Links 10/01/2024: A Shadow and Fear Over Taiwan's Election, Bubble 8.0 is Out
Contents
- Leftovers
- Science
- Education
- Hardware
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Environment
- Finance
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
- Digital Restrictions (DRM) Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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The Nation ☛ Street Art in Rome
Check out all installments in the OppArt series.
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Science
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Hackaday ☛ Vulcan Nails First Flight, But Peregrine Falls Short
For those with an interest in the history of spaceflight, January 8th promised to be a pretty exciting day. Those who tuned into the early morning live stream were looking forward to seeing the first flight of the Vulcan Centaur, a completely new heavy-lift booster developed by United Launch Alliance. But as noteworthy as the inaugural mission of a rocket might be under normal circumstances, this one was particularly special as it was carrying Peregrine — set to be the first American spacecraft to set down on the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.
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New York Times ☛ Why Are California’s Waters Lighting Up in Blue?
It looks like the trailer for “Avatar: The Way of Water,” but it’s a natural phenomenon. And spotting it is getting increasingly popular.
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New York Times ☛ How Astronomers Are Saving Astronomy From Satellites — For Now
Even the most powerful telescopes are in peril as orbits above Earth fill with thousands of new satellites. But scientists aren’t ready to give up the night sky.
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New York Times ☛ The New Space Race Is Causing New Pollution Problems
Earth’s stratosphere has never seen the amounts of emissions and waste from rockets and satellites that a booming space economy will leave behind.
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Science Alert ☛ "No Chance" For Safe Moon Landing in US Peregrine Mission, Say Officials
Hopes finally dashed.
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Science Alert ☛ It's Official: NASA Has Pushed Back Its Return to The Moon
A bad day for space news.
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Science Alert ☛ Astonishing Video Gives Rare Glimpse of a Mother Squid's Ultimate Sacrifice
A final, courageous act.
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Science Alert ☛ Ruins Believed to Be Roman 'Cult' Temple Unearthed Beneath Parking Lot
A glimpse into a time of great change.
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Education
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Pro Publica ☛ Idaho Governor Proposes $2 Billion for School Facilities
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Monday proposed spending $2 billion over 10 years to help school districts repair and replace their aging buildings. This would mark the largest investment in school facilities in state history, he said.
The proposal, announced during the governor’s annual State of the State address, follows an Idaho Statesman and ProPublica investigation, which showed how Idaho’s restrictive school funding policies and the Legislature’s reluctance to make significant investments in school facilities have impacted students and teachers. Hundreds of students, teachers and administrators shared photos, videos and stories with the publications about the conditions they deal with on a daily basis.
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ADF ☛ Extremist Groups Follow Boko Haram Model by Declaring ‘War on Education’
Armed groups in Niger have increasingly targeted schools to try to recruit new members and destabilize the country. In 2023, more than 920 schools in the Tillabéri region alone were closed due to security concerns.
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Hardware
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Hackaday ☛ A Compact SMD Reflow Hotplate Powered By USB-PD
When it comes to home-lab reflow work, there are a lot of ways to get the job done. The easiest thing to do perhaps is to slap a PID controller on an old toaster oven and call it a day. But if your bench space is limited, you might want to put this compact reflow hotplate to work for you.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Nonresident Senior Fellow Didi Kirsten Tatlow in Newsweek: Lawmakers to Biden Administration: Sanction Chinese Internet Device Company
On January 8, Nonresident Senior Fellow Didi Kirsten Tatlow published her latest article in Newsweek with Shaun Waterman, discussing the ongoing effort by policymakers to sanction Chinese tech giant Quectel as a Chinese military supplier.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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[Paper] Excess mortality in England post Covid-19 pandemic: implications for secondary prevention
Description replicated in case Surveillance Giant Google censors him again: [...]
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Science Alert ☛ Study Finds One Kind of Diet Linked to Reduced COVID-19 Infection Risk
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Latvia ☛ Liepāja Hospital faces staff shortages
The country's two largest regional hospitals – Daugavpils and Liepāja hospital – have been trying for a long time to address the lack of staff. The government decided last December to divert additional funding to the health sector, but hospitals hope the state will also be more involved in human resource planning and attracting new specialists, TV Kurzeme reported January 8.
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Latvia ☛ Vaccination data will be available on E-health [Ed: And the next data breach will expose all this information to anybody]
It will be mandatory for all medical treatment institutions to enter information regarding any vaccination performed in patients from that date onward, into the State e-Health system, according to a government decision passed January 9.
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New York Times ☛ South Korea Bans Dog Meat, a Now-Unpopular Food
Breeding, killing and selling dogs for their meat will be banned in a country where it has fallen out of favor. Hundreds of thousands of the animal were still being bred for human consumption.
