Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 09/06/2022: System76 in Europe



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • Its FOSSSystem76 Hardware is Making its Way to Europe Soon
        System76’s recent partnership with HP for a developer-focused laptop made users think that it should enable users across the globe to get their hands on a laptop with Pop!_OS pre-installed.

        Unfortunately, the HP Dev One laptop is limited to U.S. customers as of now. But, it seems like you can expect System76 hardware to be available in Europe very soon.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • LWNsplice() and the ghost of set_fs() [LWN.net]

        The normal rule of kernel development is that the creation of user-space regressions is not allowed; a patch that breaks a previously working application must be either fixed or reverted. There are exceptions, though, including a 5.10 patch that has been turning up regressions ever since. The story that emerges here shows what can happen when the goals of stability, avoiding security problems, and code cleanup run into conflict.

        The set_fs() function was added to the kernel early in its history; it was not in the initial 0.01 release, but was added before the 0.10 release in late 1991. Normally, kernel code that is intended to access user-space memory will generate an error if it attempts to access kernel space instead; this restriction prevents, for example, attempts by an attacker to access kernel memory via system calls. A call to set_fs(KERNEL_DS) can be used to lift the restriction when the need arises; a common use case for set_fs() is to be able to perform file I/O from within the kernel. Calling set_fs(USER_DS) puts the restriction back.

        The problem with set_fs() is that it turns out to be easy to forget the second set_fs() call to restore the protection of kernel space, leading directly to the "total compromise" scenario that kernel developers will normally take some pains to avoid. Numerous such bugs have been fixed over the years, but it had long been clear that the real solution was to just get rid of set_fs() entirely and adopt safer ways of accessing kernel memory when needed.

      • LWN5.19 Merge window, part 1 [LWN.net]

        As of this writing, just under 4,600 non-merge changesets have been pulled into the mainline repository for the 5.19 development cycle. The 5.19 merge window is clearly well underway. The changes pulled so far cover a number of areas, including the core kernel, architecture support, networking, security, and virtualization; read on for highlights from the first part of this merge window.

      • LWNAdding an in-kernel TLS handshake

        Adding support for an in-kernel TLS handshake was the topic of a combined storage and filesystem session at the 2022 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-management and BPF Summit (LSFMM). Chuck Lever and Hannes Reinecke led the discussion on ways to add that support; they are interested in order to provide TLS for network storage and filesystems. But there are likely other features, such as QUIC support, that could use an in-kernel TLS implementation.

      • LWNChallenges with fstests and blktests [LWN.net]

        The challenges of testing filesystems and the block layer were the topic of a combined storage and filesystem session led by Luis Chamberlain at the 2022 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-management and BPF Summit (LSFMM). His goal is to reduce the amount of time it takes to test new features in those areas, but one of the problems that he has encountered is a lack of determinism in the test results. It is sometimes hard to distinguish problems in the kernel code from problems in the tests themselves.

        He began with a request to always use the term "fstests" for the tests that have been known as "xfstests". The old name is confusing, especially for new kernel developers, because the test suite has long been used for testing more than just the XFS filesystem. It is not just new folks, though; even at previous LSFMMs, he has seen people get confused by the "xfs" in the name.

      • LWNFilesystems, testing, and stable trees [LWN.net]

        In a filesystem session at the 2022 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-management and BPF Summit (LSFMM), Amir Goldstein led a discussion about the stable kernel trees. Those trees, and especially the long-term support (LTS) versions, are used as a basis for a variety of Linux-based products, but the kind of testing that is being done on them for filesystems is lacking. Part of the problem is that the tests target filesystem developers so they are not easily used by downstream consumers of the stable kernel trees.

        His interest in the problem comes about because he is using the 5.10 LTS kernel and the XFS filesystem. He realized that XFS is not being maintained in that kernel; there are only three XFS patches backported to it in the past two years or more. There is some history behind that, though most in the room already know it, he said.

      • LWNID-mapped mounts [LWN.net]

        The ID-mapped mounts feature was added to Linux in 5.12, but the general idea behind it goes back a fair bit further. There are a number of different situations where the user and group IDs for files on disk do not match the current human (or process) user of those files, so ID-mapped mounts provide a way to resolve that problem—without changing the files on disk. The developer of the feature, Christian Brauner, led a discussion at the 2022 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-management and BPF Summit (LSFMM) on ID-mapped mounts.

