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Links 20/07/2023: LibreOffice 7.5.5 and curl 8.2.0



  • GNU/Linux

    • Server

      • Kubernetes BlogSpotlight on SIG CLI

        In the world of Kubernetes, managing containerized applications at scale requires powerful and efficient tools. The command-line interface (CLI) is an integral part of any developer or operator’s toolkit, offering a convenient and flexible way to interact with a Kubernetes cluster.

        SIG CLI plays a crucial role in improving the Kubernetes CLI experience by focusing on the development and enhancement of kubectl, the primary command-line tool for Kubernetes.

        In this SIG CLI Spotlight, Arpit Agrawal, SIG ContribEx-Comms team member, talked with Katrina Verey, Tech Lead & Chair of SIG CLI,and Maciej Szulik, SIG CLI Batch Lead, about SIG CLI, current projects, challenges and how anyone can get involved.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Graphics Stack

      • GamingOnLinuxPortal: Prelude gets an NVIDIA RTX remaster, plus NVIDIA announced RTX IO

        NVIDIA has announced another game to use NVIDIA RTX Remix to add in full Ray Tracing, this time it's a mod for the original Portal with Portal: Prelude RTX.€ Portal: Prelude is the highest rated mod for the original Portal and back in 2008 it came number 3 on Mod DB's Mod of the Year contest.€ To play it free, you need to own the original Portal.

    • Applications

      • Linux Links11 Best Free and Open Source Linux Video Converters

        Please be aware that if you’re converting videos from YouTube, that’s against Google’s terms of service. And it’s also likely to be illegal as it constitutes a breach of copyright unless the copyright holder has given explicit consent, or the video is published under an open source license.

        Here’s our verdict on the best free video converters. They are each published under an open source license. While VLC and mpv are primarily multimedia players they also offer conversion functionality.

      • OMG! LinuxTuba 0.4 Out with UI Changes, Support for More Fediverse Features

        If you’re on the Fediverse and you use Linux, you need Tuba in your life— it’s by far one of the most accomplished and engaging apps for decentralised social media...

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • University of TorontoNon-uniform CPU hyperthreading is here and can cause fun issues

        These new GPU machines have Intel i9-13900K CPUs. Modern higher end Intel desktop CPUs have a split core model, with a mix of better 'performance' cores and more power efficient 'efficient' cores. The 'efficient' cores are lower performance and don't have hyperthreading. In the case of the i9-13900K, the split is 8 performance and 16 efficient cores; with hyperthreading on, you have 8 performance cores, 8 extra logical CPUs from the hyperthreads on those cores, and then 16 efficient cores, for a total of 32.

      • James GBuild a website in an hour event

        I will be hosting a "Build a website in an hour" event on July 29th at 5pm UK time (9am PT). Here is the event description: [...]

      • Manuel MatuzovicVisually hidden links with 0 dimensions

        If you have used a visually-hidden class in the past, you might have noticed that the width and height is set to 1px and not 0. I’ve always wondered why.

        Even in James Edwards’ “The anatomy of visually-hidden” I didn’t find the answer because he wasn’t sure either. While testing a client’s site a few minutes ago, I found at least one good reason.

      • DizietInstalling Debian bookworm without systemd

        This is pleasingly straightforward, albeit with an ugly wart. This recipe was not formally developed and tested; it’s just what happened when I tried to actually perform this task.

        The official installation guide has similar instructions although they don’t seem to have the initramfs workaround.

      • Linux HandbookUsing Until Loop in Bash

        Loops are fundamentals of any programming language and so for the bash.

      • UbuntubuzzWhat To Do After Installing Debian 12 Bookworm

        This advisory tutorial will help your first time using your computer powered with Debian 12. This tutorial complements our previous Debian 12 GNOME Install Guide we practiced together. We compiled five simple tips and tricks below for you. Happy working with Debian!

      • TecMintHow to View Colored Man Pages in Linux

        In Unix-like operating systems, a man page (in full manual page) is a documentation for a terminal-based program/tool/utility (commonly known as a command). It contains the name of the command, syntax for using it, a description, options available, author, copyright, related commands etc.

        You can read the manual page for a Linux command as follows; this will display the man page for the df command...

      • TecMint3 Methods to Check Apache Server Status and Uptime in Linux

        Apache is the world’s most popular, cross-platform HTTP web server that is commonly used in Linux and Unix platforms to deploy and run web applications or websites. Importantly, it’s easy to install and has a simple configuration as well.

        In this article, we will show how to check Apache web server uptime on a Linux system using different methods/commands explained below.

      • TecMintHow to Use Man Pages Efficiently in Linux

        Good documentation is absolutely necessary for any software, and this principle extends to Linux commands as well.

        Numerous Linux distributions and open-source communities offer comprehensive documentation that is readily accessible on the Internet.

      • TecMintHow to Find Most Used Disk Space Directories and Files in Linux

        As a Linux administrator, you must periodically check which files and folders are consuming more disk space. It is very necessary to find unnecessary junk and free it up from your hard disk.

        This brief tutorial describes how to find the largest files and folders in the Linux file system using the du (disk usage) and find commands. If you want to learn more about these two commands, then head over to the following articles.

      • TecMintHow to Create and Use Alias Command in Linux

        Linux users often need to use one command over and over again. Typing or copying the same command over and over again reduces your productivity and distracts you from what you are supposed to be doing.

        You can save yourself some time by creating aliases for your most commonly used commands. Aliases are like custom shortcuts that represent a command (or set of commands) that can be executed with or without custom options. Chances are you are already using aliases on your Linux system without even knowing it.

      • How to find SAN LUN Mapped to VxVM Disk in Linux

        We’ve written several articles in the past to find LUN ID mapped to Block device/disk...

      • OSTechNixHow To Allow Or Deny Sudo Access To A Group In Linux

        This step-by-step tutorial explains how to allow or deny sudo access to a group in Linux for improved Linux security and efficient group management.

      • How to Install Plex Media Server in Ubuntu

        Are you looking for a guide to installing the Plex Media Server on your Ubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu 20.04? So that you can easily access,

      • How to Install Microsoft Office on Ubuntu [Ed: In 2023 this is unlikely to have any practical need]

        So, you’re using Ubuntu, the cool Linux operating system, but you also need Microsoft Office? No problem! Just use this super simple solution to install

      • LinuxiacHow to Install VirtualBox on Debian 12 (Bookworm)

        Learn how to easily install VirtualBox on Debian 12 (Bookworm) with our step-by-step guide, and start virtualizing your systems today!

      • Own HowToHow to Install OpenSUSE "Tumbleweed"

        OpenSUSE is a free and open source linux distro, which uses rpm as package manager.

        OpenSUSE is available in two different versions, Tumbleweed the version that we are going to install on this tutorial, and leap.

      • Own HowToHow to change hostname in OpenSUSE

        In this tutorial, you will learn how to change the hostname on OpenSUSE.

      • nixCraftHow To Set Up a Firewall with UFW on Debian 12

        If you're using Debian 12, you can easily manage your firewall with the help of Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW). UFW interface simplifies firewall management and handles the complexities of packet filtering technologies like iptables and nftables. It's a great option for beginners who want to set up a firewall. In this tutorial, we'll guide you through installing UFW in Debian Linux 12, configuring it to allow SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, and other connections, and enabling it to block unauthorized traffic.

      • Fedora MagazineFedora Magazine: How to Install and Update Fedora Linux on Android using Termux

        If you’re interested in running Linux on your Android device, you’re in luck! It’s possible to install Fedora Linux on Android using Termux. Termux is a terminal emulator for Android that allows you to run Linux commands and utilities on your phone or tablet. It does not replace Android. In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of installing Fedora Linux on Android using Termux and show you how to keep it up to date with the latest versions.

      • Installing and Using Wget on Linux Like a Pro

        In this article, you will explore the power of the wget command, discover the key features of wget, learn how to easily install it on major Linux distributions, and gain hands-on experience with practical examples. Tutorial Details Description Wget Difficulty Level Low Root or Sudo

    • Games

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Slackware Family

      • The Register UKSlackware wasn't the first Linux distro, but it's the oldest still alive and kicking
        This week the Slackware Linux project is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It is the oldest Linux distribution that is still in active maintenance and development.

        Version 1.0 of Slackware was announced on the July 16, 1993, and project lead Patrick Volkerding, who still maintains the distribution today, celebrated with a modest announcement...

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • Red HatNew Delve features in RHEL 9.2

        Delve, the Go debugger, ships with the go-toolset package in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). The go-toolset package in RHEL 9.2 contains Delve version 1.9.1, which contains many improvements and features.

        Delve 1.9.1 is also the last release to contain the old versioning scheme; new releases of Delve will mirror the corresponding Go release . versioning, only diverging for point releases. So, for example, the latest release of Delve is 1.20.x which corresponds to the 1.20.x release of Go. Delve releases a new minor version when the Go project releases a new version's first RC (Release Candidate). Once that version of Go is released in RHEL, the corresponding version of Delve is also released.

      • Red HatHow to balance per-CPU upcall dispatch mode in Open vSwitch

        Open vSwitch has moved away from using per-vport dispatch mode to using per-CPU dispatch mode. But this mode had issues with upcall handler thread imbalance and CPU mismatch error messages. These issues were mostly found in systems with tuned CPUs.

        This article explains two main fixes that my patch series applied to Open vSwitch that alleviated these issues. The first fix resulted in the ovs-vswitchd sending an array of a size that the Open vSwitch kernel module will accept and not trigger the CPU mismatch error message. The second fix added additional upcall handler threads in cases of tuned CPUs to create a more balanced workload for the upcall handler threads.

      • Red HatWhat's new in the Red Hat UBI OpenJDK containers

        On June 6, we shipped the latest feature update to the€ OpenJDK containers with a number of new features: [...]

      • Red HatHow to retrieve packet drop reasons in the Linux kernel

        Understanding why a packet drops in the Linux kernel is not always easy. The networking stack is wide and reasons to refuse a given packet are multiple and include invalid data from a protocol, firewall rules, wrong checksum, full queues, qdisc or XDP actions, and many more reasons. It is possible to look at indicators such as MIB counters and statistic counters, but often those are generic and triggered for different reasons, but most importantly their coverage is small, and it's impossible to match a specific packet to a given counter increase.€ 

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • Jonathan DowlandJonathan Dowland: Bea's 3D printer

        My daughter Beatrice asked for me to print her a 3D printer.

      • Linux GizmosUnitree new quadruped robots start at $1600

        Today, Unitree unveiled their latest quadruped robot, the Unitree Go2. This robot comes packed with advanced features, including a 4D LIDAR sensor, a depth camera, and Wi-Fi6 connectivity. Additionally, the Unitree Go2 features an increased payload capacity in comparison to its predecessor.

      • HackadayDIY All-Flash NAS Vs. Commercial Hardware

        [Jeff Geerling] has tried building his own network-attached storage before, but found that the Raspberry Pi just wasn’t able to keep pace with his demands. He’s back with a new all-flash NAS build, and put his new design to the test against proper store-bought gear.

      • The DIY LifePET Bottle Recycler Part 1 – Using An Arduino Uno R4 To Control A 3D Printer’s Hotend

        Today we’re going to be using the new Arduino Uno R4 WiFi to build a controller for a PET bottle recycler. I’m doing this as the first part of a project, working towards building my own version of a PET bottle recycler to produce filament for my 3D printer.

      • CNX SoftwareYahboom DOFBOT 6 DoF AI Vision robotic arm for Jetson Nano sells for $289 and up

        Robotic arms can be expensive especially if you want one with AI Vision support, but Yahboom DOFBOT robotic arm designed for NVIDIA Jetson Nano offers a lower cost alternative as the 6 DoF robot arm sells for about $289 with a VGA camera, or $481 with the Jetson Nano SBC included. We previously published a review of the myCobot 280 Pi robotic arm from Elephant Robotics, and while it’s working well, supports computer vision through the Raspberry Pi, and is nicely packaged, it sells for around $800 and up depending on the accessories, and one reader complained the “price tag is still way too high for exploration“.

      • Tom's HardwareRaspberry Pi Pico Powers Surveillance Robot with LabVIEW Interface

        Mohammad Reza Sharifi has made a wireless Raspberry Pi Pico surveillance robot that uses a custom GUI made with LabVIEW.

      • GamingOnLinuxIntel gives ASUS a license to carry on Intel NUC systems

        After news recently from ServeTheHome that Intel planned to stop doing their Intel NUC systems directly, they've now announced they've agreed to let ASUS carry it on.

      • [Repeat] Tom's HardwareLinux Foundation Creates Ultra Ethernet Consortium with Cisco, Microsoft, AMD and More

        Dr. J Metz is Chair of the Ultra Ethernet Consortium and stated that there is no need to overhaul Ethernet, but instead, the team hopes to make adjustments over time that will improve efficiency.

        So far, a few specific technical hurdles have been identified, which the consortium intends to focus upon. This involves the development of APIs and specifications for various Ethernet communication protocols, interfaces and data structures to suit the needs of high-performance technology better.

      • Raspberry PiLeica MPi: a Pi Zero retrofit camera

        He managed to couple the original Leica range finders with the Raspberry Pi Zero and HQ Camera, so users get the feel of manually adjusting the focus. He couldn’t save the High Quality Camera’s anti-aliasing filter, however, as it kept getting caught on the new shutter, so the MPi only photographs in monochrome and natural light. It is still possible to correct photos taken under harsh street lighting with white balance.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Terence EdenFediverse Account Portability And Blocking

      What happens to the people who blocked and muted you?

      I ran an extremely scientific poll on Mastodon: [...]

      Yeah... No one knows and there's no real consensus.

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Daniel Stenbergcurl 8.2.0

        the 220th release [...]

      • University of TorontoHTTP has become the default, universal communication protocol

        Back when I wrote about how the mere 'presence' of a URL on a web server wasn't a good signal, I casually mentioned that you were more likely to have everything answered with a HTTP 200 status on things that weren't really 'web servers' as such, but which were just using HTTP. You might ask why you'd use HTTP if you weren't a web server, and the answer is straightforward and widely known: HTTP has become the de facto default communication protocol. Today, if you need to create a system where you pull some information from something or push some information to something, you're most likely to use HTTP for this purpose. In the process, the software may be coded in such a way that it provides a default answer to nearly everything.

      • DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer)One of the top crashers on Firefox 115 is Windows malware interfering with Firefox in a particular way. Bonus: Windows “Security” FAIL, Linux Web Browsing.

        Roy notes that some of these crap patches for Windows bugs (bugs IN WINDOWS) cause Firefox to malfunction on Linux and jam up.

        Also notes that Mozilla hires “Mac heads instead of software developers.”.

        But it’s so much worse than that. They fired 250 people who were working on Gecko and redirected others to develop adware and spyware and nag screens under a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Supervisor.

      • Mozilla

        • Xe's BlogMozilla wants its documentation to gaslight you

          Mozilla is one of the most important companies on the Internet. For a very long time, they have represented the only real competitor that Microsoft and Google have had as far as web browsers go. Mozilla is widely seen as a force for good by vast numbers of the developer community, but they seem to be torching all that good will by just giving up.

    • Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

      • 9to5LinuxLibreOffice 7.5.5 Open-Source Office Suite Released with 70 Bug Fixes

        LibreOffice 7.5.5 is here about one and a half months after the LibreOffice 7.5.4 point release to address a total of 70 bugs that have been reported by users or discovered by the LibreOffice developers in the LibreOffice 7.5 series.

        Meanwhile can download the LibreOffice 7.5.5 release right from the official website as binary installers packaged by The Document Foundation for DEB or RPM-based GNU/Linux distributions. Source tarballs are also available for system integrators and those who want to compile LibreOffice from sources.

      • LibreOffice 7.5.5 Community available for download
        LibreOffice 7.5.5 Community, the fifth minor release of the LibreOffice 7.5 line, the volunteer-supported free office suite for desktop productivity, is available from our download page for Windows (Intel/AMD and ARM processors), macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel processors), and Linux [1].

        Given the upcoming announcement of LibreOffice 7.6, all users are invited to update to this version, which has been tested and sought after enough to be ready for production environments.

        Several other products based on the same LibreOffice Technology of LibreOffice 7.5.5 are available for major desktop operating systems (Windows, macOS, Chrome OS and Linux), for mobile platforms (Android and iOS), and for the cloud. In some cases the name is not LibreOffice, although the underlying technology is the same.

    • Education

      • Olaf AldersWhither Perl

        I recently spoke about the future of Perl at The Perl and Raku Conference. The slides are now available.

    • Programming/Development

      • strlcpy and strlcat added to glibc

        The commit in glibc says: [...]

      • Yoshua WuytsTotality

        Perhaps you may have heard people refer to Haskell as a "pure" language. Functions in Haskell may by default diverge (loop infinitely), and they may throw exceptions. Koka on the contrary is what you could call a "total language". By default functions are considered "total" 1, and are only allowed to operate on their inputs, and produce outputs. In Koka if you want to write a "pure" function, you write a function which makes use of the exn effect ("may throw exceptions") and div effect ("may diverge"): [...]

      • Evan HahnProof of concept: drop-in JSON replacement that produces smaller payloads

        JSOS, which stands for JavaScript Objects, but Smaller, is a proof-of-concept data interchange format for busy programmers. It aims to be a drop-in replacement for JSON that produces smaller payloads.

        It may be a bad idea. (I want feedback!)

      • QtPutting Updates of Chromium in Qt WebEngine on a Timeline

        One of the most frequent questions about Qt WebEngine is about the pace of updates of Chromium. The shortest one would be just like "When do we get the next Chromium in Qt?". Well, there are a few elements in this which make this question a matter of perspective. I once thought, I should put all elements on a timeline to sort that for me and hopefully for you in a more explanatory form.

      • Perl / Raku

        • RakulangRakudo Weekly 2023.29 DSLs and ASTs

          Matthew Stuckwisch gave two very interesting presentations at the 2023 Perl and Raku Conference in Toronto: Highly recommended if you’re interested in using the new RakuAST capabilities in your code.

      • Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh

        • EarthlyLearning Shell Script Functions and Arguments: A Comprehensive Guide

          Bash is a known shell that is preinstalled with most Unix and Linux distributions. Bash makes it extremely easy to write powerful scripts that you can use to perform complex jobs, control hardware and software, and perform logical and analytical computations.

          In this article, you’ll explore the fundamentals of shell scripting functions and arguments. You’ll see how they’re used and learn how to create your own scripts. You may come across some more terminology than you typically encounter in a blog post, along with some simple scripts you can reproduce and run. So grab your keyboard, open up a terminal, and get started!

