Distributions and Operating Systems

• Leftovers

  • Stanford University ☛ A letter to myself, 10 years ago

    In a letter to his younger self, Sebastian Strawser '24 speaks to the importance of exploration and kindness when coming of age.

  • Science

    • Science Alert ☛ Breakthrough: Positronium Cooled By Laser in a World First

      Now the fun can really begin.

    • Science Alert ☛ Canadian Teenager Replicated Archimedes' Death Ray For a Science Project

      He may have solved a 2,000-year-old mystery.

    Joost Bürgi And Logarithms

    Logarithms are a common idea today, even though we don’t use them as often as we used to. After all, one of the major uses of logarithms is to simplify computations, and computers do that just fine (although they might use logs internally). But 400 years ago, doing math was painful. Enter Joost Bürgi. According to [Welch Labs], his book of mathematical tables should have changed math forever. But it didn’t.

  • Education

    • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ St. Paul Public Schools floats arbitration to avoid March teachers strike

      Even if the district and teachers union can’t reach an agreement by March 11, another option to avoid a strike would be to bring in a third party to make a final decision.

  • Hardware

    Big Chemistry: Hydrofluoric Acid

    For all of the semiconductor industry’s legendary reputation for cleanliness, the actual processes that go into making chips use some of the nastiest stuff imaginable. Silicon oxide is nothing but boring old sand, and once it’s turned into ultrapure crystals and sliced into wafers, it still doesn’t do much. Making it into working circuits requires dopants like phosphorous and boron to give the silicon the proper semiconductor properties.

    Underwater Sensor Takes Single Pair Ethernet For A Dip

    The 10BASE-T1 Ethernet standard is also known as ‘single pair Ethernet’ (SPE), as it’s most defining feature is the ability to work over a single pair of conductors. Being fairly new, it offers a lot of advantages where replacing existing wiring is difficult, or where the weight of the additional conductors is a concern, such as with the underwater sensor node project that [Michael Orenstein] and [Scott] dreamed up and implemented as part of a design challenge. With just a single twisted pair, this sensor node got access to a full-duplex 10 Mbit connection as well as up to 50 watts of power.

    Blast From The Past: Schematic Templates

    If you want to draw schematics today, you probably sit down at your computer. Why not? There are a ton of programs made to do the work easily, and the results look great. Back in the day, you might sit at a drafting table with a full set of T-squares, triangles, and maybe a Leroy. But what about when inspiration struck at the coffee shop (no, not a Starbucks in those days)? Well, you probably had a schematic drawing template. We were surprised you can still buy these at high prices. Or you can 3D print your own, thanks to [Jan Stech].

    • Zimbabwe ☛ A bendable phone, a transparent laptop and a 3D tablet (no glasses required)

      Mobile World Congress is in full swing and we talked about one of the interesting gadgets to be unveiled there – Tecno’s Dynamic 1 robodog. Let’s look at some other cool stuff that’s been showcased. Motorola Adaptive Display I still don’t know if we need bendy or foldable phones but these manufacturers certainly believe so.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Arm-powered Snapdragon X Elite laptop shown outperforming defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra by up to 10X in Hey Hi (AI) tests — Qualcomm fires early NPU shots at defective chip maker Intel [Updated]

      Qualcomm has published a short video which it says shows a Snapdragon X Elite laptop can outpace an defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra 7 laptop by up to 10X in Hey Hi (AI) workloads.

  • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

    • NYPost ☛ Hochul demands Google, Meta stop promoting illegal NY pot shops

      Heeding complaints from the licensed cannabis industry, Gov. Kathy Hochul said it's high time that social control media companies and tech giants such as Surveillance Giant Google and Meta stop promoting illicit weed dealers.

    • Science Alert ☛ Ovary Appendage Dismissed as Functionless May Act Like The Organ's 'Tongue'

      Perhaps not so useless...

