Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ You don’t need to be a professional to provide feedback

  Recently I had a discussion with a friend who’s art was stolen by a generative Hey Hi (AI) user, and regurgitated onto online stores. She said it hurt, but that she wasn’t “qualified to comment”, given her lack of IT education and experience. I respected her caution; can you imagine if everyone admitted their ignorance? Many politicians, journalists, and managers would be out a job!

  But I disagree with her premise for a simple reason. An artist is a stakeholder (can you tell I’ve been writing tenders and docs at work again)? Stakeholders are integral to the success of any system, and their feedback is vital to evaluating its performance, impact, and areas for improvement. A layperson’s comments provide badly needed context, and serve as a reality check. I know from my own experience that IT engineers and talking heads are easily blinkered by complexity and the shiny, and can miss the forest for the trees. We all know of examples.

• New York Times ☛ Ship Crash Collapses Part of Bridge in China, Killing at Least 2

  Five vehicles plummeted from the crossing, part of which collapsed, in the southern city of Guangzhou, the authorities said.

• The Straits Times ☛ 2 die, 3 missing after ship hits Lixinsha Bridge near China’s Guangzhou, sending cars into water

  Rescue efforts are under way.

• YLE ☛ Lapland hostel fire started outside, investigators say

  Two people died and one person is still missing following the blaze at the 36-bed Silver Fox hostel in Äkäslompolo, Finnish Lapland, last week.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong gov’t vows to investigate after 2 construction workers die following bamboo scaffolding collapse

  Two construction workers have died and three have been injured after a section of bamboo scaffolding collapsed on a construction site in Kai Tak. The scaffolding, which was approximately 15 metres tall by eight metres long, collapsed from the external wall of a new residential building on Tuesday afternoon, Ming Pao reported.

• New Yorker ☛ Facebook Marketplace Through the Ages

  Free. Wooden horse. Used, allegorical.

• LRT ☛ Lithuanian police looking for missing teenage girl

  On Monday, 13-year-old Meda Stankevičiūtė went missing in Vilnius. Her relatives first reported it on Facebook. By Wednesday morning, the teenager has not been found yet, but the police urge the public to not draw parallels with the recent kidnapping case in Kaunas.

• New York Times ☛ Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Are Breaking Up With China

  Under intensifying scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, top firms have pulled back from investing in Chinese start-ups.

• Federal News Network ☛ The Bureau of Prisons and the challenges going into 2024

  The BOP has huge responsibilities in the care and feeding of over 150,000 prisoners in its care and over 36,000 staff. It has an $8.7 billion annual budget and houses some of the most infamous criminals in the United States.

• Federal News Network ☛ Contractors on edge because of Pentagon’s proposed buying rules

  Contractors are wary of the latest proposed rule giving DoD access to their IT systems. It is part of an effort to improve cybersecurity with incident reporting and information sharing. Another rule would impose new requirements on contractors unclassified systems.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Moon Landing: How to Watch and What to Know About the Odysseus Mission

    If all goes as planned, Odysseus, a private spacecraft, will touch down on the lunar surface on Thursday. It will be the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years.

  • France24 ☛ Scientists crack mystery of how baleen whales sing underwater

    Whales sing loud enough that their songs travel through the ocean, but knowing the mechanics behind that has been a mystery. Scientists now think they have an idea, and it's something not seen in other animals: a specialized voice box.

  • Science Alert ☛ New Data Storage in 3D Using Light Could Hold a Million Movies On a Single Disc

    Smaller, greener data centers?

  • Science Alert ☛ The Decimal Point Is at Least 150 Years Older Than We Thought

    But it looks so young!

  • Science Alert ☛ The Mysterious Case of The Youngest Person Ever Diagnosed With Alzheimer's

    There's so much we still don't understand.

  • Science Alert ☛ Watch Live: US Spacecraft Odysseus Is Set To Land on The Moon!

    Making history.

  • Science Alert ☛ Microplastics Invade Ancient Rock, And That's a Big Problem For Age Markers

    Pollution seeps far deeper than we thought.

  • Science Alert ☛ Space Could Pose an Unexpected Threat to Our Gut Microbiome, Scientists Discover

    A surprising hidden risk.

  • Science Alert ☛ Bizarre 2,000-Year-Old Bronze Hand Found Covered in Mysterious Writing

  • Science Alert ☛ ADHD Traits May Have Evolved to Provide Foraging Advantages, Study Says

    Could modern 'negatives' be largely circumstantial?

  • Federal News Network ☛ Science gives a boost to identifying long-lost military members

    DNA has long been used to identify human remains. Such is the case at the identification lab operated by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Now some new scientific methods have emerged called next-gen sequencing.

• Hardware

  • Reason ☛ Biden Pours Out Another $6.5 Billion for the CHIPS Act's Costly Protectionism [Ed: Bailouts for the rich, running up the debt ahead of the election]

    It's part of the government's expensive public-private partnership meant to address concerns over a reliance on foreign countries, like China, for semiconductors.

  • Hackaday ☛ Power Tool Packs Make A Portable Powerhouse

    The revolution in portable and cordless appliances has meant that we now own far fewer mains-powered gadgets than we might once have done, but it hasn’t entirely banished the old AC outlet from our lives. Particularly when away from a mains supply it can be especially annoying, but now instead of a generator there’s the option of an inverter. [Thijs Koppen] has made a very neat all-in-one mains power station in a plastic flight case using the ubiquitous and handy standardized Makita power tool packs.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger: I hope to build chips for Lisa Su and AMD

    Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told us he is willing to build chips for anyone, including Lisa Su of AMD.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Pieces of 8: BMCs

    Baseband management controllers are are what separate desktops (and even some billing themselves as workstations) from proper servers.

  • Hackaday ☛ Spectrum Analyzer Buyer’s Guide

    Having a scope in a home lab used to be a real luxury, but these days, its fairly common for the home gamer to have a sophisticated storage scope (or two) hanging around. Dedicated spectrum analyzers are a bit less common, but they have also dropped in price while growing in capabilities. Want to buy your very own spectrum analyzer? [Kiss Analog] has a buyer’s guide for what to consider.

