Leftovers

• The Age AU ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] Southern Cross Station’s ‘user experience’ is an epic fail – here’s how to fix it

• Ruben Schade ☛ Conflicting messaging around Valentine’s Day

  Yesterday means different things to different people:

  A cynical, dastardly ploy by confectionery and greeting card companies to get you to associate joy and affection with their consumable stuff.

  A guilt trip from family or society that your lifestyle don’t conform to a specific or accepted norm.

  A fun day to express feelings for people you care about.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ Luxonis OAK Thermal – A PoE thermal camera with Myriad X Hey Hi (AI) accelerator, waterproof M12 and M8 connectors

    Luxonis has announced its first thermal camera with the OAK Thermal (OAK-T) based on the company’s OAK-SoM Pro Hey Hi (AI) module featuring an defective chip maker Intel Movidius Myriad X, and two waterproof ports with an M12 PoE/Ethernet connector and an M8 auxiliary connector.

  • CNX Software ☛ The M1 device is a Flipper Zero alternative with a faster STM32H5 microcontroller and Wi-Fi connectivity (Crowdfunding)

    The M1 is a multitool device that bundles several hacking and penetration tools in a package that looks like a retro-gaming console and could be viewed as a Flipper Zero alternative with a more powerful STMicro STM32H5 Cortex-M33 high-performance MCU featuring Arm TrustZone hardware-based security for additional protection for sensitive data.

  • Hackaday ☛ Brushless ESC Becomes Dual-Motor Brushed ESC With A Few Changes

    What is a brushless ESC, really? Well, generally, it’s usually a microcontroller with a whole lot of power transistors hanging off it to drive three phases of brushless motor coils. [Frank Zhao] realised that with a little reprogramming, you could simply use a brushless ESC to independently run two brushed motors. Thus, he whipped up a custom firmware for various AM32-compatible ESCs to do just that.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • University of Michigan ☛ Internet safety requires more than a Senate hearing

    “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO, in the most recent congressional hearing on online child safety. Disingenuous as these words may be, they are more than just an apology from the tech mogul.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Google, META to blame for mental health crisis, NYC mayor says

    New York City is suing Silicon Valley tech giants like Meta and Surveillance Giant Google for fueling a youth mental health crisis via social control media apps, citing the financial burden of counseling affected teens.

  • RFA ☛ Volkswagen reviews Xinjiang operations as abuse pressure mounts

    New evidence directly implicates the auto giant in Uyghur forced labor use, aiding surveillance, indoctrination.

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2024-02-09 [Older] Three Dems Betray Social Security, Medicare

  • 2024-02-12 [Older] Blood Clots the Media Barely Talks About

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] Health insurers still asking women to submit nude photos for breast reconstruction

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • JURIST ☛ Canada RCMP officer charged with security breach tied to Rwanda espionage activities

      An Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer has been charged for his alleged role in a foreign interference operation, according to a RCMP media released on Tuesday. Constable Eli Ndatuje faces charges of breach of trust, unauthorized computer use and breaching security safeguards under the Security of Information Act.

    • Defence Web ☛ Gauteng Government receives CCTV camera access to fight crime

      Efforts to fight crime in Gauteng have received a much-needed boost through a partnership with Vuma Cam, which will allow the province to have access to an additional 6 000 CCTV cameras to keep an eye on the province’s streets.

    • EDRI ☛ GDPR enforcement: European Parliament must guarantee procedural rights to ensure people’s data protection

      While it is a step forward in better enforcing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the European Parliament’s current GDPR Procedural Harmonisation Regulation text is still not enough to safeguard the fundamental rights of people. Today, February 15, the text was approved in the Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), laying out the blueprints for enhanced procedures for cross-border GDPR complaints and ex-officio investigations.

