In early June 2005, Steve Jobs emailed his friend Michael Hawley a draft of a speech he had agreed to deliver to Stanford University’s graduating class in a few days. “It’s embarrassing,” he wrote. “I’m just not good at this sort of speech. I never do it. I’ll send you …
Read More »The Big Story
He’s Blind. He Plays Video Games. Here’s How That Works
So, how do you disrupt decades of industry inertia? A lot of patience, Minor says. He observes how other disability activists have done it for generations before him: You smile a lot and explain the same thing over and over and over again. Minor’s first “job” was on Madden NFL …
Read More »What Really Happened in the Aftermath of the Lizard Squad Hacks
Although many security experts angrily railed against the media’s portrayal of Lizard Squad as “sophisticated,” people grudgingly came to accept that the Christmas attack did have a big impact on cybersecurity and the gaming industry. There’s little doubt that this was not the group’s motive—despite their clumsy attempts to claim …
Read More »ICE Quietly Scales Back Rules for Courthouse Raids
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has quietly rescinded guidance that advised ICE agents conducting courthouse raids to take steps to avoid violating state and local laws while carrying out civil immigration arrests. The subtle policy change could lead to an escalation in enforcement tactics and legal disputes. Revised policy guidance recently …
Read More »The Epic Rise and Fall of a Dark-Web Psychedelics Kingpin
In fact, agents were still there, in his cousin’s home, listening in on the call, which she had made at their instruction. Akasha told his cousin not to talk to the cops—not knowing she already had—and promised to pay for her lawyer. He advised her to delete every communication they …
Read More »‘A Billion Streams and No Fans’: Inside a $10 Million AI Music Fraud Case
Almost no one hits it big in music. The odds are so bad it’s criminal. But on a late spring evening in Louisville, Kentucky, Mike Smith and Jonathan Hay were having that rare golden moment when everything clicks. Smith was on guitar. Hay was fiddling with the drum machine and …
Read More »Bluesky Is Plotting a Total Takeover of the Social Internet
When you’re talking about this new ecosystem of applications, is the idea that you’re the CEO of all of this, or just Bluesky? I am just the CEO of Bluesky Social. We have built out the protocol, and we maintain the Bluesky app, but the protocol is going to take …
Read More »Who Even Is a Criminal Now?
At WIRED, we’ve had a long-running obsession with rogues. This is, after all, a publication that was founded in the early ’90s, born of a desire to champion the subversive, disruptive advent of the internet—and the hackers, hustlers, and blue-sky lunatics consumed by the possibilities of a digitized and interconnected …
Read More »Airbnb Is in Midlife Crisis Mode
Chesky explains that historically, people used Airbnb only once or twice a year, so its design had to be exceptionally simple. Now the company is retooling for more frequent access. Open the app, and you see a trio of icons that act as gateways to the expanded functions. Within minutes …
Read More »North Korea Stole Your Job
Even security experts can be fooled. In July 2024, Knowbe4, a Florida-based company that offers security training, discovered that a new hire known as “Kyle” was actually a foreign agent. “He interviewed great,” says Brian Jack, KnowBe4’s chief information security officer. “He was on camera, his résumé was right, his …
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