Links 26/02/2024: Suicide Crisis and Doctor Walkouts in South Korea
Contents
- Free, Libre, and Open Source Software
- 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
- Leftovers
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Free, Libre, and Open Source Software
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Leftovers
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Ruben Schade ☛ Empathy for those outside North America and Europe
Every now and then, something reminds me that in the minds of many Westerners, there’s North America and Europe, and precious little else.
Yesterday it was a meme video showing a stadium of Taylor Swift fans emptying into trains in Sydney. Many of the comments expressed surprise that a “European” double-deck train could move so many people so efficiently after a concert. They knew the video didn’t depict North America, so they naturally assumed it had to be Eu… rope.
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Hackaday ☛ TuneShroom Is An Artistic Mushroom-Themed MIDI Controller
Most MIDI controllers are modelled after traditional instruments, like pianos, flutes, or guitars. [Oliver Child] went in a different direction for the TuneShroom, instead modelling his DIY controller after the terrifying, unclassifiable living organism we call the mushroom.
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Manuel Moreale ☛ I have a new* website
Well, kinda. It’s not really new as you can see. The typeface is—probably—still the same, the layout is mostly the same but lots of things have changed. Let me go through them
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Molly White ☛ Video: Become a Wikipedian in 30 minutes
Have you ever thought about getting started editing Wikipedia, but then decided not to because you were just overwhelmed by the number of policies it felt like you needed to understand? Or you didn’t know where to get started, what to start writing about, what to even edit? Or you were just worried you might break something and mess everything up?
I encourage people to edit Wikipedia all the time, for so many different reasons, and I hear that a lot: that they wanted to start editing, and they maybe even made an account to get started, but then once they went to actually edit something they got scared or overwhelmed by the policies. Or they they read a couple of pages and felt like they just couldn’t possibly do it.
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New York Times ☛ Lee Hoyang, Prolific K-Pop Producer and Songwriter, Dies at 40
Professionally known as Shinsadong Tiger, he created the upbeat, catchy and danceable musical style that defined K-pop in the early 2010s.
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Science
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] From bridge to chess, why men outperform women at ‘mindsports’ – and what to do about it
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Stanford University ☛ From the Community | “Sustainability Science and Systems” is ambiguous corporate lingo
"The proposed move towards 'sustainability' represents a worrying trend away from the natural sciences in exchange for vague corporate lingo," write the Earth Systems Student Advisor
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Science Alert ☛ California Man Free of HIV And Cancer in Astonishing Medical Recovery
A story of hope.
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Science Alert ☛ Giant 'Rivers' That Flow Through The Sky Mapped For First Time
Sky streams made visible.
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Science Alert ☛ What Would Happen if The World Didn't Have Leap Years?
Every second counts.
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] The brightest object ever observed in the night sky is a black hole that’s growing by the equivalent of one Sun a day
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Modern palaeontology keeps unmasking fossil forgeries – and a new study has uncovered the latest fake
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Stone Age ‘megastructure’ under Baltic Sea sheds light on strategy used by Palaeolithic hunters over 10,000 years ago
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] US private spacecraft lands on lunar surface
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MIT Technology Review ☛ The era of cheap helium is over—and that's already causing problems
Even today, helium is not always easy to get. The world’s supply depends primarily on just three countries—the US, Qatar, and Algeria—and fewer than 15 companies worldwide.
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Science Alert ☛ The Odysseus Moon Lander Is Tipped Over, But Why?
Something went wrong.
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Science Alert ☛ Experimental Drugs Grown in Space Return to Earth For Analysis
A new kind of pharmaceutical has landed.
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Science Alert ☛ The Strongest Magnetic Fields in The Universe Could Be Right Here on Earth
We created a monster.
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Science Alert ☛ Astronomers Detect Hidden Moons Orbiting Neptune And Uranus
We never saw them until now.
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Education
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Joel Chrono ☛ University's Over
My graduation event just happened, and I am basically done with University, here are some thoughts on the matter.
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The Straits Times ☛ Experts suggest ways to unlock Malaysia’s ‘brain bank’
Ideas include keeping a database of Malaysian professionals abroad and strengthening career prospects.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Germany: Number of school dropouts is rising
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Hardware
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Hackaday ☛ Streaming Deck Removes Need For Dedicated Hardware
Streaming content online has never been more popular than it is now, from YouTube to Twitch there are all kinds of creators around with interesting streams across a wide spectrum of interests. With that gold rush comes plenty of people selling figurative shovels as well, with audio mixing gear, high-quality web cams, and dedicated devices for controlling all of this technology. Often these devices take the form of a tablet-like device, but [Lenochxd] thinks that any tablet ought to be able to perform this task without needing dedicated, often proprietary, hardware.
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Hackaday ☛ There’s Hope For That Cheap Lathe Yet!
There may be few cases where the maxim that “you get what you pay for” rings true, than a lathe. The less you spend on a lathe, the closer you get to a lathe-shaped object and the further from, well, a lathe. [Camden Bowen] has bought a cheap lathe, and he’s not content with a lathe-shaped object, so he takes us in the video below through a set of upgrades for it. In the process he makes a much nicer lathe for an entirely reasonable sum.
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Hackaday ☛ One Object To Print, But So Many Settings!
When working with an FDM 3D printer your first prints are likely trinkets where strength is less relevant than surface quality. Later on when attempting more structural prints, the settings become very important, and quite frankly rather bewildering. A few attempts have been made over the years to determine in quantifiable terms, how these settings affect results and here is another such experiment, this time from Youtuber 3DPrinterAcademy looking specifically at the effect of wall count, infill density and the infill pattern upon the strength of a simple beam when subjected to a midpoint load.
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AnandTech ☛ AMD Fixed the STAPM Throttling Issue, So We Retested The Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G
When we initially reviewed the latest Ryzen 8000G APUs from AMD last month, the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G, we became aware of an issue that caused the APUs to throttle after a few minutes. This posed an issue for a couple of reasons, the first being it compromised our data to reflect the true capabilities of the processors, and the second, it highlighted an issue that AMD forgot to disable from their mobile series of Pheonix chips (Ryzen 7040) when implementing it over to the desktop.
