Jason Koebler
@jasonkoebler.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
journalist @404mediaco
Signal: jason.404 // email: jason@404media.co
[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@jasonkoebler on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
Signal: jason.404 // email: jason@404media.co
[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@jasonkoebler on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
X's location "transparency" feature showing many MAGA accounts are based internationally reveals what we already knew: The world is using American social media and American politics as a slot machine and social media companies are directly incentivizing this […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
X's location "transparency" feature showing many MAGA accounts are based internationally reveals what we already knew: The world is using American social media and American politics as a slot machine and social media companies are directly incentivizing this […]
New: A judge in Washington has ruled images from Flock surveillance cameras are public records and that anyone can request them. Highlights the pervasiveness of this tech and just how much surveillance is being done. Very notable ruling […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 12, 2025 at 3:22 PM
New: A judge in Washington has ruled images from Flock surveillance cameras are public records and that anyone can request them. Highlights the pervasiveness of this tech and just how much surveillance is being done. Very notable ruling […]
The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort […]
New: The FBI filed a subpoena trying to unmask the person or people behind archive.is/archive.today, which have been running anonymously for 13 yrs. Site was widely used by GamerGate, and then to bypass paywalls but has become kind of core archiving infrastructure […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM
New: The FBI filed a subpoena trying to unmask the person or people behind archive.is/archive.today, which have been running anonymously for 13 yrs. Site was widely used by GamerGate, and then to bypass paywalls but has become kind of core archiving infrastructure […]
this is very cool: Kodak quietly relisted Kodak Gold and Ultramax on its website and confirmed to me it is selling the films directly to photography stores again. this is a big deal because for the last decade, Kodak has not controlled distribution of its own film […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 3, 2025 at 9:11 PM
this is very cool: Kodak quietly relisted Kodak Gold and Ultramax on its website and confirmed to me it is selling the films directly to photography stores again. this is a big deal because for the last decade, Kodak has not controlled distribution of its own film […]
The end of Windows 10 support is going to be an environmental and security disaster, an egregious example of planned obsolescence that doesn't have to be this way:
https://www.404media.co/the-end-of-windows-10-support-is-an-e-waste-disaster-in-the-making/
https://www.404media.co/the-end-of-windows-10-support-is-an-e-waste-disaster-in-the-making/
The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
In an example of egregious planned obsolescence, as many as 400 million computers will soon hit the waste stream.
www.404media.co
October 15, 2025 at 2:09 PM
The end of Windows 10 support is going to be an environmental and security disaster, an egregious example of planned obsolescence that doesn't have to be this way:
https://www.404media.co/the-end-of-windows-10-support-is-an-e-waste-disaster-in-the-making/
https://www.404media.co/the-end-of-windows-10-support-is-an-e-waste-disaster-in-the-making/
Some exciting news: 404 Media just won a grant via Muckrock to investigate book bans and educational censorship in the U.S. The plan is to file hundreds of public records requests around the country and to report on and archive all the documents for public use […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
October 9, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Some exciting news: 404 Media just won a grant via Muckrock to investigate book bans and educational censorship in the U.S. The plan is to file hundreds of public records requests around the country and to report on and archive all the documents for public use […]
Spent many (many!) hours pulling legal explanations and apologies from lawyers who were caught using AI that hallucinated in which they explained to a judge why they used AI. The explanations are astonishing and extremely good […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
September 30, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Spent many (many!) hours pulling legal explanations and apologies from lawyers who were caught using AI that hallucinated in which they explained to a judge why they used AI. The explanations are astonishing and extremely good […]
