Writer, Filmmaker, and Advocate for Public Health, and Privacy
The following is a podcast pilot episode of a podcast from April 2021. The Seventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants American s the right to a jury trial in civil lawsuits. So it s no surprise that most people can name at least one patently ridiculous lawsuit, whether brought by a pro se litigant or Rudy Giuliani. But for all the [ ] The post Frivolous Defense — Joshua N. Stein (Se.1 Ep.1)…
The ego some people have because they founded a company is insane. I get it, you started a pre-revenue, pre-product, pre-funding, LLC using Legal Zoom. Congrats you re a founder. Someday an attorney will tell you the company needs to be refiled with an operating agreement, as a different entity type, in another location if you [ ] The post I m the founder! appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Peter Theil and Elon Musk believe their money bought them a person in the Oval Office who will always take their calls and never tell them no. They will be shocked to find out Trump knows himself to be a self-made man who owes them nothing but contempt for their arrogance. Leopards gonna leopard. The post Peter Theil and Elon Musk, leopards gonna leopard appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Trans people are… a very small percentage of the population. The amount of time and energy some folks spend talking about a group of people who account for under 1% of the population is honestly weirdly disproportional. Dallas Cowboys have more Instagram followers than there are trans people in the US. And ya know, maybe [ ] The post Dallas Cowboys Fans And Trans People appeared first on Mason…
The year is 2042, Google just gives you random made up facts when you refresh the page. Facebook sends you hundreds of happy birthday text from unknown numbers daily. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have just launched an Only Fans. Tim Walz and Joe Rogan host a popular podcast about deer hunting. You still eat [ ] The post It s 2042 appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Tony Hinchcliffe known for his controversial stand-up, made global headlines after attempting a set at Donald Trump’s presidential gala at Madison Square Garden. Hinchcliffe comment comparing Puerto Rico to a floating island of garbage sparked immediate backlash, even prompting rare damage control from the Trump campaign and condemnation from prominent Republicans. Hinchcliffe’s comedic style, is…
Reminder, some people will look at a tree that provided their family syrup for 100 years and want to know why it never gave them waffles. If the tree did, somehow make them waffles, these people would ask about the eggs and bacon. Don t deal with these people. Watch the video on, TikTok / Instagram The post The Waffle Tree (video) appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Lily Allen apparently makes more money selling her feet pics online than she earns from 8 million monthly Spotify streams. A sad commentary on artistry, but great news for people with toes. Learn more on Variety Watch the video on, TikTok / Instagram The post Lilly Allen, Feet Pics and Spotify (video) appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Once you have solved a problem, you don’t need to continue working to fix it further, even if it feels exciting to keep optimizing. This article is based on a short from video linked/embedded below. At one point, the internet was slow in my office, so I decided to address it. I took the rational, [ ] The post Once You Fix, It Stop Fixing It (video) appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Explain to dad that his ex-wife is my investor thus creating social pressure making it difficult for him to charge the full cost of rent we negotiated until business operations are profitable. The post The Successful Entrepreneur Business Plan (Wealthy Parent Edition) appeared first on Mason Pelt .
James Vincent for The Verge covered my beat, or more aptly beat the same drum, as I today. Vincent s article is about how AI is ruining the internet is fucking great. Well sourced, and well written. The article also covers something I pointed out a few months ago, that AI will turn the web into [ ] The post The Verge Agrees, AI Will Break The Internet appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Why are so many social media companies trying to sceeeeeeezzzszzee money out of API fees? It takes so much value away from users of those platforms, and (most of the time) also from customers. Its s just bad all around. The post High API Fees, A Dying Breath Of Social Media Platforms appeared first on Mason Pelt .
OXO potato peelers, and curb cuts. Yep, that s right, the only well designed things are OXO potato peelers, and curb cuts. At least based on the examples UX designer like referencing. The post The Only Well Designed Things appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Willing to bet Google is afraid of an antitrust issue, and Squarespace mostly wanted the technology (security/ DNS management) to sure up issues that they ve had for a long time. Squarespace Enters Definitive Agreement to Acquire Google Domains Assets Squarespace Inc. the design-driven platform helping entrepreneurs build brands and businesses online, announced today it has [ ] The post…
Worshiping Visionary Leaders Hurts Innovation People are so hungry for a singular genius who “think different,” that once someone is broadly accepted as a visionary, people will give them credit for ideas they didn’t have. A pile of innovator points awarded by nothing but perception gives them the advantage of support for any idea, no matter how [ ] The post Founders Acting Like Cult Leaders Is…
Forbes props up frauds in a lot of ways, and one of those is the Forbes Councils. Forbes Councils are a scheme, where article below Forbes normal editorial standards are published by people paying for the privilege. I don t read articles from the Forbes Councils. Honestly very few people read them as they are a [ ] The post Forbes Councils Are Bullshit appeared first on Mason Pelt .
The AI industry is heavily capitalized, and reliant on smoke and mirrors. Calls for regulation and open letters asking for a pause in AI research from leaders of AI companies make headlines every few months. These are not circulating out of genuine fear, they are self aggrandizing, and honestly monopolistic. In under a year, artificial [ ] The post Calling For A Moratorium On Calling For A…
My latest for Push ROI, explains a few hard and fast rules for when we will walk away from a negotiation. When To Walk Away From A Negotiation The post Push ROI: When To Walk Away From A Negotiation appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Some subreddits are taking stand opposing new Reedit API pricing. Major Reddit communities will go dark to protest threat to third-party apps The post Redditters Are Fighting Reddit appeared first on Mason Pelt .
