The Hacker Factor Blog: The Sound of AI Music

https://hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1090-The-Sound-of-AI-Music.html

AI is everywhere, but detection only solves half the problem. Labels and disclosures create new risks that can mislead both creators and audiences.

The Hacker Factor Blog: To Be Young Again
https://hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1089-To-Be-Young-Again.html

Discord’s new "teen-by-default" policy is a masterclass in how fragile automated age checks really are.

Microsoft Outlook recently changed their spam filter / blocker. (Their SNDS and JMRP system.) What's new and improved?

1. I can no longer authenticate my sending network range.

2. A solid 50% of my test emails get delivered. The other 50% are silently dropped. (All test emails take the same sending path and outgoing mail logs show successful delivery to Microsoft.)

3. There is no longer an email address for contacting Microsoft about delivery problems. (If there is, I can't find it.)

The Hacker Factor Blog: Fourteen and Video

https://hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1088-Fourteen-and-Video.html

High performance vs forensic consistency: Why your video hashes might change between encodings.

The Hacker Factor Blog: PTSD, DNS, and Marriage Counseling

https://hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1087-PTSD,-DNS,-and-Marriage-Counseling.html

Saving marriages, one domain name at a time.

The Hacker Factor Blog: Does AI Dream of Electric Sheep?

https://hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1086-Does-AI-Dream-of-Electric-Sheep.html

Unexpected results from a small dataset experiment demonstrate how modern AI can misinterpret context, apply filters inconsistently, and even propose paths around its own restrictions.

The Whitehouse is releasing digitally altered pictures:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/22/white-house-ice-protest-arrest-altered-image

The altered picture came from X/Twitter.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_SG-slWMAAe6bM.jpg:orig

This picture is watermarked with Google's SynthID. Google AI was used to alter the image.

The Hacker Factor Blog: A Typical PDF

https://hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1085-A-Typical-PDF.html

If you thought forensically evaluating pictures was hard, wait until you try PDF files!