Science

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China launches new mission carrying 3 astronauts to Tiangong space station

  China sent a fresh crew to its Tiangong space station on Thursday, in the latest mission for a growing space programme that plans to send people to the moon by 2030.

• Science Alert ☛ New Evidence Suggests Wild Chimpanzees Undergo Menopause

• New York Times ☛ Chimpanzees Go Through Menopause, Too

  A new study challenges a prominent evolutionary theory about why women live long after their childbearing years.

• Science Alert ☛ Scientists Figured Out How to Recycle The Key Component in Diapers

  This could help fix a huge landfill problem.

• Science Alert ☛ Neutron Star Collision Caught Forging Heavy Metals in a JWST First

  Boom! Tellurium!

• Science Alert ☛ Three Stars Vanished From The Sky in 1952. We Still Can't Find Them.

  Maybe they weren't stars to begin with.

• Science Alert ☛ Scientists Find Powerful, Unexplained Signals in The Brain's White Matter

  But what do they mean?

• Science Alert ☛ Unexpected 'Fish' Cell Found in Human Lungs Could Be Key to Cystic Fibrosis

  A new behavior, never seen before.

• Science Alert ☛ Lethal Form of Bird Flu Found in The Antarctic For The First Time

  This is devastating.

Education

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong youth suicide on the rise since school began, NGO warns

  The number of young Hongkongers taking their own lives has seen an “obvious increase” since school began in September, a NGO has warned. The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong (SBHK), an organisation specialising in suicide prevention, said on Friday that 17 youths had died by suicide between July and October according to local media reports.

• New York Times ☛ What Is a Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library Doing in North Dakota?

  The $333 million project rising in a tiny badlands town wants to showcase the 26th president and his visionary environmental record — without ignoring his flaws.

Hardware

• Hackaday ☛ Simple Hack Lets Smartphone Take Resin Printer Time-Lapses

  With how cheap they’re getting, everyone seems to be jumping on the resin printer bandwagon. They may not be able to fully replace your trusty old FDM printer, but for certain jobs, they just can’t be beaten. Sadly though, creating those smooth time-lapse videos of your prints isn’t quite as easy to do as it is on their filament-based counterparts.

• CNX Software ☛ COM Express development kit ships with Intel Core i3-13300HE or Core i5-13600HE Raptor Lake-P processor

  ADLINK has launched an “IoT prototyping kit” based on the company’s Express-RLP COM Express Type 6 module with either an Intel Core i3-13300HE or Core i5-13600HE Raptor Lake-P processor. The module supports up to 64GB DDR5 and the ATX carrier board offers a wide range of interfaces such as 2.5GbE, two SATA ports, DisplayPort, LVDS (or EDP), and VGA video outputs, two USB4 ports, and more.

• Jeff Geerling ☛ Everything I've learned building the fastest Arm desktop

  This is the fastest Arm desktop in the world, yes, even faster than the M2 Ultra Mac Pro. And today, I made it even faster.

  I upgraded everything: Faster RAM, 128 core CPU, 40 series GPU, I did it all, and we'll see how much we can obliterate the M2 Mac Pro.

  128 cores—that's five times more cores, I'm also going to upgrade this thing from 96 all the way to 384 gigabytes of RAM. The Mac Pro? Sorry, it only goes up to 192.

• Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel CEO Says Nvidia Arm PC Chips Will Have ‘Pretty Insignificant’ Impact

  The head of Intel does not see Arm-based client CPUs to be an immediate threat.

• Hackaday ☛ Simple Badge Is Simple, But Its Yours

  Making conference badges, official or unofficial, has become an art form. It can get pretty serious. #badgelife.

• Hackaday ☛ A Tiny Board For Driving LEDs In…Whatever

  Whether you’re into chiptune or just playing Tetris on original hardware, you might like rocking a heavily-customized Game Boy. Lovely flashing LEDs can only improve the aesthetic, so if that’s what you’re after, you might consider the ARCCore board from [NatalieTheNerd].

• Hackaday ☛ Tim’s Draw Bot Gets Around With A Pen

  If you grew up playing with LOGO on an old 8-bit computer, you’re probably familiar with the concept of a drawbot. It’s a simple robot that drags a pen around to draw on paper. [Tim] decided to build one that uses a simple skid-steer design to get around the page. 

• Hackaday ☛ Interactive Chameleon Lamp Changes Color At Your Whim

  You never forget your first diorama, especially when it’s interactive. Although admittely a bit late to celebrate Erntedankfest (Germanic Thanksgiving), [Markus Bindhammer] is ahead of the curve when it comes to the American version.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

• Phil Hands: Sleep Apnoea

  I just noticed that I wrote this a decade ago, and then never got round to posting it, so thought I might kick it off now to mark my tentative return to blogging.

  At the recent 2015 Cambridge-UK Mini-DebConf (generously hosted by ARM), I gave an impromptu Lightning Talk about Sleep Apnoea (video here).

  Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA - the form I'm on about) is a sleep disorder where one repeatedly stops breathing while asleep, normally when snoring, but not necessarily.

• YLE ☛ THL: Only half of adults in Finland exercise enough, just 20% get sufficient sleep

  The survey found that men are more likely than women to reach the recommended levels of weekly exercise.

• European Commission ☛ Global Gateway: EU steps up support for global health and equitable access to health products and local manufacturing

  European Commission Press release Brussels, 26 Oct 2023 Today, at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, the EU signed an additional €500 million for global health and a further €134 million to increase local manufacturing and equitable access to quality, safe, effective and affordable health products in six African countries.

• CS Monitor ☛ Averted flight disaster puts spotlight on pilot mental health

  There is heightened attention on the mental health of those in the cockpit after an off-duty pilot tried to shut down the engines of a Horizon Air flight with more than 80 people on board. He told police after his arrest that he’d had a nervous breakdown.

• Science Alert ☛ Years of Sitting Can Be Deadly. Here Is an Easy Way to Beat The Odds.

  Takes just 22 minutes a day.

• CS Monitor ☛ Creeping abortion restrictions in Russia spark outrage

  Recent proposals by authorities to restrict access to abortion have struck a nerve across Russia. While abortion remains legal, new regulations and mandates from the Health Ministry are designed to discourage women from seeking terminating pregnancies.

• Science Alert ☛ Zombie Uprisings Can Help Us Predict How Future Pandemics Spread

  We only have hours to act.

• MIT Technology Review ☛ Some deaf children in China can hear after gene treatment

  Here’s the easy game Li Xincheng has been playing at home.

• YLE ☛ Could Finland compel civil servicemen to milk cows?

  Finland has a severe shortage of agricultural stand-ins that could relieve dairy farmers of their twice-a-day duty.

• Techdirt ☛ New Study In The Journal Of Pediatrics Says Maybe It’s Not Social Media, But Helicopter Parenting That’s Making Kids Depressed

  We’ve been covering, at great length, the moral panic around the claims that social media is what’s making kids depressed. The problem with this narrative is that there’s basically no real evidence to support it. As the American Psychological Association found when it reviewed all the literature, despite many, many dozens of studies done on the impact of social media on kids, no one was able to establish a causal relationship.

Security

• Privacy/Surveillance

  • JURIST ☛ New York high court finds police can search state DNA database for relatives of potential suspects

    The New York Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that the state legislature authorized the Commission on Forensic Sciences to create rules allowing police to search the state’s DNA database to identify family members of potential suspects.

  • ACLU ☛ The Government Can't Retain Seized Digital Devices and Data Indefinitely Without Justification

    We’ve all seen enough police procedurals to know the ordinary flow of a criminal investigation: first, law enforcement develops suspicion; then, it gets a warrant and seizes evidence, like a cellphone or computer, from a suspect; and finally, there is a trial. But sometimes in real life, instead of winding down like an hour-long episode on A&E, that final act is delayed or never happens. If a case drags on, or there is no case, can the government hold onto the digital devices in its possession and the reams of private information they contain for as long as it wants?

  • EFF ☛ What the !#@% is a Passkey?

    A new login technique is becoming available in 2023: the passkey. The passkey promises to solve phishing and prevent password reuse. But lots of smart and security-oriented folks are confused about what exactly a passkey is. There’s a good reason for that. A passkey is in some sense one of two (or three) different things, depending on how it’s stored.

    First off: is a passkey one of those little plastic things you stick in your USB port for two-factor authentication? No, that’s a security key. More on security keys in a minute. A passkey is also not something you can type in; it’s not a password, passcode, passphrase, or a PIN.

    A passkey is approximately 100-1400 bytes of random data[1], generated on your device (like your phone, laptop, or security key) for the purpose of logging in on a specific website. Once the passkey is generated, your browser registers it with the website and it gets stored somewhere safe (for instance, your password manager). From then on, you can use that passkey to log in to that website without entering a password. When you go to a website’s login page, you’ll have the option to “Sign in with a passkey.” If you choose that option you’ll get a confirmation prompt from your password manager, and will be logged in after confirming. For all this to work, there needs to be passkey support in the website, your browser, your password manager, and usually also your operating system.

  • EFF ☛ Passkeys and Privacy

    In our previous article we described what a passkey is: a few hundred bytes of data stored in your password manager, security key, or elsewhere, which allows you to log in to a specific website without a password. The good news is that passkeys are quite well designed from a privacy point of view, even though they give a little more information to websites than a plain old password.

    One of the most important attributes for passkeys is that they shouldn’t enable cross-site tracking. In other words, if you create a passkey on site A, and create a different passkey on site B using a different name, email address, and IP address, the two sites shouldn’t be able to correlate the separate identities, even if they’re sharing information behind the scenes.

    Passkeys satisfy this requirement. Each passkey you create is unique, though there are some small caveats to be aware of.

  • Techdirt ☛ EU Pitched Client-Side Scanning By Targeting Certain EU Residents With Misleading Ads

    The EU Commission has been pushing client-side scanning for well over a year. This new intrusion into private communications has been pitched as perhaps the only way to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

  • Vice Media Group ☛ This Internet Phone Booth Makes It Easy to Make Encrypted Video Calls

    The mysterious floating phone booth is the creation of Birdcalls, a privacy focused video call service.

  • Hackaday ☛ Blatano Art Project Tracks Devices In Its Vicinity

    Computers, surveillance systems, and online agents are perceiving us all the time these days. Most of the time, it takes place in the shadows, and we’re supposed to be unaware of this activity going on in the background. The Blatano art piece from [Leigh] instead shows a digital being that actively displays its perception of other digital beings in the world around it.

  • Reason ☛ Government Misuse of Data Rightly Worries Americans

    Federal agencies frequently buy their way around the Fourth Amendment.

Defence/Aggression

• Atlantic Council ☛ The urgent threats posed by the Iranian regime: Atlantic Council experts testify before the US House Committee on Homeland Security

  Nathan Sales and Thomas Warrick testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security on the threat Iran poses to the United States.

• RFA ☛ North Korea installs electric fences around new bridge to China

  Extending the fences southward to the new bridge will stop escapes to China before it officially opens.

• Marcy Wheeler ☛ Hunter Biden[‘s “Laptop”] Goes to SCOTUS: How Judge Doughty Helped China and Iran Attack the US

  The right wing wants to limit how the FBI can work to keep the United States safe from Iranian and Chinese hacks because they believe conspiracy theories about the "Hunter Biden" "laptop."

• JURIST ☛ Israel military sends ground forces to attack Hamas targets in Gaza Strip

  The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deployed ground forces in the Northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, marking an escalation in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. IDF members were active in the area for a brief time before returning to Israel.

• Reason ☛ Hamas' Attack in Israel Doesn't Reveal Much About U.S. Border Security

  There is little, if any, comparison between the terrorist threat that Israel faces and security problems along the U.S.-Mexico border.

• YLE ☛ Helsinki police probe vandalism of Turkish Embassy

  The police said they have information that an activist group has claimed responsibility for the crime.

• YLE ☛ PM Orpo: Finland may seek EU funding to repair damaged pipeline

  Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo is attending a two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

• RFA ☛ China urges ‘fair’ investigation into Baltic pipeline damage

  Finland alleges a Hong Kong container ship damaged the Balticconnector gas pipeline with its anchor.

• RFA ☛ N Korea claims Israel bombed Gaza hospital under US ‘patronage’

  This is the second time in a week that Pyongyang has criticized Washington over the Israel conflict.

• The Strategist ☛ The Australia–South Korea partnership is ripe for a refresh

  In an ASPI report released today, we argue that geopolitical challenges, notably Beijing’s growing power and coercive behaviour, justify a greater effort to elevate and sustain the important relationship between Australia and South Korea.

• YLE ☛ Finnish police report record rise in hate crime cases

  There were a total of 1,245 suspected hate crimes reported to police last year, with assault, defamation and breaches of domestic peace being the most common offences.

• YLE ☛ Finns feeling less secure, ministry survey finds

  Around 93 percent of respondents cited worries about the direction in which the world is headed, which reflected a 22 percentage point increase compared to a similar survey last year.

• Common Dreams ☛ Something That's Completely Unusual, Until It Isn't

  Another one, close to home. A white, sick, right-wing gun freak in Lewiston, Maine armed with an assault rifle and dark imagined grievances mows down a bunch of innocent people indulging in their mundane pastimes - a kids' night at a bowling alley, a corn-hole tournament at a bar.

• France24 ☛ ‘A ghost town’: Living under Hamas rocket fire in Israel’s Ashkelon

  Even before war broke out, Israel’s southern city of Ashkelon was frequently targeted by Hamas rockets fired from Gaza. But now, the number of strikes has soared and some 30 percent of the city’s population has left for safer parts of the country. Our team on the ground went to meet those who have stayed and find out just how they are coping with life under almost constant bombardment.

• France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Intense Israeli strikes hit northern Gaza, internet and mobile services down

  Intense Israeli strikes rocked the northern Gaza Strip on Friday evening, cutting off internet and mobile phone services, according to local authorities. Earlier, a barrage of rockets struck a residential building in Tel Aviv, injuring at least two people. The rocket attack came hours after Israeli ground forces backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a targeted raid overnight in the central Gaza Strip.

• RFERL ☛ U.S. Strikes Two Syrian Facilities After Attacks By Iran-Backed Militia

  U.S. President Joe Biden ordered strikes on two facilities in Syria following attacks on U.S. troops in the past week, the Pentagon said, warning that the United States will take additional measures if attacks by Iran's proxies continue.

• New York Times ☛ Gazans Release Names of 6,747 People They Say Were Killed in Israeli Strikes

  The detailed list from the Hamas-controlled health ministry — including ages, genders and ID numbers — followed President Biden’s comment that he had “no confidence” in its figures.

• BIA Net ☛ Reports: SDF leader killed in Turkey's airstrikes on Rojava

  Turkey has intensified its strikes on the Kurdish-controlled parts of northern Syria.

• teleSUR ☛ Death Toll From Israeli Bombing of Gaza Reaches 7,028

  Israeli airstrikes are targeting areas in Gaza City such as Tal Al-Hawa, Al-Jawazat, Al-Nafaq, and the Yarmouk Stadium.

• Atlantic Council ☛ Analyzing the Pentagon’s 2023 China Military Power Report

  Department of Defense’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Ely Ratner, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, Michael Chase discussed this year's China Military Power Report.

• Defence Web ☛ Banditry on the border needs joint Nigeria-Niger efforts

• New York Times ☛ Jake Sullivan’s ‘Quieter’ Middle East Comments Did Not Age Well

  The national security adviser has drawn criticism for recent public remarks. Biden officials pushed back on the idea that Mr. Sullivan was offering a lasting view on Middle East conflicts.

• YLE ☛ Defence minister stands by Finland's arms deal with Israel

  Finland is acquiring a high altitude air defence system from Israel, in a deal worth around 316 million euros, but members of the opposition Left Alliance have criticised the plans.

• YLE ☛ Finland, Sweden and Estonia discuss pipeline probe

  Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) met with his Swedish and Estonian counterparts over the damaged Baticconnector pipeline.

• RFA ☛ Hamas uses N Korea, Iran arms in its Israel assault, military says

  About 10% of weapons came from N Korea while 5% were from Iran: Israeli official.

• Federal News Network ☛ Averted disaster on Horizon Air flight renews scrutiny on mental health of those in the cockpit

  What authorities describe as an off-duty pilot’s attempt to shut down the engines of a Horizon Air flight has renewed attention on the mental fitness of those allowed in the cockpit. Joseph Emerson had been flying passengers himself just three days before police said he tried to engage an emergency fire suppression system midflight. He was catching a ride from Washington state to San Francisco on Sunday in the extra seat in the cockpit. He was subdued by the flight crew. The plane landed safely in Portland, Oregon. Emerson has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges. He told police after his arrest that he’d had a nervous breakdown.

• New York Times ☛ Chinese Jet Flies Within 10 Feet of B-52, U.S. Says

  The fighter jet neared a B-52 during a maneuver over the South China Sea on Tuesday night, the U.S. military said. China had no immediate response.

• Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Arming Ukraine is cheap compared to the far higher price of Russian victory

    Anyone concerned by the cost of supporting the Ukrainian war effort should consider the far higher price the Western world would have to pay in order to stop Putin following a Russian victory in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ The Israel-Hamas war is a distraction from Ukraine, but Russia isn’t necessarily benefiting

    The eruption of conflict between Israel and Hamas, which creates the potential for an even broader conflict poses dangers for Moscow, too.

  • RFERL ☛ Hungary's Orban Says EU's Strategy On Ukraine 'Has Failed'

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the only European Union leader to have met with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, says the bloc’s strategy with regards to the war “has failed” and a plan B should be created.

  • France24 ☛ Russia says it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack near its Kursk nuclear plant

    Russia said on Friday that it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack near a nuclear plant in the country's south, where two news outlets said an explosion had damaged the facade of a warehouse storing nuclear waste.

  • RFERL ☛ Most EU Leaders Back New Ukraine Aid; Hungary, Slovakia Voice Doubts

    Most European Union leaders on October 27 backed granting more financial support to Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion, but Hungary and Slovakia voiced reservations ahead of a decision the bloc needs to make unanimously in December.

  • RFERL ☛ Pro-Russian Ukrainian Politician Reported In Intensive Care After Being Shot

    Former Ukrainian lawmaker Oleh Tsaryov, a pro-Russian figure who was reported to have been lined up by Moscow to lead a puppet administration in Kyiv after Russia's invasion, is in intensive care after being shot, a Russian official said on October 27.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Biden meets with new Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House to discuss aid for Israel and Ukraine

    President Joe Biden has met with new House Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House. Johnson was joined by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries as they discussed Biden's request for nearly $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other national security needs. Johnson called it a “productive meeting.” It's been a busy first full day on the job for the Louisiana Republican who was elected Wednesday, almost a month after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker. Johnson is a conservative ally of Donald Trump and he's shown little interest in providing additional money from Congress to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.

  • RFERL ☛ EU Organizes Film Festival In Moscow Despite War In Ukraine

    The EU is bringing back the European Film Festival to Russia this November despite Russia's war against Ukraine.

  • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Says Russian Missile Strikes Injure Eight People In Kharkiv Region

    A Russian missile struck a fire station in the Ukrainian town of Izyum in the northern Kharkiv region overnight, injuring at least eight rescue workers and damaging the facility, Ukrainian officials said on October 27.

  • New York Times ☛ In Rare Protest, Ukrainian Families Press for News on Missing

    In a rare show of public criticism in wartime, families of missing Ukrainian soldiers are pressing the government for information on their status.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S. Announces Additional $150 Million Security Assistance For Ukraine

    The United States announced additional security assistance for Ukraine on October 26 valued at $150 million, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

  • RFERL ☛ White House: Russia Is Executing Soldiers Who Refuse To Follow Orders

    The White House said on October 26 that Russia is executing soldiers who fail to follow orders and threatening entire units with death if they retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire.

  • Meduza ☛ Ukraine suspends traffic along Black Sea grain corridor due to threat from Russian warplanes — Meduza

  • Atlantic Council ☛ NATO’s greatest advantage over adversaries is its network of allies and industry partners. Here’s how to use it.

    Government officials and defense industry leaders meeting this month mapped out the opportunities available to accelerate defense and technology cooperation between NATO allies.

  • ZDNet ☛ How to add a GUI for your Ubuntu firewall (and why you should)

    Linux is considered the most secure operating system on the planet. But you might be surprised to find out that Ubuntu doesn't ship with the firewall enabled or a simple-to-use GUI installed. Let's fix that.

  • Latvia ☛ Saeima advances plan to confiscate unregistered Russian cars

    In order to implement the sanctions imposed by the European Union and reduce security risks, the Saeima on Thursday, October 26, supported amendments to the Road Traffic Law, in a first reading. The amendments envisage confiscation of vehicles registered in Russia if they are not re-registered in Latvia within three months of crossing the border.

  • Security Week ☛ In Other News: Ex-NSA Employee Spying for Russia, EU Threat Landscape, Cyber Education Funding

    Noteworthy stories that might have slipped under the radar: Ex-NSA employee spying for Russia, EU threat landscape report, cyber education funding

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Kaspersky reveals ‘elegant’ malware resembling NSA code

    The Russian cybersecurity firm discovered sophisticated malware that combined cryptocurrency mining and espionage capabilities.

  • RFA ☛ Seoul won’t stand idly by on Russia-N Korea arms deal: S Korean FM

    The comment came after the U.S. and its allies verified an arms trade deal between Moscow and Pyongyang.

  • RFERL ☛ Colonel General Afzalov Appointed As Chief Of Russian Aerospace Forces

    The Russian Defense Ministry on October 27 announced the appointment of Colonel General Viktor Afzalov as commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Prosecuting the Wagner Group

    Host and Nonresident Senior Fellow Alia Brahimi speaks with international human rights lawyer Jason McCue about the legal mechanisms available to prosecute the Wagner Group.

  • RFERL ☛ Russian Court Jails Physicist For 12 Years In Treason Case

    The Moscow City Court on October 27 sentenced Russian physicist Anatoly Gubanov to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony for treason.

  • RFERL ☛ Hamas Delegation Discusses Release Of Hostages, Cease-Fire With Russian Officials In Moscow

    The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed on October 26 that a delegation from the militant group Hamas visited Moscow to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, prompting a rebuke from Israel.

  • Meduza ☛ Hamas delegation discusses ‘foreign hostages’ during talks in Moscow — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ ‘It’s become part of the landscape’: How residents of southern Siberia show support for a war thousands of miles away — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Hamas delegation arrives in Moscow — Meduza

  • New York Times ☛ Hamas Leaders Arrive in Russia as the Kremlin Attempts to Showcase Clout

    The meetings with high-ranking members of the group that attacked Israel underscored how Russia is trying to present itself as an alternative platform for possible mediation.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania plans Belarus border closure drills

    A regional exercise is planned to test the agreed algorithms for closing the border with Belarus, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė has said.

  • Latvia ☛ Missing mother and daughter found in Belarus

    Svetlana Ižika and her three-year-old daughter Karīna, whose whereabouts had been unknown since October 2, have been found in Belarus, the Latvian State Police (VP) said on Thursday, October 26.

  • Meduza ☛ Russia conducts training simulating extensive nuclear counterattack — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Russian authorities search home of activist Olga Misik in connection with new charges over tweet about pro-war blogger’s murder — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Moscow court strips former Russian state TV employee who protested war on-air of child custody rights — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Russian state entities have reportedly spent over $11 million on drone defenses in 2023 — Meduza

  • Latvia ☛ Get ready for a new season of the Rīga Security Forum

    The end of the year brings an excellent opportunity to expand your geopolitical horizons, thanks to the latest iteration of the Rīga Security Forum.

Environment

• CS Monitor ☛ Hurricane Otis lands in Acapulco. How will the tourist city recover?

  Acapulco was ravaged by Hurricane Otis on Oct. 25. Chaos ensued with roads closed from floods, looting, as well as power and internet outages, leaving citizens frustrated with Mexican authorities who lacked the resources to address the damage.

• YLE ☛ Police detain 29 climate activists following protest at Lapland pulp mill

  Greenpeace and Elokapina activists blocked access to Metsä Group's mill on Wednesday to protest against unsustainable forest management practices.

• New York Times ☛ House Speaker Mike Johnson Doubts Climate Science

  Representative Mike Johnson comes from Louisiana oil country and has said he does not believe burning fossil fuels is changing the climate.

• France24 ☛ Indigenous people and climate change: With the Inuit when the ice melts (2/4)

  FRANCE 24 brings you the stories of the people who are on the front lines of climate change. From Kenya to Panama via Greenland and Australia, our reporters James André and Achraf Abid went to meet the Indigenous people who live in harmony with nature and whose daily lives are being turned upside down by global warming. Don't miss our series of four special reports. In this second episode, we take you to Greenland.

• European Commission ☛ Opening remarks by Commissioner Hoekstra at the European Climate Stocktake event

  European Commission Speech Brussels, 27 Oct 2023 Good morning and welcome to everyone to the European Climate Stocktake.

• Energy/Transportation

  • Latvia ☛ Controversy over word order at Rīga railway station

    Workers began installing the first letters on the roof of Rīga's main train terminus building on Wednesday, but as they began to spell out the three words "Centrālā stacija Rīga" (Central station Rīga), another linguistic controversy could be heard steaming into view at high speed.

  • YLE ☛ Helsinki commuters set for slightly lower public transport prices

    A four percent price cut will roll out in January.

  • New York Times ☛ The Shearing of Sam Bankman-Fried

    The disgraced crypto king, on trial for financial fraud, takes the stand. But his hair tells its own story.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ What to make of China’s latest restrictions on critical mineral exports

    Beijing's export restrictions on graphite, gallium, and germanium are examples of how China is wielding its "resource leverage."

• Wildlife/Nature

  • New Yorker ☛ The Mystery of Florida’s Flamingos

    After Hurricane Idalia, Floridians reported more sightings of flamingos than they did in the entire twentieth century.

  • Federal News Network ☛ DC pandas will be returning to China in mid-November, weeks earlier than expected

    The National Zoo’s three three celebrity pandas will be heading home a little earlier than expected. Zoo officials told The Associated Press on Thursday that adult bears Mei Xiang and Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji will be returning to China sometime in mid-November. The zoo’s exchange agreement with the Chinese government, originally brokered by President Richard Nixon 50 years ago, expires Dec. 7. Ongoing negotiations to extend the agreement haven’t produced results, amid speculation from China-watchers that Beijing is gradually pulling its pandas from Western nations due to deteriorating diplomatic relations with the U.S. and other countries.

• Overpopulation

  • Vice Media Group ☛ Extreme Drought Is Revealing Ancient Carvings of Human Faces In the Amazon

    “We think they are beautiful. But at the same time, it is worrying,” said one local.

Finance

• Vice Media Group ☛ Tenants Are Suing Landlords for Allegedly Price-Fixing Rents with Software and the Feds Could Get Involved

  The DOJ has requested to participate in a lawsuit by tenants alleging that landlords colluded using RealPage software to artificially inflate rents.

• Breach Media ☛ This Airbnb alternative won’t destroy Canada’s housing market

  Fairbnb’s new co-op platform aims to offer short-term rentals without the destructive side effects

• New York Times ☛ Russia’s Central Bank Raises Rates to 15 Percent to Curb Inflation

  The jump, from 13 percent, would bring a long period of “tight monetary conditions” in order to ease price pressures, the bank said.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong may face over HK$100 billion fiscal deficit, finance chief Paul Chan warns

  The Hong Kong government may face a fiscal deficit of more than HK$100 billion, the city’s finance minister has warned, citing a slow post-pandemic recovery and reduced revenue from land sales and stamp duty. The city’s predicted shortfall for the current fiscal year could exceed HK$100 billion, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on RTHK...

• CS Monitor ☛ Washington's fix for empty downtown offices? Convert them to housing.

  The Biden administration is encouraging cities to convert empty office buildings into housing units, making billions of federal dollars available, as downtowns continue to struggle with few in-person workers compared to before the pandemic.

• YLE ☛ Police probe suspected misuse of Pori Jazz festival funds

  The association responsible for organising the annual event believes a former employee could have misused tens of thousands of euros, a regional newspaper reports.

• YLE ☛ Apartment prices drop across Finland

  Prices were down by more than seven percent during Q3 compared to the same period last year, with Finland's larger cities seeing the sharpest drops.

• New York Times ☛ Li Keqiang, Former Chinese Premier, Dies of Heart Attack at 68

  Mr. Li, who retired in March, was muscled out of the premier’s usual policymaking roles by Mr. Xi. Chinese citizens expressed shock at his death, from a heart attack.

• Federal News Network ☛ Former Premier Li Keqiang, China’s top economic official for a decade, has died at 68

  Former Premier Li Keqiang, China’s top economic official for a decade, has died of a heart attack at 68. State media CCTV said he died Friday in Shanghai. He was 68. Li was China’s No. 2 leader in 2013-23 and an advocate for private business but was left with little authority after President Xi Jinping made himself the most powerful Chinese leader in decades and tightened control over the economy and society.

• RFA ☛ Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies at 68

  The technocrat stepped down in March as China shifted towards a leadership made up of unquestioned loyalists.

• RFA ☛ Li Keqiang: The diplomat between Xi’s power and global challenges

  Remembering the moderate technocrat in a tumultuous era of U.S.-China relations and rising autocracy.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ HKFP Lens: Li Keqiang, China’s pragmatic premier – in pictures

  Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang died on Friday aged 68 after suffering a heart attack, according to state media. Viewed as an open-minded pragmatic, Li steered China’s economy through a global financial crisis before being side-lined and stepping down in March.

• France24 ☛ Former Chinese PM Li Keqiang dies of heart attack

  Former Premier Li Keqiang, China’s top economic official for a decade, died Friday of a heart attack. He was 68.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Li Keqiang, China’s former no.2, dies aged 68 – state media

  China Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang, a reform-minded bureaucrat once tipped as the country’s future leader only to be eclipsed by President Xi Jinping, died Friday.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi calls for ‘stable’ ties with US on Washington visit

  China’s top diplomat voiced hope Thursday for more stable relations with the United States after months of turbulence as he paid a rare trip to Washington to prepare a potential visit by President Xi Jinping.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• Federal News Network ☛ Prominent British lawmaker Crispin Blunt reveals he was arrested in connection with rape allegation

  A prominent lawmaker within Britain’s governing Conservative Party has revealed that he has been arrested in connection with a rape allegation. Crispin Blunt, 63, said in a statement on X, which was formerly known as Twitter, that he was arrested on Wednesday and that he has twice been interviewed by police in connection with what he termed “this incident.” Blunt, who has been a lawmaker since 1997, said he was first interviewed three weeks ago when he “initially reported” his concern over an unnamed “extortion.”  The second time, he said, was earlier Thursday. He added that the arrest was “unnecessary” and that he remains “ready to co-operate fully with the investigation that I am confident will end without charge.”

• RFA ☛ Philippines drops funding deal with China for 3 railway projects

  Transportation minister says Beijing lost interest and this is not linked to South China Sea tensions.

• New York Times ☛ South Korea Must Return Buddhist Statue to Japan, Supreme Court Says

  The artifact, which was taken to Tsushima centuries ago, was stolen and smuggled back to South Korea by thieves in 2012.

• Digital Music News ☛ Threads About to Hit 100 Million Monthly Active Users — But Wait: Is Anyone Using Threads?

  Mark Zuckerberg says Threads has almost 100 million monthly active users — a reported surge in usage after Elon Musk makes more unpopular changes to Twitter.

• France24 ☛ One year after Musk's Twitter takeover, X still beset by turmoil

  A year ago Elon Musk purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, taking the platform on a journey that has resulted in lost money, advertisers and trust.

• New York Times ☛ How Elon Musk Changed the Meaning of Twitter for Users

  Twitter was a deeply personal source of conversation, news and community for many people. One year after Mr. Musk took over, users say that has shifted — for better and for worse.

• New York Times ☛ As Users Abandon X, Sports Twitter Endures

  Many users have migrated to other platforms since Elon Musk bought Twitter, but sports fans still find it indispensable.

• RFA ☛ Biden not worried by Australia’s ties to China

  In Washington, Australia’s prime minister also says he’s confident Congress will pass bills needed for AUKUS pact.

• France24 ☛ China's top diplomat visits Washington amid heightened tensions

  China's top diplomat opens talks Thursday in Washington as he readies a potential summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, who ahead of talks vowed to defend Asian allies.

• RFA ☛ As Chinese money flows in, Myanmar garment factory conditions worsen

  Chinese investors are filling the gap left by Western brands’ withdrawal from the country.

• RFA ☛ China’s foreign minister in Washington to pave way for Xi

  Wang Yi is the most senior Chinese official to visit America in years, but Xi might be right behind him.

• JURIST ☛ Bipartisan legal scholars group suggests 18-year term limit for US Supreme Court justices

  A bipartisan group of US legal scholars published a working paper on Wednesday that proposed an 18-year term limit for US Supreme Court justices. The scholars from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences proposed the term limits amidst several ethics scandals with several US Supreme Court justices.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong Policy Address: Public less satisfied by leader John Lee’s speech than last year, survey finds

  Chief Executive John Lee’s second Policy Address has scored 44.4 on a 100-point scale, down almost seven points from his maiden address last year, according to a survey conducted by a Hong Kong pollster.

• Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

  • JURIST ☛ China enacts patriotic education law

    The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress enacted on Tuesday the People’s Republic of China Patriotic Education Law. The law provides directions for different governmental organs and civil organizations to include patriotic content in the public education system. By enacting the law, the Chinese government seeks to incorporate patriotic content into the education system.

Censorship/Free Speech

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong activist Owen Chow pleads guilty to rioting in 2019 during storming of legislature

  Hong Kong activist Owen Chow has pleaded guilty to rioting on July 1, 2019, when the city’s legislature was stormed by hundreds of protesters during the early days of the anti-extradition bill unrest.

• Reason ☛ Scientific Journal Dismisses Editor-in-Chief for Endorsing Onion Item on Gaza and Israel

  https://twitter.com/mbeisen/status/1712947590294306976 Science reports: Michael Eisen, editor-in-chief of the prominent open-access journal eLife and longtime critic of traditional journals, says he is losing that job for publicly endorsing a satirical article that criticized people dying in Gaza for not condemning the recent attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chief Exec. John Lee defends need for new security law; says Hongkongers understand why after 2019 unrest

  Chief Executive John Lee has defended the government’s move to enact more security legislation, after vowing during Wednesday’s Policy Address to roll out Article 23 of the Basic Law next year.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong Policy Address: How city’s security crackdown targets ‘soft resistance’

  Hong Kong leader John Lee used his policy address on Wednesday to sound the alarm on the threat of “soft resistance” — a vague term used by Chinese politicians to signal a new chapter in their crackdown against dissent.

• RFA ☛ Taking away tongues

• RFA ☛ Hongkongers abroad blocked from accessing pension funds, report says

  Manulife, Sun Life accused of refusing British National Overseas visa holders right to withdraw pension funds.

• JURIST ☛ Malaysia warns TikTok and Meta against blocking pro-Palestine content

  Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced on Thursday that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) issued a warning to social media platforms TikTok and Meta for blocking pro-Palestinian content.

• AntiWar ☛ When Speech Is ‘Terrorism’: The Legal and Political Assault on Stop Cop City

  The multi-year battle by local Atlanta and national activists to stop construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center – labeled “Cop City” by opponents – has entered a new phase.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong student pleads guilty to posting ‘seditious’ online speech whilst in Japan, faces up to 2 years jail

  A 23-year-old woman has pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court to publishing online speech with seditious intent. Handpicked national security judge Victor So said on Thursday that the sentence will be handed down in a week’s time.

• New York Times ☛ How China Mourned Li Keqiang Online, Until the Censors Stepped In

  An outpouring on social media for Li Keqiang, the former premier who died Friday, reflected public grief for an era of greater growth and possibility.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ No clear answer from Hong Kong security chief on whether opposing new security law would violate existing one

  Security chief Chris Tang has not given a clear answer to whether opposing the legislation of Hong Kong’s own security law would violate the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong activist Owen Chow arrested by national security over prison contraband rules

  Hong Kong activist Owen Chow has been arrested by national security officers, while in remand, on suspicion of “carrying unauthorised items out of a prison,” with local media reporting that the 26-year-old was arrested along with his two lawyers.

• Reason ☛ Court Upholds Denial of Pseudonymity to Plaintiff in #TheyLied Libel Suit Stemming from Title IX Complaint

  "Appellant wants the option to hide behind a shield of anonymity in the event he is unsuccessful in proving his claim, but he would surely identify himself if he were to prove his claims."

• Press Gazette ☛ Actor Noel Clarke faced ‘trial by media’ after Guardian reports of misconduct, High Court told

  Clarke is suing Guardian News and Media over eight articles that he says resulted in him being "cancelled".

• RFA ☛ Ailing rights lawyer Li Yuhan jailed for 6 ½ years

  She was likely targeted for her defense of a rights lawyer, other sensitive cases.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

• Techdirt ☛ ‘The Messenger’ Speed Runs The U.S. Journalism Implosion Cycle Thanks To Incompetent Billionaires And ‘Both Sides’ Clickbait Gibberish

  Earlier this year a new journalism outlet named “The Messenger” launched to great fanfare. The brainchild of former The Hill owner Jimmy Finkelstein, the new news empire launched with $50 million in backing and a lot of chatter about how it was going to do things differently, with Finkelstein claiming he wanted to build “an alternative to a national news media” that “has come under the sway of partisan influences.” Finkelstein insisted there was a clear and simple path to having over 100 million readers monthly, which would have made it one of the biggest news sites online.

Civil Rights/Policing

• DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer) ☛ General Motors Has a Very Bad Week Thanks to Shawn Fain of the UAW and the California DMV.

