Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 9/1/2022: GitHub Abandonment and antiX 17.5



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • Video Conferencing (LCA) €« etbe - Russell Coker

        I’ve just done a tech check for my LCA lecture. I had initially planned to do what I had done before and use my phone for recording audio and video and my PC for other stuff. The problem is that I wanted to get an external microphone going and plugging in a USB microphone turned off the speaker in the phone (it seemed to direct audio to a non-existent USB audio output). I tried using bluetooth headphones with the USB microphone and that didn’t work. Eventually a viable option seemed to be using USB headphones on my PC with the phone for camera and microphone. Then it turned out that my phone (Huawei Mate 10 Pro) didn’t support resolutions higher than VGA with Chrome (it didn’t have the “advanced” settings menu to select resolution), this is probably an issue of Android build features. So the best option is to use a webcam on the PC, I was recommended a Logitech C922 but OfficeWorks only has a Logitech C920 which is apparently OK.

      • How To Secure the Linux Kernel | LinuxSecurity.com

        With the support of the open-source community behind it and a strict privilege system embedded in its architecture, Linux has security built into its design. That being said, gone are the days that Linux system administrators could get away with subpar security practices. Cyber criminals have come to view Linux as a viable attack target due to its growing popularity, the valuable devices it powers worldwide, and an array of dangerous new Linux malware variants that have emerged in recent years.

        It has become apparent that the majority of attacks on Linux systems can be attributed to misconfigurations and poor administration - and failure to properly secure the Linux kernel is often at least partially to blame. Kernel security is a key determinant of overall system security, as the Linux kernel is the foundation of the Linux OS and the core interface between a computer’s hardware and its processes.

        Luckily, the Linux kernel possesses an assortment of effective built-in security defenses - namely, firewalls that use packet filters built into the kernel, Secure Boot, Linux Kernel Lockdown and SELinux or AppArmor - that administrators should take full advantage of. This article will examine the importance of robust kernel security and explore various measures that administrators can take to secure the Linux kernel and protect their systems from malware and other exploits.

      • MGLRU Is A Very Enticing Enhancement For Linux In 2022 - Phoronix

        Going back a number of months Google engineers have been working to address the issue of the Linux kernel's page reclaim code being too expensive for which they devised the multi-generational LRU framework "MGLRU" and it continues being worked on with mainline ambitions.

        MGLRU has yielded very promising results from servers down through Chrome OS and Android devices too. MGLRU aims to make better choices than the current kernel page reclaim code and to do so more efficiently. Previous numbers punted by Google engineers were cold start times reduced by up to 16% while enjoying fewer low-memory kills, Chrome OS saw upwards of 59% fewer out-of-memory kills and 96% fewer low-memory tab discards in its browser, and server results have been very promising too.

      • Linux 5.16 Graphics Performance In Great Shape For AMD Ryzen APUs - Phoronix

        Back on Christmas Eve I noted how the Linux 5.16 performance was looking real good for AMD APUs as a performance improvement not widely noted to that point with significant uplift over Linux 5.15 stable. The good news is Linux 5.16 is set to debut as stable today and the benchmark results with AMD APU graphics is looking very promising after carrying out tests on additional available systems.

      • Linux 5.17 To Introduce Cirrus CS35L41 HD Audio Codec Driver - Phoronix

        Among many other sound driver changes destined for the upcoming Linux 5.17 cycle, Cirrus Logic has contributed CS35L41 HD audio codec support in the form of a new sound driver, cs35l41_hda.

        Cirrus Logic announced the CS35L41 back in 2019 as the "smallest, low-power boosted smart audio amplifier" and its product page talks it up as "the industry’s most advanced smart boosted audio amplifier solution for mobile devices. It features a top-of-the-line boosted Class D amplifier, combined with an integrated DSP and 5th generation enhancement and protection algorithms. A closed-loop digital input Class D amplifier and an 11 V Class H envelope-tracking boost maximize output power and efficiency. The amplifier features the lowest power consumption, lowest noise, and smallest package size of any amplifier in its class."

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • How to Install VMware Workstation Pro Linux Mint 20 - LinuxCapable

        VMware Workstation is a virtual machine software used for x86 and x86-64 computers to run multiple, isolated operating systems over a single physical host machine. Each virtual machine can run a single instance of any operating system such as FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, or Windows. VMware was established in 1998 with a solid history of producing high-quality products for virtualization, with VMware Workstation being launched in 2001.

        Widespread use for virtual machines is to run isolated environments for production or in running services for services. With VMware for production, you can swap between settings quickly. If resources permit the host operating system, you can have multiple virtualization operating systems running separately or working together. This is also useful for Linux users who run numerous copies of distributions.

        In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install VMware PRO 16 on Linux Mint 20.

      • How to Install PyCharm IDE on Linux Mint 20 - LinuxCapable

        PyCharm is a dedicated Python graphical IDE (Integrated Development Environment) popular amongst Python developers with its wide range of essential tools such as analyzing code, debugging, and integration. The IDE also comes with the command line, connects to a database, creates a virtual environment, and manages your version control system (Git).

        IIn the following tutorial, you will learn how to install PyCharm Community, Professional or Educational, with Flatpak or Snapcraft (Snap) on Linux Mint 20.

      • How To Dual Boot Your Raspberry Pi | Tom's Hardware

        Linux users will be familiar with dual booting their systems. We often have Linux running alongside Windows, or another Linux distro. The Raspberry Pi, itself a small $35 Linux computer, isn't particularly well known for dual booting, but it can be done; all we need is a little help.

