Leftovers

• Reason ☛ Posting RSS Feed to BlueSky [Ed: Social control media is a waste of time. They should focus on RSS itself.]

  I'd like our posts to be available on BlueSky as well as on Twitter and Mastodon. Is there a good service that will automatically post from an RSS feed (or a Twitter or Mastodon account) to BlueSky? Thanks!

• The Strategist ☛ Planning ahead for Solomon Islands’ Pacific Games

  Honiara’s hosting of the Pacific Games is fast approaching. As the November event draws closer, there’s heightened concern—both in Solomon Islands and abroad—about how the games might affect the city’s security.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Missing 'Law of Nature' Found That Describes The Way All Things Evolve

    Could this help us find life elsewhere?

  • New Yorker ☛ Can Happiness Be Taught?

    Bolstered by Oprah, a Harvard Business School professor thinks you should run your inner self like a company.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ GPD Accuses AMD of Violating Supply Contract

    GPD's Win Max 2 ultra-compact notebook delayed due to limited supply of processors by AMD.

  • Hackaday ☛ Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Tile-Based Macropad

    Prolific Hackaday.io member [Michael Gardi] has hit upon the biggest problem with making reprogrammable macro pads — the legend situation. What do you do when the whole point is that the keys can so easily be changed?

  • Hackaday ☛ Debug Your Senile Computers With The ROMulator

    Some of you may have heard of the ROMulator, a device that can emulate RAM and ROM on 6502-based computers. But how does it work? How do you use it? What computers is it compatible with? [Jeff Tranter] covers that and more in his review of the ROMulator 6502.

  • Hackaday ☛ Bone-Shaking Haunted Mirror Uses Stable Diffusion

    We once thought that the best houses on Halloween were the ones that gave out full-size candy bars. While that’s still true, these days we’d rather see a cool display of some kind on the porch. Although some might consider this a trick, gaze into [Tim]’s mirror and you’ll be treated to a spooky version of yourself.

  • Hackaday ☛ 2023 Halloween Hackfest: A Spooky Muscle-Brain Interface

    What could be better than a Halloween decoration? Something more perennial, or even something that could also be found in a classroom or lab. Something like [Markus Bindhammer]’s spooky muscle-brain interface. It was inspired by a series called “Tales From the Loop” in which a character’s muscle electrical activity is measured in preparation to adjust his prosthetic hand.

  • Hackaday ☛ Low-Cost Electret Microphone Preamplifiers

    Before the invention of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphones, almost all microphones in cell phones and other electronics were a type of condenser microphone called the electret microphone. The fact that this type of microphone is cheap and easy enough to place into consumer electronics doesn’t mean they’re all low quality, though. Electret microphones can have a number of qualities that make them desirable for use recording speech or music, so if you have a struggling artist friend like [fvfilippetti] has who needs an inexpensive way to bring one to life, take a look at this electret microphone pre-amp.

  • Wouter Verhelst: New toy: ASUS ZenScreen Go MB16AHP

    A while ago, I saw Stefano's portable monitor, and thought it was very useful. Personally, I rent a desk at an office space where I have a 27" Dell monitor; but I do sometimes use my laptop away from that desk, and then I do sometimes miss the external monitor.

  • CNX Software ☛ Tiny low-power Hyperlux LP camera sensors can extend battery life by up to 40%

    onsemi has introduced the Hyperlux LP image sensor family for battery-powered industrial and commercial cameras with resolutions from 5MP to 20MP and a low power consumption that can extend battery life by up to 40% based on the company’s internal testing. Three models of the 1.4 µm pixel sensors will initially be offered: the 5MP AR0544, the 8MP AR0830, and the 20MP AR2020. Those camera sensors should eventually be found in a wide range of products such as smart doorbells, security cameras, AR/VR/XR headsets, devices leveraging machine vision, and video conferencing.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • University of Michigan ☛ Identifying some foods as addictive could shift attitudes

    Conceptualizing ultra-processed foods high in carbohydrates and fats as addictive substances can contribute to efforts to improve health worldwide, according to a new international study led by a U-M researcher.

  • New York Times ☛ F.D.A. Plans to Ban Hair Straighteners With Formaldehyde

    The products, often marketed to Black women, have been linked to an increased risk of uterine cancer.