        • Linux HandbookUsing Until Loop in Bash

          While for maybe the most popular bahs loop, wait until you discover until. Pun intended :)

        • Linux HintMilvus Create an Index on the Vector

          Practical tutorial on how we can use the Milvus CLI, cURL, and Python to create a vector index in simple steps to enhance the search operations on a vector.

  • Leftovers

    • The AtlanticThe West Is Returning Priceless African Art to a Single Nigerian Citizen

      Should it?

    • Ruben SchadeMeaning of the word “fid”

      I was tying the abbreviation fwd in a document, and typo’d the word fid instead. It didn’t autocorrect me, so I was intrigued about what it meant.

    • New York TimesKevin Mitnick, Hacker Who Once Eluded Authorities, Is Dead at 59

      Kevin Mitnick, a reformed hacker who was once one of the most wanted computer criminals in the United States, died on Sunday, according to a statement shared Wednesday by a cybersecurity training company he co-founded and a funeral home in Las Vegas. He was 59.

      His death was confirmed by Kathy Wattman, a spokeswoman for KnowBe4.

    • Ruben SchadeWeb form has a free text field? Say thanks!

      Years ago I got into the habit of leaving positive messages in optional text forms on order pages, like those for delivery instructions or customisations. Often it’s just a “thanks! :)” or my attempt at a translation into their local language. It takes almost no effort whatsoever.

    • CS Monitor‘This ground is sacred.’ How a new museum reclaims history from horror.

      The new International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, stands on the site where more than 40% of enslaved people were brought to the U.S.

    • Michael West MediaGold Coast mayor floats Commonwealth Games redux

      The Gold Coast has thrown a lifeline to the Commonwealth Games, but only if the Australian government stumps up the cash.

      Mayor Tom Tate said the tourist city – which hosted the Games in 2018 – could again hold the event in 2026 after Victoria sensationally cancelled this week.

    • Science

      • Science AlertCarnivorous Plants Acquired a Deadly Taste For Flesh. But How?

        A gruesome mystery.

      • El País‘Dutch Stonehenge’ reveals 4,000-year-old solar calendar

        The size of the shrine at Tiel, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Utrecht, is equivalent to three soccer stadiums and archaeologists realized a few months ago that the largest of the mounds they had uncovered was a solar calendar. About 20 meters in diameter, a trench had been dug around it with openings through which the sun entered on specific dates of the year, as at Stonehenge. “For example, the sun’s rays would mark June 21, the summer solstice, and the longest day of the year. Or December 21, the winter solstice and the shortest day,” explains archaeologist Cristian van der Linde, the discoverer of the site, whose team worked in tandem with municipal experts.

    • Education

      • CBCCanadian-born president of Stanford University resigns over 'serious flaws' in his research

        Panelists found multiple instances of manipulated data in the 12 papers they investigated, but concluded he was not responsible for the misconduct. Still, they found that each of the five papers in which he was principal author "has serious flaws in the presentation of research data" and in at least four of them, there was apparent manipulation of data by others.

    • Hardware

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • TediumTamper Evident

        Today in Tedium: As we pointed out in our recent piece on beverage cans, a lot of innovation had to get into place to get us to the point where we are today, where you can open a can with another can, as a TikTok user so helpfully showed us. And one of the points of innovation we didn’t even bring up is that the pop-top lid is brilliant because it’s obvious it hasn’t been tampered with. Problem is, that design doesn’t work for every product sold in stores. Some jars need to be built to be reusable, but they also need to be re-opened. Today’s Tedium is going to talk about one of the most common things in your refrigerator that you never think about—the tamper-evident “safety button” that you commonly see on the lids of jars. Where did it come from, and why didn’t know you needed an article about it until now? — Ernie @ Tedium

      • TruthdigWhy Is Getting Old So Hard and Expensive in America?

        We’re not ready for old age. Not as individuals, not as a society. That’s the sobering news from lawyer M.T. Connolly, former coordinator of the Elder Justice and Nursing Home Initiative at the U.S. Department of Justice. In her new book, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life, she outlines how our institutions, laws, and cultural practices have failed to keep up with our amazing advances in longevity over the last century. As a result, many, if not most of us, are spending our final years with far less security, health, purpose, and joy than we could be having. (Americans have been falling behind peer countries on mortality rates in recent years).

      • Science AlertPeople Who Don't Get COVID Symptoms Share a Common Feature

        A protective effect.

      • QuartzIn-N-Out Burger is once again a flashpoint in the covid mask debate

        The debate over covid masks has reignited, courtesy of In-N-Out Burger. The fast food chain issued a guidance telling workers in five states—Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah–will be banned from wearing masks starting Aug. 14, unless they provide a doctor’s note.

      • NYPost4 members of a Florida family are convicted of selling a fake COVID-19 cure through online church

        Four members of€ a Florida family€ were convicted Wednesday of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church.

      • ReasonWhy Did Scientists Suppress the Lab Leak Theory?

        Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion with Matt Ridley of new documents that reveal how and why scientists downplayed the possibility of a COVID lab leak scenario.

      • New York TimesOfficial Data Hinted at China’s Hidden Covid Toll. Then it Vanished.

        Epidemiologists say a rise in cremations in an eastern province was the latest indication that the country’s official death toll from Covid is a vast undercount.

      • ScheerpostMatt Taibbi: ‘In Their Labs’: Fifteen Illuminating Passages in the Proximal Origin Chats and Emails

        Communications between officials and scientists who wrote the key paper promoting a natural origin for Covid-19 show doubts, interference, politicized science, and more.

    • Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Pseudo-Open Source

    • Security

      • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • Joey HessJoey Hess: become ungoogleable
          The proximate cause is Google's new effort to DRM the web, but there is of course so much more.

          This is a unique time, when it's actually feasible to become ungoogleable without losing much. Nobody really expects to be able to find anything of value in a Google search now, so if they're looking for me or something I've made and don't find it, they'll use some other approach.

        • QuartzNorway is fining Meta $100,000 daily until it changes its ad policies

          Months after Ireland fined Meta $1.3 billion for violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the company will soon be slapped with a daily $100,000 daily fine for breaching advertising rules in Norway.

        • OpenRightsGroupLegal opinion finds Online Safety Bill may breach international law

          Open Rights Group has received legal advice from Dan Squires KC and Emma Foubister of Matrix Chambers, which states that measures in the Online Safety Bill may involve breaches of international law.