        PINN is a website which creates a custom installation script tailored to our specific requirements. With PINN, we can install multiple OSes to a single micro SD card or USB stick. PINN doesn’t download an OS to our cards, rather it creates an installation file that when run on our Raspberry Pi, will automatically download and install all of our OS choices. From there all we need to do is reboot, choose a new OS and we are ready to create more great Raspberry Pi projects.

      • Remove password from Bank Statement
      • Bash scripting(II)

        This is the second article of a series focused in Gnu Bash scripting. On the first bash scripting article we’ve just created the most simple script: simple commands, one after another. We also saw some variables use.This article will cover bash control structures.

      • How to Install Deepin Desktop Environment (UbuntuDDE) on Linux Mint 20 - LinuxCapable

        The Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE) is known to be one of the most excellent aesthetic-looking desktop environments created by the developers of Deepin Linux. It is often regarded too as the most beautiful desktop on Linux. For users of Ubuntu and Linux Mint, Deepin can be installed by way of UbuntuDDE and comes with all the features of the standard Deepin shell with the addition of Linux Mint/Ubuntu software center and applications instead of the Deepin application store catalog.

        In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE) on Linux Mint 20.

      • How to Install Jellyfin Media Server Linux Mint 20 - LinuxCapable

        Jellyfin is a free, open-source multimedia application designed to organize, manage, and share digital media files to networked devices on an internal network and can be accessed remotely desired. It is a cross-platform and alternative to other major players, Plex and Emby. You can access it from a range of devices such as Mobile, Tablets, TV, and PCs or popular media devices like Roku or Nvidia shield. Jellyfin also serves media to DLNA and Chromecast-enabled devices and can fetch metadata just like Plex and Emby do so that you can organize your media into categories in a rich multimedia experience.

        If you would like to test, Jellyfin has created a demo server to log in and check it out for yourself.

      • How To Install YetiForce on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install YetiForce on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, YetiForce is an open-source and innovative CRM system. It is built on top of Vtiger and has hundreds of changes that help to accomplish even the most challenging tasks in the simplest way. YetiForce manages relations with customers, suppliers, partners, and staff. It offers efficiency, control, multitasking and can integrate with other applications such as maps, LDAP, DAV applications, SMS, and social media portals.

        This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step-by-step installation of YetiForce CRM on an Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa).

    • Distributions

      • New Releases

        • antiX-17.5 point release update – antiX Linux

          antiX-17.5 is the final point release update of our 17 series based on Debian Stretch.

          As usual we offer the following completely systemd-free (and for this particular upgrade – elogind-free) flavours for both 32 and 64 bit architecture.

          antiX-full (c1.1GB) – 4 windows managers – IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and herbstluftwm plus full libreoffice suite.

          antiX-base (c750MB) – 4 windows managers – IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and herbstluftwm.

          antiX-core (c360MB) – no X, but should support most wireless.

          antiX-net (c165MB)- no X. Just enough to get you connected (wired) and ready to build.

      • Debian Family

        • Moving my repositories from Github to Codeberg.org – WindfluechterNet Blog

          Some weeks ago I moved my repositories from Github (evil, Microsoft, blabla) to Codeberg. Codeberg is a non-profit organisation located in Germany. When you really dislike Microsoft products it is somewhat a natural reaction (at least for me) to move away from Github, which was bought by Microsoft, to some more independent service provider for hosting source code.

    • Standards/Consortia

      • FAA lists 50 airports that will have 5G buffer zones ahead of C-band expansion

        The FAA notes that AT&T and Verizon have agreed to turn off their 5G transmitters at these specific buffer zones for six months, which should “minimize potential 5G interference with sensitive aircraft instruments used in low-visibility landings.” Some airports — including major hubs like Hartsfield / Jackson International and Denver International — didn’t make the list, either because they aren’t in locations where 5G C-Band deployment will take place, or they can’t permit low-visibility landings.

  • Leftovers

    • A TikToker Made $200,000 Farting In Jars. Here’s How She Did It

      As a self-described “fartpreneur,” however, Matto may have girlbossed a little too close to the sun. On Christmas, she says, she went to the ER with what she describes as heart attack-esque symptoms, which doctors promptly diagnosed as severe gas pain as a result of her diet. Matto’s visit to the ER, which she recounted to a journalist from the U.K. outlet Jam Press, was aggregated across news outlets across the globe, prompting fervent social media debate as to whether Matto’s fart-selling enterprise was a savvy business move or a cultural death rattle resounding from the bowels of late-stage capitalism (pun very much intended). Yet Matto is unruffled by such critiques, and has harnessed her newfound virality into promoting her newest venture: selling fart jar NFTs for 0.05 ETH (a little less than $200) each, though she has significantly reduced sales of her physical fart jars following her ER visit.

      Eager to learn the inner workings of a thriving fart jar business, Rolling Stone called Matto up at her home in northwestern Connecticut to discuss online sex work, the economics of selling a smell, and whether or not she plans to pivot to selling her queefs. She also threw in a plug for what is, in her educated opinion, the best flatulence-inducing pastry on the market.

      This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

    • Science

      • Want to Restore Your Faith in Humanity? Visit a Scientific Conference

        But, as in many other areas of life, social media distorts our perspective, because it signal boosts the angriest and loudest members of every subculture. In truth, most scientists are engaged in apolitical work, which they conduct beneath the surface of public observation and commentary—as I reminded myself last month, during an informative and inspiring visit to the five-day American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Convention in New Orleans.

