Leftovers

• Jeff Bridgforth ☛ What if…? My online handle

  I started thinking, what if the Internet had been conceived much earlier in my life? What if we shifted the online generation to about 15 years earlier? What would my online handle have been if the Web had become mainstream in the world much sooner?

• Jan Lukas Else ☛ My January ‘24 in Review

  And now January of 2024 is over. Time to take a quick look back.

• Deccan Chronicle ☛ Cyber Expert Emphasizes Password Security on Change Your Password Day

  Sarkar advocated for a three-pronged approach to password security. "Firstly, cultivate strong, memorable passwords. Consider using the first line of your favorite song, ensuring it's not a dictionary word. This practice adds a layer of complexity while remaining easy to recall," she advises.

  "Secondly, compartmentalise your digital life with separate passwords for each account. This minimises the domino effect in case of a security breach," Sarkar asserted, stressing the importance of diversity in password management.

• [Old] ArtsJournal ☛ Why are tickets for rock concerts so expensive?

  I see something in the reasoning given by Alan Krueger and Marie Connolly (download the paper for free here): in the 1970s, bands toured in order to generate buzz for their records, since that’s where the money was, and so they would keep ticket prices down as a cross-subsidy to market their LP’s. Now there’s not much to be made in recordings, and so the situation has flipped – give away recordings at very low prices (compare what you pay for a CD now with what you paid for an LP in the 1970s, adjusted for inflation, to see what I mean), and make the concert the main event.

• Manuel Moreale ☛ P&B : Winnie Lim

  This is the 23rd edition of People and Blogs, the series where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. Today we have Winnie Lim and her blog, winnielim.org

  I first discovered Winnie's website thanks to the recomendation of Jamie Crisman who's been featured on the series a couple of months ago. I had her site listed on my spreadheet and was planning to contact her so imagine my surprise when she appeared as a supporter on my Ko-Fi page! It was such a delightful moment. I love to be able to feature people who are supporters of the series because it gives this fun project a sense of community.

• [Old] CBS ☛ This day in history: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper die in 1959 plane crash

  On Feb. 3, 1959, stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in an Iowa plane crash on what was supposed to be a plane ride to their next stop on tour.

• Science

  • CBC ☛ Weird ancient tree from before dinosaurs found in Canadian quarry

    Like the truffula, the new fossil species, Sanfordiacaulis densifolia, was a little taller than a human, but not extremely tall (about three metres), and had a spindly stem poking into a dense mop of long leaves. That mop was more extreme than the truffula's in size — over five metres, or about the diameter of an above-ground pool.

    "It's different than anything we see today," said Matthew Stimson, who co-discovered the fossil, which is described in a new study published in Current Biology on Friday.

  • Cell Press ☛ Enigmatic fossil plants with three-dimensional, arborescent-growth architecture from the earliest Carboniferous of New Brunswick, Canada

    We present a new tree-crown architecture based on exceptional three-dimensional specimens from a Tournaisian (∼359–347 Ma) rift lake in New Brunswick, Canada. These fossils display an extraordinarily dense spiral-branching pattern and produced long, functional, compound leaves retained along a narrow trunk, resulting in a tree-crown volume of >20–30 m3. The scale of this plant’s form indicates a growth strategy of maximizing light interception and reducing resource competition from ground cover. From the trunk-and-canopy dimensions at the time of burial, the plant’s stature conforms to that of a subcanopy element.

  • University of Michigan ☛ UMich researchers share new developments in CRISPR-Cas3 genome editing

    Researchers at the University of Michigan published a study on Jan. 18 highlighting new developments in CRISPR-Cas3 genome-editing technology with the potential to fight genetic diseases, mutations and viruses. The study was the result of a collaboration between the Yan Zhang Laboratory at the University of Michigan and the Ailong Ke Laboratory at Cornell University. The paper focuses on CRISPR-Cas3 as well as two anti-CRISPR inhibitors specific to the system. The study also includes detailed images of the structure of the proteins, nucleic acids and other biomolecules produced by a process known as cryo-electron microscopy.

  • Science News ☛ 50 years ago, trilobite eyes mesmerized scientists

    With some 20,000 known species, trilobites were a diverse bunch that went extinct about 250 million years ago. The lenses described in 1974, found in trilobites called phacopids, are similar in shape to some telescope lenses. That suggests phacopids could focus on objects near and far in their field of view. Recently, a fossil analysis has found that the creatures’ optical gift was even more spectacular than scientists thought. Phacopids appear to have had two compound eyes, like those of flies and other insects. But each eye contained up to 200 smaller peepers, which would have helped the trilobites detect light in dark ocean waters, researchers reported in 2021.

• Education

  • France24 ☛ France's teachers go on strike, piling pressure on embattled education minister

    Thursday's strike, which coincides with ongoing protests by agricultural workers, had been planned since before the government reshuffle that put Oudéa-Castéra in place.

  • The Atlantic ☛ Colleges Are Lying to Their Students

    Each of the guides seems to think this is a point of difference about his or her college, which is itself a sign that they have spent a lot more time in the “what to think” school of higher education than in the “how to think” one. When you’re visiting a college, walk through the corridors of some of the humanities departments. Look at the posters advertising upcoming events and speakers, read the course listings, or just stand silent in front of the semiotic overload of the instructors’ office doors, where wild declarations of what they think and what they plan to make you think will be valorously displayed.

    Does this look like a department that is going to teach you how to think?

    The truth of the matter is that no one can teach you how to think; but what they can do is teach you how to think for yourself.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Atlantic ☛ Why Don’t We Teach People How to Parent?

    Parents today arguably face steeper expectations than ever before. Over the past half century or so, “intensive parenting” has become the norm in the United States: Child care, for many families, has turned into an all-consuming and hyper-expensive affair, not about just nurturing kids but cultivating them, with tutors and ballet and piano lessons. (Not every parent can afford to meet those standards, but even so, the majority aspire to them.) Advice books proliferate; TikTok influencers preach the benefits of different “parenting styles”; moms and dads now spend significantly more time with their kids than they did in the 1960s.

    But they aren’t necessarily better equipped for the job. The ways that people used to learn parenting have started falling apart, and the alternatives are not accessible enough to fill the gaps left behind. American society hasn’t embraced the idea that child-rearing can or should be taught formally. Meanwhile, many parents are struggling to figure it out for themselves.

  • Omicron Limited ☛ Biodegradable sensor monitors levels of pesticides via direct contact with surface of fruit and vegetables

    Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil have developed a sustainable sensor that can be placed directly on the surface of a vegetable or fruit to detect the presence of pesticides. Known for this reason as "plant-wearable," it is made of cellulose acetate, a material derived from wood pulp.

  • El País ☛ OxyContin marketer agrees to pay $350 million rather than face lawsuits

    It is the first advertising company to reach a major settlement over the toll of opioids in the U.S. It faced a lawsuit in at least Massachusetts but settled with most states before they made court claims against it.

    The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led negotiations with the company, said Publicis worked with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma from 2010-2019, helping campaigns for OxyContin and other prescription opioids, Butrans and Hysingla.

  • Truthdig ☛ How Forests Heal Us

    Korean scientists have confirmed that walking through forest areas improved older women’s blood pressure, lung capacity and elasticity in their arteries. Walking in an urban park with trees, or an arboretum, or a rural forest reduces blood pressure, improves cardiac-pulmonary parameters, bolsters mental health, reduces negative thoughts, lifts people’s moods, and restores our brain’s ability to focus – all findings of recent studies. Park RX America (PRA), a nonprofit founded in 2017 by the public health pediatrician Dr. Robert Zarr, has established a large network of health care professionals who use nature prescriptions as part of their health care treatment for patients. A sample prescription: “walk along a trail near a pond or in a park with a friend, without earbuds, for ½ hour, twice a week.”

  • The Scientist ☛ Tracking Community Health Through Wastewater Surveillance

    By monitoring disease biomarkers within wastewater, researchers gain insight into disease prevalence within communities.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ Preparing for the next pandemic: What is ‘Disease X?’

    World leaders and health organizations have focused on “Disease X” as the next international pandemic, and it could reportedly be 20 times worse than COVID-19.

  • NYPost ☛ Federal agencies refuse to cooperate with Florida grand jury investigating COVID-19 vaccines, interim report reveals

    None of the federal agencies involved in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines have been forthcoming with information, the grand jury has discovered, and the panel said it has no legal power to force the agencies to furnish information.

  • JURIST ☛ Federal appeals court blocks Oregon inmates lawsuit against governor over COVID-19 vaccine administration

    The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit blocked on Thursday prison inmates’ lawsuit against Oregon Governor Kate Brown and others for putting the inmates on the lowest tier of priority for access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • Eric Hameleers ☛ Down with COVID

    I somehow avoided getting infected with COVID for all these past four years, but this week unexpectedly it hit me after all – and that while being inoculated multiple times. Oh well, they say that the inoculations keep the more severe symptoms at bay.

  • European Commission ☛ Let us stop the next pandemic today

  • NYPost ☛ High school placed on lockdown after students stage walkout over cell phone ban

    James Madison High School staff ordered the shelter-in-place as a precaution after fights broken out at the campus the day before.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • The Gamer ☛ Xbox Games Reportedly Aren't Being Listed At Select Retailers

    Over the past few weeks, the topic of preservation and games ownership has been at the forefront of the industry, reignited by controversial comments from Ubisoft's director of subscriptions who claimed gamers need to get used to "not owning [their] games". Fears over game ownership then worsened following Microsoft's recent layoffs, which reportedly shut down Xbox's entire physical game release divisions.

  • Nathaniel Snelgrove ☛ Comparing the Youtube algorithm and the SEO machine

    After years of contemplating Youtube as a medium, I finally started my own channel about two weeks ago. To my knowledge, I’ve done it exactly right: I picked a niche, decided on a schedule and a flow, made a few videos on my own before posting anything to see if I could do it at all, and started scheduling my uploads.

    (I’m not going to share the link to the channel here, because I don’t want to disturb the algorithm while it identifies my audience. The people who read this blog are probably not the people who would be interested in my Youtube channel, which is just rhythm backing tracks for guitar players to practice over.)

  • BBC ☛ Thousands of IT issues reported at troubled council

    Oracle's system was supposed to streamline payment and HR processes but its full implementation is now more than three years overdue.

    An audit report being discussed on Wednesday, external says the problems mean the authority faces a risk of theft and fraud which is "inherently high".

  • Birmingham Live ☛ Warnings from distraught finance staff at broke Birmingham City Council 'ignored for a year'

    Concerned finance staff were 'not listened to' as they tried to warn about the catastrophic impact of a failing new financial, HR and services system, months before the crisis was made public, it has been claimed.

    Senior finance leaders apparently downplayed the clamour for months around the failings of the new system - called Oracle for short. Staff had been left distraught and stressed as a result, according to new revelations presented to the city's audit committee members. (Wednesday January 31) Some even left their jobs as a result, the meeting heard.

  • Birmingham City Council ☛ Value for Money in relation to the implementation of Oracle

    The Council wen live with Oracle Cloud Fusion, a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, in April 2022.

    The key components of the Oracle solution to be implemented are sumarised below: [...]

  • Vox ☛ Should we make our most powerful AI models open source to all?

    “You can train away the harmlessness,” he told me. “You don’t even need that many examples. You can use a few hundred, and you get a model that continues to maintain its helpfulness capabilities but is willing to do harmful things. It cost us around $200 to train even the biggest model for this. Which is to say, with currently known techniques, if you release the model weights there is no way to keep people from accessing the full dangerous capabilities of your model with a little fine tuning.”

  • Daniel Miessler ☛ Why I Created Fabric

    This tooling is what became Fabric in the beginning of 2024.

  • Matt Birchler ☛ Seeing what you want to see in the stock price

    So actually this is based on 3 companies’ stock price changes over one day. For what it’s worth, Apple’s market cap dropped about $60 billion as well yesterday, and it seems to be just a part of a day the market was a bit down, but that doesn’t play into the narrative, so it’s not worth mentioning here.

  • Futurism ☛ Instacart Caught Using Revolting AI-Generated Images of Food

    We've already come across countless companies attempting to use generative AI to save a buck on human labor or skirt around copyright, with often unintentionally hilarious and at times infuriating results.

    But in the case of grocery delivery app Instacart, the results are mainly just nauseating.

• Security

  • SJVN ☛ Critical Security Hole in GNU C Library Opens Door to Root Access on Major Linux Distros

    Qualys Threat Research Unit (TRU) recently uncovered several security bugs within the GNU C Library (glibc). a cornerstone of virtually all Linux distributions. The main flaw, labeled CVE-2023-6246, specifically affects the glibc's syslog function. It poses a critical threat to system integrity by potentially allowing attackers to gain root access.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • EFF ☛ San Francisco Police’s Live Surveillance Yields Almost 200 Hours of Spying–Including of Music Festivals

      The city’s Board of Supervisors granted police permission to get live access to these cameras in September 2022 as part of a 15-month pilot program to see if allowing police to conduct widespread, live surveillance would create more safety for all people. However, even before this legislation’s passage, the SFPD covertly used non-city security cameras to monitor protests and other public events. In fact, police and the rich man who funded large networks of semi-private surveillance cameras both claimed publicly that the police department could easily access historic footage of incidents after the fact to help build cases, but could not peer through the cameras live. This claim was debunked by EFF and other investigators who revealed that police requested live access to semi-private cameras to monitor protests, parades, and public events—despite being the type of activity protected by the First Amendment.

      When the Board of Supervisors passed this ordinance, which allowed police live access to non-city cameras for criminal investigations (for up to 24 hours after an incident) and for large-scale events, we warned that police would use this newfound power to put huge swaths of the city under surveillance—and we were unfortunately correct.

    • Consumer Reports ☛ Each Facebook User Is Monitored by Thousands of Companies

      Using a panel of 709 volunteers who shared archives of their Facebook data, Consumer Reports found that a total of 186,892 companies sent data about them to the social network. On average, each participant in the study had their data sent to Facebook by 2,230 companies. That number varied significantly, with some panelists’ data listing over 7,000 companies providing their data. The Markup helped Consumer Reports recruit participants for the study. Participants downloaded an archive of the previous three years of their data from their Facebook settings, then provided it to Consumer Reports.

    • Consumer Reports ☛ Who Shares Your Information With Facebook? Sampling the Surveillance Economy in 2023 [PDF]

      Findings and Discussion What we discovered in consumers’ data files was striking. The overall scope of data sharing and targeted advertising that occurs on Facebook is immense.

      ● We found slightly more than 186,000 different companies represented in the data of 709 participants. Of them, 682 participants have their Events data being sent to Facebook, and 693 of them are included in the Custom Audiences data.

      ● Each of these 186,000-plus companies shared data on an average of eight participants in our study.

      ● The average participant in our study was identified in the data by 2,230 different companies; some were identified by more than 7,000 companies.

      ● The company that shared data on the largest number of participants was LiveRamp, a data broker, which shared data on 679, or about 96%, of study participants.10

      ● The 100 companies that most frequently appeared in our sample each shared or directed their service provider to share data on more than half of the 709 volunteers. (Those companies are listed in Appendix E.) Of those companies, 39 are retailers or 10 Consumer Reports has a business relationship with LiveRamp and another data broker, Acxiom. Consumer Reports shares data with each of these companies in order to help support its mission. 11 consumer brands, 28 are agencies or services providers, 19 are data brokers, 4 are political services firms, and 10 are best classified as “other.”

  • Confidentiality

    • Lee Peterson ☛ How does using a VPN all of the time affect your battery life?

      I’ve been running a VPN (I use NordVPN) all of the time across all of my devices lately and for the last three days been paying attention to the amount of battery it’s slurping in the background.

      Living in the UK is reason enough for running one all of the time if you want to keep some privacy intact, with snoopers charter ISP’s are required to store everywhere you go for 12 months. But, watching F1TV and using YouTube with no ads (set your country to Albania) are others.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Futurism ☛ TikTok in Shambles Now That Videos Can’t Use Popular Music

    In a statement, UMG explained the company had pulled its musical catalog due to some major sticking points with TikTok: "appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users."

    The company is essentially running into the same problem that has plagued news media in the last two decades: trying to get compensated by social media platforms for the content it develops and produces.

  • Wired ☛ TikTok’s Missing Music Is Making Users Very Upset

    A well-known musician for almost two decades, Swift has seen her popularity skyrocket in recent years. Her Eras Tour is so massive it has the power to impact local economies and her appearances at NFL games to watch her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, play have altered football viewership this season. Losing her music as well as tunes from Drake and others in UMG’s lineup could alter the fabric of TikTok itself.

  • Futurism ☛ TikTok’s Owner Seethes That It Missed the Boat on AI

    Despite dominating the app market, TikTok's owner is irked that his people didn't move on artificial intelligence sooner.

    Liang Rubo, the cofounder of TikTok's parent company ByteDance, told employees in a company-wide meeting attended by workers from all over the world that they should have been paying more attention to AI as it grew into the giant disruptor it now is, as the company explained in posts on WeChat, a messaging app it owns similar to WhatsApp or Telegram.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ FCC chair proposes ban on AI-voiced robocalls

    AI-generated voices used in robocalls and telemarketing have the potential to cause confusion and spread mis- and disinformation by modeling voices of politicians, celebrities and family members. Last month, a bipartisan group of 26 attorneys general urged the FCC to restrict the use of the technology in robocalls and robotexts to protect consumers.

    “AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are legitimate,” Rosenworcel said in a press release. “That’s why the FCC is taking steps to recognize this emerging technology as illegal under existing law, giving our partners at state attorneys general offices across the country new tools they can use to crack down on these scams and protect consumers.”

  • US FCC ☛ FCC-State Robocall Investigation Partnerships

    Memoranda of Understanding between state robocall investigators and the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau establish critical information sharing and cooperation structures to investigate spoofing and robocalls scam campaigns. During investigations, both the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and state investigators seek records, talk to witnesses, interview targets, examine consumer complaints, and take other critical steps to build a record against possible bad actors. These partnerships can provide critical resources for building cases and preventing duplicative efforts in protecting consumers and businesses nationwide.

    The FCC offers partner states not only the expertise of its enforcement staff but also important resources to support state investigations. For example, the MOUs may facilitate relationships with other actors in this space including other federal agencies and robocall blocking companies, and support for and expertise with critical investigative tools including subpoenas and confidential response letters from suspected robocallers.