  • Hackaday ☛ Rebuilding A $700k Refrigerator

    When cleaning out basements, garages, or storage units we often come across things long forgotten. Old clothes, toys, maybe a piece of exercise equipment, or even an old piece of furniture. [Ben] and [Hugh] were in a similar situation cleaning out an unused lab at the University of California Santa Barbara and happened upon an old refrigerator. This wasn’t just a mini fridge left over from a college dorm, though. This is a dilution refrigerator which is capable of cooling things down to near absolute zero, and these scientists are trying to get it to its former working state.

  • Hackaday ☛ Turing Complete Origami

    Origami can be an interesting starting point for a project, but we weren’t expecting [Thomas C. Hull] and [Inna Zakharevich]’s Turing complete origami computer.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Is your defective chip maker Intel Core i9-13900K crashing in games? Your motherboard BIOS settings may be to blame — other high-end defective chip maker Intel CPUs also affected

    Gamers and game developers are taking note of crashes on high-end defective chip maker Intel CPUs, and we think we have the answer. Multiple answers, even. Power, current, voltage, and clock speeds are all potential factors.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Pregnant Indian woman dies after husband refuses to take her to hospital

    The man, who claimed home birth was possible with the help of YouTube videos, has been arrested.

  • New York Times ☛ Alabama Says Embryos in a Lab Are Children. What Are the Implications?

    A ruling by the state’s Supreme Court could change common practices at fertility clinics in the state and possibly nationwide.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ Days after Alabama’s Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children, one facility pauses IVF treatment

    The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system is pausing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment following an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that found frozen embryos are children, the health system said in a statement to CNN.

  • New York Times ☛ University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System Pauses IVF Procedures After Ruling

    The U.A.B. system said it was worried about potential criminal prosecutions after Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children.

  • Stanford University ☛ The cocoa craze: Experts spill the beans on the science of chocolate

    From potential health supplement to quintessential Valentine's Day gift, what makes chocolate so special? Stanford researchers explain the science and economics behind the sweet treat.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ Heart health luncheon series seeks to inform students on nutrition and longevity

    This year one of the Go Red for Women events has been converted into the Heart Health for All Luncheon.

  • Federal News Network ☛ VHA tells leaders to rescind job offers only as a ‘last resort’ to manage size of health care workforce

    The Veterans Health Administration, in recent memos, put a temporary pause on pulling back job offers, then told leadership and HR officials to only rescind job offers as an “action of last resort.”

  • Latvia ☛ Hospital saga continues: building documents reported missing

    Taking possession of the construction object, experts at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (PSKUS) have identified missing construction documentation, PSKUS said on February 22.

  • Latvia ☛ Hospital takes over site from builders in dramatic standoff

    Under the supervision of police, a takeover of the construction site of Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital began on Wednesday, February 21.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia's emergency team shows off new cars

    The State Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) has received 47 new vehicles specially designed for the team to work in pairs. Previously, teams mostly had three people. The reduction aims to make the teams quicker and more accessible, Latvian Radio reported on February 21.

  • CS Monitor ☛ South Korea needs more doctors. So why are 8,000 trainees striking?

    Government plans to increase medical school admissions will make an already cut-throat industry even more competitive, doctors said. Trainees usually work 80 to 100 hours, five days a week, or up to 20 hours a day.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea hospitals on red alert as doctors ramp up protests

    Emergency departments at all but one of South Korea's biggest hospitals were on red alert on Thursday as trainee doctors vowed to stay off the job in protest at government plans to increase medical school admissions to boost the healthcare sector.

  • YLE ☛ Tap water safe again in Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa

    Residents of some parts of the capital region were advised to boil their water earlier this week.

  • YLE ☛ THL: Half of children not receiving comprehensive health checks

    The checks are intended to monitor and assess a child's physical, mental and social growth and development at regular intervals.

  • Techdirt ☛ CBP’s Top Doctor Tried To Obtain ‘Fentanyl Lollipops’ For ‘Pain Management’ In Case Of A Helicopter Crash

    Man. I have seen some shit since taking up a regular post at this fine website. I have had my mind blown with an alarming frequency. I have been sent into waves of mocking laughter more times than anyone writing for a respected website should admit. I have, in other words, been ruined by the internet.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Yahoo News ☛ Block to cut 112 jobs in March as economic uncertainty bites

    Jack Dorsey-led Block Inc plans to cut 112 jobs on March 30, the fintech said in a legally mandated notice, as part of its previously disclosed plans to trim headcount and reduce costs, sending shares up over 3% in early trade on Thursday.

    The notice was issued under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act which requires employers to provide a 60-day notice before layoffs, according to the Department of Labor & Workforce Development website.

  • Rivian Layoffs 2024: What to Know About the Latest RIVN Job Cuts

    Rivian RIVN layoffs are coming to the electric vehicle (EV) company’s salaried staff as it looks to reduce jobs amid economic uncertainty.

    During Rivian’s earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2023, the company noted it will reduce its salaried staff by 10%. The company attributes this to “geopolitical uncertainties and pressures,” with high interest rates being the main factor behind its decision.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Rivian shares tumble 15% amid job cuts and wider quarterly loss

    Shares in Rivian Automotive Inc. fell more than 15% in late trading today after the electric car maker announced job cuts, posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and forecasted flat production numbers in the year ahead amid high interest rates and other economic pressures.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • LRT ☛ Hundreds fall victim to online ‘romance scams’ in Lithuania

      Hundreds of people in Lithuania have been scammed by online fraudsters pretending to engage in romantic exchanges, making transfers totalling more than a million euros, according to estimates by commercial banks. Some of the transactions were stopped.