      • James Webb telescope finishes crucial steps on way to final orbit

        Over the past 14 days, the observatory’s enormous gold-coated primary mirror and smaller secondary mirror were unfurled, and the telescope’s multilayered sunshield was extended. The announcement marks the completion one of the riskiest and most challenging maneuvers since it launched into space.

        Finishing the two-week deployment was a critical milestone for the mission and involved dozens of carefully choreographed post-launch maneuvers. The telescope will now spend roughly two weeks journeying to its final destination, a stable position in orbit around the sun that is around 1 million miles away from Earth.

    • Education

    • Hardware

      • Hidden Shaft And Gears Make This Hollow Clock Go | Hackaday

        [shiura]’s Hollow Clock 3 is a fantastic 3D printed take on a clock movement that uses a hidden mechanism to pull off its unusual operation. The Hollow Clock has no face, just an open space with an hour and minute hand that move as expected. Only the longer minute hand has any apparent connection to the rest of the clock body, with the rest appearing to hang in the air.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • Opinion | Activism Will Be Key to Overcoming the Covid-19 Crisis

        As the Omicron surge overwhelms the world, it is clear to people everywhere that the actions which leaders so far have taken in response to the Covid-19 crisis have not been sufficient to overcome it.

      • Biden and GOP May Find Bipartisanship by Elevating Big Pharma's Pick to FDA Head
      • ‘I Know What the End of the World Looks Like’

        So despite him, I looked at buying a little bit of agricultural land, thinking it was actually a good hedge to inflation to have a piece of land where I can grow my own food. And that made me realize how messed up the agricultural systems around the world were, and how very little of it made any economic sense. I didn’t end up investing in the land, but I ended up investing tons and tons of time learning everything I could about agriculture, and I just completely got obsessed.

        How is it that we’ve been talking about food security for decades, and yet every time I ask a question I’m only getting more questions? Every time I seek an answer and I’m trying to find the data, I can’t find what I need? I became really attached to that problem. And I thought, “What can I do for Africa?” So when I quit, it was basically with this very loosey-goosey idea around, “I’m going to start a company and it’s going to do something around data and agriculture.”

      • The public health case for decarcerating America’s prison system

        But numbers like these only scratch the surface of the damage incarceration leaves in its wide-rippling wake. That's because biomedical and social conditions are always intertwined, which means that they implicate not just individuals but communities. As a result, harms inflicted on incarcerated individuals undermine the health and safety of their families, neighborhoods, counties, and, ultimately, the whole country. America's mass incarceration problem is a massive public health threat to us all.

      • The existential panic in "Don't Look Up" is real. I see it in my clients

        These days, I no longer compartmentalize the climate crisis in therapy sessions as I once did. My colleagues and I are learning to lead by example in the hopes of promoting a healthier response of engagement to our threatened "more-than-human-world."

    • Integrity/Availability

      • Proprietary

        • 500M Avira Antivirus Users Introduced to Cryptomining

          Many readers were surprised to learn recently that the popular Norton 360 antivirus suite now ships with a program which lets customers make money mining virtual currency. But Norton 360 isn’t alone in this dubious endeavor: Avira antivirus — which has built a base of 500 million users worldwide largely by making the product free — was recently bought by the same company that owns Norton 360 and is introducing its customers to a service called Avira Crypto.

        • Security

          • [Older] Log4j attacks remain low-key compared to infosec industry hype

            The Log4j vulnerability appears to have been overhyped by the infosec industry, with nothing like the scale of attacks expected materialising.

            The flaw, an unauthenticated remote code exploit, allows the complete takeover of systems using versions 2.0-beta9 up to 2.14.1 of the library Log4j.

            Well-known British security researcher Marcus Hutchins was one of those to throw cold water on some of the hype, pointing out that what was rumoured to be a Log4j worm did not work at all.

            "I've reverse engineered this supposed Log4j worm and it doesn't work at all," he said. "There's also several bugs in the code that mean even if they did fix the core failure, it would still be completely ineffective."

          • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Defence/Aggression

      • Opinion | Dick Cheney Paved the Way for Trump and the Capitol Insurrection

        Former Vice President Dick Cheney accompanied his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), to the Capitol on Thursday to join the moment of silence in commemoration of the Jan. 6 insurrection. They were the only Republicans to attend.

      • Opinion | Desmond Tutu Rememberances Ignore His Dedication to Palestinians Rights

        Obituaries in the corporate and establishment press for South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu rightly celebrated him not only as one of the key leaders of the struggle against apartheid in his own country, but as a global advocate against oppression, including being a fierce Christian voice against homophobia.

      • Police probe at Birmingham mosque as visiting imam 'praises murderer' in New Year sermon

        A visiting imam, speaking at Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Small Heath, was heard to allegedly praise murderer Mumtaz Qadri, who gunned down Pakistani politician Salman Taseer in cold blood and was later convicted of murder and executed for the crime.

      • An expert on civil war issues a warning about America

        The well-argued part goes something like this. Countries are most vulnerable to civil war when they are somewhere between dictatorship and liberal democracy. In a functional democracy, people have no cause to take up arms. In a full-blown dictatorship, they are likely to be locked up or killed the moment they do so. The danger zone opens up when a dictatorship gives way to a looser form of government, but the new regime has not yet found its feet. “Given a choice between democracy and dictatorship, most will gladly take democracy,” Ms Walter writes. “But the road to democracy is a dangerous one.”

