Helen Flanagan and Scott Sinclair reunite following bitter feud as they move out of their £995k family home
The mother-of-three, 35, finally sold the six-bedroom Lancashire mansion for £500,000 under the asking price.
Writers Are Fleeing the Substack Tax
A growing number of writers are leaving Substack for alternatives most people haven't heard of like Ghost, Beehiiv, Patreon, and Passport. The reason, writes The Verge's Emma Roth, is the "platform's increased focus on social features as well as a pricing model that puts a chokehold on their business." From the report: Sean Highkin, the creator of the NBA-focused publication The Rose Garden Report, tells The Verge that he makes "significantly more money" after switching from Substack to Ghost last April. "When I first joined up, [Substack] gave me a big push and featured me and funneled a lot of traffic to me, which led to a good amount of growth," Highkin says. "But once I wasn't one of the 'new recruited talent' they could tout, they stopped featuring me and I saw my growth stagnate." Highkin now pays $2,052 per year using Ghost and an add-on called Outpost, compared to $4,968 per year on Substack. The Rose Garden Report's subscriber base has grown 22 percent since the end of 2024, Highkin says. [...]
Substack launched in 2017 as a platform that allows writers to create their own newsletters and manage paying subscribers. Unlike some of its biggest rivals, Substack takes a 10 percent cut of total subscription revenue. That tax may not seem substantial at first, but it quickly adds up as creators gain subscribers and begin charging more for their subscriptions. A calculator on Substack's own website estimates that for a newsletter charging $10 per month with 400 subscribers, the total monthly cost -- including the platform's 10 percent cut and credit card processing fees -- would add up to $636. That cost jumps to $15,900 per month with 10,000 subscribers and skyrockets to $79,500 per month for 50,000 members -- nearly $1 million per year.
Many Substack rivals charge a flat monthly fee, rather than a commission. Ghost, an open-source platform for blogs and newsletters, starts at $15 per month with 1,000 members for website creation, email newsletter capabilities, and a custom domain. Beehiiv, a creator platform with tools for launching a newsletter, website, and podcast, is free for up to 2,500 subscribers with limited access to certain features, like a built-in ad network, while its other plans vary in price based on subscriber count. A person with 10,000 subscribers, for example, will pay $96 per month for Beehiiv's "Scale" plan. There's also Kit, a newsletter platform that offers a tiered pricing model similar to Beehiiv, costing $116 per month with 10,000 subscribers on its "Creator" plan. It's not just the 10% fee critics are complaining about; they also argue the platform offers limited customization and third-party integrations compared to some of the mentioned alternatives, heavily promotes its own branding and social features, and makes creators more dependent on its ecosystem.
Beehiiv founder Tyler Denk argues that creators should be able to build their own brands without the platform taking center stage: "We don't want to take credit for the work of our content creators." While writers can export subscribers, content, and some payment relationships, they cannot take Substack "followers" or Apple-managed iOS billing data with them.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Sick and wrong: Ontario auditors find doctors' AI note takers routinely blow basic facts
60% of evaluated AI Scribe systems mixed up prescribed drugs in patient notes, auditors say
I cured my lifelong alcohol problem with a magic drug. I was overjoyed... and then I started drinking again. This is the truth about booze that too many won't admit, reveals ANNABEL FENWICK ELLIOTT
As someone who used to have a substantial drinking problem, I've been pretty torn about certain topics in the news lately.
Brit travels 10,000km around Africa in his wheelchair... to escape UK weather
Orlando Cardozo, 25, from Mere, Wiltshire, spent months travelling through countries including Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa , enduring journeys lasting up to 16 hours.
Our son was so unwell we were told he might have cancer... then a mechanic looked at our car's exhaust
Dr Sophie Duggan, 50, from Amersham, Buckinghamshire, was driving down a country road in 2013 when the exhaust came loose and they booked their car in for a repair.
Megyn Kelly calls for Demi Moore to be SHAMED over her ultra-skinny appearance and says actress, 63, looks anorexic
Megyn Kelly has called for actress Demi Moore to be shamed for how skinny she's gotten after her 'shocking' appearance at the Cannes Film Festival .
Anthropic tosses agents into the API billing pool
Limits Claude subscriptions to interactive use
Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse expecting first baby as supermodel debuts bump
Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin are expecting their first child together.