    • YLE ☛ Widespread disruption to card payments over

      Some transactions were delayed or rejected on Tuesday, the service provider said.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Associated Press ☛ Reddit strikes $60M deal allowing Google to train AI models on its posts, unveils IPO plans | AP News

      The deal will allow the search giant to use posts from the online discussion site for training its artificial intelligence models and to improve products such as online search.

    • Techdirt ☛ European Human Rights Courts Rules That Encryption Backdoors Are Illegal Under European Law

      Well… this is an unexpected (and fun!) turn of events. The EU Commission has spent most of the last couple of years trying to talk EU members into voting in favor of weakened encryption, if not actual encryption backdoors. You know, for the children.

    • Federal News Network ☛ NSA cyber official retiring

      One of the National Security Agency’s top cyber officials is stepping down this spring. Rob Joyce, NSA director of cybersecurity, will retire on March 31.

• Defence/Aggression

  • BIA Net ☛ Man faces up to 7 years in prison for torturing stray cats

    The defendant poured corrosive sulfuric acid on street cats at different times, and these incidents were also captured on camera.

  • BIA Net ☛ Erdoğan's bodyguards may stand trial for torture

    Sürenoğlu wa sbeaten by two bodyguards for expressing disapproval of a road closure because of the wedding ceremony between two influential families.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US lawmaker accuses China of ‘bullying’ in Taiwan visit

    Mr Mike Gallagher led a delegation to meet both President Tsai Ing-wen and President-elect Lai Ching-te in Taiwan.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US delegation begins Taiwan visit, with Republican Mike Gallagher accusing China of ‘bullying’

    The chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on China accused Beijing of “bullying” Taiwan, as he arrived on the self-ruled island Thursday for talks with its leaders.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Maldives visit of Chinese survey ship could rouse Indian Ocean security concerns

    A Chinese research ship arrived in the Maldives on Thursday, global ship-tracking data showed, just three months after a similar vessel visited the Indian Ocean and sparked New Delhi's security concerns.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese research vessels operating in the Indian Ocean

    China's scientific survey fleet of ships is growing and although the government insists the vessels are for research purposes only, some Asian neighbours, especially India, are concerned sensitive data they gather might be shared with the Chinese military.

  • The Strategist ☛ The promises of Australia’s pivot to India

    Vital new dimensions overtake the ‘C’ cliches of Australia’s old relationship with India—cricket, curry and Commonwealth. The new C words are community and commerce and contest in the Indo-Pacific—and China.

  • RFA ☛ Chinese ‘monster’ ship keeps pressure on Vietnam’s oil fields

    The world’s largest coast guard vessel returns for a fresh patrol tour near Vanguard Bank in the South China Sea.

  • Defence Web ☛ From global jihad to local insurgencies: the changing nature of Sub-Saharan jihadism

    For more than a decade the Islamist insurgency in Sub-Saharan Africa has seemed unstoppable. 2022 saw another uptick in jihadist violence across the continent. Fatalities increased by 48% compared to the previous year, while violent incidents increased by 22%.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ This year’s bipartisan immigration bill offers a border blueprint for 2025

    The consequences of another year of inaction on border security and immigration policy may convince a supermajority in the Congress to take up again in 2025 many of the ideas in this year’s bipartisan Senate compromise—no matter which party captures the White House in November.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Escalating Middle East conflict means North America must bolster global energy security

    The Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea have raised shipping costs and caused delays for certain traded goods. While global energy supply has remained uninterrupted, the threat of a broader conflict in the region raises the chances that there will be disruptive attacks on energy and transport infrastructure, putting energy security at risk.

  • The Strategist ☛ The Trump effect may galvanise Europe

    Not for the first time, the central figure at this year’s Munich Security Conference was someone not in attendance. This year was Donald Trump’s turn.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Defends Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank at Top U.N. Court

    A U.S. official urged judges not to call for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territory, arguing that Israel faced “very real security needs” and that a Palestinian state must be established for a lasting peace.

  • JURIST ☛ UK House of Commons passes amendment for Gaza ceasefire after Conservative and SNP walkout

    The UK House of Commons passed a Labour Party amendment for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday as Parliament erupted after Speaker of the House Sir Lindsey Hoyle went against convention to select two amendments to a Scottish National Party (SNP) ceasefire motion for voting.

  • New York Times ☛ Delegation Led by Mike Gallagher Says U.S. Support for Taiwan Is Firm

    A bipartisan House delegation said the United States would stand by the island in the face of pressure from China, drawing connections between Taiwan’s cause and Ukraine’s.

  • New York Times ☛ How an Ex-FBI Informant, Alexander Smirnov, Targeted the Bidens

    How Alexander Smirnov managed to convince business partners, law enforcement agencies and politicians he had something of value to offer remains an enigma.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Navalny’s mother files lawsuit against Russia’s Investigative Committee for not releasing son’s body — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Yulia Navalnaya’s X Account Restored After Brief Suspension

      An account created by Aleksei A. Navalny’s widow on Monday disappeared and then returned hours later. The social control media company said the suspension had been a mistake.

    • New York Times ☛ Tuesday Briefing: Navalny’s Widow Speaks Out

      Also, Israel may restrict access to the Aqsa mosque during Ramadan.

    • AntiWar ☛ Biden Knows Putin Killed Alexei Navalny

      The President of the United States only knows what his intelligence community tells him. After the January attack on a U.S. military facility in Jordan, American intelligence assessed that Iran does not fully control its proxy groups and that it is not commanding the attacks.

    • Meduza ☛ At least six St. Petersburg residents served military summonses after being arrested for leaving flowers in Navalny’s memory — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘It stays in the body indefinitely’ A co-developer of the Novichok nerve agent on whether the poison could have killed Alexey Navalny — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Trump Again Compares Himself to Navalny While Discussing Legal Woes

      At a Fox News town hall event, he mentioned his four indictments, which he said were “all because of the fact that I am in politics.”

    • Reason ☛ A Form of Navalny

      Plus: Teen boys go after tampons, Ken Paxton goes after migrant charities, and more...

