Links 01/02/2024: Tech Layoffs up Over 300% Month-Over-Month in January, Samsung Slump, Block’s Workforce Reduced by 10%
Contents
-
Leftovers
-
Java
-
New York Times ☛ Minute-Long Soap Operas Are Here. Is America Ready?
Popularized in China during the pandemic, ReelShort and other apps are hoping to bring minute-by-minute melodramas to the United States.
-
Hackaday ☛ Design Secrets Of Fantastic, Hand-made Puzzle Boxes
[Kagen Sound] is a woodworker and artist who gives a great behind-the-scenes look at his amazingly high-quality puzzle boxes (video). Not only do his varied puzzle box designs show his math background, but they are all made entirely of wood. There are no nails or fasteners; just intricately-fitted wood and some glue.
-
Hackaday ☛ Human-Interfacing Devices: The Descriptor Heist
Today, we’ll build our own input devices. And they will be easy to create and write firmware for, they will work perfectly, and they will be cross-platform. We can do that with help of the Human Interface Device (HID) standard, and by way of introduction, so that you never get confused by what a “descriptor” means, and we’ll build our own HID device — a Human Interface Device device. The way we build them won’t require reading specifications – instead, I’ll teach your how to steal HID descriptors from existing devices, tweak them for our purposes, and use them in our devices to harness the power of HID.
-
Science
-
Science Alert ☛ Discovery Points to a 'Sewage System' For The Brain Right Behind Our Nose
A secret passageway.
-
Science Alert ☛ 2,000-Year-Old Bones Undermine Myth About Columbus And Syphilis
Not quite the disease we'd imagined.
-
Science Alert ☛ Wreckage of Amelia Earhart's Lost Plane Found, Explorers Claim
Has the 87-year mystery been solved?
-
Science Alert ☛ This Tiny Version of a Human Heart on a Chip Beats Like The Real Thing
It's how scientists say "I love you."
-
Science Alert ☛ Stunning Prehistoric Jewelry Reveals 9 Hidden Societies in Ice Age Europe
A beautiful diversity.
-
Hackaday ☛ The Past, Present, And Future Of Inflatable Space Habitats
Recently, a prototype inflatable space station module built by Sierra Space exploded violently on a test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Under normal circumstances, this would be a bad thing. But in this case, Sierra was looking forward to blowing up their handiwork. In fact, there was some disappointment when it failed to explode during a previous test run.
-
-
Hardware
-
Hackaday ☛ Ingenuity May Be Grounded, But Its Legacy Will Be Grand
[Eric Berger] has a thoughtful and detailed article explaining why Ingenuity, NASA’s small helicopter on Mars, was probably far more revolutionary than many realize, and has a legacy to grant the future of off-world exploration that is already being felt.
-
Hackaday ☛ The World’s First Microprocessor: F-14 Central Air Data Computer
When the Grumman F-14 Tomcat first flew in 1970, it was a marvel. With its variable-sweep wing, twin tail, and sleek lines, it quickly became one of the most iconic jet fighters of the era — and that was before a little movie called Top Gun hit theaters.
-
-
Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
-
The Nation ☛ Making Abortion Safe Outside of the Legal System: A Q&A on Self-Managed Abortion
From 2017 to 2019, sociologist Naomi Braine, a professor at Brooklyn College, traveled in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe to study what she terms a global feminist movement for self-managed abortion (SMA). The result is her new book, Abortion Beyond the Law: Building a Global Feminist Movement for Self-Managed Abortion (Verso, 2023).
-
JURIST ☛ Pennsylvania Supreme Court orders reconsideration of Medicaid abortion coverage limits
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered a lower court to reconsider whether a state law limiting Medicaid funds for abortion violates the equal protection rights of low-income individuals.
-
YLE ☛ Increasing majority of Finns support sugar tax
An additional tax on sweets alone could easily help the state rake in more than 500 million euros in additional revenue, according to an advocacy group promoting healthy body weight.
-
New York Times ☛ First Bird Flu Deaths Reported In Antarctic Penguins
Dead gentoo penguins tested positive for the virus, and at least one suspected case has been reported in king penguins.
-
Latvia ☛ Latvian people are averagely forgetful
In 2022, 14.9% of people in the EU reported moderate or severe difficulty with remembering or concentrating.