        He began with an introduction. There are multiple use cases, but he likes to talk about portable home directories first because they are not related to containers, which many think is the sole reason for ID-mapped mounts. A portable home directory would be on some kind of removable media that can be attached to various systems, some of which have a different user and group ID for the user, but, of course, the media has fixed values for those IDs. ID-Mapped mounts allow the device to be mounted on the system with the IDs remapped to those of the user on the local system.

    • Applications

      • A quick textmode-themed update - Et tu, Cthulhu

        I (judiciously, as one might opine) pulled back from posting about every single feature release, but things have kept plodding along in quiet. ImageMagick is finally going away as per a buried remark from 2020, which means no more filling up /tmp, no more spawning Inkscape to read in SVGs, and so on. There's also lots of convenience and robustness and whatnot. Go read the release notes.

      • LWNThe Clever Audio Plugin [LWN.net]

        Our introduction to Linux audio and MIDI plugin APIs ended with a mention of the Clever Audio Plugin (CLAP) but did not get into the details. CLAP is an MIT-licensed API for developing audio and MIDI plugins that, its developers feel, has the potential to improve the audio-software situation on Linux. The time has now come to get to those details and look at the state of CLAP and where it is headed.

        When CLAP resurfaced in late 2021 after years of radio silence, xkcd #927 references were a popular response in all discussions about it. But there are a number of serious questions to ask about this API as well. Does CLAP actually compete with the other audio APIs available on Linux, including VST3, LV2, and others? Is it a viable alternative? Does it address problems that developers have with other APIs?

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • uni TorontoTLS Certificate Transparency logs don't always talk to you

        Certificate transparency is partly a de facto replacement for earlier systems that attempted to do certificate revocation at scale on the web, those being Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) and then OCSP. One of the problems that both CRLs and OCSP checks had (and have) is that they require Certificate Authorities to reliably operate high demand web services with essentially no downtime. Unsurprisingly, they periodically didn't, and in general we shouldn't be surprised by that, since running such web services is expensive as well as challenging.

      • Tech News IncHow do you allow Linux scripts to detect that they are running in virtual machines?

        Virtual machines do their best to convince their operating system that they are running on physical machines. So can you tell if a computer is physical or virtual from the Linux command line?

      • Trend OceansHow to Install Calibre eBook Management on Ubuntu and Other Linux Distributions

         Calibre is an open-source ebook manager and viewer tool that can open, edit, convert and manipulate ebooks. It is available on all platforms, whether it’s a Microsoft Windows, macOS, or any other Linux Distributions along with mobile devices and e-readers like Kindle.

        The basic features of calibre are as follows...

      • UNIX CopSetup your local DNS server using Webmin.

        Today, you will learn how to setup your local DNS server using Webmin

        Webmin is a powerful and flexible web-based server management control panel for Unix-like systems. Webmin allows the user to configure operating system internals, such as users, disk quotas, services, or configuration files, and modify and control open-source apps, such as the Apache HTTP Server, PHP, or MySQL.

      • UNIX CopHow to install Ruby on CentOS 9 Stream

        Hello, friends. In this post, you will learn how to install Ruby on CentOS 9 Stream. This programming language is one of the classics, but still important for many applications and scripts.

      • How to: Install Steam Deck UI on PS4, by Noob404 - Wololo.net

        Noob404, the PS4 scene’s new Linux expert, has published a video tutorial on how to install the Steam Deck UI on PS4. The technique requires a Jailbroken PS4 (of course) and will let you run the Steam Deck UI on a Linux distribution of your choice.

      • TechtownHow to Install Snappass on Ubuntu

        Imagine being able to share an important secret like a password over the Internet. Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? However, You can do it securely use a great application made in Python. Today, you will learn how to install Snappass on Ubuntu 20.04.

      • ID RootHow To Install Adminer on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Adminer on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Adminer (formerly known as PHPMyAdmin) is an open-source and free web-based database management tool. With Adminer, you can manage several databases including, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MS SQL, Oracle, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, and more. it is a lightweight application with strong security and user experience in mind.