    • New York Times ☛ Tuesday Briefing

      Aleksei Navalny’s widow keeps fighting.

    • New Yorker ☛ A Ukrainian Fentanylware (TikTok) Influencer Shares Her Life as a Refugee in “Following Valeria”

      Nicola Fegg’s short documentary follows a young woman who becomes a social-media star during the war in Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Dodik Doubles Down On Refusal To Join Sanctions Against Moscow In Meeting With Putin

      Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russia president of the Serbian entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 and reaffirmed the entity's refusal to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Wednesday Briefing

      Ukrainian troops are feared missing or captured.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian chickens eat Russian feed, LTV reports

      Latvia is currently discussing a ban on animal feed imports from Russia and Belarus. According to the Food and Veterinary Service, twelve establishments are indicated as the destination of these goods in Latvia at the time of crossing the border, of which the egg producer Balticovo is the most well-known to the general public, Latvian Television's "Kas notiek Latvijā/KNL" broadcast reported on February 21.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ What I heard in Munich: Europe gets a brutal awakening

      Fear loomed that next year, Europe would be squeezed between a fascist Russia and an undependable United States—a Europe that would be pretty much on its own.

    • JURIST ☛ Mother of Alexei Navalny files complaint demanding Russian officials release son’s body

      Alexei Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in a Salekhard city court against Russian officials, contesting their refusal to release her son’s body. This complaint followed previous attempts from Lyudmila Navalnaya and Navalny’s team of lawyers to retrieve the deceased activist’s body.

    • JURIST ☛ UK imposes sanctions on prison officials at colony where Alexei Navalny died

      UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced on Wednesday that sanctions will be imposed on senior officials of the prison where the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was detained and later died. The sanctions on six individuals will include a ban from entering the UK and asset freezes.

    • Meduza ☛ Ukraine hits Russian army training ground in occupied territory, reportedly killing over 60 soldiers waiting for general — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Biden Calls Putin A 'Crazy SOB' And Takes Aim At Trump During Fund-Raiser For 2024 Election

      During a fundraiser for his reelection campaign on February 21, President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB” and took aim at former President Donald Trump's comments comparing himself to Aleksei Navalny, the Kremlin opponent who died last week in an Arctic prison.

    • NYPost ☛ Biden calls Putin a ‘crazy SOB,’ rails against Trump at San Francisco fundraiser

      President Biden railed against Russian President Vladimir Putin, former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans during his remarks at a campaign fundraiser in California on Wednesday.

    • New York Times ☛ U.S. Warns Allies Russia Could Put a Nuclear Weapon Into Orbit This Year

      The American assessments are divided, however, and President Vladimir Putin denied having such an intention, saying that Russia was “categorically against” it.

    • JURIST ☛ Putin gifts North Korea leader Russian-made limousine amid UN sanctions

      North Korea announced Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was gifted a Russian-made Aurus limousine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to state-owned broadcasting service KCNA. Russia handed the limousine to North Korean Secretary Pak Jong Chon and Deputy Department Director Kim Yo Jong on Sunday.

    • Latvia ☛ Saeima marks two years since start of Russia's war in Ukraine

      On Thursday, February 22, deputies of Latvia's parliament, the Saeima, met for a special extraordinary session to mark two years since the start of Russia's disgraceful invasion of Ukraine.

    • Latvia ☛ Levits: Russia tribunal plan is moving very slowly

      The initiative to establish an international tribunal to try the numerous crimes of Russian aggression in Ukraine is moving very slowly according to former Latvian President Egils Levits.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian Reporters in Ukraine: Ieva Vārna of TV3

      In Latvian media, several reporters have become familiar voices reporting from the war in Ukraine. Ieva Vārna from TV3, Ina Strazdiņa from Latvian Television (LTV) and Indra Sprance from Latvian Radio have all filed moving and powerful reports from the front lines as well as telling stories about those behind the front lines in Ukraine. Over three days LSM will profile these excellent, brave journalists.

    • Latvia ☛ Survey: One in three Latvian residents think Ukraine should compromise

      Two years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, one in three or 34.3% of Latvian residents surveyed by the pollster SKDS and Latvian Television's "What is happening in Latvia/KNL" program, think that it would be better if war stopped even  if Ukraine has to agree to compromises on its behalf.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian reporters in Ukraine: Indra Sprance of Latvian Radio

      In Latvian media, several reporters have become familiar voices reporting from the war in Ukraine. Ieva Vārna from TV3, Ina Strazdiņa from Latvian Television (LTV) and Indra Sprance from Latvian Radio have all filed moving and powerful reports from the front lines as well as telling stories about those behind the front lines in Ukraine. Over three days LSM will profile these excellent, brave journalists.

    • Latvia ☛ Ukrainian children might have to go to Latvian schools next year

      Ideally, from next school year, Ukrainian children in Latvia should start studying in Latvian schools as a mandatory requirement, the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) said February 20.

    • AntiWar ☛ After Two Years of War in Ukraine, It’s Time for Peace

      As we mark two full years since Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian government forces have withdrawn from Avdiivka, a town they first captured from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in July 2014.

    • France24 ☛ Biden calls Putin a 'crazy SOB', says climate change is an 'existential threat' at fundraiser

      President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a "crazy SOB" at a public fundraising event Wednesday in California.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Two years on, what the Russian invasion of Ukraine means for energy security and net-zero emissions

      Experts from the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center offer perspectives on navigating global energy security and charting a course towards a more secure and sustainable energy future two years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Maidan Revolution protesters lament enduring corruption in Ukraine, 10 years on

      Ukraine is marking the 10th anniversary of the shooting of dozens of protesters in Kyiv during the Maidan Revolution, which toppled the country's Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych and led to Russia's annexation of Crimea and a pro-Russian separatist movement in the east.

