Links 30/10/2023: Hardware Sanctions Failing, Apple May Face Import Bans
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Free, Libre, and Open Source Software
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Standards/Consortia
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APNIC ☛ Experience of women participating in the IETF
Guest Post: Understanding the experiences of women participating in the IETF.
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Leftovers
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Hardware
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Tom's Hardware ☛ U.S. Cannot Halt China's Semiconductor Advance to 5nm: Ex TSMC VP
SMIC is expected to proceed to 5nm with DUV multi-patterning, says former TSMC executive.
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Hackaday ☛ Behold The Mega-Wheelie, A Huge One-Wheeled Electric Skateboard
DIY electric personal vehicles are a field where even hobbyists can meaningfully innovate, and that’s demonstrated by the Mega-Wheelie, a self-balancing one-wheeled skateboard constructed as an experiment in traversing off-road conditions.
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Hackaday ☛ 2023 Halloween Hackfest: Hack Skellington Is The Life Of The Party
[Matt Vella] has had a talking, non-posable skeleton knocking around for years. As cool as that sounds, [Matt] is really tired of its three stock phrases. Fast forward to this year — [Matt] got a posable skeleton and decided to go all out on this, the hackiest of all holidays. The result? Hack Skellington.
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Ruben Schade ☛ I miss 4:3 and 16:10
I thought this article on Wikipedia about graphic display resolution was interesting. Not for the text itself, but for how it was presented. Emphasis added:
The 16:10 ratio allowed some compromise between showing older 4:3 aspect ratio broadcast TV shows, but also allowing better viewing of widescreen movies. However, around the year 2005, home entertainment displays (i.e., TV sets) gradually moved from 16:10 to the 16:9 aspect ratio, for further improvement of viewing widescreen movies. By about 2007, virtually all mass-market entertainment displays were 16:9 … 1920×1080 was the favored resolution in the most heavily marketed entertainment market displays.
Notice how the text goes from televisions at 4:3 aspect ratio, to monitors at 16:10, and then to 16:9. This progression, along with the words further improvement suggest that each step built upon the previous one.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Science Alert ☛ The Immune System Weighs The Same as a Pineapple, Study Finds
Depending on the person.
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The Straits Times ☛ Hit by inflation, some Malaysia eateries dropping affordable $1.40 meals
Restaurant owners say rising cost of ingredients makes it difficult for them to continue offering affordable meals.
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Kev Quirk ☛ My First Wet Shave in 15 Years
I've been thinking about a return to wet shaving for a while now, so recently took the plunge and had my first wet shave for 15 years.
I haven't had a wet shave since I was in the Army, and I left the Army in 2009. Since then, I've always used a beard trimmer and simply trimmed my stubble a few times per week.
I've been thinking about going back to it as the unkept "designer stubble" look isn't great for a man approaching 40. Plus, I just wanted to try something new. 🤷♂️
Initially I thought about getting a modern, plastic razor, like a Gillette or Wilkinson Sword, but then I saw how much the bloody blades are - they're like £27 ($30) for ten!
So I scrapped that idea and started to look for alternatives. I've always liked the idea of an old school style, single blade razor, especially since a pack of one hundred blades is around £5.
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The Straits Times ☛ China urges G7 not to have double standards on Japanese food ban
China has urged the G7 not to "stubbornly adhere to double standards" but take practical action to maintain the normal international trade and investment order, after G7 industrial powers called for the repeal of Chinese import curbs on Japanese food products.
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The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to lift subsidies for chicken from Nov 1
Subsidies for grade A, B and C eggs will continue.
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Science Alert ☛ Tai Chi Can Reduce Severity of Parkinson's, Scientists Find
The first study showing long-term benefits.
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Science Alert ☛ Abnormal Surge of Brain Abscesses in American Children, CDC Reports
"We are now in the midst of a planet-wide rebound of viral transmission."
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Science Alert ☛ Cannabis Could Be Causing A Rise in Fungal Infections For an Unexpected Reason
Even legal products.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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! Avi Alkalay ¡: Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot × Stack Overflow as coding assistant
There is this study (arXiv:2308.02312v3) about Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot as a software coding assistant when compared to Stack Overflow.
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Kev Quirk ☛ Using Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot to Write Code
I wanted to make a small change to the CSS on this site, but wasn't sure how to do it, so I asked Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot to write some code for me.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Hackaday ☛ Creating A New Metal Rohde & Schwarz EB200 Miniport Receiver Dial Knob
Recently [Roberto Barrios] got his hands on a Rohde & Schwarz EB200 monitoring and surveillance receiver that, despite its late 90s vintage, was in mint condition. Aside from damage to the main dial, that is, which was very much broken. With no off-the-shelf replacement available in 2023, the obvious answer was to get a close-enough dial knob with the rough proportions and use a lathe to machine it into shape. Initially, [Roberto] had used some filler material to replace the front of the original knob that was missing, but this was a decidedly inferior tactile experience with questionable long-term reliability.