  • JURIST ☛ Sweden police treating live device found outside Israeli embassy as ‘suspected terrorist crime’

    Prior to this incident, Sweden’s government had pledged 10m kronor ($1 million) last October to increase security at Jewish institutions across the country after increased antisemitism in the wake of the Israel-Hamas War. Since the beginning of the war on October 7 last year, Swedish police have received over 120 reports of antisemitic crimes since the outbreak of the war.

  • The Scotsman ☛ Why Universal Music Group has removed music including Taylor Swift from TikTok and what could happen next

    UMG accused TikTok of using “intimidation” tactics to force the label’s hand into accepting a deal which would pay artists and songwriters a “fraction” of the rate offered by other platforms.

    “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” the label stated.

  • The Telegraph UK ☛ Erdogan’s party sets up political offshoot in Germany

    The Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening (DAVA), which is allied to Mr Erdogan’s AK Party, said it would run “highly decorated candidates” in the June vote.

    It will fight for the rights of “people with foreign roots” and take a stand against “anti-Muslim racism”, said Fatih Zingal, a leading DAVA figure with links to the Turkish president.

    The party was officially founded on Jan 7, and its emergence has prompted concern among political circles in Berlin.

  • Irish Times ☛ German-based allies of Turkish president launch new party

    Germany is heading into unknown territory in advance of the June European elections as two — possibly three — new parties aim to peel away support of frustrated voters. German-based allies of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have founded Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening (Dava), targeted at 1.5 million Germans with Turkish roots.

  • Middle East Monitor ☛ Erdogan’s party to run in EU-election

    High-ranking German politicians were quick to denounce the move as further contributing to the deterioration of the political climate within the country.

    “An Erdogan offshoot running for elections here is the last thing we need,” Green Agriculture Minister, Cem Ozdemir, who has a Turkish migration background, wrote on X.

  • India Times ☛ Mark Zuckerberg and tech CEOs told 'you have blood on your hands' at US Senate child safety hearing

  • France24 ☛ Biden campaigns in Michigan amid growing Arab-American anger over Gaza

    US President Joe Biden campaigned Thursday in the crucial swing state of Michigan, where growing Arab-American anger at his pro-Israel policies threatens to cut into already tight margins of support.

  • Futurism ☛ TikToks Go Silent as Major Record Label Pulls All Its Music

    It's official: major music label Universal Music Group has yanked its catalogs from TikTok, including the works of some of the biggest names in pop music, such as Taylor Swift, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo.

    Earlier this week, the label announced in a statement that it had chosen to "call time out on TikTok" to pressure the social network for better rules surrounding the use of artificial intelligence, online safety, and compensation for artists.

    The label's contract with TikTok also expired over Wednesday night.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S. Slaps Sanctions On Iranian Firms, Individuals Involved In Drones, Revolutionary Guard

    The U.S. Treasury slapped fresh sanctions on a network of four companies based in Iran and Hong Kong for providing materials and sensitive technology for Iran's ballistic-missile and unmanned-aerial-vehicle programs, including the Shahed class of drones used by Russia against Ukraine.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Romanian Army Chief Warns Country Must Be Ready For Putin

      Romania urgently needs to adopt a legal framework that would allow civilian volunteers to pursue military training as the country need to be better prepared in case Russia's war against Ukraine spreads, the NATO member's new army chief has told RFE/RL.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Election Commission Finds Problems With Supporter List Of Anti-War Candidate Nadezhdin

      Russia’s Central Election Commission (TsIK) has said it has found irregularities in some of the paperwork submitted by presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin, putting in peril the bid of the only politician in the March election who has openly called for a halt to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian authorities say anti-war presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin’s candidacy documents contain ‘surprising errors’ — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Wives of Russian draftees plan protest near Kremlin, call for end of mobilization — Meduza

    • JURIST ☛ Russia election officials discover errors in the paperwork of Putin challenger

      Election officials in Russia announced Friday that they had found errors in the paperwork submitted by prominent opposition politician and anti-war proponent, Boris Nadezhdin, after he provided the signatures of over 100,000 supporters, in an effort to secure his candidacy for the March elections.

    • European Commission ☛ EU Leaders agree on €50 billion of reliable financial support for Ukraine until 2027

      European Commission News Brussels, 02 Feb 2024

      At yesterday's special meeting of the European Council, EU Leaders reached a breakthrough and agreed on the Commission's proposal to provide Ukraine with regul...

    • France24 ☛ Top UN court says it has jurisdiction on most of Ukraine’s invasion case

      The United Nations' top court said Friday it had jurisdiction to rule in most parts of a case brought by Ukraine over Russia's brutal 2022 invasion, with Kyiv urging reparations.

    • RFERL ☛ UN Court Says It Has Jurisdiction In Parts Of Ukraine's Case Against Russia

      The United Nations' highest court on February 2 said it had jurisdiction to hear most parts of a case filed by Ukraine that alleges Russia violated the Genocide Convention by using trumped-up claims to justify its full-scale invasion almost two years ago.

    • France24 ☛ Russian strike in Ukraine kills two French aid workers

      Two French volunteer aid workers were killed in a Russian drone attack in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, French Foreign Minister Stephane Séjourné said on Friday, confirming reports from the regionalgovernor and other officials.

    • JURIST ☛ Ukraine Defense Ministry suspends senior official upon corruption investigation

      The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced Friday that it had suspended senior official Toomas Makhkur after the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced that it had exposed an embezzlement scheme within the ministry. In January, the SSU reported that it had discovered an embezzlement scheme involving current and former ministry officials and an arms company, Lviv Arsenal.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania delivers new shipment of ammo, detonation systems to Ukraine

      On Friday, Lithuania handed over a new aid package to Ukraine, comprising ammunition for Carl-Gustaf grenade launchers and RISE-1 remote detonation systems.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Reportedly Informs Washington Of Decision To Fire Zaluzhniy

      The Ukrainian government has informed the White House that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has decided to fire General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, the commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. Senate Negotiators Reach Deal On Border, But Ukraine Still Uphill Battle

      U.S. Senate negotiators reached a deal on a proposal to overhaul the asylum system at the U.S. border with Mexico, clearing the way for Senate leaders to begin the difficult task of convincing Congress to pass a national-security package that will include tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Moldova Vows To 'Accelerate' Efforts To Comply With EU's Russia Sanctions

      Moldova is "accelerating work" to comply with EU sanctions against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a government spokesman said on February 2, a day after an RFE/RL investigation showed Moldovan firms have continued to supply airplane parts to Russian airlines and companies.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia, Ukraine Clash Over Whether Kyiv Has Requested Bodies From Belgorod Plane Crash

      Ukraine says it has repeatedly asked Moscow to return the bodies of dozens of prisoners of war that Russia says died in a plane crash last week, contradicting Kremlin statements that no request has been received on the matter.