The much-hyped SIM farm the Secret Service seized uses readily available off the shelf tech that, very interestingly, has also become critical to ticket scalping. I, like others, am extremely not buying the idea that this was intended to take down the cell network […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
September 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The much-hyped SIM farm the Secret Service seized uses readily available off the shelf tech that, very interestingly, has also become critical to ticket scalping. I, like others, am extremely not buying the idea that this was intended to take down the cell network […]
New: We have just sued ICE to demand it turns over a secretive spyware contract that it refuses to release:
https://www.404media.co/were-suing-ice-for-its-2-million-spyware-contract/
https://www.404media.co/were-suing-ice-for-its-2-million-spyware-contract/
September 22, 2025 at 4:29 PM
New: We have just sued ICE to demand it turns over a secretive spyware contract that it refuses to release:
https://www.404media.co/were-suing-ice-for-its-2-million-spyware-contract/
https://www.404media.co/were-suing-ice-for-its-2-million-spyware-contract/
Good news: Rather than deal with tariff logistics, some international eBay and Etsy sellers have simply jacked their shipping costs up to $2,000 for Americans buyers:
https://www.404media.co/2-000-shipping-international-sellers-charge-absurd-prices-to-avoid-dealing-with-american-tariffs/
https://www.404media.co/2-000-shipping-international-sellers-charge-absurd-prices-to-avoid-dealing-with-american-tariffs/
September 16, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Good news: Rather than deal with tariff logistics, some international eBay and Etsy sellers have simply jacked their shipping costs up to $2,000 for Americans buyers:
https://www.404media.co/2-000-shipping-international-sellers-charge-absurd-prices-to-avoid-dealing-with-american-tariffs/
https://www.404media.co/2-000-shipping-international-sellers-charge-absurd-prices-to-avoid-dealing-with-american-tariffs/
Talked to 23 people who suddenly have to pay huge tariffs or otherwise cannot get chainmail from Pakistan, yarn from France, retro computers from Japan, metal music from the Netherlands, DVDs from Germany, cosplay supplies, sunscreen, etc […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
September 9, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Talked to 23 people who suddenly have to pay huge tariffs or otherwise cannot get chainmail from Pakistan, yarn from France, retro computers from Japan, metal music from the Netherlands, DVDs from Germany, cosplay supplies, sunscreen, etc […]
BREAKING: Michael Pratt, the ringleader of Girls Do Porn, was sentenced to 27 years in prison today. @samleecole.bsky.social is at the court in what sounds like a completely gut-wrenching day:
https://www.404media.co/michael-pratt-girlsdoporn-ringleader-sentenced/
https://www.404media.co/michael-pratt-girlsdoporn-ringleader-sentenced/
September 8, 2025 at 9:32 PM
BREAKING: Michael Pratt, the ringleader of Girls Do Porn, was sentenced to 27 years in prison today. @samleecole.bsky.social is at the court in what sounds like a completely gut-wrenching day:
https://www.404media.co/michael-pratt-girlsdoporn-ringleader-sentenced/
https://www.404media.co/michael-pratt-girlsdoporn-ringleader-sentenced/
AI "boring history" slop has taken over YouTube and is particularly insidious because it flattens history and drowns out the tireless work of creators who have been integral to legitimizing YouTube as a place for high-quality history videos […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
September 3, 2025 at 3:58 PM
AI "boring history" slop has taken over YouTube and is particularly insidious because it flattens history and drowns out the tireless work of creators who have been integral to legitimizing YouTube as a place for high-quality history videos […]
Trump take LEGO:
https://www.404media.co/lego-stops-shipping-individual-bricks-to-united-states-after-trumps-tariffs/
https://www.404media.co/lego-stops-shipping-individual-bricks-to-united-states-after-trumps-tariffs/
August 29, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Buying anything from overseas is about to get more expensive, more logistically complicated, slower, and overall more annoying. Film photography community, retro games community, people into skincare already seeing chaos on eBay. eBay sellers locking US buyers out […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
August 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Buying anything from overseas is about to get more expensive, more logistically complicated, slower, and overall more annoying. Film photography community, retro games community, people into skincare already seeing chaos on eBay. eBay sellers locking US buyers out […]
New: An app developer has restored functionality to popular Echelon exercise bikes after the company made them all-but-useless unless you have a subscription. But he can't legally release the software […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
