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Links 28/02/2023: New KDE Release and Some Politics



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Applications

      • Linux Links9 Best Free and Open Source Electronic Design Automation Tools

        There are a wide range of EDA tools out that are released under an open source license which let developers customize, and create their latest designs. To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we’ve compiled a list of 9 high quality free Linux EDA applications. Hopefully, there will be something of interest here for anyone who wants to design electronic systems.

      • Linux LinksBest Free and Open Source Software – February 2023 Updates

        Here are the latest updates to our compilation of recommended software. Open source software at its finest.

        It’s been an extremely busy month in February with a smorgasbord of new and updated group tests published.

        As always, we love receiving your suggestions for new articles or additional open source software to feature. Let us know in the Comments box below or drop us an email.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Linux Shell Tips4 Commands to List Mounted File Systems in Linux

        The Linux operating system provides multiple filesystems, including ext4, xfs, tmpfs, securityfs, and many more. This guide demonstrates various ways to list all mounted

      • UNIX CopHow to automate updates on Ubuntu and Redhat-based Systems
      • UNIX CopWhat is /dev/null in Linux
      • CloudbookletBuilding an Effective ML Deployment Stack with Docker on Ubuntu 22.04

        In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the process of building a powerful ML deployment stack on Ubuntu 22.04, complete with step-by-step instructions and commands.

      • UNIX CopHow To Install NoMachine on CentOS 9 / RockyLinux 9 / AlmaLinux 9

        In this guide, we will show you how to download and install NoMachine on AlmaLinux, RockyLinux and CentOS systems. NoMachine is a cross-platform, fastest, and highest quality remote desktop tool that enables you to access the desktop of any other machine with NoMachine installed.

      • UNIX CopHow To Install Bitwarden on CentOS 9 /AlmaLinux 9/ RockyLinux 9

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Bitwarden on your CentOS, AlmaLinux and RockyLinux systems.

      • UNIX CopHow To Install Discord on CentOS 9 /AlmaLinux 9/ RockyLinux 9

        In this guide, we will show you how to install Discord on CentOS, AlmaLinux and RockyLinux Systems with two different methods.

      • Peter Czanik: Syslog-ng 101, part 9: Filters

        This is the ninth part of my syslog-ng tutorial. Last time, we learned about macros and templates. Today, we learn about syslog-ng filters. At the end of the session, we will see a more complex filter and a template function.

        You can watch the video or read the text below.

        https://youtu.be/2JZNuRbZc_8

        Declaring filters

        Filters are expressions to select, or in other words, filter log messages. They make sure that the right messages reach the right destinations. For example, you can use filters to discard debug level log messages, or make sure that all authentication-related messages are routed to your SIEM system.

        A filter definition is a collection of one or more filter functions. It consists of two parts. It starts with the word “filter”, followed by an identifier for the filter which you will use later to refer to the given filter. After that, it lists the filter functions with their parameters. You can combine multiple filter functions using boolean operators. Here is how its syntax looks like:

        filter name { filterfunction(); };
        filter f_default { level(info..emerg) and not (facility(mail)); };
      • Linux Made SimpleHow to install Notepadqq on Linux Lite 6.2
      • Linux Made SimpleHow to install Reaper on a Chromebook
      • Barry KaulerHow to install Vivaldi browser or any DEB

        Forum member tallboy asked how to install Vivaldi web browser in EasyOS. Forum member kinoe replied with a link to a Vivaldi appimage.

        I also posted a couple of replies. Yes, appimages will work in Easy, and .deb packages can be installed just by clicking on then. There are some caveats though, see my replies:

      • DebugPointHow to Install LibreOffice in Arch Linux (Fresh and Still versions)

        LibreOffice comes in two variants. The latest version by number is the community edition which contains the latest features and enhancements and targets early adopters. And the business version is a little behind on features but it's stable and solid.

        However, in the Arch Linux package repository, the names remained as "fresh" and "still".

        Here's how to install it.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Ubuntu PitKDE Plasma 5.27.2 Released: What’s New?

          The KDE team has announced the second point release of the Plasma 5.27 LTS desktop environment series: Plasma 5.27.2. This release brings fixes for reported user issues, as well as a more streamlined experience with improved usability and efficiency overall.

        • KDEKDE Plasma 5.27.2, Bugfix Release for February
          Today KDE releases a bugfix update to KDE Plasma 5, versioned 5.27.2.

          Plasma 5.27 was released in February 2023 with many feature refinements and new modules to complete the desktop experience.

          This release adds a week's worth of new translations and fixes from KDE's contributors. The bugfixes are typically small but important and include...

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

  • Leftovers

    • MeduzaBelarusian IKEA knockoff company Swed House to open in Russia — Meduza

      The Russian Union of Shopping Centers has signed a cooperation agreement with the Belarusian company Swed House, a home goods firm that sells items intended to look like IKEA products.

    • MeduzaProsecution requests 19-year prison terms for Belarusian opposition leaders, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Pavel Latushko, tried in absentia — Meduza

      Belarusian opposition leaders Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Pavel Latushko are being tried in absentia in Belarus. They have been charged with conspiracy, organizing an extremist group, and undermining the government of Belarus and its state security.

    • Meduza18 human skeletons found on Dagestan beach, where they may have been buried in 1930s — Meduza

      Human remains were found on a Caspian Sea beach in Makhachkala, Dagestan, the Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing local law enforcement.

    • HackadayPokemon ROM Hacks Brought To The Real World

      If you were a kid anywhere in the last 30 years, it was nearly impossible to avoid at least some exposure to the Pokemon franchise. Whether that’s through games like Red and Blue to Scarlet and Violet, the brief summer everyone played Pokemon Go, or to other media such as the trading card game or anime, it seems to have transcended generations and cultures fairly thoroughly. And, if you’ve consumed all there is of official Pokemon video gaming, you may be surprised to know there are a number of slightly modified games floating around out there that can be translated onto game carts just like their official counterparts.

    • HackadayCollection Of Old Films Rescued For Preservation

      PeriscopeFilm owners [Doug] and [Nick] just released a mini-documentary about the rescue of a large collection of old 35 and 16 mm celluloid films from the landfill. The video shows the process of the films being collected from the donor and then being sorted and organized in a temporary storage warehouse. There is a dizzying variety of films in this haul, from different countries, in both color and black and white.

    • World Bank: Earthquake damage in Türkiye estimated to exceed $34 billion

      The rapid damage assessment report after the February 6 earthquakes also acknowledges that recovery and reconstruction costs will be much larger, potentially twice as large.

    • Union of bars files case against switch to remote education due to earthquakes

      Higher education will continue online, with earthquake survivors placed in university dormitories.

    • Xe's BlogTalon is amazing

      When I was writing this post, I was in a unique level of flow state working with Talon. It's probably gonna come across a little bit weird. Sorry!

      In my last article I discussed the voice control challenge, it is a very simple thing: put your hands at your sides and use only your voice to do your daily tasks. In essence, doing this makes you get exposed to what it is like for people who have to rely in these technologies on a daily basis.

      For many of you reading this post, this is just a thought experiment. This is something that you try once or twice and then go back to normal. It can be frustrating, none of your applications will work correctly. Selecting some UI elements may be difficult or even impossible.

      One way to look at a challenge like this is to help you train empathy for those who have to rely on this technology. it can make you feel powerless. This is a feeling that we rarely get to have as technologists.

      The thing that I really feel exemplifies the difficulty of the voice control challenge is controlling a text editor. Text editors require arbitrary keyboard inputs. They require pressing weird key binds. Doing this with voice control on a mac or iPad can be difficult to impossible.

    • Counter PunchLetter from London: Meeting at Maison Bertaux

      I made a nostalgic venture back into London’s Soho last week to meet up for a coffee and chat with writer and journalist Christopher Howse.€ We had arranged to meet at well loved patisserie Maison Bertaux on Greek Street, enjoyed by CNN only a few weeks ago,€ I noticed. It was not exactly Marlow getting the ship fixed and setting off upriver again but the drums of my past were certainly beating as I wandered up from Charing Cross. Not often these days did I meet with a broadsheet journalist, either. I have known my fair share, some also who gave up once it became impossible to make a living from it. Two I knew actually became barristers — funny, as, also last week, I had come across Harry Mount’s ‘My Brief Career’ in one of those appetising piles of free books you find at overland London railway stations. The kind you are encouraged to pluck like fruit and take back once read. As my train was late, I began reading Mount’s expose, and was immediately thankful to be taken away from news on my phone from Ukraine. It is a tidy account of how Mount travelled in the opposite direction from the two barristers by journeying instead from law to journalism. ‘A hilarious account of the splendid miseries of being a pupil in a barrister’s chamber,’ John Mortimer wrote. Mount is now editor of The Oldie, whose founding editor was former Private Eye and Soho luminary Richard Ingrams, and I wonder how the view is for him now.