-
Federal News Network ☛ Defense health officials expand research into traumatic brain injury
Brain injury, whether sustained at a test firing range or in battle, has long been a priority for the Defense medical system. The Warfighter Brain Health Initiative this year has boosted its research efforts on service members cognitive abilities and how certain events can threaten it.
-
Federal News Network ☛ VA seeks to manage size of its health care workforce, keeps growing benefits staffing
The Department of Veterans Affairs saw record hiring last year. Now it’s looking to manage the size of its largest-ever health care workforce, while continuing to hire more staff to process benefits claims.
-
Science Alert ☛ Embryo Development Linked to a 500-Million-Year-Old Viral Infection
-
University of Michigan ☛ Michigan Department of Health and Human Services launches new HIV prevention campaign
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced the launch of a campaign to combat the spread of HIV throughout the state on Jan. 16. The initiative, called MIPrEP, MIChoice, aims to educate Michigan residents about pre-exposure prophylaxis.
-
Off Guardian ☛ Sick to Death: Unhealthy Food and Failed Technologies
The world is experiencing a micronutrient food and health crisis. Micronutrient deficiency now affects billions of people. Micronutrients are key vitamins and minerals and deficiencies can cause severe health conditions.
-
YLE ☛ Could Finland legalise cannabis?
Two years ago a parliamentary committee rejected a citizens' initiative to decriminalise cannabis. But now there's a new initiative.
-
YLE ☛ Finland plans ban on dumping snow into the sea
Every year, thousands of truckloads of snow plowed from Helsinki streets are dumped into the sea. But at the same time, a good deal of garbage goes with it.
-
NYPost ☛ Drinking coffee can help you lose weight — here’s how many cups per day
Exercise, schmexercise — pass the bean juice.
-
-
Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
-
Tech Layoffs Up Over 300% Month-Over-Month In January: 3 Companies With The Most Employees Laid Off So Far In 2024
-
Dorsey Acts on Promise of Layoffs: Block’s Workforce Reduced by 10%
Block Inc. payments company is laying off 10% of its workforce. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Block and former CEO of Twitter, confirmed most of the layoffs would come from the CashApp, Square, and Foundational businesses.
The layoffs follow earlier directives for teams to focus on “stronger performance” and “stricter prioritization.” Dorsey said management “want to take [action] immediately, rather than let uncertainty prevail.
-
YLE ☛ Food delivery robot crashes into car, flees scene of accident
A concerned citizen spotted the S Group food delivery robot's hit-and-run.
-
Silicon Angle ☛ PayPal and Block latest two tech companies to announce layoffs
PayPal Holdings Inc. and Block Inc. are the two latest tech companies to announce layoffs, saying today that they’re cutting their workforces by 9% and 10%, respectively. First up was PayPal, with Bloomberg reporting that the layoffs will affect about 2,500 workers.
-
Silicon Angle ☛ Samsung records lowest annual profit in more than 15 years
Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. were trading lower late today after the company delivered its weakest annual earnings in more than a decade, with its operating profit falling by 3% from a year earlier.
-
New York Times ☛ Law Enforcement Braces for Flood of Child Sex Abuse Images Generated by A.I.
Artificial intelligence technology has drastically simplified the creation of images of children being exploited or abused, whether real or fake.
-
-
Security
-
Integrity/Availability/Authenticity
-
WhichUK ☛ Fraudsters target households with fake Health Lottery letters
Sneaky fake letters claim you've won thousands in the Health Lottery
-
-
Privacy/Surveillance
-
Techdirt ☛ Ring Breaks Up With Law Enforcement, Will No Longer Provide A Footage Request Portal For Cops
Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Ring certainly did. Amazon’s home surveillance acquisition realized there was no one in the residential space willing to slavishly cater to cops.
-
-
-
Defence/Aggression
-
TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ How to strike back after deadly drone attack? US has many options, but must weigh consequences
-
Site36 ☛ German police categorise people with “phenotypes”: Study sees “racist glasses”
-
Democracy Now ☛ Ohio Will Consider Execution by Nitrogen Gas After Alabama Used Method Witness Calls “Horrific”
Ohio lawmakers are taking the “next steps to kickstart” their execution chamber with experimental nitrogen gas, just days after Alabama used the same method for the first time in U.S. history, which the U.N. has warned is a form of torture. Alabama officials claim the execution was humane and effective, but we speak with Kenneth Smith’s spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeff Hood, who was there and says it was “the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.”
