Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Synthetic Spider Silk

  While spider silk proteins are something you can make in your garage, making useful drag line fibers has proved a daunting challenge. Now, a team of scientists from Japan and Hong Kong are closer to replicating artificial spider silk using microfluidics.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Nevada jury awards $130M to 5 people who had liver damage after drinking bottled water

    A Nevada jury has awarded about $130 million in damages in a lawsuit filed by five people who suffered liver damage after drinking bottled water marketed by a Las Vegas-based company before the product was recalled from store shelves in 2021.

  • Federal News Network ☛ With critical infrastructure being targeted, Biden admin considers next steps for water sector

    The Biden admin's push to issue cybersecurity regulations for critical infrastructure sectors continues to move forward, despite recent challenges.

  • Techdirt ☛ If Only Jim Jordan Hadn’t Cried Wolf So Often, We Could Tell If His Claims About The White House Pressuring Amazon Were Serious

    Over the last few days there have been a few stories making the rounds on right wing media sites, claiming that Rep. Jim Jordan had exposed the White House pressuring Amazon to remove books related to COVID disinformation. This is based on a thread Jordan posted to ExTwitter.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Illinois Wants to End Oversight of Developmental Disability Institutions

    Kaleigh Rogers was in crisis when she checked into a state-run institution on Illinois’ northern border two years ago. Rogers, who has cerebral palsy, had a mental health breakdown during the pandemic and was acting aggressively toward herself and others.

    Before COVID-19, she had been living in a small group home; she had been taking college classes online and enjoyed going out with friends, volunteering and going to church. But when her aggression escalated, she needed more medical help than her community setting could provide.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Silicon Angle ☛ FCC votes to ban AI-generated voices on robocalls [Ed: They conflate CG or voice synthesis with "AI"]

      The Federal Communications Commission today outlawed robocalls that use voices generated by artificial intelligence to crack down on deepfake technologies that may scam individuals and mislead voters.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Techdirt ☛ That Time Google Kinda, But Not Really, Accused People Searching For Techdirt Of Searching For CSAM

      Earlier this week I posted two examples of people falsely being told that a post or a search was deemed connected to child sexual abuse material. Earlier this week, I thought I had spotted another example, when someone on Bluesky alerted me that they had searched for “techdirt” and the results included a line saying “We think that your search might be associated with child sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse or viewing sexual imagery of children can lead to imprisonment and….”

    • Techdirt ☛ Axon Bets Big On Always-On Surveillance, Completes Acquisition Of ‘Real Time Crime Center’ Purveyor

      This would be the second time in recent months that a cop tech purveyor with a heavily checkered past has shelled out big bucks to expand the reach of its own tech, as well as expand the reach of existing police surveillance capabilities.

    • The Strategist ☛ Australian and US navies must better use their undersea surveillance systems to warn of looming threats

      During my nine years as a nuclear trained surface warfare officer in the US Navy, I qualified in integrated undersea surveillance systems (IUSS) and became lead trainer for my command.

• Defence/Aggression

  • BIA Net ☛ Cousin of the courthouse attack victim is one who disappeared in custody during 1980 coup

    Dilfiraz Karataş, who was targeted by bullets while passing by during the conflict in front of the İstanbul courthouse was the cousin of Nurettin Yedigöl, who was killed under torture during the military coup of September 12, 1980.

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar junta kills 6 internally displaced women and children

    A rights group accused the troops of using the victims as human shields and torturing them.

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar resistance fighters burned alive stokes outrage

    Video shows the two young men hung from a tree, then set on fire as they cry out in pain.

  • The Strategist ☛ Stabilisation of relationship with China see-saws after five-year icy age

    The five-year icy age between Australia and China has wound down. The leaders have met, and enough fitful warmth has returned to melt a few icicles.

  • Reason ☛ Hawaii's Supreme Court Insists There Is No Individual Right to Arms

    Rejecting a challenge to the state's strict gun laws, the court is openly contemptuous of Second Amendment precedents.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India’s Red Sea naval rescues show country wants to be seen as security provider: Analysts

    India has reacted quickly to the crisis boosting its presence, deploying 10 warships in the north and central Arabian Sea

  • RFERL ☛ Meta Bans Accounts Of Iran's Supreme Leader, Likely For Pro-Hamas Posts

    Meta has removed accounts run by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Instagram and Facebook (Farcebook) for posts in support of the Palestinian group Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

  • New York Times ☛ Middle East Crisis : Airstrikes Hit Packed City in Southern Gaza as Israel Plans Advance

    The strikes heightened fears among the more than a million Palestinians crowded into Rafah, which lies along a closed Egyptian border and which Israel’s leader has said will be the military’s next focus.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Strikes Rafah as Negotiators Try to Revive Gaza Cease-Fire Talks

    A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that the Israeli military was preparing to move into Rafah, airstrikes there killed and wounded multiple people.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US conducts more strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

    The U.S. Central Command forces on Thursday conducted seven "self-defense" strikes against four Houthi unmanned surface vessels and seven mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that were prepared to be launched against ships in the Red Sea, the U.S. military said.