      At least London seemed its usual eccentric and capricious self. I couldn’t help but notice the man in Leicester Square marching in front of me with the word ‘ELECTRICITY’ on the back of his high-vis jacket. ‘I’m shocked,’ he kept saying into his mobile phone, rather troublingly for an electricity man. ‘I am shocked!’ he repeated, perhaps too loudly this time. Leaving him to whatever power game he was playing, I sneaked a left into Chinatown and suddenly found myself beneath a marvellous sea of tethered bright orange lanterns, as if each chuckling away at the big grey sky. There were so many of them, all so light and crisp and beautiful, that I had to take a photograph. Only later did I realise each was bearing the name of a giant casino. In fact, serious gambling among London’s Chinese community is sufficiently common nowadays for the many first-time Chinese students heading to our universities being made aware of the impending risk of unlimited access to it. This sounds like something they may have once said to communists about to experience capitalism. On my left, meanwhile, was Wan Chai Corner, where many years ago I would eat delicious dim sum with a gracious backgammon-playing friend. By now I was really looking forward to seeing Christopher again. We are two quite different people who share many of the same interests — poetry, travel, the cosmos€ — or so I like to think. I reviewed his book ‘Soho in the Eighties’ in these pages a few years ago, and if ever a London memoir demonstrates an acute power of observation, it is this one. In equal measure, I am also a fan of his crescent-like ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’ based on years of travelling across the Castilian interior.

    • Oona RäisänenUsing HDMI radio interference for high-speed data transfer

      This story, too, begins with noise. I was browsing the radio waves with a software radio, looking for mysteries to accompany my ginger tea. I had started to notice a wide-band spiky signal on a number of frequencies that only seemed to appear indoors. Some sort of interference from electronic devices, probably. Spoiler alert, it eventually led me to broadcast a webcam picture over the radio waves... but how?

    • Science

      • HackadayMove Over Steel, Carbon-Reinforced Concrete Is Here

        Reinforced concrete is the miracle material which made possible so many of the twentieth century’s most iconic structures, but here in this century its environmental footprint makes it something of a concern. As part of addressing this problem, a team at TU Dresden in Germany have completed what is believed to be the world’s first building made with carbon-reinforced concrete, in which the steel rebar is replaced with carbon fiber.

    • Hardware

      • HackadayDIY STM32 Scope Is Simple, Cheap, And Featureful

        Would you like to have a small digital oscilloscope? Do you have a spare BlackPill (STM32F401) board and a TFT display laying around? [tvvlad1234] presents us with a simple and educational digital storage oscilloscope design that barely needs any components for you to build one, and it’s packed with features just like you would expect from a self-respecting open-source project. Not just that — it can even stream data to your computer, in a format compatible with the TekScope software!

      • HackadayWatch Time Slide By With This Electromechanical Clock

        Back in the 18th century, clockmakers were held in high esteem, as turning pieces of metal and wire into working timepieces must have seemed like magic at the time. The advent of mass production made their profession largely obsolete, but today there are several hardware hackers whom you could consider modern heirs of the craft. [Hans Andersson] is one of them, and has made a name for himself with an impressive portfolio of electromechanical clocks. His latest work, called the Time Slider, is every bit as captivating as his previous work.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • CNNAfter 959 days, this city is no longer imposing $1,000 fines for not wearing a mask

        One of the last major international cities requiring face coverings on Tuesday announced it will end its controversial Covid mask mandate nearly three years after it was enacted to prevent the spread of the virus.

      • CNNZero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds

        A sugar replacement called erythritol — used to add bulk or sweeten stevia, monk-fruit, and keto reduced-sugar products — has been linked to blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death, according to a new study.

      • TruthOutExposure to Chevron’s “Climate-Friendly” Fuel May Pose Severe Risk of Cancer
      • Brownstone flack Gabrielle Bauer admits that the Great Barrington Declaration was wrong

        From the vantage point of three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, at times October 2020 seems like ancient history, although I do still remember it well. The pandemic was building as the first deadly winter approached, and it was not clear when (or if) there would be safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19. There was hope, of course, because the reports coming out about the clinical trials of the mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna sounded promising, but even the most optimistic wouldn’t have predicted that the vaccine would receive emergency use authorization (EUA) and start rolling out to high risk frontline workers a mere two months later and then to the high risk general public not long after that. The 2020 Presidential election was in full swing, as much as it could be given the pandemic-driven restrictions on large gatherings. It was truly a bizarre election.

      • Pro PublicaMinnesota Looks to a New Approach to “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”

        Anti-abortion counseling centers, often called “crisis pregnancy centers,” may soon face an existential choice in Minnesota: Leave behind their explicit agenda of dissuading people from having abortions or risk losing state funding.

        While some center operators could see that as a nonstarter, state Democrats may leave the door open for them to continue receiving taxpayer dollars — albeit under a battery of rules some Minnesota lawmakers hope could expand services for pregnant people amid the country’s rapidly shifting abortion landscape.

      • Pro PublicaHow We Found That Sites of Ebola Outbreaks Risk Facing It Again

        As a devastating outbreak of Ebola spread to Tommy Garnett’s homeland of Sierra Leone in 2014, the conservationist had a hunch.