    • RFERL ☛ France Says Russia Will 'Answer' For Deaths Of French Aid Workers In Ukraine

      France says Russia will have to answer for the deaths of two French nationals killed in a drone attack in the Kherson region of Ukraine as they performed humanitarian duties.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Drones Target Critical Infrastructure In Ukraine's Southeast

      Ukrainian air defense shot down 11 out of 24 Russian drones launched early on February 2 at critical infrastructure facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Kirovohrad, and Kharkiv regions, the military said.

    • teleSUR ☛ Russia Detects Patriot Missile Fragments at Il-76 Crash Site

      On Jan. 24, Ukraine launched two missiles at a Russian aircraft, killing all 74 people on board.

    • New York Times ☛ U.N. Court to Rule on Whether Ukraine Committed Genocide

      The highest court of the United Nations will render a verdict on a claim that has been used by Russia to justify its invasion.

    • Meduza ☛ Ukraine says three Russian aircraft destroyed in strike on military airfield in occupied Crimea — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘I’m not your boss, I’m your commander’: Russian officials are picking up bad habits in occupied Ukraine, where corruption and impunity reign — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukraine says Russia ignoring request to return bodies of POWs Moscow says killed in crash — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian overnight drone attack on Ukraine reportedly leaves 40,000 people and two mines without power — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian-Russian border fence hoped to be built within year

      Within a couple of weeks, construction of the fence is planned to begin on the Latvian-Russian border, involving several companies and the National Armed Forces, Latvian Television reported on February 2.

    • Latvia ☛ Foreign Ministry repeats call to strengthen sanctions against Russia

      The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia issued a statement on February 2 calling for authorities to double check whether there could be Russia-supporting individuals in high positions of Latvian enterprises.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Iran is on its way to replacing Russia as a leading arms exporter. The US needs a strategy to counter this trend.

      The US must understand the seriousness of the situation: without active measures, it will be extremely tough to stop Iran from becoming a world leader in arms sales

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Russia Tomorrow: Five scenarios for Russia’s future

      A new Atlantic Council report explores five paths that Russia future might take in its future. What forces will shape Russia’s future?

    • New York Times ☛ In Russia, a Cat Thrown From a Train Offers a Safe Space to Vent

      The death of a pet during a train journey has given Russians a safe space to speak out and connect, and allowed the Kremlin to shift attention from wartime gloom.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian woman jailed under anti-extremism law for wearing rainbow earrings — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia denies involvement in anti-war band Bi-2’s arrest in Thailand, says members ‘categorically refused’ to speak to Russian consular officers — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ 'Moscow House' loses its signage

      The so-called “Moscow House”, which the Saeima has decided to nationalize, was stripped of its coat of arms and also the sign saying Moscow House during the night to Friday, February 2.

    • CS Monitor ☛ A friendly face in a foreign place: My encounter with a Soviet soldier

      Our visit to Soviet-era Moscow resulted in a chance encounter, and a lesson in humanity, that would stay with me for decades.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian lawmakers propose raising draft age for naturalized citizens to 50, Russian State Duma speaker criticizes bill — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian journalist reportedly kidnapped and beaten after reporting on combat drone manufacturer — Meduza

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Fudzilla ☛ CIA leaker gets 40 years for spying and kiddie porn

    The 40-year sentence by US district judge Jesse Furman was for "crimes of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and child pornography", federal prosecutors said in a statement.

  • India Times ☛ Ex-CIA computer engineer gets 40 years in prison for giving spy agency hacking secrets to WikiLeaks

    The bulk of the sentence imposed on Joshua Schulte, 35, in Manhattan federal court came for an embarrassing public release of a trove of CIA secrets by WikiLeaks in 2017. He has been jailed since 2018.

  • Security Week ☛ Ex-CIA Computer Engineer Gets 40 Years in Prison for Giving Spy Agency Hacking Secrets to WikiLeaks

    The so-called Vault 7 leak revealed how the CIA hacked Apple and Android smartphones in overseas spying operations, and efforts to turn internet-connected televisions into listening devices. Prior to his arrest, Schulte had helped create the hacking tools as a coder at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

    In requesting a life sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney David William Denton Jr. said Schulte was responsible for “the most damaging disclosures of classified information in American history.”

  • The Scotsman ☛ Nicola Sturgeon’s deletion of WhatsApps ‘appalling’, says deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner

    Ms Sturgeon confirmed she deleted messages while giving evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, but insisted she rarely used WhatsApp.

• Environment

  • RTL ☛ Paris takes aim at SUVs with premium parking vote

    "The bigger they are, the more they pollute," Socialist Hidalgo said in December.

    Environmental group WWF has dubbed SUVs an "aberration", saying they burn 15 percent more fuel than a classic coupe and cost more to build and purchase.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Beating the freeze: Up to $11.5M for eco-friendly control over ice and snow

    The project aims to find molecules that can be used to manipulate ice and snow in several ways, including changing the temperature at which water freezes, increasing and decreasing how strongly ice adheres to surfaces, changing the structure of the formed ice and inhibiting or encouraging ice crystals to grow on surfaces.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • DeSmog ☛ Tory Lord’s Firm Awarded New North Sea Oil and Gas Licences

      A company whose largest shareholder is a former Conservative treasurer and major party donor has been awarded two new North Sea exploration licences, DeSmog can reveal.

      It was announced on Wednesday (31 January) that Deltic Energy had been awarded the new licences in the latest North Sea oil and gas licensing round. 

    • The Hill ☛ US to require cryptocurrency mines to report energy use data

      The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has said that starting next week, it will “survey identified commercial cryptocurrency miners, which are required to respond with details related to their energy use.”

      “We will specifically focus on how the energy demand for cryptocurrency mining is evolving, identify geographic areas of high growth, and quantify the sources of electricity used to meet cryptocurrency mining demand,” EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis said in a written statement this week.