    • Science Alert ☛ Study Uncovers Hidden Ingredients in 83% of Tattoo Inks, Raising Concerns

      A potential problem exposed.

    • JURIST ☛ New Zealand health minister to shut down indigenous health authority amid Māori protests

      New Zealand Health Minister Shane Reti said Tuesday that the Māori Health Authority will be shut down by the end of June this year, and its functions will be absorbed into the country’s national healthcare system.

    • Defence Web ☛ Home Affairs investigating SA Military Health Service general who ‘lied’ about his age

      The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is investigating a general who appears to have become four years “younger” while he was in the defence force.

    • Federal News Network ☛ McDonough says ‘tighter fiscal picture’ at VA requires careful planning to continue health care hiring

      The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to keep hiring for its health care workforce this year, but at lower levels than last year.

    • Federal News Network ☛ HHS takes step toward goal for better health information sharing

      One of the biggest obstacles to streamlining information sharing in the health field, is the data itself. For decades, various health information systems decades simply have not been compatible with one another.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea takes step to punish five doctors for walkout

      The walkout has led to about a 50 per cent reduction in surgeries and caused emergency rooms to turn away people.

  • Security

    • Privacy/Surveillance

      As Predicted: Scammers Are Now Scanning Faces To Defeat Biometric Security Measures

      For quite some time now we’ve been pointing out the many harms of age verification technologies, and how they’re a disaster for privacy. In particular, we’ve noted that if you have someone collecting biometric information on people, that data itself becomes a massive risk since it will be targeted.

      • EDRI ☛ Welcome EDRi’s new Head of Policy: Ella Jakubowska

        Ella takes up this role from her previous EDRi position as Senior Policy Advisor, where she led advocacy on facial recognition, the confidentiality of online communications, age verification and more.

  • Defence/Aggression

    • The Strategist ☛ How to plug the Royal Australian Navy’s looming surface capability gap

      Released 10 months after the defence strategic review (DSR), the annexed and long-awaited review of the Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet has finally brought some much-needed clarity on the RAN’s ambitions to expand [...]

    • New York Times ☛ Michigan Tests the Strength of Biden’s Campaign

      Also, Russia warned against NATO forces in Ukraine. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.

    • New York Times ☛ As Spending Talks Intensify, Johnson’s Bind Grows Tighter

      Four months into his job as the top leader in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson finds himself the odd man out in increasingly intense talks on how to fund the government and whether to continue aid to Ukraine.

    • Federal News Network ☛ Biden and party leaders implore Speaker Johnson to help Ukraine in ‘intense’ Oval Office meeting

      Congressional leaders emerged from an “intense” Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden speaking optimistically about the prospects for avoiding a partial government shutdown beginning this weekend. However, things are still at a crossroads on assistance for Ukraine and Israel as the president and others in the meeting urgently warned House Speaker Mike Johnson of the grave consequences of delay.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea, US to stage annual drills focusing on Korea nuclear threats

      South Korea and the United States will begin their annual spring military drills next week with a focus on heading off North Korea's potential use of nuclear weapons, officials said on Wednesday.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China urges largest nuclear states to negotiate a 'no-first-use' treaty

      States with the largest nuclear arsenals should negotiate a treaty on no-first-use of nuclear weapons against each other or make a political statement in this regard, the Chinese foreign ministry's arms control department said.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese navy's presence in South China Sea is 'worrisome', says Philippine president

      Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said the Chinese navy's presence in the South China Sea is "worrisome" but will not deter his country from defending its maritime territory and protecting its fishermen.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China says its coast guard patrols around Taiwan islands are ‘beyond reproach’

      Beijing also dismissed complaints that the boarding of a Taiwan tourist boat had caused panic.

    • ADF ☛ ‘Insane Tragedy’ Drives Sudanese Women to Bear Arms Against RSF

      Dozens of women and girls were lined up in a schoolyard in Port Sudan with AK-47 assault rifles at their feet. They loaded the weapons with ammunition as a military trainer barked orders, then laid flat on their stomachs with their weapons pointed straight ahead.

