Links 22/12/2023: PlayStation Layoffs Rumour, European Train Strikes

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 22, 2023

Leftovers

Leftovers
- Science
  - Science Alert ☛ A Shift to Open Landscapes May Have Changed Human Language Ever After
    
    Listen up.
  - Science Alert ☛ Scientists Reveal What a Nuclear Explosion Would Do to an Asteroid
    
    We might have no other option.
  - Science Alert ☛ A Vast Realm Off The Coast of Australia May Have Been Populated by Millions
    
    A hidden landscape under the waves.
  - Science Alert ☛ World's Largest Seabirds Follow Sound Across The Ocean to Faraway Food
    
    They travel astonishing distances.
- Hardware
  - Hackaday ☛ Bed Sensors Do More Than You’d Think
    
    Bed sensors do sort of sound like a gimmick — after all, who cares whether someone is occupying the bed? But if you think about it, that information is quite useful from a home automation standpoint. A person could do all sorts of things in this state, from ensuring the overhead lights in the room can’t come on, to turning off other smart devices that are likely not being used while both occupants are sleeping.
  - Hackaday ☛ VU Meter Built With Neat Graphical VFD Display
    
    VFD displays are beloved for their eerie glow that sits somewhere just off what you’d call blue. [mircemk] used one of these displays to create an old-school VU meter that looks straight out of a 1970s laboratory.
  - Hackaday ☛ How Do You Test If An EEPROM Can Hold Data For 100 Years?
    
    Data retention is a funny thing. Atmel will gladly tell you that the flash memory in an ATmega32A will retain its data for 100 years at room temperature. Microchip says its EEPROMs will retain data for over 200 years. And yet, humanity has barely had a good grasp on electricity for that long. Heck, the silicon chip itself was only invented in 1958. EEPROMs and flash storage are altogether younger themselves.
  - Hackaday ☛ Making A Guitar Go To Eleven, The Hard Way
    
    At the end of the day, all it takes to make a guitar go to eleven is a new knob. Making the knob is another thing — that takes a shop full of machine tools, the expertise to use them, and a whole bunch of time. Then again, if you’re pressed for time, it looks like a 3D printer will do nicely too.
  - Hackaday ☛ Displays We Love Hacking: SPI And I2C
    
    I’ve talked about HD44780 displays before – they’ve been a mainstay of microcontroller projects for literal decades. In the modern hobbyist world, there’s an elephant in the room – the sheer variety of I2C and SPI displays you can buy. They’re all so different, some are LCD and some are OLED, some have a touchscreen layer and some don’t, some come on breakouts and some are a bare panel. No matter which one you pick, there are things you deserve to know.
  - CNX Software ☛ 8Devices Noni M.2 WiFi 7 module runs FirmUx embedded GNU/Linux distribution
    
    8Devices Noni is a family of M.2 A+E-Key WiFi 7 modules built on the QCN9274/QCN6274 chipsets, delivering up to 11 Gbps link rate in 4×4 MIMO or split 2×2 + 2×2 configurations, and running FirmUX embedded GNU/Linux OS. The Noni modules support Multi-Link Operation (MLO) for simultaneous communication on different frequencies and adaptive interference puncturing in order to maintain performance in various environments and the QCN9274-based variants also support advanced features such as Provisioned Multi-Link, Dense deployment, and Location and RF sensing.
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
  - Pro Publica ☛ Find Out Who Owns a Nursing Home With Our Nursing Home Inspect Tool
    
    The quality of care that residents receive in a nursing home can be profoundly affected by who owns it, studies have shown. It’s not always clear who should be held accountable, though: Many nursing homes are owned by companies that are owned by other companies, obscuring who has the ultimate decision-making power. As more nursing homes are sold, information about an incoming owner’s performance in other homes becomes more relevant, as it may provide insight into how their latest acquisitions will fare.
  - The Straits Times ☛ China lifts ban on Taiwanese grouper fish imports in carrot and stick diplomacy
    
    China will resume importing grouper fish from Taiwan from Friday, the Chinese government announced, just one day after angering Taipei with the ending of tariff cuts on some chemical imports less than a month before Taiwanese elections.
  - teleSUR ☛ New COVID-19 Subvariant JN.1 Spreads Fast in the US
    
    Denmark, Spain, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands have witnessed exponential growth in JN.1 cases.
  - Science Alert ☛ Leprosy Is on The Rise in Florida, Scientists Report
  - New York Times ☛ Northern Gaza Has No More Functioning Hospitals, the W.H.O. Says
    
    Northern Gaza has no more functioning hospitals, the director general of the World Health Organization has said.
  - The Straits Times ☛ Eliminating cervical cancer is a movement, not just a programme: Indonesia’s health minister
    
    The government will provide free vaccines in the whole-of-country fight against cervical cancer.
  - TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ MNsure health insurance marketplace sees record early enrollment, mirroring nationwide trend
    
    In Minnesota, 132,789 individuals signed up for 2024 health insurance through the MNsure state marketplace, which marked its 10th anniversary this year.
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  - Rumor: PlayStation Planning More Layoffs, Including at Insomniac - News
    
    Sony might be looking to cut more staff at multiple PlayStation studios, including Insomniac Games, according to reports by Insider Gaming and Kotaku.
    
    The information comes from documents obtained in the recent leak that also claims Sony could be looking to close one PlayStation studio as "one studio closure" is mentioned. It isn't known what studio this could be.
    
    The reports claim Sony is looking to layoff 50 to 75 people at Insomniac Games with more layoffs across first-party PlayStation studios. The documents state "slimming down Ratchet and cutting new IP" wouldn't be enough to achieve Sony's goal.
  - Techdirt ☛ ChatGPT Cheating Fears Seem Overstated [Ed: Hype, fraud, and nonsense. Why become an apologist for it?]
    
    There have been all sorts of overblown fears and moral panics raised by the availability of new generative AI tools. And one that I keep hearing about, which many people have accepted as obviously true, is that it will damage school education, as kids will just use ChatGPT to do their work.
  - Techdirt ☛ Tesla Lied To Customers, Blaming Them For Shoddy Parts The Company Knew Were Defective
    
    Back in July, Reuters released a bombshell report showing that not only has Tesla aggressively lied about its EV ranges for the better part of the last decade, it created teams whose entire purpose was to lie to customers about it when they called up to complain. The story lasted all of two days in the news cycle before it was supplanted by clickbait stories about a billionaire fist fight that never actually happened.
- Security
  - Integrity/Availability/Authenticity
    - Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Commends FCC Action to Shield Consumers from Spammers and Scammers
      
      Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a Second Report and Order, Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Waiver Order to shield consumers from illegal robotexts.
  - Privacy/Surveillance
    - New York Times ☛ U.S. Regulators Propose New Online Privacy Safeguards for Children
      
      The F.T.C. called for sweeping changes that could curb how social control media, game and learning apps use and monetize youngsters’ data.
    - Reason ☛ Genre-Bending Anime Spy x Family Tackles Cold War Espionage
      
      State power and oppressive surveillance serve as the backdrop for this animated spy comedy.
    - Reason ☛ Attempt to Vanish, to the Fourth Power: Turtles All the Way Down
      
      I wrote last week about an attempt to vanish my article about an attempt to vanish my article about an attempt to vanish other articles ("attempt to vanish" here referring to asking Surveillance Giant Google to remove items from its indexes, so that they disappear from search results).
    - Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Joins Amicus Brief Defending Controlled Digital Lending and Consumer Privacy
      
      The brief contends that controlled digital lending furthers the goal of the copyright monopoly act by protecting reader privacy.
    - Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Welcomes FCC Move To Update Agency’s Data Breach Rules
      
      Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a Report and Order to update the agency’s data breach notification rules to protect consumers’ personally identifiable information.
- Defence/Aggression
  - RFA ☛ Top US and Chinese generals resume talks
    
    Leaders of the two militaries hadn’t spoken since then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last year.
  - RFA ☛ Escaped North Koreans urge China to stop the ‘genocide’ of forced repatriation
    
    Four escapees describe the horrors of being caught by China and sent back.
  - Hackaday ☛ Teardown Of FGM-148 Javelin Missile’s Guidance Computer
    
    You know it’s a good teardown when [Michel] starts off by saying to not ask him where exactly he got the guidance section of an FGM-148 Javelin from. This shoulder-launched anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is a true marvel of engineering that has shown its chops during recent world events. As a fire-and-forget type guided missile it is designed to use the internal IR tracker to maintain a constant lock on the target, using its guidance system to stay exactly on track.
  - Marcy Wheeler ☛ Perjury Trapped: Rudy Giuliani’s Sync Sink
    
    In the Ruby Freeman case, Rudy avoided searching his messaging accounts by claiming that his phones were synced to his iCloud. But when SDNY searched Rudy's iCloud for known texts and other messaging in 2019, much of it wasn't there.
  - France24 ☛ Macron accused of doing far-right’s bidding with passage of stricter immigration law
    
    French President Emmanuel Macron is under renewed fire after urging his minority government to vote for a strengthened immigration bill that was endorsed by the far right. The late Tuesday vote, which divided Macron's coalition MPs and prompted his health minister to resign a day later, was heralded by far-right leader Marine Le Pen as an “ideological victory” upon its passage.
  - The Straits Times ☛ Second North Korean nuclear reactor appears to be using fuel, IAEA says
    
    A reactor at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex appears for the first time to be using atomic fuel, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said late on Thursday, which would mean the country has a new potential source of plutonium for its nuclear weapons.
  - The Strategist ☛ Vietnam isn’t North Korea—and 50 years of Australian aid has helped
    
    There’s growing awareness that Australia’s international development program is one of the tools of national power that Australia can use to shape the world around it.
  - RFA ☛ Beijing, Manila to hold consultation on South China Sea ‘soon’
    
    Chinese and Philippine foreign ministers agreed to hold a meeting “as soon as possible” as tension rises.
  - Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
    - Meduza ☛ ‘The new beneficiary of the Donbas economy’ How Viktor Medvedchuk, handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange, amasses his wealth through Donetsk metallurgy, Siberian oil, and Moscow real estate — Meduza
    - Meduza ☛ Russian pop stars threw themselves an exclusive party with an ‘almost naked’ dress code. Here’s what happened next. — Meduza
    - Meduza ☛ Putin orders use of ‘unified registry’ of eligible citizens in fall 2024 Russian military conscription — Meduza
    - Meduza ☛ Russia’s Federal Tax Service asks Russians for information on dual citizenship and foreign residence permits — Meduza
    - Meduza ☛ Russia threatens to reciprocate if Europe seizes frozen Russian assets — Meduza
    - Meduza ☛ Uzbekistan summons Russian ambassador after nationalist writer and politician Zakhar Prilepin suggests annexing ‘territories where migrants come from’ — Meduza
    - Meduza ☛ Ukraine’s Defense Ministry contradicts defense minister’s comments on plans to draft Ukrainian men living abroad — Meduza
    - Atlantic Council ☛ Performative or Substantive Engagement? China & Russia in the Middle East
      
      Li-Chen Sim and Mark Katz join us to explore the growing collaboration between China and Russia and its impact on the Middle East, including the amplification of influence through media collaboration as a force multiplier.
    - Atlantic Council ☛ Putin scents historic victory amid growing signs of Western weakness
      
      Recent indications of growing Russian confidence in victory over Ukraine owe much more to Western weakness than to the Kremlin’s own military might, writes Peter Dickinson.
    - Latvia ☛ Another group of Ukrainian soldiers treated in Rīga
      
      On Thursday, December 21, Ukrainian soldiers were brought to Riga Eastern Clinical University hospital (RAKUS) for the ninth time. A group of 13 injured have arrived this time, but their total has reached 200 during the year and a half since the project has been in operation, Latvian Radio reported.
    - Latvia ☛ Ukrainian support center in Rīga to move location again
      
      The support center for Ukrainian residents will no longer be located in Old Riga next year, but in bigger premises in Jugla, on Pāles Street 9, Latvian Radio reported December 21.
    - Latvia ☛ Ban advances on playing against Russian, Belarusian sports teams
      
      Latvia's national teams will be prohibited from playing against the national teams of Russia and Belarus, according to amendments to the Sports Law, which were supported in the Saeima on Thursday, December 21, in the second reading. The ban will also apply if athletes from these countries participate under so-called 'neutral status'.
    - France24 ☛ Russian drone attack hits residential building in Kyiv, injuring at least two
      