  First, the California DMV has been taking their stupid “self-driving taxis” off the roads because they ran over a woman, dragged her 20 feet, and then GM tried to hide the video they had from the California DMV. This on top of driving into wet cement, slamming into a fire truck, obstructing ambulances while people die waiting for it, and other incidents.

  The truth is that self-driving vehicles have never been safe. It’s just that California is such a bubble economy susceptible to bribery and corruption, that it desperately wants it to succeed. So maybe they’ll be back on the roads causing more trouble soon.

  [...]

  My ex lost the Kia he got from me in the break-up back in May. He hadn’t even finished paying on it.

  He said that “some crackhead”, I’m just quoting him, busted out the window, ripped the steering cover off, and hotwired it.

  At the rate the piece of shit was falling apart on him it probably wouldn’t have made it to 100,000 miles.

  Right after I bought it, the air conditioner failed and had to be warranty repaired.

  He said before “the crackhead” made off with it, it was not starting when he went to turn the key, sometimes, until he turned it like five or six times.

  I said, “Fired right up for the crackhead though, like the scene out of The Terminator.”

• Meduza ☛ ‘Stable’ but ‘prone to terrorism’ The penal colony where Navalny is imprisoned assessed him for ‘behavioral deviations’ — Meduza

• RFA ☛ China drops Lunar New Year's Eve as public holiday, sparking outcry

  The move reignites an online theory that the day is politically sensitive as it sounds like 'get rid of Xi.

• Pro Publica ☛ The Kids of Rutherford County: A Reporter’s Essay

  It has been a little over three years since I began my reporting on juvenile justice in Tennessee. Until then, I hadn’t paid much attention to juvenile courts. For a reporter, they’re difficult to cover with any kind of intimacy. They are shrouded in secrecy in a way adult courts are not. The records are sealed. The proceedings are mostly private. And it’s for good reason: The dumb stuff you do as a kid shouldn’t follow you into adulthood.

  But this privacy has its downside, because it can shield the adults in charge from accountability. And as I soon found out, juvenile justice in the state does need someone — maybe a reporter — to pay attention.

• RFA ☛ UN refugee agency making inquiries into Uyghurs in Pakistan

  The families face deportation on Nov. 1 after string of suicide bombings by Afghans.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

• Mozilla ☛ Mozilla Privacy Blog: Global Network Fee Proposals are Troubling. Here are Three Paths Forward.

  Today we’re sharing our perspective on the EU’s network fee proposal (aka. “fair share”) that would mandate payments from large Content and Application Providers (“CAPs,” such as YouTube or Netflix) to telecommunications network operators. We believe that our position paper is particularly timely given this week’s EU informal ministerial meeting in León.

• APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: TWIGF 2023

  Pablo Hinojosa organized and moderated a session on future-proofing the 'public core' of the Internet at the TWIGF 2023, held in Taipei from 3 to 5 October 2023.

• Kev Quirk ☛ Some of My Favourite Fonts

  Matt Birchler recently posted some of his favourite fonts to Mastodon, so I thought I'd share some of my own favourites here.

  Beautiful typography is something that's very important to me, I've even gone as so far as having my website torn apart by a professional typographer.

• EFF ☛ Celebrating the Internet Freedom Movement at the EFF Awards

  The reason EFF hosts our annual celebration, now known as the EFF Awards, is to celebrate those in the digital rights community who are pushing for privacy and innovation online. On September 14, we did just that. We presented awards to three winners: Alexandra Asanovna Elbakyan, Library Freedom Project, and Signal Foundation. These three honorees have contributed to a world where people can access and share knowledge online, grow and be a part of communities, and express themselves to others without being spied upon.

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

• Right to Repair ☛ Apple and a Federal Right to Repair

  I've spent an inordinate amount of time recently, fielding calls from media outlets curious about my thoughts on Apple’s latest announcement regarding a federal Right to Repair.  To put it succinctly, it’s a masterstroke in public relations, but fundamentally, it’s smoke and mirrors. Here's why. 

• Techdirt ☛ Apple Now Supports A Federal Right To Repair Law (Its Lawyers Will Help Write)

  Eager to maintain a lucrative repair monopoly over its products, Apple has had a long history of bullying independent repair shops. Apple lobbyists have also falsely claimed that making its products easier and less expensive to repair would result in vast untold consumer privacy and security nightmares, turning states that consider “right to reform” legislation into lawless meccas for hackers.

Monopolies

• Reason ☛ Prosecutors Turn Their Extortion Racket Against Facebook and Instagram [Ed: "Extortion Racket"????? Koch think tank demonises regulation]

  The propensity of prosecutors to jump to conclusions before all the evidence is in is very destructive—and nothing new.

• KOL421 | The Local Maximum with Max Sklar: Ep. 297 – The Fallacy of Intellectual Property

  Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 421.

  This is my appearance on Episode 297 of The Local Maximum with host Max Sklar. Recorded Sep. 13, 2023, published Sep. 27, 2023. From their shownotes:

  Max talks to Stephan Kinsella, a libertarian intellectual property lawyer who ardently challenges the very foundations of IP. Kinsella delves deep into the core arguments underpinning intellectual property and the inherent fallacies.

• Patents

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Divisional From Divisional Issue – New Insight From Russia

    A recently published ruling of the Presidium of the Court for Intellectual Rights may turn the issue of cascading divisional applications upside down and endanger many patents granted on such applications. Background A divisional patent application is a separate one that is derived from an initial (parent) application.

  • JUVE ☛ Video: JUVE Patent’s Germany ranking 2023 [Ed: These are not "rankings" but corporate SPAM by a spamfarm sponsored to issue disinformation for law or litigation firms]

  • JUVE ☛ Top filing and litigation firms in Germany 2023 [Ed: Measuring offence, not defence, as they make money from disputes or wars]

  • JUVE ☛ Top filing firms in Germany 2023 [Ed: Pure marketing. This site makes money not from news but from bribes.]

  • JUVE ☛ Top litigation firms in Germany 2023 [Ed: Hailing companies that make life miserable and expensive to a lot of people]

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Dismisses STRATIO Opposition After Narrowing both the Opposed Application and the Pleaded Registration

    A fancy bit of footwork by Applicant Stratio Automotive yielded a registration for the mark STRATIO & Design for diagnostic apparatus and diagnostic services for land vehicles. Opposer Stratio Big Data claimed a likelihood of confusion with its mark STRATIO for computer software for collecting and analyzing data. Although the Board found confusion likely vis-a-vis applicant's original goods and services, it granted applicant's motion to amend both the application and the registration to avoid confusion, and then dismissed the opposition. Stratio Big Data, Inc. v. Stratio Automotive Inc., Opposition No. 91244363 (October 24, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Michael B. Adlin).