    • ADF ☛ ATMIS Completes Second Phase of Drawdown Amid al-Shabaab Attacks

      The African Union Mission in Somalia in late January completed the second phase of its military drawdown when it handed over nine military bases to the Somali government.

    • ADF ☛ Terrorism Deaths Climb Sharply in 2023; Concentrated in Sahel, Somalia

      Terrorism-related deaths across Africa jumped in 2023, with most of the violence in a handful of countries while the rest of the continent saw terrorism deaths decline. Overall, terrorism-related deaths in Africa grew 20% in a year, from 19,412 in 2022 to 23,322 in 2023.

    • ADF ☛ Burkina Faso Junta Using Forced Conscription to Silence Dissent

      ADF STAFF Anesthesiologist Dr. Arouna Louré was seeing patients when armed soldiers suddenly burst into the operating room of his hospital in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou. “They made me understand they could make me leave using the gentle or the violent method,” the 38-year-old told the BBC.

    • Off Guardian ☛ Grant Shapps is right, there will DEFINITELY be another “novichok-style attack”.

      Two days ago it was reported that UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps was warning the country might face another “novichok-style attack”. And he’s completely right – although probably not in the way he wants you to think. But we’ll get to that. First, we should ask: What exactly is a “novichok-style attack”?

    • Atlantic Council ☛ To combat Chinese cyber threats, the US must spearhead a new Indo-Pacific intelligence coalition

      Such a coalition would help disrupt cyber threats, signal US resolve, and ideally help deter future cyberattacks from China.

    • ADF ☛ Malian, Russian Forces Accused in Another Massacre

      In the darkness of early morning on January 26, a team of Malian soldiers and Russian mercenaries rushed into the village of Welingara in the central Nara region. They arrested 25 men and boys, took them 2 kilometers outside the village and immediately executed them.

    • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

      • YLE ☛ Niinistö: Finland not in favour of sending Western troops to Ukraine

        French President Emmanuel Macron said that the West should not rule out putting boots on the ground in Ukraine.

      • The Straits Times ☛ The Indians hired for Russia's Ukraine war

        One recruiter said he had personally overseen the enlistment of between 70 and 100 Indian citizens.

      • teleSUR ☛ Conflict With NATO Inevitable if Western Troops Go to Ukraine

        On Monday, French President Macron said Europe faces the "strategic need" to defeat Russia.

      • teleSUR ☛ Polish Farmers Protest Against EU's Green Deal

        Besides opposing the entry of Ukrainian products, they reject the European policy package aimed at achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

      • RFERL ☛ Polish Farmers Rally In Warsaw Against EU Policies, Ukraine Imports

        Thousands of Polish farmers took to the streets of Warsaw on February 27 carrying the national flag and blowing handheld horns, escalating a protest which started in early February against food imports from Ukraine and EU green rules.

      • RFERL ☛ Polish Prime Minister Considers Wider Ban On Ukrainian Food Imports As Farmers Protest In Warsaw

        Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on February 27 he could not rule out widening a national ban on imports of Ukrainian grains to include other products if the European Union does not act to protect the bloc's markets.

      • LRT ☛ Lithuania to check its Ukrainian grain import figures against Poland’s data – minister

        Lithuania is taking seriously Polish farmers’ plans to block a road on the Lithuanian-Polish border and wants to check whether its Ukrainian grain import figures match data from the Ukrainian-Polish border, Agriculture Minister Kęstutis Navickas has said.

      • LRT ☛ NATO would be with Lithuania ‘from deterrence to victory’ – chief of defence on Hodges’s comments

        After former US military commander in Europe Ben Hodges said that, in the event of an attack, Lithuania must prepare to defend itself for two weeks before NATO reinforcements arrive, military chief Valdemaras Rupšys reassures that Lithuania would be with its Western allies “from deterrence to victory”.