  • University of Michigan ☛ It Happened at Michigan — Teaching farmers in Ann Arbor

    No one will mistake today's U-M for an agricultural college. But for a few years before the Civil War, leaders were determined to teach the art and science of farming.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Stack Overflow lets go 28% of its workforce in cost reduction push

    Stack Overflow, the company behind the popular coding forum of the same name, is letting go 28% of its workforce in a bid to cut costs. Chief Executive Prashanth Chandrasekar announced the move in a blog post published today.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ LinkedIn lays off 668 workers to simplify its organizational structure [Ed: Microsoft sponsored site spins mass layoffs as "simplify its organizational structure"]

    LinkedIn today announced that it will lay off 668 employees across its product development, human resources and finance groups.  The job cuts come a few months after LinkedIn parent Microsoft Corp. implemented its second workforce reduction of the year.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ SEC chair Gary Gensler warns unregulated [computer programs] could lead to financial crisis

    Gary Gensler, the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has warned that artificial intelligence software could lead to a financial crisis if it’s not properly regulated. Gensler shared his views during an interview with the Financial Times that was published on Sunday.

  • Vice Media Group ☛ SEC Head: Financial Crash Caused by AI 'Nearly Unavoidable'

    The head of the SEC said that without proper regulation, the artificial intelligence market could lead to an economic crisis as soon as the late 2020s.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ My Windows 11 Odyssey: A Comedy of Errors and ‘Unsupported’ Hardware

    Once upon a digital time, many moons ago i.e. 2021, in the mystical realm of the internet, I embarked on a quest to upgrade my trusty seventh-gen i7 UX305 laptop to the coveted Windows 11.

  • New York Times ☛ How ‘A.I. Agents’ That Roam the Internet Could One Day Replace Workers

    Researchers are transforming chatbots into online agents that play games, query websites, schedule meetings, build bar charts and do more.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Security Week ☛ Spyware Caught Masquerading as Israeli Rocket Alert Applications

      A threat actor targets Israelis with spyware masquerading as an Android application for receiving rocket alerts.

    • AccessNow ☛ Bodily harms: how AI and biometrics curtail human rights

      Biometric technologies are becoming increasingly interwoven into our everyday lives. A new Access Now report explores how AI is driving the adoption of ableist technologies that marginalize anyone who doesn’t fit into their definition of a “normal” body.

    • New York Times ☛ Israel Prepares for Invasion by Using Phone Data to Track Gazans Fleeing

      The Israeli military says the tracking and the call to evacuate are to preserve as many civilian lives as possible during an expected ground invasion, even as deadly airstrikes continue.

    • Security Week ☛ Signal Pours Cold Water on Zero-Day Exploit Rumors

      Privacy-focused messaging firm Signal is pouring cold water on widespread rumors of a zero-day exploit in its popular encrypted chat app.

    • EDRI ☛ Activists come to Brussels to tell MEPs to ensure everyone’s digital security amid mas surveillance measures in CSA Regulation

      Between 9 and 11 October, 23 Stop Scanning Me activists from 13 European countries travelled to Brussels. They were students, parents, lawyers, young activists, human rights defenders and technologists.

    • RFA ☛ One year on, where is China's lone 'Bridge Man' protester?

      Peng's whereabouts remain unclear, and his family is under close surveillance.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Israeli intel agency chief says it failed in stopping Hamas attack

      The head of Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency on Monday took responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas from carrying out its deadly rampage through Israeli towns.

• Defence/Aggression

  • BIA Net ☛ 'More than 2 million people in Rojava left without electricity and water'

    IRF Secretary Nadine Maenza stated that as a result of the attacks, 48 civilians, including women and children, lost their lives.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Soccer match between Belgium and Sweden suspended after gunman kills 2 Swedes in Brussels

    Thousands of soccer fans were kept inside Belgium’s national stadium for about 2 1/2 hours after a game between host Belgium and Sweden was suspended at halftime following a gunman fatally shooting two Swedes in Brussels before kickoff. The European Championship qualifier on Monday was being played 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the shooting in the center of the Belgian capital city, with over 35,000 fans attending the match. With the suspect still at large, Belgian authorities kept fans inside the venue for security reasons before they started the evacuation around midnight local time. Fans chanted “All together, All together” inside the King Baudouin Stadium after the match was halted, with thousands of supporters from both sides shouting “Sweden, Sweden!”