        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 the step-by-step installation of the Adminer on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS, and more as well.

      • No GoToSocial



        Sadly, my system administration isn't going as well. I'm trying to install GoToSocial.

      • Knocking on silicon

        It's Sunday, and I go to check my email, only I can't. For some reason, the mouse isn't moving to the Linux screen [1]. Odd. Perhaps Synergy [2] crashed or something, so it's good thing I also have a KVM (Keyboard,Video, Mouse) switch installed as well. Only the keyboard isn't working [3].

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • GNOME Desktop/GTK

        • The Register UKGood news for GNOME fans as Adaptive Sync displays come to Mutter

          In a sign of how display handling is evolving, the GNOME desktop's 3D-compositing Mutter window manager is gaining support for variable refresh rate (VRR, also known as Adaptive Sync) displays.

          Mutter is an important chunk of code. As the project page says, it's "a Wayland display server and X11 window manager and compositor library."

          It's the basis of GNOME Shell, which is implemented [PDF] as a Mutter plug-in, but other desktops use it as well.

          For instance, the PIXEL desktop of the Raspberry Pi OS.

          It's also used in Pop!_OS's Cosmic desktop. Cinnamon uses a fork of it called Muffin.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • CNX SoftwareKodi 20 "Nexus" Alpha 1 gets AV1 hardware decoding, DietPi 8.5 released

       I’ll combine two unrelated short news about software releases for TV boxes, Raspberry Pi, and other SBCs: Kodi 20 “Nexus” Alpha 1 media center, and DietPi 8.5 lightweight Debian-based image for SBC’s.

      The first alpha release of Kodi 20 “Nexus” is out with one highlight being support for AV1 hardware video decoding in Android and x86 (VAAPI) platforms with AV1-capable GPU or VPU.

      Other notable changes include...

    • SUSE/OpenSUSE

      • Its FOSSopenSUSE Leap 15.4 Release Adds Leap Micro 5.2, Updated Desktop Environments, and More

        The upcoming openSUSE minor release is finally here. If you use OpenSUSE as your daily driver for desktop or server, you might have already tested the release candidate version available for a couple of weeks now.

        The openSUSE Leap 15.4 focuses on software package updates to match the SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 Service Pack 4. So, you will notice several deprecated packages, and new upgrades available to replace them.

        Of course, you should have some packages available to ensure compatibility. But, most of the older ones have been removed.

      • DebugPointopenSUSE Leap 15.4 - What's new, download details and roadmap to 15.5

        A release roundup of the rock-solid openSUSE Leap 15.4 which brings several updates to desktops, servers, containers and virtual workloads.

    • Debian Family

      • 9to5LinuxMeet SpiralLinux, a Debian-Based Distro Focused on Simplicity and Usability

         Meet SpiralLinux, a user-friendly and pre-configured GNU/Linux distribution derived from Debian GNU/Linux that aims to offer users support for all major desktop environments with out-of-the-box usability. It provides a customized, yet clean Debian GNU/Linux system that uses only the official Debian Stable package repositories.

        Just like GeckoLinux, SpiralLinux comes in no less than eight flavors featuring the KDE Plasma, GNOME, Xfce, LXQt, Cinnamon, Budgie, and MATE desktop environments.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • Linux GizmosMYIR offers Vision Edge Computing Platform built on Zynq Ultrascale+ MPSoC

        MYIR’s MYD-CZU3EG-ISP a vision edge computing platform built around the powerful Zynq-7000 SoC (System on Chip) family.€  The MYD-CZU3EG-ISP development board integrates the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ ZU3EG SoC, however, the platform can be customized to integrate the EV and CG models.

        The standard model of the MYD-CZU3EG-ISP packs the Zynq UltraScale+ ZU3EG MPSoC which provides a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 (up to 1.2GHz), a dual core real time Arm Cortex-R5 up to 600MHz), a Mali 400 embedded GPU and flexible FPGA fabric.€ 

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • OpenSource.comEdit PDFs on Linux with these open source tools

       If you're looking for a free and safe alternative to proprietary PDF viewing and editing software, it is not hard to find an open source option, whether for desktop or online use. Just keep in mind that the currently available solutions have their own advantages for different use cases, and there's no single tool that is equally great at all possible tasks.