You may know The Muffin Man. But The Muffin Man doesn’t’ know you; personally or by reputation. This weird stalker-like parasocial obsession with The Muffin Man needs to end. The Drury Lane address is only public because other stalker posted it on 4chan. Like, fine, you watched some of his videos, and follow his Tweets or [ ] The post The Muffin Man Doesn t Know You appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Filed under if AI ends humanity it will do so with human stupidity. The article discusses AI-generated videos on TikTok that depict true-crime stories, particularly focusing on the stories of murder victims, including young children. AI Deepfakes of True-Crime Victims Are a Waking Nightmare The post Deepfakes And True Crime appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Jonathan Snowden wrote an incredibly thoughtful article about ethics in MMA media, and journalism more broadly. What Snowden points out is just how arbitrary the lines of ethics often are in reporting. I have another point. The ethical lines in reporting are changing, because they cannot be sustained. Look, I m an ad agency demon who [ ] The post Being Broke Is Changing Ethics In Journalism…
I think more publications like Deadspin would be a net positive. Back in the day only Gawker reliably called out startup bullshit. ‘The last good website’ The post From Deadspins s Ashes: The Story Of Defector appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Software is replacing artists and writers who enjoy their work while warehouse staffers pee in bottles to make quota. AI is turning into a shitty anti-utopia. As I write this, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike for 28 days. In a negotiation with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers [ ] The post The AI Anti-Utopia, And Other Stories appeared first on Mason Pelt…
I m giddy. Texas House names Ken Paxton impeachment managers; Senate trial will start by Aug. 28 The post Ken Paxton Was Impeached appeared first on Mason Pelt .
This article came out in 2020, and I missed it until today. It s a very interesting read. I Called Everyone in Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book The post When Mother Jones Got Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book appeared first on Mason Pelt .
This profile of Lindsay Dougherty fucking awesome and well worth the read. The post Vanity Fair Profile Of Teamster s Union Boss Lindsay Dougherty appeared first on Mason Pelt .
A lawyer used ChatGPT to research a legal brief and it didn t work out. ChatGPT makes stuff up or uses very thin sourcing, and is not a replacement for a search engine. Here’s What Happens When Your Lawyer Uses ChatGPT The post Don t Use ChatGPT For Legal Research appeared first on Mason Pelt .
My latest for KnowTechie covers the rise of AI powered fraud. I also touched on some of this issues in a recent essay about how AI is empowering greed and stupidity. Beware of AI scams: The dark side of the digital utopia we didn t sign up for The post AI Is Turning Fraud Up To 11 appeared first on Mason Pelt .
It takes a lot for a PR firm, or any marketing firm to sue a client (Google Spring Free EV Push ROI to see a case in point). But Musk is getting sued by Joele Frank, a former PR firm of Twitter. Elon Musk, who hates good press inherited the PR firm when he acquired [ ] The post Twitter Being Sued By Former PR For Nonpayment appeared first on Mason Pelt .
The content units mindset makes AI replacing human writers inevitable. This AI future won’t just replace writers, when the goal is churning out more content units, ever cheaper, every creative is on the chopping block. The sword that will cut their jobs is being forged with their work. The post AI Enabled Greed And Stupidity appeared first on Mason Pelt .
I know it was coming and I m still not sure how I feel. Adobe Has Added New A.I. Capabilities to Photoshop, Allowing Users to Edit Images Using Text Prompts The post Adobe Is Adding Generative AI Tools To Photoshop appeared first on Mason Pelt .
An AI-generated image of an explosion near the Pentagon went viral, causing a brief stock market crash of 0.26%. AI Picture Of The Pentagon Exploding Caused The Stock Market To Crash The post AI-Generated Pentagon Image Sparks Stock Market Panic appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Investigators apparently found a Nazi flag inside the truck! Driver arrested and Nazi flag seized after truck crashes into security barriers near the White House The post U-Haul Truck Smashes Into Security Barrier Near White House appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Startups are filled with psychopaths enabled by delusional investors. Billy McFarland somehow managed to get more funding, to do more stupid shit. Billy McFarland has secured funding for Fyre Fest 2.0 and a Broadway musical The post Billy McFarland Got More Money Apparently appeared first on Mason Pelt .
It s not enough money to hurt Meta, but it may make them think twice next time. Meta Faces Record $1.3B Fine for European Data Privacy Violations The post The EU Fines Meta $13 Billion For Privacy Violations appeared first on Mason Pelt .
My latest for KnowTechie is a criticism of grief tech, the growing number of AI chatbots that are trained with data of deceased loved ones. These tools, almost all seem as predatory as a Victorian-era séance. Grief tech seems predatory as a Victorian-era séance The post AI Grief Tech Sure Seems Predatory appeared first on Mason Pelt .
Former Minneapolis police officer Justin Stetson apologized in court to Jaleel Stallings. Stetson and other officers beat the shit out of Stallings during protests following George Floyd s murder. Prior to the beating the cops were in an unmarked van shooting less than lethal weapons at random people, Stallings returned fire with one shot above the [ ] The post Cop Apologizes For Beating The $#!%…
I ve been at Push ROI for over eight years, but every few years I kick a few tires in consideration of a career change. Last year I applied for a job at Newchip, an Austin, TX-based startup accelerator. The application process led me to believe I d end up writing about a scam. I wasn t a [ ] The post The Newchip Startup Accelerator Is Burning To Death appeared first on Mason Pelt .
This article is an interview with Richard Mathenge, a former contractor for Sama, an AI annotation service that worked with OpenAI training OpenAI s GPT model by repeatedly viewing and categorizing explicit and offensive content. He Helped Train ChatGPT. It Traumatized Him. The post Interview With A Man Who Helped Train ChatGPT appeared first on Mason Pelt .