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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Bill Gates snags a 3.76 percent stake in Heineken’s parent company.

    His shares are reportedly worth about 880 million euros ($936 million). Despite being “not a big beer drinker,” it’s a 2007 investment in another brewery, Femsa, that has brought Heineken into the Gates investment fold.

    It’s an interesting arrangement, considering the Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation-sponsored study released last year laying out both potential health risks (particularly for people under 40) and benefits from alcohol consumption:
    These findings highlight the need for tailored guidelines that discourage alcohol consumption among young people, as well as alcohol control policies and interventions that are targeted especially towards young males.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    If you need to use AI to respond to a tragedy, maybe it’s better to say nothing at all.

    The Vanderbilt Hustler reports the school’s Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is apologizing after sending a message regarding the shooting at Michigan State University that was “paraphrased” from OpenAI’s ChatGPT model (via Gizmodo).

    The generic-sounding email lacks any kind of personal touch, and responses to it reflect that, as noted by this quote from Vanderbilt student Laith Kayat:

    Deans, provosts, and the chancellor: Do more. Do anything. And lead us into a better future with genuine, human empathy, not a robot

    In the wake of the Michigan shootings, let us come together as a community to reaffirm our commitment to caring for one another and promoting a culture of inclusivity on our campus. By doing so, we can honor the victims of this tragedy and work towards a safer, more compassionate future for all. (Paraphrase from OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 15, 2023).
    Image: Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The FTC wants you!

    American citizens with at least one year of specialized technical expertise in software engineering, design, technology research and technology policy, or product management and development are being sought to add roughly a dozen people to the FTC’s new Office of Technology.

    According to FTC chair Lina Khan, “Our office of technology is a natural next step in ensuring we have the in-house skills needed to fully grasp evolving technologies and market trends as we continue to tackle unlawful business practices and protect Americans.”

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Green light.

    As we collectively emerge from the post-President’s Day haze, we’re expecting earnings results today from Coinbase.

    But first up, we have advice on switching away from SMS two-factor authentication for anyone still using Twitter, and Adi Robertson considers why social networks are suddenly treating security as a premium service.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    It’s always a good day to replace passwords and SMS 2FA with something stronger.

    Unlike SMS, security keys are still a free way to lock down your Twitter (or Gmail, Facebook, Windows, and Apple ID) account. I’ve found they’re also easier to use than less-secure options (passkeys will help too, once they have more support).

    Google security expert Mark Risher explains here why keys are better at resisting phishing attacks:

    With Security Keys, instead of the *user* needing to verify the site, the *site* has to prove itself to the key.

    How to use a two-factor security key

    Stefan Etienne and Barbara Krasnoff
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Cows, weed, and scams.

    A Ponzi scheme that has nothing to do with the blockchain? How quaint.

    Reva Joyce Stachniw, 71, of Galesburg, Illinois, and Ron Throgmartin, 59, of Buford, Georgia, along with a co-conspirator, ran a Ponzi scheme by fraudulently representing to victims that their investments were backed by short-term investments in Stachniw and Throgmartin’s cattle and marijuana businesses.

    The victim-investors gave the conspirators money based on false promises that their investments would be used for legitimate activities related to those businesses. In actuality, the funds were used to pay earlier investors.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    SpaceX could be facing a $175k fine.

    SpaceX apparently didn’t submit launch collision analysis trajectory data seven days prior to the Starlink Group 4-27 mission’s launch on August 19th, 2022, and the FAA has proposed a $175,000 civil penalty over the matter.

    The FAA writes, “Launch collision analysis trajectory data is used to assess the probability of the launch vehicle colliding with one of the thousands of tracked objects orbiting the Earth.” The company has 30 days to respond.