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France24 ☛ South Korea bans consumption of dog meat in win for animal activism
South Korea’s parliament passed a bill on Tuesday to ban the eating and selling of dog meat, a move that will end the controversial centuries-old practice amid growing support for animal welfare.
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YLE ☛ Flu season showing signs of abating [Ed: No mention of COVID-19 and the excess deaths... as if everything is back to old levels]
THL data suggests the worst of the flu season could be over.
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YLE ☛ Medication significantly cheaper in Sweden than Finland, new study finds
The Finnish government is considering reforms that would enable the sale of over-the-counter meds in places other than pharmacies.
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YLE ☛ Study: Many employers reluctant to hire over-55s despite labour shortage
Negative stereotypes are a potential obstacle, according to the Finnish Centre for Pensions.
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NYPost ☛ My teen has a brain tumor — doctors dismissed it as ‘growing pains’
"From the age of 6, [Honey] had four years of tests. But the doctors couldn’t see anything wrong," mom Julie Ibbitson said.
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Kev Quirk ☛ Fat Boy at 40 - The Christmas Aftermath
So Christmas has come and gone in a flash. There was much eating, drinking and merriment, but what impact did that have on my *Fat Boy at 40* challenge?
Just before Christmas, I let you know that I was making great progress and had managed to drop my weight from 110.9kg to 102.9kg.
Great stuff!
But then Christmas hit and things obviously went to rat shit. I ate too much, drank too much, and didn't move enough. I knew I was going to put on weight over Christmas, and that's fine. It's what I do now that's important.
So anyway, I hopped on the scales this morning with "if I come in at less than 106kg, I'll be happy" in my mind.
I'm happy to report that I did come in under 106kg...just:
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong’s John Lee urges Cathay Pacific to rebuild capacity amid multiple flight cancellations
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific should rebuild its flight capacity quickly and effectively, Chief Executive John Lee has said as he expressed concerns over a recent string of flight cancellations by the city’s flagship carrier. Cathay Pacific cancelled over 40 flights in the days leading up to the new year, citing illness among its air crew.
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CS Monitor ☛ Amid doctor strikes, are UK patients losing patience? Three questions.
The latest round of strikes affecting the United Kingdom’s National Health Service is testing the limits of the public’s support for NHS staff, but young doctors feel they have few other options.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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New York Times ☛ [Buzzwords] Giant Tied to China Under Scrutiny
A congressional committee made the demand of the Commerce Department after The Times reported on concerns among U.S. intelligence officials over the Emirati company, G42.
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Bloomberg ☛ Microsoft’s OpenAI Ties Under EU Spotlight
Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI risks a full-scale EU probe, placing even greater scrutiny on the ChatGPT owner, which has been working to contain the tumult created by CEO Sam Altman’s recent firing and rehiring. The European Commission followed UK regulators in announcing that it would examine whether the deal should be formally investigated, which could result in an order to unwind the investments. The news comes before EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager travels to the United States this week, where she will meet with OpenAI officials, as well as Apple chief Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
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Business Today ☛ Layoffs 2024: Sam Altman-backed AI startup Humane fires employees before shipping viral AI pin
The Humane employees were informed that the company budget will be lowered this year.
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Rest of World ☛ U.S. tech layoffs sent Indian workers home to an even worse job market
...Microsoft in the U.S. last year are struggling to find jobs back home.
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There are already hundreds of people applying for one job, Veer told Rest of World, speaking under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. “So my resume is not reaching the right people,” he said. Veer had lived in the U.S. for over a decade, only to bring his wife and child back to New Delhi in the summer of 2023 after he was laid off by a small firm.
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Startup founders are feeling anxious after the Altman fiasco
Although it is still unclear why the board fired Altman, it has been reported that he wanted to grow the nonprofit-corporate hybrid company as much as possible – and as quickly as possible. On the other hand, the Board was clearly concerned about the risks associated with uncontrolled AI expansion, such as widespread disinformation and mass automation of the global workforce. A board was taking a humanitarian approach for once – crazy, we know.
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Evan Spiegel declares 'social media is dead' and attacks rivals, predicting Snap is about to 'overtake' smartphones
Evan Spiegel told Snap employees this week that they work for a rare social-media platform that “makes people happy.”
In an internal note sent on Monday, the co-founder and CEO seemed intent on unifying the Snapchat operator with a sense of “urgency” after seeing several quarters of stalled revenue growth, layoffs and struggles with its advertising business. Were staying.
“Social media is dead. Long live Snapchat!” he wrote in the title of the memo.