      These five solutions stand out for their functionality or usefulness for niche PDF tasks. For enterprise use and collaboration, I suggest ONLYOFFICE or LibreOffice Draw. PDF Arranger is a simple, lightweight tool for working with pages when you don't need to alter text. Okular offers great viewer features for multiple file types, and Xournal++ is the best choice if you want to sketch and take notes in your PDFs.

    • Linux Links7 Top Free and Open Source Dart Web Frameworks

       One of the types of software that’s important for a web developer is the web framework. A framework “is a code library that makes a developer’s life easier when building reliable, scalable, and maintainable web applications” by providing reusable code or extensions for common operations. By saving development time, developers can concentrate on application logic rather than mundane elements.

      A web framework offers the developer a choice about how to solve a specific problem. By using a framework, a developer lets the framework control portions of their application. While it’s perfectly possible to code a web application without using a framework, it’s more practical to use one.

    • sslh v2.0-rc1 released

      Why 2.0? Because I feel like sslh has reached a stable point with a large amount of mature functionality, in particular with the inclusion of the libev version, and support for UDP protocols.

      Why rc1? Because the UDP protocols, and in particular the hash-based lookups, need production testing.

    • SaaS/Back End/Databases

      • PostgreSQLPostgreSQL: PostgreSQL 14 out-of-cycle release coming June 16, 2022

        The PostgreSQL Global Development Group will be releasing an update to PostgreSQL 14 on June 16, 2022. This release fixes an issue with all versions of PostgreSQL 14 that can lead to silent corruption of indexes.

        Since the release of PostgreSQL 14.0, there existed an issue with CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY and REINDEX CONCURRENTLY that could cause silent data corruption in indexes. This issue is fixed in the upcoming PostgreSQL 14.4 release.

        If you ran either of these commands on any version of PostgreSQL 14 prior to 14.4, you may have experienced silent data corruption. You can use the pg_amcheck command with the --heapallindexed flag to detect this issue with B-tree indexes.

    • Programming/Development

  • Leftovers

    • Education

      • Lawrence TrattWhat Makes a Good Research Proposal?

        Whatever the situation, I believe that good proposals share much in common. Unfortunately, many guides I've seen to creating proposals focus, sometimes very cynically, on the quirks or biases, real and imagined, of funders. In contrast, in this post I'm going to try to focus on the ideal core of a proposal, because that has inherent value in its own right, and also because it can be easily adapted to the specifics of a given funder.

        By focussing on this core, I'm hoping that I might help you answer two questions: "do I have an idea that's worth asking for resources to tackle?" and "how do I present that idea in a way that other people will best understand?" To make my life easy, I'm going to frame this discussion in terms of "readers" and "writers", though I hope the ideas generalise beyond written proposals, and "funders" as a shorthand for those in control of resources.

    • Hardware

      • CNX SoftwareBluetooth Auracast broadcast audio is the new name for Bluetooth LE audio sharing

        Multi-stream and broadcast audio features part of the Bluetooth LE Audio standard have been given a brand name by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Meet Bluetooth Auracast broadcast audio, or simply Auracast for shorts.

        As a reminder, Bluetooth Audio LE broadcast enables an audio transmitter, be it a smartphone, laptop, television, or public address system to broadcast audio to an unlimited number of nearby Bluetooth audio receivers that could be speakers, earbuds, or even hearing devices.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • ABCAmid gun control pressure, lawmakers hear from families, student who survived Texas school shooting

        In all, 19 young children and two teachers were killed by a gunman wielding an AR-15-style assault weapon at Robb Elementary School on May 24. Funerals for the victims are continuing until June 25. The Department of Justice announced Wednesday plans to review the police response in Uvalde after it took 77 minutes for law enforcement to breach the door and kill the gunman.

      • VoxWhat would it mean to treat guns the way we treat cars?

        For years, cars held that distinction. But over the past two decades, motor vehicular deaths involving Americans between the ages of 1 and 24 plummeted, cutting the rate by nearly half. And sometime in the late 2010s, those two lines — deaths by car and by firearm — crossed paths on the graph of leading causes of death for young people.

