Oh, yes. Bwahahahahahahahaha!
In the first signs of a mounting threat, criminals are starting to use deepfakes — starting with AI-generated audio — to impersonate CEOs and steal millions from companies, which are largely unprepared to combat them.
Category: Flotsam-and-Jetsam
Space invader: Asteroid closer than moon zooms past Earth
Earth got an unwelcome visitor Wednesday when an asteroid as massive as Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza zipped closer to us than the moon.
Actually, three asteroids flew within hailing distance of the planet Wednesday morning, but 2019 OD was the closest, crossing Earth’s orbit at a relatively scant 222,164 miles away — or about 17,000 miles closer than our moon, according to NASA.
At its greatest point, the asteroid is 393 feet wide and was hurtling through space at an extraordinary 43,000 mph.
Members of the Manson Family Speak in New Oxygen Special Manson: The Women
The women who followed Charles Manson are speaking out.
E! News has your exclusive sneak peek at Manson: The Women, a new Oxygen special premiering August 10, which features interviews with four women who belonged to the Manson family—Dianne Lake, Catherine Share, Sandra Good and Lynette Fromme—as well as experts, including Lis Wiehl, Nikki Meredith and Deborah Herman, weighing in on the infamous murders.
“What was it about Charlie Manson that made these women join his family?” Wiehl asks.
The special aims to answer that very question.
“I never saw fulfillment and happiness in the people I looked up to,” Good, aka Blue, says in the trailer below. “I’d say meeting Manson saved my life. I’m thankful.”
Silk Road drug dealer caught trying to wash $19 million bitcoin
A man was arrested on July 18 for trying to launder $19 million of bitcoin earned on the darknet drug marketplace Silk Road. Hugh Haney faces one charge of money laundering and one count of engaging in a financial transaction using illegally-gotten gains. If guilty, he could face up to 30 years behind bars.
Homeland Security identified Haney after he allegedly moved stolen funds to an unidentified crypto exchange. Haney claimed the large amounts of bitcoin were proceeds from bitcoin mining, but Homeland Security says it has evidence which can trace transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain back to the Silk Road. Once the bitcoin—which was earned between 2012 and 2013—was transferred into cash, Homeland Security officers say that’s when they seized the money.
Silk Road was one of the original and most popular darknet marketplaces for buying and selling drugs, and other illegal (and legal) items. It was shut down by the FBI in 2013 and its founder Ross Ulbricht was later sentenced to life in prison without parole. In its two and a half year lifespan, it was reported to have more than 100,000 customers.
Silk Road to redemption: Will Trump pardon Ross Ulbricht?
While Silk Road has long since deceased, the dark web continues to be a popular place for bitcoin. According to Chainalysis, more than $600 million worth of bitcoin was funneled into the dark web in 2018. But, the proportion of bitcoin being used for ilicit activities compared to legal ones has plummeted from nearly seven percent in 2012, to a fraction of a percent today. Crime in crypto, it seems, still pays.
SOURCE: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/silk-road-drug-dealer-caught-122416173.html
All at sea. John McAfee goes dark again, claims CIA in pursuit
Cyber security pioneer, crypto bull and 2020 US presidential candidate John McAfee is on the move again. In a tweet on Friday, in which he can be seen brandishing a gun, he claimed that the CIA had attempted to “collect” him and his wife Janice. “We are at sea now…I will continue to be dark for the next few days,” he said. The CIA has attempted to collect us. We are at sea now and will report more soon. I will continue to be dark for the next few days. pic.twitter.com/o79zsbxISl — John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 19, 2019 We’ve been here before, of course. Last month, McAfee said that he was going dark “for at least 48 hours”. This followed onThe post All at sea. John McAfee goes dark again, claims CIA in pursuit appeared first on Coin Rivet.
LINK: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sea-john-mcafee-goes-dark-100018935.html
Paul Krassner, Anarchist, Prankster and a Yippies Founder, Dies at 87
He was a prankster, a master of the put-on that thumbed its nose at what he saw as a stuffy and blundering political establishment.
And as much as anyone else, Paul Krassner epitomized a strain of anarchic 1960s activism — one that became identified with the Yippies as they nominated a pig for president and rained dollar bills onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Along with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin and a few others, Mr. Krassner helped found that group, and he also joined Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters on their LSD-fueled bus trip across America.
READ MORE: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/21/obituaries/paul-krassner-dies-at-87.html
HOW THE ALLEGED MURDER OF A BLOGGER HAS REVEALED THE DARK REALITY OF ‘INCELS’
The alleged murder of a 17-year-old blogger has revealed a dark reality of the ‘incel’ offshoot, which followers seemed to think was a joke. Writer Elfy Scott has been investigating the movement.
The Con Man Who Became a True-Crime Writer
In his old life, Matthew Cox told stories to scam his way into millions of dollars. Now he’s trying to make it by selling tales that are true.
LINK: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/matthew-cox-true-crime/592798/
Bundyville: The Remnant
Season two of the award-winning podcast from Longreads, in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Also available as a Longread
When a bomb exploded in a tiny desert town, there was no doubt who did it. But no one could understand why.
How the Epstein Case Explains the Rise of Conspiracy Theorists
Nightmarish allegations against the well-connected financier show why so many Americans let their imagination run wild when it comes to elite corruption.
The more we learn about the allegations against the reclusive billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, the more he seems like a figment of the online fever swamps. The wealthy financier arrested last week for underage sex trafficking is accused of operating an international sex ring that could implicate high-powered men across business, politics, and Hollywood. Every nightmarish detail of his story—from the creepily decorated mansion to the flights on “the Lolita Express” to the stays on “Orgy Island”—sounds like it was conjured by conspiracy theorists.
Just this morning, President Donald Trump told reporters that Alex Acosta was stepping down as Secretary of Labor amid mounting outrage over the sweetheart deal he gave Epstein years ago as a federal prosecutor. The resignation will surely draw more attention to what Epstein got away with over the years—and who helped him.
It should not come as a surprise that some of America’s most outspoken conspiracists have spent the days since Epstein’s arrest taking victory laps.
LINK: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/07/epstein-conspiracy-theories/593605/
And here’s a counterpoint view: