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Links 09/05/2023: KDE Plasma 5.27.5, More Microsoft Layoffs



  • GNU/Linux

    • Server

      • TecMintRedHat vs Debian: Administrative Point of View in 2023

        There are countless Linux distributions available, a vast majority are free to download and use. Some are more appropriate for performing particular tasks than others.

        For example, Ubuntu, Mint, and Elementary OS are more recommended in desktop and laptop PCs than Arch Linux or Alpine.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • dwaves.deGNU Linux how to transfer files from host to guest and vice versa (including clipboard) – alias useful get overview harddisk partitions

        if the spice tools are installed, copy & pasting text and even images...

      • TecAdminHow to Install and Configure Nagios NRPE Client on Ubuntu 22.04

        Nagios is a powerful open-source monitoring solution that allows you to monitor your servers and network infrastructure. The Nagios Remote Plugin Executor (NRPE) is a client-side component that allows the execution of Nagios plugins on remote systems.

      • UNIX CopHow to remove a Remote Git

        In this post, you will learn how to remove a Remote Git repository. The process is simple, but it is good to keep in mind to avoid surprises in the future. Git is a decentralized version control system that allows you to add repositories locally or remotely.

      • FOSSLinuxSwap Space 101: How to monitor and manage it in Linux

        Swap space is an integral part of Linux memory management, helping to maintain system stability and performance when physical memory is insufficient. In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve into various methods for checking swap usage size and utilization, as well as discuss why swap space is crucial and how to troubleshoot common issues.

      • FOSSLinuxHow to install Apache OpenOffice on Ubuntu

        OpenOffice, also known as Apache OpenOffice, is a popular open-source office suite that offers a range of applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. As a viable alternative to LibreOffice, OpenOffice provides compatibility with various file formats, making it an excellent choice for Ubuntu users.

      • How to install Eigen C++ library on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

        Eigen is a valuable library for those who code in C++ for linear algebra computations.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Vue.js on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

        Vue.js is a progressive, incrementally-adoptable JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. Developed by Evan You in 2014, it has quickly grown in popularity due to its simplicity, flexibility, and approachable syntax.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Steam on Pop!_OS

        Linux gaming has been on a steady rise, and one of the major players in this domain is the Steam gaming platform. Valve, the company behind Steam, has actively embraced Linux as an important platform for gaming.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Pluma on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

        Pluma is an open-source text editor that is specifically designed for the MATE desktop environment. With its lightweight design and user-friendly interface, Pluma has become a popular choice for developers, writers, and users who need a simple yet powerful text editor for their daily tasks.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Python 3.9 on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

        Python, a versatile and powerful programming language, continues to evolve with each new release. The Python 3.9 release was a major milestone for developers with more advanced features and improvements that make writing efficient and maintainable code a breeze.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Cockpit on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

        Cockpit is a powerful, modern, and user-friendly web-based interface that simplifies the administration and management of Linux servers. It allows system administrators to monitor, configure, and troubleshoot their servers with ease.

      • TecMintiPerf3 – Test Network Speed/Throughput in Linux

        iperf3 is a free open-source, cross-platform command-line-based program for performing real-time network throughput measurements. It is one of the most powerful tools for testing the maximum achievable bandwidth in IP networks (supports IPv4 and IPv6).

      • OSTechNixHow To Fix ‘Failed To Update Metadata For Lvfs’ Error In Linux
      • OSTechNixUnleash Your Productivity With Kitty Terminal Emulator: A Must-Have For Linux Enthusiasts

        In this article, we will discuss what is Kitty Terminal Emulator, explore the features of Kitty Terminal Emulator, and show you how to install and use Kitty Terminal Emulator on your Linux system.

      • TecMintHow to Delete Large Directory with Thousands of Files in Linux

        File management is one of the common tasks that a user undertakes on a Linux system, which includes creating, copying, moving, modifying, and deleting files and directories.

        This article provides a few command-line tips on how you can delete a large directory that contains thousands of files in a Linux system.Table of Contents1Delete Files in LinuxDelete Directory in LinuxDelete a Large Directory with Tons of FilesDelete Files With Inode Number in LinuxCreate a Directory with Thousands of FilesFastest Way to Delete Directory in LinuxDelete Large Directory with Find CommandDelete Large Directory with Perl CommandConclusion

      • TecMintHow to Permanently Disable Swap Partition in Linux

        Swapping or swap space represents a physical memory page that lives on top of a disk partition or a special disk file used for extending the RAM memory of a system when the physical memory fills up.

        Using this method of extending RAM resources, inactive memory pages are frequently dumped into the swap area when no RAM is available. However, due to the spinning speed of classical hard disks, swap space is way lower in transfer speeds and access time compared to RAM.

    • Games

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • 9to5LinuxKDE Plasma 5.27.5 Improves Flatpak Permissions Page, System Settings, and More

          KDE Plasma 5.27.5 is here five weeks after the KDE Plasma 5.27.4 update and improves the accuracy of estimated battery life by refining the way its estimated, improves Plasma’s Disks & Devices widget so you won’t see useless “Mount” actions for MTP-connected devices, and updates the “Highlight Changed Settings” feature to also work on the new Flatpak Permissions page in System Settings.

          Talking about System Settings’ new Flatpak Permissions page, this update fixes a bunch of significant bugs so that it no longer generates broken overrides configurations, improves custom environment variable support, which is now enabled by default, fixes the “read-write” option of “All User Files”, and improves adding of new file system paths to no longer interfere with the state of other items in the list.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Debian Family

      • Paul Tagliamonte: Open to work!

        I decided to leave my job (Principal Software Engineer) after 4 years. I have no idea what I want to do next, so I’ve been having loads of chats to try and work that out.

    • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

      • UbuntuKubecon EU 2023: Operator Day hosted by Canonical - recordings available | Ubuntu

        The Operator Day at KubeCon EU 2023, hosted by Canonical, took place on Monday, 17 April€  2023. We thank everyone for attending the event. Our thanks go out especially to those who engaged with each other during the sessions, asked questions and contributed to our€  interactive event. If you missed this 6th edition of Operator Day, we have good news: The recordings are available as a playlist on YouTube!

      • Ubuntu NewsUbuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 786

        Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 786 for the week of April 30 - May 6, 2023. The full version of this issue is available here.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • Linux GizmosPico-ITX Single Board Computer based on STM32MP13x microcontrollers

        iWave Systems recently announced the iW-RainboW-G54S STM32MP13x LGA System on Module aimed at low-power embedded and consumer applications. The company also unveiled a compatible SBC to provide access to extensive peripherals.

      • HackadayArctos Robotics: Build A Robot Arm Out Of 3D Printer Spares?

        ARCTOS is a 6-DOF robot arm based upon 3D printed mechanics running a modified version of GRBL firmware. Let’s get this straight now, the firmware is open source, but the hardware plans are a paid download, but for less than forty euros, we reckon the investment would be well worth it, judging from the quality of the build instructions and the software support already in place.

      • Thinger.io: A Quick Start Guide

        Thinger.io is a decently popular IoT platform€ for a number of reasons. It’s completely open source, hardware-agnostic and features a user-friendly Admin console with a proven zero coding experience.

      • Everything Smart HomeEverything New In Home Assistant 2023.5!

        Upgrade your smart home game with Home Assistant's latest voice features! Assistant pipelines, ESPHome smart speakers, VOIP, and more!

    • Open Hardware/Modding

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Mozilla

        • 9to5LinuxFirefox 114 Beta Revamps DNS over HTTPS Feature, Adds Cookie Banner Reduction

          With Firefox 113 hitting the stable channel today, we are already looking forward to the Firefox 114 release, which is currently in the beta channel and promises to introduce several new security features to make our Internet surfing session safer.

          One of the biggest changes in Firefox 114 is the revamp of the DNS over HTTPS feature, a privacy-focused feature that sends your request for a domain name through an encrypted connection, creating a secure DNS and making it much harder for third parties to see the websites you’re visiting.

        • Patrick Cloke: Matrix Push Rules &€ Notifications

          In a previous post about read receipts & notifications in Matrix I briefly mentioned that push rules generate notifications, but with little detail. After completing a rather large project to improve notifications in Matrix I want to fill in some of those blanks. [1]

          Note

          These notes are true as of the v1.6 of the Matrix spec and also cover some Matrix spec changes which may or may not have been merged€ since.

        • OMG UbuntuFirefox 113 Finally Makes Picture-in-Picture Mode Useful

          A new version of Mozilla Firefox is rolling out across Windows, macOS and, more importantly to us, Linux. Firefox 113 is an interesting update that enhances the browser's capabilities in a number of areas. While none are singular upsells that might convince someone to switch browser wholesale they are, nonetheless, further finesse that faithful fans of this FOSS browser are sure to enjoy.

        • ThunderbirdMozilla Thunderbird: ThunderCast Episode #2: With Special Mozilla Guest Mike Conley

          Welcome back to the ThunderCast, the official podcast of Mozilla Thunderbird! In this episode, we’re thrilled to welcome our first special guest: Mike Conley, Principal Software developer at Mozilla. Mike is a software mechanic, musician, livestreamer, and self-described “pre-internet phenomenon” among many other awesome things.

          We had a wonderful, energetic conversation about the early days of the internet, Mike’s early work on Mozilla Messaging, and his current work on Firefox. He also gives us a peek behind the curtain of upcoming Picture-in-Picture features, and some fresh changes to Firefox’s migration tools.

          We also asked Mike about some of the more underrated features of Firefox. Plus, we get the community involved by asking you which Thunderbird features more people should know about.

          Hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as we enjoyed recording it!

        • Tantek Çelik: Running For Re-election in the W3C Advisory Board (AB) Election

          The W3C is holding its regular annual Advisory Board (AB) election this month. I was elected in the special election about six months ago to fill seats for departing AB members who were elected to the W3C Board of Directors. This is my 2023 AB election personal statement posted on my blog, in addition to the official Nominations and Statements for W3C Advisory Board 2023 Election page.

        • Tiger Oakes: Display math formulas without any CSS or JS

          MathML lets you insert math formulas with just HTML.

        • MozillaMeet the ‘Responsible AI Challenge’ top 10 finalists

          Last March, during the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, Mozilla issued a call to builders and technologists all over the world to create trustworthy AI solutions when we relaunched the Mozilla Builders program and unveiled our Responsible AI Challenge — a one-day, in-person event designed to inspire and encourage a community of builders working on trustworthy AI products and solutions.€ 

    • Programming/Development

      • HackadayA Literate Assembly Language

        A recent edition of [Babbage’s] The Chip Letter discusses the obscurity of assembly language. He points out, and I think correctly, that assembly language is more often read than written, yet nearly all of them are hampered by obscurity left over from the days when punched cards had 80 columns and a six-letter symbol was all you could manage in the limited memory space of the computer. For example,€  without looking it up, what does the ARM instruction FJCVTZS do? The instruction’s full name is Floating-point Javascript Convert to Signed Fixed-point Rounding Towards Zero. Not super helpful.

      • Barry KaulerZoom flatpak fixed

        I reported recently that unable to include Zoom in Flatpak Installer (Flapi), as only got a blank window. Did a search, and found this:

        https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/696849/zoom-windows-launch-with-a-completely-blank-window

        ...that says the fix is required for wayland; however, it works in Easy for X11.

        I have implemented a mechanism for applying a hack when install a flatpak, same as did for AppImage Installer. See commit: [..].

      • Dirk EddelbuettelDirk Eddelbuettel: crc32c 0.0.1 on CRAN: New Package

        Happy to announce a new package: crc32c. This arose out of a user request to add crc32c (which is related to but differnt from crc32 without the trailing c) to my digest package. Which I did (for now in a branch), using the software-fallback version of crc32c from the reference implementation by Google at their crc32c repo.

        However, the Google repo also offers hardware-accelerated versions and switches at run-time. So I pondered a little about how to offer the additional performance without placing a dependency burden on all users of digest.

        Lo and behold, I think I found a solution by reusing what R offers. First off, the crc32c package wraps the Google repo cleanly and directly. We include all the repo code – but not the logging or benchmarking code. This keeps external dependencies down to just cmake. Which while still rare in the CRAN world is at least not entirely uncommon. So now each time you build the crc32c R package, the upstream hardware detection is added transparently thanks in part to cmake. We build libcrc32c.a as a static library and include it in the R package and its own shared library.

      • Perl / Raku

        • Rakulang2023.19 Pakku

          Haytham Elganiny wrote an introduction on how to use the Pakku package manager for the Raku Programming Language, with what it looks like the first implementation of a recommendation manager.

  • Leftovers

    • Science

    • Hardware

      • HackadayVCF East 2023: Alan Wolke On His Passion For Tech

        If you’re one of the more than 180,000 subscribers to [Alan Wolke]’s YouTube channel W2AEW, you’ll know he’s a lover of old test gear and ham radio hardware. You may have followed one of his tutorials, or referenced his work while repairing or upgrading your own equipment. But when we got a chance to talk to him one-on-one during Vintage Computer Festival East 2023, we were treated to a more personal look at the man himself.

      • HackadayConverting A B&W Enlarger For Colour Analog Photo Printing

        [Koraks tinkers] was gifted a gargantuan photographic enlarger, a Durst Laborator 138 s, which is a unit designed specifically for black and white usage only. This was not good enough for [Koraks] so down the rabbit hole of conversion to colour we go! The moral of the story is this: if you can’t find it, build it. The hacker mentality. After wasting time and effort trying to source a period colour head for the thing, [Koraks] did the decent thing and converted what was already in front of them.

      • Hackaday3D Printed Aerospike Was Designed By AI

        We’re still in the early days of generatively-designed objects, but when combined with the capabilities of 3D printing, we’re already seeing some interesting results. One example is this new copper aerospike engine. [via Fabbaloo]

      • HackadayA Tale Of Two Pulse Modulators

        In the realm of test equipment, there are a number of items that you don’t know you need until you need one. That’s probably the case with the HP11720A pulse modulator. [Tom] acquired two of these even though, by his own admission, he had “no need for these things.” We’d like to say we don’t get that, but — alas — we do.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • Retracted papers never die in the age of COVID-19

        Some of my colleagues have been surprised at the number of really awful papers that have been published during the pandemic and reach conclusions that are at odds with thus-far established science. Examples abound, a number of which we have written about, including articles by academics whom I used to admire (or at least view more favorably than unfavorably), such as John Ioannidis, Vinay Prasad, and a number of others, some, admittedly, noto particularly admirable before the pandemic (such as Peter Doshi). Seemingly, even the Cochrane Collaborative has gotten in on this action, along with past leaders. Most were in the peer-reviewed biomedical literature, too, although not all. (The utter crapfest of an anonymously authored study that wasn’t peer-reviewed that was published by the Florida Department of Health last fall and suggested that COVID-19 vaccines are more dangerous than COVID comes to mind. Surprise! The paper went through multiple iterations personally overseen by Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo and clearly designed to make the vaccines look worse than the disease.) They shouldn’t have been. Publishing academic research articles as a form of misinformation and propaganda for quackery is a longstanding tactic used by advocates of unscientific medicine, such as proponents of alternative medicine and antivaxxers.

      • DeSmogEPA Weighs Superfund Status for Ohio Facility Handling Radioactive Oilfield Waste

        The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has flagged an Ohio oilfield waste processing facility with a history of radioactive contamination for possible inclusion under the agency’s Superfund program, reserved for the nation’s most contaminated hazardous waste sites.

        Last year, EPA toured the Martins Ferry facility, operated by Pennsylvania-based Austin Master Services, at the request of Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR). This local advocacy group has documented a lengthy list of concerns. In a March 31, 2023 letter to CORR, EPA said the agency “primarily evaluated potential chemical and radionucleotides releases from [Austin Master Services] based on prior operations, and treatment and processing of fracking waste.”

      • Telex (Hungary)The great corn war: Ukrainian goods missing, while Hungarian industry fed up with state regulations
      • QuartzWall Street is paying more attention to the business risks posed by water

        From cereal maker General Mills, which relies on local farmers around the world to supply grains and nuts for its products, to tech firms like Microsoft and Amazon that need dependable supplies of freshwater to cool data centers, the list of companies vulnerable to water-related disruptions is growing.

      • Common Dreams'Freedom From Medical Debt' Campaign to Launch With Virtual Town Hall

        "I'm 72 and now live with my daughter after losing everything because of medical bills. I had $250K saved up for retirement and then disaster hit—several bouts of cancer and a stroke in 2009."

      • LatviaPoor physical condition among youth observed by Latvian interior services

        The problem of poor physical condition in young people has become apparent. Over the past five years, Cabinet regulations have already twice reduced the requirements of the authorities of the Ministry of Interior in physical checks because young people find it difficult to comply with them, Latvian Television reported on May 6.

      • Novavax to fire 25% of staff as firm records $294 mn in Q1 loss

        Novavax on Tuesday said it would lay off 25% of its global workforce as part of its restructuring and cost reduction plan. The layoffs would affect about 498 employees, Reuters noted citing the company's latest regulatory filings. The biotech firm recorded a net loss of $294 million in Q1 as demand for its COVID-19 vaccines depleted.

      • Science AlertParkinson's May Be Caused by a Common Aquatic Bacterium

        Mounting evidence.

      • YLEFinnish mental health ambulance trial receives Red Cross recognition

        During its six-month trial, Mental Health Ambulances provided specialised emergency care to some 1,300 people in Pirkanmaa.

      • Michael West MediaFamily don’t want Stanley to be just another statistic

        Jacinta Miller says she phoned Acacia Prison to speak to an Indigenous liaison officer about her brother Stanley Inman Jr’s mental health days before he took his own life.

      • US News And World ReportAbortion Clinics in 3 States Sue to Protect Pill Access

        Abortion providers in three states filed a lawsuit Monday aimed at preserving access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone

      • New York TimesDeaths of Seniors in Hospital Fire Point to China’s Elder Care Shortfall

        The country’s supply of nursing home beds has not kept pace with its rapidly aging population, leading some families to seek unlicensed alternatives.

    • Proprietary

      • LinkedIn axing 716 jobs and closing China app in fresh tech cuts
      • The Epoch TimesLinkedIn Slashes Over 700 Jobs, Closes China App Amid 'Evolving Market'

        Employment platform LinkedIn has announced it is slashing hundreds of jobs and phasing out its app in China...

      • Head TopicsTech layoffs: Microsoft-owned LinkedIn cuts over 700 jobs, shuts down China app InCareer

        With this move, LinkedIn joins a slew of tech companies including Meta, Google, Amazon, and Twitter that have announced a stream of layoffs. Amid the wavering global economic outlook and a looming recession, LinkedIn has joined the of companies that have massively cut down jobs in the past six months.

        In a statement released Monday, the company announced that it would be laying off 716 people from its workforce of over 19,000.

      • Bennett, Coleman & Company LtdLinkedIn Sinks In China: Plans to cut 716 jobs and Kill the InCareer App Amidst Stiff Competition | Technology - Science News, Times Now

        The layoffs and InCareer's phasing out are part of LinkedIn's efforts to revamp its Global Business Organization (GBO) and China strategy.

      • The Washington PostLinkedIn axes 716 jobs in fresh tech cuts, shuts China app

        Professional networking platform LinkedIn says it’s laying off more than 700 workers and shuttering its China jobs app, in the latest round of tech industry downsizing.

      • The Register UKLinkedIn links out of China with 716 roles for the chop

        Microsoft's social network for suits, LinkedIn, announced on Tuesday that its localized Chinese app is shutting down and the company is embarking on a layoff process.

        "As we guide LinkedIn through this rapidly changing landscape, we are making changes to our Global Business Organization (GBO) and our China strategy that will result in a reduction of roles for 716 employees," read a message from CEO Ryan Roslansky.

      • Tech layoffs: LinkedIn announce a second round of job cuts impacting more than 700 people

        LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, has announced it will cut 716 jobs from its global workforce (4 per cent of its staff).

      • Microsoft-Owned LinkedIn Announces 100s of Layoffs



        The professional network and career development tool, LinkedIn, is laying off 716 workers and terminating its Chinese app, ‘InCareers', amid a ‘weakening global economic outlook' and a ‘drop in demand.'

        This makes the Microsoft-owned app the latest in a long line of tech companies to slash headcounts — with Amazon and Meta taking similar actions just last month.

        Sales, operations, and support teams have been impacted the most. However, LinkedIn's CEO, Ryan Roslansky, claims that affected workers will be able to apply for 250 new roles that will be created within the company.

      • BBCTech layoffs: LinkedIn cuts 700 jobs and closes China app

        LinkedIn has become the latest tech firm to axe jobs, closing 716 roles out of a 20,000 workforce.

        The social media network which focuses on business professionals will also phase out its local jobs app in China.

        In a letter by the company's chief executive Ryan Roslansky, he said the move was aimed at streamlining the firm's operations.

        In the last six months, firms including Amazon, LinkedIn's parent Microsoft, and Alphabet have announced layoffs.

      • Fast CompanyLinkedIn mass layoffs: Jobs platform cuts more staff after celebrating its 20th anniversary

        It’s more bad news for the tech industry as another major platform has announced layoffs. LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, is cutting 716 positions. The cuts come after LinkedIn laid off an undisclosed number of workers on its talent acquisition team back in February, as reported then by The Information. The new cuts also follow the massive layoffs that owner Microsoft made across its other divisions in January.

      • Business TodayLinkedIn layoffs: Microsoft-owned company to fire 716 employees, shut down China-focused job search app

        LinkedIn is set to cut 716 jobs and close down its China-focused job application. The move by the Microsoft-owned company comes amid a weakening global economic outlook and a drop in demand. Although LinkedIn has grown revenue every quarter for the last year, it has joined a host of major technology companies in laying off workers, including its parent company, Microsoft. LinkedIn employs around 20,000 employees, which takes translates to job cuts of around 3.5 per cent.

        LinkedIn generates income through ad sales and subscriptions to recruiting and sales professionals using the network to find potential employees. CEO Ryan Roslansky wrote a letter to employees stating that the job cuts were aimed at streamlining the company's operations and would remove layers to make faster decisions.

        Although the China-focused job application will be closed, LinkedIn will still have a presence in China to assist companies operating there to hire and train employees outside the country.

        In the past six months, over 2,70,000 tech jobs worldwide have been cut, with large companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google parent company Alphabet accounting for the bulk of the layoffs.

      • Intel Layoff: Tech Company Joins Microsoft, Meta, Google, And Others In Layoff Spree

        Intel layoff: Though it is still not known how many workers would be affected by this decision, what looks certain is that the job cuts would take place across the company.

    • Security

      • LWNSecurity updates for Monday [LWN.net]

        Security updates have been issued by Fedora (rust-cargo-c, rust-coreos-installer, rust-fedora-update-feedback, rust-git-delta, rust-gst-plugin-reqwest, rust-pore, rust-rpm-sequoia, rust-sequoia-octopus-librnp, rust-sequoia-policy-config, rust-sequoia-sq, rust-sevctl, rust-tealdeer, and rust-ybaas), Mageia (avahi, git, imagemagick, libfastjson, libxml2, parcellite, and virtualbox), SUSE (containerd, dnsmasq, ffmpeg, git, indent, installation-images, java-17-openjdk, maven and recommended update for antlr3, minlog, sbt, xmvn, ncurses, netty, netty-tcnative, openssl-1_0_0, python-Django1, redis, shim, terraform-provider-helm, and zstd), and Ubuntu (erlang, mysql-5.7, mysql-8.0, ruby2.3, ruby2.5, ruby2.7, and webkit2gtk).

      • MedPage TodayCyberattacks a Problem for Nearby Emergency Departments, Too [Ed: Microsoft Windows TCO]

        A ransomware attack at one healthcare system had a significant impact on two neighboring emergency departments (EDs) that weren’t targeted in the attack, researchers found.

        Daily mean ED volume rose 15.1% at the two facilities, from 218.4 in the pre-attack period to 251.4 in the attack period (P<0.001), Christian Dameff, MD, MS, of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues reported in JAMA Network Open.

        Mean ambulance arrivals rose 35.2% from 1,741 prior to the attack to 2,354 during the attack (P<0.001), and there was a 127.8% increase in visits where patients left without being seen (from 158 to 360, P<0.001).

        The researchers also reported increases in patients who left against medical advice (50.4% increase), median waiting room times (47.6% increase), and median total length of stay for admitted patients (33.9% increase).

      • Data BreachesCity of Dallas update on ransomware attack recovery efforts [Ed: Microsoft Windows TCO]



        911 and 311 intake and dispatch continue via phone and radio dispatch while Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) components including 1900 mobile devices (1600 for DPD and 300 for DFR) and the server routing calls are tested to ensure no reinfection when redeployed. Completion of device cleaning to allow resumption of CAD is anticipated early this week

      • Play Ransomware Victim: Woonkracht10 - RedPacket Security

        NOTE: No files or stolen information are by RedPacket Security. Any legal issues relating to the content of the files should be directed at the attackers

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • Pro PublicaPoliticians Fund Texas Businessman’s Ineffective Child ID Kits

          Last fall, millions of public school children in Texas brought home envelopes that bore the state seal and read, “A gift of safety, from our family to yours.”

          Tucked into each envelope were an inkpad and a piece of paper prompting parents to take their children’s fingerprints, record their physical attributes and get a DNA sample by having them suck on the corner of the form.

        • APNICDNS privacy vs…

          Guest Post: Investigating tensions that impact the public interest, introduced by DNS privacy measures.

      • Confidentiality

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • Environment

    • Finance

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • TechdirtEven The People Who Were Eager To Pay Elon Musk $8/Month Are Cancelling Their Blue Subscriptions

        It remains kind of shocking just how badly Elon Musk has screwed up Twitter. He drove away somewhere between 40% and 70% of the advertisers on the site before he took over. And the advertisers have been pretty blunt that the problem is that Elon Musk himself is a real liability. He’s made advertising on Twitter a brand risk. Hell, he’s actually made just using Twitter a brand risk.

      • Telex (Hungary)Former US ambassador to Hungary is lobbying Trump to hire Orbán's elusive strategist
      • Insight Hungary"We will absolutely win," Trump tells CPAC Hungary crowd

        Far-right figures from both sides of the Atlantic have gathered in Budapest this week for the second time at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Hungary is the only European country hosting the event so far. The second day of CPAC Hungary kicked off on Friday in Budapest with a surprise video message from former US President Donald Trump. Trump praised far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and called him a “tremendous man, a tremendous leader".€ This year he closed his virtual speech a message to the conservative crows: “Keep up the fight, and never waiver in defense of our freedom and our civilization. We have the communists globalists and in retreat and as long as we press confidently ahead, we will absolutely win. We are winning now and we will close it out.”

        The first day of the event featured Orban as the keynote speaker€ who last year won his fourth consecutive term. Orban said the reason CPAC comes to Budapest is that "Hungary is an incubator where the conservative policies of the future are being tested." € The nationalist prime minister likened liberalism to a “virus” that “targets the most vulnerable part of the Western world: nations.” The Hungarian President also mentioned the war in Ukraine briefly saying he is sure if Trump would still be president there would be “no war in Ukraine and Europe”.

      • The NationLauren Boebert Spitting Bullets
      • TechdirtCreative: Finnish Newspaper Has ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’ Custom Map Made To Deliver News To Russians About The War

        When Putin decided to show the world that his government is so wildly incompetent that it turned what was supposed to be a weeks long takeover of Ukraine into a prolonged conflict in which Russian victory of any kind is very much an open question, he also attempted to keep the truth from reaching Russians. Russia took all kinds of steps in this quest, including putting demands on internet and social media sites to stop fact checking government assertions, as well as making it illegal to publish any “false” information about the war. I couldn’t possibly make those scare-quote marks big enough, so unburdened is the Russian government with anything resembling credibility. And so some news organizations complied. Some shut down. Many foreign outlets around the world found their content blocked in Russia.

      • TechdirtSixth Circuit Reverses Conviction For Man Talked Into Criminal Acts By Undercover FBI Agents

        BE THE TERRORISM YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

      • Common DreamsChilean Right-Wing Wins Control of Council Tasked With Writing New Constitution

        In another defeat for Chilean President Gabriel Boric and his fellow leftists, the country's right-wing parties on Sunday won a majority of seats on a 50-member commission tasked with rewriting the constitution imposed more than 40 years ago by Gen. Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship.

      • Democracy NowShould Sen. Feinstein Resign? Why Aren’t Media, Colleagues Talking Openly About Mental Competence?

        We look at the question of whether Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is on the Judiciary Committee, should resign due to mental deterioration, and how the media has failed to fully address the issue, with longtime Supreme Court reporter Dahlia Lithwick. As a result of Feinstein’s current condition, “we’re not getting judges confirmed at rates that we need to see,” Lithwick says. This should lead to “soul-searching above and beyond competency to say, 'How am I hampering this institution from doing the essential work of government?'”

      • Democracy NowCan Anyone Hold Justice Clarence Thomas to Account for Secret Dealings with Billionaire GOP Megadonor?

        We speak with longtime Supreme Court reporter Dahlia Lithwick about the mounting evidence of apparent financial impropriety by the court’s conservatives. ProPublica recently reported that Republican billionaire Harlan Crow paid two years of private school tuition for Clarence Thomas’s grandnephew — payments that Thomas did not include on his annual financial disclosures. This comes after previous reporting revealed Crow also paid money to Thomas and his relatives in an undisclosed real estate deal, and that Thomas accepted luxury travel from Crow virtually every year for decades, while failing to follow a federal law that requires him to publicly report most gifts. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo arranged for Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, to be paid at least $80,000 for consulting work over a decade ago and asked that the payments not specify Ginni Thomas’s name in any paperwork. Thomas later cast the deciding vote in a 5-4 ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, in a case supported by Leo and his conservative legal network. “Members of the Senate are beginning to understand that it is going to be incumbent on them to step in and issue some ethics rules or demand that the court issue ethics rules for itself,” says Lithwick, who covers the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus.

      • MeduzaUzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev uses power obtained in last week’s referendum to call snap presidential election — Meduza

        Uzbekistan will hold a snap presidential election on July 9, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced Monday, just one week after constitutional amendments that reset his term count to zero passed in a referendum.

      • France24Senegalese court hands six-month suspended sentence to opposition leader

        A Senegalese court on Monday handed opposition figure Ousmane Sonko a six-month suspended sentence in an appeal of a defamation case that could jeopardise his run for president next year.

    • Censorship/Free Speech

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Hong Kong Free PressHong Kong ex-official compares district councillors to migrant domestic workers, says they could be fired if disobedient

        Hong Kong’s District Councillors have been compared to the city’s migrant domestic workers by a former government official, who said he often used the analogy to say that district-level administrators could be fired if they did not obey their employers’ orders.

      • US News And World ReportWriters' Strike Freezes 'Handmaid's Tale,' 'Game of Thrones' Spinoff
      • Democracy NowSister Helen Prejean on Richard Glossip’s Stay of Execution: I Believe He Will Walk Out a Free Man

        Oklahoma death row prisoner Richard Glossip’s execution was stayed by the Supreme Court on Friday, marking the ninth time he had an execution date put on hold. Glossip has maintained his innocence throughout his 25 years of incarceration; his accuser has previously attempted to recant his testimony. In an unprecedented move earlier this month, Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a joint motion with Glossip’s defense team to halt his May 18 execution, saying he did not receive a fair trial. For more, we are joined in Oklahoma City by Sister Helen Prejean, one of the world’s most well-known anti-death penalty activists and Richard Glossip’s spiritual adviser, who says she is hopeful the Supreme Court’s intervention will mark the end of Glossip’s legal battles. “I believe Richard’s going to walk out a free man,” says Prejean. She is the author of Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty and River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey.

      • The Straits TimesMore support for same-sex marriages, dual surnames among Japan’s electorate

        60% were in favour for married couples to have dual surnames, while 50% supported same-sex marriages.€ 

      • At least 122 workers killed on the job in April

        The highest number of work-related deaths were recorded in the construction, accommodation and transportation sectors.

      • ScheerpostThe Troubling Case of Richard Glossip: After Unprecedented Bipartisan Support, Supreme Court Blocks His Ninth Execution Date

        Glossip’s execution date was set for May 18, despite requests from Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general to vacate Glossip’s conviction.