        A second risk factor is factionalism. Since the end of the cold war, perhaps 75% of civil wars have been fought between ethnic and religious groups, rather than political ones. Here what matters is not how diverse a country is, but whether politics revolves around identity.

        Political leaders who stir up fear of another group to win support from their own are often especially dangerous. Consider (as Ms Walter does) the former Yugoslavia. As the cold war ended, it cast off communism and began to move towards democracy. It promptly fell apart, goaded by “ethnic entrepreneurs” such as Slobodan Milosevic.

      • Kazakh president gives shoot-to-kill order to quell protests

        Dozens have died and public buildings across Kazakhstan have been ransacked and torched in the worst violence the ex-Soviet republic has experienced in 30 years of independence.

        Moscow said more than 70 planes were ferrying Russian troops into Kazakhstan, and that these were now helping control Almaty's main airport, recaptured on Thursday from protesters.

      • Far-right extremists shift online strategies

        Domestic extremists are adapting their online strategies to push disinformation and conspiracies despite a crackdown by social media platforms in the year since the attack by a pro-Trump mob on the Capitol.

        Online extremist groups and far-right influencers are using more coded language to slip through gaps in mainstream content moderation enforcement and are still active on alternative platforms that have risen in popularity since the Jan. 6, 2021, [insurrection].

        Experts say efforts to counter domestic extremism must adapt as well, or else the spread of disinformation online poses real world risks heading into the midterm elections this November and the 2024 presidential election.

    • Environment

      • Man in lucky escape in Haapsalu sea ice plunge, vehicle lost

        However, conditions in western Estonia so far this winter have not proved suitable to open the ice road yet, with the individual demonstrating exactly why that is the case as the car plunged through the weak ice, around 100 meters from the shore, witnesses said, at around 7.20 p.m. Friday.

      • Greenland's Ice Sheet Has Lost Mass for the 25th Year in a Row
      • Opinion | Take It From Climate Scientists: "Don't Look Up" Is Damning—But Not Nearly Damning Enough

        **Spoiler alert.** "Don't Look Up" is a flawed movie about everything my climate colleagues and I hate about the world, and then the world ENDS.

      • Energy

        • Kazakhstan unrest takes down a fifth of global bitcoin mining network

          Nationwide [Internet] outages in Kazakhstan amid civil unrest have knocked almost a fifth of the world’s bitcoin miners offline. Vast numbers of mining groups that had relocated to the central Asian country after a state crackdown in China last year now find themselves once again out of action.

          Bitcoin relies on a network of computers known as miners that solve mathematical problems to secure the currency, consuming vast amounts of electricity in the process. But without a working [Internet] connection, the process is impossible.

          China was once the global powerhouse of bitcoin mining with a market share of 75.5 per cent, but government restrictions in May last year caused the entire industry to relocate and seek friendlier states with cheap energy. Kazakhstan was an attractive location for these groups because of abundant cheap energy, but because fossil fuels, including coal, make up more than 90 per cent of the nation’s electricity supply, it did little to help bitcoin’s already large effect on the climate.

        • Why clean energy advocates are divided over California’s plan to slash solar incentives

          California has more homes with rooftop PV panels than any other state. That’s thanks in part to a history of generous incentives for people with home solar systems. If someone doesn’t use up all the solar energy their panels collect, they can sell it back to the grid. Under the state’s “net metering” program, they can sell it at the same retail rate at which they would buy electricity. The program is supposed to help people recoup the costs of installing their solar system. But if the CPUC ultimately votes to approve its new proposal, the selling price would drop dramatically to better reflect the commission’s estimates of what that energy is actually worth.

      • Wildlife/Nature

        • Two Lawyers Arguing Remotely Against Vaccine Mandates at Supreme Court Had COVID
        • Federal Action Demanded After Endangered Wolf Anubis Illegally Killed in Arizona

          Outraged wildlife advocates demanded action from the U.S. government on Friday after learning that an endangered Mexican gray wolf—famous for wandering across the Southwest and named Anubis by schoolchildren—was illegally shot and killed in the Kaibab National Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona.

          "The killing of Anubis... is another tragic reminder that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs to expand the recovery area."

        • Wildlife can now be detected by sniffing DNA in the air

          Two of these groups, one led by Christina Lynggaard of the University of Copenhagen and the other by Elizabeth Clare of York University, in Toronto, have used zoos to test ways of extracting DNA from the atmosphere. Zoos are ideal for this because they house known animals. Both groups have just published preliminary results in Current Biology. Others, meanwhile, are already looking in the wild.

          Dr Clare’s team adapted an existing sample-collection method by pumping air through filters normally employed to extract DNA from water. Dr Lynggaard’s team tried three approaches. The first percolated the air to be analysed through some water, to try to dissolve any DNA it was carrying and so permit that DNA to be analysed by conventional metagenomic methods. The second and third used fans—in one case large, of the sort employed to cool big computers in data centres, and in the other small, used to cool desktop devices. In both instances these fans blew air through filters of the type that air-conditioning systems use to remove particles of pollution.

    • Finance

      • 'Operating in Bad Faith': Manchin Reportedly No Longer Supports His Own BBB Counteroffer

        U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin came under fire Saturday after The Washington Post reported that the West Virginia Democrat "does not currently support" passing even his own recent $1.8 trillion counteroffer to President Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda.