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University of Toronto ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Options for genuine ECC RAM on the desktop in (early) 2024
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Science Alert ☛ Microplastics Found in Every Human Placenta Tested, Study Finds
A shocking discovery.
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Science Alert ☛ Tiny Doses of LSD Boost Unique Signals in The Human Brain
The hidden benefits of microdosing.
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Omicron Limited ☛ Your air quality may be more dangerous than your phone is telling you: The EPA seems fine with that
But the agency made a serious mistake by leaving the 24-hour standard for fine-particle pollution, or PM2.5, at the level set 17 years ago, despite more recent scientific evidence of how harmful soot is even at lower levels of exposure. This limit protects people against short-term spikes in unhealthy air quality and underpins the public forecast and alert system, the air quality index. Americans rely on the AQI to know how dirty the air is, but they will be stuck with an outdated yardstick that understates the health risks.
PM2.5 is composed of health-damaging specks of pollution so tiny they can lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream. It's formed largely from vehicles, power plants and other combustion sources, and increasingly from wildfires, which are growing larger and more frequent because of climate change.
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2024-02-21 [Older] Over 50,000 Excess Deaths in the UK Last Year
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2024-02-21 [Older] 2024 Looks Like Another Year of 50,000+ Excess Deaths Across the UK
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2024-02-21 [Older] Excess Deaths Everywhere, Even in 2024
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-23 [Older] UK police seize record cocaine shipment bound for Hamburg
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] EU agrees on stricter air pollution limits
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Banned in Europe, this controversial ingredient is allowed in foods here [Ed: The headline should name the ingredient. This is classic clickbait, even in a national broadcaster.]
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] South Korea orders striking doctors back to work
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The Straits Times ☛ We’re overworked and unheard, say South Korean doctors in mass walkout
The doctors on walkout make up more than 40 per cent of staff at large teaching hospitals.
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korea doctors may be suspended unless they return to work by end of February
The protest has forced hospitals to turn away patients and cancel procedures.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Spain: Protesting farmers advance on Madrid
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Railway workers warn 'work stoppage looms' after CN, CPKC seek conciliation
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] How unhealthy are processed foods?
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Poland probes pro-Putin banner at farmers' protest
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Why are Europe's farmers struggling with mental health?
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Certain eggs recalled in Saskatchewan due to salmonella
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] I left Charlottetown for a rural homestead and it changed my idea of work-life balance and food
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Winnipeg infant’s malnutrition death shows vulnerable mothers need more support, advocates say
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] B.C. has the highest doctor-patient ratio in Canada. Why is it still so difficult to access health care?
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Facing a drug crisis and unsatisfied with Ontario's support, this city is looking to fund its own health centre
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Cannabis has been legal for 5 years, but some employers still test for it
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The Straits Times ☛ Rising suicides and mental health issues among S. Korean youth prompt health policy reforms
The government has pledged customised psychological counselling services for 1 million people by 2027.
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Science Alert ☛ Study Reveals How to Keep Weight Off After You Quit Ozempic
This is the way.
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New York Times ☛ What to Know About Xolair and Food Allergies
The drug does not completely prevent reactions, but it can reduce the risks posed by trace amounts of food allergens.
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New York Times ☛ Drug Drastically Reduces Children’s Reactions to Traces of Food Allergens
Xolair cuts the risk of dangerous reactions after exposure to minute amounts of allergens, researchers reported. But people taking it still must avoid risky foods.
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Stanford University ☛ Huang Engineering Center receives “biohazard” label following TreeHacks
A late news flash on the health and safety of Huang Engineering Center.
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Latvia ☛ Health insurance popularity grows in Latvia
Health insurance is the most popular type of insurance in Latvia and is one of the most important assets employers offer. There are long queues for state services, but private medicine has been increasing in price in recent years, Latvian Radio reported on February 26.
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Latvia ☛ Months-long wait for disability aids in Latvia
The number of people needing technical aids for health reasons is growing year by year, but the state-paid service is sluggish. A viewer of Latvian Television' 4. studija turned to the broadcast with her issue – her mother suffered a stroke and had to wait three months for the equipment, 4. studija reported February 25.
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New York Times ☛ Zong Qinghou, Beverage Tycoon in China, Dies at 79
A bitter but successful battle with Danone of France for control of a joint venture made him the richest person in China for a time.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s former richest person Zong Qinghou dead at 79, says Wahaha conglomerate [Ed: Water is abundant on this planet. Some turned it into business; it's a form of "water management" or "treatment" called "beverage industry"; in some cases that involves adding toxics and carcinogens that "taste good" or "fuck with the brain" (feels good) to the very abundant water.]
Zong Qinghou, a Chinese business magnate whose leading beverage firm once made him the richest person in the country, died on Sunday, his company said. He was 79. Zong was the founder of the Wahaha conglomerate, which specialises in bottled water, soft drinks, tea and other products.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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The Register UK ☛ Microsoft Copilot generating fake Putin comments on Navalny
The California Public Utilities Commission has temporarily halted Waymo expanding its self-driving car service beyond San Francisco.
The Google spinout wanted to operate its driverless cars down Highway 101 to reach the Peninsula all the way down through Millbrae, San Mateo, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale in the Bay Area. Waymo also wanted to cover a large patch of Los Angeles – from Santa Monica to Monterey Park, down from Manhattan Beach to Paramount.
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Cory Dransfeldt ☛ I need AI
I need AI to waste energy. I need it to deprive vulnerable communities of water so that it can be used to cool new data centers.
I need AI to make up answers to my questions.
I need AI to make up APIs and lower my code quality. I need it to repeatedly give me wrong answers until I realize I could have just written it myself.
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The Register UK ☛ Reddit signs AI training deal with Google
Following rumors of the deal, the Reddit-Google pact was confirmed on Thursday, and will see the Gmail giant pay to access Reddit's Data API, which offers real-time access to posts and comments created by users of the famously freewheeling forum site. Reddit started charging for access to the API last year – a tactic that appears to have paid off.
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Daniel Miessler ☛ Framing is Everything
Here are some of the framing dichotomies I’m noticing right now in the different groups of people I associate with and see interacting online.