-
Democracy Now ☛ Sister Helen Prejean: Will Oklahoma Free Death Row Prisoner Richard Glossip After SCOTUS Hears Case?
In an extraordinary development, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Oklahoma death row prisoner Richard Glossip will now get the chance to argue for a new trial, after maintaining his innocence for three decades. Glossip has faced nine separate execution dates and been given his final meal three times. In 2015, he was saved from death just hours before his execution only after prison officials admitted they had ordered the wrong drug. On Monday, Democracy Now! spoke to Sister Helen Prejean, one of the world’s most well-known anti-death penalty activists, who has been Glossip’s spiritual adviser since 2015. “I believe what will happen is they will remand it back for a new trial, which I don’t believe any court in Oklahoma is about to do, because they did so many underhanded things that will all be exposed, and I think they’ll let Richard go free,” says Sister Prejean.
-
New York Times ☛ Israeli Forces Kill a Hamas Commander Inside a West Bank Hospital, Military Says
Surveillance video released by the Palestinian Authority shows several gunmen in apparent civilian clothing brandishing weapons in the hospital.
-
The Straits Times ☛ US F-16 fighter jet crashes off South Korea; pilot rescued
This is the third crash of an American F-16 jet in the country since May 2023.
-
The Straits Times ☛ North Korea says it test-fired strategic cruise missile
The testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN sanctions on Pyongyang.
-
RFA ☛ 'We have to be ready ourselves before we can help anyone else'
Across Taiwan, civil defense groups are preparing for war and other disaster scenarios.
-
The Straits Times ☛ China says balloons that have angered Taiwan are 'nothing new'
China's government on Wednesday dismissed repeated complaints by Taiwan about Chinese balloons flying over or near the island, saying they are for meteorological purposes and should not be hyped up for political reasons.
-
The Straits Times ☛ Taipei angered at China’s ‘unilateral’ change to Taiwan Strait flight path
The flight path is now close to the sensitive median line in the strait.
-
JURIST ☛ Iran executes four individuals allegedly linked to Israeli-backed bomb plot
Iran executed four individuals it claims were associated with an Israeli intelligence operation backed by Israel’s Mossad Agency. Iran charged the four individuals with orchestrating a bomb attack on a factory in the city of Isfahan, known for manufacturing weapons and equipment for Iran’s Ministry of Defence.
-
The Straits Times ☛ China has indisputable sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea: Coast Guard
China has indisputable sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal and its adjacent waters, and has always resolutely countered infringements by the Philippines, a spokesperson for China Coast Guard said in a statement released late Tuesday.
-
JURIST ☛ British Columbia Human Rights Commissioner announces inquiry into police use of force
British Columbia Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender announced on Tuesday that the commission will hold an inquiry into the use of force by the police against minorities and individuals with mental health issues.
-
The Nation ☛ How the Unjust Assault on the UNRWA Undermines Liberal Humanitarianism [Ed: The Nation, instead of condemning UNRWA for hiring actual terrorists, says that UNRWA is under "Assault". UNRWA does not even deny that it hired terrorists. It removes them, to save face.]
On Friday, January 26, 2024, the collapse of the liberal international order was visible to the naked eye. In the morning, the International Court of Justice at The Hague (ICJ) delivered its preliminary ruling ordering Israel to stop acts of genocide in Gaza. By that same afternoon, many self-styled guardians of the liberal order—the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands—announced that they were suspending funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The rationale for the decision was a series of allegations from Israel that UNRWA workers were involved in the October 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on Israeli civilians.
-
France24 ☛ Lula fires Brazil’s intel agency No.2 over alleged illegal espionage
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has sacked Brazil's deputy intelligence director amid an investigation into alleged illegal espionage also involving one of predecessor Jair Bolsonaro's sons, according to an official bulletin published Tuesday.
-
Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
-
Atlantic Council ☛ Big Tech must listen to the concerns of Russia’s pro-democracy voices
Big Tech companies offer a variety of opportunities for free expression in Putin's Russia, write Joanna Nowakowska, Anna Kuznetsova, and Marta Bilska.