      A Russian drone attack hit a residential building and injured at least two people in Kyiv on Thursday, authorities said, in a rare breach of the Ukrainian capital's air defences.
    - RFERL ☛ Kyiv Considers Calling Up Men Living Abroad For Military Service
      
      Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has told foreign media that Ukraine next year plans to mobilize Ukrainian men between 25 and 60 who reside abroad.
    - RFERL ☛ Ukraine Legalizes Medical Marijuana
      
      Ukrainian lawmakers on December 21 approved in a second and final reading a bill to legalize medical marijuana.
    - RFERL ☛ Russia Promises To Respond In Kind If EU Uses Its Frozen Assets
      
      Russia on December 21 promised to respond in kind should the European Union go ahead with a plan to ring-fence profits generated from Russia's frozen assets in the EU and hand them to Ukraine.
    - RFERL ☛ Germany To Provide 88.5 Million Euros In Energy Assistance For Ukraine
      
      Germany will provide an additional 88.5 million euros ($96.89 million) to help strengthen the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system as Russia targets its infrastructure, the Foreign and Economy ministries said in a joint statement on December 21.
    - RFERL ☛ Orban Says He Accepted Zelenskiy's Invitation To Discuss Ukraine's EU Membership Hopes
      
      Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says he has accepted an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to hold a bilateral meeting, which would be the first between the two leaders since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
    - teleSUR ☛ US Reaches Agreements to Control Northern Europe: Zakharova
      
      Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army, also denounced that Washington is deliberately prolonging the Ukrainian conflict.
    - New York Times ☛ U.S. and Europe Eye Russian Assets to Aid Ukraine as Funding Dries Up
      
      Despite legal reservations, policymakers are weighing the consequences of using $300 billion in Russian assets to help Kyiv’s war effort.
    - New York Times ☛ Breaking With Postwar History, Japan to Sell Patriot Missiles to U.S.
      
      Tokyo appears ready to adjust rules to allow the export of the weapons to the United States, a move that could help Washington support Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
    - Latvia ☛ Rīga resident accused of war glorification
      
      State Police (VP) has sent criminal proceedings for justification and glorification of Russian war crimes to the prosecution against a resident of Rīga who has placed symbols of the Russian Federation several times in the windows of her residence, police said Thursday.
    - RFA ☛ Vietnam’s fraternal ties with Russia are put to the test
      
      Communist-era alliance endures, but Hanoi is diversifying arms suppliers and international partners.
    - RFERL ☛ Former Russian Minister Sentenced To 12 Years For Embezzlement
      
      A district court in Moscow has sentenced former Russian government minister Mikhail Abyzov to 12 years in a maximum security prison following his conviction on charges of embezzlement and other crimes related to an alleged organized crime group.
    - RFERL ☛ White House Concerned About Reports Paul Whelan Feels Physically Threatened In Russian Jail
      
      The White House said on December 21 it is "very concerned" about reports that Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine convicted of espionage in Russia, feels physically threatened.
    - RFERL ☛ Russia Adds Two Of Navalny's Self-Exiled Associates To Its Wanted List
      
      The Russian Interior Ministry on December 21 added two self-exiled associates of imprisoned opposition politician Aleksei Navalny to its wanted list on unspecified charges.
    - RFERL ☛ Kazakhstan To Extradite U.S.-Wanted Russian Cybersecurity Expert To Moscow
      
      Russia's Prosecutor-General's Office said on December 21 that the Kazakh authorities would extradite Russian cybersecurity expert Nikita Kislitsin to Moscow, although he is also wanted in the United States for allegedly buying illegally obtained personal data.
    - RFERL ☛ Armenia Suspends License Of Russian Broadcaster's Local Affiliate For Month
      
      The Armenian authorities have suspended for one month the license of the Tospa radio station, which carries programs of Russian broadcaster Sputnik, for broadcasting "ironic and offensive" comments last month about Armenia by Tigran Keosayan, a Russian propagandist of Armenian origin.
    - RFERL ☛ Moldova Scraps Soviet-Era Abbreviation For Chisinau Airport
      