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Reuters ☛ Exclusive: Reddit in AI content licensing deal with Google
Social media platform Reddit has struck a deal with Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab to make its content available for training the search engine giant's artificial intelligence models, three people familiar with the matter said. The contract with Alphabet-owned Google is worth about $60 million per year, according to one of the sources. The deal underscores how Reddit, which is preparing for a high-profile stock market launch, is seeking to generate new revenue amid fierce competition for advertising dollars from the likes of TikTok and Meta Platform's (META.O) , opens new tab Facebook.
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Engadget ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Meta will make advertisers cover Apple's 30 percent fee on boosted Facebook and Instagram posts
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] OpenAI Sora's Breaks Our Brains, Vision Pro Loses Its Luster, and More Big Tech News
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Engadget ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] The EU is reportedly set to hit Apple with a $539 million fine in antitrust probe
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Make Tech Easier ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Do Not Put Your iPhone in Rice, Says Apple
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Apple Officially Warns Users to Stop Putting Wet iPhones in Rice
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Scammers Sent Fake iPhones 'For Repair' to Get $3 Million in Authentic Phones From Apple
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Air Canada found liable for chatbot's bad advice on plane tickets [Ed: Chatbots suck. Stop relying on Microsoft's false marketing of them.]
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Air Canada Ordered to Pay Passenger Damages After Chatbot Lied About Bereavement Discounts [Ed: Chatbots won't save companies money. They will cost them money. Telling your client, "sorry, no human even looked at what you said and we got a bot to respond to you" won't excuse misconduct but worsen things by adding yet another scandal.]
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Ali Reza Hayati ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Air Canada must honor refund policy invented by airline’s chatbot
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Legal
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Reason ☛ Don't Give Me That ChatGPT-4 Nonsense, Judge Says
The Court therefore rejects out of hand ChatGPT's conclusions as to the appropriate billing rates here. Barring a paradigm shift in the reliability of this tool, the Cuddy Law Firm is well advised to excise references to ChatGPT from future fee applications.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] AI chip race: Fears grow of huge financial bubble
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Kev Quirk ☛ Ditching YouTube (Kind Of)
I recently wrote about how YouTube was throttling my connection. I'm sick of YouTube's shenanigans, so I've ditched them...kind of.
After publishing that post a lot of people got in touch to say they were experiencing similar issues with YouTube, and many gave me tips on how they got around the issue.
There were a number of options open to me, it seems, but the overwhelming advice was to use a 3rd party YouTube front end, like Invidious.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Silicon Angle ☛ [Heavy surveillance] Geofencing helps construction firm avoid $2.5M in equipment theft
When your business is installing the infrastructure needed to deliver network services over miles of often unpredictable territory, you need a lot of heavy equipment in the field. And sometimes that equipment gets stolen.
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El País ☛ How to surf the net in complete privacy | Technology | EL PAÍS English
To reinforce this protection, it is a good idea to complement these functions with additional security strategies: the use of VPNs (which encrypt the internet connection and hide the IP address), together with installing browser extensions to block trackers, are effective measures that contribute to establishing a safer and more anonymous browsing environment.
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Salon ☛ Anti-privacy giants want you to surrender hope. Don't give up without a fight
Well, too damn bad. This ain’t over until we say it is. And right now there’s less reason than ever to believe the battle for data privacy is lost. Just ask the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the dozens of privacy-focused advocacy organizations for digital rights.
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2024-02-21 [Older] E.ON Next is Spamming All Clients With Spy Meter Nags Even Years After Promising to Stop This
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2024-02-16 [Older] E.ON Next Admits More Than a Third of Customers Reject ‘Smart Meter’
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Engadget ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Wyze camera security issue allowed users to see other owners' homes
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Engadget ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Wyze camera security issue showed 13,000 users other owners' homes
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Defence/Aggression
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Counter Punch ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] How to Deal With an Insurrectionist: a Case Study from Brazil
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] MSC 2024: No international security without the Global South
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] China Foreign Minister Warns Against Decoupling at Munich Security Conference
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Why Are So Many Democrats Ready to Nuke Canada?
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Defending Israel's actions, N.Y. governor says 'there would be no Canada the next day' if it attacked Buffalo
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Germany's Scholz backs Dutch PM Rutte as next NATO chief
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] 2nd youth charged in connection with anti-Jewish terror plot
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Israel-Hamas war: 'Frank' US talks after Lula invoked Hitler
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New York Times ☛ The Risk of a China War Over Taiwan Is Rising
A more robust approach is needed to deter Chinese military activities that could escalate into a war.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Decoding China: Inevitable Taiwan tensions in 2024
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The Straits Times ☛ China seeks to strengthen cooperation with New Zealand for CPTPP, commerce minister says
China is willing to work with New Zealand to continue strengthening cooperation in the process of joining The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, its commerce minister said.
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RFA ☛ China’s diplomatic reach dominated global index
Beijing is closely followed by Washington in terms of its global diplomatic network.
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Canada Says China Has Role to Play in Keeping Red Sea Safe
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Red Sea: US launches new strikes on Houthi weapons systems
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Red Sea: Pistorius visits German ship set for Houthi mission
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] EU foreign ministers approve Red Sea naval mission
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Japan successfully launches H3 rocket
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Germany: False alarm in hunt for terrorist on run since 90s
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Germany: Former spy boss founds new right-wing party
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Germany's difficult history with nuclear weapons
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] UK's David Cameron to visit Falkland Islands
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] UN Afghanistan conference gets underway in Qatar
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] US condemns Rwandan support for M23 rebels in DR Congo
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Papua New Guinea tribal clashes leave dozens dead
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Senegal's President Sall bows to pressure on election
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Axios ☛ Michigan's Arab Democrats won't vote for Biden over Gaza
This year, some conservative leaders in the majority Muslim city of Hamtramck are again embracing Republican politics. The City Council last year banned the public display of the Pride flag.