    • Axios ☛ Cryptocurrency adoption is going more slowly than the web

      • The report marks year one of the widely usable [Internet] at 1995, the era of infinite America Online installation CD-ROMs. Similarly, it puts year one of cryptocurrency at 2017, when tokens first made ebullient speculation something of a global phenomenon.

      • More importantly, that puts each genesis year four years ahead of speculative bubbles in each domain.

    • H2 View ☛ US Tribe to develop biomass-to-hydrogen facility and reduce forest fire concerns

      Redding Rancheria Tribe has received $500,000 in funding to support a US hydrogen production facility.

      Located in Red Bluff, California, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tribe was granted the funding from the California Department of Conservation.

    • Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ Short on cash, El Salvador doubles down on bitcoin dream

      As the popular Bukele readies himself to win a second term this Sunday, ground has yet to be broken on Bitcoin City. But, undeterred and still inspired, the Malcolms, along with 15 other foreigners and a Salvadoran couple, have convinced more than 100 businesses to accept bitcoin in the coffee-producing mountain town of Berlin in eastern El Salvador.

    • Bloomberg ☛ US Bitcoin Miners Use as Much Electricity as Everyone in Utah

      Bitcoin miners in the US are consuming the same amount of electricity as the entire state of Utah, among others, according to a new analysis by the US Energy Information Administration. And that’s considered the low end of the range of use.

    • CNET ☛ How Much Power Does [Cryptocurrency] Use? The Government Wants to Know

      "We intend to continue to analyze and write about the energy implications of cryptocurrency mining activities in the United States," EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis said in a statement Wednesday. "We will specifically focus on how the energy demand for cryptocurrency mining is evolving, identify geographic areas of high growth and quantify the sources of electricity used to meet cryptocurrency mining demand."

      Studies have shown [cryptocurrency] mining operations can raise the utility bills of people who live around them, but this is a relatively new and fast-changing issue. Here's what it all means.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Deccan Chronicle ☛ Wild elephant keeps Wayanad town on toes for hours

      The elephant was first spotted by dairy farmers early Friday morning who informed the forest and police officials in the area.

• Finance

  • Sega of America layoffs will hit organized staff hard, union worked to lessen impact

    The upcoming layoffs at Sega of America (SoA) are set to hit its workers union, AEGIS-CWA.

    In a statement sent to Game Developer, the CWA-backed group said all 61 employees being let go in March 2024 are represented by the union. The union was formed by 144 staffers last April.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Common Dreams ☛ Racist Morons 'R Us

    There's so much malignant idiocy abroad in the land we don't usually bother to stop and smell the stench. But the travesty of insensate Tom Cotton channeling his inner Joe McCarthy during a Senate hearing ostensibly about children's online safety - in order to mindlessly badger Tik Tok's Singaporean CEO on his alleged ties to Chinese Communists because all Asians look kinda the same and are probably Communist spies, right? - was Just Too Much. Have you no sense of decency, sir? Clearly, not.

  • CBC ☛ Business insolvencies shot up by more than 41% last year, as pandemic debts mount

    The report from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy showed that the total number of insolvencies — meaning those filed by both businesses and consumers — was up by 23.6 per cent last year.

    The high insolvency rates for businesses are "telling a story that we've been a little concerned about, and that is essentially that we're seeing a very tough economic climate for a lot of businesses" amid low economic activity, said Pedro Antunes, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada.

  • EPIC ☛ EPIC Urges NIST to Center AI Transparency and Data Minimization in AI Risk Management Following Biden Executive Order

    Today, EPIC submitted comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) commending their efforts to develop additional AI risk management resources pursuant to President Biden’s AI Executive Order and recommending additional guidance around AI transparency, accountability, and data controls to mitigate the risks of both generative and non-generative AI.

  • New York Times ☛ Swifties on Political Conspiracy Theories: You Need to Calm Down

    The attacks may be intended to embolden a right wing base, and perhaps change a few minds in other parts of the political universe, but Swifties, predictably, remain indifferent. Several said the attacks have only motivated them to be more politically engaged.

  • Quartz ☛ Taylor Swift shows boost local economies almost as much as hosting a Super Bowl

    The economic impact of having popstar Taylor Swift perform in a city is close to the boost it would get from hosting a Super Bowl, according to a new report from the Bank of America Institute.

    The bank’s think tank published a report Tuesday (Jan. 30) analyzing internal credit and debit card data to demonstrate how much stadium events boosted spending at local businesses. The report specifically compared the impact of two stops of Taylor Swift’s stadium tour in Pittsburgh and the 2023 Super Bowl in Phoenix.

  • BW Businessworld Media Pvt Ltd ☛ Deutsche Bank To Layoff 3,500 Employees In Cost-Cutting Effort

    In response to the positive aspects of its financial performance, Deutsche Bank announced an increase in its dividend to 45 euro cents per share from 30 cents per share. Additionally, the bank plans to return more cash to shareholders by buying back EUR 675 million in shares by the end of June.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Universal Music Group Unveils Major Restructuring Initiative, Taps Republic and Interscope Geffen Heads for Bolstered Roles

    A little over two weeks after confirming plans to make potentially far-reaching layoffs, Universal Music Group (UMG) has set in motion a major restructuring initiative.

  • [Repeat] Chris ☛ War – What is it Good For?

    As much as I’d like to explain all the juicy details, and list more consequences of the theory, there’s a certain limit to how much of a book can be squeezed into an article and I think that limit has been reached for now. The War Trap is one of the most interesting books I have read in a while. In part because it covers a serious and important topic, but in part because it is an excellent lesson in how to build quantitative theories.

  • Deccan Chronicle ☛ Facebook, the social network old-timer, turns 20

    Zuckerberg, who still heads the company, stuck to a strategy of investing heavily to gain users before integrating money-making methods that usually involved targeted ads.

  • India Times ☛ Big Tech move into finance to come under closer EU scrutiny

    The European Union's financial watchdogs have stated that the presence of Big Tech in the EU's financial services sector is currently not a threat to financial stability. They conducted a stocktake to assess the activities of Big Tech companies such as Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Alibaba, and more. The stocktake revealed an increasing presence of Big Tech subsidiaries as direct providers of financial services, particularly in payments, e-money, and insurance.