  • teleSUR ☛ Drone Strike Pushes Iraq to End US-Led Coalition Mission

    The U.S. drone bombarded a sport utility vehicle of paramilitary Hashd Shaabi Forces in Bagdad.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Active Shooter Training: What Your State Requires for Schools and Law Enforcement

    After a teenage gunman killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in 2018, Texas lawmakers mandated that all school police officers receive training to better prepare them for the possibility of confronting a mass shooter. The law, which required that such training occur only once, didn’t apply to thousands of state and local law enforcement officers who did not work in schools.

  • Federal News Network ☛ DoD has ‘a lot of work to do’ to fix military housing

    Deteriorating barracks facilities are part of a larger, systemic military housing issue plaguing DoD year after year.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Russian Post suspends ground delivery to 23 countries — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian emergency services cite ‘planned’ weapons test after explosion alarms Udmurtia residents — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian authorities order sex-positive project Kinky Party to stop holding events — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia sees 100 POWs returned to each side — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Zaluzhnyi left his mark on modern Ukrainian history’ How Ukrainian officials reacted to Zelensky’s dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Zelensky appoints Oleksandr Syrskyi as new Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, replacing Valerii Zaluzhnyi — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ At least five people injured in attack on Russian border village — Meduza

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • JURIST ☛ DOJ reveals evidence Biden willfully retained classified information, declines to prosecute

    The US Department of Justice has found evidence that President Joe Biden willfully retained classified materials pertaining to military, intelligence, and national security matters after having served as vice president under Barack Obama, but has declined to prosecute, according to a report released Thursday.

• Environment

  • New York Times ☛ Michael Mann Awarded $1 Million in Defamation Lawsuit

    The researcher had sued two writers for libel and slander over comments about his work. The jury awarded him damages of more than $1 million.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • European Commission ☛ Speech by President von der Leyen at the roundtable meeting on green hydrogen

      Thank you very much, Mr President, for inviting us here. The last time the three of us met was at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, three months ago.

    • Vice Media Group ☛ How Tech Firms Made a Crypto-Boosting Book an NYT Best Seller by Gaming the System

      Motherboard found that firms linked to a16z and general partner Chris Dixon bought numerous copies of his new book promoting cryptocurrencies, which became an NYT Best Seller.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Global LNG markets are transforming. It’s an opportunity to enhance energy security.

      Climate change and technology are decreasing European natural gas demand in the winter, at the same time as the “equatorialization” of LNG demand is changing world markets.

    • Latvia ☛ Few Latvians are planning to buy electric cars yet

      A survey carried out by an insurance company suggests the overwhelming majority of Latvians will wait more than 5 years before considering the purchase of an electric car.

    • DeSmog ☛ Revealed: The Climate Denial Network Behind ‘Classic Astroturf’ Farmers’ Campaign

      A network of climate science deniers has been accused of “hijacking” rural concerns over a new social media campaign “to save the farming industry”. 

      ‘No Farmers, No Food’ has gained over 50,000 followers on X in the fortnight since its launch, which was framed as a response to the widespread farmers’ protests sweeping across Europe.

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ ‘Zombie Offices’ Spell Trouble for Some Banks

    Bank tremors serve as a reminder: Just because a crisis hasn’t hit immediately doesn’t mean commercial real estate pain isn’t coming.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • RFERL ☛ Voting-Counting Under Way After Pakistani Parliamentary Elections Marred By Violence

    Vote counting was under way on February 8 following elections in Pakistan that took place amid worsening economic conditions and an upsurge of violence that prompted authorities to deploy thousands of extra security forces across the country and shut down mobile-phone networks in border areas.