    • France24 ☛ 'Not in Russia's interest' to start war with a NATO country, says Norway's PM

      Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke to FRANCE 24 about the war in Ukraine ahead of the second anniversary this week of Russia's full-scale invasion. The conflict has prompted senior Scandinavian defence officials to warn about the heightened threat of war with Russia; while Norway is a founding member of NATO, Finland joined the alliance just last year while Sweden is in the process of doing so.

    • France24 ☛ EU targets nearly 200 entities with new sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine

      EU members approved a 13th package of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, banning nearly 200 entities and individuals accused of helping Moscow procure weapons or of involvement in kidnapping Ukrainian children.

    • France24 ☛ Blinken and Lavrov to attend G20 talks with Ukraine, Gaza on the agenda

      G20 foreign ministers open a two-day meeting Wednesday in Brazil, with the outlook bleak for progress on a thorny agenda of conflicts and crises, from the Gaza and Ukraine wars to growing polarization.

    • LRT ☛ Ukrainian employees will not be required to speak Lithuanian for another year

      Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania will not have to meet language requirements in order to work for at least another year, the government decided on Wednesday.

    • LRT ☛ First batch of Radarom! safe soldier kits reaches Ukraine

      The Radarom! campaign has dispatched the first safe soldier packs to Ukraine. They were delivered to Kyiv on Tuesday evening and immediately sent to the troops fighting on the front line.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian defence minister hints at new forms of support to Ukraine

      Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas says that Vilnius and other EU capitals are considering giving support to Ukraine in “other forms” than weapons and money, without elaborating what they might be.

    • RFERL ☛ New EU Ambassador To U.S. Says Unity, Strength Are Most Important To Stop Russia's Aggression

      The new EU ambassador to the United States has arrived in Washington at a time when tough issues related to the war in Ukraine are at the top of the international agenda as the conflict grinds toward its two-year anniversary on February 24.

    • RFERL ☛ Soviet-Era Ukrainian Dissident, Politician Stepan Khmara Dies At 86

      One of the most prominent Soviet-era dissidents of Ukraine, Stepan Khmara has died at age 86, his wife said on February 21 without giving the cause of death.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Calls On Polish, EU Leaders To Meet At Ukrainian-Polish Border Amid Tension

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, President Andrzej Duda, and members of the European Commission to meet him and members of his government at the Ukrainian-Polish border amid tension caused by Polish farmers' protests against Ukrainian food imports.

    • RFERL ☛ EU Approves 'One Of Broadest' Sanctions Packages Against Russia So Far

      The European Union has approved a new package of sanctions against Russia, its 13th since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago, in what the bloc's rotating president Belgium said was "one of the broadest approved by the EU."

    • France24 ☛ Russia's Supreme Court upholds ban on anti-war presidential candidate

      Russia's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a ruling by electoral authorities barring anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin from next  month's presidential election, leaving President Vladimir Putin without any significant challengers.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Outgunned, Ukrainians watch Congress while facing Russians

      In the midst of a grim third winter of a grinding war, Ukrainian soldiers voice mixed emotions: gratitude for U.S. support so far, but concern that Americans unsure of their global role won’t supply the ammunition the soldiers need to stop Russia.

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Forces Press On With Attacks in Southern Ukraine

      The assaults on the village of Robotyne, which come at the same time as successful attacks in the east, are designed to pressure Ukrainian troops across the front line, analysts say.

    • New York Times ☛ A Russian Military Blogger Dies After Criticizing Army Losses

      The ultranationalist blogger, Andrei Morozov, had described a campaign of intimidation against him and threatened to end his own life.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian Telegram channels report soldier and military blogger Andrey Morozov died by suicide after harassment by commanders — Meduza

    • LRT ☛ Baltics detain people suspected of organising Russia-directed influence operations

      Estonian security services had broken up a Russian influence operation and arrested 10 people related to it, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.

    • LRT ☛ Russian from Vilnius who was imprisoned in the same colony as Navalny: ‘Their essence is cannibalistic’

      Dmitry Novikov from Russia’s Kazan spent two years in Penal Colony No. 3 in Vladimir region, where the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died on February 16, had previously served his sentence.

    • RFERL ☛ Flowers, Candles Placed In Tribute To Navalny In Serbia's Largest Cities

      Flowers and candles for Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny were placed on the evening of February 21 in front of the Russian Embassy in Belgrade and in the central square of Serbia's second-largest city, Novi Sad.

    • RFERL ☛ Supreme Court Rejects Nadezhdin's Latest Appeal Over Decision To Bar Him From Russian Presidential Vote

      Russia's Supreme Court on February 21 threw out anti-war presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin's appeal of the Central Election Commission's decision to bar him from next month's presidential election.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Court Allows Government To Take Over Assets Of Nation's Biggest Auto Dealer

      A court in St. Petersburg has allowed the government to take over the assets of the country's largest auto dealership, Rolf, founded by businessman Sergei Petrov.

    • RFERL ☛ Navalny's Mother Files Lawsuit Over Demanding Release His Body, Court Sets March 4 Hearing Date

      Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of late opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, has filed a lawsuit in a Russian court demanding the release of her son's body as outrage mounts over the authorities' handling of Navalny's death in an Arctic prison.

    • RFERL ☛ Britain Slaps Sanctions On Chiefs Of Arctic Prison Where Navalny Died

      Britain on February 21 sanctioned six individuals running the Russian Arctic prison where the death of Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny was announced on February 16.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Authorities Release Azerbaijani Fitness Trainer Detained At Yerevan's Request

      Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on February 21 that Russian authorities released Azerbaijani fitness trainer Kamil Zeynalli, who was detained hours earlier at a Moscow airport at Armenia's request.

    • YLE ☛ Russia places 'Tom of Finland XXL' on banned book list

      Authorities in Russia say the list is just a draft, even though the books listed are no longer available in the country's online stores.

    • CS Monitor ☛ The light Navalny left to Russia

      His example, more than his leadership, inspires many Russians to not let fear take over their role in democratic change.