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Dismisses Monster Energy's Lack of Bona Fide Intent Claim, Grants Applicant's Motion to Amend Answer to Add Collateral Estoppel Defense

    Frequent TTAB litigant Monster Energy survived Applicant Cheng Shin Rubber's summary judgment motion in this opposition to registration of the mark shown below left for “tires” and for “promoting sports competitions and events of others; promoting sports competitions for others; promotion of goods and services through sponsorship of sports events,” based on Monster's "Claw Icon" mark. The Board granted Cheng Shin's motion for dismissal of Monster's lack-of-bona-fide-intent claim vis-a-vis applicant's services. The Board also granted applicant's motion to amend its answer to add an affirmative defense of collateral estoppel based on the Board's finding of lack of similarity between the two marks in an earlier opposition. However, the Board found that material issues of fact precluded the grant of summary judgment as to Monster's likelihood of confusion and dilution claims.

• Copyrights

  • Federal News Network ☛ The last new Beatles song, ‘Now And Then,’ will be released next week

    This is it — the last “new” Beatles song. Sixty years after the onset of Beatlemania, the surviving members of the quartet are releasing the song “Now And Then.” Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr got a little help from artificial intelligence. The song was written and recorded in sketch form by the late John Lennon in the late 1970s. McCartney, Starr and the late George Harrison worked on it in the 1990s but were stymied by technical limitations. AI was used last year to clean up Lennon's vocals, and McCartney and Starr added backing voices and instrumentation. It will be released next week.

  • Techdirt ☛ ‘Smash’ Competitive Leagues Freak Out Over Latest Nintendo Edicts

    For nearly a decade now, we’ve discussed Nintendo’s oddly combative relationship with the eSports community, specifically as it revolves around Super Smash Bros. tournaments. Whereas other game publishers have fully embraced these tournaments and the attention they bring to their games, Nintendo does what Nintendo always does instead: exert more and more control, pissing everyone off over disputes about the most inconsequential and minute details. Sometimes this revolves around demands for licensing to put on tournaments and sometimes it’s over the use of mods in those tournaments. In every case, it sure looks like the chopping off of Nintendo’s nose to spite its face.

Personal/Opinions

• 🔤SpellBinding: FLORSWU Wordo: MORES

• Winter Nights New Year Oath - Determining Time From First Principles

  This post is likely to be a bit scatterbrained... I apologize for that. I just want to get my New Year Oath out in the open before Winter Nights occurs.

  I haven't been very closed off about being a Norse Heathen/Pagan, although I don't tend to be outspoken about it. With that said, Winter Nights is quickly approaching which is a few days/nights celebration of the Winter half of the year starting. This is considered by many Norse Heathens to be a New Year Celebration of sorts. In particular, Winter Nights starts during this Full Moon, which for a few reasons I consider to start just after sunset after this post gets published. Sure, that's a sunset too early, but Winter Nights is a 3 day celebration and the Full Moon tends to be mostly indistinguishable by the naked eye for about 3 nights, so I start the night that the Moon essentially appears full.

• Throwing a rock in the house of mirror

  Perhaps consider it all thought, thus equally irrelevant relative to the awareness apparently witnessing such in a way that renders it seemingly more than merely thought to yet another thought usually referred to as "I"?

• stream 8

  email. gotta send some emails. texts and emails. need a platform for community that is not inherently anti-community. opposite of shame is connection. opposite of comparison is acceptance. need need need not to need need to feel nothing but acceptance need to desire only that which is what is and not what is what is not and never to be.

Politics and World Events

• Join Extinction Rebellion Now

  We are currently experiencing a climate and ecological emergency brought on by human activity. We are now at the point where there is a significant probability that billions of people will die or have a quality of life that's hardly worth living, within my lifetime. That's the hard truth and if we pretend it isn't happening[1] and continue with business as usual, the situation will continue to worsen until we go extinct.

Technology and Free Software

• Baking, Jingle calls, ray tracing

  In the past couple of months, I worked on rexmpp a little more: it had Jingle calls before, but merely transmitting RTP packets. Now it supports audio I/O (with PortAudio), codecs (custom PCMA and PCMU implementations, optional libopus for Opus), RTP (also custom wrapping and unwrapping). And it can use OpenSSL (in addition to GnuTLS) for DTLS-SRTP now. And alternative libraries for hash functions, so there are just two mandatory dependencies now (an XML parser and a cryptographic library), but they support multiple alternatives.

• Where Has Everybody Gone?

  I follow a lot of writers on Mastodon. I get a lot of reviews boosted into my feed. One writer in particular pumps out a great number of short reviews, probably in the knowledge that for many books, one review might be all they get. And this morning I read a review he wrote for a poet I know, one I've worked with closely, who has edited my work. A phrase leaps out: "brain tumour diagnosis". I'm stunned. The poet is somewhere around my own age, maybe a few years older. In the past couple of years I've lost a number of people from my youth: to an overdose, to a heart that stopped during sleep, to drifting into oncoming traffic in a mountain pass. I spent a great deal of my life having very little exposure to death, losing only my grandfather, to lung cancer, when I was 12.

• Tech degrowth is a process

  It's been a little over a year now since I've started to be fully aware of the wasteful and energy intensive life I was living. Some things that are just normal now seemed ludicrous back then. And I am acutely conscious of the fact that I'm not actually doing anything drastic yet.

• My failures in Factorio mirror my failures in programming

  I like Factorio. I play it... well, like many games, I play it intensely for a little while and then don't play it at all for ages and then the cycle repeats. But I am not _good_ at Factorio. Or rather, I am good (enough) at Factorio "in the small" - setting up a neat assembly line for a particular item or small set of items. But I am not good at Factorio "in the large" - starting from nothing and getting all the way to launching rockets.

• Internet/Gemini

  • Techno Something

    I had just gotten done removing features from my primary web browser, w3m (in particular, the ability to make system(3) or execv(3) calls) when I happened across a certain manifesto by Marc Andreessen.

• Programming

  • I made a binary counter in ORCA by accident

    Pretty much what the title says: I made a binary counter in ORCA by accident.

    It does work in all four directions (n, e, w, s) but I like w best since you can see the digits move more nicely.