  • ACLU ☛ Senate Rejects Deal Threatening Protections for Asylum Seekers

    The Senate voted on Wednesday against a bill that would have been the first major overhaul of asylum and immigration law in a generation — and would have been a disastrous retreat from basic principles of fairness. As our elected leaders continue to debate immigration reforms, they must instead advance humane and sensible solutions that help manage the border without compromising our nation’s values and the safety of people fleeing danger.

    Although branded as a compromise bipartisan “border security” package, this bill would have been a major rewrite of our nation’s long-standing asylum laws. To make matters worse, these changes were attached to a supplemental funding bill that also included a massive investment in failed and punitive immigration enforcement policies, such as funding to finish former President Trump’s border wall, an expansion of nationwide immigration detention, and a significant increase in surveillance targeting immigrant families. Although ostensibly dead, Senate Republicans are reportedly trying again to push for another vote on this immigration package as an amendment to foreign aid, plus additional extremist policies that would remove protections from unaccompanied children.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Modi's BJP to win India's 2024 polls, seat share may fall: Survey

    Voters continue to see Mr Modi as a popular nationalist leader, the survey found.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Cloudbooklet ☛ Philadelphia Sheriff Fake Hey Hi (AI) Stories Taken Down

      Discover the recent news about Philadelphia Sheriff Fake Hey Hi (AI) Stories, where Sheriff's team used Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot to create generate fake news articles on her campaign website.

    • New York Times ☛ Google Joins Effort to Help Spot Content Made With A.I.

      The tech company’s plan is similar to one announced two days earlier by Meta, another Silicon Valley giant.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai asked senior staff to interview him on US lobbying trip, court hears

    The founder of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily Jimmy Lai asked senior staff to interview him about a Washington trip he made in 2019 to lobby US politicians, a former publisher at the paper has testified against her former employer in his national security trial.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Revealed: Proposal to support advertising on Apple devices [Ed: They are asking for new masters, more submissive a state - i.e. a mistake for reporters]

    Private Ad Measurement is a proposal to track online ad performance on Apple devices.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Life after Google: Should news industry embrace Amazon and Microsoft? [Ed: Becoming slaves of abusive coporations is always a losing strategy]

    Ricky Sutton on the prospects for working with tech giants in the age of generative AI.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • University of Michigan ☛ UMich RAs plan to vote to unionize for higher pay, legal harassment protections

    Resident Advisors at the University of Michigan plan to unionize for higher pay stipends for Resstaff Coordinators, legal harassment protections and free laundry for all residents. According to a resolution approved by the U-M Board of Regents in June 2020, RAs will be recognized as a labor union if the majority of employees support unionizing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia's top court declares several Islamic laws in Kelantan state unconstitutional

    The Federal Court on Feb 9 declared 16 laws in Kelantan's syariah criminal code "void and invalid".

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Pro-Beijing groups protest US official’s meeting with Hong Kong activists wanted under security law

    Pro-Beijing groups have staged a protest at the US consulate in Hong Kong against a senior American official’s meeting in Washington with four activists wanted by the city’s national security police.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong man convicted of carrying unlicensed walkie-talkie after prosecutors secure review of acquittal

    A 22-year-old man has been found guilty of carrying an unlicensed walkie-talkie while on the way to report an event linked to Hong Kong’s National Security Education Day as a part-time reporter for RTHK in 2021.

  • YLE ☛ Next week's political strikes to hit shops, industries, energy and transport

    Thousands of workers across many sectors are scheduled to take part in the strikes.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Techdirt ☛ Disney, Hulu Follow Netflix In Password Sharing Crackdown As Streaming Enshittification Accelerates

    So we’ve noted more than once that as the streaming sector is saturated and new user growth slows, streaming giants will follow on a fairly predictable path that got their predecessors (cable TV companies) in trouble. Namely, shifting away from innovation and disruption and consumer welfare, and toward nickel-and-diming customers in a bid to give Wall Street improved quarterly returns at any cost.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Düsseldorf court hands defective chip maker Intel a sales ban in R2 Semiconductor chip dispute

    R2 Semiconductor and defective chip maker Intel are currently engaged in a battle over on-chip voltage regulators, which are features of the latter company’s portfolio of mobile phones, laptops and server-processor chips.