        Garnett long lamented the deforestation from farming, mining and logging in the region and wondered if tree loss had anything to do with the outbreak that had swept into Sierra Leone from a forested area of Guinea. With activities in his country at a standstill due to the outbreak, Garnett asked the ERM Foundation, the nonprofit arm of a sustainability consulting firm in London, to help him analyze patterns of deforestation.

      • Pro PublicaOn the Edge

        Generations ago, families fleeing tribal violence in southern Guinea settled in a lush, humid forest. They took solace among the trees, which offered cover from intruders, and carved a life out of the land. Their descendants call it Meliandou, which elders there say comes from words in the Kissi language that mean “this is as far as we go.”

        By 2013, a village had bloomed where trees once stood — 31 homes, surrounded by a ring of forest and footpaths that led to pockets residents had cleared to plant rice. Their children played in a hollowed-out tree that was home to a large colony of bats.

      • New York TimesHong Kong Mask Mandate, One of World’s Last, Will End

        As of Wednesday, the city will no longer require people to wear masks indoors, outdoors or on public transportation.

    • Security

      • Patrick LouisSecure the Border and Build the Wall

        Introduction

        Plenty of cheesy quotes often say that total security stands on the opposite of total freedom.
        Undeniably, in computers and operating systems this is a fact. However, universal privilege used to be the norm, and restricting actions was a concept that wasn’t part of the vocabulary. Today, this idea is a must. Our machines are constantly interacting with the external world, exchanging information, and deliberately fetching and executing pieces of code and software from servers hosted in places we might never visit. Meanwhile, we trust and intertwine our lives with these machines.

        A system that is trustworthy is not the same as a system we must trust. This distinction is important because systems that need to be trusted are not necessarily trustworthy.

        This article will focus on the topic of access control on Unix-like systems. Sit back and relax as it transports you on a journey of discovery. We’ll unfold the map, travel to different places, allowing to better understand this wide, often misunderstood, and messy territory. The goal of this article is to first and foremost describe what is present, allowing to move forward, especially with the countless possibilities already present. How can we better shape the future if we don’t know the past.

      • WhichUKScammers are imitating HMRC in fake tax refund emails

        Government issues warning about latest tax office impersonation scam

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • Environment

    • Finance

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • AxiosWhite House: Federal agencies have 30 days to remove TikTok from devices

        The White House has mandated that federal agencies remove TikTok from phones and systems in a bid to keep U.S. data safe, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced Monday.

      • CBCFederal government banning social media platform TikTok from government phones
      • Copenhagen PostParliament urging members to avoid using TikTok

        Centre for Cyber Security warned last week that there was a risk of espionage in connection with having the Chinese app on state devices

      • CNNRupert Murdoch acknowledged that Fox News hosts endorsed false stolen election claims

        Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox Corporation, acknowledged in a deposition taken by Dominion Voting Systems that some Fox News hosts endorsed false claims the 2020 election was stolen.

      • Marcy WheelerBREAKING from Fox News: Trump Cheated … and He Still Couldn’t Beat Joe Biden

        When Rupert Murdoch is forced to answer questions about the 2020 election under oath, it becomes clear the extent to which Fox News was -- is! -- covering up what a loser (Rupert knows that) Trump is.€ 

      • Marcy WheelerThe Search For The Origins Of The State

        Were early societies "states" in the modern sense? Nope.

      • Marcy WheelerHow Holes in Ivanka’s Testimony Could Help Make an Obstruction Case against Her Father

        In testimony before the January 6 Committee, Ivanka and Eric Herschmann both failed to recall key details of Trump's refusal to ask his rioters to leave the Capitol. For several reasons, one or both may end up remembering more of those details before a Jack Smith grand jury.

      • ACLUCrossing the Bridge Together: The Fight for Voting Rights Marches On

        On January 12, a tornado tore across central Alabama, including the historic city of Selma. Since then, community groups have been clearing roads and picking up the pieces from the damage. Simultaneously, the city is preparing for its annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee: a recognition of Bloody Sunday, the Selma-to-Montgomery march, and the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

        As the ACLU of Alabama prepares for our annual trip to Selma to commemorate the historic bridge crossing on March 5, amidst such devastation in the city, I feel the immense tradition and history of Selma, a place where our elders accomplished so much to make voting rights possible. 58 years after the historic movement that led to the 1965 enactment of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the legal enfranchisement of Black voters, I remain struck by the duality of what voting rights in Alabama has meant for this nation.

      • The StrategistChina’s self-serving Ukraine ‘peace plan’

        On 24 February, marking one year since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine began, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs€ published€ China’s position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. In theory, its 12 points form the basis ...

