Adam Bender

Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work About 10,000 writers including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman join copyright campaign

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Dear Outlook,

I never ever want to attach the file with OneDrive. Thanks. Bye.

Shira

Gorillaz - The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God YouTube video by Gorillaz

Cool short film for the new Gorillaz album: youtu.be/ucRulNQsuYQ?...

Interesting panel session at #IAPPIntensive26 comparing the (slight) simplification of the UK’s international data transfers regime with the EU’s (growing) toughening of its own approach.

The number of people attending this #IAPPIntensive26 session on international data transfers and the number of questions being asked shows what a big area of concern this still is for organisations.

Flagrant Llama Abuse - Penny Arcade Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2026/0...

Ring’s AI-powered Search Party won’t stop at finding lost dogs, leaked email shows Ring has bigger plans

www.theverge.com/tech/880906/...

so far tonight bad bunny has sung more reggaeton songs than the patriots and seahawks combined

Is Sofia Vergara a much bigger star than I knew?

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

“Let me know if you'd like to comment.”

Same.

Spotify is partnering with Bookshop.org to sell physical books The company is trying to bring in more readers as it expands its audiobook features.

www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

Just noticed a neat trick to save money on tech. Buy the wired version and save $100 with otherwise the same quality as the more expensive product. Works on earbuds, videogame controllers and probably more.

Adam’s New Year Resolutions Happy New Year! So, my first resolution for 2026 is to get back to updating this blog! (Hey look, I did it.) It's been a while, reader. I really do apologize for the dearth of posts over the last year. I can tell you I was not sitting on my hands. In fact, from a professional standpoint, it was not a bad year at all!

I'm going to try to get back to updating my blog in 2026! And maybe even make some headway on my creative writing!

I bought a 8bitdo Ultimate 2C controller for PC recently. Seemed like a steal for $30 given all the features. Seemed great at first and then I realized it was giving me a hand cramp every time I played after 30-45 minutes! Going to try a slightly pricier Razer controller instead.

Super excited to announce that in just 30 days, over 200,000 Californians have signed up for DROP -- the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform -- to delete their data from 100s of data brokers! #Privacy #DROP #CalPrivacy @calprivacy.bsky.social

Black as midnight on a moonless night.

Happy 25th Anniversary to Green Day's Warning. First real rock album I ever bought (I probably shouldn't count Batman film soundtracks). Still a great album!

White House releases list of donors for Trump’s multi-million-dollar ballroom | CNN Politics Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, Comcast and Meta are just some of the major companies who have made donations to build President Donald Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot...

Named donors include Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Google, Meta, Microsoft and T-Mobile. www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/p...

‘It’s like they’ve erupted out of someone’s subconscious’: how horror came to possess modern cinemas The ‘rough and ready’ genre’s current box office boom shouldn’t surprise us, say film-makers and experts

The ‘rough and ready’ genre’s current box office boom shouldn’t surprise us, say film-makers and experts @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...

Ash - Fun People (Feat. @grahamcoxon ) - Official Video YouTube video by Ash

Here's a song to get you pumped for the weekend: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE4H...

California Privacy Protection Agency Announces Joint Investigative Privacy Sweep: CA, CO, and CT Investigate Businesses Refusing to Honor Consumers' Right to Opt-Out of the Sale of The...

Very pleased that @calprivacy.bsky.social is partnering with multiple state AG offices to launch an investigatory sweep into businesses who fail to honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC), aka opt-out preference signal (OOPS). cppa.ca.gov/announcement...

I have a song stuck in my head from Donkey Kong Bananza that just goes "Zebraaaa, zebraaaa, zebraaaa!!!" This is pretty weird.

Wow, Bluesky will block users from Mississippi due to the state's age-verification law.

We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online – The Markup Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found. After our reporters reached out for comment, multiple companies have stopped the practice.

themarkup.org/privacy/2025...

Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."

Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:

‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’

Maximum penalty is $21.09 trillion dollars (not kidding)

The Australian Information Commissioner has launched legal action against Optus over the 2022 data breach

Penny Arcade Presents: HealthWatch - Penny Arcade Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

Penny Arcade on fitness watches

www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2025/0...

If I did that, I'd just get back an uninformative form letter rejection.