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ABC ☛ UK Conservatives suspend a lawmaker after he accused London's mayor of being controlled by Islamists
The controversy comes as the Israel-Hamas war fuels tensions in British society. Pro-Palestinian marches in London have regularly drawn hundreds of thousands of demonstrators calling for an immediate cease-fire, even as critics describe the events as “antisemitic hate marches.” Figures released over the last week show that both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents have risen sharply since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
That anger has spilled over into Parliament, where some lawmakers say they fear for their safety after receiving threats over their positions on the conflict in Gaza.
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Salon ☛ Dr. John Gartner on a tale of two brains: "Biden's brain is aging. Trump's brain is dementing"
Some examples of Trump’s non-words: Beneficiaries becomes “benefishes.” Renovations become “renoversh.” Pivotal became “pivobal." Obama became “obamna.” Missiles became “mishiz.” Christmas became “Crissus.” Bipartisan became “bipars.”
This is a fundamental breakdown in the ability to use language. If you were talking to your father on the phone and he did this you would think he is having a stroke. There is no healthy older person who speaks that way.
Trump also engages in what we call "tangential speech." He just becomes incomprehensible when he engages in free association word salad speech that is all over the place. Again, that's a sign of real brain damage, not being old, not being slow, not losing a step not being, but of severe cognitive deterioration. What I don’t understand is why those clips aren’t replayed over and over in the mainstream media. Isn’t Trump babbling incoherently the most newsworthy part of his rally? You can be sure it would be if it were Biden.
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Site36 ☛ More risky pursuits: German Police claim to have observed new “escape behaviour” of helpers’ vehicles
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RFA ☛ N Korea reduces Cuba coverage as its ally enhances ties with South
Cuba is one of Pyongyang’s few allies which shares its hostility towards the United States.
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] US restricting the use of weapons it will sell to Turkey and Greece
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Jordanian Army Says Five Drug Dealers Killed on Border With Syria
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Status of Kurds in Syria 'an internal matter,' says diplomat
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] MSC 2024: US VP Kamala Harris reaffirms NATO commitment
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Navalny's mom to Putin: 'Let me see my son'
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's team demands body's return
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Navalny's mother says she's seen son's body
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RFERL ☛ Dozens Mourning Navalny's Death, Expressing Solidarity With Ukraine Detained In Russia
At least 32 people mourning the death of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and marking the anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine were detained in Russia on February 24.
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New Yorker ☛ Russia After Alexei Navalny
Speculative history can be hollow, and a country in need of martyrs and saints is not to be envied, and yet it is hard to overstate the loss of Navalny.
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RFERL ☛ Voting Ends In Belarus Elections Called A 'Sham' By U.S. And 'Farce' By Opposition
Polls have closed for Belarus's tightly controlled parliamentary elections, which were held under heavy security at polling stations and amid calls for a boycott by the country's beleaguered opposition.
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New York Times ☛ Belarus Holds an Election, but the Outcome Is Not Hard to Predict
The opposition in exile has called for a boycott of the parliamentary vote, which includes only parties that support Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for 30 years.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Navalny: West blames Putin for Kremlin critic's death
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Navalny: UK sanctions individuals at Arctic penal colony
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Don't lose hope, 'be more angry' after Navalny death: Gudkov
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Navalny's team says mother barred from morgue
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Navalny widow says Putin 'killed' her husband
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Meduza ☛ Russian soldiers storm cafe in annexed Crimea, beating civilians inside — Meduza
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] The long list of Putin critics targeted by the Kremlin
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Putin gives Kim Jong Un Aurus luxury car
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Zelenskyy campaigns for more support in Munich
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Zelenskyy: Front-line situation 'difficult' amid aid delays
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Meduza ☛ Russian missile attack on Donetsk region injures one person, damages dozens of buildings — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Zelensky says 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed since start of Russia’s full-scale invasion — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Lukashenko to run for seventh term as president of Belarus — Meduza
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AntiWar ☛ Putin Explains Why Russia Doesn’t Pose a Threat to Europe
Tucker Carlson began his interview of President Vladimir Putin with the words, “On February 24, 2022, you addressed your country in your nationwide address when the conflict in Ukraine started….” Clearly the war in Ukraine was the motivation and central topic for the interview.
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YLE ☛ Exiled oligarch Khodorkovsky visits Finland Sunday
Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a former oligarch who fell out with Vladimir Putin.
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New York Times ☛ The Spy War: How the C.I.A. Secretly Helps Ukraine Fight Putin
For more than a decade, the United States has nurtured a secret intelligence partnership with Ukraine that is now critical for both countries in countering Russia.
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European Commission ☛ Opening Remarks of Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis at the ‘Solidarity for Ukraine' event at the WTO Ministerial in Abu Dhabi
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Latvia ☛ 240 Ukrainian soldiers have got treatment in Latvia
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Latvian hospitals and medical centers have so far helped around 240 wounded Ukrainian soldiers, of whom around 40 are currently receiving treatment, the charity project "M-Help", which helps bring injured Ukrainian soldiers to Latvia, told Latvian Radio February 24.
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Latvia ☛ Documentary shows Russian war crimes against Ukrainian children
Latvian Television (LTV) has released a documentary, now complete with English subtitles, at the two-year mark of Russia's war in Ukraine.
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Latvia ☛ VIDEO: Concert 'Together with Ukraine!'
On February 24, at 18:30, Latvian and Ukrainian singers and musicians will join together in a charity event to express their solidarity and support to the Ukrainian people.
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AntiWar ☛ Post-Soviet Failures, Present-Day Realities
Two years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine – and fully 10 years since the war actually began – the US political-media establishment seems as far away from learning any lessons from the failure of its post-Soviet Russia policy as it has ever been.
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Stanford University ☛ “Unpunished evil grows”: Ukrainian leaders warn of international complacency
Two years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian military and political leaders addressed an audience at the Freeman Spogli Institute on Friday, calling for increased Western aid.
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France24 ☛ Macron seeks to rally Western leaders to bolster support for Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host European leaders Monday for a conference aimed at strengthening Western support for Ukraine, two years into the Russian invasion
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France24 ☛ Zelensky says Ukraine’s counteroffensive plans leaked to Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Sunday that plans for Kyiv’s long-awaited counteroffensive last year had been leaked to Russia ahead of time.