      • Common DreamsHas the GOP Lost Its Brain? Hardly.

        Timothy Noah is an incisive commentor on U.S. politics. His recent New Republic essay, “How the GOP Lost Its Brain,” nicely documents the ways that the Republican party has become both increasingly anti-intellectual and incoherent since the days of Reagan. The GOP deserves to be skewered for its inconsistencies, absurdities, and lunatics. And its very real fissures ought to be analyzed with care, for they can grow, and contribute to the party’s weakening if they do. But it does not follow from these fissures that the GOP is an agglomeration of nihilists and no longer has “ideas.” It has ideas, and they are summed up in the acronym MAGA, which now defines both the Republican base and its major leaders and presidential aspirants.

      • Common DreamsDear Gov. DeSantis: You're a History Grad. Please Tell Me When Systemic Racism Ended

        When Ron DeSantis was asked by a Fox News host two years ago if the United States is “systemically racist,” the Florida governor quickly responded: “It’s a bunch of horse manure.” He went on to boast that he had banned such ideas in Florida’s schools.

      • TruthOutFormer Watergate Prosecutor: Trump Should Have Been Charged Upon Exiting Office
      • TechdirtGetting Kicked Off Social Media For Breaking Its Rules Is Nothing Like Being Sent To A Prison Camp For Retweeting Criticism Of A Dictator

        It’s become frustrating how often people insist that losing this or that social media account is “censorship” and an “attack on free speech.” Not only is it not that, it makes a mockery of those who face real censorship and real attacks on free speech. The Washington Post recently put out an amazing feature about people who have been jailed or sent away to re-education camps for simply reposting something on social media. It’s titled “They clicked once. Then came the dark prisons.“

      • Telex (Hungary)Budapest-based Russian "spy bank" in critical situation
      • Telex (Hungary)A battle of wills: Hungarian doctors vs the government
      • Common DreamsAnalysis Spotlights the Lasting Pain Inflicted by Reagan's Social Security Cuts

        In 1983, just before signing legislation that cut Social Security benefits, then-President Ronald Reagan declared that "we're entering an age when average Americans will live longer and live more productive lives."

      • Common DreamsLeftist Elly Schlein—'Italy's AOC'—Elected to Confront Far-Right Giorgia Meloni

        Calling her victory "a clear mandate for real change," left-wing Italian politician Elly Schlein on Sunday was named the new leader of her country's Democratic Party after winning against a centrist supported by the political establishment.

      • Common DreamsSanders Warns of 'Primary Care Cliff' as Federal Funds for Local Clinics Set to Expire

        Sen. Bernie Sanders warned Monday that without swift congressional action, the $5.8 billion in federal funding relied on each year by community health centers around the United States will expire on September 30, resulting in a devastating "primary care cliff."

      • The NationDo Voters Really Want More CIA Analysts in Congress?

        Elissa Slotkin, the first Democratic hopeful seeking to replace retiring Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, is the sort of candidate national Democratic strategists fantasize about. She represents a closely divided district in Lansing, after initially getting elected to a solidly Republican one, and she has a solid centrist voting record likely to appeal to the highly coveted white suburban mom demographic. She’s also a former CIA analyst who served three tours in Iraq. She has the same political CV, in other words, that delivered a clutch of traditional GOP congressional seats to security-minded women during the 2018 blue wave that granted House Democrats a strong majority in the midst of the Trump years. Pundits eagerly dubbed that landmark ballot “the year of the badass woman”—and they will no doubt be closely monitoring Slotkin’s Senate bid for further confirmation of this reassuring political trendlet.

      • The NationIt’s Time to Call Out the DeSantis Deflection

        When Ron DeSantis recently threatened to end AP courses for all high schoolers in Florida, he did more than escalate the culture war that right-wing reactionaries are waging against “critical race theory” and anti-racism. DeSantis signaled his willingness to join a long line of Southern governors who have used racism to deflect attention from their failure to help people hurting in their states, especially poor and low-wealth people. Even if DeSantis never attacked Black history or trans people, moral leaders and impacted people should be standing up, speaking out, organizing, and voting because of the way his policy decisions have sacrificed the well-being of Floridians, especially the more than 10 million poor and low-wage people, be they Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native, LQBTQIA, or straight. DeSantis wants to argue about whether white students feel guilty when they learn the truth about America’s past, but he has been silent about the fact that 47 percent of Florida’s citizens are poor and low-income, including 39 percent of all white people in his state. Since 1979, income for the top 1 percent of Floridians has nearly doubled. But for everyone else, real income has actually fallen over the same four decades. That’s as true for poor white folks as it is for poor Black folks.