  • RFERL ☛ Kyrgyz President Says Military Prosecutors Check Legality Of Killing Of Criminal Kingpin Kolbaev

    Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov says the Military Prosecutor's Office is looking into the legality of actions by security officers who killed notorious Kyrgyz organized-crime figure Kamchy Kolbaev (aka Kamchybek Asanbek) earlier in October.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • American Oversight ☛ Amended Lawsuit Seeks Records from Wisconsin Speaker Vos’ Secret Impeachment Panel

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • YLE ☛ Finland to stop subsidising EV charging stations

      The government decision is likely to reduce interest in investing in electric vehicle infrastructure.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • teleSUR ☛ Amazon River's Largest Tributary With the Lowest Flow Ever

      High temperatures linked to the El Niño phenomenon and low water levels of the Amazon's tributaries has caused the death of over 140 dolphins.

  • Overpopulation

    • RFA ☛ Global water crisis imperils $58 trillion & food security

      The Mekong Delta, one of the most endangered regions, is ‘sinking’ and ‘shrinking.’

• Finance

  • Latvia ☛ Rīga wants to be European anti-money laundering capital [Ed: But it was a rub of EPO corruption]

    Latvia has hopes of transforming its former reputation as a money laundering hub into that of an anti-money laundering hub with confirmation from the Ministry of Finance (FM) that Rīga will bid to become home to a new European agency, the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).

  • WhichUK ☛ Price of everyday essential foods soars by up to 145%

    Shoppers' ability to eat a healthy, balanced diet could be impacted by inflation-busting food costs

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ Investigation: How a Haitian congregation tried to take down a gang

    On August 26, an evangelical pastor and his followers attempted to attack a gang in the north of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, armed with sticks and machetes. The gang retaliated with firearms, killing at least 21 people. What exactly happened that day? Why did ordinary churchgoers go to confront an armed gang? The FRANCE 24 Observers team investigated in this special program: "Haiti: Faith against bullets".

  • CS Monitor ☛ France won’t apologize to Algeria for war. Enter the French people.

    Can a former colonial power make amends without offering an apology? France and Algeria offer a test case that shows how difficult it can be to grapple honestly with the past.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Where art mends lives, behind and beyond bars

    Since 1978, the Prison Arts Program has run classes in Connecticut state prisons, helping students grapple with the past and prepare for a future beyond bars.

  • New York Times ☛ In Legal Peril at Home, Trump Turns to a U.K. Court for Vindication

    On a day when he lashed out at a federal judge in Washington, the former president asked a judge in London to let his lawsuit over the notorious Steele dossier go forward.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Why China won’t win the Global South

    Beijing has devoted ample resources to garnering support from the Global South, but China’s ambitions to lead the developing world are facing challenges.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Nuevo León governor announces 2 big investments by Asian firms

    Governor Samuel García made the announcements while touring Japan and China to woo more investment for the northern state.

  • RFA ☛ ‘Some of them will be sent to … camps,’ some ‘may be executed’

    Defector-turned-lawmaker visits Washington to raise issue of China’s repatriation of North Koreans

  • RFA ☛ No easy choices in Taiwan’s presidential polls

    With three months to go, a divided opposition are struggling to hold hands for victory.

  • RFA ☛ US, South Korea confront China on North Korean human rights

    Both sides’ commitment comes amid reports hundreds of escapees were forcibly sent back to the North from China.

  • RFA ☛ China says Israel's war in Gaza goes 'beyond self-defense'

    Foreign minister calls on Israel to end the 'collective punishment' of Palestinian civilians.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea accuses US of stoking tension with 'nuclear supremacy'

    North Korea's nuclear programme is a self-defensive move to head off a nuclear war in the face of the U.S. pursuit of \"nuclear supremacy,\" state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ World must not fail in Iran as it did in North Korea, IAEA chief says

    The world should be careful to ensure the standoff with Iran over its nuclear programme does not become like North Korea, which expelled U.N. inspectors before testing nuclear weapons, U.N. atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ FIRE Letter to NYU School of Law About the Ryna Workman Pro-Hamas-Attack Speech Controversy

    Here's the text of today's letter (see here for the full letter, including footnotes): FIRE is deeply concerned by New York University School of Law's recent suggestion to The New York Times that it may be investigating student Ryna Workman for their protected political speech amid intense public and campuswide criticism [...]