        "Sen. Manchin is operating in bad faith," tweeted Nida Allam, a progressive congressional candidate in North Carolina. "We need to be electing Democrats who are accountable to the American people and working families—not Dems who are reneging on deals which would support millions."

    • Misinformation/Disinformation

      • TikTok’s Highest-Earning Stars: Charli and Dixie D’Amelio Raked in $27.5 Million in 2021

        To compile the list, Forbes looked at influencers who rose to fame on TikTok (excluding celebrities active on the app like Will Smith and Jason DeRulo). The most recently ranking estimated what TikTokers earned from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2021, from sponsored content and other income sources.

      • Firm Behind Trump-Backed Arizona Election ‘Audit’ Shuts Down After Judge Orders $50,000 Daily Fine

        The news comes after Arizona election officials earlier this week released a point-by-point rebuttal of nearly 80 claims in the Cyber Ninjas’ review that were misleading or false, and as Maricopa Superior Court Judge John Hannah found the company in contempt of court for failing to comply with an order to turn over audit records to the Arizona Republic as part of a public records request. Judge Hannah imposed a $50,000 daily fine on Cyber Ninjas until the company can produce the requested records.

        Hannah noted that the fine could potentially apply not only to the company as a whole, but to individuals, among them former CEO Doug Logan, an election fraud conspiracy theorist who wrote a paper on behalf of GOP senators objecting to Congress certifying Joe Biden’s election win. That amount was fifty times greater than the $1,000 fine requested by a lawyer for the Arizona Republic.

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • What a previous iconoclastic period reveals about the present one

        In the 19th century serious attempts were made to recover Britain’s artistic heritage. In 1841 John Neale, an influential antiquarian, advised churchwardens to conserve any old murals they might discover: “They are so curious that they ought to be looked to with great care.” Other images were imported. The French Revolution had set off a wave of iconoclasm and thrown much medieval art onto the international market. Some of the oldest and finest stained glass in Britain is in the east window of St James’s church in Twycross, Leicestershire. Installed in the 1840s, it comes from French churches including Le Mans cathedral and Ste-Chapelle in Paris.

      • MLB Commissioner Meets The Streisand Effect After Ousting Ken Rosenthal From The MLB Network

        We've talked a great deal about Major League Baseball here at Techdirt. Notably, for a long time those discussions have positive in nature, whether it was MLB's interesting pivots once COVID-19 went global or the expansion of its excellent streaming services. Now, while the league has also had issues playing IP enforcer in the past, or the more recent self-own the league conducted in response to its players lockout, the fact is that commissioner Rob Manfred has generally been a fresh voice of modernity and technological progress for the league.

    • Freedom of Information/Freedom of the Press

      • Three wise kings and an offer to Assange: the week at the morning press conferences

        The president also gave an offer of asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is set to be extradited from the U.K. to the United States. “We are willing to offer Assange asylum in Mexico, that is our posture. We believe that the U.S. government must act with humanity. Assange is sick … before the end of President Donald Trump’s administration I sent him a letter asking him to exonerate [Assange].”

      • Independent media unable to cover protests in Kazakhstan

        What with arbitrary arrests, police violence, blocked telecommunications and Internet cuts – after four days of massive protests triggered by a fuel price hike and after the declaration of a state of emergency yesterday evening, journalists and media outlets trying to cover the protests continue to be the victims of the regime’s persecution.

        Authorities trying to control news coverage have stepped up attacks on independent journalists in the past two days.

      • Media Worker Killed Covering Violence in Kazakhstan

        Muratkhan Bazarbayev, who worked for Almaty TV as a driver, died when the station's vehicle was shot at during clashes in the city of Almaty on Wednesday. A camera operator for the station was hospitalized in the same attack, according to the news outlet and media rights groups.

        The news crew was covering protests that began late last week in response to a fuel price hike and evolved into mass unrest and violence in the capital and other cities.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Opinion | What's Next for Corporate Democrat Plotters? Voting Rights

        Remember when the Biden presidency was brand new and Democrats in the House and Senate proposed a sweeping, $6 trillion package to rebuild our social safety net, cut drug prices, upgrade our infrastructure, rescue our students and elderly, and save the environment?€ 

      • I Worked for a Refugee Support Organization in Calais. Here’s What I Saw.
      • 'Our Fight Is Not Over': Egyptian-Palestinian Rights Activist Ramy Shaath Freed After 900+ Days

        The family of Egyptian-Palestinian rights activist Ramy Shaath said Saturday that they "are relieved and overjoyed" to announce he is free after more than 900 days of "unjust detention under inhumane conditions" in Egypt.

        "Two-and-a-half years later, I still have all my resolve and my determination to continue."

      • Black Sexual Violence Survivors Are Telling Their Stories — Only to Be Punished
      • Amazon workers will now get only a week of COVID PTO

        Amazon has changed its PTO policy for workers forced to quarantine, as reported by CNBC and the Wall Street Journal. The policy has shrunk to one week (or 40 hours) off, down from its initial length of 14 days, which is still mentioned on an Amazon hiring page (via Engadget) but had already been shortened to ten days. Engadget’s report includes an excerpt of Amazon’s notice to employees about the change, citing the CDC’s updated recommendations that people who have tested positive for COVID should isolate for five days, as long as their symptoms are gone.