  • JUVE ☛ Teva win in Ireland evens playing field with Bristol-Myers Squibb

    The Irish High Court has invalidated a Bristol-Myers Squibb patent, EP (IE) 14 27 415, covering the blood-thinning drug apixaban for insufficiency and obviousness. The decision is just one amid an ongoing battle with generic drug company, Teva. EP 415 covers “compounds containing lactam and their derivatives as factor Xa inhibitors”.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Federal Circuit Reverses PTAB on Printed Publication Status of Operating Manuals

    It is interesting that we continue to have cases fighting over what counts as a “printed publication” under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

    In Weber, Inc. v. Provisur Technologies, Inc., Nos. 2022-1751, 2022-1813 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 8, 2024), the PTAB sided with the patentee, but on appeal the Federal Circuit reversed — finding that Weber’s food slicer operating manuals was a printed publication.  The case shows that documents with quite limited distribution, such as operating manuals sent to ~10 customers, may still meet the public accessibility standard for prior art depending on the circumstances of disclosure and expectations around further dissemination.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Sustains eBay's Section 2(d) Opposition to AFREBAY & Design for Advertising and Payment Processing Services

    The Board sustained eBay's opposition to registration of the mark shown first below, for advertising and payment processing services, finding confusion likely with the registered and well-known mark EBAY in standard character form and the stylized version shown second below, for legally identical services. Applicant's evidence of third-party use and registration of marks containing the word "bay" failed to make a dent in the strength of the EBAY marks. This summary will attempt to hit the high points of the 61-page opinion. eBay Inc. v. Afrebay, Inc., Opposition No. 91266958 (January 29, 2024) [Not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christopher C. Larkin).

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • 🔤SpellBinding — FGLNOUS Wordo: SHEEP

    • Winter With a Reminder It's Not Done

      Real weird weather this year. Partially explainable by El Nino, but I've had some other El Nino years with weird temperatures (10 degrees at Christmas, 15 in late March) and nothing's felt quite as weird as this, even though the last week and a half has only been between maybe 0 and 5 degrees. But it's the time of year: late January, early February. This time of year the weather is always at its worst. -20 is normal. Often we're in the midst of a cold snap, -30 or colder, for weeks.

  • Politics and World Events

    • We don't have any power

      Hey.

      'sighs'

      Stuff is so messed up.

      But today I want to really talk about governments so anyone who doesn't want to talk politics, no hard feelings feel free to just close this.

      I'm going to be voting for the first time this year in my countries General Elections (India) and I've been catching up on the politics. The more I learn the more I am disheartened. No one is ideal, I expected that much, but people somehow seem to be fine with the situation? They cling to their flawed leaders so tightly that no amount of rational criticism seems to faze them. And I'm not even talking about people I don't know, my dad - a person I consider to be very rational is like this too.

  • Technology and Free Software

    • Ideology and free speech, a dilemma, a collision, a paradox...

      The problem i see with Ideology based hangouts is that ideologies tend to cause the very thing they tend to fight against.

      For instance i see places on the web where they claim to be against discrimination or racism, that in itself is all good, yet by claiming this and then set very hard boundaries to ENFORCE the ideology they happen to discriminate everyone who fails to slavishly submit to the strict rules they set out. And thereby break all the rules of freedom of speech.

      This then leads to all kinds of hopeless bullshit, and creates a kind of ideology based antisemetic situation that quickly goes over the edge, where the ideologist become the very discriminators they claim to fight against.

    • Steam Next Fest - Halfway Through

      And now we're at day four of Steam Next Fest. Another round of game demos to share my impression of!

    • Thinking about the Gibberish app

      A while ago, I talked about the defunct mail app “Tempo” as an interesting app to look at. I like looking at apps even though they’re proprietary and tied to a proprietary platform and I’d never use them myself, just for inspiration or food for thought and discussion.

      Tempo was nothing new in my mind, but very new in actual practice and implementation. It was GTD principles finally applied to a mail app design. Many of design decisions that were just right; batching some senders while giving you immediate access to an allowlist, having a todo list one of the main tabs, and so on.

      Now here we have Gibberish, another interesting UI to study. Again, with all due respect to the implementer, it’s not a platform I’d wanna be on and, like Tempo, it costs a pretty penny, but it brings some UI innovations: it looks like a cozy chat window with the now traditional colored bubbles.

    • sometimes I feel like I'm already failing at this

      And I have to remind myself that there's no algorithm here, and there's no slavering digital sharks ready to tear the least little word apart, and -- most importantly -- that this site is for /me/, and I can post up as much or as little as I care to, at whatever speed I care to.

    • non-rambling updates so far

      Well, I've got three microfictions and two microgames up on the pages off the home page, a home intro blurb for zines (but no zine page or uploads yet), some gemlog babbling and rss feed links + my fedi account.