the Ioniq 5 N, it just taps into a pure enthusiast joy. Even kids around my neighborhood stopped and looked when I started the Ioniq 5 N up with the sound management turned on. They'd pull out their phones to take photos and videos as I drove off, happily faking the internal combustion engine experience and knowing I wasn't adding a drop of carbon to the atmosphere.

>

> The Ioniq 5 N just might be the performance EV that will change self-described "auto enthusiast" minds about the electric transition. It's that good.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/29/24308950/hyundai-ioniq-5-n-review-price-specs-photos

[2] https://insideevs.com/news/741857/kia-ev6-gt-virtual-shifter/

[3] https://insideevs.com/reviews/722123/hyundai-ioniq-5-n-review/

[4] https://insideevs.com/reviews/716661/hyundai-ioniq-5-n-shift/

[5] https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/29/24308950/hyundai-ioniq-5-n-review-price-specs-photos

Hyundai "just had its best sales month ever in the U.S.," [1]reports Electrek

> Hyundai's impressive EV lineup is charging up demand, with its best-selling [2]Hyundai IONIQ 5 SUV also setting a new U.S. record after sales more than doubled in November. With 76,008 vehicles sold in November, Hyundai's record-breaking U.S. sales streak is not slowing down. Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker credited the growing demand for EVs and hybrid vehicles to the growth.

>

> Hyundai's EV sales rose 77% from last year, while hybrid sales surged 104%. Electrified retail sales (EV, PHEV, and hybrid models) climbed 92% in total last month. Several vehicles, including the Santa Fe HEV, Tucson PHEV, Tucson HEV, and IONIQ 5, had their best-ever sales month.

The article also notes increasing sales for Hyundai's electric SUV, the IONIQ 5. Starting at $43,975 — and recently upgraded to a range of 245 miles (or 318 miles for the $46,550 extended-range model) — it features an NACS port for accessing Tesla's Supercharger network.



[1] https://electrek.co/2024/12/03/hyundai-ioniq-5-sets-new-us-record-sales-double-november/

[2] https://electrek.co/guides/hyundai-ioniq-5/