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Defence/Aggression
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The Straits Times ☛ Some countries see world as zero sum game and deliberately create turbulence -China's No 2 military chief
Some countries view the world as a zero sum game and engage in clique politics, resulting in unilateralism, Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, said at Xiangshan Forum on Monday.
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The Straits Times ☛ US, South Korean warplanes kick off joint air drills
The annual drills, called Vigilant Defence, will run until Friday.
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New York Times ☛ Itaewon Halloween Celebrations Subdued a Year After Tragedy
The authorities in Seoul were out in force over the weekend, but the crowds in the typically bustling neighborhood were sparse.
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New York Times ☛ Maine Gunman Disclosed He Had Mental Health Issues, Gun Shop Owner Says
The man sought to purchase a gun silencer in August but was denied after self-reporting mental health issues on a federal form, the gun store owner said.
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New York Times ☛ Israel-Hamas War: Israel ‘Expanding’ Ground Attack in Gaza as Biden Urges Aid Increase
President Biden told Israel’s prime minister that his country had a right to defend itself, but had to make protecting civilians a priority. Thirty-three aid trucks crossed into the enclave, where phone and internet connections partly returned after a near-total blackout.
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New York Times ☛ Monday Briefing: Israel Extends Gaza Ground Campaign
Plus as the world ages, Africa blooms with youth.
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France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Israel must distinguish between Hamas and civilians in Gaza, US says
Israel must protect innocent Gaza residents by distinguishing between Hamas militants and civilians in the Palestinian territory, the White House warned on Sunday. The Israeli army said earlier in the day that it will be increasing troop numbers inside the Gaza Strip and reiterated calls for civilians in Gaza to move to the south of the besieged enclave. The news came as internet and mobile services are gradually being reestablished after being cut off on Friday during intense Israeli bombardment.
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Federal News Network ☛ Gaza receives largest aid shipment so far as deaths top 8,000 and Israel widens military offensive
Nearly three dozen trucks entered Gaza in the largest aid convoy since the war between Israel and Hamas began, but humanitarian workers say the assistance still falls desperately short of needs after thousands of people broke into warehouses seeking food. Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry says the death toll among Palestinians passed 8,000 as Israeli tanks and infantry pursue what Israel calls a “second stage” in the war ignited by Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 incursion. The toll is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during the initial attack.
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JURIST ☛ Communication blackout in Gaza follows Israel airstrikes, ground operation
Gaza experienced communication blackouts on Saturday following Israeli airstrikes and expanded ground operations, the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) reported. Paltel said that “the heavy bombardment of the last hour has caused the destruction of all remaining international tracks linking Gaza to the outside world.”
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NYPost ☛ Hamas horrors you luckily won’t see — glimpse of terror too sick for Israel to air
Photographs and videos showing the results of the terrorist rampage have streamed out of Israel and the Gaza Strip for weeks — some even as it was taking place.
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France24 ☛ The Iranian-sourced weapons used in Hamas and Islamic Jihad's Israel assault
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement launched an incursion into Israel on October 7, attacking by air and ground. While the range of weapons they’ve employed has garnered international attention, none of these armaments comes as a revelation. Both Hamas's armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, and Islamic Jihad's Al Quds Brigades have previously showcased these weapons in propaganda materials and military parades as well as using them against Israeli targets. The majority of these weapons have origins in Iran, and those produced within Gaza are also believed to have been developed by the Islamic Republic, with a small fraction originating from North Korea and Syria.
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NYPost ☛ I’m an Egyptian American who studied in Israel: We can’t let Hamas kill peace along with the peacemakers
In the long litany of death notices that fill my Facebook (Farcebook) feed — the friends and family of Israelis I met years ago as the lone Egyptian American studying at Tel Aviv University — one entry popped out: Ofir Libstein.
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New York Times ☛ How Years of Israeli Failures on Hamas Led to a Devastating Attack
Israeli officials completely underestimated the magnitude of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, shattering the country’s once invincible sense of security.
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France24 ☛ ‘Nili’: Is a secret Israeli unit hunting Hamas militants behind the October 7 attack?
Israeli media are reporting that a special unit of security and intelligence agents has been set up to track down and eliminate the Hamas members responsible for the deadly October 7 attacks in southern Israel. The operation is reminiscent of the plot to find the Palestinian militants who murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
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The Strategist ☛ Scoping out the 2024 intelligence review
‘Our intelligence agencies underpin our national security objectives, including helping to safeguard our sovereignty in an increasingly uncertain security environment.