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Security
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Integrity/Availability/Authenticity
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Scoop News Group ☛ Bitcoin price jumps after hackers hijack SEC Ex-Twitter account [Ed: SEC should never have used Twitter for official communications in the first place; it is now being controlled by a fraud, a serial scammer, who has a stake in fakecoins. How much does Elon Musk profit when Twitter (X) accounts of this nature are breached and abused? He has a financial incentive to facilitate takeovers.]
SEC Chair Gary Gensler said an unauthorized tweet was posted after the agency's Ex-Twitter account was compromised.
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Silicon Angle ☛ SEC’s X account hacked: Fake bitcoin ETF approval leads to market turbulence [Ed: Why use this site? Massive liability, as usual.]
Cryptocurrency investors were given false hope today that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds after the official SEC X Inc. (Twitter) account was allegedly compromised and a tweet appeared saying that approval had been given.
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Digital Music News ☛ AI Music Generator Splash Debuts Amazon Alexa Skill, Enabling Custom Song Creation With Voice Prompts [Ed: What a terrible tradeoff: recording yourself, then sending it to Amazon and the state just to play some song or alter a song]
AI music-generation platform Splash has officially released a skill for Amazon Echo devices, enabling users to create custom songs with voice prompts. Amazon-backed Splash, which has trained its Hey Hi (AI) model exclusively on a self-owned music library, unveiled the skill at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today.
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APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: AINTEC 2023
Geoff Huston presented on network measurement and privacy at AINTEC 2023, held in Hanoi, Viet Nam from 12 to 14 December 2023.
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Defence/Aggression
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Common Dreams ☛ So God Made Trump
Sorry to be late - we've been busy reliving our glorious, bear-spray-tinged Jan. 6 triumph - but good news from on high about our beloved leader's tireless efforts to make us great again and avoid prison. Even as he resolutely persists in declaiming his Truths - Jan. 6 was all FBI, the real insurrection is by migrants, wet magnets don't work, the Civil War was unwarranted, he puts on his own kingly pants - God has now chosen him as our "caretaker" to "work all day, fight the Marxists, shape an axe." Oh God. Save us.
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YLE ☛ Defence Forces suspect conscripts of revealing state secrets via social media posts
The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) has filed at least three criminal reports with police over suspicions that conscripts have revealed national security secrets via posts on social media networks.
According to Yle's information, each of the cases relate to the conscripts filming or photographing in classified locations while on duty, and then posting the content on their social media accounts.
Each of the suspected cases took place during 2023, in what are believed to be the first such incidents of their kind where conscripts are suspected of revealing state secrets.
The minimum penalty for such an offence is four months in prison.
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CS Monitor ☛ Secretary Austin was hospitalized for days before Biden knew. Why?
For three days, the White House was unaware that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in the hospital, raising security questions about the chain of command. Now, the administration pledges to examine what went wrong and enact reforms.
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New York Times ☛ Surprised by New Details About Austin’s Health, White House Orders Review
The president learned only Tuesday that his defense secretary had been diagnosed with prostate cancer a month ago and had surgery under general anesthesia in December, aides said.
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The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim defines South Korea as ‘most hostile state’: Media
He also accused Seoul of inciting confrontation and arms build-up.
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RFA ☛ Kim Jong Un labels S Korea as ‘principal enemy,’ boasts war readiness
The North is ready to ‘devastate’ the South if the latter contemplates use of force or poses a threat, Kim says.
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korea opposition leader hopes for end to 'politics of hate' after attack
South Korea's main opposition party leader, Lee Jae-myung, said on Wednesday he hoped a stabbing attack he suffered could mark the end of the "politics of hate" in the country.
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The Straits Times ☛ US-China conclude two days of military talks in Washington
The United States and China concluded two days of military talks in Washington on Tuesday, the Pentagon said, the latest engagement between the two countries since they agreed to resume military-to-military ties.
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RFA ☛ In NY, Chinese official downplays ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomacy
Liu Jianchao is the most senior Chinese official to visit the US since the Xi-Biden summit in San Francisco.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan alerted to China ‘satellite’ as Beijing announces launch of Einstein Probe
A Chinese satellite launch triggered Taiwan’s emergency phone alert system on Tuesday, days before the self-ruled island holds a crucial presidential election that has heightened security worries around the region. Chinese state media said that Beijing had successfully launched the “Einstein Probe satellite using the Long March-2C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre”.
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The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan does not consider China satellite launch election interference
Taiwan's presidential office said it did not consider the launch of a Chinese satellite whose rocket flew over southern Taiwan an attempt at election interference ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday.
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The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan to vote in what China calls 'peace and war' election
Taiwan goes to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president and parliament under the shadow of an increasingly assertive China which has called the vote a choice between "peace and war".
