Links 06/02/2024: Bounties on Software Patents and Weaveworks Latest Casualty of Kubernetes Bubble/Hype
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 Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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MWL ☛ Block list vs black list in my books [Ed: Unnecessary provocation]
Open source software has been adjusting its language. In a world without systemic racism, technologists could use words like “master” and “slave” without worries. While the Internet’s primordial developers chose those words without malice, we don’t live in that world.
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Ismael Olea: Last activity in Wikimedia
A fast update of thing happening to me in the Wikimedia Movement in the last weeks: [...]
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The Straits Times ☛ Thailand clamps down on cheap copies of elephant, cat trousers from China
The wide-legged pants are comfortable in hot weather and popular with foreigners.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Kubernetes automation startup Weaveworks shuts down
Weaveworks Inc., a venture-backed developer of Kubernetes management software, is closing its doors. Weaveworks co-founder and Chief Executive Alexis Richardson announced that the startup is shutting down in a Microsoft's Surveillance Arm LinkedIn post published today. According to Richardson, the company had generated more than $10 million in revenue before the decision was made to shutter it.
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Science
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Science Alert ☛ Ancient 15,000-Year-Old Viruses Seen in Melting Tibetan Glaciers
The wait is nearly over.
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Science Alert ☛ Salads Grown in Space May Pose a Deadly Problem
This could be serious.
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Science Alert ☛ Decades Old Physics Mystery – Feynman's Sprinkler Problem Finally Solved
An enduring riddle in fluid mechanics.
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Science Alert ☛ World's First 3D-Printed Neural Tissue Grows And Functions Like a Human Brain
A new era in neuroscience.
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Transformed Pure Water Into a Metal – And There's Video
This is so cool!
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Science Alert ☛ It's Confirmed! Laser Fusion Experiment Hit a Critical Milestone in Power Generation
There's still a long way to go.
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The Straits Times ☛ 90 million-year-old fossils found in China belong to new dinosaur
The fossils of the Gandititan cavocaudatus were found at a construction site in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, in June 2021.
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Education
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Reason ☛ "In Memoriam: Prof. Dan Burk"
I was very sad to hear yesterday of the untimely death of Prof. Dan Burk (UC Irvine), a leading scholar of intellectual property and of Internet law. I often ran into him and his work, and always much appreciated his contributions. Eric Goldman (Santa Clara) has an excellent remembrance, which I highly recommend.
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Hardware
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Hackaday ☛ Building Robots With A 20×20 Grid
On autonomous robots, the most difficult challenges usually lie in the software and electronic realms, but the mechanics can also be very time consuming. To help address this challenge, [Nikodem Bartnik] is working on the Open Robotic Platform (ORP), a modular robotics chassis system designed to make prototyping as easy and affordable as possible. Video after the break.
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Hackaday ☛ An Apple ][ With A Pendulum
Clocks are a favourite project here, and we can say we’ve seen all conceivable types over the years. Just a software clock on a retrocomputer perhaps isn’t the coolest among them, but [Willem van der Jagt ]’s Apple][ clock has a little bit extra. It takes its time reference from a real pendulum, on an antique wall clock.
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Ali Reza Hayati ☛ Apple (and other) VR headsets are proprietary tyrants
Apple recently released a product name Vision Pro. It uses a proprietary firmware named visionOS, developed by Apple. It’s a computer, basically, and has features such as a camera, microphone, and wireless connections. It can be used in various ways but is not suggested to be used at all.
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CNX Software ☛ DFI MTH968 defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra “Meteor Lake” COM Express module to power industrial Hey Hi (AI) PCs [Ed: Funny how we didn't get "HEY HI PCs" until now... even though machine learning goes over 50 years back. This is relevant.]
DFI MTH968 is a COM Express Compact Type 6 computer-on-module equipped with an defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra Meteor Lake processor designed for industrial Hey Hi (AI) PCs thanks to the integrated Neural Processor Unit (Intel Hey Hi (AI) Boost) and designed for industrial automation, smart transportation, and smart agriculture.
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CNX Software ☛ Solar power manager module supports 6V-24V input range, battery charging, MPTT function, and outputs 5V/3A
Waveshare Solar Power Manager Module (D) is a compact power module for solar panels with support for 6V to 24V input, MPTT (Maximum Power Point Tracking), and battery charging. It outputs 5V up to 3A via a USB-C port or terminal block and should be suitable for a range of projects. A few weeks ago, we wrote about the FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 IoT development board with DFRobot highlighting support for solar charging of lithium batteries thanks the the CN3165 chip. But with a range of just 4.5 to 6V for solar panel input and a lack of support for MPTT, several readers were unimpressed by the solution. The Waveshare Solar Power Manager Module (D) recently popped up in my news feed, and I thought it might be worth a look.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Shedding: COVID-19 antivax quacks never give up pushing it
A couple of weeks ago, I discussed how the arguments made by antivax quacks like “A Midwestern Doctor” (AMD) for the existence of “shedding,” be it of mRNA, spike protein, or evil humors, from people vaccinated with the mRNA-based vaccines against COVID-19 reminded me of the same sorts of fantastical biological “mechanisms” claimed by homeopaths to support their magical mystical remedies. (Memory of water, anyone?) At the time, I left open the possibility for the need for a part two of this discussion because in his—hers? its?—original post, AMD promised a summary of what he thought to be the best evidence for COVID-19 vaccine shedding. Of course, I predicted that whatever fantastical biological “mechanisms” AMD might suggest would almost certainly be just as much bollocks as the dubious mechanisms that he had already suggested, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth deconstructing. Why? Because antivax quacks across social media are pointing to AMD’s new magnum opus on “shedding,” Unraveling the Mysteries of mRNA Vaccine Shedding, as though it were some definitive new answer to all the criticisms that those who claim that shedding from COVID-19 vaccines is making the unvaccinated sick don’t know basic biology and biochemistry.