      • Confidentiality

        • El PaísEncryption, 80 years after the Enigma machine

          Although the Enigma machine used polyalphabetic substitution encryption, it represented a significant advancement compared to classical polyalphabetic techniques. It used an electromechanical rotor mechanism that scrambled the 26 letters of the alphabet. In typical use, one person enters text on the Enigma’s keyboard and another person writes down which of the 26 lights above the keyboard is illuminated at each key press. The illuminated letters are the ciphertext. Entering ciphertext on the keyboard transforms it back into readable text. The intricate rotor mechanism enabled the use of an enormous number of different rules, making it extremely difficult to crack the code, which is only possible if the initial machine configuration is known. But small system issues, combined with several years of hard work, mathematical and computational advancements, and a dose of luck, ultimately cracked the Enigma code.

          One weakness of Enigma was the need to distribute machine configuration information (or keys) in advance, which carried the risk of potential interception. The challenge of securely exchanging keys was the next cryptography problem to address for enhanced system resilience. The solution came in the 1970s with the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • Derek SiversThe past is not true

        Seems we had both been told the accident was our fault, and had spent eighteen years feeling bad about it. This time she started crying, sniffled, grabbed a tissue to wipe her eyes and said, “It’s so stupid - these stories.”

    • Environment

      • New York TimesShe’s on a Mission From God: Suing Big Oil for Climate Damages

        “This is apocalyptic, end of the world, end of times stuff,” said Ms. Sims, an attorney who is representing 16 Puerto Rican municipalities that are seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry responsible for the damage caused by a series of storms, including Maria.

        Ms. Sims wiped away a tear as she surveyed the broken graves and absorbed the pain of the grieving families. But she also vowed to hold those responsible to account.

      • France24Phoenix hits 43C for 19th straight day, breaking US city records in global heat wave

        A dangerous 19th straight day of scorching heat in Phoenix set a record for U.S. cities Tuesday, confined many residents to air-conditioned safety and turned the usually vibrant metropolis into a ghost town.

      • France24Heat records set in southern France's Alps and Pyrenees mountains

        Local temperature records were set Tuesday at several monitoring stations in the south of France including in the Alps and Pyrenees mountains, the French weather office said.

      • ScheerpostIn Heat and Smoke, Workers Fight Negligent Bosses

        On June 29, the air quality in Detroit was among the worst in the world. “Outside it smelled like burnt plastic, almost like trash,” said UAW member Cody Zaremba, who works at a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan. He and his co-workers were experiencing coughing, runny noses, watery […]

      • Hong Kong Free PressChina’s capital Beijing sweats under record-breaking 27-day run of extreme heat

        By Poornima Weerasekara Beijingers baked under crippling summer heat on Wednesday as China’s capital kept up a record-breaking streak of four weeks of highs above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).

      • Wildlife/Nature

      • Overpopulation

        • The Straits TimesChina's biggest online travel agency Trip.com to pay employees $186m to have kids

          China’s birth rate last year fell to 6.77 births per 1,000 people, from 7.52 births in 2021.

        • Hindustan TimesYamuna water level drops below danger mark, expected to go down further

          The river had touched an all-time high of 208.66 metres last Thursday before the water level began receding gradually.

        • Opinion: California Must Modernize its Water System to Avoid Extremes of Drought to Flood

          But here lies part of the problem. To reserve space for spring snowmelt, reservoir managers must release water that should be stored, then used later as drinking water or for irrigating farmland, or even for recreation.

          We should bank that extra rainfall and snowmelt so that in future drought years we have savings to draw from. Instead, without the space to store that water, the means to transport it to reservoirs that do have space or to improve environmental conditions — that surplus water ultimately ends up in the ocean.

        • Council on Foreign RelationsWater Stress: A Global Problem That’s Getting Worse

          Water scarcity happens when communities can’t fulfill their water needs, either because supplies are insufficient or infrastructure is inadequate. Today, billions of people face some form of water stress.

        • New York TimesA Vast Lake Has Captivated California Where Farms Stood a Year Ago

          “It is settling in to a longer duration event,” said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. “What you see there is going to be a fact of life for some time to come.”

        • OverpopulationBig Australia needs rethink on World Population Day 2023

          I don’t pay much attention to awareness days, but I make an exception for World Population Day, first observed on 11 July 1987 when the global population reached approximately 5 billion.

          We are now at about 8 billion and still increasing by some 80 million every year – roughly the population of Germany. While the global rate of growth has decreased markedly in recent decades, the increase in absolute numbers has not reduced significantly due to the high total population. For instance, it took 12 years to add 1 billion people between 1999 and 2011 (giving us 7 billion), but still only 11-12 years to add the next billion (even while the rate of growth decreased).

          Humans have never added 1 billion people more quickly.

    • Finance

      • New York TimesAs Sunak Makes His Case to Britons, the Economy Undermines It

        Britain’s stubbornly high inflation rate has come to symbolize a deeper economic malaise — a morass of problems, some new, others longstanding, that are stymying Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

      • YLEHelsinki Stock Exchange sees weak first two quarters, possible strong second half

        Bank experts held a cautiously optimistic view that eased inflation in the US and Europe could lead to a better performance for the end of the year.

      • RFAInvestors wanted: China's economy loses its swagger

        China became a powerhouse on the back of foreign investment; today that investment is far more cautious.

      • The Straits TimesMetal magnate’s fall from China’s rich list to bankruptcy

        Mr Liu Zhongtian, who founded Zhongwang Group and built it into Asia’s biggest maker of aluminum extrusion products while launching himself onto the Forbes list of China’s richest billionaires, now finds himself under legal restraint with his company in bankruptcy and much of his wealth evaporated. What went wrong?

      • Michael West MediaSenior robodebt bureaucrat suspended from $900k role

        A senior public servant who oversaw the unlawful robodebt scheme has been stood down from her position at the Department of Defence following the royal commission findings.

        Kathryn Campbell, who was previously the secretary of human services and later the foreign affairs department, has been involuntarily stood down from her advisory role at defence, AAP has confirmed.