-
RFERL ☛ IMF Raises Russian Economic Growth Forecast As Putin Boosts Spending
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for Russian economic growth this year to 2.6 percent from an earlier estimate of 1.1 percent.
-
RFERL ☛ Putin Honors U.S.-Sanctioned Former Chief Of Serbian Secret Police
Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the former chief of Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA), Aleksandar Vulin, with the Order of Friendship, the right-wing pro-Russian Socialist Movement party said on January 30.
-
CS Monitor ☛ In Ukraine and Europe, a concern: Has Putin outlasted the US?
America’s support for Ukraine has resonated around the world. Yet as Congress holds up new aid, and Ukraine’s supplies dwindle, comes a question: Has U.S. support shifted from “as long as it takes” to “as long as we could”?
-
New York Times ☛ War in Ukraine Has Weakened Putin, C.I.A. Director Writes
William J. Burns says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created recruiting opportunities for the spy agency and ushered in a new era.
-
Meduza ☛ ‘Do you think I’ve lost my mind?’ Meduza’s interview with Boris Nadezhdin, the man hoping to replace Putin and end Russia’s war in Ukraine — Meduza
-
Latvia ☛ Ukraine's First Lady to visit Latvia
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska will visit in Latvia. She will participate in the international conference “Russia's War on Children”, as well as meet with Latvian officials and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora.
-
France24 ☛ Macron looks to EU for ‘concrete’ solutions to farmers' crisis
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said he wants the European Union to regulate chicken and grain imports from Ukraine and to allow flexibility on some of the bloc's farming rules to help soothe anger among French farmers.
-
LRT ☛ Lithuania’s growing emigration driven by departing Ukrainians, Belarusians
Some 22,000 permanent residents emigrated from Lithuania last year, almost 50 percent more than in 2022, with the growth mostly due to departing Ukrainians and Belarusians, figures from the State Data Agency showed on Tuesday.
-
RFERL ☛ Two Belarusians Given Five-Year Jail Terms For $75 Donation To Countrymen Defending Ukraine
The Vyasna human rights center said that a court in Minsk sentenced two activists to five years in prison each in two separate cases last month for financially supporting the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment made up of Belarusians that is fighting with Ukrainian forces against Russian invaders.
-
RFERL ☛ Thailand May Deport Russian Rock Group That Condemned Invasion Of Ukraine
Seven members of the Bi-2 rock group, who openly condemned Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, are being held in Thailand and may be extradited to Russia, where they fear they will face persecution.
-
RFERL ☛ EU Moves Toward Using Profits From Frozen Russian Assets To Help Ukraine
EU nations have decided to approve an outline deal to keep in reserve profits from hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian central bank assets frozen in retaliation for Moscow's war in Ukraine, an EU official said.
-
RFERL ☛ Macron Says EU Should 'Accelerate' Aid To Ukraine As Russia Continues Missile Attacks
French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europe's leaders to find ways to "accelerate" aid to Ukraine as Russia continued to pound the EU hopeful with missiles.
-
RFERL ☛ Blinken Warns That Gains In Ukraine In Doubt If U.S. Aid Withers
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on January 29 warned that Ukraine's gains over two years of fighting invading Russian troops were all in doubt without new U.S. funding, as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg visited to lobby Congress.
-
RFERL ☛ Ukraine Continues Improvement In Key Corruption Index
Ukraine continues to improve its standing in Transparency International's Corruption Index, rising to a score of 36, the 11th straight year it has gone up.
-
New York Times ☛ Tensions Among Ukraine’s Top Leaders
Rampant speculation that President Volodymyr Zelensky will fire his top military commander has consumed Ukraine’s capital at a precarious moment in the war.
-
Meduza ☛ The fate of Zaluzhnyi What we know about the Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief’s rumored dismissal — Meduza
-
Defence Web ☛ Niger and Russia are forming military ties: 3 ways this could upset old allies
In July 2023, Niger’s military took over in a coup just two years after the country’s first transition to civilian power. The coup has brought into sharp focus the role of foreign countries in Niger’s politics. Before the coup, France and the US were the main security allies of Niger.
