Links 08/01/2024: Tensions in Taiwan and Ryan Lau (News Anchor in HK) Kills Himself
Contents
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Leftovers
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Hackaday ☛ World’s First Precision Lathe: Indispensable When Constructing The Antikythera Mechanism
We commonly tend to associate lathes with the Industrial Revolution, when metalworking shifted largely from blacksmiths to machinists, but the use of lathes is much older than that. As [Chris] over at the Clickspring YouTube channel demonstrates in a recent video, small precision lathes were exceedingly common in the Ancient World. Not only is there ample historical evidence of them being used as far back as 1300 BCE in Ancient Egypt, but they’re also the most optimal way to get perfectly round pins and other, more intricate shapes that would be an absolute nightmare to create with just some metal files and chisels.
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Science
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-03 [Older] Cold plunges are all the rage. But what does the science say?
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Just Discovered a 1.75 Billion-Year-Old Secret About The Origin of Life
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Science Alert ☛ This Might Look Like a Spider, But You're in For a Shock
Even creepier than you think!
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Science Alert ☛ Most Experts Avoid Using Pie Charts. Here's Why.
You have been warned.
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Science Alert ☛ The Key to Creating Blood Stem Cells May Lie in Your Own Blood
Scientists are out for blood.
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New York Times ☛ Live Video: Watch Vulcan Rocket’s First Launch Send Lander to Moon
Here’s what you need to know about United Launch Alliance and the robotic lunar spacecraft it is sending to orbit.
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Science Alert ☛ In an Incredible Discovery, Wrens Teach Their Babies to Sing Before They're Hatched
It's never too early.
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Science Alert ☛ 'Giant' Predator Worm That Ruled Ancient Oceans Discovered in Greenland
A 500-million-year old 'terror beast'.
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Science Alert ☛ The First US Moon Lander Since The Apollo Era Is About to Make History
Watch the launch right here!
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Hackaday ☛ Using Sound Waves As A Fire Extinguisher
In order for a fire to sustain itself, it needs three things: fuel, heat, and oxygen, with the disruption of just one of those causing the fire to extinguish. Water, sand, and carbon dioxide-based fire extinguishers are commonly used, but you’re probably familiar with blowing out a candle using your breath. Counter-intuitively, we also blow on a fire (or use bellows) to make it burn better, so what is happening here? Starting with a novelty app for smartphones that can be used to blow out small flames like candles, [The Action Lab] digs into the topic in a recent video.
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Hardware
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Hackaday ☛ 802.11ah Wi-Fi HaLOW: The 1 Kilometer WiFi Standard
The 802.11ah WiFi (HaLow) standard is fairly new, having only been introduced in 2017. It’s supposed to fall somewhere between standard WiFi used in domiciles and offices and the longer range but low-bitrate LoRaWAN, ZigBee, and others, with bandwidth measured in megabits per second. In a recent video, [Ben Jeffery] looks at the 802.11ah chipsets available today and some products integrating these.
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Hackaday ☛ Recreating The Jupiter ACE
What looks like a Sinclair ZX81 but runs Forth? If you said a Jupiter ACE, you get a gold star. These are rare because ordinary people in 1982 didn’t want Forth, so only about 5,000 of the devices were sold. [Cees Meijer] assumes they are unaffordable, so he built a replica and shows you how you can, too. [Scott Baker] built one recently; you can see his video below.