    • New York Times ☛ Bosnian Feuding Hobbles Gas Pipeline to Cut Russian Supplies and Influence

      The United States and Europe have championed a new pipeline to bring gas to Bosnia and cut supplies from Russia. But the project has been stalled by feuding among ethnic groups.

    • New York Times ☛ Thursday Briefing

      U.S. warns of a possible Russian space weapon.

    • Meduza ☛ Number of dissertations published in Russia decreased by 22 percent in 2023 — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian ninth grader reportedly arrested for setting fire to local United Russia party building — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Thursday Briefing: U.S. Warnings About a Russian Space Weapon

      Also, a blow to Pakistan’s military and Niue’s fight for the .nu domain.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘The parents feared retaliation from the police’: Russian drill instructor forces student to kneel in corner and threatens to tase her for smiling — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian FSB reportedly asking travelers crossing Estonian border about their attitudes toward E.U. — Meduza

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania to close two more Belarus border checkpoints, govt decides

      The Lithuanian government decided on Wednesday to close the Lavoriškės and Raigardas border checkpoints on the border with Belarus as of March 1.

    • Latvia ☛ Belarus-Latvia border crossing attempts pick up again

      Attempts by migrants to cross the Latvian-Belarusian border illegally have resumed, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) told Latvian Radio on February 22.

    • Meduza ☛ Lithuania to close two more border checkpoints with Belarus, limit disembarkation from transit trains — Meduza

    • JURIST ☛ Belarus dispatch: property confiscation has become another tool of political repression

      Belarusian law students enrolled at European Humanities University are filing reports with JURIST on current circumstances in Belarus under the constitutionally-disputed presidency of Alexander Lukashenka. Ulyana Belaya and Katsiaryna Vasilionak file this dispatch from Vilnius, Lithuania.

    • Meduza ☛ Moscow police deny ordering ‘identification’ of individuals bringing flowers to memorials honoring Navalny — Meduza

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Federal News Network ☛ Whistleblower protection legislation stalls amid congressional chaos

    Whistleblower protection legislation often has bipartisan support. Yet it seems to take forever. A bill to extend federal protections to contractors was supposed to get marked up in January in the House Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. But now it is sidelined.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ China at risk of missing 2025 climate targets, needs steep CO2 cuts: Study

    China's heavy reliance on coal and oil to fuel its economy since 2020 has led to a large spike in CO2 emissions.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Severe weather warnings in place across China as temperatures plummet

    Severe weather warnings were in place across swathes of China on Wednesday as temperatures plummeted across the south and Beijing shivered in snowy conditions.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • RFERL ☛ Iran Blames Israel For Explosions At Gas Pipelines That Disrupted Supplies

      Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji has blamed Israel for a spate of recent explosions that disrupted gas transmission lines in two of Iran’s provinces, incidents that have heightened tensions further between the two rivals.

    • Hackaday ☛ Car Driving Simulators For Students, Or: When Simulators Make Sense

      There are many benefits to learning to fly an airplane, drive a racing car, or operate some complex piece of machinery. Ideally, you’d do so in a perfectly safe environment, even when the instructor decides to flip on a number of disaster options and you find your method of transportation careening towards the ground, or the refinery column you’re monitoring indicating that it’s mere seconds away from going critical and wiping out itself and half the refinery with it.

    • teleSUR ☛ Rwanda and EU Sign Deal To Boost Mining Sector

      Global Gateway is a European strategy to boost links in digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world.

    • Alan Pope ☛ Alan Pope: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: Follow up

      Yesterday I blogged about a series of Bitcoin scam apps published in the Canonical Snap store.

      Two things!

      Firstly, I have edited yesterday’s blog to remove reference to exchangerate-api. I had a few comments about this, and it would have been better not to mention them. They seem like fine upstanding people doing good work, and aren’t involved in all this horribleness. Sincere apologies for mentioning them.

      Second, one of the key messages I pushed yesterday was that the dodgy applications were still installed on client machines, even after the store pages had been quarantined.

• Finance

  • India Today ☛ In just one year, over 67000 jobs gone at Infosys, TCS, Wipro and Tech Mahindra

    The year 2023 began on a grim note for techies across the globe as many companies started announcing large-scale layoffs. From Twitter (now called X) and Meta to Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, ex-employees of many companies came forward and shared their stories on LinkedIn. In India too, many employees were impacted by the layoffs wave and took to social media to either look for a new job, or simply vent out their feelings.

    A recent report by the Mint revealed that in just one year, 4 IT giants - Infosys, TCS, Wipro and Tech Mahindra - laid off over 67,000 employees. The report further reveals that while Infosys laid off 24,182 employees, Wipro handed the pink slip to 21,875 employees. On the other hand, TCS bid adieu to 10,818 people while Tech Mahindra culled 10,669 roles.

  • YLE ☛ Chamber of Commerce: Record number of business closures in Helsinki region

    Roughly 17 percent more businesses closed in 2023 than 2022, a report by the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce says.

  • YLE ☛ House prices fell by more than 9% in Helsinki region last year, 7.6% nationally

    Housing sales rose in late 2023 due to tax changes, but declined again in January.

  • Are layoffs out of control - or does the data show there's nothing to worry about?

    Understandably, many employees and HR professionals are worried about layoffs. Job cuts have been all over the news so far in 2024, concentrated in the finance and technology sectors. PayPal, Microsoft, eBay, Hubspot, TikTok, Google, and Amazon are among the well-known companies to announce layoffs.

    These events make the headlines and employees feel uncertain, anxious for their future, and worried about their ability to find a new job if the worst does happen. But is the picture as bad as it seems?

  • WhichUK ☛ Almost 3 in 10 struggle to use power of attorney at banks and building societies

    Which? survey of attorneys reveals the problems and the best banks for handling registrations

  • A ‘recalibration’: Santa Clara County tech rout accelerates — a look at who’s getting laid off

    SILICON VALLEY MADE everything the world needed when the pandemic reared its head, including testing kits, medical records software and virtual meeting platforms — and with it came a tech sector hiring frenzy.