-
JURIST ☛ International calls for information about the location of opposition activist Kara-Murza in Russian custody
On Monday, the wife of the imprisoned Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza announced that Russian authorities removed him from the maximum security prison in Siberia and his current whereabouts are unknown.
-
LRT ☛ Over 400 witnesses interviewed in Lithuania’s Russian war crimes probe
Lithuanian law-enforcement officials have interviewed 423 people as witnesses and recognised 125 people as victims as part of their investigation into Russian war crimes, the Prosecutor General’s Office has said.
-
RFERL ☛ Bulgaria Issues Warrants For Six Russians Accused Of Destroying Arms Warehouses
Bulgaria has issued a European arrest warrant for six Russian citizens accused of involvement in the destruction of arms factories and warehouses between 2011 and 2020, the prosecutor's office said.
-
New York Times ☛ Russian Figure Skaters Will Get Olympic Bronze After Valieva Disqualification
A decision to address the disqualification of Kamila Valieva gave the United States the gold in the Beijing 2022 team event, but it kept Canada off the podium.
-
RFERL ☛ Russian Figure Skaters Lose Olympic Gold After Valiyeva's Disqualification Over Doping
The International Skating Union (ISU) has demoted the Russian figure-skating team that competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2022 from gold to bronze because of the disqualification of Russian teen skater Kamila Valiyeva for a doping offense.
-
RFERL ☛ Man Tortured By Chechen Police During Anti-LGBT Raids Given Asylum In Armenia
The SK SOS rights group that assists the LGBT community in Russia said on January 30 that Salman Mukayev from Russia's Chechnya region, who was tortured by Chechen police in 2020 during mass anti-LGBT raids, was granted asylum in Armenia.
-
teleSUR ☛ Suspension of Support to UNRWA is Collective Punishment: Russia
Washington and its allies suspended funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
-
teleSUR ☛ Russia to Discuss Anti-Money Laundering Platform in BRICS
Russia is also discussing with other countries an alternative to the U.S.-based SWIFT system.
-
Meduza ☛ How a sanctioned Russian senator became co-owner of the country’s rebranded McDonald’s chain — Meduza
-
CS Monitor ☛ For Kremlin, divide with West isn’t just geopolitical. It’s moral.
After years without pushing a dogma, the Kremlin is espousing social conservatism as a defense against what it perceives as an amoral West. Ironically, Moscow’s concern may be a reflection of the West’s own culture wars.
-
-
-
Environment
-
Energy/Transportation
-
DeSmog ☛ 1963 Conference Put Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change in the Spotlight
At 9:30 am on March 12, 1963, in Room 1-B of Manhattan’s Rockefeller Institute, six experts gathered to discuss the implications of a newly identified atmospheric phenomenon: the rising level of carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Hosted by the Conservation Foundation, a philanthropic organization, this small but vitally important symposium would help to bring a practically unknown area of scientific inquiry to national awareness.
-
DeSmog ☛ Revealed: A U.S. President Was First Informed of CO2’s Impact 59 Years Ago This Month
A “Memorandum for the President” lists “the effects of carbon dioxide on climate” among the most pressing environmental problems of the day. It sounds like a message meant for U.S. President Joe Biden. But the memo is dated January 13, 1965, and the president is the 36th of the United States of America, Lyndon B. Johnson.
This newly discovered document pinpoints the earliest-known moment that carbon-dioxide-induced climate change was brought to the attention of the highest levels of U.S. government — the President. It also adds to a growing body of evidence that decision-makers of the 1960s were concerned about potential climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels, much earlier than previously thought.
-
DeSmog ☛ New Evidence Reveals Fossil Fuel Industry Sponsored Climate Science in 1954
In 1955 in the wilds of Big Sur, a young Caltech researcher named Charles David Keeling gathered carbon dioxide samples among Northern California’s towering redwoods. Crawling out of his sleeping bag several times a night on research trips conducted over the course of 18 months, from January 1955 to June 1956, Keeling measured background levels of carbon dioxide across the western United States — at Big Sur, but also at desert and high mountain stations, in forests and grassland, above the city of Los Angeles, and over the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Keeling’s findings would lead him to conduct a separate series of experiments from the top of the Hawaiian volcano Mauna Loa resulting in the famous Keeling Curve — a visual depiction of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by the burning of fossil fuels. His work underpins our understanding of manmade climate change.