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RFA ☛ Japan must fight in Taiwan Strait in the event of conflict: Ex-PM Aso
The remarks highlight the broader regional implications of any political change in Taiwan.
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RFA ☛ 'No need' to declare independence, Taiwan presidential hopeful says
Lai Ching-te warns voters that the wrong choice could mean the end of the island's democracy.
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RFA ☛ Chinese ‘monster’ ship patrols near Vietnam’s oil fields
World’s largest coast guard vessel has been patrolling near the contentious Vanguard Bank in the South China Sea.
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ADF ☛ Study: Peace in Libya Requires Reintegrating Armed Groups Into Society
Plans to hold a national election in Libya have sputtered for years. Abdulaye Bathily, the United Nations envoy to Libya, in late November urged the country’s rival factions to select representatives for a meeting aimed at reaching an election settlement.
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ADF ☛ Iran-Backed Attacks Send Ships Scrambling to Avoid Red Sea
The Liberian-flagged Zim Europe was the first cargo ship to divert its course. Bound for Malaysia, the ZIM company ship changed course far into the Mediterranean Sea before turning, retracing its path back through the Gibraltar Strait and into the Atlantic, heading for South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
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ADF ☛ Female Hostages Recount Harrowing Ordeal in Eastern DRC
Mariam sat in a debriefing session with a Congolese military intelligence official and described how a Ugandan rebel had claimed her as his wife and taken her to a camp in the forest.
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JURIST ☛ China detains head of advisory board alleging ties with Britain’s MI6
China’s Ministry of State Security Sunday issued a message on its WeChat official account, a Chinese instant messaging app, claiming that it had detained the head of an overseas consultancy for spying for the British Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, to collect Chinese secrets and information.
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New York Times ☛ U.S. Navy Officer Who Helped China Is Sentenced to 2 Years
Wenheng Zhao pleaded guilty to charges that he sent photos of American military installations and details of U.S. military exercises to an intelligence officer working for China.
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RFA ☛ US Navy sailor jailed for working with Chinese spy
Wenheng Zhao, 26, received nearly $15,000 for sharing sensitive military plans with a Chinese intelligence officer.
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RFA ☛ Myanmar resistance group launches attack on junta naval base
The base is located in a Chinese special economic zone where Beijing has requested heightened security.
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JURIST ☛ Son of overthrown Niger President Bazoum granted provisional release from house arrest
Mohamed Bazoum Salem, son of the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, was granted provisional release from house arrest in Niamey by Niger’s military tribunal on Monday. The 22-year-old was charged with conspiracy to undermine the authority or security of the state after a military coup on July 26, 2023.
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Defence Web ☛ Indian Navy rescues crew from hijacked ship off Somalia
The Indian Navy has rescued all 21 crew members from the MV Lila Norfolk in the North Arabian Sea after it was boarded by half a dozen armed men off Somalia’s coast on 4 January. The Indian Navy said the crew were rescued on Friday 5 January after the vessel was boarded by Navy commandos.
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New Yorker ☛ When Lee Miller Took a Bath in Hitler’s Tub
How a picture of a photojournalist bathing became a visual metaphor for the end of the war.
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RFERL ☛ U.S. Watchdog Tells Congress No 'Specific' Controls In Place For Afghan Assistance
The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) says there are no specific controls in place to ensure funds headed to the war-torn country are not diverted to or misused by the Taliban militants who seized control amid the departure of international troops in August 2021.
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ The Tommy Tuberville Gap in the Trump Indictment
The call Trump placed to Tommy Tuberville immediately after Mike Pence was evacuated from the Senate floor does not appear in the indictment, probably because the only witnesses have immunity under Speech and Debate from testifying to it.
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France24 ☛ Israel ‘must stop’ undercutting Palestinians’ ability to govern, Blinken says
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on Israel to work with moderate Palestinians on plans for a post-war Gaza. Following meetings with Israeli leaders on the latest stop of his regional tour, the top US diplomat said Israel “must stop” undercutting the ability of Palestinians to govern themselves. His visit came as three Hezbollah members were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
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New York Times ☛ Israel Says It Killed Another Hezbollah Commander in an Airstrike
A deadly airstrike further heightens tensions along Israel’s border with southern Lebanon.
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New York Times ☛ Israel-Hamas War: 9 Israeli Soldiers Killed in Single Day, Underscoring War’s Cost
Eight soldiers were also wounded in Gaza on Monday, including an actor in the DRM spreader Netflix series “Fauda.”