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New Yorker ☛ Photos from a Late-Stage Abortion Clinic
At a clinic in Maryland, desperate patients arrive from all over the country to terminate their pregnancies.
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New York Times ☛ Cancer Diagnosis Like King Charles’s Is Not Unheard-Of
While Buckingham Palace released little information on Charles’s diagnosis, some cancer experts not involved in his care have seen the illness detected during other routine medical procedures.
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New York Times ☛ Why Some Therapists Are Taking Their Clients Outdoors
Mental health practitioners are hiking, camping and braving the elements with their clients — all in an effort to help them connect with the Earth, and with themselves.
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Science Alert ☛ BMI And Dieting No Longer Taught in Australia. Here's What Kids Will Learn.
It's long overdue.
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Science Alert ☛ Monkey Study Reveals 91 Changes in Virtually Every Body Organ During Pregnancy
Some drastic metabolic shifts.
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Federal News Network ☛ FEHB to give new hires ‘first day’ health care coverage under OPM proposal
After OPM finalizes a proposed rule, new federal hires enrolled in FEHB should see “first day” health care coverage, rather than waiting a pay period.
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Latvia ☛ Spike of hepatitis A over past two weeks in Latvia
In the last two weeks, nine cases of hepatitis A have been registered in Latvia, which is significantly higher than usual over such a short time, the Disease Prevention and Control Center (SPKC) said in a statement on February 5.
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Techdirt ☛ Politicians Are Using Kids As Props To Pass Terrible, Harmful Legislation. Don’t Let Them Get Away With It
Amidst all of the attention paid to last week’s Senate hearing on child safety online, it remains stunning just how little time was actually spent on how to help children online. Instead, we saw pure theatrical nonsense, with Senators insisting (falsely) that these five tech CEOs could magically stop bad things from happening to kids, if only they would just “nerd harder.” And, of course, the accompanying suggestion was that these CEOs simply don’t care about protecting kids.
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New York Times ☛ Ex-Doctor Charged With Manslaughter in New York Woman’s Suicide
The police provided few details about the death, making it unclear whether it would be covered by the medical aid in dying laws that some states have but that New York does not.
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NYPost ☛ Amazon ‘censored’ COVID-19 vaccine books after ‘feeling pressure’ from Biden White House: docs
The Biden administration pressured Amazon to censor books related to COVID-19 vaccines in early 2021 citing concerns that the material contained “propaganda” and “misinformation,” internal company emails released by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appear to show.
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YLE ☛ Think tank criticises targeting of Covid business subsidies
A new study calls into question how the government allocated emergency support funding during the pandemic years.
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Donnie Berkholz: The lazy technologist’s guide to fitness
In the past 7.5 months, I’ve lost almost 60 pounds and went from completely sedentary to well on my way towards becoming fit, while putting in a minimum of effort. On the fitness side, I’ve taken my cardiorespiratory fitness from below average to above average, and I’m visibly stronger. Again, I’ve aimed to do so with minimal effort to maximize my efficiency.
Here’s what I wrote in my prior post on weight loss:
I have no desire to be a bodybuilder, but I want to be in great shape now and be as healthy and mobile as possible well into my old age. And a year ago, my blood pressure was already at pre-hypertension levels, despite being at a relatively young age.
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University of Michigan ☛ You don’t care enough about the opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic kills about 130 Americans on a daily basis due to overdose or other opioid-related complications. Despite the apparent magnitude of the epidemic, declared a national public health emergency in 2017, “drug addiction” ranks as the fourth most problematic issue affecting our nation to Americans, behind bipartisanship, health care and inflation.
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ACLU ☛ Changing the Mental Health Emergency Response System in Washington County, Oregon
On October 24, 2022 at 2 a.m., 27-year-old Joshua Wesley called a crisis help line from his home in Washington County, Oregon, just west of Portland. He was having suicidal thoughts and knew that he needed professional help. But instead of receiving a mental health provider as specifically requested, he encountered a group of armed police officers at his door. This response not only deprived Wesley of the immediate psychiatric care that he needed, but it also led to him being arrested and seriously injured by the responding officer. He ultimately spent two weeks in the hospital, and six months in jail.
Wesley told us that he felt that he needed qualified professionals to console him, talk him down, and give him solutions. But the officers that showed up made the situation worse by simply trying tried to put him in handcuffs and cart him off.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Sportskeeda ☛ Call of Duty 2025 might receive a massive change in development due to recent layoffs [Ed: Mass layoffs at Microsoft dooming games]
Call of Duty 2025, codenamed "Saturn," might see a massive change in its development department due to the recent layoffs by Microsoft and Activision. While the game is only 20 months ahead of its release, it doesn't have a primary developer, and some of the leading studios under Activision reportedly refused to develop the game due to certain circumstances.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Multinational loses HK$200 million to deepfake video conference scam, Hong Kong police say
Scammers tricked a multinational firm out of some US$26 million by impersonating senior executives using deepfake technology, Hong Kong police said Sunday, in one of the first cases of its kind in the city.
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Bruce Schneier ☛ Deepfake Fraud
A deepfake video conference call—with everyone else on the call a fake—fooled a finance worker into sending $25M to the criminals’ account.