    • Techdirt ☛ Wyden: Data Broker Used Abortion Clinic Visitor Location Data To Help Send Targeted Misinformation To Vulnerable Women

      Every few weeks for the last 20 years there’s been a massive scandal involving some company, telecom, data broker, or app maker over-collecting your detailed personal location data, failing to secure it, then selling access to that information to any nitwit with a nickel. And despite the added risks this creates in the post-Roe authoritarian era, Congress refuses to pass a real privacy law or rein in reckless data brokers.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Head of Hong Kong’s anti-graft body backs new security law, saying ‘stability is the foundation of a clean society’

    The head of Hong Kong’s anti-corruption body has given the legislation of a new, homegrown security law his full support, saying “stability is the foundation of a clean society.”

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ No pressure on Hong Kong civil servants from proposed domestic security law, official says

    Hong Kong government employees will face no additional pressure under a proposed security law as they have always been subject to confidentiality requirements, the city’s civil service chief has said.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong man accused of manslaughter, 12 other charges over alleged killing, date rape and theft

    A 28-year-old Hong Kong man has been charged with manslaughter and 12 other offences over allegedly drugging six men and killing one at a hotel last year. Au Chi-ken, a marketing officer, appeared at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday.

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-10 [Older] Gallagher Says He Won't Run for Congress Again After Refusing to Impeach Homeland Security Chief

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-10 [Older] White House Downplays Biden, National Security Aide's Blunt Comments on Israel

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-11 [Older] White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby Gets Expanded Role in Biden Administration

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-11 [Older] Biden National Security Aide John Kirby Gets Expanded Role

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] Poland's Tusk Heads to Paris, Berlin as Security Concerns, Trump Loom Large

• Environment

  • Science Alert ☛ Huge Surveillance Giant Google Project to Unmask Worst Methane Polluters Now Ready

    For the whole world to see.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Climate change education: Are schools passing the test?

  • HRW ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Confronting the Climate Crisis Can Also Advance Socio-Economic Rights

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-14 [Older] UN Chief Warns Climate Chaos and Food Crises Threaten Global Peace: 'Empty Bellies Fuel Unrest'

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-13 [Older] Climate protesters in Italy target Botticelli painting

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Climate Activists Dump Pink Powder on Case Containing US Constitution

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Barry Kauler ☛ Trike front suspension using tie-rods

      I'm always on the look-out for ideas for simple construction of front suspension for a recumbent tadpole trike.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-02-09 [Older] Europe's EV makers grapple with sluggish sales, China shock

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • International Business Times ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Amazon Rainforest Could Reach Tipping Point By 2050 Due To Deforestation, Drought And Fires

    • International Business Times ☛ 2024-02-09 [Older] Amazon Delivery Driver Caught Trying To Steal Customer's Dog

• Finance

  • Scheerpost ☛ 2024-02-14 [Older] Economic Solutions: How to Go From Financialized Neoliberalism to a Productive, Sustainable Economy

  • The Hill ☛ Concerned about losing your job? These fields tend to see fewer layoffs, experts say

    Since the start of the year, thousands of people have been laid off, especially in the tech industry.

    Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, announced plans to lay off more than 500 employees earlier this month. Microsoft, eBay, YouTube, and Google rolled out layoffs in January. Even part of NASA had to lay off hundreds of employees due to congressional budget gridlock.

    It’s hard not to wonder whether you’ll find yourself laid off. A recent survey by Glassdoor found that only 45.6% of workers have a positive six-month business outlook for their employer, marking the lowest level ever reported since the job and recruiting site began tracking such data in 2016.

    Your chances of being laid off could change, depending on the field you’re in. Take the tech industry, for example. As interest rates remain high, and the dollar is stronger, these companies can struggle, Julia Pollak, chief economist for ZipRecruiter told Nexstar.

  • The Age AU ☛ 2024-02-16 [Older] The Goldman Sachs insider trader who worked at a supermarket

  • The Age AU ☛ 2024-02-14 [Older] Economic headwinds hamper AMP’s banking business

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-02-13 [Older] Will Extended Sanctions and Banking Restrictions Force Myanmar’s Junta to Change Course?