-
DeSmog ☛ At Mann’s Defamation Trial, Defendants Are Doubling Down on Climate Denial
On Monday, conservative blogger Mark Steyn wrapped up his confrontational cross-examination of Michael Mann, the climate scientist who is suing him and another climate denier for defamation in Washington, D.C. Superior Court.
Steyn appeared determined to portray Mann, currently the Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, as untrustworthy and deceitful, in an aggressive manner suggesting that more than a decade of litigation in this case has done little to dampen his contempt for Mann’s allegations, or for the science of climate change.
-
Democracy Now ☛ Cost of Doing Business? Amnesty Int’l Documents Health, Environmental Impact of Fossil Fuels in Texas
A new Amnesty International report titled “The Cost of Doing Business? The Petrochemical Industry’s Toxic Pollution in the USA” documents the health and environmental impact of fossil fuel and petrochemical plants run by corporations like ExxonMobil and Shell along the Houston Ship Channel in Texas, identifying it as a “sacrifice zone” where the harms are disproportionately borne by marginalized communities. “Our findings are exemplary of broader challenges and issues in terms of poor regulations and inadequate laws at the state and federal level,” says author Marta Schaaf, who calls for a moratorium on new projects while pursuing the long-term phase-out of fossil fuels.
-
Democracy Now ☛ “We’re Dying Here”: Human Rights Watch on the Fight for Life in Louisiana’s Fossil Fuel Cancer Alley
A damning new Human Rights Watch report documents the devastating human toll of fossil fuel projects in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, an 85-mile corridor stretching from Baton Rouge to New Orleans that is filled with fossil fuel and petrochemical plants. Human Rights Watch found newborns living in Cancer Alley experience low birth weights at more than three times the national average. Residents of the predominantly Black communities in the area report a range of other health problems, as well, including respiratory illness, cognitive issues and cancer. “Louisiana citizens are exposed to the worst toxic pollution of any people across the United States,” says the report’s author, journalist Antonia Juhasz, who outlines recommendations for better regulation and enforcement to reduce the harms while pushing for a phase-out of the industry in the long term.
-
Democracy Now ☛ “Monumental Decision”: Biden Pauses Approvals for New LNG Terminals in Victory for Climate Movement
In what many are calling a major victory for the climate movement, the Biden administration on Friday paused approvals for new liquified natural gas export terminals. In Louisiana, environmental justice activist Roishetta Sibley Ozane helped push for the change and calls the pause “a monumental decision in the fight for climate justice,” a result of years of organizing by activists and frontline communities. “There is nothing natural about releasing methane pollution into the community where children play.”
-
RFA ☛ Beijing says construction of multibillion-dollar China-Thailand rail must be sped up
Connectivity of the two countries with Laos also needs to be hastened, Chinese foreign minister said on Bangkok visit.
-
MIT Technology Review ☛ Why the world’s biggest EV maker is getting into shipping
Earlier this month, a massive ship picked up over 5,000 electric cars from two ports in northern and southern China. Five days later, it passed through Singapore, and it is now headed for India. However, its final destination is in Europe, where most of the cars will be sold.
-
-
Wildlife/Nature
-
Science Alert ☛ Moths Aren't Drawn to Flames. Here's What's Really Happening.
We’ve been wrong all along.
-
ADF ☛ New Report Sheds Light on ‘Dark’ Industrial Fishing Vessels
About 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels are not publicly tracked, with many of them hiding their positions at sea by turning off their automatic identification systems (AIS).
-
-
-
Finance
-
RFA ☛ Report: ‘Little to no’ progress on fighting corruption in Asia
In many places, graft has gotten worse: Myanmar has fallen 32 places on the index of 180 countries since 2017.
-
YLE ☛ NBI starts investigating suspected Business Finland embezzlement case
The funding outfit's former employee is suspected of spending Finnish taxpayers' money on vacations, home improvements and school fees while living in the US.
-
YLE ☛ Finns returning more bottles and cans than ever
People returned 2.2 billion cash-deposit beverage containers last year.