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France24 ☛ Half of Western military aid to Ukraine delivered late, defence minister says
Half of Western military aid to Kyiv is delivered later than promised, delays that hobble Kyiv’s ability to defend itself against Russian attacks and cost Ukrainian lives, the country’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sunday.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ ‘Stop the massacre’: Hong Kong activists call for ceasefires in Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas wars
An activist group has staged a demonstration on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling for ceasefires in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.
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RFERL ☛ Ukraine Can Win War With Russia But Needs Support From West, Says U.S. National-Security Adviser
U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said Ukraine can still win its war with Russia but that it must get “the tools it needs” from its Western allies. Sullivan on February 25 said Kyiv’s forces lost the recent battle for Avdiyivka due to a lack of ammunition.
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RFERL ☛ Deputy Prime Minister Says 160 Tons Of Ukrainian Grain Destroyed In Poland
Around 160 tons of Ukrainian grain was destroyed at a Polish railway station amid large-scale protests in what Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov on February 25 called an act of "impunity and irresponsibility."
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RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Says 31,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed In War, Expresses Hopes For Swiss Peace Summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on February 25 said that 31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion two years ago -- his first official acknowledgement of the country’s combat losses.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Drone Forces Germany's Baerbock To Cut Short Waterworks Plant Visit In Ukraine
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had to cut short her tour of a waterworks facility in southern Ukraine on February 25 when a Russian spy drone was sighted, a Foreign Office official said.
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RFERL ☛ Top Ukrainian General, Defense Minister Look For Ways To Boost Frontline Defenses
Ukrainian Army chief Oleksandr Syrskiy has said he traveled with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to the front line of Kyiv's effort to stave off invading Russian forces to analyze the situation and determine ways to boost defenses.
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RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Meets With Swedish Defense Minister To Discuss Security, Weapons Production
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson in Kyiv on February 24, the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to discuss a new Swedish military-aid package and the possibility of joint weapons production.
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New York Times ☛ Senate Aide Investigated Over Unofficial Ukraine Actions
Kyle Parker says he delivered sniper gear as part of his unabashed support for Ukraine. Investigators say there may be “counterintelligence issues.”
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New York Times ☛ 31,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed in Two Years of War, Zelensky Says
The tally that President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed on Sunday differs sharply from that given by U.S. officials, who have said the number is closer to 70,000.
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New York Times ☛ Chaim Soutine’s Lessons For Today’s Refugee Artists
Chaim Soutine’s identity was never integral to his art, even as a Jew whose death Nazis caused. Artists in Gaza, Syria and Ukraine share his universality.
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New York Times ☛ In Russia, Knowing That Her Son Is Dead, and Waiting for Him Anyway
She watched, distressed, as Aleksei was sent off to war. Now, 14 months after he died in eastern Ukraine, Yulia Seleznyova holds a sliver of hope for a miracle.
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New York Times ☛ Weary but Determined, Ukrainians Vow Never to Bow to Russia
Despite death, destruction and deprivation, nearly 90 percent still believe in Ukraine’s ultimate victory — as long as Western aid continues.
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ Premier Palace: The Risk of Non-Russian Involvement in Alexander Smirnov’s anti-Biden Election Operation
Leo Wise led the Nevada Magistrate Judge to believe that he's most worried about Alexander Smirnov fleeing to Russia. But the reporting he laid out suggests the big worry is that Smirnov will flee to Israel.
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Environment
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Chris McLeod ☛ Green Software for Practitioners (LFC131)
As for the subject and material itself? It’s an interesting subject - one I’ve been meaning to write about more, in fact[1] - and the course covered the basics and ideas behind Green Software quite well. It’s not a technical course at all, but I don’t think it needed to be at this level.
What is covered is mostly terminology you’ll come across if you start diving into “green” topics; what people mean when they talk about “Net Zero”, “Carbon Neutral”, etc, and how those things are usually measured. The bulk of the course discusses the principles of Green Software[2] -
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Wouter Groeneveld ☛ The Environmental Impact of Cloud Computing
2. Streaming Spotify for a working month emits as much CO2 per month as driving 32 km by an average vehicle.
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Salon ☛ Unearthing tension: Sand runs the world, but most don't realize the conflict it generates
According to a 2022 United Nations report, sand is the second-most consumed resource on Earth, surpassed only by water. And just like water, humans are consuming sand at an unsustainable rate — increasing by 6 percent every year, to be exact. As they do, they leave behind a wake of polluted rivers, severe droughts, shrinking aquifers and flooded communities. One statistic especially stands out: China alone has used more construction sand in the last few years than the United States used in the entire 20th century.
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HRW ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Panama: Key Services Lacking at Climate Relocation Site
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Young climate activists visit parliament
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Exclusive-US Regulator Drops Some Emissions Disclosure Requirements From Draft Climate Rules
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Global warming 101: Teaching the climate crisis
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Exclusive-White House Set to Back Tougher Climate Model for Ethanol, Sources Say
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Truthdig ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Climate Action Requires ‘Severe, Durable Shocks’ to the Status Quo
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Support for climate action up, so why does it feel hopeless?
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The Straits Times ☛ Level 1 heatwave alert issued for some parts of northern Peninsular Malaysia
Such warnings are issued when temperatures are between 35 and 37 deg C for three consecutive days.
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Energy/Transportation
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The Strategist ☛ The ‘critical minerals’ bubble has seemingly burst. What does it mean for Australia’s geopolitical strategies?
Early 2024 has not been kind to investors in critical minerals. Media outlets across Australia have run with headlines talking of ‘crash’, ‘crisis’ and ‘collapse’, with many blaming China and Indonesia for the slump...
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Ottawa floats new options for electricity rules that drew ire of Alberta and Saskatchewan
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Ex-Ontario Power Generation employee arrested for alleged security breach involving foreign group
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Vox ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Why you probably shouldn’t blow up a pipeline
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Hydropower Won’t Solve the Climate Crisis, But New Dams May Lead to Water Wars
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Chicago Joins Wave of Lawsuits Against Big Oil for Climate Deception
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Japan aims high with climate bonds for clean tech and energy
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CNN ☛ 2024-02-21 ? [Older] What OPEC's surprise oil cut means for gas prices
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Greece: Renewable energy gets a democratic retrofit in democracy's birthplace
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Counter Punch ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Does Clean Energy Mean Indian Relocation From the Colorado Plateau?