        In 2020, the most recent year for which data was available, firearms killed 10,186 young people, the highest number in two decades.

      • Poynter Institute“The leading cause of death among children is a firearm.”

        The CDC publishes data on the leading causes of death among different demographic groups, providing the most reliable data. In 2020, the leading cause of death among children ages one through 18 involved a firearm. There were 3,219 such deaths in 2020, followed by motor vehicle traffic deaths, of which there were 2,882.

    • Proprietary

      • India TimesCellnex teams up with Nokia to deploy private networks for enterprises

        Spanish telecom operators Cellnex Telecom and Finland’s Nokia have signed a partnership to deploy private networks for enterprise customers.

        Cellnex, through EDZCOM, has been working with Nokia in deploying dedicated wireless networks for companies in industries, such as energy, transport and logistics, manufacturing, mining, and healthcare.

        Dedicated private wireless networks allow enterprises to operate mobile services and fixed wireless access (FWA) separately from public networks, which provides advantages such as faster deployment, lower latency, and low operating costs.

      • The VergeMicrosoft HoloLens boss Alex Kipman is out after misconduct allegations

        Insider is reporting that Microsoft’s Alex Kipman, who led the teams that developed the company’s HoloLens augmented reality headset and the Kinect motion controller for Xbox and serves as one of Microsoft’s top technical fellows, has resigned after allegations of verbal abuse and sexual harassment.

      • CNBCHere's how much Apple's supply chain depends on Shanghai

        Both Bank of America and Credit Suisse analysts said the greater problem for Android suppliers is their reliance on the China market and falling domestic demand for smartphones.

    • Security

      • Linux and Data Security: The Myths, Challenges, and Solutions [Ed: Very dodgy publisher, publishing a borderline FUD piece for company looking to sell something, pretends that GNU does not exist and never existed (common error, perpetuated by people with a negative agenda)]

        Linux has come a long way since its humble beginnings as Finnish student Linus Torvalds’ pet project. With over 27.8 million lines of code to its name and its rise as the OS of choice for servers, public cloud, and supercomputers, Linux has earned an unmistakable spot among the top operating systems in the world today. Not only that, but the world’s most popular mobile operating system, Android, also uses a Linux kernel.

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • Ubuntu PitChromebook Getting Screencast App and Cast Moderator for Classroom [Ed: Spyware if not malware imposed on children. How is this in compliance? Lobbying?]

          Google plans to introduce many features to improve the classroom lessons to be more interactive. So at the Anywhere School 2022 webinar event on June 7, 2022, Google announced two new apps to be launched for ChromeOS to make it easier for teachers to moderate wireless casting.

          The first one of these two apps is Screencast, which helps the teachers build a video library for lessons, and the second one is Cast Moderator, which shares the Chromebook screen in the classroom through a supported Google Android TV device.

        • Computer WorldVPN providers flee Indian market ahead of new data rules

          VPN provider Surfshark became the latest company to pull its servers from India this week, in response to government attempts to regulate encrypted web traffic.

          The new directive by India's top cybersecurity agency, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In), requires VPN, Virtual Private Server (VPS) and cloud service providers to store customers' names, email addresses, IP addresses, know-your-customer records, and financial transactions for a period of five years.

        • Patrick Breyer“Targeted” Data Retention: our map explained

          The Belgian government plans data retention on five levels (Art. 126/1 €§ 3 from page 330). Our map shows, colored red, the areas affected by surveillance only on the first of these five levels, the so-called geographically “targeted” data retention. In the areas colored red, all connection and location data of all citizens would be retained. With each of the other four levels explained below, more red-colored areas would be added. In practice, the surveillance pressure against the population is even higher than shown on our map.

        • Site36Data retention and decryption: Justice and Home Affairs Council wants more surveillance

          EU member states will call for bypassing encryption also for counterterrorism and law enforcement. In addition, the entry of extremism suspects should be prevented and their assets frozen in the Union.

    • Defence/Aggression

      • The EconomistWhy America’s probe into the attempted coup last year is needed, before it’s too late

        So what is the point of the public hearings of the House committee probing the insurrection due to start on June 9th? From Thursday’s prime-time political theatre to half a dozen sessions that will follow before a final report in September, the coverage will be viewed very differently on either side of a polarised country. Commentators on the right will belittle it all as a witch hunt. And after November’s mid-term elections, in which the Republicans look likely to win control of the House, they can be counted on to bury the matter.