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JURIST ☛ At least 3 dead in Mozambique election protests
Violence broke out in Mozambique’s capital Maputo on Saturday between Mozambican security forces and demonstrators protesting the results of the local elections. Confrontations were also reported in the cities of Nampula and Nacala. Security forces are said to have been using disproportionate force, including tear gas and live bullets, to disperse the protesters.
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New York Times ☛ Netanyahu Apologizes for Blaming Israeli Officials in Hamas Attack
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has not taken responsibility for Israel’s lapses in the Oct. 7 massacre, deleted a social control media post in which he had pointed a finger at security agencies.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Meduza ☛ Throwing stones and setting fires: In recent days, the North Caucasus region has seen a wave of anti-Semitic incidents — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Governor says air defenses in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don neutralized unspecified aerial target — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Protesters force their way onto airport tarmac in Dagestan, Russia to intercept flight from Tel Aviv — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Crowd that has overrun the Makhachkala airport in Dagestan, Russia attacks police — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Police detain rioters who stormed airport tarmac in Dagestan, Russia — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Russians, Diplomats Honor Soviet-Era Victims Under Watchful Eyes Of Security Forces
Russians throughout the country on October 29 commemorated the victims of Soviet repression with an annual event organized by the Memorial human rights group, which itself was banned and shut down by the increasingly repressive government of President Vladimir Putin.
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The Straits Times ☛ Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu accuses West of seeking to expand Ukraine war to Asia-Pacific
October 30, 2023 11:16 AM
Nato countries were promoting an arms race in the region, said Mr Shoigu.
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The Straits Times ☛ Russia's Shoigu warns West of 'direct military clash between nuclear powers'
October 30, 2023 10:31 AM
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu warned the West that the escalation of conflict with Russia in the Ukraine war threatens a \"direct military clash between nuclear powers\" at a defence forum in Beijing on Monday.
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New York Times ☛ As Fighting Rages, Ukraine Takes Its Battle to the Diplomatic Arena
A forum in Malta was intended to encourage countries that have taken a neutral stance on the invasion of Ukraine not to side with Russia.
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Federal News Network ☛ Russians commemorate victims of Soviet repression as a present-day crackdown on dissent intensifies
Russians commemorated the victims of Soviet state terror on Sunday, while the Russian government continues its crackdown on dissent in the country. The “Returning of the Names” event was organized by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial. It has traditionally been held in Moscow on Oct. 29 — the eve of Russia’s Remembrance Day for the Victims of Political Repression. As the demonstration was not approved by authorities for the fourth year running, Muscovites and several Western ambassadors instead laid flowers at a monument. Memorial also organized a live broadcast of the reading of the victims’ names from Moscow, other Russian cities and abroad.
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Reason ☛ Attacks on Jews in Southern Russia (Northern Caucasus)
"For foreign citizens of Israel (Jews) entrance is strictly forbidden!"
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RFERL ☛ Anti-Jewish Mob Storms Daghestani Airport As Flight From Israel Arrives
A mob of hundreds of people shouting anti-Jewish epithets stormed and shut down the airport in the Russian city of Makhachkala in the predominantly Muslim region of Daghestan after a flight arrived from Tel Aviv on October 29.
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New York Times ☛ Mob Storms Plane Arriving From Israel at Russian Airport, Authorities Say
The Russian authorities announced that the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region, was temporarily closed and riot police were dispatched to the scene.
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Environment
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Wildlife/Nature
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YLE ☛ Lapland rainbow, frog fingers and a wet squirrel: Finland's spectacular nature photos of the year
Jetro Luhtaa won the contest with his image of a rainbow over a rocky mountainscape, taken while camping solo in Lapland.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Federal News Network ☛ Federal judge reimposes limited gag order in Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case
The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington has reimposed a narrow gag order barring him from making public comments targeting prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had temporarily lifted the gag order as she considered the former president’s request to keep it on hold while he challenges the restrictions on his speech in higher courts. Chutkan agreed to reinstate the order after prosecutors cited Trump’s recent social control media comments about his former chief of staff. Trump’s lawyers have said they will seek an emergency stay of the order from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
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The Straits Times ☛ Security forces on alert as Filipinos vote in village polls
More than 336,000 council positions were up for grabs in the long-delayed nationwide vote.
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The Straits Times ☛ Relief, but for how long? Philippines’ food stamp programme faces challenges
The scheme aims to eliminate hunger and achieve food security, but critics say it is a band-aid solution.