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Michael Geist ☛ The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 191: Luca Bertuzzi on the Making of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act
European countries reached agreement late last week on a landmark legislative package to regulate artificial intelligence. Hey Hi (AI) regulation has emerged as a key issue over the past year as the explosive growth of Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot and other generative Hey Hi (AI) services have sparked legislation, lawsuits and national consultations. The EU Hey Hi (AI) Act is heralded as the first of its kind and as a model for Canadian Hey Hi (AI) rules.
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Digital Music News ☛ The EU’s Hey Hi (AI) Act Inches Closer to Reality—IFPI, CISAC Respond
Europe is moving closer to adopting rules that will regulate the use of artificial intelligence in the region. The EU’s Hey Hi (AI) Act is the first of its kind across the world.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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CCIA ☛ The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill – next steps for the new UK digital markets law
UK digital markets have shown their dynamism in recent years, with markets such as digital advertising seeing significant growth...
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Techdirt ☛ Facial Recognition Rings Up Another False Arrest, Leading To The Accused Being Brutalized In Jail
Facial recognition may be helping law enforcement catch bad guys, but inherent flaws in these systems ensure it’s only a matter of time before the AI coughs up yet another unforced error.
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Press Gazette ☛ Publishers’ privacy conundrum in response to ICO warnings
ICO looking at generative Hey Hi (AI) regulations, Google's Privacy Sandbox, and stricter cookie consent.
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Ars Technica ☛ Data broker allegedly selling de-anonymized info to face FTC lawsuit after all | Ars Technica
Kochava tried to argue that selling sensitive info doesn’t directly cause harms.
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Defence/Aggression
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Project Censored ☛ Polluting Airwaves & Yemen's Bold Moves for Palestine
In the first half of the show, cohost Mickey Huff sits down with attorney Art Belendiuk and media activist and journalist Sue Wilson to talk about the poisoning of our airwaves, with propaganda. Art and Sue outline a case in Baltimore that highlights how media corporation Sinclair is trying to control what we hear and see, and how the FCC is failing in its responsibility to regulate media giants to serve the public interest. In the second half of the show, Eleanor Goldfield quotes from a recent conversation with Yemen-based freelance journalist Ahmed Abdulkareem about what’s happening in his home country, the reasoning behind it, how the people feel, and what the future might hold, particularly in terms of US hegemony in the region.
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The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan ally Guatemala mulls commercial ties with China, foreign minister says
Guatemala is considering reaching out to develop formal trade ties with China, the Central American country's foreign minister told Reuters on Monday, although it plans to maintain its existing relations with Taiwan.
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RFA ☛ China reaffirms support for inter-Korean ties amid peninsula tensions
N Korea has recalibrated its relations with Seoul, effectively treating the South as an enemy state.
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Techdirt ☛ Cops Charge Teen With Murder After One Of Them Dies Shortly After Restraining Him
Cops will charge someone with assault, whether or not they’ve been actually assaulted. It’s a charge often added on top of resisting arrest and can be triggered by any movement or action that results in physical contact with an officer. Throwing a snowball in the direction of a cop can be considered assault, depending on the enthusiasm of the nearest prosecutor.
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YLE ☛ Reserve resignations surge after defence minister's remarks
The Civilian Service Centre reported a daily record number of applications to switch from the military reserve to civilian service on Friday.
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YLE ☛ FDF: Finland should consider military reservist resignation ban
The Finnish Defence Forces said that in the worst case, reservist resignations could endanger the country's defence capabilities.
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The Kent Stater ☛ At least 6 Kurdish fighters are killed in a drone attack on a Syrian base housing US troops
A drone attack on a base housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria killed six allied Kurdish fighters late Sunday, in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias that have been targeting its forces in the region.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Experts react: US retaliation for the deadly attack in Jordan has begun. What’s next?
Our experts interpret the United States' ongoing strikes against Iran-linked targets—and how Tehran and its proxies might view this response.
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Defence Web ☛ Red Sea maritime situation worsens
Threats to maritime safety in the Red Sea have widened and now include the Gulf of Aden and north-western Indian Ocean.
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France24 ☛ US strikes Houthi missiles a day after Yemen air raids
American forces carried out air strikes against five missiles in Yemen on Sunday – one designed for land attack and the others for targeting ships, the US military said.
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RFA ☛ Junta airstrike on school in Kayah state kills 4 children
As rebels gain ground, the military has increasingly turned to air attacks.
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teleSUR ☛ US-UK Airstrikes Hit Houthi Camps in Northern Yemen
The strikes hit targets in Saada province and Hodeidah, a strategic Red Sea port city.
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JURIST ☛ Independent panel appointed to investigate UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees
UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Monday a review of whether the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East (UNRWA) is “ensur[ing] neutrality” and properly responding to allegations of possible breaches.
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France24 ☛ As donors suspend critical funding to UNRWA, allegations against staff remain murky
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced on January 26 that it had terminated the contracts of several employees pending an investigation into Israeli allegations that they had been involved in Hamas's October 7 attacks in Israel. The move prompted several nations to suspend vital funding to UNRWA while the inquiry proceeds, deepening Gaza’s already acute humanitarian crisis.
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JURIST ☛ Türkiye arrests 7 suspected Israeli spies
Authorities in Türkiye announced the arrest of seven people on Friday alleged to have been operating as spies for Mossad, the Israeli state intelligence service.
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New York Times ☛ U.S. Strikes Hit Most of Targets in Iraq and Syria, Pentagon Says
U.S. officials acknowledge that the targeted militias still retain the majority of their capability to carry out future attacks.
