Eight men were arrested across England and Scotland this week as part of a coordinated crackdown against a SIM swapping gang that has hijacked the identities and social media profiles of US celebrities. From a report: The UK National Crime Agency, which made the arrests on Tuesday, said the gang targeted well-known sports stars, musicians, and influencers, primarily located in the…
Tag: celebrity
SpaceX Announces First-Ever All-Civilian Space Flight Crew
Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur behind a payment processing startup, is funding a multimillion trip to space aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which could be the first-ever orbital flight crewed entirely by non-astronauts. CNN reports: Isaacman, 37, said he will command the mission, which is slated for late-2021 and will see the spacecraft make a “multi-day” trip into Earth’s orbit, according…
Microsoft Patent Shows Plans To Revive Dead Loved Ones As Chatbots
Microsoft has been granted a patent that would allow the company to make a chatbot using the personal information of deceased people. The Independent reports: The patent describes creating a bot based on the “images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages,” and more personal information. “The specific person [who the chat bot represents] may correspond to a past or present…
Spotify’s Big Bet On Podcasts Is Failing, Citi Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Spotify’s multimillion-dollar bet on podcasting may not be working out, Citi analysts wrote in a note to clients Friday. “The cadence of Premium gross additions (through 3Q20) and app download data (through 4Q20) do not show any material benefit from recent podcast investments (that began in 2019),” the analysts wrote. The firm downgraded…
‘Joe the Pigeon’ gets reprieve from death, after leg band found to be fake
Australia’s avian celebrity Joe the Pigeon is getting a new lease on life after authorities determined he is not a biosecurity threat. Source: https://www.livescience.com/joe-the-pigeon-gets-reprieve.html
Hackers Threaten To Leak Plastic Surgery Pictures
Hackers have stolen the data of a large cosmetic surgery chain and are threatening to publish patients’ before and after photos, among other details. From a report: The Hospital Group, which has a long list of celebrity endorsements, has confirmed the ransomware attack. It said it had informed the Information Commissioner of the breach. On its darknet webpage, the hacker group…
UFC’s Diego Sanchez: ‘UFO was watching me’
The Ultimate Fighting Championship legend recently wrote about an encounter with an unidentified object. Celebrity sightings of UFOs are certainly not… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/340860/ufcs-diego-sanchez-ufo-was-watching-me…
32-year-old man looks like a 14-year-old boy
Denis Vashurin is something of an online celebrity in Russia thanks to his bafflingly youthful appearance. To the casual observer, Vashurin – who live… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/339645/32-year-old-man-looks-like-a-14-year-old-boy…
Neil Gaiman, William Shatner Join ‘Read-a-Thon’ Celebrating Ray Bradbury’s 100th Birthday
An anonymous reader quotes Rolling Stone:
To mark what would have been author Ray Bradbury’s 100th birthday on August 22nd, the Library of Congress, the Los Angeles Public Library and libraries from across the nation have banded together for a virtual “read-a-thon” dedicated to Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Actors William Shatner and Rachel Bloom, authors Susan Orlean, Marlon James and Neil Gaiman and…
‘Wakaresaseya’: Private Agents Hired To End Relationships
Christine Ro from the BBC writes about the private agents in Japan, called “wakaresaseya,” that you can hire to seduce your spouse or their partner. From the report: The industry is still serving a niche market. One survey showed around 270 wakaresaseya agencies advertising online. Many are attached to private-detective firms, similar to private investigators in other countries (who can also…