      • The NationHow Racist Car Dealers KO’d Joe Louis

        It’s 1948, and Joe Louis is ready to quit boxing. He has been heavyweight champion for more than a decade, longer than any fighter before him. After carrying a near-messianic burden, he gets in touch with Henry Ford II himself to see if he can open a car dealership in Chicago.

      • The NationThe Anarchism of the Catholic Worker

        Simone Weil House is a century-old arts-and-crafts bungalow with cheerful red siding located in Portland, Ore. The house is on a large corner lot in the city’s historically Black, rapidly gentrifying Northeast neighborhood.1

        Outside, a hand-drawn chalkboard on the front porch invites strangers and friends to community dinners on Wednesday nights. In the front yard, a free fridge and clothing closet signal a commitment to mutual aid. In the backyard of the double lot, housing-insecure guests live in three tiny homes. Inside is a revolution.2

      • The NationSantiago Amigorena’s Novel of the Shoah and Latin America

        Holocaust literature at its core is inevitably Eurocentric, yet when seen globally, its geographic scope is stunning. In Latin America, for instance, a vigorous fount of memoirs, fiction, poetry, and drama has emerged over the last half-century examining the experiences and reverberations of the Shoah. For example, the Argentine journalist Jacobo Timerman’s celebrated autobiography, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, describes scenes of torture in which military officers proudly tell Timerman that the persecution of Jewish dissidents in Argentina during the Dirty War should be seen as an extension of the “final solution” to the Southern Hemisphere. An array of novelists and poets have explored the lives of Holocaust survivors and their descendants in Chile, Cuba, and Venezuela after the liberation of Auschwitz and other extermination camps. José Emilio Pacheco’s novel Morirás lejos, which remains untranslated into English, tells of a survivor who spots a former Nazi in his Mexican neighborhood. Jorge Volpi’s best-selling In Search of Klingsor is about Allied scientists racing against Hitler to make the first atomic bomb, while Roberto Bolaño’s Nazi Literature in the Americas offers a Borgesian encyclopedia of invented fascist writers.

      • The NationAI and the Hollywood Writers’ Strike

        “I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process,” says Griffin Mill, the fictional studio executive in Robert Altman and Michael Tolkin’s 1992 satirical thriller, The Player. Tim Robbins, who plays Mill, delivers the line wistfully, imagining a Hollywood without all the creative mess of dealing with creative people. Mill, who might be the chairman of a streaming platform today (or ex-chairman, after a sexting scandal involving an employee he could not murder), and his real-life counterparts, are on the cusp of that dream.

      • The NationJeffrey Epstein, Harvard Man

        The late Jeffrey Epstein was a college dropout with a spotty educational history who remade himself as a habitué of Ivy League schools, with a particularly close connection to Harvard. This was not the biggest deception in Epstein’s squalid life, but his closeness to the most prestigious precincts of academia offers an important window into the workings of the American elite.1

      • Pro PublicaInside 30 Years of Kenny Hansmire’s Troubled Businesses

        Over the past quarter-century, former NFL player Kenny Hansmire has leaned on government officials across the country to grow the National Child Identification Program. The Texas-based company sells kits that it claims help track down missing kids.

      • Common DreamsThe Real 'Right Wing Death Squad' Is the Cowardly Republican Party

        Steven Spainhouer’s son worked at one of the stores in the Allen, Texas shopping mall chosen by America’s most recent mass shooter (as of Saturday: there were seven this weekend).

      • Common DreamsI Was Arrested for Blockading Florida Gov Ron DeSantis’s Office

        Last Thursday, I spent my night in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s office, singing and linking arms with to my fellow Floridians - who are Dream Defenders, members of Florida Rising, Showing Up for Racial Justice, and others- before police officers peeled us from each other and booked us into the local jail.

      • Common DreamsTexas GOP's Top Anti-Groomer Crusader Resigns Over Sexual Misconduct With Teenage Aide

        Republican State Rep. Bryan Slaton of Texas resigned his seat Monday in order to avoid a public expulsion hearing after an investigation determined one of the party's loudest voices promoting the baseless threat of "groomers" in the LGBTQ+ community had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 19-year-old member of his staff that included furnishing her with alcohol.

      • ShadowproofDie Jim Crow Records Releases New Music From Hip-Hop Artist Wrongfully Convicted And Imprisoned For 25 Years

        Die Jim Crow Records, the first record company to work exclusively with musicians impacted by the United States prison system, has collaborated with another formerly incarcerated artist named EL BENTLY 448.Wrongfully convicted, EL BENTLY 448, who is also known as Leon Benson, spent 25 years in an Indiana prison. Ten of those years were spent in solitary confinement. He was released on March 8, 2023, after he was exonerated.Shadowproof is honored to debut “Innocent,” a hip-hop track from Leon’s forthcoming EP that will be available on June 26. (Another track, “Mugabe,” was shared on April 26.)Leon told Shadowproof, “I was innocent, but I wasn’t an innocent person.” He recorded the track to explore this idea of being innocent, but born guilty.“You’re innocent born guilty if you’re born a different gender than somebody, if you’re born to a particular racial group, if you’re born in a particular time, in a particular location, in a particular economic status, or under a particular religion or culture,” Leon described.Leon added, “If you look at it, nobody had a choice of coming to the world. So when you come into the world, we are already made guilty by the powers that be in our life.”The lyrics for the track are autobiographical in the first verse. The second verse questions those who may believe that they are somehow more innocent than anyone who has been incarcerated.Leon wrote the track in 2012 while he was in solitary confinement. He hoped the track would help him bring awareness to his case so that he could be exonerated.As Leon recalled, he took that solitary cell that was meant for sensory deprivation, a “torture chamber,” and he transformed it into “a university, a place that I had to heal, learn, [and] grow.”“That’s where I got over a lot of anger because it was a place that I knew was meant for me to smother in, and even go crazy,” Leon shared.Fury Young founded Die Jim Crow in 2013. In 2014, Fury connected with Leon after an activist named Zulay Velasquez shared an announcement on the Facebook group for the Innocence Network that indicated Die Jim Crow was looking for artists.€ “I’d never heard from someone in prison directly before (via cell phone) so we had a long uninterrupted conversation a couple hours later,” Fury shared. “We instantly hit it off, bonding about certain philosophy shit and world history. Then we continued to build!”€ 

