The Weekly Whatever: Now with notch
The worst site on the Internet
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Facebook carried out internal research in 2019, setting up a clean account for an imaginary politically conservative mother and having the account follow the site’s suggestions. Within two days the Facebook algorithm was promoting QAnon. Within a week, the account’s feed was full of groups that had violated the site’s rules on hate speech and disinformation.
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Facebook AI moderation bot confused car washes and mass shootings.
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Facebook really doesn’t want the public to see its internal investigations into its involvement in genocide in Myanmar.
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Museums start posting on OnlyFans, because Facebook keeps banning posts of fine art that features nudity.
Technology
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Twitter’s own research finds that its algorithm preferentially amplifies right-wing content.
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Man fined for traffic violation after a woman’s T-shirt is mistaken for his license plate.
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Need a business phone for your desk? Fisher-Price has you covered.
Brexit
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Brexit sausage shortage leads to people being offered vegan alternatives.
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Nobody’s making plans to call their child “Nigel”.
Arts
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Prizewinning female thriller author turns out to be three men in a trenchcoat.
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People are taking out loans on their NFTs and then defaulting.
Science
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Could you make a workable knife out of frozen poo? Science has the answer
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How many tics could TikTok kick off if TikTok kicked off tics?
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Things you shouldn’t insert into your body, #38: Sea sponges.
Nature
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Alaskan otter gang attacks humans.
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If you have a problem rescuing dogs from a volcano, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.
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Bumblebees have disappeared from 8 states and could soon be extinct.
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Wanted: Skunks. Must be spotted.
Politics
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Dan Patrick’s million dollar voter fraud hunt finally catches someone. Can you guess who they illegally voted twice for? I think you can.
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Fox News: all wars, all the time.
COVIDiocy
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Right winger Dennis Prager finally gets what he has wanted for months — COVID-19.
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Florida school says vaccinated students must stay home for 30 days in case other students might catch the vaccine. Bonus: They call themselves “The Brain School”.
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Herman Cain Award Reddit channel is changing minds.
Questionable decisions
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White high school teacher puts on fake feather headdress and does fake Nativa American war dance to get students to remember Sohcahtoa mnemonic.
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For decades, Johnson & Johnson knew that their baby powder was occasionally contaminated with asbestos. Now there are 38,000 lawsuits, but J&J has a solution: they’ve spun off their baby powder business into a separate company and had it declare bankruptcy.
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Elderly black man’s medicare coverage runs out, so the hospital dumps him on the sidewalk with tubes attached, including a catheter.
Actual good news
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Update: Tabletop RPG company Paizo voluntarily recognizes union.
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Greta Thunberg rickrolls climate concert, Rick Astley approves.