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Meduza ☛ ‘Should I write a speech and sing it in Buryat?’ Director Zhenya Berkovich addresses the court — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Three reportedly injured as Russia’s Belgorod comes under fire — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Poet Lev Rubinstein hospitalized in critical condition after being struck by car in Moscow — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Putin orders nationalization of ammunition plant where boiler room accident caused 22,000 to lose power — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Putin Grants Citizenship To 44 Foreign Nationals, Including Former Yugoslav Army Officer Wanted In Bosnia
Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 9 signed a decree granting citizenship to 44 foreign nationals, including Ratko Samac, a former officer of the Yugoslav army who is wanted in Bosnia-Herzegovina for war crimes he allegedly committed in 1993.
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Latvia ☛ New expert handed Ukraine mission by Latvia
On January 9, the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers adopted a draft order on the posting of a new civilian expert, Elizabete Elīna Vizgunova-Vikmane, to the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine).
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Reason ☛ Canada Reverses Blocking of Citizenship for Russian Migrant Convicted of "Crime" of Speaking Out Against Russian Atrocities in Ukraine
Good that sanity prevailed on this issue.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Blackjack hackers target Moscow ISP in retaliation for Kyivstar cyberattack
Pro-Ukrainian hacking group Blackjack has claimed to have breached a Moscow internet service provider in revenge for a Russian attack last month on Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecom provider. -
Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine is on the front lines of global cyber security
Ukraine is currently on the front lines of global cyber security and the primary target for groundbreaking new Russian cyber attacks, writes Joshua Stein.
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Atlantic Council ☛ The case for a new Ukrainian Constitution
As Ukraine fights for its survival as a nation, it may be time to adopt a new constitution that matches the country's current realities and future ambitions, writes Brian Mefford.
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Atlantic Council ☛ How strong is Russian public support for the invasion of Ukraine?
Many in the West argue that the majority of Russians support the invasion of Ukraine. However, nuanced analysis of Russian polling data indicates this is not the case, and suggests the Russian public is actually more concerned with how soon the war will end, writes Vladimir Milov.
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LRT ☛ Kaunas mayor’s Vičiūnai Group could make ‘moral choice’ to leave Russia – adviser
Lithuania’s Vičiūnai Group, which continues to operate in Russia and is included in the list of international war sponsors in Ukraine, does not violate the law but could make a moral choice, Asta Skaisgirytė, chief foreign policy advisor to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, has said.
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RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Stresses Unity In Call With Polish President, Speaks With Belgian PM As He Takes Helm Of EU Council
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on January 9 discussed further defense cooperation and Ukraine’s air-defense needs in a phone call with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
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RFERL ☛ Deep Freeze, Blizzards Cut Power To Ukrainian Settlements, Force Russia To Halt Drone Strikes
Ukraine's Energy Ministry says 1,025 settlements were without electricity on January 9 as the war-wracked country grapples with a wave of unusually cold weather, snowfall, and high winds that even forced Russia to pause its relentless waves of drone and missile strikes.
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Meduza ☛ Between the enemy and a pit One Russian soldier talks about life on the front lines in Ukraine — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Germany's Scholz Urges Fellow EU Members To Increase Weapons Deliveries To Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on fellow European Union members to provide more military support this year to Ukraine in its fight against Russia's full-scale invasion.
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Latvia ☛ Drawing of Russian soldiers shocks parents and kindergarten
Armed Russian army soldiers carefully colored in pencil: the parents of a child in one of Rīga's kindergartens received such a surprise gift. The kindergarten's management denies that such material was distributed, Latvian Television reported on January 9.
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Latvia ☛ Bergmanis: Russia might react to 'Moscow House' takeover
Russia's reaction is possible after the so-called “Moscow House” is taken into state ownership, which Latvia plans to do with the adoption of a special law, head of the Saeima Defense Committee Raimonds Bergmanis (United List) said in an interview with Latvian Radio on January 9.
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Mexico News Daily ☛ ‘The Dude abides’: You can’t have a White Russian without Mexico’s Kahlúa
Toast to cinematic coolness with The Big Lebowski's favorite drink, and explore the many cocktails and Mexican roots of this legendary coffee liqueur.
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RFERL ☛ American Detained In Russia On Drug Charges
A Russian court has sent U.S. citizen Robert Romanov Woodland to pretrial detention for two months on drug-possession charges that could see him imprisoned for up to two decades.
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JURIST ☛ Russia detains US citizen on drug charges
The Ostankino District Court of Moscow announced that it detained US citizen Robert Woodland Romanov for two months on Tuesday. He has been accused of violating provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the large-scale production, sale or possession of illegal drugs.
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LRT ☛ Lithuanian parliament lacks votes for tighter restrictions on Belarusians – committee chair
The Lithuanian parliament still lacks votes to tighten the existing restrictions on Belarusian citizens and put them on par with those imposed on Russians, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chair of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK), says.