        Amazon isn’t alone in changing its policies along with the federal government. As Engadget points out, Walmart has also cut down the number of PTO hours employees who contract COVID get. There have also been reports of sick workers across the country losing protections after the American Rescue Plan expired on September 30th, leaving state and local governments (and individual employers) to decide the rules for themselves.

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • My first impressions of web3

        If we do want to change our relationship to technology, I think we’d have to do it intentionally. My basic thoughts are roughly:

        1. We should accept the premise that people will not run their own servers by designing systems that can distribute trust without having to distribute infrastructure. This means architecture that anticipates and accepts the inevitable outcome of relatively centralized client/server relationships, but uses cryptography (rather than infrastructure) to distribute trust. One of the surprising things to me about web3, despite being built on “crypto,” is how little cryptography seems to be involved!

        2. We should try to reduce the burden of building software. At this point, software projects require an enormous amount of human effort. Even relatively simple apps require a group of people to sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day, every day, forever. This wasn’t always the case, and there was a time when 50 people working on a software project wasn’t considered a “small team.” As long as software requires such concerted energy and so much highly specialized human focus, I think it will have the tendency to serve the interests of the people sitting in that room every day rather than what we may consider our broader goals. I think changing our relationship to technology will probably require making software easier to create, but in my lifetime I’ve seen the opposite come to pass. Unfortunately, I think distributed systems have a tendency to exacerbate this trend by making things more complicated and more difficult, not less complicated and less difficult.

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • Nasdaq Ends First Week of 2022 Down More Than 4% as Roku, Netflix Take Hits

        Among the notable companies that took a hit Friday were Netflix (down 2.21% from where it opened), Roku (-6.92%), Google parent company Alphabet Inc .(-0.53%), Amazon (-0.43%) and Comcast (-0.91%).

        On the flip side, Apple closed up 0.099%, AT&T up 0.67%, Discovery up 16.87%, Disney up 0.61%, ViacomCBS up 7.88% and Fox Corp. up 1.54%.

      • Roku exec Scott Rosenberg, who helped launch the Roku Channel, is stepping down

        Rosenberg is currently SVP and general manager of platform business at Roku, a title he’s held since 2017, according to a press release. In addition to his role in the development of the Roku Channel, which is now home to Roku’s original programming, Rosenberg created and scaled the streamer’s advertising business, Roku spokesperson Sarah Novatt confirmed to The Verge.

        According to the company, Rosenberg was a key player in Roku’s 2017 IPO. Other notable oversight roles listed on Rosenberg’s LinkedIn include partnerships, revenue, product, analytics, payments, and operations.

    • Monopolies

      • What’s ahead for the global IP market in 2022 [Ed: The latest IAM SPAM with propaganda terms in the headlines]

        The IAM team revisits its forecasts for 2021 and offers a fresh outlook on the narratives we see shaping up in the twelve months ahead

      • IPKat Book of the Year Awards 2021 [Ed: Open to gaming; Ads disguised as “awards” in a site that isn’t even important anymore]
      • Patents

        • European Union: UPC Could Open Its Doors In 2022 [Ed: And yet more shameless fake news from Team UPC]

          With news that the Austrian parliament has ratified the Protocol on the provisional application of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on 2 December 2020, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) opening in 2022 is becoming more likely. This will be a significant change to the patent litigation landscape in Europe and will harmonise patent litigation across up to 24 EU Member States (MS). It will also mean that patentees can choose to validate a Unitary Patent (UP) that will cover all EU MS who have ratified the UPC Agreement (R-MS).

          When Austria deposits its ratification of the Protocol this will trigger the provisional phase of the UPC. During the provisional phase, secondary legislation will be finalised, budgets set and Judges appointed before the UPC opens its doors. It is estimated that the provisional phase will take 8-10 months, following which Germany will deposit its ratification of the UPC Agreement (UPCA) triggering the launch of the UPC four months later. Based on current ratifications of the UPCA, on launch the UPC and UP will cover 17 EU MS, including Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands.

        • Haar today, gone tomorrow: EPO's brief BoA move raises queries [Ed: Over 5 years of massive injustice at the EPO, where tribunals ruled under illegal conditions, and even some lawyers are expressing angst]

          Lawyers welcomed plans to move the Boards of Appeal back to the centre of Munich, but expressed concerns over the level of accountability at the EPO

        • Oramed Pharmaceuticals Gets European Patent for Protein-Delivery Platform [Ed: Oramed seems to be unaware of the legitimacy crisis of European Patents; many many be presumed invalid]

          Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. said the European Patent Office has granted it a patent supporting its platform technology in oral delivery of proteins.

          The pharmaceutical company said the platform technology underlies its lead drug candidate ORMD-0801, now in pivotal Phase 3 studies and positioned to potentially be the first oral insulin capsule on the market.

        • From GIs to AI: Four European IP trends to watch in 2022 [Ed: More buzzwords and propaganda terms like "Hey Hi" and "IP" from Max Walters, who speaks the language of malicious lobbyists rather than journalists]

          An expansion of GI laws, potential movement in the AI inventor debate, social media concerns and filing farms clampdowns are all in line for 2022. Here are four key themes.

        • Video: JUVE Patent’s UK ranking 2022 [Ed: This is not ranking; it's advertising or spam, which they get paid for]

          With the UK’s patent court lists busier than ever, the past twelve months have been an exciting time for the patent market and those who work within it. Now, in the video to accompany JUVE Patent’s UK ranking 2022, Amy Sandys and Konstanze Richter present the latest development in the UK patent market.

