Wednesday 23rd April 2025

4chan Is Dead. Its Toxic Legacy Is Everywhere

My earliest memory of 4chan was sitting up late at night, typing its URL into my browser, and scrolling through a thread of LOLcat memes, which were brand-new at the time.

Back then a photoshop of a cat saying "I can has cheezburger" or an image of an owl saying “ORLY?” was, without question, the funniest thing my 14-year-old brain had ever laid eyes on. So much so, I woke my dad up by laughing too hard and had to tell him that I was scrolling through pictures of cats at 2 in the morning. Later, I would become intimately familiar with the site’s much more nefarious tendencies.


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‘Conclave’ Viewership Shot Up 283 Percent Following Pope Francis’ Death

In the Roman Catholic Church, it was called the “Francis effect,” a feeling that the arrival of the more inclusive Pope Francis in 2013 would invigorate the faith and get people back in the pews.

On Monday, Francis’ passing at the age of 88 led to an effect of a different kind: a surge in viewership for Conclave, director Edward Berger’s Oscar-winning film about what happens in the Vatican when church leaders are locked in a room—or, well, the Sistine Chapel—to decide who will be the next pope.


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The 8 Best Earth Day Deals of 2025

Earth Day has arrived, in a wave of sunny weather, blooming flowers, and spring cleaning season. Whether you're redoing your garden this spring, investing in more eco-friendly items, or looking to go organic, there are sales right now that can help you with that. Several Earth Day sales (plus some other spring sales) are underway to help you live a little more thoughtfully or feel a little more connected to nature. Plus, these are great sales to shop ahead of tariffs kicking in, with several companies planning to raise prices in May. All mattress and bedding prices are for queen sizes.

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He Built Memecoin Factory Pump.Fun. Did He Make a Small Fortune Dumping His Own Shitcoins as a Teen?

Pump.Fun, the world’s largest memecoin factory, has made it possible for anybody to create their own cryptocurrency. But years before the platform launched, an individual going by the same name as one of its cofounders, Dylan Kerler, was already making a small fortune hawking—then dumping—home-baked coins.

A WIRED investigation identified eight coins launched by an individual using the name Dylan Kerler in 2017. At that point, the Dylan Kerler who cofounded Pump.Fun was 16 years old. Two of the coins—eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash—gained traction on a crypto forum before tumbling in price, leading investors to allege that the developer had performed a rug pull, an ethically dubious maneuver whereby somebody hypes up their coin and then sinks the price by selling off their holdings.


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Teen Coder Shuts Down Free Mac App Whisky, Encourages Supporting the Paid Alternative

Whisky, a gaming-focused front end for Wine’s Windows-compatibility tools on macOS, is no longer receiving updates. As one of the most useful and well-regarded tools in a Mac gamer's toolkit, it could be seen as a great loss, but its developer hopes you'll move on with what he considers a better option: supporting CodeWeavers' CrossOver product.

This story originally appeared on Ars Technica, a trusted source for technology news, tech policy analysis, reviews, and more. Ars is owned by WIRED's parent company, Condé Nast.


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The 55 Best Shows on Disney+ Right Now (May 2025)

Andor, Doctor Who, and Daredevil: Born Again are just a few of the shows you should be watching on Disney+ this month.


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Here’s All the Health and Human Services Data DOGE Has Access To

Affiliates from Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have significant access to 19 sensitive systems at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a recent court filing. Nine of those are previously undisclosed.

This wide-ranging access, which includes a centralized accounting system for all Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) programs, the cloud for a “robust” and “high-volume data warehouse,” and several additional HHS accounting systems that pay government contractors, demonstrates the breadth of DOGE’s takeover at the federal agency charged with securing health care for millions of Americans.


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After Tesla’s Earnings Slide, Pressure’s On for Cybercab

Tesla brought in 20 percent less automotive revenue at the end of last year compared to the year previous, the company reported today, as demand for its electric cars appear to have dipped precipitously across the globe. The drop exceeded even some pessimistic Wall Street analysts’ predictions.

By late afternoon, before CEO Elon Musk and other company leaders appeared for a quarterly update call for investors, stock prices appeared relatively stable on the news. Overall, however, the electric automaker’s stock price is down more than 40 percent from its late-2024 high.


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Adidas Promo Codes & Deals: 15% Off

Save 15% on your purchase with our Adidas coupon and join the adiClub to enjoy member-exclusive perks, like the adiClub Days Sale.


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Surfshark Promo Codes: 86% Off | April 2025

Save up to 86% with a Surfshark coupon code, and get 3 months of VPN free. Plus April 2025 Birthday Sale offers from WIRED.


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