      Moldova will alter the three-letter international abbreviation for Chisinau's airport, Infrastructure Minister Andrei Spinu announced -- the pro-Western government's latest move to curb the influence of Moscow and the Russian language in the former Soviet republic.
    - New York Times ☛ 1898: Russia and the Red Sea
      
      A report from Berlin indicated that Moscow was planning to build a railway connecting Russia with the Red Sea.
    - Latvia ☛ Saeima moves forward with 'Moscow House' takeover plan
      
      On December 21, the Saeima conceptually supported the intention of the takeover of the so-called Moscow House in Riga, Marijas Street 7. The Saeima recognized the relevant bill as urgent and plans to make a final decision on January 11.
- Transparency/Investigative Reporting
  - Off Guardian ☛ Quick Take: The “Epstein Client List” is not what it seems
    
    On Monday a New York Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the infamous “Epstein Client List” must be released “in full” in January 2024. The 51-page ruling has caused a stir, but what is it really going to tell us? Is it going to reveal anything of his ties to US and Israeli intelligence? Highly improbable. …
- Environment
  - The Straits Times ☛ Cascading waves of earth add to China’s Qinghai earthquake nightmare
    
    A scene of deep grief mixed with hope is unfolding across the remote village of Jintian.
  - The Straits Times ☛ Biting cold to loosen grip as temperatures to creep higher in China
    
    After almost two weeks of below-freezing weather brought by a cold wave that swept through most of China, a round of warm air will begin to flow from the country's north to south lifting temperatures from the weekend.
  - Energy/Transportation
    - Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Coal mine accident in northeast China kills 12, as cause under investigation
      
      Twelve people have been killed and 13 others injured in a mining accident in northeast China, state media reported on Thursday. The incident took place at 3:50 pm local time (0750 GMT) on Wednesday at a coal mine on the outskirts of Jixi city in Heilongjiang province, state broadcaster CCTV said.
  - Wildlife/Nature
    - Science Alert ☛ A Grave Warning About Antarctica Is Encoded in Octopus DNA
      
      A message in a bottle.
    - Pro Publica ☛ In a Major Shift, Northwest Tribes — not U.S. Officials — Will Control Salmon Recovery Funds
      
      When the Biden administration said it had reached a “historic” legal deal with Northwest Indigenous tribes last week to save endangered salmon, no one could agree on what it meant for the tribes’ costliest and most controversial demand: the removal of four hydroelectric dams that hinder fish from their migration out to sea and home to reproduce.
      
      Some said the deal, in promoting renewable energy that can replace hydropower, virtually ensures the dams on Washington’s Snake River will come down. Others said the White House did little for dam removal because it punted the question to Congress.
- Finance
  - France24 ☛ Train travel resumes between France and UK after surprise strike ends
    
    A wildcat strike Thursday by staff at Eurotunnel, which links Britain and the European continent and paralyzed dozens of Eurostar trains, ended some six hours after it began, Eurotunnel announced. It promised a gradual return to service.
  - RFA ☛ Laos’ national debt now larger than its GDP – and could get even bigger
    
    The Ministry of Finance has asked China and other lenders to restructure payments.
  - Breach Media ☛ 15 movement victories in 2023 you may not have heard about
    
    From divesting from fossil fuels, to repealing the Doctrine of Discovery, to historic labour strikes, movements won several important victories this year
  - New York Times ☛ Strike Halts Eurostar Channel Tunnel Service Between London and Europe
    
    Many trains traveling between London and continental Europe had been canceled on Thursday because of an unexpected walkout, causing hours of chaos just days before Christmas.
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
  - France24 ☛ EU strikes deal on reforming bloc's migration laws after years of talks
    
    EU countries and lawmakers reached an agreement Wednesday on an overhaul of the bloc's laws on handling asylum-seekers and migrants, officials said.
  - Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong gov’t to crack down on illegal ride-hailing following protests by taxi industry
    
    Hong Kong’s government has announced plans to crack down on unauthorised ride-hailing services, in a move welcomed by taxi industry representatives who threatened a strike last month.
  - RFERL ☛ Kazakh Prosecutors Launch Probe Against Striking Oil Workers
    