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JURIST ☛ US federal appeals court finds Texas Governor immune from private lawsuit over migrant order
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Friday that the doctrine of sovereign immunity bars private individuals from suing Texas Governor Greg Abbott over Executive Order GA-37.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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Stanford University ☛ Editorial Board | Keeping Stanford’s speech free
The Editorial Board argues that the Stanford community must commit to allowing campus free speech within legal limits. “If we fail to do so, instead choosing to silence the voices of our opponents out of fear that their views will overwhelm ours, we will have lost all faith in our peers — and the future of our country,” the Board writes.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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Federal News Network ☛ UAW escalates strike against lone holdout GM after landing tentative pacts with Stellantis and Ford
The United Auto Workers union has widened its strike against General Motors, the lone holdout among the three Detroit automakers, after reaching a tentative contract agreement with Jeep maker Stellantis. The escalated walkout began Saturday at a Spring Hill, Tennessee plant - GM’s largest in North America, just hours after the Stellantic deal was reached. The added pressure on GM is substantial as Spring Hill makes engines for other plants in addition to big-ticket vehicles including the electric Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Acadia and Cadillac crossover SUVs. The Stellantis deal mirrors one reached last week with Ford, and saves jobs at an Illinois factory that Stellantis had planned to close, the UAW said.
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France24 ☛ Bangladesh police arrest a key opposition leader amid growing national tension
Authorities in Bangladesh arrested a key opposition figure from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday and sent him to prison after hours of detention. The party had called for a nationwide strike after violent clashes with security forces a day earlier.
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New York Times ☛ Studios Said to See Progress in Talks With Striking Actors
The entertainment companies are growing optimistic that the work stoppage may end soon, though some issues remain unresolved, people briefed on the matter said.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Zimbabwe ☛ POTRAZ says Zim has cheapest data in region, viral video says most expensive in world. Who’s the liar?
Last week we were all bombarded by notifications from our telecom service providers: mobile networks, fixed internet folks- everyone, about price “adjustments.” Like you, I hate those notices. In Zimbabwe, the adjustments are never downward so we don’t welcome them. At all! As expected, all kinds of images, memes and videos went viral.
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New York Times ☛ Gaza Blackout Cut Palestinians’ Internet and Phone Service for 34 Hours
As Israeli forces entered Gaza on Friday to fight Hamas, phone and internet service was severed, sowing chaos for Palestinian civilians and leaving rescuers driving blindly toward explosions.
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Monopolies
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Patents
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Apple Loses at ITC with Fashion Company Apple Watch Import Ban
On Thursday, October 26, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a limited exclusion order (LEO) and cease and desist order against Apple, potentially barring the technology company from importing Fashion Company Apple Watches into the United States. The ITC found Fashion Company Apple violated section 337 by importing Fashion Company Apple Watches that infringed on two Masimo patents that covered technology related to reading blood-oxygen levels.
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Copyrights
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Ruben Schade ☛ My top fifty albums, part one
Today’s Music Monday is a shameless ripoff of Wouter’s latest post about his greatest albums of all time. Today we have part one, because I couldn’t fit all my joy into one.
I limited myself to one album per act, to prevent this just being a wall of a few artists. I shamelessly abuse this by repeating them in part two, which I’ll post next week. I’ve also scrambled mine too, save for Tiger in the Rain and Wave which earned their positions. Let’s go!
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Gemini* and Gopher
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Personal/Opinions
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Dungeons and Dragons saved my life
In April of 2022, I entered a period of disorder that would last for about 1.5 years. I was very close to death that entire time -- both physically (I wasn't sure I'd survive) and conceptually (as in I frequently wanted life to be over, and my mortality was very much "in my face" all the time.)
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🔤SpellBinding: CEINOTX Wordo: UNARM
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Rain
It's been unseasonably warm. First daughter picked and ate a tomato from our plants that'll be killed by frost this week. She played in the creek among fallen leaves. Headlamp on her bike helmet, she walked in a wild cave with me.
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Technology and Free Software
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Internet/Gemini
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A most persistent spam, part VIII
I received an email from Kevin thanking me for my post about Aleksandr [1] and how he was able to stop the spam. But Keven had some issues with the proposed solution and how it didn't work directly for him. On close inspection of the post in question, I did find an issue with the regular expression presented in the post—it wasn't correct. The problem stemmed from my use of a bespoke markup language I created [2] (that I should talk about at some point) where a character that should have been escaped, wasn't, causing the text to be misleading.
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Programming
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Bash Golf Part 2
This is the second blog post about my Bash Golf series. This series is random Bash tips, tricks and weirdnesses I came across. It's a collection of smaller articles I wrote in an older (in German language) blog, which I translated and refreshed with some new content.
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* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.