August 27, 2025 at 8:24 PM
New: An app developer has restored functionality to popular Echelon exercise bikes after the company made them all-but-useless unless you have a subscription. But he can't legally release the software […]
Breaking: 4chan and Kiwi Farms have sued the United Kingdom over the Online Safety Act:
https://www.404media.co/4chan-and-kiwi-farms-sue-the-uk-over-its-age-verification-law/
https://www.404media.co/4chan-and-kiwi-farms-sue-the-uk-over-its-age-verification-law/
August 27, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Breaking: 4chan and Kiwi Farms have sued the United Kingdom over the Online Safety Act:
https://www.404media.co/4chan-and-kiwi-farms-sue-the-uk-over-its-age-verification-law/
https://www.404media.co/4chan-and-kiwi-farms-sue-the-uk-over-its-age-verification-law/
80s nostalgia AI slop: A niche like any other, reverse engineered by 20-something digital nomads in Bali to boomerfy the masses as they astral project to a fake past in service of making fractions of a cent per view on Zuckerberg's cultish algorithmic slop machine […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
August 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
80s nostalgia AI slop: A niche like any other, reverse engineered by 20-something digital nomads in Bali to boomerfy the masses as they astral project to a fake past in service of making fractions of a cent per view on Zuckerberg's cultish algorithmic slop machine […]
Today is the two year anniversary of 404 Media, which is hard to fathom. We wrote about how it's going, what we've done, what we're going to do, and what we've learned. We cannot do this without the support of our subscribers and for that we are endlessly thankful […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
August 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Today is the two year anniversary of 404 Media, which is hard to fathom. We wrote about how it's going, what we've done, what we're going to do, and what we've learned. We cannot do this without the support of our subscribers and for that we are endlessly thankful […]
TikTok Shop is selling 'Silent' GPS trackers that are marketed to stalkers and domestic abusers. Many of the videos have millions of views and at least 100,000 of them have been sold. TikTok's algorithm endlessly puts these in front of you if you fall into the algo […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
August 18, 2025 at 3:34 PM
TikTok Shop is selling 'Silent' GPS trackers that are marketed to stalkers and domestic abusers. Many of the videos have millions of views and at least 100,000 of them have been sold. TikTok's algorithm endlessly puts these in front of you if you fall into the algo […]
An ICE sizzle reel propaganda video that used a Jay-Z song got hit with a copyright takedown and has been deleted off of X. Sound removed on Instagram and Facebook
https://www.404media.co/ice-propaganda-video-that-used-jay-z-song-hit-with-copyright-takedown/
https://www.404media.co/ice-propaganda-video-that-used-jay-z-song-hit-with-copyright-takedown/
August 13, 2025 at 4:12 PM
An ICE sizzle reel propaganda video that used a Jay-Z song got hit with a copyright takedown and has been deleted off of X. Sound removed on Instagram and Facebook
https://www.404media.co/ice-propaganda-video-that-used-jay-z-song-hit-with-copyright-takedown/
https://www.404media.co/ice-propaganda-video-that-used-jay-z-song-hit-with-copyright-takedown/
SCOOP: A CBP agent wore Meta's AI smart glasses to an immigration raid in Los Angeles. CBP has no deal with Meta so it's possibly his own personal device
https://www.404media.co/a-cbp-agent-wore-meta-smart-glasses-to-an-immigration-raid-in-los-angeles/
https://www.404media.co/a-cbp-agent-wore-meta-smart-glasses-to-an-immigration-raid-in-los-angeles/
August 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
SCOOP: A CBP agent wore Meta's AI smart glasses to an immigration raid in Los Angeles. CBP has no deal with Meta so it's possibly his own personal device
https://www.404media.co/a-cbp-agent-wore-meta-smart-glasses-to-an-immigration-raid-in-los-angeles/
https://www.404media.co/a-cbp-agent-wore-meta-smart-glasses-to-an-immigration-raid-in-los-angeles/
New: A Sheriff's Office in Texas has access to data from AI license plate reading cameras at hundreds of Home Depots (in Texas) and Lowe's (around the country)
https://www.404media.co/home-depot-and-lowes-share-data-from-hundreds-of-ai-cameras-with-cops/
https://www.404media.co/home-depot-and-lowes-share-data-from-hundreds-of-ai-cameras-with-cops/
August 6, 2025 at 3:25 PM
New: A Sheriff's Office in Texas has access to data from AI license plate reading cameras at hundreds of Home Depots (in Texas) and Lowe's (around the country)
https://www.404media.co/home-depot-and-lowes-share-data-from-hundreds-of-ai-cameras-with-cops/
https://www.404media.co/home-depot-and-lowes-share-data-from-hundreds-of-ai-cameras-with-cops/