    Amanzhol Aitughanov, a prosecutor in Kazakhstan’s western region of Manghystau, said on December 20 a probe was launched against more than 500 oil workers in the town of Zhetybai, who have been on strike for 10 days.
  - RFA ☛ Escaping war in Myanmar for prison in India
    
    Burmese women have gone on hunger strike to demand their release
  - BIA Net ☛ Ill prisoner İsmail Hakkı Tursun's release delayed for third time
    
    Among the reasons for delaying Tursun's release are disciplinary punishments due to his participation in hunger strikes.
  - Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
    - Atlantic Council ☛ Distortion by design: How social control media platforms shaped our initial understanding of the Israel-Hamas conflict
      
      Almost as soon as the Israel-Hamas war began, it collided with the engineering and policy decisions of social control media companies. On Telegram, terrorist content spread mostly uncontested; on X, false claims proliferated. Accusations of anti-Palestinian bias at Meta and pro-Palestinian bias at Fentanylware (TikTok) added to the confusion. Can the platforms thread this needle?
    - Vice Media Group ☛ Scientists Explain Why ‘Doing Your Own Research’ Leads to Believing Conspiracies
      
      Researchers found that people searching misinformation online risk falling into “data voids” that increase belief in conspiracies.
- Censorship/Free Speech
  - Reason ☛ Libel Suit Terminated Because of Plaintiff's Discovery Misconduct
    
    The flip side of what happened with defendant-side discovery misconduct in the Rudy Giuliani and Alex Jones cases, though with much smaller stakes.
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
  - Meduza ☛ A wishlist from Meduza’s founders 12 hopes and dreams, one for each month of 2024 — Meduza
  - RFERL ☛ Payment Cards Of Jailed Azerbaijani Journalist's Relatives Blocked
    
    Relatives of the jailed director of Azerbaijan’s Kanal 13 internet TV channel, Aziz Orucov, said on December 21 that their payment cards, including cards for monthly pension payments, have been blocked.
- Civil Rights/Policing
  - Techdirt ☛ Former Nikola CEO Gets 4 Years In Prison For Playing Make Believe With Investors
    
    The saga of former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton has come to a close. We began talking about Nikola, a company that bill itself as “decarbonizing” the trucking industry by selling electric long-haul trucks, back in 2020 when it was revealed that a very slick demo of its products had been totally staged. Like, hilariously staged. As in the truck couldn’t move on its own so they towed it down the start of a downward slope on a hill and then recorded it moving “on its own.” Once word got out, Nikola got busy trying to hide all of this from the public view via DMCA takedown notices, which of course Streisand-ed the story into further public view. Milton then handed off his CEO duties and became Chairman of the Board, only to resign that position in September of 2020 as the deal the company had struck with General Motors went from a blockbuster to a flop, because of how pared back the deal became.
  - ACLU ☛ Looking to the Future: 2024 at the ACLU
    
    As 2023 draws to a close, we’re reflecting on crucial wins and our ongoing advocacy for civil liberties and civil rights. We’re also looking to the work ahead that will determine whether rights around the country are diminished or expanded. With the 2024 election on the horizon, we will see new challenges to reproductive freedom, trans rights, voting rights, and the many other constitutional freedoms we work so hard to protect. Our work has never felt more critical. Here are a few places we’ll be focusing our energy and expertise in the new year.
  - Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong court refuses bail bid by activist Chow Hang-tung ahead of national security trial
    
    A Hong Kong court has refused to grant bail to activist and human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung, who has been detained for more than two years awaiting trial on a national security charge.
  - JURIST ☛ Ireland human rights commission brings proceedings against state over migrant rights breaches
    
    The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) announced Thursday that it is bringing proceedings before the Irish High Court over the state’s failure to properly house asylum applicants.
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
  - Techdirt ☛ Error 402: Information Wants To Be… Freemium?
    