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-13 [Older] IRS Sues FDIC Over Silicon Valley Bank's $1.4 Billion Tax Debt

  • TruthOut ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] A Growing Number of Economists Are Joining the Fight to Rein In the Big Banks

  • Project Censored ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] It’s Not What It Seems: French Farmers Protest Outside of Political Ideologies & Astroturfing in Alaska

  • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] Amazon’s 'Buy Box' Allegedly Tricks You Into Paying More, Lawsuit Claims

  • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-13 [Older] Amazon Is Getting Sued Over Its Prime Video Fee Hike

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-02-09 [Older] Elon Musk Is Going to Make People Pay $8 If They Want to Call Him

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] Judge Orders Elon Musk to Testify in SEC Probe of His $44 Billion Twitter Takeover in 2022

  • Engadget ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] Court orders Elon Musk to testify in the SEC’s investigation of his Twitter takeover

  • International Business Times ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] A Private Jet Tracking Account Ignited Elon Musk's Twitter Bid, Says New Book

  • International Business Times ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Ex-Twitter Engineer Blows The Whistle On Elon Musk's Chaotic Reign

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • France24 ☛ Google to launch anti-misinformation campaign ahead of EU parliamentary elections

      Google is preparing to launch an anti-misinformation campaign across five countries in the European Union (EU), the company told Reuters ahead of the bloc's parliamentary elections and tougher new rules tackling online content.

    • The Conversation ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] Disinformation threatens global elections – here’s how to fight back

    • The Age AU ☛ 2024-02-11 [Older] Facebook is 20. It still hasn’t grown up

    • Engadget ☛ 2024-02-14 [Older] Meta takes down Chinese Facebook accounts posing as US military families

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Vox ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] The Supreme Court will decide if the government can seize control of YouTube and Twitter

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] Michigan lawmaker sanctioned over ‘racist, hateful and bigoted speech’

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-02-15 [Older] The Pentagon Has Decided to Battle Chinese Film Censorship

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ UN must amend cybercrime treaty draft to uphold human rights protections: NGO coalition

    A coalition of organizations issued an open letter on Wednesday to the Chair of the UN’s Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime, emphasizing “critical flaws” in the latest draft of the UN Cybercrime Convention—the so-called Zero Draft—and urging significant amendments.

  • EDRI ☛ Digital rights virtual law clinic: litigation application

    The first DFF digital rights virtual drop-in law clinic is taking place in March and April 2024. The clinic will host sixteen sessions during which you will have the opportunity to interact with digital rights strategic litigation experts from across Europe.

  • Tedium ☛ The Web App Switcheroo

    In its quest to do as little as possible to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, Fashion Company Apple randomly kneecaps web apps. Also: Am I sending this newsletter to fake people?

  • HRW ☛ 2024-02-08 [Older] India: Laws Misused to Crack Down on Peaceful Dissent

  • International Business Times ☛ 2024-02-13 [Older] UK Care Firm Gloriavd Accused of Exploitative Visa Charges for Workers from Africa

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• US News And World Report ☛ 2024-02-13 [Older] US Judge Sets October 2026 Trial for FTC Antitrust Suit Against Amazon

• Patents

  • 2024-02-12 [Older] USPTO Issues Guidance about Inventorship of AI-assisted Inventions

  • 2024-02-08 [Older] United Therapeutics Corp. v. Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2023)

• Copyrights

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Audio easter eggs in driver CDs

    The original Yellow Book standard included a provision for CDs to hold computer data and traditional PCM audio on the same disc. The industry seemed to have coalesced on the term Mixed Mode CD, though the original standard didn’t call them that. Wikipedia also describes them as enhanced CDs.

  • IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-09 [Older] IPKat event announcement: (Re-)discovering the copyright basics – Originality after THJ v Sheridan

  • IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-12 [Older] Cloudflare liable for copyright infringement by providing CDN services but not for DNS resolver services

  • Engadget ☛ 2024-02-14 [Older] Sarah Silverman’s copyright infringement suit against OpenAI will advance in pared-down form

  • IP Kat ☛ 2024-02-13 [Older] [Guest Post] Copyright as movable property: Constitutional issues with Nigeria’s Copyright Act 2022