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Boeing 737 MAX executive to leave after latest grounding
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] France: Free public transport takes off in Montpellier
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DeSmog ☛ Investors Challenge ‘Blind Spots’ in Climate-Friendly Ratings for Ad and PR Giants
For money managers who want to prove they care about the climate, buying shares in big advertising and public relations companies might look like a safe bet.
Ad giants such as WPP, Omnicom and Interpublic Group (IPG) score highly on the rankings used to gauge a company’s sustainability performance — so they’re attractive to green fund investors.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Pioneering European satellite falls back to Earth after 29 years
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] ERS-2: Pioneering European satellite set to crash back to Earth
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Netherlands bridge collapse leaves 2 dead
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Flight diverted to Winnipeg after passenger tried to open plane door
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Investigation underway into 2 separate train derailments in B.C.
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Hackaday ☛ A Smarter Solar Water Heater
Installing solar power at a home is a great way to reduce electricity bills, especially as the cost of solar panels and their associated electronics continue to plummet. Not every utility allows selling solar back to the grid, though, so if you’re like [Rogan] who lives in South Africa you’ll need to come up with some clever tricks to use the solar energy each day while it’s available to keep from wasting any. He’s devised this system for his water heater that takes care of some of this excess incoming energy.
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The Straits Times ☛ Fire at residential block that killed 15 casts spotlight on e-bike hazards in China
About 80 per cent of e-bike fires occur while the vehicle is charging.
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Wildlife/Nature
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Bridge Michigan ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Piping plover faces new peril, as climate change threatens Great Lakes bird
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Gut bacteria may explain why grey squirrels outcompete reds – new research
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Meet the N.L. couple finding happiness in pet pigeons
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] It's mating season for coyotes. Here's how to limit encounters and stay safe
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Overpopulation
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Finance
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Cyble Inc ☛ Nearly 70% Of Scalper BOTs Users Are Buying Via Social Media
Scalper bots circumvent traditional detection methods and controls to buy any in-demand item imaginable, faster than any could, to be resold at a profit. According to a report published by bot management specialists Netacea, almost half of Americans believe that they have been unable to buy what they wanted because of suspected scalper bot activity.
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] To Democratize Finance, We Must Take the Banks Away From the Bankers
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] The UK’s Economy Is Awful Because of Permanent Austerity
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Empty US offices cause headache for German bank
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Trudeau's Welcome Mat for Immigrants Wears Thin Amid Canada Housing Crunch
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] German central bank warns of recession, citing strikes
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Germany seeks a strategy to combat recession
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Germany slashes 2024 growth outlook
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Lufthansa ground staff strike announced, to last 27 hours
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Lufthansa strike paralyzes German airports again
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Tesla in Germany: Locals vote against factory expansion plan
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Kosovo: New currency regulation angers Serb minority
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Many Canadians are fed up with shrinkflation. So what's being done about it?
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] $350B in pandemic savings was supposed to give the economy a huge boost. It still hasn't happened
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Canada's inflation rate slowed to 2.9% in January as gas prices fell
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] German union announces more public transport strikes
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Ontario electronics retailer Factory Direct to liquidate stores
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] No more lease transfers? Here's what's in Quebec's new housing law
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Dollarama reaches $2.5M settlement in class-action suit over pricing
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SSRN ☛ Return-to-Office Mandates
Using a sample of Standard and Poor’s 500 firms, we examine determinants and consequences of U.S. firms’ return-to-office (RTO) mandates. Results of our determinant analyses are consistent with managers using RTO mandates to reassert control over employees and blame employees as a scapegoat for bad firm performance. Also, our findings do not support the argument that managers impose mandate because they believe RTO increases firm values. Further, our difference in differences tests report significant declines in employees’ job satisfactions mandates but no significant changes in financial performance or firm values after RTO mandates. In summary, our research contributes to the ongoing debate over RTO versus working from home and has important implications for practitioners.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s King warns against threatening stability under PM Anwar
The King also said Malaysia must work to narrow its budget deficit and reform its subsidies policy.
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The Strategist ☛ Might democracies’ failure to embrace ethnic communities help China recruit agents of influence? [Ed: TikTok already helps "China recruit agents of influence"]
The Singapore government has designated Philip Chan, a naturalised Singapore citizen from Hong Kong, as a ‘politically significant person’.
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[Repeat] Security Week ☛ White House Wades Into Debate on ‘Open’ Versus ‘Closed’ Artificial Intelligence Systems
The White House said Wednesday it is seeking public comment on the risks and benefits of having an AI system’s key components publicly available for anyone to use and modify. The inquiry is one piece of the broader executive order that President Joe Biden signed in October to manage the fast-evolving technology.
Tech companies are divided on how open they make their AI models, with some emphasizing the dangers of widely accessible AI model components and others stressing that open science is important for researchers and startups. Among the most vocal promoters of an open approach have been Facebook parent Meta Platforms and IBM.
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New York Times ☛ Reddit Files to Go Public, in First Social Media IPO in Years
Reddit, the community-focused message board site, filed to go public on Thursday, paving the way for it to be the first major social media company to debut on the stock market in years and a test for private companies after a drought in initial public offerings.
In an offering prospectus, Reddit disclosed its financial performance in preparation for selling shares to investors. The San Francisco-based company reported that its revenue rose more than 20 percent as its losses narrowed last year. It added that it had 73 million daily users and more than 100,000 active communities.
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Gatineau, Que., mayor steps down, citing death threats and hostile political climate
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Von der Leyen to seek second term as EU Commission chief
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Some sectors of oil industry 'dragging their heels' on climate in favour of profit: Trudeau
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Prolific Twitter Keyboard Warrior Is Running for Office in Minnesota
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Hungary: Will child abuse scandal bring down Viktor Orban? [Ed: Headline used to be: "Hungary: Is Orban losing control amid child abuse cover-up scandal?"]
