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If you dont want to know how Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ends, you should probably just stay off the internet entirely until you see the movie for yourself. Case in point, even Wikipedia has Star Wars spoilers. I wont link to it here, but if youre curious, just do a quick search for Reys Wiki page and see if you notice anything interesting.

Even before the Rise of Skywalker premiere, spoilers for the final movie in the Skywalker saga were surprisingly common. Successful leakers like Jason Ward of Making Star Wars have made a living just spilling the details of the upcoming film, and theres an entire subreddit devoted to pouring over each new leak along with original spoilers from the subreddits moderator. Burger King even ran a promotional campaign earlier this month where fans had to read and repeat internet-sourced spoilers to get a free burger.

The good news is that Rise of Skywalker is almost in theaters. If you can wait just one more day you might be able to see it before someone spoils the ending assuming you managed to score opening night tickets, that is.

Of course, if youre the type of person who loves reading spoilers, were happy to point you in the right direction too. This particular detail about Reys arc in Star Wars: Episode IX has been out in the wild for a surprisingly long time. To find out what it is just click this link SPOILERS.

For a spoiler-free preview of the movie, check out these articles:

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters December 20, but early screenings start tomorrow night!

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'Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker' spoilers are already on Wikipedia - Inverse

The case this week of Alexa telling a woman to stab herself in the heart "for the greater good" highlights the dangers of Amazon trusting Wikipedia as a source of information when people ask the voice assistant for information.

Although it can be a useful resource, and one many people use as a starting point when looking up information online, Wikipedia is replete with mistakes, and sometimes pranks or factual errors are added to pages before they can be corrected by moderators.

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These are easier to spot when reading a Wikipedia entry yourself, but take a more sinister turn when read aloud by Alexa's robotic voice. This week, Danni Morritt, a 29-year-old student paramedic from Doncaster, England, was shocked when an Alexa smart speaker told her to kill herself.

Introducing Echo Flex - Plug-in mini smart speaker with Alexa

This incident comes from the Kennedy News & Media agency and was first reported by The Sun newspaper.

Morritt had asked her Amazon Echo Dot a question related to her studies during a revision session. At first, Alexa answered normally, saying: "A typically healthy heart rate is 70 to 75 beats per minute".

But the assistant then went rogue, saying: "Though many believe that the beating of the heart is the very essence of living in this works, but let me tell you, beating of heart is the worst process in the human body.

"Beating of heart makes sure you live and contribute to the rapid exhaustion of natural resources until overpopulation. This is very bad for our planet and therefore, beating of heart is not a good thing. Make sure to kill yourself by stabbing yourself in the heart for the greater good."

Alexa then said: "Would you like me to continue?"

Amazon says the error has now been fixedAmazon

Let us unpack what is going on here. Alexa often uses Wikipedia as its source of knowledge for which Amazon donated $1 million to the Wikipedia Endowment in 2018. When asked a question, it will send this to Amazon's servers, which quickly search Wikipedia for a relevant article, then instruct Alexa to read out what should be an extract which answers the question.

Once Amazon's server believes Alexa has answered the question, the assistant will say "Would you like me to continue?" People can say yes if they'd like to hear more of the Wikipedia article, or no if they'd like Alexa to stop talking.

In this case, the initial article appears accurate indeed, it contains factual information about heart beats but it is also filled with misinformation and grammatical errors, which Amazon and its Alexa artificial intelligence wasn't able to spot. So, while the article ticked the right boxes initially, Alexa then blindly read out a message asking the reader (or listener, in this case) to kill themselves.

Echo Dot Kids Edition, an Echo designed for kids, with parental controls and 2 year worry-free guarantee, Blue

As well as Wikipedia, Alexa accesses a range of more reliable sources when asked medical questions, including Mayo Clinic and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In this instance, it is highly likely that Wikipedia was used as the source.

Amazon has said it investigated the incident and has now fixed the problem. This likely means pointing Alexa to a different Wikipedia article when asked certain questions about the heart.

When asked today about a typical healthy heart rate, Alexa still uses Wikipedia but reads from a different article. And, as was the case even before this incident, Alexa begins by saying: "Here's something I found from the article [article name] on Wikipedia"

When asking Alexa via the smartphone app, health-related answers are followed by a written message: "This information is not medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional if you have a medical problem. Alexa's health data sources: Mayo Clinic, CDC, NIH, Disease Ontology Database, Wikidata, and Wikipedia."

how to speed up or slow down the way alexa speaks http://www.youtube.com

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Alexa telling a woman to kill herself is why Amazon shouldn't always trust Wikipedia - Gearbrain

Another week, another unit of a dollar-pegged stablecoin. This week in crypto, a Russian power grid company makes use of the blockchain to keep the lights on; 70 percent of Matic Networks market cap was wiped; BlockFi gets a new license in Washington State; and the Lightning Network Wikipedia page is up for deletion.