      • The NationWhy the Media Just Can’t Stop Whitewashing the Koch Family

        If you want to suffer through Hollywood at its sappiest, you could waste an afternoon watching Mary Pickford’s 1917 tearjerker The Poor Little Rich Girl and its 1936 remake of the same name starring Shirley Temple (the original source material being a 1913 Broadway play by Eleanor Gates). Both films, as one could guess from the titles, explore the difficulties of being the child of plutocratic wealth. Pickford plays Gwendolyn, the neglected offspring of a mother who prefers high society to her daughter and a father mired in moneymaking schemes. Growing up in a chilly household, Gwendolyn finds friendship in the rowdy company of the warm if ragged working class, including an organ grinder and a plumber. Temple’s suffering young princess, Barbara Barry, has only one, and a negligent, parent, a widowed father immersed in business. Like Gwendolyn, Barbara also discovers nurturing kindness in the company of the immiserated, including yet another organ grinder.

      • The NationArgentina, 1985 Is a Political Tale for Our Time

        Argentine President Alberto Fernández wasted no time in sounding the alarm. A little more than two weeks removed from a January 6–style insurrection in Brazil—and following a series of violent crackdowns by Peru’s newly formed government—Fernández opened the seventh summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Buenos Aires with a warning: “We believe in democracy, and democracy is definitively at risk. After the pandemic, we have seen how the ultra-right has stood up, and it is threatening each of our countries. What we can’t allow is for this recalcitrant and fascist right to threaten our institutions.”

      • The NationSara Nelson Could Be the Greatest Labor Secretary Since the New Deal

        When Sara Nelson agreed to come to Madison, Wis., to discuss the future of labor at an ideas festival on the University of Wisconsin campus in the fall of 2021, it was supposed to be just another appearance by one of America’s most engaged and energetic labor leaders. Then, Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, ended up having a pair of surgeries that required her to use a wheelchair for several months. Of course, she could have canceled the trip. But that’s not how Sara Nelson rolls.

      • Democracy NowA History of California, Capitalism, and the World: Malcolm Harris on New Book “Palo Alto”

        We speak with author Malcolm Harris about his new book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, in which he writes how his hometown in the heart of Silicon Valley and home to many tech billionaires has helped to reshape the economy by exporting its brand of capitalism to the rest of the United States and around the world. “It’s important to see the internet and its history as this relation between capital and the government,” says Harris in a wide-ranging interview.

      • ScheerpostWhy Much of the Global South Isn’t Automatically Supporting the West in Ukraine

        In October 2022, about eight months after the war in Ukraine started, the University of Cambridge in the UK harmonized surveys conducted in 137 countries about their attitudes towards the West and towards Russia and China.

      • Scheerpost‘Argentina, 1985’ Is a Political Tale for Our Time

        Argentina’s nominee for Best Foreign Film offers an urgent warning to democracies in Latin America and across the West.

      • ScheerpostWest Is Out of Touch With Rest of World Politically, EU-Funded Study Admits

        A study by the elite EU-funded European Council on Foreign Relations found the West is out of touch politically with the rest of the world. Most people in China, India, and Türkiye see Russia as an important ally, and they want multipolarity, not continued “American global supremacy”.

      • Counter PunchBuilding Direct Democracy in an Atlanta Forest

        On the edge of a forest just south of Atlanta, I sat in the shade of a gazebo on a hot day in May of 2022, speaking to two activists. Parkgoers sweated in their short sleeves as they strolled past a concrete wall, on which graffiti said DEFEND THE FOREST over a fist sprouting up from roots like a squat tree trunk.

        The two activists, along with many others, had taken the graffiti’s message to heart and were trying to stop large tracts of the South River Forest from being developed into a privately owned soundstage and a sprawling training center for police, dubbed Cop City. Since that day, the gazebo has been ripped apart by heavy equipment, eighteen activists have been charged with “domestic terrorism,” and one forest defender has been shot and killed by police.

      • Pro PublicaThe Democratic Insider Who Fought the Trump Administration

        As chief U.S. House counsel for four years, Douglas Letter advised then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi through tense legal standoffs with the Trump administration. He helped shape strategy for the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, leading to contempt of Congress charges against Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro and subpoenas for five sitting members of Congress.

        Now, Letter, a Justice Department attorney for 40 years, has begun a new role as legal counsel for the Brady campaign, defending victims of gun violence and taking on gun laws, such as a local statute in Highland Park, Illinois, that restricts assault weapons like one used in a July 4 parade massacre. Letter said he carries with him lessons learned counseling House Democrats as they faced growing partisan hostilities and concerns for their safety.