      • TwinCities Pioneer PressIRS whistleblowers air claims to Congress about ‘slow-walking’ of the Hunter Biden case

        House Republicans are raising unsubstantiated allegations against President Joe Biden over his family’s finances. GOP lawmakers summoned IRS whistleblowers to testify publicly for the first time about claims the Justice Department improperly interfered with a tax investigation into Biden’s son Hunter. Lawmakers heard from the two IRS agents assigned to Hunter Biden case. Hunter Biden pleaded guilty recently to misdemeanor tax charges in what Republicans have derided as a “sweetheart” deal. House Republicans are deepening their own investigation, making broad claims of corruption and wrongdoing by the Bidens that they acknowledge are not proven. The Justice Department has denied the whistleblowers’ allegations.

      • AxiosIRS whistleblowers testify DOJ mishandled Hunter Biden probe

        A pair of IRS whistleblowers testified to Congress that the Justice Department slow-walked its investigation into Hunter Biden and ignored recommendations to file felony tax charges, instead striking a plea deal that will allow the president's son to avoid prison time.

      • WhichUKInflation falls sharply to 7.9% – how do savings rates compare?

        A fall in petrol and diesel prices helped ease inflation in June

      • New York TimesAs Sunak Makes His Case to Britons, the Economy Could Undermine It

        Britain’s Conservative government faces a morass of problems, some new, others longstanding, that are stymying Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

      • New York TimesU.K. Inflation Rate Slows to 7.9 Percent

        The larger-than-expected slowdown, led by motor vehicle fuel prices, offers some relief to the government and the Bank of England.

      • Michael West MediaMore people using buy now pay later services for basics

        More people are being forced to use buy now pay later services to pay for basics such as food and petrol, as the cost of living and inflation continue to rise.

        A new survey of financial counsellors found more than 80 per cent said clients were using buy now pay later for general retail.

      • Viaplay Laying Off 25% of Workforce, Strategic Review of Business Underway

        After changing its top leadership and merging its Swedish and Norwegian production units, Viaplay, the listed Scandinavian streamer, has announced that it will lay off 25% of its workforce as it plans to focus on its core Nordic and Dutch business, as well as sports and international distribution. Approximately 450 jobs will be axed as part of the layoff plan.

        Filippa Wallestam, chief commercial officer for the Nordics, is departing the org. Wallestam has been a leading force behind the streamer’s output in ambitious scripted originals, including the banner’s dive in English-language content. Viaplay will not be totally pulling out of originals but will be focusing on Nordic unscripted originals. Going forward, the streamer intends on delivering approximated 10 scripted Viaplay series or movies per year, as per the outline of the content plan for 2024. It’s a massive reduction from the previous output which included at least 40 original productions per year.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Off GuardianQuick Take: WEF’s “Summer Davos” kills the “Good Guy China” meme

        Today marks the end of World Economic Forum’s 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, the three-day-long meeting in Tianjin, China known as “Summer Davos”. Really, the very fact this meeting exists should be the beginning and end of the “China are opposing globalism” conversation, but alas it likely won’t be.

      • Michael West MediaTruth, lies and damning stats: arguments against voice

        The official ‘no’ campaign against a First Nations voice has been accused of racism by two Indigenous groups, one of which opposes the referendum.

        The Blak Sovereign Movement, supported by independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, released its critique of the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns on Thursday.

      • Craig MurrayHas Western Democracy Now Failed?

        Keir Starmer’s determination to use his refusal to alleviate child poverty as the issue with which to demonstrate his macho Thatcherite credentials, has provided one of those moments when blurred perceptions crystallise.

      • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

        • Press GazetteMost popular news sources in the UK: Tiktok overtakes BBC Radio 1 and Channel 5

          One in ten adults used Tiktok for news in 2023, putting it on a par with The Guardian.

        • Press GazetteMost popular news sources in the UK: Tiktok overtakes BBC Radio 1 and Channel 5

          One in ten people aged over 16 (10%) said they used the video app for news[sic] in 2023, placing it ahead of BBC Radio 1 (8%) and Channel 5 (8%) for the first time, and on a par with The Guardian (10%).

        • DeSmogThe Chilling Question About This Week’s Record Heat Wave

          What isn’t changing, not one bit, is the otherworldly spin from fossil fuel lobbyists and spinmasters, one of whom had the tone-deaf audacity this week to insist it would be “dangerous and irresponsible” not to increase fossil fuel production into the indefinite future.

        • Helsinki TimesRydman claims lies about government are being fed to international media

          MINISTER of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (PS) has stated that some actors are feeding false claims about the Finnish government to the international media.

        • TechdirtNo, Threads Is Not ‘Copying Twitter’ With Rate Limiting

          The tech press often gets called out for lazy journalism, and here we have yet another example. On Monday, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri posted that due to an influx of spam on Threads (and there’s been a lot), the company was tightening up its rate limits:

        • TechdirtTechdirt Podcast Episode 358: Social Media In Chaos

          Last week, we promised an upcoming episode featuring a conversation with Cory Doctorow — and that conversation has been recorded and is arriving next week! But we decided to take a brief intermission this week, since things in the social media landscape are changing so quickly. Mike recently appeared on The Neoliberal Podcast with Jeremiah Johnson to talk about the ongoing nonsense at Twitter, the dawn of Meta’s Threads, the situation at Reddit, and all the other chaos engulfing the world of social media. You can listen to the entire conversation right here on this week’s episode.

        • Press GazetteChinese state broadcaster fails in appeal against €£125,000 Ofcom fine

          CGTN was sanctioned for four 2019 editions of The World Today and one of China 24.

        • The Straits TimesMalaysian influencers exposed for renting private plane only for video shoots, not flights

          According to flight navigation data, the plane has not flown since Feb 21.

        • “Contamination” of COVID vaccines with SV40: The stupidity continues

          COVID-19 misinformation has been coming at me (and everyone) so fast and furious that to me it seems like only yesterday that I was addressing the resurrection and repurposing of an old antivax claim that SV40 had contaminated COVID-19 vaccines, making them carcinogenic. It wasn’t, though. It was well over a month and a half ago. As you might recall, at the time an microbiologist turned COVID-19 conspiracy theorist named Kevin McKernan had, either cluelessly or intentionally, confused simian virus-40 (SV40) that had contaminated live attenuated virus polio vaccines 60 years ago, leading to an old antivax claim that polio vaccines cause cancer with the SV40 promoter, a DNA element from the virus that, when in front of a gene, can stimulate cells to make a lot of that gene’s product, and then fear mongered about it. As I said at the time, it was almost as though McKernan, his background in microbiology and (apparently) genomics notwithstanding, either did not know the difference between a promoter sequence and an actual gene or, more likely, knew the difference but also knew that his audience didn’t know the difference but was aware of the polio vaccine/SV40 story.