    Last week in the Error 402 series on the past, present, and future of web monetization, we talked about the whole “information wants to be expensive, information wants to be free” dilemma, that partially explained why early paywalls failed, and why display and search ads seemed to be the primary way in which internet content was monetized.
  - Techdirt ☛ The EU’s Investigation Of ExTwitter Is Ridiculous & Censorial
    
    People keep accusing me of criticizing Elon Musk because I “hate” him. But I don’t hate him, nor do I criticize him out of any personal feelings at all, beyond thinking that he often is hypocritical in his decision making, and makes decisions that defy common sense and logic. But when he does the right thing, I’m equally happy to call it out positively.
  - Techdirt ☛ The GOP Is Very Mad Because The FCC Wants To Ban Shitty Cable Early Termination Fees
    
    Earlier this month the Biden FCC announced that it was exploring banning early termination fees, which ISPs use to punish you for switching to competitors. It was a long overdue action in a country where cable and broadband giants routinely rip off consumers with a rotating bevy of fees, all designed to let them falsely advertise an artificially lower rate, then hit you with a much higher bill down the road.
  - APNIC ☛ Evolution has its downsides… but maybe it’s inevitable?
    
    How Darwin’s Theory of Evolution might apply to networking.
  - Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Urges FCC To Reinstate Broadband Authority, Bring Back Net Neutrality Protections
    
    Today, Public Knowledge filed comments on the Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to reinstate the agency’s classification of broadband service as “telecommunications”– reopening the door for many important consumer protections that put people first, including strong net neutrality rules.
  - Public Knowledge ☛ FCC Moves To Improve Tribal Connectivity Through Simplified E-Rate Rules
    
    The FCC moves to make it easier for Tribal libraries to access E-Rate funding.
  - APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: Afghanistan IGF 2023, AyIGF, AFSIG 2023 and AFNOG 1
    
    APNIC and the APNIC Foundation actively participated in the Afghanistan IGF 2023, held with AyIGF, AFSIG 2023, and the inaugural AFNOG 1, on 6 December 2023.

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

Links 22/12/2023: PlayStation Layoffs Rumour, European Train Strikes

Contents

Leftovers

Science

Science Alert ☛ A Shift to Open Landscapes May Have Changed Human Language Ever After

Science Alert ☛ Scientists Reveal What a Nuclear Explosion Would Do to an Asteroid

Science Alert ☛ A Vast Realm Off The Coast of Australia May Have Been Populated by Millions

Science Alert ☛ World's Largest Seabirds Follow Sound Across The Ocean to Faraway Food

Hardware

Hackaday ☛ Bed Sensors Do More Than You’d Think

Hackaday ☛ VU Meter Built With Neat Graphical VFD Display

Hackaday ☛ How Do You Test If An EEPROM Can Hold Data For 100 Years?

Hackaday ☛ Making A Guitar Go To Eleven, The Hard Way

Hackaday ☛ Displays We Love Hacking: SPI And I2C

CNX Software ☛ 8Devices Noni M.2 WiFi 7 module runs FirmUx embedded GNU/Linux distribution

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

Pro Publica ☛ Find Out Who Owns a Nursing Home With Our Nursing Home Inspect Tool

The Straits Times ☛ China lifts ban on Taiwanese grouper fish imports in carrot and stick diplomacy

teleSUR ☛ New COVID-19 Subvariant JN.1 Spreads Fast in the US

Science Alert ☛ Leprosy Is on The Rise in Florida, Scientists Report

New York Times ☛ Northern Gaza Has No More Functioning Hospitals, the W.H.O. Says

The Straits Times ☛ Eliminating cervical cancer is a movement, not just a programme: Indonesia’s health minister

TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ MNsure health insurance marketplace sees record early enrollment, mirroring nationwide trend

Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Techdirt ☛ ChatGPT Cheating Fears Seem Overstated [Ed: Hype, fraud, and nonsense. Why become an apologist for it?]

