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In the internet era, the idea of personal privacy is all but a myth. With a few keystrokes just about anyone can get your home address, phone number, email, age and the names of your family members. The fact that this information is readily available puts us all in the dangerous position of being the victim of fraud, stalking and violence.

What makes the situation even worse is that our information was put online without any of our consent.

The good news is that Google just made a big change that gives us all a little more control over our personal information. On April 27, the company announced it will allow anyone to request removals of their personal information from its Search feature.

“Open access to information is a key goal of Search, but so is empowering people with the tools they need to protect themselves and keep their sensitive, personally identifiable information private. That’s why we’re updating our policies to help people take more control of their online presence in Search,” Michelle Chang, Google’s Global Policy Lead for Search, announced on the company’s blog.

“[T]he internet is always evolving—with information popping up in unexpected places and being used in new ways—so our policies and protections need to evolve, too,” Chang continued.

The new policy also allows people to request the removal of personal information in Search that could be used for financial fraud such as log-in credentials or account numbers.

Hereu2019s how you can remove your phone number, email and other personal information from Google search results.https://cnet.co/3y6utEa

— CNET (@CNET)
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Although Google’s new policy is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t cure the problem altogether. “It’s important to remember that removing content from Google Search won’t remove it from the internet, which is why you may wish to contact the hosting site directly, if you’re comfortable doing so,” Chang said.

Do you have any personal information that pops up in Google Search that you’d like to have removed? Visit the topic’s support page, scroll down and click the “Start removal request” link. As you follow the prompts you will be able to specify the personal information that shows up in Search and will be asked to share a list of relevant search terms, such as your full name, maiden name and nickname. You’ll also be able to share supplemental details before submitting the request.

After your request is submitted, you should receive an email from Google confirming the request was received. It’s unclear how long the removal process will take.

Google’s new policy changes come during a surge in online fraud. The Federal Trade Commission reported that consumers lost $5.8 billion to scammers in 2021, a jump of 70% from the previous year.

A big portion of fraud is committed through online scams as well as identity theft and telephone solicitations.

In an attempt to give the FTC more power to fight back against fraud, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Commerce Committee, will introduce legislation this week to make it easier for the Committee to sue deceptive companies and scammers.

“If the FTC remains disarmed of this critical authority, millions of consumers and small businesses who’ve been scammed, swindled, or locked out of competitive marketplaces will never be made whole,” Cantwell said in a statement.

This article originally appeared on 05.03.22

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, “The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis” (written by “Dillon His Self”) in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads “Made in Idho” [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children’s section.

The library Facebook page shared that it had officially added the book to the collection at the branch, writing, “Imagine our surprise yesterday when Dillon’s mom called to tell us that her son had authored an entire book, shelved it at the Lake Hazel Branch, then announced to his family later that he had written a book and it could be checked out at the library.”

The library also announced that Dillon’s book had won the first-ever Whoodini Award for Best Young Novelist—an award created in his honor.

Dillon told local news station KTVB that the book features him, his mom, Santa, a bomb, a portal and a giant carnivorous turkey. Because of course.

“I’ve been wanting to put a book in the library since I was five,” Dillon told the station. Nearly half his life, in other words.

Dillon said there were a lot of librarians he had to sneak past with his book to surreptitiously put it on the shelf, but he did it.

“I’ll always be sneaky, like how I get chocolate,” he explained. Classic.

The adults on every front handled this kid’s creativity and determination the best possible way. His mom called the library to let them know the book was there so it wouldn’t get lost or taken. And rather than just returning the book, the librarians actually put it into circulation.

“His parents were worried we would find his book and we would get rid of it,” Lake Hazel Branch Library manager Alex Hartman told KTVB. “Which was an unfounded fear because if there’s ever a place a book would be safe, it would be here.”

The librarians loved Dillon’s book.

“It deserves a spot on our library shelves,” said Hartman. “It’s a good story.”

At the time of this local news report, the book had a handful of people in line to check it out. But The New York Times reports that as of the end of January, the waiting list has grown to a whopping 56 people. If each person kept the book for the maximum four-week checkout period it would take four years to get to the people at the bottom of the list.

The experience has made Dillon decide to become an author, his mom said, and he even has some career goals laid out.

“I’m going to stop writing when I’m 40,” Dillon said. After that, he will switch to game creation. In the meantime, he has a sequel to his first novel in the works.

“My next book is going to be called ‘The Jacket-Eating Closet,’” he said, “based on actual events.”

Amazing. Kudos to Dillon for following his dream and making it happen, kudos to his mom for encouraging him and kudos to the librarians who saw an opportunity to support a child’s creativity and ran with it.