        Yet that ticking clock gives an urgency to the proceedings, which matter profoundly, for three reasons. One flows from the basic workings of democracy: institutions must do their job. It is the job of Congress to probe how an assault on the Capitol happened and what lessons can be learned. Its nine-member committee—seven Democrats and two principled Republicans, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger—has gone about it in a commendably thorough, bipartisan way, despite much resistance. On June 3rd the Department of Justice charged Peter Navarro, a former economic adviser to Mr Trump, for refusing to co-operate with the committee (though it strangely decided not to act against Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff at the time of the riot, despite similar obstructionism).

      • Rolling StoneThe Jan. 6 Committee Wants Twitter’s Internal Slack Messages. Twitter Is Fighting It

        Twitter is fighting a Jan. 6 committee request for its employees’ internal communications — including Slack messages about moderating Tweets related to the Capitol attack, three sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling stone.

        The social media giant is asserting a First Amendment privilege to push back on the panel’s demand for communications about moderating tweets related to the Capitol insurrection.

        Twitter’s pushback, the sources say, has caused consternation among the committee, whose members believe the internal communications would help them paint a fuller, more accurate portrait of how online MAGA extremism contributed to the day’s violence and mayhem. But the fact that the company is being asked for its internal communications at all raises tricky issues about the balance between free expression and the government’s authority to investigate an attempt to subvert democracy. And it shows just how wide Congressional investigators have been willing to cast their net in the run-up to their primetime hearings, which begin this week.

      • ABCKansas woman pleads guilty to leading ISIS battalion

        Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, allegedly expressed interest in carrying out terrorist attacks in the United States in support of ISIS on six separate occasions between 2014 and 2017, according to court documents unsealed in February.

        Fluke-Ekren, who also used the name Umm Mohammed al-Amriki, moved to Syria in 2012 and married a "prominent" ISIS leader, court documents said. She can reportedly speak four languages, and the documents alleged she rose up the ranks to command her own all-female battalion.

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • NPRAfter the leak, the Supreme Court seethes with resentment and fear behind the scenes

        But, he said, "invariably when we probed the universe of people who had access," the number expanded "exponentially." Instead of a discrete few, the number included "additional co-workers, office staff, computer administrative staff, family and friends of those working on the matter, even people who passed through the office," and in the pandemic era, one might assume, the homes of the justices and others working from home. Fine said that even if there was some evidence of contact with a reporter, "we were usually unable to prove that the contact led to the leak." Therefore, most of the time, all the investigators ended up with were theories and speculation.

      • CNNEscalation of the Supreme Court's leak probe puts clerks in a 'no-win' situation

        "These clerks are in a no-win position right now," said Liz Hempowicz, the director of public policy at the government watchdog group Project On Government Oversight, who added it would be "incredibly alarming" if Supreme Court officials viewed a clerk's retention of an attorney as an indicator of guilt.

        "What lawyer would advise anyone to hand over personal information like this and cell phone records like this without the advice of an attorney?" Hempowicz told CNN.

    • Environment

      • ShadowproofFacing Summer Heat, Activists Say Cooling Centers Are Far From Enough

        June 2022 will mark the one-year anniversary of the record-setting heat wave that killed over 500 people across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Canada. The Pacific Northwest, known for cold, rainy winters and mild summers reached high temperatures in 2021 with 116 degrees Fahrenheit in Portland, Oregon and 121 degrees in Lytton, Canada.€ 

        Oregon’s Multnomah County saw the most deaths. An analysis found most of the people who died were older, lived by themselves, and had no functioning air conditioning.

      • Energy

        • RTLSlash airline emissions to meet Paris targets: report

          Airlines must start to slash emissions before the end of the decade and by 2025 if possible, said the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) in a new report.

          The 2015 Paris climate treaty enjoins nations to cap global warming at "well below" two degrees Celsius, and 1.5C if possible.

          Earth's average surface temperature has already risen 1.2C above preindustrial levels.