          [...]

          The UK judiciary is also solving its staffing issues, with the appointment of former barristers James Mellor and Richard Meade to the High Court judicial bench. Other 8 New Square barristers Michael Tappin and Charlotte May have also become deputy judges.

        • FOSS Patents: Still no Apple-Ericsson announcement: neither renewal of license nor renewed infringement litigation--key deadline may be mid-January

          There still hasn't been any announcement by Ericsson of a renewal of its patent cross-license agreement with Apple, nor have I found any filings in the Eastern District of Texas or with the ITC that indicate renewed infringement litigation. Whether they are still negotiating or negotiations have broken down, Ericsson appears to be precluded from asserting patents against Apple at this stage.

          There are accusations of FRAND violations flying both ways in the Eastern District of Texas, with the first "harbinger" of a new patent spat having been Ericsson's complaint in early October, shortly after which an even earlier motion for an anti-antisuit injunction in the Netherlands became known (the denial of that motion was affirmed in a December 16 decision following a November 18 hearing). But Ericsson can't assert patents as long as a license agreement, or a covenant not to sue, is in force and effect.

          Many license agreements terminate at the end of a calendar year. Last year, Ericsson's patent assertions against Samsung started on New Year's Day (and resulted in a settlement less than five months later). However, Ericsson sued Apple in mid-January 2015 subsequently to the expiration of a license agreement. It could be that mid-January is again the key deadline, either because the license agreement won't expire before, or because of a covenant not to sue precluding immediate infringement litigation upon expiration of the license for another two weeks or so.

        • UK: Northern Lights Burn Ever More Brightly [Ed: Patent extremists and profiteers (like litigation firms) ruin the UK -- not just London -- for the rest of us]

          The trip itself was great. As a lawyer and a patent attorney turning up for the first time at a networking event designed to put start-ups in touch with investors, we wondered whether attendees would be reluctant to talk to two professional advisors ostensibly there to take money off them but we couldn't have been more wrong. Everyone we talked to was happy to expand on their plans and enthusiastically receptive to any suggestions we might have had to accelerate them.

        • Sareum Share Price Surged 10.2% on European Patent Office Notice... [Ed: Sareum shareholders likely unaware that EPO grants tons of fake patents, based on insiders]
        • UKIPO launches call for views on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) [Ed: UKIPO looking to appease patent trolls and parasites]

          The UK intellectual property office has launched a call for views on standard essential patents (SEPs). The call for views will last for 12 weeks, closing on 01 March at 11.45pm. Responses to the call for views will inform how the UK SEPs framework supports innovation, promotes competition and whether change is needed.

        • UK: Patents To Come Of Age For Nuclear Fission? [Ed: Patent extremists (a corrupt firm in this case, Marks & Clerk; convicted last year, too) excited about dangerous nuclear stuff because of patents]

          Interesting to see that plans are advancing to build small nuclear reactor power plants in the UK. As noted in this BBC News article, these are intended to be in addition to large-scale nuclear power plants and not as an alternative to those large-scale power plants.

          Companies that are active in nuclear fission-based power tend to file relatively few patent applications. Problems that arise when designing a nuclear fission power plant, and the inventions devised to solve those problems, may be specific to a particular power plant. As a result, it may not be commercially worthwhile filing patent applications for those inventions.

        • Rothschild entity Display Technologies patent challenged

          On January 6, 2022, Unified filed a petition for inter partes review (IPR) against U.S. Patent 9,300,723. The ‘723 patent is owned by Display Technologies, LLC, an entity affiliated with prolific inventor and frequent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild. The ‘723 patent is generally directed to media systems for transferring a media file from a local device (e.g., a wireless mobile device) to another device for display. It has been asserted in over 60 litigations where some accused devices rely on Bluetooth communications for the transfer of files.

        • EPO decision another setback in Dabus quest for inventorship [Ed: Loaded and misleading headline from JUVE, as usual (as of recent years)]

          The EPO’s most recent decision is the result of an appeal, by Dabus creator Stephen Thaler, against the dismissal of two patent applications (case IDs: J 8/20 and J 9/20) which designate Dabus as the inventor. The Legal Board of Appeal 3.1.01 heard the appeal on December 21 2021, dismissing it on the same day.

          Back in January 2020, the Receiving Section of the EPO refused two patent applications on the grounds that the application listed Dabus, and not a human, as the inventor. The decision is based on Article 81 and Rule 19(1) of the European Patent Convention. In its decision, the EPO considered that an interpretation of the European patent system framework means only a natural person can receive a patent for an invention.

          In addition, the EPO was of the opinion that a machine could not transfer any rights to the applicant.

          [...]

          The two patents, EP 18 275 163 and EP 182 751 74, concern a fractal beverage container and fractal light signals respectively. The fractal light signal embodies a device to attract attention during search and rescue operations. Stephen Thaler, a doctor of physics, created the AI. Its name Dabus stands for ‘Device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified sentience’.

        • Protecting a drug combining two known active ingredients by patent : Is it possible ? [Ed: Team UPC and patent extremists against access to medicines (in other words, let's let some people die to keep profits up)
        • 2021 Patent Dispute Report: Year in Review — Unified Patents

          The changing of the guard at the USPTO brings new changes in the patent dispute landscape. With the uncertainty of Fintiv, United States v. Arthrex, Inc., and pandemic recovery, operating companies have been less contentious than in years past. Despite this ambivalence, a new venue has emerged and more companies are turning to Reexaminations to find certainty in uncertain times. NPEs have continued to increase their assertion, with the TXWD becoming their choice of venue. If 2021 is any indication of what is on the horizon for 2022, it is clear that patent policy may face significant changes and NPEs will continue their assaults.