-
-
AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
-
Atlantic Council ☛ Gina Raimondo and Margrethe Vestager on transatlantic approaches to trade, AI, and China
The US commerce secretary and European Commission executive vice president discussed transatlantic trade and technology cooperation at the Atlantic Council.
-
RFA ☛ Chinese activists transiting at Taipei airport say they’re seeking asylum
The three Chinese nationals received UN temporary refugee cards in Thailand but felt unsafe there.
-
Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US troop deaths in Jordan spark warnings against ‘cycle of retaliation’ from China
China on Tuesday warned against a “cycle of retaliation” in the Middle East after the United States vowed to respond to a drone attack on a base in Jordan that killed three American troops, which it blamed on Iran-backed militants.
-
Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
-
ADF ☛ Groups Educate, Empower Youth to Fight Disinformation
Growing up in internally displaced persons camps in northern Uganda in the 1980s, Hakim Owiny was surrounded by armed conflict. There was suffering all around, but the sting of disinformation seared into his memory.
-
-
-
Censorship/Free Speech
-
New York Times ☛ Amazon’s ‘Expats’ Was Filmed in Hong Kong, But People Can’t Watch It There
The first two episodes of the show, which was filmed during the city’s pandemic restrictions, were released last week but were not available there.
-
Techdirt ☛ WallStreetBets Creator Loses (Again) His Frivolous Lawsuit Against Reddit
You probably recall the subreddit WallStreetBets from the whole GameStonks! episode three years ago. Over the last year or so there’s been a different legal issue related to that subreddit, though. Jaime Rogozinski, who created the WSB subreddit, ended up suing Reddit, after they shut down his account.
-
RFA ☛ Malaysian rapper takes aim at China's 'little pinks' for New Year
With emperor figure in Winnie-the-Pooh mask, Namewee’s video racks up millions of views in song blasting Pooh-tin supporters living outside China.
-
-
Civil Rights/Policing
-
Techdirt ☛ Judge Decides Prior Restraint Is The Best Solution To An Accidental Disclosure Problem
First Amendment principles are nothing new. A ton of precedent has been established that firmly limits what the government can do to stop someone from saying something (and, less often, to force someone to say something). Prior restraint is pretty easy to recognize.
-
-
Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
-
Techdirt ☛ DOJ Decides To Try Backpage’s Michael Lacey For The Third Time After Failing To Get Convictions The First Two Times
The DOJ can be some vindictive sons of bitches. This has nothing to do with justice at all. This is just pure spite.
-
Techdirt ☛ Lindsey Graham Promises To Try To Repeal Section 230 Every Week
It is no secret that Senator Lindsey Graham hates Section 230. It’s also no secret that he has no clue how the internet or Section 230 actually work. He’s pushed bills to repeal 230 directly, and he’s pushed bills to repeal 230 indirectly. He does not like Section 230 in a house, or with a mouse. He does not like 230, Sam I Am.
-
-
Digital Restrictions (DRM)
-
Techdirt ☛ Netflix Eyes More Price Hikes… And Slowly, Steadily Becoming More Like Comcast
Despite a lot of rhetoric by customers about how they were sick of Netflix price hikes and headed to the exits, the company’s latest earnings report showed impressive growth. The company added 13.1 million customers worldwide in the fourth quarter, up from the 8.76 million added the previous quarter. All told, the once-disruptive streaming upstart now has 260.8 million customers worldwide.
-
-
Patents
-
Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Factor 2 Multimedia authentication patent monopoly prior art
Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 10,083,285, owned by Factor 2 Multimedia Systems, LLC, an NPE. The ‘285 patent monopoly generally relates to a direct authentication system and method, more particularly, to a new two-factor authentication method used by a business to authenticate its customers' identity utilizing trusted-authenticators.
-
-
Trademarks
-
TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is CHILL for Hard Seltzer Confusable with CHILL for Beer?
The USPTO refused to register the proposed mark CHILL for "hard seltzer," finding confusion likely with the identical mark registered for "beer." On appeal, Applicant MetaBev argued that "something more" is required than merely showing that the goods are alcoholic beverages, and that the involved goods are marketed to different consumers in different areas of the stores in which they are sold. How do you think this came out? In re MetaBev LLC, Serial No. 90897101 (January 22, 2024) [Not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Melanye K. Johnson).
-
Monopolies/Monopsonies
-