  • Insight Hungary ☛ Orbán's son goes on secret mission in Africa

    Gáspár Orbán, son of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, attempted to conceal his role in a forthcoming Hungarian military undertaking in Africa's Sahel region - investigative outlet Direkt36 and Le Monde reported. The report prompted the Hungarian government to acknowledge his involvement. Despite attempts to expunge Gáspár Orbán's presence from official Hungarian imagery during various visits to the Sahel, evidence surfaced, compelling an official admission of his participation.

    The Hungarian PM has refrained from confirming his son's engagement in the mission. During Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó's visit to Chad's presidential palace in N'Djamena, one of the attendees wore a distinctive green fedora and a surgical mask. walked away from the delegation, towards the garden. This is just one instance where the MP's son used his mask to hide his face during official Sahel meetings. Gáspár Orbán was identified through a media investigation utilizing facial recognition software.

  • FAIR ☛ Source Who Revealed How Taxes Steal for the Rich Rewarded With Five Years in Prison

    Because of Charles Littlejohn, we know that former President Donald Trump and a whole bunch of other rich people pay next to nothing in taxes, while the rest of us frantically file tax returns and see our wages sucked away to fund the military, aid for Israel and corporate subsidies. Littlejohn, a former consultant at the Internal Revenue Service, leaked these tax returns, which resulted in major investigative findings for the New York Times (9/27/20) and ProPublica (6/8/21).

  • FAIR ☛ Aron Thorn on Texas Border Standoff

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • NPR ☛ Here's why conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl are spreading

      Unfounded claims about Swift's alleged role as a government plant have been swirling for some time. Last month, Fox News host Jesse Watters speculated that Swift might be a Pentagon "psyop" — an asset used for psychological operations.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • The Scotsman ☛ Scold's bridle: Women who told off men in 16th-century Scotland could face a brutal punishment – Susan Morrison

    These insults and penitential statements were recorded by clerks of the session, patiently writing down who called who a "jad”, a “hure” and a “skailer”. The fact that Dr Nikki Macdonald, the historian who found these warring women in the kirk records, is herself the minister of the Upper Clyde parish church seems very fitting.

    Today’s ministers are very different to the censorious kirk of the 16th century. They probably don’t handle too many gossip girl battles these days. Today's Marion and Katherine are more likely to sue each other for social media posts than hold their tongues in kirk.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ 0HCRAP, Michigan bans 25K license plates for being 2DAMH0T

    Over 25,000 license personalized license plates have been rejected by the Secretary of State

    The department rejects license plates that depict curse words, intimate body parts or are harmful to a group or business

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • JURIST ☛ Russia court extends pre-trial detention of Russian-American journalist in ‘foreign agent’ case

    Kurmasheva is a Prague-based journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) holds dual citizenship from both the US and Russia. She was initially detained in June 2023 while boarding a return flight from Russia to the Czech Republic. She was later fined 10,000 rubles (approximately $100) for failing to register her US passport with Russian authorities.

  • BIA Net ☛ Judicial pressure on journalists escalated with the 'disinformation law'

    Since 2001, the IPS Communication Foundation/bianet has been regularly reporting on violations of freedom of expression, and its 2023 assessment report is now available.

    This report, prepared with the financial support of Oslo Metropolitan University (Center for Journalism and Media International Center, JMIC), has been prepared by Sinem Aydınlı and Erol Önderoğlu.

  • Meduza ☛ Nine years and counting On Meduza in English’s birthday, readers from around the world share what our reporting means to them — Meduza

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • YLE ☛ Friday's papers: Finland strikes, Russian art and a Siberian cold snap

    Finland is seeing significant disruptions across the country on Friday.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ Germany: Public transport workers launch nationwide strike

    Verdi is urging better working conditions for public transport employees, among other demands. Verdi is negotiating with transit authorities amid the industrial action.

  • Meduza ☛ Russia’s Justice Ministry updates ‘foreign agent’ list to include Memorial co-founder Oleg Orlov and Russian Wikimedia director Stanislav Kozlovsky, among others

    The Russian Justice Ministry said that Orlov, Sokolov, Stepanov, and Chimarov “opposed the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine,” Kartavin disseminated false information about the Russian authorities’ actions, and Kozlovsky created materials for “foreign agents” and “collaborated with foreign media outlets, one of which has been declared ‘undesirable’ in Russia.”

  • RFA ☛ Video captures Chinese soldiers confronting Tibetan herders

    The incident occurred in a rugged border area used by nomads as their winter grazing grounds called Jangthang, or “Northern Plains” in Tibetan, situated between Ladakh, in northern India, and the Chinese-occupied Tibetan Autonomous Region.

  • Reason ☛ Texas Cops Held a Terrified Couple at Gunpoint After Raiding the Wrong House

    But the officers decided to enter the Harrington's home anyway, testing both the front and back doors and finding them unlocked. A fourth officer arrived, and according to the suit, Lancaster told him that they were "waiting on the owner," despite knowing that it was a different house than the one owned by Mrs. H, where the owner had left and was to return shortly.

    Around midnight, two of the officers burst into the Harrington's home with their guns drawn, shouting "Constable's Office, come up with your hands out!" Harrington's wife, whose full name wasn't identified in the suit, was woken up by the officer's shouting. She confirmed that she lived at the house, and one of the officers, Jared Lindsay ordered her to get her ID and come to the door.

  • Common Dreams ☛ If Senators want to protect kids, they need to listen to human rights experts and fix their legislation. Otherwise they’re helping Big Tech.

    Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a high profile hearing discussing Big Tech companies’ failures related to child safety. Human rights nonprofit Fight for the Future issued the following statement on the hearing, which can be attributed to the group’s director, Evan Greer (she/her):

    " “Big Tech is harming kids. That’s not up for debate. We commend the parents and young people who are speaking up and demanding that lawmakers do something. Fight for the Future has worked for years to expose and address the harms of Big Tech monopolies and their surveillance capitalist business model. "

    " But unfortunately, today’s hearing shows once again that many Senators are actively helping Big Tech harm kids because they’re more interested in creating sound bites for TV than the actual work of legislating. "

  • VOA News ☛ UN: Taliban Dismiss 600 Female Afghan Workers Over Edict Violations

    The United Nations said Monday that the Taliban government in impoverished Afghanistan had recently forced hundreds of females out of their jobs for allegedly not adhering to Islamic law requirements imposed on women nationwide.