      • Green Party UKGreen Party response to deal on Northern Ireland protocol | The Green Party

        Responding to the deal agreed between the UK and the EU on the Northern Ireland protocol, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

        “We welcome closer cooperation between the UK government and the EU. Boris Johnson had promised an ‘oven-ready’ deal which has caused pain, division and turmoil for communities and businesses in Northern Ireland.

        “Hopefully today’s agreement marks a turning point when we can begin to heal these problems and strive towards much closer relationships.”

    • Censorship/Free Speech

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

    • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • Democracy NowFree Speech on Trial: Supreme Court Hears Cases That Could Reshape Future of the Internet

        We look at two cases before the Supreme Court that could reshape the future of the internet. Both cases focus on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which backers say has helped foster free speech online by allowing companies to host content without direct legal liability for what users post. Critics say it has allowed tech platforms to avoid accountability for spreading harmful material. On Tuesday, the justices heard arguments in Gonzalez v. Google, brought by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in the 2015 Paris terror attack. Her family sued Google claiming the company had illegally promoted videos by the Islamic State, which carried out the Paris attack. On Wednesday, justices heard arguments in the case of Twitter v. Taamneh, brought by the family of Nawras Alassaf, who was killed along with 38 others in a 2017 terrorist attack on a nightclub in Turkey. We speak with Aaron Mackey, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who says Section 230 “powers the underlying architecture” of the internet.

      • TechdirtFCC ‘Investigating’ Repeated Broadband Industry Coverage Lies

        After years of criticism about their inaccuracy, the FCC recently spent another $50 million (on top of the $350 million they’d already spent) on supposedly better broadband maps. But the end result is still a bit of a mess, with entrenched telecom monopolies like Comcast being repeatedly caught claiming to deliver broadband in areas that can’t receive service. Often to glean subsidies the company doesn’t deserve.

      • APNICTransiting UAVs in aerial mesh networks

        Guest Post: How to maintain continuous network connectivity during movement.

      • APNICWelcome to APRICOT 2023

        APRICOT 2023 starts today in Manila, Philippines! Here are some highlights.

      • APNICIETF roundup for the APNIC community

        Guest Post: Investigating IETF activities relevant to the APNIC community at APRICOT 2023.

    • Monopolies

      • Patents

      • Trademarks

        • TechdirtSlim Shady Files Shady Trademark Opposition Over Application For ‘Reasonably Shady’ Podcast

          And if that title didn’t really confuse you all that much, then you’ve managed to get the point. Eminem hasn’t been shy about asserting his intellectual property rights in the past, though much of his efforts on that front have actually been to the benefit of artists from his fights with record labels. That doesn’t mean that Em’s team isn’t capable of some IP missteps, however.

      • Copyrights

        • Creative CommonsZarya of the Dawn: US Copyright Office Affirms Limits on Copyright of AI Outputs

          Just this week, the United States Copyright Office (USCO) provided a bit more clarity, at least as to its views about US law and works generated by AI. While it affirms some of the limits that we articulated, it leaves open many questions about where exactly the boundaries of copyrightability lie.

        • Torrent FreakPirate Couple Got Caught Uploading, Promised to Abstain, Got Caught Again

          In 2018, Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN targeted a middle-aged couple who uploaded pirated content in breach of copyright. In exchange for a relatively small settlement and a promise not to infringe again, BREIN took no further action. After being caught for a second time, harsh financial consequences mean that the man and woman are no longer a couple.

        • Torrent FreakSony vs. Datel: Game Cheat Copyright Questions Referred to EU's Top Court

          After more than a decade of litigation in Germany, key questions emerging from a Sony lawsuit targeting cheat maker Datel have been referred to Europe's highest court. The lawsuit concerns cheat mechanisms created for Sony's long-dead Playstation Portable that affected gameplay but ran alongside copyrighted code without directly modifying it.

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • Part Time Work

        Over the last 4 months (since my dance with c0v1d) I've been having ongoing health issues. So much so that I can no longer work full time. Of course the bills have to be paid so I find myself looking for alternative modes of operation.

        At first I though that freelancing might be the answer but that lacks stability.Some weeks you have income and others you don't. One might think that a higher hourly rate is the answer but that approach is getting harder and harder to do in such a competitive market. A part time role could be the answer.

      • Collecting links about skills

        I feel like I'm going overboard with the references. When I listen to podcasts, I practically never check the pages with references. But in this case, the four of us bring so much stuff to the table that deserves a link. If you can think of more stuff that needs to be added, please do so.

        One link I was unable to find was a post by James Raggi where he first mentioned the specialist class in Lamentations of the Flame Princess and ditching percentage thieves' abilities for X-in-6 rolls with the d6.