      • RFERL ☛ Moscow Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Self-Exiled Opposition Politician Dmitry Gudkov

        A Moscow court on February 27 issued an arrest warrant for self-exiled opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov on a charge of distributing "false" information about Russian military forces involved in Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

      • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Shoots Down Russian Su-34 Fighter Jet, Says Air Force Commander

        The Ukrainian military has shot down another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber jet, the commander of Ukraine's air force said on Telegram on February 27.

      • RFERL ☛ Ukraine's Zelenskiy Discusses Peace Plan, Return Of Captives In Talks With Saudi Crown Prince

        Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks in Saudi Arabia on February 27 with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman devoted to the course of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

      • The Straits Times ☛ China says Beijing and Moscow should strengthen coordination on Asia-Pacific issues

        
        

        China and Russia exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and the situation on the Korean peninsula.

      • LRT ☛ Migration Department to screen 18,000 Belarusians living in Lithuania

        Lithuania’s Migration Department is planning to check more than 18,000 Belarusians who arrived in Lithuania before the restrictions introduced in 2022. They will have to fill in the same questionnaire as the newly arriving Belarusians.

      Russian coffee shop owner charged with ‘discrediting the army’ after asking veteran to leave premises — Meduza

      • JURIST ☛ Moscow court sentences activist Oleg Orlov to 2.5 years in penal colony for ‘discrediting’ Russian military

        Russian human rights activist Oleg Orlov has been sentenced to two and a half years in a prison colony, his organization, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Memorial, announced Tuesday. Orlov was convicted under Article 280.3 of the Russian Criminal Code, which prohibits the discrediting of the Russian armed forces.

      Russia bans anti-propaganda organization XZ Foundation as ‘undesirable organization’ — Meduza

      • SANS ☛ Take Downs and the Rest of Us: Do they matter, (Tue, Feb 27th)

        Last week, the US Department of Justice published a press release entitled "Justice Department Conducts Court-Authorized Disruption of Botnet Controlled by the Russian Federation's Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU)". The disruption targeted a botnet built using the "Moobot" malware. According to the press release, this particular botnet focused on routers made by Ubiquity, using well-known default credentials.

        &

      ‘They called us Ukrainian pigs’: Kyiv says Russian Red Cross employees have mocked and humiliated POWs in occupied territories — Meduza

      Kremlin spokesman says direct conflict between Russia and NATO ‘inevitable’ if troops from alliance’s countries sent to Ukraine — Meduza

      • New York Times ☛ Wednesday Briefing: Russia Warned Against NATO Troops in Ukraine

        Plus, the latest on a possible cease-fire in Gaza.

      • New York Times ☛ Russian Court Sentences Leader of Memorial Rights Group to Prison

        Oleg Orlov, 70, a co-chairman of Memorial, which shared the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for speaking out on the Ukraine war.

      • New York Times ☛ Russia Warns Against NATO Ground Intervention in Ukraine

        The warning came in response to comments by President Emmanuel Macron of France, who said “nothing should be ruled out” when asked about the possibility.

      • New York Times ☛ In Ukraine, Russia Is Inching Forward Death by Death

        Russian forces have an unorthodox view of acceptable levels of military losses, with a willingness to expend troops and equipment to make even small gains on the battlefield.

      • LRT ☛ Sending Lithuanian troops to training missions in Ukraine possible – adviser

        Lithuanian officials are considering the possibility of sending Lithuanian troops to Ukraine to train the country’s troops, but support in the form of weapons and ammunition remains the main priority for the time being, Kęstutis Budrys, a presidential adviser, has said.

      • France24 ☛ Russia jails veteran activist Orlov of Nobel-winning Memorial rights group

        A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced top human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov to two and a half years in jail for denouncing Russia's assault on Ukraine.

