🐤 Grand Theft Leak

In what could be the biggest leak ever, Rockstar Games confirms Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks were real in an official statement. Also stating it was due to a 'network intrusion', but are continuing development as planned.

Tuesday | September 20th, 2022
Early Chirp

Welcome to Tuesday, chirpers. The week is just beginning, but it isn't too bad yet; is it? If it isn't the best week for you so far, let's get everything going in the right direction.

It hasn't been the best week for Rockstar, as the company was forced to confirm a Grand Theft Auto VI leak was authentic. Our feature story takes a look at that story.

Let's get on to the news.

-Walter Yeates

World

The Breakdown

A quick look around the world.

King Charles III places the Queen's Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on Queen Elizabeth's coffin (Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

👑 Queen Elizabeth was laid to rest. More than 4.1 billion watched Queen Elizabeth's funeral, making it the most watched broadcast of all time. The funeral drew Presidents, Kings, Princes, and Prime Ministers from all over the world to the streets of London. Authorities expect the number of people in attendance to be well over 1 million.

👋 Herm Edwards is out as Arizona State football coach. It wasn't until Arizona State began the year at 1-2 with a loss to Eastern Michigan on Saturday that former New York Jets Head Coach Herm Edwards was fired by Arizona State. The Arizona State football program is currently under serious investigation by the NCAA due to multiple alleged recruiting violations; however, it was Eastern Michigan that caused Edwards to get terminated by 'mutual agreement.'

🦂 California teens find two new scorpion species. Prakrit Jain (17) of Los Altos and Harper Forbes (18) of Sunnyvale identified two new species of scorpions which seemingly went undetected for hundreds of years by scientists. Jain and Forbes met while working at a nature preserve and would later find the scorpions on the popular iNaturalist social network. The full story is available here.

🇹🇼 Biden makes bold Taiwan claims. President Joe Biden made a bold claim during a '60 Minutes' interview regarding Taiwan and China. When asked if U.S. forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, the President responded with a firm "yes." The Chinese government criticized Biden for his response; however, it will likely cause the Chinese government to reconsider a potential attack on Taiwanese sovereignty.

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video games

Rockstar Dealing With A Grand Theft

Rockstar is dealing with serious theft after a network intrusion lead to public leaks of GTA VI

Rockstar Games

This isn't what Rockstar wanted

Rockstar confirmed earlier on Monday that it suffered a 'network intrusion' where 'confidential information... including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto [VI] was illegally obtained by a third party.

The message continued to read, 'We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto [VI] game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations. We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation.'

The hacker claimed the videos were obtained via a Rockstar employee thru Slack, and also made unsubstantiated claims that they were also behind a massive recent Uber data breach, which also took place via Slack. The hacker said they were trying to negotiate a deal (extortion) with Rockstar to 'prevent the release of more footage and information, including supported copies of GTA 5 and 6 source code.'

Rockstar has attempted to limit the reach of the leaks; however, despite multiple DMCA requests, video and photos remain visible online. With respect to intellectual property rights, Early Chirp will not speak of what was seen in the leaks nor provide information on where footage can be found.

Rockstar may ultimately make changes to the game due to this leak, but that information will likely never be made public.

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technology

Want To Delete Something From The Internet? Never Post It

Here's why it's difficult to delete anything from the internet.

Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Pieter Zatko, the former Security Chief at Twitter, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that Twitter does not reliably remove the data of users who delete their accounts. Expanding on bombshell allegations, he made in a whistleblower disclosure first reported by CNN and Washington Post last month.

In testimony, today Zatko alleged Twitter does not reliably delete user data in some cases because it loses track of the information. Twitter defends itself against Zatko's allegations by saying his thoughts paint a 'false narrative' of the company.

Sandra Matz, a social media researcher, and professor at Columbia Business School commented to CNN about deleting information from the internet, "It sounds very simple, but whatever you put out there, don't ever expect it to become private again. Retracting something from the internet, hitting the reset button — is almost impossible."

Ravi Sen, a cybersecurity researcher, and professor at Texas A&M University said law enforcement and other groups could likely recover deleted data with the right tools and expertise in certain circumstances.

Sen's comments relate to popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Martz would continue regarding deleting information from the internet, specifically Twitter, "Because even if Twitter now deletes the post, or you delete it from Facebook, someone else might have already copied the picture that you put out there."

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us politics

Does Weed Matter At The Ballot Box?

Despite legalization being popular, does marijuana make a difference at the ballot box?

Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Sam D'Arcangelo, director of the Cannabis Voter Project at Headcount (a non-profit that registers voters at concerts, festivals, and other events) spoke about the issue of marijuana at the ballot box with Slate.

"Legalization illustrates the power of voting more than any other issue in living memory. It’s a way government has improved lives."

While D'Arcangelo's opinion is valid, there isn't any significant data to suggest marijuana legislation has played a significant role when voters make up their minds during national elections. However, marijuana legalization is popular among adults in the United States, leading to a disconnect between popular opinion and what gears individuals to vote.

Why does that disconnect exist? According to recent polls, 16% of the United States population, more than 50 million people, say they smoke marijuana.

Some think that the stigma against marijuana is responsible for candidates on the national stage not supporting legalization. Is that true? Maybe.

The 65 to 74 demographic (most likely to be against marijuana legalization) turned out at 76% in the 2020 United States Presidential elections, while the 18 to 24 (most likely to be for marijuana legalization) age group turned out at 51.4%. Both numbers represent the highest and lowest turnout among all age groups.

No data exists to suggest more centrist voters would rebuke or run to the polls in favor of candidates for or against marijuana calculations.

Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, has picked a number of cultural battles but doesn't seem willing to fight against the public perception of marijuana legalization. Brady Cobb, CEO of Florida-based Sunburn Cannabis, says DeSantis has quietly streamlined the regulation process and taken steps to benefit the industry in Florida.

Therefore, what does all of this mean for marijuana's influence on voting patterns? We honestly don't know, but the numbers would suggest supporting marijuana on a national stage may deliver high opinions from a lot of voters.

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Early Chirp

Written by Walter Yeates

90 N Church St, The Strathvale House
Grand Cayman KY1, 9006, Cayman Islands

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