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Hackaday ☛ Discovery Dish Lets You Pick Up The Final Frontier
These days, affordable software defined radios (SDRs) have made huge swaths of the spectrum available to hobbyists. Whether you’re looking to sniff the data from that 433 MHz thermometer you’ve got in the backyard or pick up transmissions from satellites, the same little USB-connected box can make it happen.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-05 [Older] U.S. allowing Florida to import drugs from Canada, reviving fears of shortages
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-05 [Older] Ontario cities need help — and cash — to meet 2025 accessibility deadline, advocates say
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] An accessible Ontario by 2025? Here's where the province stands on its goal
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-05 [Older] The first legal Vancouver pot shops opened 5 years ago. Some owners say business isn't booming
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] Enfamil brand baby formula recalled in Canada over Cronobacter sakazakii risks
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-04 [Older] Avian flu detected in polar bear in Alaska
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-04 [Older] Health Canada approves RSV vaccine for maternal immunization
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Ruben Schade ☛ Learning how to do weightloss
I should preface this post by saying that everyone’s health is different, and you must not take the ramblings of a well-meaning person who isn’t a doctor or nutritionist seriously.
This is a bit of a different topic here to what I normally discuss, but a few of you noted my comment about being on a “lower-carb” diet in a previous post. There isn’t anything really new or interesting here, but carry on reading if you’re not a sucker for punishment.
I grew up never needing to think about my metabolism. I was a skinny kid who was lucky to have been born with genes that let me eat what I wanted, in whatever quantity I wanted, and with variable exercise. Granted, my mum instilled a love of walking and hiking in my sister and I that resulted in me never getting a licence. Why bother when I can always just walk to public transport?
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Latvia ☛ Emergency team: Old and drunk people most at risk in cold weather
Despite the cold in recent days, the Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) has received fewer calls than it does daily, NMPD spokeswoman Ilze Bukša said in a statement January 8.
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James G ☛ Anxiety
Content warning: This essay discusses anxiety and mental health.
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Science Alert ☛ Major Study Identifies 15 Factors Linked to Early Dementia Risk
"It reveals that we may be able to take action."
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Science Alert ☛ New Class of Antibiotic Found That Kills Deadly Drug-Resistant Superbug
The world needs this.
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Science Alert ☛ Cattle in The Earliest European Cities Weren't Bred as Food
Old school vegetarianism.
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Security
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Integrity/Availability/Authenticity
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Confidentiality
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The Straits Times ☛ Air strike on Myanmar village kills 15: Media
Local media outlets put the death toll at 15 people, including children, with 20 wounded.
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New York Times ☛ Two Journalists Are Killed in Gaza, Including the Son of Al Jazeera Reporter
Hamza al-Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, and a second reporter were killed in what officials in the territory said was an Israeli airstrike. Two others were wounded.
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Defence/Aggression
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-12-31 [Older] North Korea plans to launch three satellites in 2024
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] UK: Nearly 30,000 migrants crossed Channel in 2023
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-03 [Older] Toronto police investigating fire at Jewish-owned business as suspected hate-motivated arson
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-01 [Older] Iranian warship enters Red Sea as tensions soar
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New York Times ☛ Israel-Hamas War: Violence Rises in West Bank, Leaving at Least 9 Palestinians Dead
Seven Palestinians were killed in a drone strike and a 3-year-old girl was fatally shot in what the Israeli police said may have been a case of errant fire as a car rammed a border post.
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JURIST ☛ Iraq PM forms committee to end US-led coalition’s presence amid escalating tensions over airstrikes
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced plans on Friday to form a committee tasked with preparing for the end of the US-led international coalition’s mission in the country.
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JURIST ☛ UAE attorney general confirms criminal referral of more than 80 people on terrorism charges
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi confirmed on Saturday the mass referral of 84 people to the State Security Court on charges related to violence and terrorism, reported Emirates News Agency (WAM), the state’s official news outlet.
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JURIST ☛ International Crisis Group report stresses growing challenges of planned Haiti security mission
The International Crisis Group, a non-profit NGO, released its latest report on Haiti’s ongoing gang crisis on Friday, which stressed the growing challenges of an international intervention to address the country’s deteriorating security situation. Haiti has been grappling with escalating violence and political turmoil, exacerbating its already dire humanitarian emergency.
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teleSUR ☛ South Korea Accuses the North of Shooting Artillery
The North Korean Army has been conducting exercises north of the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in the front line of fire from around 16:00 local hours.