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • ReasonNo Pseudonymity for #TheyLied Plaintiff Suing for Libel and Invasion of Privacy Over Rape Accusations

        From Judge Nina Wang yesterday in Doe v. Roe (D. Colo.); note that I filed an objection to plaintiff's motion for pseudonymity: According to the allegations in the Complaint …, Plaintiff and Defendant dated for nearly a year while enrolled at Tulane University …. After their relationship ended in October 2021, Defendant complained about Plaintiff's…

      • RFAChina’s ‘nine-dash line’ South China Sea claims trip up Barbie, BlackPink in Vietnam

        Hollywood, K-Pop blockbusters anger Hanoi with maps reflecting Beijing’s position on disputed waters.

      • RFADespite bounty, Hong Kong labor activist vows to keep fighting authoritarian rule

        Veteran trade unionist is one of eight wanted by police

      • The Straits TimesVietnam probes Blackpink concert organiser over map of South China Sea showing disputed areas
        July 06, 2023 4:10 PM

        The move comes after criticism from fans that the website used a map that showed Beijing’s claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including parts claimed by Vietnam

      • RFABanned by Beijing, Badiucao opens London show

        The artist delivers a hard-hitting series of paintings inspired by the 2019 Hong Kong protests

      • PHRKenyan Officials Must Protect the Right to Protest, Prevent Sexual Violence Amid Unrest: PHR

        “Officials must also uphold the right to peaceful protest as provided in Kenya’s Constitution and refrain from use of excessive force,” said Nyamu-Mathenge. “We call for immediate, independent investigations into the deaths and injuries of protestors in Kenya, as well as full accountability for those responsible.”

        Widespread use of excessive force has been reported in Kenya over recent weeks, including an incident in which some 53 primary school children were hospitalized after security forces deployed tear gas in a Nairobi classroom. Up to 23 people have reportedly been killed during the protests, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

      • BBCKenya's Azimio protests: Children hospitalised after being tear-gassed in Nairobi

        Kenyans are divided over the protests, with some backing them, saying the high cost of living is unsustainable: "Kenyans are personally defending themselves, arguing against the imposed taxes. The salary you are paid against what you are spending, there is nothing important you can do for yourself as a human being," William Musembi told the Reuters news agency.

      • Democracy for the Arab World NowJordan's King Abdullah Joins Other Arab Autocrats in Targeting Dissidents Abroad

        Jordan's intelligence services have long had a notorious reputation for surveilling, monitoring and punishing Jordanians advocating for any kind of reform in the country, but Abdullah's abuse in February of this year was one of the first signs that they dared to take such harsh measures against activists living abroad. And he was not alone. DAWN has uncovered at least 10 other cases just this year of transnational repression by Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate (GID), which directly reports to King Abdullah II, one of America's closest allies in the Middle East. The GID, which has a dedicated division to spy on Jordanians, has been harassing, intimidating and punishing activists abroad, whose numbers in exile have increased in the face of the country's spiraling domestic repression. Hundreds of teachers, journalists, academics, lawyers and even truck drivers who protested against corruption and government mismanagement have been arrested in recent years. Jordanians abroad thought they had found freedom and space to advocate for change in the kingdom and establish democracy and human rights organizations like the Gathering of Jordan's Sons in Exile and the Democratic Platform.

      • NDTVSwedish Embassy In Baghdad Attacked, Set On Fire: Report

        A series of videos posted by One Baghdad, a popular Telegram channel that supports Sadr, showed people gathering around the embassy around 1 a.m. on Thursday (2200 GMT on Wednesday) and storming the embassy complex around an hour later.

        Later videos showed smoke rising from a building in the embassy complex. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

      • France24Sweden says its Baghdad embassy staff are safe after protesters set building on fire

        The Swedish foreign ministry said staff at its embassy in Baghdad "are in safety" after the embassy was stormed and set alight in protest against the expected burning of a Koran in Sweden on Thursday.

        The Swedish foreign ministry's press office also told Reuters that Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and staff.

      • Deutsche WelleIraq: Swedish Embassy in Baghdad stormed

        Iraqi riot police fired water cannons to break up the protests while security forces armed with electric batons chased protesters, an AFP photographer on the scene reported.

        [...]

        "The Iraqi authorities are responsible for the protection of diplomatic missions and their staff," The Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement to AFP, adding that attacks on embassies and diplomats "constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention".

      • YLEFinnish embassy staff in Iraq evacuated after protesters storm Swedish embassy

        The Swedish and Finnish embassies are located very close to each other in a walled compound within the city of Baghdad.

      • RFIIraqi protesters torch Swedish embassy in Baghdad

        "The Iraqi authorities are responsible for the protection of diplomatic missions and their staff", the ministry said, adding that attacks on embassies and diplomats "constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention".

        Several trucks to extinguish the fire had arrived at the embassy, where skirmishes between Iraqi security forces and demonstrators had broken out, an AFP photographer said.

      • Associated PressProtesters storm Swedish Embassy in Baghdad ahead of planned Quran burning in Stockholm

        “We condemn all attacks on diplomats and staff from international organizations,” the ministry said. “Attacks on embassies and diplomats constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention. Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff.”

        Iraq’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning the attack, without explaining how it allowed the breach to happen or identifying who carried out the assault.

      • The Guardian UKProtesters angered by Qur’an burning storm Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad

        The videos showed dozens of men climbing over the fence at the complex, with the sound of them trying to break down a front door. Another showed what appeared to be a small fire being set.

        Sweden called the attack on the embassy a serious violation of the Vienna convention and called on Iraqi authorities to “protect diplomatic missions and staff”.

      • New York TimesSwedish Embassy in Baghdad Is Set Afire Amid Protests Over Quran

        While the Swedish police have rejected several recent applications for anti-Quran demonstrations, courts have overruled those decisions, saying they infringed on freedom of speech.

      • CPJAnti-migrant activists assault Italian journalists, prevent live coverage from Lampedusa

        “If you don’t go away, we will kill you,” Santorelli cited one of the aggressors as saying. The group also warned the journalists not to set foot on the island again.