        • Witte Weller grows with two specialist mechanical engineering partners [Ed: JUVE keeps publishing marketing spam (like a firm hiring some 'low-level' person) disguised as "news"]

          Lukas Klement (47) from Cartagena and Dieter Späth (59) from Abacus joined Witte Weller & Partner on 1 January 2022 as partners. At the same time, the firm also appointed patent attorney Sophia Zielinski as partner. With the new additions, the team grows to 21 patent attorneys, of whom 18 are partners.

        • 2021 Patent Grants [Ed: The USPTO just grants lots and lots of rubbish patents to raise more money at the public's expense (externality)]

          Total utility patent grants are down about 7% for calendar year 2021. Still the total ranks as the third highest of all time. The Office has almost eliminated unwanted delay in examination. Right now the delay is about 17 months from filing to first office-action. They really don’t want that to go below 14 months in order to capture 102(a)(2) prior art (former 102(e)).

        • Nicox European Patent Seals ZERVIATE Major Market Coverage to 2030 [Ed: Nicox seems to be totally unaware of the fact that the EPO, according to insiders, grants lots of fake patents]

          FR0013018124, COX), an international ophthalmology company, today announced that patent EP2408453, covering the company’s product ZERVIATE€® (cetirizine ophthalmic solution), 0.24%, has been issued by the European Patent Office (EPO). The patent covers the formulation of ZERVIATE which is commercialized in the U.S. by our exclusive U.S. licensee Eyevance Pharmaceuticals, and its use in the treatment of the symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. The prescription market for allergic conjunctivitis products in Europe, Eastern Europe and Turkey was estimated by IQVIA as around €260 million in 2020. The European Patent grants exclusivity until 2030, meaning that the ZERVIATE formulation is protected by granted patents in the U.S. to 2032, and in Europe, Japan and Canada to 2030.

        • AI inventorship claim dismissed by EPO Board of Appeal [Ed: "Hey Hi" (AI) and other buzzwords misused; even the corrupt EPO isn't easily fooled by this ploy]

          Artificial intelligence (AI) systems cannot be named as an inventor on a patent application, the European Patent Office Board of Appeal (EPO BoA) has ruled. According to a statement issued by the tribunal, the designated inventor for a European patent application must be a person with legal capacity.

          The decision concerns ‘DABUS’, an AI system developed by US scientist and technologist Dr. Stephen Thaler. Dr Thaler designated DABUS as the inventor of two patent applications claiming that the subject matter of the applications had been created autonomously by DABUS.

          [...]

          As part of his appeal, Thaler submitted an auxiliary request according to which a natural person was indicated to have "the right to the European patent by virtue of being the owner and creator of" an AI system. However, the EPO BoA said that a statement indicating the origin of the right to the European patent had to conform with the provisions of the EPC and that this was not the case for the DABUS applications.

          Full written reasons behind the EPO BoA’s decision are to be published in due course.

        • Software Patents

      • Copyrights

        • UK Government's Consultation On Artificial Intelligence And The Interaction With Copyright And Patents [Ed: Peddlers of lies, fake news, and fabrications, Mayer Brown, pushing "Hey Hi" agenda (basically fiction for policy manipulation) in the UK

          The UK Government published its national AI Strategy last month which highlighted its intention to make the UK an AI powerhouse. In its strategy, the Government recognised the importance of instituting a progressive regulatory environment which would encourage the advancement of AI. The UK Government has now launched a consultation on reforms to copyright and patent law to incentivise the development of AI. Whilst the Government aims to provide adequate protections to AI technology to encourage further investment into AI, it is cognisant that those protections have to be limited so that they do not stifle innovation and progress in this field. The UK Government proposes that any measures introduced must (i) encourage AI innovation and promote the use of AI for the public good; (ii) preserve the integral role of intellectual property, which is to promote human creativity and innovation; and (iii) be based on best available economic evidence.

          [...]

          The UK is not alone in acknowledging the profound impact AI will have on businesses worldwide. China has also recently declared its intention to become “a principal world centre of artificial intelligence innovation” by 2030. Other nations that are entering the race to dominate the AI space include Germany, the United States and Japan; countries that are currently leading in AI research. Implementing legal frameworks that encourage AI development and investment will play a fundamental role in achieving dominance in this field, which is precisely why the UK Government has published this consultation. Whilst different nations have taken different approaches to the protection of AI created works or inventions (for instance, see the converging views courts have taken with respect to identifying AI as an inventor of a patent in the DABUS cases), there has been a drive amongst states and international bodies to collaborate on laws and regulations governing AI to maximize advancement for mutual benefit. In fact, international cooperation is an element in the AI strategies of most governments. Whether a consensus can be reached amongst nation states with respect to legal frameworks surrounding AI protection remains to be seen.

        • Pirate IPTV Providers "Exploit PayPal, Mastercard & Visa Branding"

          Pirate IPTV providers generally require payment in exchange for a subscription. In the majority of cases this involves utilizing a third-party payment processor such as PayPal, Mastercard or Visa. According to the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance, pirates exploit these trusted brands to appear legitimate themselves. But what can be done to break the association?



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