Claude Helps Recover Locked $400K Bitcoin Wallet After 11 Years
A Bitcoin holder reportedly recovered 5 BTC worth nearly $400,000 with the help of Anthropic's Claude. According to X user cprkrn, they changed their wallet password while "stoned" and forgot it, unable to regain access for more than 11 years. Tom's Hardware reports:
After finding a mnemonic that actually turned out to be their old password a few weeks ago, the user dumped their entire college computer files in Claude in a last-gasp effort. The bot uncovered an old backup wallet file that it successfully decrypted, while also uncovering a bug in the password configuration that was preventing recovery up to that point.
[...] It seems that the user already had some candidate passwords and multiple wallets stored on their PC. They'd been trying to brute-force their way into the locked file with btcrecover, an open-source Bitcoin wallet recovery tool, but to no success. Their luck changed for the better when they found an old mnemonic seed phrase written in an old college notebook. The HD addresses recovered by the seed phrase matched those of a specific file on their computer, confirming that it was the wallet that held the 5 BTC, but it remained encrypted.
Out of frustration, cprkrn then dumped their whole college computer into Claude. This was when the AI discovered an older backup file of the wallet from December 2019 hidden in cprkrn's data. Claude also discovered an issue where the shared key and passwords that btcrecover was trying weren't combined properly. With the bug ironed out and an older wallet predating the password change, Claude successfully ran btcrecover and was able to decrypt the private keys, allowing cprkrn to transfer the five "lost" BTC to their current wallet.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
American Pie star Jason Biggs splits from wife Jenny Mollen after nearly 20 years of marriage
The rep said the pair are on 'great terms' and prioritizing co-parenting their two children.
Nigel Farage insists there is no link between £5m gift and purchase of £1.4m home
The Reform leader had previously claimed the payment was made for security purposes
King Charles cheered by crowds in Golders Green as he meets victims of stabbings in show of support for Britain's Jewish community
The King has shown his personal support for the UK's Jewish community as he met this morning with the two victims of last month's terror attacks in Golders Green, North London.
Person injured after motorcycle crash shut part of busy Essex route
A person was injured following a motorcycle crash which caused major disruption on a key Chelmsford route.
Person injured after motorcycle crash shut part of busy Essex route
A person was injured following a motorcycle crash which caused major disruption on a key Chelmsford route.
Princeton Will Supervise Exams For First Time In 133 Years Because of AI
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Independent: Princeton University will soon require exams to be supervised for the first time in 100 years -- all thanks to students using artificial intelligence to cheat. For 133 years, the Ivy League school's honor code allowed students to take exams without a professor present, but on Monday, faculty voted to require proctoring for all in-person exams starting this summer. A "significant" number of undergraduate students and faculty requested the change, "given their perception that cheating on in-class exams has become widespread," the college's dean, Michael Gordin, wrote in a letter, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Princeton's honor system dates back to 1893, when students petitioned to eliminate proctors -- or an impartial person to supervise students -- during examinations, according to the school's newspaper, The Daily Princetonian. The honor code has long been a point of pride for Princeton. However, artificial intelligence and cellphones have made it easier for students to cheat -- and even harder for others to spot, Gordin wrote. Despite the changes to the policy, Princeton will still require students to state: "I pledge my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code during this examination," according to the Journal.
Students are also more reluctant to report cheating, according to the policy proposal. Students are more likely now to anonymously report cheating due to fears of "doxxing or shaming among their peer groups" online, the proposal says, according to the school newspaper. Under the new guidelines, instructors will be present during exams to act "as a witness to what happens," but are instructed not to interfere with students. If a suspected honor code infraction occurs, they will report it to a student-run honor committee for adjudication.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Gwyneth Paltrow raves about 'dream girl' Apple Martin on her 22nd birthday after Goop layoffs
'Happy Birthday to my ultimate dream girl @applemartin You are the funniest, goofiest, most big hearted, knockout in the, I love you so so so much ❤️mama,' wrote the star.
Britney Spears seen 'barking and carrying knife' during chaotic restaurant visit
Britney Spears reportedly caused a stir during a night out at a Los Angeles restaurant on Wednesday, just days after leaving rehab and resolving a recent DUI case.
It's official: Spying Southampton face being THROWN OUT of play-offs as EFL confirm £200m Wembley final may have to move date with hearing set for just four days before
CRAIG HOPE: As revealed by Daily Mail Sport last Thursday, a Southampton first-team analyst was caught allegedly filming Boro's training from behind a tree ahead of the first leg.
Wealthy Hawaii tourist accused of hurling rock at protected seal then claiming he is rich enough to pay fine faces a year in PRISON after being arrested by feds
Shameless Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, could spend a year in prison and be fined up to $70,000 for throwing a 'coconut-sized' rock at a protected Hawaiian seal monk.