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New York Times ☛ Middle East Crisis: Blinken Arrives in Mideast to Rally Support for Cease-Fire Plan
The U.S. secretary of state aims to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from widening further. Hamas is still discussing a proposal to pause fighting and release hostages, an affiliated broadcaster reported.
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ Hunter Biden’s Delayed Email Access on the JPMI Laptop
The laptop attributed to Hunter Biden deviated from the pattern established with his other replacement devices in one key way: He appears not to have logged into Surveillance Giant Google right away.
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New Yorker ☛ Why Trump’s G.O.P. Sock Puppets Are Sinking a Bipartisan Effort to Tighten Up Border Security
The former President fears losing his signature campaign issue, and congressional Republicans are bowing to his wishes.
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RFA ☛ Why is Pooh-tin Jinping so worried about food security?
Fears over food shortages leading to social unrest have grown since Russia invaded Ukraine.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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RFERL ☛ 2-Month-Old Baby Reported Killed In Russian Strike In Kharkiv Region
A 2-month-old baby was killed on February 6 in a Russian missile strike on the settlement of Zolochiv in Ukraine's eastern region of Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram.
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RFERL ☛ Five Ukrainians Killed In Kherson City, Sumy Region As Russia Steps Up Shelling Of Civilian Areas
Five Ukrainian civilians were killed on February 5 when Russian forces shelled the southern city of Kherson and the northeastern region of Sumy, Ukrainian officials said, amid a dramatic increase of the intensity of Moscow's bombardment of civilian areas.
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AntiWar ☛ The Democracy Versus Autocracy Narrative Has a Ukraine Problem
“The war in Ukraine is a war in general for values: life, democracy, freedom. So this is a war all over the world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
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European Commission ☛ EU and IFC to unlock over €500 million in private sector investments for reconstruction in Ukraine
European Commission Press release Brussels, 05 Feb 2024 The European Commission and IFC have just signed a guarantee agreement to support investments that will help drive an inclusive and sustainable reconstruction in Ukraine.
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Atlantic Council ☛ #AtlanticDebrief – How did EU leaders approve the Ukraine Facility? | A Debrief from Dave Keating
Rachel Rizzo sits down with NRSF and France 24 Brussels correspondent Dave Keating to discuss the outcomes of the special EUCO summit and support for Ukraine.
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Atlantic Council ☛ The Ukraine imperative for global security
Real success in Ukraine can only come if US leaders across ideological lines remind Americans of history’s enduring lesson: dithering before despots can only produce disaster.
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New York Times ☛ Tucker Carlson’s Visit to Russia Draws Speculation of Putin Interview
Mr. Carlson has been receiving blanket news coverage from state-run media outlets in Russia since stepping foot in Moscow.
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France24 ☛ Trump urges Republicans to reject Senate deal on border measures, Ukraine aid
Former US president Donald Trump urged Republicans Monday to reject a bipartisan Senate deal trading tough new border security measures for $60 billion in Ukraine funding and other national security priorities.
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France24 ☛ Ukraine divided over controversial mobilisation bill
Can Ukraine recruit enough soldiers to maintain its defence against Russia? This week, parliament is expected to debate a new version of an already-delayed mobilisation bill. After almost two years of war, the men sent to the front line are exhausted. Most Ukrainian soldiers have had fewer than 10 days' leave in the past year. The mobilisation bill proposes limiting military service to three years, but also reducing the conscription age from 27 to 25 and tightening penalties for those who fail to register. The legislation is proving divisive in Ukraine, as our correspondent Gulliver Cragg reports.
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France24 ☛ El Salvador's Bukele claims 'record' reelection win after gang crackdown
Fireworks erupted in El Salvador's capital Sunday as gang-busting President Nayib Bukele claimed to have won reelection with more than 85 percent of votes cast: "a record in the entire democratic history of the world."
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JURIST ☛ Russian law enforcement detain dozens at anti-mobilisation protest in Moscow
Russian law enforcement detained at least two dozen people Saturday at a protest in Moscow, as wives and relatives of Russian service members fighting in Ukraine advocated for their return. Reportedly, those arrested were primarily journalists covering the protest and human rights activists rather than participants in the protest.
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RFERL ☛ Russian-Appointed Minister In Ukraine's Lysychansk Killed In Missile Attack
A missile attack on a restaurant in Ukraine’s Russia-occupied city of Lysychansk killed Moscow-installed Emergency Minister Aleksei Poteleshchenko over the weekend, Russian media reports said on February 5.
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RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Submits Drafts On Extending Martial Law, Mobilization Amid Hints He Will Reshuffle Leadership
Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy on February 5 submitted to his country's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, draft laws to extend martial law and the military mobilization in the country as Russia's full-scale invasion nears the two-year mark.
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RFERL ☛ France Summons Russian Ambassador Over French Aid Workers Killed In Ukraine
The French government summoned Russia’s ambassador for talks on February 5 over the killing of two French citizens working for nongovernmental organizations in Ukraine.
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teleSUR ☛ Ukrainian Attack on Bakery Is a Terrorist Act: Russia
At the time of the attack, the bakery was filled with elderly people and families with children, Russian diplomat Zakharova denounced.
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teleSUR ☛ EU Puts Ukraine in Debt as European Farmers Protest: Zakharova
The Russian diplomat stressed that Ukrainians will be forced to pay the immense debt that the Kyiv regime is carelessly contracting.
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CS Monitor ☛ Senate links Ukraine aid and border control. Why the House isn’t sold.
A $118 billion package that would pair funding to U.S. allies with more intensive border security was released on Feb. 4 in the Senate. It might not make it much farther.