          To project aviation sector emissions, the ICCT ran three models assuming different levels of traffic, fuel efficiency and other factors.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Telex (Hungary)Salvini and Navracsics have different ideas on the future of Fidesz
      • NBCFacebook's 2018 algorithm change boosted local GOP groups, research finds

        A change to Facebook’s recommendation system likely accounted for a disproportionate boost in visibility and engagement to conservative political groups on the social media platform starting in 2018, according to research published Wednesday.

        The research, published in the journal Research & Politics, looked at posts from the pages of nearly every county party in the U.S. and found a marked increase in shares, comments and reactions to Republican posts.

      • VarietyTwitter Will Comply With Elon Musk’s Data Demands, Reportedly Giving Him Access to ‘Firehose’ of 500 Million Daily Tweets

        Now, in an effort to close the deal, Twitter will offer Musk and his team access to its full “firehose” of raw data from the social platform, which includes 500 million-plus tweets posted daily, as early as this week, the Post reported.

      • Germany to launch sovereign tech fund to secure digital infrastructure

        Last year, a Commission report concluded that open source software was increasingly pervasive in digital technologies, and said it should be treated as “public good”. Given that it underpins so much of the digital economy, just a 10% increase in spending could bump GDP by around half a percent, it estimated.

        “Over the last couple of years, these basic technologies were only discussed when something was going wrong,” said Felix Reda, a German former Pirate Party MEP and now copyright researcher at Harvard University, who has been pushing for the fund.

        “It's the same way that politicians only talk about building bridges when the bridge has just collapsed,” he said. The protocol for encrypting email “was basically maintained by a single guy in Germany for years and years without any funding,” added Reda.

      • TechdirtDemocrats Need To Get Their Head Out Of The Sand: The Only Reason GOP Is Supporting Their Antitrust Bills Is To Force Companies To Host Disinfo

        Also, the bills’ authors could make it clear that these laws can’t be used to stop lawsuits related to content moderation choices, but they have deliberately chosen not to (because they know they’d lose the Republican support if they do).

      • Misinformation/Disinformation

        • NBCRussian propaganda efforts aided by pro-Kremlin content creators, research finds

          A small network of pro-Kremlin content creators have seen their audiences grow dramatically in recent months while spreading disinformation about the war in Ukraine, evading social media platforms’ efforts to curb Russian propaganda and paving a path to Western audiences, according to research published Wednesday.

          The creators are self-described “independent journalists” whose reports are often made from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and amplify Kremlin talking points and downplay or deny reported Russian atrocities. Researchers say the on-the-ground reports — which come in English, French, German and other languages — have proved effective at circumnavigating commitments from European governments and U.S.-based social media platforms to stop the spread of Russian propaganda.

        • SalonMemo to the media: GOP policies — not the rare liberal prosecutors — are driving crime

          The excuse for this misleading framework is that journalists are simply reporting on voter sentiment and the perception that liberal policies lead to crime. But this is a cop-out. Voters are confused because the media keeps regurgitating a framework that implies they must choose between liberal policies and lower crime rates. Of course, voters believe in this false dichotomy — it's the one presented as truth every time they turn on a TV or read a newspaper.

          This misleading coverage is all the more frustrating because it distracts from the very real causes of the crime and disorder problems that are legitimately bedeviling cities. To be certain, crime, especially violent crime, is a multifaceted problem that can rarely be reduced to a single cause. But what is driving voters in Los Angeles and San Francisco is anger over widespread homelessness and property crimes. And those problems are attributable in large part to Trump-era economic policies. National Democrats — hobbled by timing issues, centrist politicians, and the Senate filibuster — have done little to fix the situation.

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • Miami Herald‘They are not going to shut us up.’ Cuban exiles vow to boycott if Radio Mambí is ‘silenced’

        Promising boycotts, protests and strikes, Cuban exile leaders expressed their fear that two Miami stations, Radio Mambí and WQBA — which have traditionally advocated for Cuba’s freedom — would be silenced after being bought by Latino Media Network, a media company run by “social activists with a left-wing progressive political agenda.”