    The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, documented the job dismissals in its latest report on human rights, covering the last quarter of 2023 in a country where millions of people need humanitarian aid.

    “The de facto authorities continue to enforce and promulgate restrictions on women’s rights to work, education, and freedom of movement,” according to the report.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ Turkey: Lidl supplier accused of mistreating unionized staff

    For more than five months, workers at the agricultural firm Agrobay at Izmir in western Turkey have been taking to the streets. Many complain of inhumane working conditions — including imposed unpaid leave, bullying and even being denied the right to go to the toilet. Some say they were unfairly dismissed without receiving any compensation.

  • teleSUR ☛ Finnish Workers Carry Out Strikes in Defense of Their Rights

    A major demonstration took place at Helsinki's Senate Square, opposite the government building. According to police estimates, around 13,000 protesters attended. Previously, on Wednesday, the strike began to affect kindergartens.

    The reforms that have sparked the protests were announced in the program of the four-party coalition of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in June 2023, and have partially progressed to parliament.

  • RTL ☛ Finnish strikes over labour reform empty Helsinki

    About 300,000 people in a wide swathe of sectors were estimated to be taking part in the strike action, which began on Wednesday when day care workers walked off the job.

    Conservative Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has proposed changes to the country's labour market model which critics say would weaken workers' rights, including social benefit cuts and job security, and reduce unions' collective bargaining powers.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ ‘Nothing is happening’: digital radio roll-out stalls

    Digital Audio Broadcasting, or DAB, is a digital radio standard used in many countries around the world and is regarded as a direct replacement to the analogue FM dial.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • CBC ☛ Commercials may be here to stay on streamers like Amazon unless you open your wallet

    Ad-free entertainment used to be one of the big selling points of streaming services, but as more services including Amazon's Prime Video add commercials, experts say the glory days of advertisement-free video content are gone.

    That is, unless you open up your wallet to higher prices and additional monthly charges to avoid the advertisements that used to be banished to the realm of traditional, linear television.

  • Digital Music News ☛ SiriusXM Lost 445,000 Self-Pay Subscribers Throughout 2023

    The radio giant added 131,000 self-pay subscribers for its satellite radio offering in Q4, following drops across the first three quarters—losses of 96,000 (Q3), 132,000 (Q2), and 347,000 (Q1). SiriusXM lost 430,000 customers driven by that drop of 445,000 self-pay subscribers, while growing its paid promo users by 15,000 in Q4.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• The Register UK ☛ Mozilla slams Microsoft for using dark patterns to drive Windows users toward Edge

  Mozilla on Thursday accused Microsoft of forcing its Edge browser down the throats of Windows users through "dark patterns" – design elements geared to push people towards certain decisions.

  In a report [PDF] titled, "Over the Edge: How Microsoft's Design Tactics Compromise Free Browser Choice", the public benefit browser org argues that Windows users are encouraged to use Microsoft Edge and deterred from other options.

• Mozilla ☛ Over The Edge: How Microsoft’s Design Tactics Compromise Free Browser Choice [PDF]

  Coercive design restricts users from choosing options that are in their interests, making users worse off. Manipulative design subverts rational choice using covert influence, or exerts undue pressure on the user to do as the manipulator wants. Deceptive design gives users a false understanding, such as a flawed mental model of how a technology works. We can use the label ‘harmful design’ for any design pattern that falls into these three categories.

  In this report, two independent experts investigate Microsoft’s design practices across its core operating systems (Windows 10 and 11), web browser (Edge), and search engine (Bing). Examining these patterns first-hand, and referring to a harmful design taxonomy evolved over many years and supported by academic research, we find Microsoft repeatedly uses harmful design to influence users into using Edge.

• Copyrights

  • Techdirt ☛ Universal Music Group Pulls Songs From TikTok, Causing Chaos On The Platform

    In January, after a lot of back and forth with TikTok, Universal Music Group announced it would not be renewing its license with the platform for its catalog of music that users could use in their videos. UMG’s claimed reasoning for this was three-fold: TikTok wasn’t doing enough to combat deepfakes of the artists it represents, it wasn’t doing enough to combat copyright infringement on its platform generally, and the royalties it pays artists for their music wasn’t enough. These complaints are not uncommon from copyright holders to online platforms, of course. We could go into some detail as to why these complaints are, as TikTok’s response indicated, “self-serving.”

  • India Times ☛ Will AI mean the death of music, or herald a new era of creativity?

    Researchers at Queen Mary University of London, including Andrea Martonelli and Max Graf, are using novel AI tools to create "new virtual worlds" of music. They are exploring computational creativity and generative AI in a futuristic studio where music meets cutting-edge tech. The researchers are developing virtual instruments like "Netz", an augmented-reality headset that tracks gestures to create music, and the "HITar", an advanced guitar with AI sensors.

  • University of Michigan ☛ The public domain is more than just Mickey Mouse

    When works are officially added to the public domain, conversation about them lingers for a few days, but rarely persists for long. While it may appear largely irrelevant, the public domain is of great importance to the preservation of bygone cultures and the education of future generations. The songs about the struggles of love, the movies about historical eras and the books that inspired generations are all examples of what the public domain gives future generations access to. But as we move toward digital formats in lieu of physical works, much of the media we consume today is at risk of becoming lost long before it enters the public domain. Much of this risk stems from the fact that digital works can be removed forever with almost no effort. Failing to back up the drives these works exist on or accidentally deleting their files can result in their permanent deletion.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Lawsuit Targets Genshin Impact Hackers 'Akebi Group' & 'Crepe Team'

    Members of two hacking groups allegedly responsible for the development and sale of Genshin Impact cheating software are being sued in Canada's Federal Court. The statement of claim, filed by publisher Cognosphere's HoYoverse entity, focuses on 'Akebi Group' & 'Crepe Team' and currently identifies just one defendant by name. Copyright infringement allegations dominate, including circumvention of technical measures.

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Technology and Free Software

    • Valuing System Simplicity

      For the most part I liked the experience, but when I got around to installing Linux on my new PC a couple weeks ago I decided to go with Fedora Workstation instead of Silverblue. The two are nearly identical except for under the hood differences, so why did I switch?