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New York Times ☛ Biden Threatens to Veto Bill That Would Help Israel but Not Ukraine
President Biden accused Republicans in the House of a “cynical political maneuver” intended to kill broader legislation that would also provide money for the southern border.
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New York Times ☛ Zelensky Hints at Major Shake-Up of Ukraine’s Government
The president said a “reset” was needed to revive the struggling war effort, adding that his plans were “about the direction of the country’s leadership” and not just about replacing his top general.
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RFERL ☛ Yandex, A Bellwether For Russia's Tech Industry, Leaves In Cut-Rate Deal
Yandex, once dubbed Russia’s Surveillance Giant Google for becoming the country’s dominant online search engine, will exit Russia entirely, selling its assets there in a deeply discounted $5.2 billion deal that marks the end of an era.
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Meduza ☛ Yandex parent company announces $5.2 billion deal to sell Russian assets — Meduza
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New York Times ☛ Yandex Reaches $5 Billion Deal to Exit Russia
Yandex, often called “Russia’s Google,” said it reached a deal to sell off its assets in the market where it made its fortune, after the war in Ukraine upended its operations.
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Meduza ☛ Reuters: U.S. Senate introduces bipartisan bill with funding for Ukraine, House speaker says ‘dead on arrival’ — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Georgia’s security service seizes explosives allegedly en route from Ukraine to Russia — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ A Russian woman died of a heart attack after being told her husband died in Ukraine. But he may still be alive. — Meduza
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Latvia ☛ Latvian army reports receiving Russian-produced tea
The National Armed Forces (NBS) has received food products originating in Russia and Belarus in the procurement of the National Defense Logistics and Procurement Center, the Ministry of Defense (AM) confirmed to Latvian Television on February 5.
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LRT ☛ Taiwan’s continuing trade with Russia ‘a problem’ say Lithuanian politicians – media
Lithuanian MPs, who have been working for closer cooperation with Taiwan, have been upset by recent reports about the island supplying Russia’s military industry with machine tools despite sanctions.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Rights Lawyer Detained On Suspicion Of 'Facilitating' A Bribe
Police in Moscow have detained Aleksei Fedyarov, the top lawyer at the human rights group Russia Behind Bars, on suspicion of facilitating a bribe.
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LRT ☛ While Western Europeans smell smoke, we see fire – interview with Estonian general
General Martin Herem, commander of the Estonian Armed Forces, tells LRT TV how Estonia is preparing for possible aggression from Russia and why its approach may differ from the other Baltic countries.
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RFERL ☛ Kyrgyz Activist Extradited From Russia Detained In Disputed Uzbek Border Deal
Kyrgyz activist Kanykei Aranova, who was extradited from Moscow last week, has been placed in preliminary detention until March 22 as part of a case concerning protests against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border deal that led to the arrests of 27 activists, politicians, and journalists.
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RFERL ☛ Bulgarian Interior Ministry Employee Detained On Suspicion Of Spying For Russia
Bulgarian national television reported on February 5 that investigators have detained an employee from the Interior Ministry's unit fighting organized crime on suspcion of spying for Moscow.
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RFERL ☛ Popular Russian Singer's Tour Across Siberia Canceled At Request Of Pro-War Groups
Ogannes Tukhmanyan, an organizer of concerts of popular Russian singer Kristina Orbakaite, said on February 5 that the entertainer's tour across Siberia next month had been canceled.
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YLE ☛ Thousands may be waiting to cross Finnish-Russian frontier, border official says
Finland closed its eastern border with Russia in December due to an influx of undocumented migrants.
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New York Times ☛ A Russian Bank Account May Offer Clues to a North Korean Arms Deal
Moscow may be trying to help Pyongyang with access to the international financial system in exchange for missiles and ammunition, U.S.-allied intelligence officials suggest.
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Meduza ☛ Russia’s Central Election Commission rejects 15 percent of signatures in support of Presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin’s candidacy — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Russian emergency services helicopter crashes over lake in Russia’s northwest — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ Five Retired Belarusian Police Colonels Who Condemned Crackdown Detained
The Vyasna human rights center said on February 5 that Belarusian law enforcement has detained five retired police colonels who in 2020 issued a video statement condemning police brutality during a crackdown on protesters who challenged the official result of a presidential poll.
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Meduza ☛ Moscow-installed emergency situations minister of ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ reportedly killed in Lysychansk bakery attack — Meduza
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Latvia ☛ Debate ongoing about future of former 'Moscow House' in Rīga
The so-called “Moscow House” in Rīga went into state ownership in late January, and previous landlords and tenants have left the premises. Soon, the Cabinet of Ministers should decide on the future fate of the property, Latvian Television's De Facto reported on February 4.
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Meduza ☛ Zelensky confirms considering AFU Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal — Meduza
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Environment
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Energy/Transportation
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DeSmog ☛ ‘If We Avoid the Tension, Then We Have to Become Blind to Something.’
As the climate crisis intensifies, more employees of polluting industries, and the consultancies, media, advertising and financial firms that serve them, are waking up to a dilemma: Stay, and feel complicit in the death and destruction; or go, and risk losing status, income, and a sense of security.
As a UK-based climate psychologist, Steffi Bednarek works with multi-national companies, global financial institutions and governments to help leaders and their teams overcome the internal obstacles preventing their organisations from taking meaningful climate action.
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DeSmog ☛ Mann’s Lawyers Challenge Climate Denier in Defamation Trial
Twelve years ago, a right-wing blogger published a post comparing a respected climate scientist to an infamous child molester.