  • Reason ☛ My Move to Yale Law School

    After spending more than two decades in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, I'm pleased to announce that I will joining the faculty of Yale Law School in the fall of 2024. At YLS, I also expect to be the faculty director of a new center focused on academic freedom and free speech issues.…

  • Reason ☛ Taxing Nudity: Discriminatory Taxes, Secondary Effects, and Tiers of Scrutiny—part 2 in a series

    Serial-blogging my recent article in the Journal of Free Speech Law

  • New York Times ☛ Social Media Users Accuse Facebook, Instagram of Suppressing Pro-Palestinian Posts

    Meta has cautioned that some content might be temporarily suppressed or suspended as it sifts through millions of posts spreading across its platforms.

  • RFA ☛ Children’s book depicting protest removed from Hong Kong libraries

    Two titles by Taiwanese author Sun Hsin-yu are taken down over ‘sensitive’ references to protests, opposition.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • New York Times ☛ Bill Ford Says U.A.W. Strike Is Helping Tesla and Toyota

    Mr. Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor, said nonunion automakers would make gains against Michigan automakers because of strikes by the United Automobile Workers union.

  • New York Times ☛ Robert Sapolsky Doesn’t Believe in Free Will. (But Feel Free to Disagree.)

    Shedding the concept “completely strikes at our sense of identity and autonomy,” the Stanford biologist and neurologist argues. It might also be liberating.

  • YLE ☛ Security guard abuses trial begins

    The guards recorded some of the violent incidents and shared the videos, according to police.

  • JURIST ☛ US government to settle class-action lawsuit against Trump-era family separation policy

    The US government announced on Monday that it will settle a 2018 class-action lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration’s family separation practice at the US-Mexico border. The parties filed a joint petition asking the court to approve the settlement. The proposed settlement would create a process to reunify families who were separated.

  • YLE ☛ Finnish interior minister promises tighter citizenship laws

    "Tightening the conditions and encouraging integration will mean that it will no longer be as easy to obtain citizenship as now – and that is the goal," said Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns).

  • CS Monitor ☛ Settlement in ACLU lawsuit to end Trump-era family separation tactics

    A settlement filed in federal court in San Diego will halt for eight years a Trump-era rule, aimed to deter undocumented migrants, that separates children from families at the border. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU, which represents separated families.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • JURIST ☛ Australian regulator fines X for failing to cooperate with child sexual abuse practices

    Australia’s eSafety Commissioner issued social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) with an infringement notice today for $610,500, for falling short in tackling child sexual abuse and cooperating with a probe into anti-child abuse practices.

• Monopolies

  • Patents

    • JUVE ☛ Enlarged Board of Appeal reshuffles cards for EPO rules of priority [Ed: This useless kangaroo court of the EPO's dictators is still unfit for purpose, it lacks any true independence]

      The Enlarged Board of Appeal’s decision simplifies the transfer of priority rights for an application to the EPO. Following its latest decision in cases G 1/22 and G 2/22, the EPO now takes it as a given that the applicant has the priority rights.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Atlantic IP entity, Foras Technologies, parallel processor patent reexam granted

      On October 10, 2023, less than six weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding a substantial new question of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 7,627,781, owned and asserted by Foras Technologies, Ltd., an NPE and entity of Atlantic IP Services Limited.

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Patent Continuation Strategies Face Major Threat

      Impact of Sonos on Patent Prosecution: The recent Sonos v. Google decision threatens to grind to a halt, or at least significantly restrict, a once-common patent prosecution strategy – keeping continuation applications pending for years to obtain new claims that cover marketplace developments. Sonos Inc. v. Google LLC, 20-06754 WHA, 2023 WL 6542320 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 6, 2023).  In Sonos, Judge Alsup found Sonos’s patents unenforceable due to prosecution laches, despite Sonos diligently prosecuting related applications for 13 years; serially filing a continuation with each allowance.

  • Trademarks

    • TTAB Blog ☛ Weakness of SELF Magazine's Mark Leads to TTAB Dismissal of Opposition to THE SELF PUBLICATION for Art and Literature Presentations

      The Board tossed out this opposition to registration of THE SELF PUBLICATION for "Education and entertainment, in particular presentation of works of visual art or literature to the public for cultural or educational purposes," concluding that Opposer Advance Magazine Publishers failed to prove a likelihood of confusion with its registered mark SELF for fitness magazines and for provision of information in the fields of fitness, fashion, exercise, health, nutrition and beauty via electronic means. Although the marks are similar, the weakness of opposer's mark and the lack of proof of relatedness of the goods and services doomed opposer's Section 2(d) claim.