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Hungary rocked by protest over child sex abuse pardon case
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Hungary's Orban laments 'nightmare' pardon scandal
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Union locals urge Ontario college president to retire over 'derogatory' comments about women, foreign students
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Common Dreams ☛ Be Not Afraid: All Glory to God, Trump, Newsmax and Bigots
CPAC is back! Weirder, shriller, fringier, more paranoid than ever, with many empty seats but God allegedly still on the side of the cranks and zealots. Cue vapid, vicious, fear-mongering goons who, now saying the ugly part aloud, bray about evil trans people, stampeding "aliens," looming communists and pet-marrying while heralding Christian nationalism, "cool" dictators, the "Bible Uncancelled" and the glad "end of democracy." A republic if you can keep it: Welcome to today's forsaken, brutish GOP.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Canada, U.S., U.K. endorse framework to fight foreign information manipulation
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India Times ☛ ai news: AI-generated propaganda as effective as original propaganda, finds new study
Artificial intelligence-generated propaganda is almost as effective and persuasive as real propaganda, a team of researchers have found after a study involving more than 8,000 US adults. They also warned that propagandists could use artificial intelligence (AI) to expose citizens to many articles, thereby increasing the volume of propaganda and making them harder to detect.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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JURIST ☛ China activist filmmaker charged with ‘picking quarrels and provoking troubles’
Police in China charged Chen Pin Lin, director of documentary “Not the Foreign Force,” with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to Chinese human rights news watchdogs Weiquanwang and Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch. The Thursday charges come after Chen’s arrest in January 2024. He has been in detention for more than a month.
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Gannett ☛ How a Supreme Court social media case could alter life online
On Monday, the Supreme Court will debate the fate of laws passed by those states to limit the ability of social media giants such as Facebook, YouTube and X to moderate content. Republican lawmakers in Texas and Florida argue that social media companies have been too quick to throttle conservative viewpoints.
The trade groups representing the nation's social media companies, as well as the Justice Department, say the Supreme Court should strike down the state laws because they are an infringement on the companies' First Amendment right to free speech, consistent with the court's 1974 ruling that Florida couldn’t require a newspaper to publish replies to editorials.
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SCOTUSblog ☛ Social media content moderation laws come before Supreme Court
Although the two states’ laws are not identical, there are themes that are common to both. Both contain, for example, provisions that limit the choices that social media platforms can make about which user-generated content to present to the public and how. For example, the Florida law bars social media platforms from banning candidates for political office, as well as from limiting the exposure of those candidates’ posts. Both laws also contain provisions requiring social media platforms to provide individualized explanations to users about the platforms’ editorial decisions.
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CNN ☛ US Supreme Court prepares to hear landmark social media cases | CNN Business
On Monday, the court will consider arguments on whether to give Texas and Florida significantly more control over social media platforms and their content, highlighting the central role that those services now play in modern American life.
The crux of the matter: Can these platforms decide for themselves what content goes on their sites — and what can be removed?
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Time ☛ The Supreme Court Could Determine the Future of Social Media Content Moderation
In 2021, the states of Florida and Texas both passed laws that aim to address social media sites’ content moderation practices and their perceived bias against conservative viewpoints. The cases being heard in the Supreme Court next week were both filed by industry groups representing the social media sites, who argue that the laws infringe on their First Amendment rights to decide what content they publish and promote.
If the laws are upheld, then the platforms' ability to curate their newsfeeds to make them more engaging for users could be severely curtailed, drastically altering social media sites. Whichever way the Court rules, the outcomes of the two cases could set the precedent for how content moderation is handled in the U.S. for decades to come.
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New York Times ☛ Supreme Court to Decide How the First Amendment Applies to Social Media
“It is not at all obvious how our existing precedents, which predate the age of the internet, should apply to large social media companies,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote in a 2022 dissent when one of the cases briefly reached the Supreme Court.
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New York Times ☛ What to Know About the Supreme Court Case on Free Speech on Social Media
The Supreme Court’s decision in those cases — Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton — is a big test of the power of social media companies, potentially reshaping millions of social media feeds by giving the government influence over how and what stays online.
“What’s at stake is whether they can be forced to carry content they don’t want to,” said Daphne Keller, a lecturer at Stanford Law School who filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the tech groups’ challenge to the Texas and Florida laws. “And, maybe more to the point, whether the government can force them to carry content they don’t want to.”
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Evening Standard UK ☛ Salman Rushdie is right: the Royal Society of Literature is in a terrible tangle
Sir Salman Rushdie has intervened in the kerfuffle about the Royal Society of Literature under the presidency of Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other. Irked by questions from some members about whether the organisation is doing its job, especially protecting the interests of writers, she declared in the Guardian that this “historic institution” is doing just fine. But it had to be “impartial” about issues as in, though she didn’t mention it, the attack on Sir Salman at a literary festival.
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CPJ ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] CPJ calls for Israel to halt war censorship plans
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Project Censored ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Muckraking Journalism and The Progressive Magazine; Updates on Julian Assange
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Project Censored ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Despite Its Popularity, The Kids Online Safety Act Won’t Help Young People, It Will Hurt Them
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Peteris Krumins ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] What is an Uncensored Browser?
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Engadget ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] India’s government is forcing X to censor accounts via executive order amid the farmers’ protest
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CoryDoctorow ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Pluralistic: The majority of censorship is self-censorship; The Bezzle excerpt (Part V) (22 Feb 2024)
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Calls to ban books are on the rise in Canada. So is the opposition to any bans
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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CPJ ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Turkey puts 5 journalists under house arrest or judicial control
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CoryDoctorow ☛ Vice surrenders
Vice died the way it lived: being suckered in by smarter predators, even as it trained its own predatory instincts on those more credulous than its own supremely gullible leadership. RIP, we hardly knew ye.
For those of you who don't know, Vice was a Canadian media success story. It was founded by a motley clique of hipsters, one of whom – founder of the Proud Boys – has since grown to be one of the world's great fascism influencers. Another perfected the art of getting young people to work "for exposure" even as he built a massive, highly lucrative media empire on their free labor: [...]
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Futurism ☛ Amid Brutal Media Layoffs, Google "Tests" Deleting News Tab
Google's News tab suddenly disappeared for many users this week, a Thursday Nieman Labs report revealed, sparking a fresh round of existential dread in the journalism industry.