This article originally appeared on 09.13.22

Jimmy Butler‘s taste in music goes far beyond his well-documented love of country. In the aftermath of a recent 126-114 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic, Nick Friedell wrote a story for ESPN that went through Butler’s postgame routine on the night, which included sitting in the Miami Heat locker room and blasting Nickelback at full volume, all while he “sang every word to each song.”

Butler is known for being a different breed of cat, so when this little anecdote hit the internet in the aftermath of the story getting published, plenty of folks on Twitter enjoyed having a laugh over this detail. But as it turns out, this got onto the radars of a certain Canadian rock band that is going on tour a little later this year, and on their official Twitter account, they let Butler know that he is allowed to join them if he’d like.

There is no word on whether or not Butler will take them up on this offer. It is important to stress that it’s unclear if this means Butler can attend a show and possibly get some VIP treatment, or if he’s allowed to come up on stage and sing along with them. Perhaps this is obvious to everyone else but me, but in fairness, I never made it as a wise man.

Brian Cox is one who rarely holds his tongue. His memoir includes him trashing everyone from Steven Seagal to Quentin Tarantino and Johnny Depp. His Succession son Jeremy Strong knows full well what he thinks of his approach to acting. But is he the kind of person who tells people to “f*ck off” with the same frequency as Logan Roy? He is not. And now that he’s done with the show, he won’t even miss saying that.

In a new interview with Variety, the legendary Scottish actor — who finally achieved household name status as Succession’s tyrannical paterfamilias — echoed statements by other actors, like some of the Stranger Things cast, who are glad their shows are coming to an end.

“American series live well past their sellout date: This one won’t do that. HBO would love us to go for as long as Game of Thrones, but thank God it won’t happen,” he said. “I would find it hard-going to be saying ‘f*ck off’ to people for the next 10 years, although it’s the nicest thing to say to someone. You can actually say how you feel.”

Cox wasn’t even sentimental when the show wrapped. “I felt nothing when I played the last scene [on ‘Succession’]. Nothing! It was the last scene, finito.” He even teased the ending. “Logan absolutely gets what he needs. That’s the great thing about the show. He gets peace, which is good.”

Succession returns for its fourth and final season on March 26 on HBO and HBO Max.

(Via Variety)

Singer and founding Parliament-Funkadelic member Clarence Eugene “Fuzzy” Haskins is dead at 81. The news arrived today from Fuzzy’s Parliament bandmate George Clinton, who took to Instagram to honor the late artist.

“We are saddened to announce the passing of an original Parliament-Funkadelic member, Clarence Eugene “Fuzzy” Haskins (born June 8, 1941-March 17th, 2023),” read the post’s caption.

Fuzzy and Clinton first began working together in 1960, when Fuzzy become part of Clinton’s Doo Wop group, The Parliaments. Parliament later evolved into Parliament-Funkadelic in the ’70s, however, in 1976, he parted ways with the group due to financial and management differences. Still, Clinton still considered him family, according to Clinton’s website.

At the time of writing, a cause of death had not yet been reported. Several musicians have taken to social media to pay tribute to Fuzzy.

“Rest In Funkentelechy my brother,” said Questlove of The Roots.

“Prayer’s going out to Clarence ‘Fuzzys’ Haskins family & friends.,” said his P-Funk bandmate Bootsy Collins. “We lost his frequency today. 3-17- 23. He was an original Parliament/Funkadelic inducted in the RHOF. We will miss u my friend, bandmate & Soul brother! Thx u for ur guidance in my pup year’s. Bootsy baby!!”

In 1997, Fuzzy was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The organization posted a tribute from their Twitter account recalling his legacy.

“As P-Funk pushed boundaries further and further on classic albums like Mothership Connection and Maggot Brain and set a futuristic pace for Black music,” they said. “Haskins kept things connected to their street corner harmony roots.”

Maren Morris and Marcus Mumford united for a cover of “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb),” one of the songs from Amazon Prime’s new series, Daisy Jones & The Six.

Mumford had originally served as a co-creator of the show’s soundtrack. The duo also shared a behind-the-scenes video about their rendition.

“This time around, we stripped the song right back down to acoustic guitar and a vocal – which is how it was written – and then kind of built it back up from there until we landed on an arrangement that we liked,” Mumford said.

“I’ve been a fan of Maren for a long time – both her solo music and her work with The Highwomen – and this duet needed a voice like hers,” he added, according to Rolling Stone. “We’re just honestly so thankful she agreed to do it.”

Morris tackled Daisy’s fictional vocal parts, as Blake Mills once again produced the acoustic take.

“Shows depicting the reality of what it takes to become a band or what it’s really like touring can so often get it wrong. One of the components of Daisy Jones is that they chose to ground this fictional universe with real songwriting,” Morris added. “The music in the show that Blake Mills created and the incredible performances by the actors gives this world a heartbreaking authenticity.”