Techdirt ☛ Tesla Lied To Customers, Blaming Them For Shoddy Parts The Company Knew Were Defective

Security

Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Commends FCC Action to Shield Consumers from Spammers and Scammers

Privacy/Surveillance

New York Times ☛ U.S. Regulators Propose New Online Privacy Safeguards for Children

Reason ☛ Genre-Bending Anime Spy x Family Tackles Cold War Espionage

Reason ☛ Attempt to Vanish, to the Fourth Power: Turtles All the Way Down

Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Joins Amicus Brief Defending Controlled Digital Lending and Consumer Privacy

Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Welcomes FCC Move To Update Agency’s Data Breach Rules

Defence/Aggression

RFA ☛ Top US and Chinese generals resume talks

RFA ☛ Escaped North Koreans urge China to stop the ‘genocide’ of forced repatriation

Hackaday ☛ Teardown Of FGM-148 Javelin Missile’s Guidance Computer

Marcy Wheeler ☛ Perjury Trapped: Rudy Giuliani’s Sync Sink

France24 ☛ Macron accused of doing far-right’s bidding with passage of stricter immigration law

The Straits Times ☛ Second North Korean nuclear reactor appears to be using fuel, IAEA says

The Strategist ☛ Vietnam isn’t North Korea—and 50 years of Australian aid has helped

RFA ☛ Beijing, Manila to hold consultation on South China Sea ‘soon’

Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

Meduza ☛ ‘The new beneficiary of the Donbas economy’ How Viktor Medvedchuk, handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange, amasses his wealth through Donetsk metallurgy, Siberian oil, and Moscow real estate — Meduza

Meduza ☛ Russian pop stars threw themselves an exclusive party with an ‘almost naked’ dress code. Here’s what happened next. — Meduza

Meduza ☛ Putin orders use of ‘unified registry’ of eligible citizens in fall 2024 Russian military conscription — Meduza

Meduza ☛ Russia’s Federal Tax Service asks Russians for information on dual citizenship and foreign residence permits — Meduza

Meduza ☛ Russia threatens to reciprocate if Europe seizes frozen Russian assets — Meduza

Meduza ☛ Uzbekistan summons Russian ambassador after nationalist writer and politician Zakhar Prilepin suggests annexing ‘territories where migrants come from’ — Meduza

Meduza ☛ Ukraine’s Defense Ministry contradicts defense minister’s comments on plans to draft Ukrainian men living abroad — Meduza

Atlantic Council ☛ Performative or Substantive Engagement? China & Russia in the Middle East

Atlantic Council ☛ Putin scents historic victory amid growing signs of Western weakness

Latvia ☛ Another group of Ukrainian soldiers treated in Rīga

Latvia ☛ Ukrainian support center in Rīga to move location again

Latvia ☛ Ban advances on playing against Russian, Belarusian sports teams

France24 ☛ Russian drone attack hits residential building in Kyiv, injuring at least two

RFERL ☛ Kyiv Considers Calling Up Men Living Abroad For Military Service

RFERL ☛ Ukraine Legalizes Medical Marijuana

RFERL ☛ Russia Promises To Respond In Kind If EU Uses Its Frozen Assets

RFERL ☛ Germany To Provide 88.5 Million Euros In Energy Assistance For Ukraine

RFERL ☛ Orban Says He Accepted Zelenskiy's Invitation To Discuss Ukraine's EU Membership Hopes

teleSUR ☛ US Reaches Agreements to Control Northern Europe: Zakharova

New York Times ☛ U.S. and Europe Eye Russian Assets to Aid Ukraine as Funding Dries Up

New York Times ☛ Breaking With Postwar History, Japan to Sell Patriot Missiles to U.S.

Latvia ☛ Rīga resident accused of war glorification

RFA ☛ Vietnam’s fraternal ties with Russia are put to the test

RFERL ☛ Former Russian Minister Sentenced To 12 Years For Embezzlement

RFERL ☛ White House Concerned About Reports Paul Whelan Feels Physically Threatened In Russian Jail

RFERL ☛ Russia Adds Two Of Navalny's Self-Exiled Associates To Its Wanted List

RFERL ☛ Kazakhstan To Extradite U.S.-Wanted Russian Cybersecurity Expert To Moscow

RFERL ☛ Armenia Suspends License Of Russian Broadcaster's Local Affiliate For Month

RFERL ☛ Moldova Scraps Soviet-Era Abbreviation For Chisinau Airport

New York Times ☛ 1898: Russia and the Red Sea

Latvia ☛ Saeima moves forward with 'Moscow House' takeover plan

Transparency/Investigative Reporting

Off Guardian ☛ Quick Take: The “Epstein Client List” is not what it seems

Environment

The Straits Times ☛ Cascading waves of earth add to China’s Qinghai earthquake nightmare