        Santorelli filed a criminal complaint to the police who identified and charged two alleged perpetrators. “Threats and insults unfortunately have happened previously, but we’ve never been prevented from working before”, he told CPJ.

      • ReasonCourt Rejects Online Activist Eugene Gu's #TheyLied Libel Suit Over Abuse Allegations in The Verge

        From New York trial judge Shlomo Hagler's opinion released today in Gu v. The Verge: (you can also read Gu's argument to the contrary, and the underlying article): Plaintiff Dr. Eugene Gu, appearing pro se in this media defamation case, is an online activist involved in a series of controversies, ranging from a Congressional investigation…

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

    • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • BW Businessworld Media Pvt LtdStrong Policy Makers Are The Need Of The Hour For Web 3, Say Experts

        Kaushal Mahan, Vice President, Chase India, shared his views on how the structures for Web 3.0 should be. “We need to move out from traditional regulatory structures to optimum structures. How can we do it? We need to look for a hub and spoke model, which we have been suggesting. The nodal agency is looking at the high risks associated with Web 3.0 and also looking at the existing resolutions. How do you encourage innovations - by helping startups and generating more funds."

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • India TimesNetflix set to report earnings, against the backdrop of two strikes

        Netflix has been on the receiving end of much of the vitriol surrounding the strike, primarily from writers who say the economics of the streaming era have eroded their working conditions and hurt their overall compensation. The company already contended with angry shareholders last month, when they voted to reject lucrative pay packages for the company's top executives. A rosy earnings report could certainly inflame those on the picket lines.

    • Monopolies

      • Digital Music NewsFarm Aid Says Ticketmaster ‘Let Us Down’ After Buggy Ticketing Process

        Organizers of Farm Aid 2023 slammed Ticketmaster on Twitter for its buggy ticketing process. The September event takes place in Indiana, with general ticket sales happening this weekend. But numerous fans took to social media to complain about the checkout process, prompting organizers to call out Ticketmaster on social media.

      • New York TimesMicrosoft and Activision Delay Deal to Settle British Regulatory Issues

        Microsoft and Activision Blizzard said on Wednesday that they were delaying a $69 billion merger as the two companies scrambled to get final approval from British antitrust regulators.

        The new extension, set for Oct. 18, signals that the companies believe they will complete the deal but need more time to satisfy regulators’ concerns.

      • New York TimesBiden Administration Unveils Tougher Guidelines on Mergers

        The guidelines — which generally provide a road map for whether regulators block or approve deals — show the Biden administration’s commitment to an aggressive antitrust agenda aimed at curtailing the power of companies like Google, Meta, Apple and Amazon.

        The guidelines, which aren’t enforced by law, follow a losing streak in the courts. A ruling last week prevented the F.T.C. from delaying the closing of Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of the video game maker Activision Blizzard. In January, a court sided against the F.T.C. in its lawsuit to stop Meta’s purchase of Within, a virtual reality app maker.

      • Trademarks

        • CNNThe battle for the ‘Taco Tuesday’ trademark is over

          Taco John’s, the regional chain that has “Taco Tuesday” trademarked, announced Tuesday that it’s ending its fight in defending the phrase and will “abandon” it because it doesn’t want to pay the legal fees that come with a fight against Taco Bell.

        • ABCBattle for the 'Taco Tuesday' trademark is over as Taco John's ends dispute with Taco Bell

          Taco Bell filed a petition in May with the US Patent and Trademark office to cancel the trademark owned by rival Taco John's for 34 years because Taco Bell claims the commonly used phrase "should be freely available to all who make, sell, eat and celebrate tacos."

        • AxiosTaco Tuesday fight ends as Taco John's abandons trademark

          Taco John’s CEO Jim Creel said it would have cost as much as $1 million to defend the trademark, The Wall Street Journal first reported.

          Flashback: Taco Bell filed legal petitions in mid-May aiming to cancel the trademark registration that its small Wyoming-based competitor has owned since 1989.

        • CBSTaco John's abandons "Taco Tuesday" trademark, ending dispute with Taco Bell

          While Taco John's has abandoned the trademark fight, the company did issue a challenge to Taco Bell and other competitors. Instead of spending money on the trademark dispute, Taco John's is pledging $100 per location, or about $40,000, to the nonprofit Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE), which provides financial aid to restaurant workers when they, a spouse or their children face a life-altering crisis.

      • Copyrights

        • Public Domain ReviewHokusai’s Illustrated Warrior Vanguard of Japan and China (1836)

          This book by Hokusai assembles images of famous Japanese and Chinese warriors, both historical and legendary.

        • Public Domain ReviewA Distinct Phenomenon in Itself: C. V. Raman’s Discovery of Why the Sea is Blue (1921)

          On a voyage from England to Bombay, C. V. Raman penned a short paper that forever changed how we see the sea.

        • Torrent FreakHighly Anticipated Movie Piracy Lawsuit Settled On The Eve of Trial

          Strike 3 Holdings and an alleged BitTorrent pirate were scheduled to appear before a jury in a Florida federal court this week. These types of lawsuits rarely make it to a full trial and this case did nothing to upend the status quo. The adult entertainment company and defendant reached a confidential settlement at the eleventh hour, but with both parties reportedly happy with the outcome, who takes the moral victory remains unclear.

        • Torrent FreakTelefónica & Nagra Team Up to Identify & Disrupt Pirate IPTV Networks

          Telefonica is recognized as one of the largest telecoms companies in the world but as owner of Movistar and 50% owner of Virgin Media, it also has significant subscription TV rights to protect. This week Telefonica announced an extended partnership with anti-piracy company Nagra, with the aim of boosting capabilities to identify and disrupt large-scale pirate IPTV services. Telefonica, meanwhile, has tools of its own under development.

  • Gemini* and Gopher


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



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IRC logs for Monday, August 10, 2026
5.1k Capsules Known to Lupa, Gemini Protocol Crawler
If no limits (e.g. 10k max per capsule) were imposed on crawling, there would likely be millions of pages in the database
Gemini Links 11/08/2026: Waking Up Earlier, Whining About LLMs as Destructive Plagiarism
Links for the day
Links 11/08/2026: "The Enemy Is the Platform" and 'Vibe' 'Coding' Shown to be Little But Plagiarism
Links for the day