      • Updates to the Sensitive Content Control

        Starting today, the Sensitive Content Control will cover all surfaces where we make recommendations. In addition to Explore, you will now be able to control the amount of sensitive content and accounts you see in Search, Reels, Accounts You Might Follow, Hashtag Pages and In-Feed Recommendations. With this update, we’re also applying the technology we use to enforce our Recommendation Guidelines to Instagram's recommendations on Search and Hashtag pages. This update will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.

      • The VergeInstagram’s sensitive content filters are changing

        While you could always choose from three toggles that vary in how much sensitive content Instagram filters out, Instagram is renaming those existing options. Instead of “Allow,” “Limit,” and “Limit Even More,” Instagram’s now calling the tiers “More,” “Standard,” and “Less.” Instagram will set accounts on Standard by default, which will allow you to see “some sensitive content” across the platform. Choosing “More” will show you the most sensitive content while “Less” is the most limiting option of the three.

      • Industry DiveInstagram Expands Sensitive Content Control Options

        Instagram has announced an expansion of its Sensitive Content Control options, which it first launched last July, providing more ways for users to manage their in-app experience.

        Originally only covering the app’s ‘Explore’ element, Instagram will now enable users to manage the content that they see in all sections of the app.

      • CNETInstagram Expands Sensitive Content Controls: Here's How to Apply Them

        Instagram's expansion of content controls comes as social media and online content platforms are giving users more choice in the types of material they see. YouTube has a "restricted mode" that allows users to filter out more mature content, as does Reddit, Twitter and TikTok. Google recently introduced My Ad Center, a portal in which users can filter out certain types of ads they'd rather not see, such as ads around pregnancy or weight loss, topics that could elicit negative emotions. Of course, telling Google not to show ads about alcohol or dating will help advertisers better target potential customers.

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

      • RTLWe're here to inform you, not to insult you

        Part of being an editor is keeping track of comments. There is the idea floating around that we publish or hide comments arbitrarily and on a whim, but that's not the case. On our website they have to be validated before being published, while on social media the validation process starts after publication.

        During the pandemic the comment section was a battlefield. It was hard to keep track of information and misinformation, facts, and the of ever-changing restrictions and rules in each country. As journalists it's our duty to inform you, give you all the information you need in order to form beliefs and make your choices.

        We are here to seek the truth and report on it.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Computer WorldFour-day workweek pilot kicks off for thousands of UK workers

        The pilot project, the largest trial of its kind to date, involves 3,300 workers at 70 companies ranging from a car parts retailer to an animation studio, marketing agency, and fish and chip shop.

        It’s based on a “100-80-100” principle, which means 100% pay for 80% of time worked — with an expectation of 100% productivity.

      • Frontpage MagazineThe Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire

        Raheb avoids mentioning the obvious: While Western interference, past and present, may well have prompted and continues to prompt Muslims to massacre Christians, that is only because Muslims already see Christians as inferior infidels. Muslims massacred Christians in Mount Lebanon, during the Armenian genocide, etc., because they felt Christians were, thanks to colonial powers, becoming equals as opposed to knowing their place as second-class dhimmis within the Muslim social order as they did for the preceding millennium.

      • ABCTaliban detain Afghan fashion model on religious charges

        The Taliban have detained a famous Afghan fashion model along with three colleagues, accusing them of disrespecting Islam and the Holy Quran.

        Ajmal Haqiqi — known among Afghans for his fashion shows, You Tube clips, and modeling events — appeared handcuffed in videos posted on Tuesday to Twitter by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence, DCI.

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • Stranded: Repair Restrictions Immobilize Wheelchair Users

        This report outlines why wheelchair owners, like farmers, hospitals and smartphone owners, would benefit from a legal right to repair their equipment. Absent these and other reforms, wheelchair users will continue to face long wait times for repair that adversely affect their mobility and, with that, their physical and financial well-being. Right to Repair legislation that encompasses complex rehabilitation technology (CRT) devices like power wheelchairs would improve the market for wheelchair repair that would help ensure that disabled Americans receive prompt, high-quality service at an affordable price.

      • Copenhagen PostNetflix pulls the plug on Danish productions

        No to better pay for artists Netflix’s decision comes in response to a rights agreement reached between producers and filmmakers last December.

        The agreement guaranteed artists better pay, as well as that they be paid regularly instead of with a lump sum.

    • Monopolies



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