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RFERL ☛ Singer Of Russian Punk Group Gets 10 Days In Jail Over Performing Naked
A court in St. Petersburg on January 9 sentenced Maksim Moiseyev, the singer of the Russian punk rock group Shchenki (Puppies), to 10 days in jail on a hooliganism charge.
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Meduza ☛ Russian singer reported for ‘LGBT propaganda’ and arrested following nude performance at St. Petersburg concert — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Navalny Placed In Solitary Confinement After Exiting Quarantine In Arctic Prison
Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny says he was immediately placed in a punitive solitary confinement cell after finishing a quarantine term at the so-called Polar Wolf prison in Russia's Arctic region where he was transferred last month.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Detained At Prague Airport On Moscow Warrant
Czech authorities detained a Russian citizen at the Prague airport over the weekend due to an international arrest warrant issued by Moscow, Czech media reported.
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Meduza ☛ Russian citizen arrested in Prague under warrant from Moscow while traveling to France to request asylum — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Russia Adds Khodorkovsky To Wanted List For Distributing 'Fakes' About Military
Russia's Interior Ministry has added exiled Kremlin critic and ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky to its wanted list on a charge of distributing "fakes" about Russian armed forces.
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Meduza ☛ Russian consulates in some countries deemed ‘unfriendly’ by Kremlin may not organize voting in upcoming presidential election — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Woman Accused Of Spying On Belarusian Diaspora In Poland
Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) said on January 9 that a Belarusian woman had been sent to pretrial detention on an espionage charge.
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RFERL ☛ Moscow Court Extends Pretrial Detention Of Theater Director Berkovich, Playwright Petriichuk
A Moscow court on January 9 extended pretrial detention until at least March 10 for theater director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriichuk, who were arrested in May last year on charges of justification of terrorism in production of the play Finist -- The Brave Falcon.
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Environment
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Science Alert ☛ Earth Is on The Cusp of Breaking a Crucial Warming Limit After a Record-Breaking '23
Unprecedented times.
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teleSUR ☛ Extreme Cold Hits Canada Following Record Hot Year
The homes and financial health of over 1.5 million Canadians are at higher and growing risk.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Climate change prioritization in low-income and developing countries
This policy brief examines the impact of climate change on education, health, and other development priorities for low-income and developing countries.
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Energy/Transportation
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Meduza ☛ Over 100,000 Moscow region residents have lost heat this year. The man being blamed for the largest outage has a criminal past. — Meduza
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Reason ☛ Biden Considering Higher Tariffs on E.V.s Imported from China, Raising Prices for Americans
Tariffs of 25 percent introduced under Donald Trump have been allowed to remain in place, and Biden may tack on even more to shield American firms from competition.
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Finance
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NYPost ☛ Is it time to quit your job? Why workers get the ‘three-year itch’ — and when to resign
If you no longer look forward to going to work, it might be time for a change.
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Mexico News Daily ☛ Inflation increased more than expected in December
The annual headline inflation rate was slightly above forecasts by analysts and the Bank of Mexico, however, it is still expected to decline in 2024.
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Silicon Angle ☛ In another cutback, Twitch lays off 500 people, 35% of staff
The Amazon.com Inc.-owned livestreaming platform Twitch will reportedly lose about 35% of its staff in another round of layoffs, Bloomberg reported today. The layoffs, which will number about 500, are expected to be announced Wednesday.
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Reuters ☛ Amazon to lay off several hundred staff in Prime Video, Studios
The online retail behemoth last year cut more than 27,000 jobs as part of a wave of U.S. tech layoffs after the industry hired heavily during the pandemic.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Reason ☛ The Best of Reason: The Post-Neoliberalism Moment
Anyone advocating neoliberal policies is now persona non grata in Washington, D.C.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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CS Monitor ☛ Getting real on China disinformation
An election in Taiwan may serve as a model for democracies in how to equip citizens to discern the truth about false news.
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Defence Web ☛ AI a negative influence on UN peacekeeping
The senior United Nations (UN) staffer tasked with communications has identified four areas – one of which is peace and security – where “generative artificial intelligence (AI)” is a concern.
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France24 ☛ Was there really a Star of David on Palestine’s official flag back in 1939? Nope.
Pro-Israeli social control media users have been claiming, wrongly, that Palestine’s official flag before 1948 featured the Star of David, a Jewish symbol. The spread of this false information online has picked up momentum since the start of the latest round of conflict between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, which has inflamed questions about the history and geopolitics of the contested region. An image of the flag that has been circulating appeared under the entry for “Palestine” in a 1939 edition of the French dictionary Larousse. However, our team spoke to several historians who said that this flag was only ever used by the Zionist movement which wanted to start a Jewish state in Palestine.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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Techdirt ☛ No Love For The Haters: Illinois Bans Book Bans (But Not Really)
Across the nation, bigoted politicians (of the Republican variety, almost exclusively) are trying to punish and silence content and expression they don’t like.