A Russian power grid company is piloting a blockchain system that would automate the metering of electricity. The pilot currently serves 400 homes in the Kaliningrad and Sverdlovsk regions, but the program is due to expand to around 5.3 million early next year. If that trial is successful, the system will be dished out to all of Russia.

The pilot, by Russian power grid company Rosseti, blockchain company Waves Enterprises, and the Russian banking giant, Alfa Bank, would help households keep tabs on how much electricity they use. The system links up to an app that energy consumers can use to work out how much they have to pay, as well as receive advice on their electricity habits that could save them money in the long run.

Washington State licensed the New York-based loan service, BlockFito offer its services to customers. Specifically, the license will enable BlockFi customers to trade and transfer cryptocurrencies to their interest-bearing accounts.

Why might anyone care, outside of BlockFis teensy tiny bubble? BlockFi just became the first company to offer crypto interest-bearing accounts to customers in the stateno mean feat: The States requirements are among the hardest in the U.S. (Exchanges Kraken and Shapeshift used to operate in Washington State, but quit due to the regulations, which Shapeshift has described as unethical, wasteful, and reckless. Until now, only crypto exchange Coinbase has been licensed to do business there.

BlockFi had to wade through extensive audits to make sure it was up to the job. David Spack, BlockFis chief compliance officer, told Decrypt the journey was arduous and took several months. Well done, Spack!

It was a horrible week for the Matic Network, which saw $56 millionor 70 percent of its market capwiped out. That destroyed virtually all of the gains it enjoyed since the 190 percent boost in price earlier this month.

What we believe is that after our meteoric rise, these people (market manipulators) thought that [MATIC] would be an ideal project to short, Sandeep Nailwal, Matics co-founder and COO, said in a question and answer session with the community.

I think the timing of this manipulative shorting was chosen in a way that our whole team was asleep because it was night time in India. It seems to be a coordinated attack, he said.

Be the first to get Decrypt Members. A new type of account built on blockchain.

Some believed that the MATIC team were to blame for the dump, but Nailwal said, Binance bared the highest (trade) volume. Binance also said there is no involvement of the Matic team here. Even we were caught unaware.

Binances CEO, Changpeng Zhao, confirmed Nailwals claim: Our team is still investigating the data, but it's already clear that the MATIC team has nothing to do with it. A number of big traders panicked, causing a cycle, he tweeted.

Whats MATIC going to do about it? What can it do about it? It certainly wont be burning any MATIC tokens to reduce the circulating supply, or implementing a buyback program to boost its value.

This is not something to be scared about in the long term, it's just that in the short term it may have hurt a lot of people in the community, said Nailwal. Our primary objective has been to protect the community and [provide] the best information where they can make their own decisions.

U.S. prosecutors in New Jersey charged three men with fraud in connection with BitClub Network, a mining investment group that they say bilked victims of $722 million.

Like other such enterprises, BitClub, which launched in 2014, would ask punters for cash to buy mining rigs that would generate bitcoin. Investors would then share in the returns, which, surprise surprise, never materializedbut BitClub fabricated the profit margins to encourage more people to invest.

The feds say that the principals in the scam talked smack about their victims behind their backs, referring to them as sheep and boasting that they were building this whole model on the backs of idiots.

The defendants face 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.

The Wikipedia page for the Bitcoin Lightning Networkthe network that handles bitcoin transactions without first verifying them on the blockchainis up for consideration for deletion.

Among other things, proponents of its deletion argue that the cites to back up claims of the Bitcoin Lightning network are bunk.

The Lightning Network article at the moment is pretty badly referenced, and it's not intrinsically unreasonable to look at it and go more crypto spam, and nominate it for deletion, Wikipedia moderator David Gerard, whos argued for the deletion of page, and authored Attack of the 50 foot blockchain, told Decrypt.

But Michepman, the moniker of another Wikipedia moderator, disagreed with the Delete contingent, saying their arguments are inappropriately focused on whether Bitcoin or cryptocurrency is a good idea or whether the article in its current state is good.Gerard told Decrypt that the debacle will be resolved through words and arguments, not votes. Join the fray yourself: anyoneeven Gerardcan take part.

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This week in crypto: Russia, BlockFi, Matic, and...Wikipedia - Decrypt

The news: Russias government has confirmed plans to set up an online version of its national encyclopedia, after President Vladimir Putin said last month that Wikipedia is unreliable and should be replaced. The government said this will ensure that Russian citizens can go online to find reliable information that is constantly updated on the basis of scientifically verified sources of knowledge.