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RFA ☛ Seoul declares maritime buffer zone with North ineffective
But ongoing N Korea provocations may be a diplomatic shift to use Japan to influence the U.S., says expert.
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korea police arrest another man linked to attack on opposition leader -Yonhap
South Korean police on Monday arrested a man linked to an attack last week on opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, the Yonhap news agency reported.
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CS Monitor ☛ Kim Jong Un’s sister mocks Seoul as North Korea fires artillery again
North Korea again fired artillery shells near its tense sea boundary with the South on Sunday. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, mocked the South’s ability to detect its weapons launches.
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France24 ☛ N. Korea conducts more military drills near S. Korean border island
North Korea was conducting live-fire drills on its western coast, the Yonhap news agency reported Sunday, the third consecutive day of military exercises near the contested maritime border with the South.
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RFA ☛ 'We've been in this situation for a long time'
Ahead of Saturday’s election, Taiwanese voters say the threat of war isn't the only thing on their minds.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China sanctions 5 US defence companies over arms sales to Taiwan
China announced sanctions on Sunday against five US defence firms in response to their involvement in arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory. China has vowed to one day seize Taiwan, while the US Congress requires the supply of weapons to the self-governing democracy for its defence.
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JURIST ☛ China sanctions US defense manufacturers over arms trade to Taiwan
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that China intends to impose sanctions on five US defense manufacturers over recent US arms sales to Taiwan.
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The Straits Times ☛ China’s top spy agency says it exposes British espionage case
This adds to the ongoing exchanges both countries have traded over accusations of perceived spying.
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New York Times ☛ From Lebanon to the Red Sea, a Broader Conflict With Iran Looms
With its proxies attacking from many vantage points and its nuclear program suddenly revived, Iran is posing a new challenge to the West — this time with Russia and China on its side.
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New York Times ☛ A Small-Town Stabbing Takes On a Larger Significance for France
The death might have been just a local tragedy. But some of the suspects were from an immigrant community, turning the case into a cause célèbre for the far right.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Meduza ☛ Owner of nightclub where ‘almost naked’ party took place gifts fragments from religious relics to Moscow church — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Orthodox Christians Celebrate Christmas; Holiday Overshadowed By Ukraine Conflict
Millions of Orthodox Christians attended midnight masses marking the Christmas holiday, a celebration overshadowed for many by the conflict in Ukraine.
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RFERL ☛ Ukraine Says Russia Launched Missile, Drone Attack On Dnipro; 2 Killed In Kherson Shelling
Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 28 drones and three cruise missiles overnight, and 12 people were wounded by a drone attack in the central city of Dnipro.
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Meduza ☛ What to expect from Russia’s stand-up comics now seeking success in English — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Japan to allocate $37 million for purchase of drone detection systems for Ukraine — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Unidentified drones frequently targeting German military bases where Ukrainian soldiers are trained — Meduza
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New York Times ☛ ‘Two Men Down’: For Ukrainian Medics, It Was Time to Move
They are the first line of treatment for soldiers wounded on the battlefield, racing against time to try to save lives.
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RFERL ☛ Wives Of Russian Soldiers Stage Small 'Demobilization' Protests In Moscow
Wives and relatives of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine held a series of small protests in Moscow, the latest in a series of public displays of dissent against Kremlin policies.
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RFERL ☛ Kyiv Receives Vows Of Support From Allies, Even As Russian Shells Blast Ukrainian Cities
As Ukrainian leaders continue to express concerns about the fate of lasting aid from Western partners, two allies voiced strong backing on January 7, with Japan saying it was “determined to support” Kyiv while Sweden said its efforts to assist Ukraine will be its No. 1 foreign policy goal.
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JURIST ☛ Poland farmers suspend blockade at Ukraine border after signing agreement with government
Poland’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Czeslaw Siekierski signed an agreement on Saturday with Teresa Kubas-Hul, the provincial governor of Pokarpackie, and Roman Kondrow, the representative of the farmer group Oszukana Wieś (Deceived Village), to suspend the months-long blockade of the border crossing point with Ukraine at Medyka.