    But after COVID subsided and the Bay Area began adjusting to a post-pandemic world, scores of tech workers started losing their jobs. Santa Clara County workers were hit hard.

    Nearly 16,800 tech employees have been laid off since July 2021 on the heels of unprecedented hiring during the pandemic, according to a San José Spotlight analysis of company-reported layoff notices required by state law. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system requires companies with 100 or more employees to report when they are issuing layoff notices. The data is recent as of Feb. 7.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • [Repeat] Mint Press News ☛ Unraveling Famous Criminal Bill Gates’ Global Web of Influence, with Tim Schwab

    Tim Schwab joins Alan MacLeod to discuss the Famous Criminal Bill Gates origin story, how he uses his wealth to public health and education policy, his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, and much more.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea foreign minister to meet Blinken in US this month

    South Korea's foreign minister Cho Tae-yul will visit the United States and hold a meeting with his counterpart Antony Blinken on February 28, the ministry said on Thursday.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Beijing and Washington don’t trust each other – maybe that’s OK

    Is trust the bedrock of international relations, or is predictability? In recent years, the U.S. and China have had to learn how to navigate growing mistrust and make progress toward stability.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China sees Europe as increasingly ‘rational’ about its development, says foreign minister

    Europe has been pursuing a de-risking strategy and reducing dependency on China particularly for critical minerals.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China signals its ‘panda diplomacy’ will resume with US, Europe

    The first pair of pandas could land at the San Diego Zoo in California by late summer.

  • RFA ☛ China calls for mindset change to grow, end ‘lying flat’ bureaucracy

    Hunan province directive seen as countering Deng Xiaoping’s reform theory despite a sputtering economy.

  • RFA ☛ Yunnan mosque gets pagodas and party slogans in Chinese makeover

    The mosque’s dome and minarets were demolished last year under Xi’s ‘sinization’ of religion campaign.

  • RFA ☛ China faces high childcare cost as population shrinks, growth slows

    A Chinese think tank finds raising a child costs more than in US, Japan.

  • JURIST ☛ US Supreme Court rejects appeal from Trump-affiliated attorneys in Michigan sanctions case

    The US Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear an appeal from a group of attorneys associated with former president Donald Trump, led by Sidney Powell, against sanctions placed upon them for allegedly abusing the Michigan state legal system in their 2020 election fraud lawsuit.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFERL ☛ Newspaper Honoring Navalny Withdrawn From Moscow Newsstands As Authorities Withhold His Body

    An issue of Russian weekly Sobesednik dedicated partially to the memory of Aleksei Navalny has been withdrawn from newsstands in Moscow, the newspaper's editorial board says, as authorities continue to clamp down on any public manifestation of respect for the late Kremlin opponent.

  • Meduza ☛ Moscow authorities reportedly confiscate copies of newspaper featuring image of Navalny on front page — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Russia’s Sber confirms list of over 250 books removed from online marketplace due to ‘LGBT propaganda’ law, including works by Dostoevsky and Stephen King — Meduza

  • RFERL ☛ Individuals Who Honored Navalny's Memory In St. Petersburg Given Summonses To Enlistment Office

    Police officers gave summonses to six men arrested for laying flowers in St. Petersburg in memory of Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny, who died last week at an Arctic prison camp, Rotunda website reports.

  • Techdirt ☛ In SCOTUS NetChoice Cases, Texas’s And Florida’s Worst Enemy Is (Checks Notes) Elon Musk.

    Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice. The cases are about a pair of laws, enacted by Texas and Florida, that attempt to force large social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and X to host large amounts of speech against their will. (Think neo-Nazi rants, anti-vax conspiracies, and depictions of self-harm.) The states’ effort to co-opt social media companies’ editorial policies blatantly violates the First Amendment.

  • RFA ☛ North Korea bans more than 100 patriotic songs that refer to reunification

    Pyongyang metro's Unification Station renamed 'Station' amid messages that uniting with the South is no longer a priority.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong’s new national security law should increase penalties for sedition, says security chief Chris Tang

    Hong Kong’s upcoming national security law should increase the penalties for sedition, security minister Chris Tang has said, describing the current two-year maximum prison term for a first offence as “insufficient.”

  • RFA ☛ Hong Kong official slams groups' criticism of new security law

    86 rights groups say Article 23 will have ‘devastating consequences’ for human rights in the city.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Solicitor Shek Yuet-hey sues journalists at Filipino community paper The Sun for libel over assault case reports

    Two journalists at a news outlet serving Hong Kong’s Filipino community are being sued for libel over their reporting on an assault case involving solicitor Jacob Shek Yuet-hey.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US urges Pakistan to lift internet shutdowns, social control media restrictions

    Internet monitoring advocates have pointed out internet outages and restrictions after protests following claims of election irregularities in Pakistan.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • IT Wire ☛ US claims WikiLeaks founder's case not politically motivated

    On Wednesday, the second day of the hearing in London, Claire Dobbin claimed Assange had leaked information about sources and supported theft and hacking. Assange was again too ill to attend the hearing in person.

    Dobbin also claimed that the Australian, 52, was not being pursued for political reasons.

  • teleSUR ☛ Julian Assange is Politically Persecuted: Baltasar Garzon

    Washington wants to teach the world a lesson by punishing Assange, said the Spanish jurist.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Assange extradition to US is state retaliation for political reasons, High Court total

    US hatched plot to kidnap or kill Assange when he was in Ecuadorian embassy, court told.

  • France24 ☛ UK court wraps Assange extradition appeal hearing, opts against immediate ruling

    Britain's High Court on Wednesday finished hearing two days of arguments over whether to grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a fresh appeal against his extradition to the United States to face espionage charges.

    [...]