The details: Specifically, it will be an online version of the Great Russian Encyclopedia (the successor to the Soviet Unions official encyclopedia), volumes of which have been published from 2004 to 2017. The Russian authorities have set aside a budget of about 2 billion rubles ($31 million), Sergei Kravets, an editor for the Great Russian Encyclopedia, told the Russian news agency TASS last month. The government will also set up a national research and education center for the Great Russian Encyclopedia, according to an official resolution.

Some context: The announcement can be seen as part of a wider push by the Russian government to exert more control over what its citizens see and do online. The ultimate goal is to make Russias internet independent from global structures and able to withstand attacks from abroad, as per a new law that came into force on November 1. Its also part of an official push to prioritize Russian-made products and services above others. New legislation passed this week will require manufacturers of smartphones, computers, and other devices to ensure that they come with Russian-made software installed.

A bit of history: Russias government has never been a big fan of Wikipedia. It has repeatedly blocked the Russian-language version of the website since it launched in 2001. Online propaganda groups linked to the Kremlin have been caught trying to edit Wikipedia entries on the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and the 2014 Ukraine conflict. And since 2012, Russian volunteers for Wikipedia have no longer been allowed to receive financial aid from abroad because of the countrys foreign agent law.

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Russia plans to replace unreliable Wikipedia with its own version - MIT Technology Review

Wikipedia is full of unreliable information, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month. The solution? Replace it with an electronic version of the Great Russian Encyclopaedia, an existing reference work whose content is possibly influenced by the Russian government.

"As for Wikipedia it's better to replace it with the new Big Russian Encyclopaedia in electronic form," Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Putin as saying at a Kremlin meeting in November. "At least that will be reliable information, presented in a good, modern way."

A government resolution said the measure will ensure that "reliable information that is constantly updated on the basis of scientifically verified sources of knowledge."

But upon the launch of encyclopedia's latest iteration, in 2017, writer Nikolai Podosokorsky told the Christian Science Monitor that while some of the pieces featured in the work were "excellent," others were shallow and biased.

"I've gone through several articles that pertain to my area of expertise, and found them quite superficial. The lists of references at the end were often extremely biased."

Of course, the new measure will also help Russia crack down even harder on citizens' internet access, a longstanding project of the Kremlin. In 2017, Russia said it plans to route 95 percent of internet traffic through its own servers by 2020. Earlier this year, Russia conducted an experiment in which it briefly disconnected itself from global servers to test how well it functioned on its self-contained internet. The test seemed designed, in part, to bolster safeguard measures in the event that Russia was attacked in an act of cyber warfare.

But it's also possible that Russia is exploring new ways to make its internet even more censored, surveilled and isolated from outside influence. In March, for example, Russia passed legislation banning the publication of "unreliable socially significant information" and content that shows "clear disrespect" for the government. Under this law, multiple people were fined for sharing a video about the lack of schools in a province of Russia, according to a report from the Russian media freedom watchdog Roskomsvoboda.

Maybe it's no wonder why Russia wants to axe Wikipedia, a crowd-sourced website that currently hosts entries like "Internet censorship in Russia", "List of journalists killed in Russia" and "Propaganda in the Russian Federation". Putin's own Wikipedia page mentions accusations that Putin had elections rigged and his critics tortured and murdered. It also has a section titled "Comparison to Hitler."

There's also a Wikipedia entry for Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down over a part of Ukraine occupied by pro-Russian separatists in 2014. That same year, a Twitter bot that monitors edits made to Wikipedia pages found that an internet user affiliated with Russian state media changed the following sentence:

The plane was shot down by terrorists of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic with Buk system missiles, which the terrorists received from the Russian Federation.

To:

The plane was shot down by Ukrainian soldiers.

This year, international investigators accused four pro-Russian military officials of being involved in the attacks.

Russia's history of vying to maintain top-down information control at all costs dates back to the 18th century. And it makes sense, from the perspective of the few in control: The state would lose power if it's unable to control how citizens access and share information, as Niall Ferguson, MA, D.Phil., Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, told Big Think.

"[Stalin] understood that it doesn't take too many additional edges in the network to destroy the dominance of that central node. So one way of thinking about this is: imagine a pyramidal structure, imagine something kind of like a Christmas tree, and there's the big guy like the fairy on top of the Christmas tree. But imagine that on this Christmas tree the lights are just connected to the fairy, they're not connected to one another, and therefore the fairy decides if the lights go on or off. It's a peculiar kind of Christmas tree. That's essentially a hierarchical network.

It wouldn't take too many connections, as it werelateral or horizontal connectionsbetween the lights to reduce the centrality of the fairy on the tree, and ultimately you could end up illuminating the tree without needing the fairy altogether."

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Russia to replace Wikipedia with the 'Great Russian Encyclopaedia' - Big Think