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Environment
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Energy/Transportation
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] Japan: 5 dead in plane collision at Tokyo's Haneda airport
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] Japan earthquake: 48 dead as rescuers search for survivors
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] Air Canada lands last in on-time flights in ranking of North American airlines
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-03 [Older] Saskatchewan to decide in February whether to remit heating gas carbon taxes to Ottawa, minister says
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New York Times ☛ London Tube Strike Called Off
London’s mayor announced late Sunday afternoon that a strike that would have crippled the city’s transit system this week had been suspended.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-01 [Older] China's solar sector steams ahead of EU and US
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YLE ☛ Cars blocking rails cause headaches for HSL trams
Cars driving onto tracks, blocking trams and inconsiderate parking have disrupted service across various tram lines in Helsinki and Espoo.
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YLE ☛ VR cancels trains early next week
Extremely cold weather has interrupted Finland's rail traffic for the past week.
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Wildlife/Nature
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The Straits Times ☛ Penang’s booming pigeon population a menace to health
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Ms Samad's 5-year-old son contracted brain inflammation after feeding and playing with pigeons.
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Finance
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-01 [Older] Congo: Tshisekedi reelected as opposition cries foul
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-01 [Older] German immigration policy: What's changing in 2024?
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The Strategist ☛ A reprieve for Israel’s democracy
Last week, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled on two major bills pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government as part of its judicial overhaul.
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France24 ☛ Blinken warns against displacement of Palestinians as war enters fourth month
The Israeli military said it had wrapped up major combat in northern Gaza, dismantling Hamas's military infrastructure there, as the war against the militant group entered its fourth month Sunday. Two journalists were among scores of people killed by Israeli bombardments in southern Gaza, according to health officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave. On a visit to Qatar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel must do more to protect civilians in Gaza and that Palestinians displaced by the war must "return home".
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The Straits Times ☛ South China Sea, Asean among topics discussed at Indonesia’s third presidential debate
The debate was the third of five scheduled sessions for the country's presidential polls on Feb 14.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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Michał Woźniak ☛ Things I'd like more people to understand in 2024
We find ourselves in a peculiar place. We are more interconnected, yet more misinformed. At ease with more advanced technologies, but more easily mislead by them. “Doing our own research”, but ending up deeper in conspiratorial rabbit holes.
When discussing complex topics — pandemic, war, the housing crisis, or some thorny family affairs — it is surprisingly easy to jump to conclusions, to oversimplify, ignore crucial nuance, and thus get untethered from reality. To label someone as “evil”, “unethical”, fall back on tribalism. Our brains are always looking for a shortcut, and many of these shortcuts lead us astray. Sometimes we get fooled, sometimes we fool others. Neither helps in the long run.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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The Straits Times ☛ Two activists cleared of defaming Indonesian senior Cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan
Judges said comments made by the duo on YouTube did not constitute criminal defamation.
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RFERL ☛ Multiple Social Media Platforms Suspended In Pakistan During Khan Party Telethon, Says Internet Monitor
Multiple major social control media platforms were reportedly suspended in Pakistan on January 7, coinciding with a fundraising telethon of the opposition Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] Hong Kong: Media tycoon Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Changes to how Hong Kong journalists access vehicle registry inconsistent with city’s constitution, lawmaker says
Hong Kong’s new arrangement for journalists wishing to access the government’s vehicle registry is inconsistent with the city’s constitutional guarantees of press freedom, a lawmaker has said.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong press group mourns death of former news anchor Ryan Lau
Hong Kong’s largest journalists’ group has mourned the death of former journalist Ryan Lau after multiple local news outlets reported his alleged suicide on Friday.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-01 [Older] Nobel Prize winner Yunus sentenced to jail in Bangladesh
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-12-31 [Older] Smell of women's tears may reduce aggression in men – study
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-05 [Older] Mary Dawson, Canada's first conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, dead at 81
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] Stigma of criminal record 'is massive,' say advocates who want to reform pardon process
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-03 [Older] Tents torn down across Edmonton amid ongoing court battle over encampment removals
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CBC ☛ 2024-01-04 [Older] Saint John men acquitted of murder almost 40 years after wrongful conviction
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ Google Year In Search: 2023 Top Search Terms
Do you wonder what terms people have been searching for over the past year? Google has released its top search terms for 2023. The lists are based on search terms that had the highest spike this year, as compared to the previous year.