    "We will reserve our decision," judge Victoria Sharp said as the latest legal proceedings in the long-running case concluded. It is unclear when she and judge Jeremy Johnson will issue their ruling.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Media mogul Jimmy Lai campaigned to win support from Trump despite pushback from democrats, colleagues, court hears

    Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai ran a campaign in his pro-democracy paper to rally support from then-US president Donald Trump a month before Hong Kong’s national security law was passed, a former publisher at the paper has told the national security trial against the media tycoon.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • EFF ☛ Unregulated, Exploitative, and on the Rise: Vera Institute's Report on Electronic Monitoring

    According to interviews and an analysis of policies across hundreds of jurisdictions, the Vera Institute found that the use of EM was an unregulated patchwork across counties, states, and the federal government. As private firms market new products, the level of testing and quality assurance has failed to keep up with the drive to get contracts with local and state law enforcement agencies. Relying on technology produced by such a disordered industry can lead to reincarceration due to faulty equipment, significantly increased surveillance on those being monitored and their household, and onerous requirements for people under EM than when dealing with probation or parole officers.

    The lack of correlation between EM and decarceration and the advancement in EM technology suggests that EM, rather than serving as an alternative to detention, is merely another tool in the government's arsenal of carceral control. 

    Even the question of jurisdictional authority is a mess. The Vera Institute explains that agencies frequently rely on private firms that further subcontract out the hardware or software, and individuals in rural areas can create profitable businesses for themselves that only serve as a middleman between the criminal justice system and the hardware and software vendors. The Vera Institute suggests that this can lead to corruption, including the extortion by these small subcontractors of people held on EM, often with no oversight or public sector transparency. That presents a problem to the data collection, public records requests, and other investigative work that policymakers, advocates, and journalists rely on to find the truth and inform policy.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Why Museum of Us and History Colorado Didn’t Have to Scramble to Comply With New Repatriation Rules

    As major U.S. museums in recent weeks closed displays and exhibit halls containing Native American objects, the Museum of Us in San Diego hasn’t done the same.

    That’s not because the anthropological museum is ignoring new federal repatriation rules, which took effect this year. Rather, more than five years ago, its board of trustees adopted a policy on collections from Indigenous communities that addressed the concerns the new rules focus on.

  • OpenRightsGroup ☛ Advisory Council Nominees needed [Ed: They've been turning themselves into mass immigration advocacy group in recent years]

    Open Rights Group is looking for around 10 new members of our Advisory Council in 2024, to help advise us on policy at a time of major change. In particular, we are looking for people with expertise in the harms caused by surveillance, censorship, digitalised immigration systems and pre-crime technologies.

  • OpenRightsGroup ☛ New report reveals widespread data sharing and retention of Prevent referrals, including children’s data

    A new report by digital campaigners, Open Rights Group, has found that the data of people who are referred to the Prevent programme is being widely shared, and that data is being retained for years even when referrals are marked ‘no further action’.

  • OpenRightsGroup ☛ Prevent and the Pre-Crime State: How unaccountable data sharing is harming a generation

    Thousands of Prevent referrals are made each year ostensibly to “support people susceptible to radicalisation”. The overwhelmingly majority do not meet the threshold for a Channel intervention (a multi-agency deradicalisation programme). Despite this, the data of Prevent referees is retained and shared across multiple databases, with potentially harmful outcomes.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan summons South Korea ambassador over wartime labour payment

    The family of a South Korean victim received money from Japanese shipbuilder Hitachi Zosen this week.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Privileged Conversations | Mar. 2024

    Public Knowledge has the pleasure of inviting you to a multifaceted program focused on training and developing the next generation of tech policy experts and public interest advocates that reflects the diversity of voices and experiences in our society.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Techdirt ☛ Here We Go Again: Sony Disappears Digital Content That Was Pitched To Customers As ‘Forever’

    And here we go again. We’ve had many, many posts over recent years discussing how, in the digital age, you often don’t actually own what you’ve bought. And before the comments section gets filled with perplexed but rather educated folks talking about how the all these cases involve products in which the terms of service clearly outline that this is a license and not an actual product being bought, just stop. We all know that barely anyone reads a ToS these days and the confusion and anger that occurs in the public is proof of it. So clearly companies are not doing nearly enough to inform their customers of what they are actually purchasing. And if you think that problem is easily solved by staunchly insisting that Nancy down the street steep herself in legalese, then you’re completely divorced from reality.

  • Techdirt ☛ Max ‘Enshittifies’ Itself By Making John Oliver Harder To Watch

    Now that subscriber growth has slowed, streaming TV giants have taken the predictable turn of making their services shittier and more expensive to deliver Wall Street (impossibly) unlimited quarterly revenue growth.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The Sky’s the Limit: How Chestek Frees the USPTO

    Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit issued a decision in the case of In re Chestek that, on its face, simply upheld the USPTO’s requirement that trademark applicants provide their domicile address. But contained within the court’s ruling is language that could have some major implications — essentially giving the USPTO carte blanche ability to sidestep administrative rulemaking procedures for any new requirements it imposes, as long as they are deemed “procedural” in nature.  And on this point the Federal Circuit appears to establish a wide permissive definition that the rulemaking is procedural so long as does not affect the substantive patent monopoly or trademark standards.  Of course, the USPTO generally does not have substantive rulemaking authority regarding the patent monopoly standards, and so everything is procedure.

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ “The Substantiality of Spirit”: Georgiana Houghton’s Pictures from the Other Side

    When Georgiana Houghton first exhibited her paintings at a London gallery in 1871, their wild eddies of colour and line were unlike anything the public had seen before — nor would see again until the rise of abstract art decades later. But there was little intentionally abstract about these images: Houghton painted entities she met in the spirit regions. Viewing her works through the prism of friendship, loss, and faith, Jennifer Higgie turns overdue attention on an artist neglected by historians, a visionary who believed that death was not the end, merely a new distance to overcome.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Tales of the Catfish God: Earthquakes in Japanese Woodblock Prints (1855)

    A type of woodblock print known as *namazu-e*, these images involve a myth that earthquakes were caused by the movements of a great catfish.