Last week, Rand Simberg took the stand in a dark-paneled Washington, D.C., court room under glaring fluorescent lights, to defend himself in the defamation suit brought against him by the scientist he targeted, University of Pennsylvania researcher Michael Mann. Conservative blogger Mark Steyn is his co-defendant at the trial, which began on January 17.
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RFERL ☛ Montenegro Extradites Business Partner Of 'Crypto King' To South Korea
Montenegro has extradited a business partner of Do Kwon, a South Korean entrepreneur known as the "Cryptocurrency King" who is wanted in both the United States and South Korea for his alleged role in the loss of investments worth more than $40 billion.
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New York Times ☛ Snow and Rain Disrupt China’s Lunar New Year Travel Rush
Hundreds of flights and trains have been canceled as China’s most important holiday approaches, and more bad weather is in the forecast.
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H2 View ☛ Chinese hydrogen ICE-powered aircraft completes maiden flight – reports
A four-seat aircraft powered by a hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engine (ICE) has completed its maiden flight in Shenyang, China, according to local reports.
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Wildlife/Nature
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The Revelator ☛ Will a ‘Wilderness’ Designation Help This Vital Ecosystem?
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New York Times ☛ Chile Wildfire Photographs
Officials said Sunday that at least 99 people had been killed and hundreds remained missing, and warned that the toll could rise sharply.
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Finance
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Scheerpost ☛ Source Who Revealed How Taxes Steal for the Rich Rewarded With Five Years in Prison - ScheerPost
Because of Charles Littlejohn, we know that former President Donald Trump and a whole bunch of other rich people pay next to nothing in taxes, while the rest of us frantically file tax returns [...]
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San Fancisco ☛ Why San Francisco is ‘fine’ despite mass tech layoffs and store closures
Mass tech layoffs at Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and many other companies. An ongoing exodus of shops from downtown San Francisco, including five closures in the city’s biggest mall.
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New York Times ☛ Google’s Once Happy Offices Feel the Chill of Layoffs
Job cuts, which could continue throughout the year, have created a glum mood at what was arguably Silicon Valley’s most exuberant workplace.
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Latvia ☛ Photos: Latvian farmers take to streets
Farmers have begun protests in several places in Latvia on Monday, February 5, taking agricultural machinery out on the streets.
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New York Times ☛ Top U.S. Treasury Officials to Visit Beijing for Economic Talks
A meeting of the new economic working group comes as the U.S. and China are trying to prevent any escalation of hostilities.
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BIA Net ☛ ENAG January inflation rate doubles TurkStat
The inflation rate was 129% according to ENAG and 64.86 according to TurkStat.
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New York Times ☛ Why Is Big Tech Still Cutting Jobs?
Profits are up and the economy is strong. But the tech industry faces two challenges — dealing with a frenetic work force expansion in the pandemic and building A.I.
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Latvia ☛ Economists predict end of industry decline in Latvia
While manufacturing output grew late last year and the downturn in manufacturing is coming to an end, industry capacity load is far behind pre-pandemic levels and the mood among industrialists is bleak, as stated by economists surveyed by LSM on February 5.
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Latvia ☛ Latvians were hesitant to get mortgage in 2023
Last year, dwelling prices increased by 5% on average, and the volume of mortgages issued fell by 15%. The main reasons are the rise in Euribor base rates, inflation, and the increase in construction costs. More activity in the housing market in 2024 could be helped by a fall in the Euribor rate, Latvian Radio reported on February 5.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Press Gazette ☛ BBC FoI fight journalist: ‘In 100 years’ time historians will want to know why we didn’t have a Queen Diana’
Freelance says fight with the BillBC a "test of the whole freedom of information process".
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CS Monitor ☛ Trump lawsuits: Some get delayed. Some prove costly.
Civil trials will hurt Former President Donald Trump’s wallet, but his criminal trials may not produce verdicts before the 2024 election.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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New Yorker ☛ Baruch Spinoza and the Art of Thinking in Dangerous Times
The philosopher was a champion of political and intellectual freedom, but he had no interest in being a martyr. Instead, he shows us how prudence and boldness can go hand in hand.
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RFA ☛ Hun Sen files defamation suit against human rights group spokesperson
The lawsuit is the latest to target a critic of powerful Cambodian politicians.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong leader John Lee to explain domestic security law to diplomats, foreign and local business groups
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has announced that he will meet with representatives from consulates, foreign chambers of commerce and local business groups to explain the proposed new security legislation.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Explainer: What is Article 23? Hong Kong’s homegrown security law is back in the spotlight
Hong Kong began the process of enacting a domestic security law on January 30, when Chief Executive John Lee launched a four-week public consultation period for the controversial legislation required under Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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The Straits Times ☛ Chinese court’s suspended death sentence for Australian writer an ‘outrage’: Albanese
Australian writer Yang Hengjun is accused of espionage.
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RFA ☛ Aus writer given suspended death sentence spied for Taiwan, Chinese court claims
Experts say the heavy sentence, while rare, serves as a warning to others.
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New York Times ☛ Chinese-Australian Writer Yang Given Suspended Death Sentence in China
The verdict in the case of Yang Hengjun, who was detained on national security charges, may weigh on the warming relations between China and Australia.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Australian writer Yang Jun given suspended death sentence in China over spying charges
Chinese-Australian dissident writer Yang Jun has been handed a suspended death sentence for espionage in China, Beijing and Canberra said Monday, five years after he was arrested on a rare visit to his homeland. The Chinese-born Australian citizen has been in jail in China since 2019 on spying allegations and is said to be in […]
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France24 ☛ Australian writer Yang Hengjun given suspended death sentence in China
Australia's government said Monday writer Yang Hengjun has been given a suspended death sentence in China, describing it as "harrowing news".