Between new rounds of mass layoffs and worrisome AI search integrations, the media is already riddled with deep anxieties about its future in a changing digital environment. In other words, it felt like Google was kicking the journalism industry while it was down — by first making itself an unavoidable source of readership and then suddenly rescinding that visibility at the exact moment that it hurts the most.
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Salon ☛ Joe Biden gives the media a desperately needed lesson about Donald Trump
Perhaps I should have been shocked at the revelation that Trump, should he return to power, would jail reporters. I wasn’t of course. I had to fight him (and beat him) three times in court during his first administration to keep my White House press pass. I had already privately heard Trump’s threats. It was just disturbing to hear Joe Biden confirm it publicly.
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The Dissenter ☛ Former Bush Official Doesn't See How Anyone Can Say Case Against Assange Poses Threat To Journalism
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Vice Media to shut down main news site, announces more layoffs
Vice Media Group has announced that it will cease publishing new content on its main news site Vice.com, as well as announcing more layoffs across its staff, according to an internal memo Bruce Dixon, group CEO at Vice Media Group, sent out across its employees.
According to the memo, Vice Media will look into partnering with established media companies to distribute their digital content, including news, on their global platforms, as the company fully transitions to a studio model.
“After careful consideration and discussion with the board, we have decided to make some fundamental changes to our strategic vision at Vice. We create and produce outstanding original content true to the Vice brand. However, it is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,” Dixon said.
While he did not specify how many employees, Dixon said that the company will be ‘eliminating several hundred positions’. He also noted that Refinery 29, Vice’s standalone website focused on young women stories, will remain as a standalone business. The memo did not mention, however, on the current standing of Virtue, Vice’s in-house creative agency.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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New Yorker ☛ Inside North Korea’s Forced-Labor Program in China
Workers sent from the country to Chinese factories describe enduring beatings and sexual abuse, having their wages taken by the state, and being told that if they try to escape they will be “killed without a trace.”
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RFERL ☛ Afghan Girls Banned From Contacting Media In Eastern Province
The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) has reported that Taliban police authorities in the eastern Khost Province have banned girls from contacting local radio and television channels and warned local media outlets not to accept phone calls from girls.
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RFA ☛ Exclusive: Police interrogate and beat Tibetans arrested in dam protest
Since Feb. 14, monks and residents had been peacefully protesting the planned construction of the Gangtuo hydropower dam on the Drichu River, known as Jinsha River in Chinese.
The dam will force two major communities to be relocated and submerge several monasteries, including the Wonto Monastery, famous for ancient murals dating back to the 13th century.
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Amazon Argues That National Labor Board Is Unconstitutional, Joining SpaceX and Trader Joe's
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Amazon Joins SpaceX in Fight to Declare U.S. Labor Board 'Unconstitutional'
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] In “Direct Attack” on Labor Movement, Amazon Claims NLRB Is Unconstitutional
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Engadget ☛ 2024-02-17 [Older] Amazon, one of the world's largest employers, has called the National Labor Relations Board 'unconstitutional'
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ANF News ☛ 2024-02-23 [Older] Political prisoners in Turkey on day 88 of hunger strike
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ANF News ☛ 2024-02-23 [Older] ‘Bans on Kurdish-language events in Turkey are political’
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HRW ☛ 2024-02-19 [Older] Hong Kong: Governments Should Oppose Security Bill
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CBC ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] Why Alabama's ruling that embryos are children could fuel anti-abortion movement in Canada
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Kenya needs to embrace mother tongues at school or lose them
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Mother language: How kids grow up with multilingualism
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Indonesia: Why Aceh's cities rank low in tolerance
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Hackaday ☛ Internet Radio Built In Charming Cassette-Like Form Factor
You can listen to plenty of broadcast radio these days. There’s a lot of choice too, with stations on AM, FM, and digital broadcasts to boot. However, if you want the broadest possible choice, you want an internet radio. If that’s your bag, why not build a fun one like [indoorgeek’s] latest design?
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] [Guest post] Can AI be considered a PHOSITA? Policy debates in the US and the EU
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Guest Book Review: Teaching Intellectual Property Law [Ed: The title of the book is a misleading propaganda term]
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Patents
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Trademarks
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-22 [Older] [Guest post] More than just a question of interpretation? INTA attempts to prevent CJEU from interpreting 'due cause' too broadly in IKEA, C-298/23
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] New CJEU referral on interplay between bad faith and trade mark functionality
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Right of Publicity
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Copyrights
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2024-02-20 [Older] The New York Times Case against OpenAI is Different. Here's Why.
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Counter Punch ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] ‘Breaking the Mold’: How Facebook Became the NYT of the Digital Age
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Engadget ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] Appeals court overturns $1 billion copyright lawsuit against Cox
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-21 [Older] US Supreme Court May Dump Warner Music Dispute Over Copyright Damages
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Son of Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Found Dead in Dorm
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-18 [Older] Ex-YouTube CEO's Son Dies at UC Berkeley Campus, According to Officials, Relative
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-20 [Older] Spanish Court finds that virtual exhibition of NFTs based on paintings is "harmless use"
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Torrent Freak ☛ "Perfect" Piracy Shield & Propaganda: Blocking Blunders Branded "Fake News"
Just three weeks after launch, Italy's Piracy Shield blocking system is set for expansion. The news was revealed by the head of AGCOM and local anti-piracy group FAPAV, who also addressed media reports that overblocking is already affecting innocent parties. Those media reports, published by reputable outlets, were dismissed as "fake news." In reality, the claim that Piracy Shield is "working perfectly" isn't just fake, it's pure propaganda.
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Torrent Freak ☛ Njalla: Hundreds of Suspended .TV Domains Could Soon Return to Life
It's been four days since at least 200 .TV domains, many of them linked to pirate sites, suddenly went dark with no explanation. The domains affected by the unprecedented event were all registered at Finland-based registrar Sarek Oy and until late Friday the situation remained grim. However, information provided by Peter Sunde's Njalla suggests cause for optimism, potentially in the next few hours or within the next few days.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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