Featured Links - June 26, 2023

Links to things I found interesting, but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

CJ relaxing

• 7 Ways Google Has Ruined Fitbit. "Since acquiring the wearable device maker, Google has frustrated many Fitbit users by removing features and delivering lackluster updates." As the owner of a Fitbit Sense, I am really disappointed in how Google has handled Fitbit after they purchased the company. 
• Original six' who painted iconic Garden River bridge reveal how they did it. "The six men who helped paint the words 'This Is Indian Land' on the side of the rail crossing are being revealed publicly — 50 years later — after breaking their vow of silence." The slogan is still painted on the bridge, and you can drive by it on your way to the Sault.
• Firehose quantities. "Generative AI has the potential to lock us into an ecosystem of empty stories." An excellent post by Andrew Liptak on how generative AI is affecting the science fiction and fantasy genres, both literary and film/TV. 
• Tale of the tape. 'Listen to Roger Nichols's long-awaited "Second Arrangement" cassette.' A long-lost Steely Dan song is rediscovered.
• Mass Shootings, Firebombings, and Death Threats: The Anti-LGBTQ Hate Spike Revealed. "A joint report from GLAAD and ADL puts hard numbers behind the rise in hate against America’s queer communities."
• Why Malware Crypting Services Deserve More Scrutiny. "If you operate a cybercrime business that relies on disseminating malicious software, you probably also spend a good deal of time trying to disguise or “crypt” your malware so that it appears benign to antivirus and security products. In fact, the process of “crypting” malware is sufficiently complex and time-consuming that most serious cybercrooks will outsource this critical function to a handful of trusted third parties. This story explores the history and identity behind Cryptor[.]biz, a long-running crypting service that is trusted by some of the biggest names in cybercrime."
• Here’s how we could begin decoding an alien message using math. "A new mathematical approach looks for order in strings of bits."
• Bluesky is just another Twitter clone and that isn't a good thing. "The much hyped social media app Bluesky is meant to be doing things differently, but can its approach to content moderation really build a new social sphere, asks Annalee Newitz."