Check out Maren Morris and Marcus Mumford’s “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” cover and behind-the-scenes clip above.

For years John Boyega has not kept silent about what he really thought about Star Wars. The British actor, who had earned raves for Attack the Block, was stoked when he landed a plum role in The Force Awakens. He was a little less pleased about where his character wound up, feeling he’d been cast to the sidelines. But now, some three years after the final film came out, he seems to have made some peace with it all.

“For me Star Wars has made the man, in a sense,” Boyega told The Times of London (as caught by Deadline). “The experiences, the fun times, good times, ugly times, bad times, it makes you who you are as you navigate through the industry, and that has definitely been interesting.”

As for where his character, stormtrooper-turned-rebel Finn, wound up, he thought he at least ended up in a good place. “I feel like the arc that JJ tried to tie up, that’s where I feel comfortable with the release of him,” he said. “And since then I’ve been able to enjoy, as a fan, The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I’m enjoying the balance of all things.”

It’s a different tone than the one he struck back in 2020, when he continued to slam the direction the series took Finn: “What I would say to Disney is, ‘Do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important to the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good.’”

Last year Boyega praised the Star Wars team on how they handled the racist backlash against Obi-Wan Kenobi supporting player Moses Ingram, albeit while criticizing the team for not showing him the same protection when he received similar attacks.

(Via Deadline)

Lil Nas X is coming in hot at Lollapalooza Chile. Last night (March 17), the pop star performed several of his hits, and previewed some new music as well.

One of the new songs he shared was “Down Souf Hoes,” an upcoming collaboration with his fellow gay rapper, Saucy Santana.

“Down souf hoes, up at late night workin’ / Ten toes down and they won’t stop twerkin’,” Lil Nas X rap-sings on the song’s chorus, with some fun lyrics.

Though Lil Nas X performed snippets of the song during his Long Live Montero tour last year, fans got to hear more of this promising banger last night.

On one of the song’s verses, Lil Nas X promises a guy a special treat. Maybe two.

“Put the bussy on me if you really want a Patek / Put the bussy on me I might let you meet my granny,” he raps

Lil Nas X first confirmed the song’s existence around this time last year, when he revealed he had collaborations with Youngboy Never Broke Again and Saucy Santana on the way. Last summer, Lil Nas X released the Youngboy collaboration, “Late To Da Party.”

You can watch a clip of Lil Nas X performing “Down Souf Hoes” above.

In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day yesterday (March 17), Irish musician and former One Direction member, Niall Horan, dropped by the White House for a special celebration.

Horan performed four songs, including his new single “Heaven,” as well as his other tracks “This Town,” “Flicker,” and a cover of “Spancil Hill.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared,” Horan said on stage at the event, according to Deadline.

“You sure as hell didn’t seem nervous to me,” Biden replied.

He also shared some social media posts about his time at the special Irish tribute.

I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy St. Patrick’s Day in the White House from me,” Horan said in the clip.

“And me too! I hang out here once in a while. I’m happy he’s here!” Biden also added, joining in as a surprise guest.

Just the day prior, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had announced Horan would be coming — but admitted she wasn’t familiar with his boy band roots.

“Niall is a multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter who has toured the globe, including with One Direction,” she said. “Gonna keep my comments to myself on One Direction, I don’t know who they are. I’m sorry. Many of you, I’m sure, do.”

Later this summer, Horan is set to release his new album, The Show, which will feature the previously-mentioned “Heaven,” as well as more new songs.

The Show is out 6/9 via Capitol. More information can be found here.

Did you know that polls taken months after an election are not the same as months-old elections? Congratulations, you know more than election loser Kari Lake. Back in November, the former Trump-hating news anchor-turned-MAGA nightmare failed in her bid to become Arizona’s governor. Since then she’s pulled a Trump and claimed that she won. She’s provided no solid evidence of this, and she’s so desperate to claim she’s not a loser that she’s now saying a new poll shows she didn’t lose.

Lake posted a link to the far right outlet Gateway Pundit, which seized upon a recent Rasmussen poll in which over half of the participants said they voted for MAGA candidates, Lake included. Granted, casual polls like this aren’t the same as proper elections. For one thing, it’s safe to assume not everyone who voted in the election Lake lost participated in this poll.

But why would Lake let basic feats of logic get in the way of her continuing to claim she won something she lost? “The Red Wave happened in Arizona,” she wrote about a thing that never happened, possibly thanks to extremists like her and Trump. “They had to cheat and lie to install their frauds in office. We the People will never go away. We demand honest elections.”

Again, Lake has never offered concrete proof of her claims. She’ll almost certainly assume the job she never got, but saner Republicans are already worried that she’ll run for Kyrsten Sinema’s eventually open Senate seat, and lose all over again. On a positive note, at least she recently yelled at Piers Morgan.

(Via Mediaite)