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Reason ☛ Notre Dame Pro-Abortion-Rights Professor Loses Libel Lawsuit Against Student Newspaper
Prof. Tamara Kay, a sociology professor at Notre Dame, sued a student newspaper (The Irish Rover) for libel.
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BIA Net ☛ North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany prohibits use of Öcalan's photos in demonstrations
The North Rhine-Westphalia Administrative Court in Germany upheld the ban on the use of PKK leader Öcalan's photographs in meetings and demonstrations.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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Public Knowledge ☛ The Top Reasons the JCPA Won’t Save Local News — Including from AI
We’ve written about the JCPA a lot, often in partnership with other civil society organizations that share our concerns. But instead of addressing these concerns or reconsidering the bill, its sponsors and lobbyists continue to put forward the same misleading arguments about it - and now have a new one that leverages the explosion of focus on generative AI.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai’s nat. security trial: Prosecution cites expert on social control media platforms
Hong Kong prosecutors have cited an expert’s report on social control media platforms in media mogul Jimmy Lai’s closely-watched national security trial, in which he stands accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publish “seditious” materials.
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Reason ☛ Professor's Lawyers Argue: Private University Student Newspapers Are "Not Entitled to First Amendment Protection"
The lawyers also argue that the speech in the newspaper was “not made pursuant to its right of free speech, but to instead to advance the personal agendas of male faculty members at Notre Dame [and others].”
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Civil Rights/Policing
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Off Guardian ☛ This YEAR in the New Normal – 2024 Edition
If our readers are anything like us then you spent the majority of the weekend taking down Christmas decorations and carefully organizing them, despite the knowledge that they’ll somehow become messy again by next December.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Techdirt ☛ NetChoice Sues Ohio Over Its Social Media Law; Gets Quick Temporary Restraining Order
Go NetChoice go. The trade group has been going around the country and blocking all the bad state level social media laws. Early on (with CCIA) it sued to stop Texas and Florida’s problematic laws. Last year it sued successfully to stop laws in Arkansas and California. Just a few weeks ago it sued Utah over its social media law. And late last week it sued Ohio over its law.
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Techdirt ☛ Techdirt Podcast Episode 375: Could A Design Code Help Social Media Serve Society Better?
We’re back from the holidays, and it’s time for a new episode of the Techdirt Podcast! This week, we’re joined by Ravi Iyer, Research Director for the USC Marshall School’s Neely Center and Managing Director of the Psychology of Technology Institute, to discuss a proposed “design code” that aims to make social media better serve society. Mike isn’t entirely convinced by the approach, leading to a long discussion about all its ins and outs.
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Techdirt ☛ Because The Fifth Circuit Again Did Something Ridiculous, The Copia Institute Filed Yet Another Amicus Brief At SCOTUS
It was a busy December for the Copia Institute (and me), even just at the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to filing (along with Bluesky and Mastodon admin Chris Riley) an amicus brief supporting NetChoice and CCIA in their combined cases, we also filed another one challenging the bizarre injunction imposed by the Fifth Circuit preventing the Biden Administration from communicating with technology companies.
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Zimbabwe ☛ Econet, NetOne, Telecel still seeing operating costs outpace revenues, IAPs have solved the puzzle
Very few businesses that are legally and formally operating are happy with the status quo prevailing in the economy. Hence it is no surprise that the ICT sector is not smiling its way to the bank as the Q3 2023 sector report shows.
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Digital Restrictions (DRM)
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Digital Music News ☛ Good New for Price Increases: UK Streaming Subscription Revenue Grew Nearly 10% During 2023 Following Across-the-Board Price Hikes, Data Shows
Following the across-the-board implementation of music streaming price increases, UK subscription revenue rose nearly 10 percent year over year (YoY) during 2023 to $2.37 billion (£1.87 billion), according to newly released data.
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Silicon Angle ☛ EU weighing whether Microsoft-OpenAI alliance could be subject to antitrust probe [Ed: EU should also investigate how Microsoft bribes publishers, including this one, for all sorts of puff pieces, lies, and spin]
The European Commission, the European Union’s executive branch, may launch an antitrust probe into Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Corp.’s high-profile partnership with OpenAI. Officials raised the possibility of such an investigation in an announcement published today. “The European Commission is checking whether Microsoft’s investment in Proprietary Chaffbot Company might be reviewable under the EU Merger Regulation,” the document reads.