The search terms are broken into categories. We'll show you the top 10 search terms for each category. Furthermore, the search terms are broken down by geographical regions. For this article, we'll explore first the global results, and then the U.S. results. If you want to see the results for your region of the world, don't hesitate to pull up Google's list and select your region of the world.
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APNIC ☛ Nominations to the APNIC EC now open
Submit your nomination for the 2024 EC election at APNIC 57 by 8 February 2024.
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Copyrights
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-01-02 [Older] Taylor Swift breaks Elvis Presley's US album chart record
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Digital Music News ☛ Google Refused to Bargain with YouTube Music Contract Workers—Breaking Labor Laws in the Process
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Google’s refusal to bargain with YouTube Music’s unionized contract workers is illegal. Both Surveillance Giant Google and its sub-contractor Cognizant denied any wrongdoing after the contractors joined the Alphabet Workers Union.
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Gemini* and Gopher
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Personal/Opinions
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🪒 Safety Razor First
Back in Xmas, 2020, I switched from shaving gel to old-man brush and soap, just like my Granddad used to have. This turned out to be a massive success because, a month ago, with much ceremony, I opened my third bar of soap. Not only has it saved me a chunk of cash, but we’ve removed an entire class of plastic from the bathroom. (There’s only shampoo left on that front, we’ll get there eventually.)
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🪒 Shaving off the plastic...
Over the past few years my partner and I have been taking little steps toward more sustainable living. I made the big change, dropping meat and dairy, four years ago, thanks in large part to the rabbit-hole of Netflix documentaries.
I don't call myself "vegan" as I'm not (yet) religious about it; If I get caught short at an airport, I'll have a burger, but at home I'm 100% meat free and making far more conscious choices about what I buy, and how it's made.
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Get ready to hamsterization!
Hi all! a couple of months ago I was overtaken by something, perhaps the same as Archimedes thousands of years ago. Now I'll tell you what I'm talking about.
Everyone remembers the “cult of the home pages” in the 90s and early 00s, for about thirty years there was a fashion for them. later it all disappeared somewhere, the Internet shut down, people went to social networks, where the same memes and videos circulate in circles. there is nothing new. I did a little research and came to a specific conclusion: it has become too difficult for people to do this.
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I think, therefore I damned
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You Get Sick on Your Vacation, You Should Get a Do-Over
Back to work (which I should be clear, I like) this morning. But I was sick on our vacation, and once that finally worked its way through my system, I started having back pain. This is a regular irregular thing for me (once every year or two), and I think I'm working my way into the tail end of it now, the worst spasms days behind me. But, it still sucks.
And the timing's meant that my Christmas vacation has felt, well, distinctly disappointing. The Caribbean was gorgeous, but I spent too much time inside my room, dealing with the consequences of other people's hygiene. And then it was done. And now this.
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🔤SpellBinding: SHIKLOF Wordo: AXING
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Politics and World Events
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What anti-“woke” thinkpieces sound like
Went to the store today at 2PM (*not* “14 o’clock” as the globalists would have you believe). I paid for my purchase and as I was about to leave, you know what the cashier said?
“Have a good one!”
Are we so afraid of offending snowflakes these days that we can’t even call the time of day by what it is? Oooh, can’t say “have a good day” anymore because what if some professional victim throws a fit because shmee identifies as a morning person?!
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.