      • Christians Speaking out against Christian Nationalism

        I was born and spent the first 32 years of my life in Oklahoma. I hate the place with a passion. For an example of how terrible it is: a couple years after I left, the governor called for a statewide day of prayer for the petroleum industry. I still try and keep an eye on the place. Occasionally I browse the r/okc and r/oklahoma subreddits, to get an idea of what's going on down there. Last night, I stumbled on a very wonderful article, that I'm going to reproduce in full here.

      • Moon/Star Gazing 2023-02-27 Evening (Fairbanks, AK, USA)

        Fairbanks was inside a high-pressure bubble last night, and skies were clear. Not knowing how many more such opportunities I would get before we were overwhelmed by Alaska's increasing daylight hours, I decided to head out to the boat launch for some stargazing. I was dressed quite stiffly in multiple layers of artic gear, expecting the temperatures to get extremely cold, and in fact they did drop down to -26 deg F at my viewing location.

      • Tuesday

        As I enter the Midnight, along the counter a few new heads turn to see, who's coming in. It's only me. As I carefully close the door to leave the cold wind outside, a whizzing sound can be heard --- apparently emanating from my backpack. Ya ya, I know, it's my trusted notebook grinding away on a build of emacs 29 ... I turn to my favorite table in the corner, because it has a power outlet close. Hastily I retrieve the machine from my backpack and plug in the power supply. That very moment the whizz dies. make completed. Puh. No errors. Lucky me, I guess.

      • On being an ally

        Sometimes I read posts on Mastodon about allyship and it always reminds me of a longer discussion I had with my wife about the rights of women and microagressions and related topics and she didn't care much about all that. The main point she came back to again and again was: I don't care about this, I just want equal pay for equal work.

        I think what she was getting at is that the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon: Talking about being an ally is not the same as actually being an ally for real people in your life.

      • gemini://rawtext.club/~deerbard/glog/2023-02-28-back-to-flow.gmi

        As a child, I entered the flow state naturally. Simply by attending to what interested me. Then I gradually lost access to it. Now, having passed the halfway point of my life expectancy, I'm regaining it again.

    • Technical

      • Decimal watch, short update

        Of course it is not exactly as I would have imagined. I had meant to only work with decimal time directly when using the watch. My plan was to memorise a handful of decimal equivalents to my regularly daily events and just use the watch to compare how close I was to them throughout the day. As a secondary usage the watch gives me something to glance at and see the day pass without really caring about the specific time.

        My assumption was that the above two use cases would account for the overwhelming majority of my watch usage. The other use case I imagined was ad hoc times, like catching a bus and needing to compare against a time table that uses traditional time. Here I had already decided I would just use other time sources, like pulling out my phone (or looking at nearby clocks). I was OK with this because I suspected it would not do it often.

      • Notes on tldr hosting

        I wasn't sure if this was worthwhile, and although I've used it occasionally myself, I largely forgot about it. But recently I got email from someone who found it helpful, which put it back in my mind.

      • Alt-Text & Link Rot — How Accessibility Features Benefit Everyone

        Links rot. It’s unfortunate, but it’s just a part of the web. Content disappears and links rot; if you don’t host your own images, then you can’t guarantee that your images will always appear. In this situation, alt-text can be the difference between your piece still making sense and it being completely useless. This is because many browsers show the alt-text with the missing image icon, so descriptive alt-text can make sure your audience still gets the necessary information.

      • Punking PCB layout with GEDA-PCB

        I've spent most of my adult life laying out PCB boards (not all the time...). I go through phases when I do a lot of PCB layout. I've used various software to do so, but in the end, my favorite way to do it is punking it with PCB.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Certificate Change on skyjake.fi

          Sometime in the next few days I will be updating the server certificate on skyjake.fi with a new one that includes "*.skyjake.fi" as a DNS wildcard.

          The private key of the certificate will remain the same, so your client may trust the new certificate automatically.

      • Programming

        • Unlikely Unicode, Episode MMCMVIII

          English has zoning rules against placing the sound represented by Å‹ at the head of the word--that would be using English wrongly, you see. The discussion spawned from NixOS and nginx and whether the two alliterate, or not. Probably it's just that nginx is popular, and is favored by certain perhaps too vocal commentators who also happen to use NixOS. These words alliterate by regular expression, qr/\b(?i)n/, which we might term a visual alliteration, just as one can have visual rhymes, "I love that stove".

          A leading Å‹ could make an appearance in comic-book, perhaps the Penguin was preparing to pontificate when that protector of peace, Batman, punched him in the paunch. Speaking of children's materials, I am informed that /vr/ is likewise verboten at the start of a word--vroom, vroom! But these are not serious examples, and doubtless they will be grown out of in good time. After all, Don Quixote put an end to the sale of chivalric romances.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



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