        The Indiana Department of Corrections denied Die Jim Crow access to record music with Leon at least twice. So Leon found a way that he could record without them while he was in prison.

      • Democracy NowAmid Growing Anti-Immigrant Hate, 8 Killed as Driver Plows Into Group Near Migrant Shelter in Texas

        We get an update from South Texas, where eight people were killed and at least 10 more injured Sunday in Brownsville after a driver rammed his SUV into a group of people near a shelter for migrants. The incident comes just days before the Trump-era Title 42 policy is set to expire and more migrants are expected to seek asylum at the southern U.S. border. “I can only describe it as a hate crime. It was motivated by hate,” Jennifer Harbury, a longtime human rights lawyer and activist with the Angry Tias and Abuelas, says of the car-ramming attack. She also talks about the history of U.S. interventions in Central America that destabilized the region.

      • MeduzaFeminist Antiwar Resistance wins 2023 Aachen Peace Prize — Meduza

        The Russian political movement Feminist Antiwar Resistance (FAR), along with Israel’s Human Rights Defenders Fund, has won the 2023 Aachen Peace Prize

      • Meduza‘We got married to visit each other in prison’ Svetlana Petriychuk has been jailed for her play about Russian women who convert to radical Islam. Her husband, theater director Yury Shekhvatov, spoke to Meduza the day after her arrest. — Meduza

        Svetlana Petriychuk’s documentary play, “Finist the Bright Falcon,” won a prestigious Golden Mask award in recognition of its powerful portrayal of a whole class of Russian women: “Maryushkas,” as they’re referred to in the play, are women who chose to convert to radical Islam and move to Syria, later finding themselves in trouble with the Russian law. Last week, Petriychuk was arrested while trying to leave the country, and is now being prosecuted for “justification of terrorism” in a play that, in reality, dissects radicalization as a social problem. On the same day, May 4, theater director Zhenya Berkovich, who directed an award-winning production of “Finist the Bright Falcon,” was also taken into custody in connection with the play, which the authorities present as a specimen of illegal terrorist propaganda. Petriychuk’s husband, theater director Yury Shekhvatov, spoke to Meduza about why Svetlana’s arrest did not come as a surprise — but still took the couple off guard.

      • MeduzaBritish Defense Ministry: Occupied Donetsk region facing growing water shortage — Meduza

        In its daily intelligence update on Tuesday, the British Defense Ministry said that the Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine are experiencing a worsening water shortage.

      • MeduzaRussian missile strike destroys Red Cross humanitarian aid stocks near Odesa — Meduza

        In Odesa, a Russian missile strike destroyed a Red Cross of Ukraine warehouse, the humanitarian organization reports.

      • MeduzaBelgorod governor reports massive shelling attacks that injured 5 in Shebekino — Meduza

        Five people have been injured in today’s shelling attacks on Shebekino, a town in Russia’s Belgorod region. Three of them had to be hospitalized, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • TechdirtMicrosoft Wisely Gets On The Right Side Of History And ‘Right To Repair’ [Ed: Microsoft is a bunch of criminals. They just realised this is a losing battle for them, so the criminals might as well plead guilty.]

        Microsoft has apparently realized that it’s just good business sense to get itself on the right side of history, and the right side of the growing “right to repair movement.” The company has increasingly been urging lawmakers to support the Washington State Fair Repair Act, which would ensure that consumers and indie repair shops have the parts, tools, and documentation to repair their own gear.

    • Monopolies

      • ScheerpostMonopolies Cause Inflation, While Fed Chairman Powell Blames Workers

        As American monopolies fix prices higher and higher, the Federal Reserve bizarrely has concluded that employment is to blame for inflation. For months, Fed chairman Jerome Powell has increased interest rates in the hopes of throwing workers out in the street and thus supposedly reducing prices.

      • Trademarks

        • TTAB BlogPrecedential No. 14: TTAB Dismisses RAPUNZEL Opposition: Professor Failed to Prove Entitlement to a Cause of Action

          Unsurprisingly, the Board dismissed Professor Rebecca Curtin's opposition to registration of the mark RAPUNZEL for dolls and toy figures, finding that Curtin, as a mere consumer of fairytale-themed products, failed to prove her entitlement to a statutory cause of action. The Board addressed this single, threshold question: "[I]s Opposer Rebecca Curtin, as a purchaser of goods bearing the challenged mark, entitled to oppose the mark’s registration under Section 13 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. €§ 1063, when she alleges the proposed mark is both invalid and the subject of a fraudulent application?" The Board said no. Rebecca Curtin v, United Trademark Holdings, Inc., 2023 USPQ2d 535 (TTAB€  2023) [precedential] (Opinion by Judge Michael B. Adlin).


      • Copyrights



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