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Patents
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Unified Patents ☛ Dynamic IP Deals entity AK Meeting IP groupware patent monopoly held invalid
On January 5, 2024, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in Unified Patents, LLC v. v. AK Meeting IP LLC, holding all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 10,963,124 unpatentable. Owned and asserted by AK Meeting IP, an NPE and Dynamic IP Deals entity, the ‘124 patent monopoly relates to computer-supported cooperative work software, also known as groupware, and has been asserted in seven district court actions, including current actions against Cisco Systems, Fuze, and Lifesize.
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Trademarks
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TTAB Blog ☛ Precedential No. 2: TTAB Affirms Refusal to Register Proposed Multi-Color Mark for Breakfast Cereals
Color me unsurprised. The Board upheld a refusal to register the proposed color mark shown below, consisting of the colors "yellow, green, light blue, purple, orange, red and pink" for "breakfast cereals," under Trademark Act Sections 1, 2, and 45, on the ground that the color mark is not inherently distinctive, lacks acquired distinctiveness, and therefore fails to function as a source indicator. Evidence of third-party multi-colored cereals and Internet references to "rainbow-colored" cereals undermined Post's claim of acquired distinctiveness. In re Post Foods, LLC, 2024 USPQ2d 25 (TTAB 2024) [precedential] (Opinion by Judge Thomas V. Shaw).
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Copyrights
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Techdirt ☛ New Japan Pro-Wrestling DMCAs Its Own Channel Over Video It Uploaded
As all manner of content creators will tell us, copyright enforcement is both very important and is at least doable enough that it sure would be nice if platforms like YouTube could do even more to enforce those rights for content creators. This mantra will typically come from those that are the most aggressive and draconian in terms of enforcing their own rights, of course. In other words, it typically comes from those that ought to have the most experience with just how challenging enforcing copyright properly actually is.
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Press Gazette ☛ OpenAI says ‘high-value partnership’ was on cards with New York Times before lawsuit
OpenAI accuses publisher of "intentionally manipulating" prompts for its lawsuit.
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Public Domain Review ☛ Masters of the Ice: Charles Rabot’s Arctic Photographs (ca. 1881)
A self-styled glaciologist, Rabot undertook four expeditions to the Arctic in his lifetime, taking stunning photographs that capture an abiding sense of stillness.
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Digital Music News ☛ Nashville vs. AI: Tennessee Governor Announces Plans to Protect the Music Industry from Hey Hi (AI) Threats
Tennessee’s governor is announcing plans to update the state’s law to protect the music industry from the misuse of artificial intelligence. Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee is announcing new legislation around protecting the music industry within the state against the misuse of AI, his office announced late last week.
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Gemini* and Gopher
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Personal/Opinions
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🔤SpellBinding: AIXRSTM Wordo: DUDES
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Hello, somber
Most of life has seemed that way: chugging along, feeling the nagging of friction/gravity/entropy/etc., suddenly concluding there's got to be a better way, formulating such a way, heading that way.. and... all of a sudden the accumulation of bother cries out for change.. and again... and again... and again....
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#Lore24 - Day 9 - Manifestation
Manifestation[1] is a core concept of Fedran. It is the focus on the Mechanical War, which is the bridge of when the world went from being dominated by magic to utilizing more mechanical devices in favor of spells and talents. Over the years, this has also been a focus on many concepts such as trauma breeds power which is what leads to the power imbalance that set off the war.
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#Lore24 - Day 10 - Talents
Talents[1] make up the bulk of everyone who uses magic in the world. They don't have the flexibility of mages[2] and their spells but they make up with a specialization that can exceed. Also, talents are not limited to a single effect or spell; have a suite of related powers, such as the Kyōti clan[3]s or the mage-knights of Kormar[4].
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I have a cold.
I don't know what else, but the sore throat makes me a little scared that I might have COVID-19 again. Fortunately, it hasn't gotten any worse since then, and I even thought I was almost over it this morning.
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Technology and Free Software
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Saving Gemini Documents with ncat
I access Geminispace using GUI clients: Kristall on desktop Linux and Deedum on Android. Sometimes I come across a file served on someone's capsule that I want to save, or I want to archive a page I enjoy reading. Kristall can save documents to local storage, but Deedum cannot.
I perform many of my daily computing tasks from the command line, including bookmark management. Since I already save links to documents using Bash, I decided to write a Bash alias that could save documents directly using `ncat`.
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Software Releases/Announcements
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Bubble v8.0: Flairs and Locked Posts
A flair is a free-form text label that appears next to the user's name and provides some additional contextual information about the user. You may be familiar with this concept from sites like Reddit.
A flair can only be bestowed on a user by the administator of the Bubble instance. Users themselves, even if they are moderators, cannot assign flairs.
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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.