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RFA ☛ New Hong Kong law to target media, restrict access to lawyers
The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance will go after media who ‘platform’ national security suspects.
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JURIST ☛ Serbia court acquits 4 former state security services members in 1999 murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija
The Belgrade Court of Appeal in Serbia acquitted Friday four ex-members of the former Republic of Yugoslavia security services of the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija. Ćuruvija was a journalist and the owner of the first private daily newspaper in Serbia, Dnevni Telegraf.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong media ought consider ‘abetting’ risk when interviewing wanted activists, says justice chief
Media outlets should be “cautious” and consider whether elements of “abetting” are involved when interviewing wanted Hong Kong activists, the justice minister has said.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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Techdirt ☛ City Of Los Angeles Files Another Lawsuit Against Recipient Of Cop Photos The LAPD Accidentally Released
Things remain troubling in Los Angeles. The city is still trying to somehow punish investigative journalist Ben Camacho and activist group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition for a mistake its own police department made.
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YLE ☛ Noisy neighbour complaints rising, federation says
Noise complaints are rising but they're often about the unavoidable sounds of daily life.
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RFA ☛ Inmate goes on hunger strike to protest prison conditions
He also hopes to convince a cellmate to end his own hunger strike.
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Mexico News Daily ☛ Truckers strike against highway insecurity across Mexico
Since 2018, some 85,000 transport trucks have been the target of robberies and violence on Mexico's roadways.
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CS Monitor ☛ Should repeated police calls be a basis of eviction? DOJ says no.
“Crime-free” laws allow landlords to evict renters when first responders are repeatedly called to the same addresses. They’ve long been criticized as discriminatory. For the first time, the Justice Department found that to be the case in Anoka, Minnesota.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Techdirt ☛ Cable Companies, Automakers Try To Derail FTC, FCC Quest To Kill Misleading Fees
For decades now, airlines, hotels, cable companies, banks and a long list of other companies have bilked U.S. consumers out of billions of dollars annually via bullshit fees that unfairly jack up the advertised price of service. More interesting perhaps is the fact that it it took until 2023 for a U.S. federal regulator to even ponder the idea that this was perhaps bad and could or should be stopped.
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APNIC ☛ 2024 ISIF Asia applications are now open
The 2024 ISIF Asia Grants and Awards program is one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the Asia Pacific region.
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Zimbabwe ☛ Botswana latest Southern African country to block Starlink, situation not as bad as Zim and SA’s
We do it different over here in Southern Africa. We were exploited once and we decided, no more. Starlink will not easily get our business – oh no sir. Starlink was planning to launch in Botswana in the fourth quarter of 2024.
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Patents
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The US Constitution as an Interpretive Tool for Obviousness Law
The fact that a patent monopoly as flimsy and as spurious as this one has to be brought all the way to this Court to be declared invalid dramatically illustrates how far our patent monopoly system frequently departs from the constitutional standards which are supposed to govern.
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JUVE ☛ Nokia wraps up yet more SEP litigation with Vivo settlement
As announced today, the licensing deal signed by Nokia and Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo covers both companies’ 5G SEPs and other cellular technology. The terms of the deal mean Vivo will make royalty payments, as well as payments to cover the dispute period from 2021, to Nokia.
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Tech: Design Patent En Banc
On Monday, February 5, 2024, the Federal Circuit will sit together for the first time in years to hear an en banc patent monopoly case. In LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC, the court will consider whether to apply a more stringent obviousness test to design patents. In a 2010 article, I concluded that “the current design patent monopoly examination system operates as a de facto registration system” with very little obviousness analysis except in cases of clear copying. Although design patent monopoly examination has become more rigorous, obviousness rejections remain relatively rare in comparison to their utility patent monopoly brethren.
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Livestream of LKQ v. GM
The Federal Circuit is hearing oral arguments today in the design patent monopoly case of LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC 21-2348. Judge Stoll’s opinion in the case sides with the patentee GM on the issue of obviousness — affirming a PTAB decision in favor of the patentee. LKQ’s appellate team led by Prof. Mark Lemley argues that Federal Circuit’s obviousness standard (known here as the Rosen-Durling test) makes it too difficult to actual reject or cancel design patent monopoly claims. Lemley argues for a much more flexible and common sense approach as required by KSR. The USPTO’s amicus agrees Federal Circuit law should be expanded, but not as far as suggested by LKQ. GM argues for the status quo.
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Software Patents
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Unified Patents ☛ $5,500 awarded for IP Edge entity, Communication Advances, video/image patents prior art
Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners below totaling $5,500 in cash prizes. The patents are owned by Communication Advances, LLC, an NPE and IP Edge entity. The three patents below generally relate to video and image processing and all three patents have been asserted against Roku.
We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent. The ongoing contests are open to anyone, and include tens of thousands of dollars in rewards available for helping the industry to challenge NPE patents of questionable validity by finding and submitting prior art in the contests.
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Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for TG--2006 Holdings info tracking 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 9,454,741, owned by TG--2006 Holdings, LLC, an NPE. The ‘741 patent monopoly relates generally to information tracking, and in particular, to a system and method of tracking information in a business environment.
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Trademarks
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Techdirt ☛ Cornices Centre Goes For The Streisand Effect Multiplier Over ‘Near Miss’ Bike Video
Earlier this year, we discussed a frustrating story regarding one company in the UK, Cornices Centre, threatening a cyclist over a YouTube video showing what purports to be a near miss by a truck with the company’s name and logo on it. Those threats centered on a very confused understanding of trademark law, such that the company thought it could demand the YouTube video be taken down by claiming that the appearance of the branding in the video somehow equates to trademark infringement. That obviously is not how trademark law works and the company eventually rescinded that threat for the time being. I concluded that post with the following:
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TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: How Did These Three Recent 2(d) Appeals Turn Out?
Here are the three Section 2(d) appeals recently decided by the TTAB. So far this year, the affirmance rate of Section 2(d) appeals is over 90%. How do you think these three came out? [Answers in first comment.]
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Copyrights
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Digital Music News ☛ Music Marketing on Steroids—Taylor Swift Announces New Album During Grammy Acceptance Speech
During her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album, Taylor Swift made a surprise announcement—expect a new album in 2024. “My brand-new album comes out on April 19,” Taylor Swift told her fans during acceptance speech for Midnights. “It’s called ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’
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Cloudbooklet ☛ Fentanylware (TikTok) vs UMG: Music Industry’s Latest Clash
Learn about the Fentanylware (TikTok) vs UMG dispute over music rights and AI, and how it affects artists, fans, and the future of entertainment.
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Digital Music News ☛ NMPA, Downtown, and Others Back Universal Music in Fentanylware (TikTok) Licensing Dispute As Potential Industry Confrontation Takes Shape
Less than one week removed from the start of the Universal Music-TikTok licensing showdown, multiple industry organizations and companies have come out in support of the major label.
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Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Artist Accounts Have Been Surging, But Still Pale In Comparison to Instagram and YouTube — According to the Latest Data
With the Universal Music-TikTok licensing showdown in full swing, just how big is the short-form app for artists? An upcoming analysis is shedding light on where the platform stands in relation to Instagram and YouTube.
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Gemini* and Gopher
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Personal/Opinions
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California
I love California like you love your crazy uncle. Your crazy uncle is fun to visit, says and does batshit insane and funny shit, and you can't tell whether he's smoking crack or actually serious. He also lives in a weird house and everytime you see him is either flush with money or completely broke.
Anyways, today I'll talk about Brightline West which is the dumbest private "high-speed" rail service. I quote high-speed because my fellow gopher-ers that live in Japan or Europe would scoff at 125mph/200kph being high-speed rail...but I digress.
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🔤SpellBinding: DWOPRSN Wordo: CLOAK
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“Natural Talent”
As time goes on, I more and more strongly refuse to believe the line about there being no such thing as “natural talent” at something. Both from seeing other people, as well as from my own experiences at trying things.
Don't get me wrong, I do believe that nearly anyone can learn a skill to an equivalent level of anyone else with enough dedication and practice (to trot out a cliché), and I'm sure there are people considered grand masters at something that had no “talent” at it originally. But pretty objectively, there are some people that just intrinsically are able to learn something easier than others.
[...]
Even with “natural talent” you obviously still have to learn and practice; but there is a massive difference between spending a few hours practicing something and tangibly seeing your skills improve, and spending twenty+ hours practicing something and seeing near-zero improvement. Just very annoying if there's something one wants to learn but one just can't “get” it without Herculean effort.
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Politics and World Events
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On Authority
A number of Socialists have latterly launched a regular crusade against what they call the principle of authority. It suffices to tell them that this or that act is authoritarian for it to be condemned. This summary mode of procedure is being abused to such an extent that it has become necessary to look into the matter somewhat more closely.
Authority, in the sense in which the word is used here, means: the imposition of the will of another upon ours; on the other hand, authority presupposes subordination. Now, since these two words sound bad, and the relationship which they represent is disagreeable to the subordinated party, the question is to ascertain whether there is any way of dispensing with it, whether — given the conditions of present-day society — we could not create another social system, in which this authority would be given no scope any longer, and would consequently have to disappear.
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Technology and Free Software
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Internet/Gemini
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Maybe back to Mis- err, Sharkey?
The API's documentation is shit, but oh well, that'll just make it more fun. Some of these will actually need some serious design thought, too, so that they don't react to inappropriate requests, or post inappropriate things. I'll also have to figure out bandwidth and space. But all of this sounds fun, actually.
The other idea I had was to once again have a "personal" account on Sharkey, but a bit different this time. The Mastodon account would be my main account, and the Sharkey one would be _only_ for lewd stuff. This would provide a bit of a margin between my programming stuff where I try to be professional[1], and my still-as-lewd-and-horny-as-a-teenager side that I can't (and don't want to) get rid of. I mean, if I didn't have any ties to SDF, I would just move everything to Sharkey at this point, but I'm a mod there, and I really care about SDF, so I don't want to do that to them.
Oh well, we'll see what happens. I'll post the link to the instance once I finalize some more things (it's not the same URL as last time). I'm open to feedback from friends and whatnot.
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Programming
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The difficulties in supporting “write-only memory” in assembly
When I last wrote about this [1], I had one outstanding problem with static analysis of read-only/write-only memory, and that was with hardware that could be input or output only. It was only after I wrote that that I realized the solution—it's the same as a hardware register having different semantics on read vs. write—just define two labels with the semantics I want.
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Creating PRs from the command line
On Gitea instances and Forgejo instances (like Codeberg) you can create git PRs from the command line without using the web and, unlike GitHub, you don’t have to install any new apps outside of the git you cloned with.
You do need an account on that particular instance that the repo is hosted on. It’s not truly decentralized the way git send-email or git request-pull is. Those two methods are way more awesome and I’m always glad to see more support being built for them instead of for this local-account-only PR workflow. Needing a thousand accounts all over the place is such a pain with the Gitea/Forgejo model.
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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.