      • France24 ☛ 'Not at war with Russia': European, US allies taken aback by Macron's comments on troops in Ukraine

        French President Emmanuel Macron faced uneasy reactions from European allies and a warning from the Kremlin on Tuesday after he refused to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

      • France24 ☛ Ukraine's Zelensky arrives in Balkans ahead of security conference

        Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Albania late Tuesday ahead of a security conference, his first visit to the Balkan nation since Russia's invasion.

      • Atlantic Council ☛ The ‘Voice of Poland’ appeals to Americans on Ukraine: ‘Now is the moment to act’

        Having grown up in a Poland under Soviet communist rule, Sikorski sees the battle as one against a new array of autocrats.

      • Atlantic Council ☛ No opposition candidates allowed in Belarus dictator’s “sham” elections

        Sunday’s parliamentary and local elections in Belarus were among the most flawed in the thirty-year reign of the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, writes Hanna Liubakova.

      • The Strategist ☛ Ukraine’s ambassador: we need more help from Australia

        On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of his country, Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko has delivered a blunt and heartfelt message to Australia—Ukraine is fighting our war.

      • Stanford University ☛ ‘Unpunished evil grows’: Ukrainian leaders warn of international complacency

        Two years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian military and political leaders addressed an audience at the Freeman Spogli Institute on Friday, calling for increased Western aid.

      • The Kent Stater ☛ Biden meets with top Hill leaders as partial government shutdown looms

        The meeting President Joe Biden held with four top congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday was “one of the most intense I’ve ever encountered,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, as leaders in two branches of government attempt to compromise on Ukraine funding and work to avert a partial shutdown.

      • YLE ☛ Finnish energy giant Fortum files legal action against Russia

        Fortum, which is majority-owned by the Finnish state, accused Russia of ”hostile actions”. It has lost billions of euros' worth of investments in the country.

      • RFERL ☛ Bosch, Sony Closing Their Last Specialized Stores In Russia, Says Report

        Electronics giants Bosch and Sony are closing their last specialized stores in Russia, Kommersant reported on February 27.

      • RFERL ☛ Russia Adds Self-Exiled Former Lawmaker To Terrorists Registry

        Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service on February 27 added self-exiled former lawmaker Gennady Gudkov to its list of terrorists and extremists on unspecified grounds.

      • RFERL ☛ Internet Outages In Russia Hit Some Social Media, But Instagram, Facebook (Farcebook) Come Back

        Telegram, the most popular messaging app used in Russia, suffered a temporary outage on February 27 for unexplained reasons while some previously blocked social control media apps including Instagram and Facebook (Farcebook) suddenly became available in Russia.

      • LRT ☛ American singer LP appears with Russia flag hoodie, concert in Lithuania cancelled

        On Monday evening, American singer LP (Laura Pergolizzi), who was due to perform in Lithuania on March 4, surprised her fans by sharing a video on Instagram where she was wearing a hoodie decorated with the colours of the Russian flag and the words “LP Russia Official”. On Tuesday afternoon, Kaunas Žalgiris Arena announced the cancellation of the singer’s concert.

      • LRT ☛ Lithuania expects to start inspecting Russian grain shipments on March 14

        The Agriculture Ministry expects stricter inspections of grain imports from Russia and other high-risk countries to begin on March 14.

      • RFERL ☛ Russian Veteran Rights Defender Oleg Orlov Sentenced To 2 1/2 Years In Prison

        The Golovinsky district court in Moscow sentenced Oleg Orlov, the co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Memorial human rights center, to 2 1/2 years in prison for "repeatedly discrediting" Russian armed forces involved in the Kremlin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

      • RFERL ☛ Moscow Court Freezes Bank Accounts Of Wife Of Self-Exiled Anti-War Writer Akunin

        A Moscow court has frozen bank accounts with 6 million rubles ($64,400) belonging to Erika Chkhartishvili, the wife of prominent Russian writer Boris Akunin, which is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili.

      • RFERL ☛ Anti-War Teen Activist Sent To Pretrial Detention On Charge Of Discrediting Russian Military

        A court in Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, has sent an 18-year-old activist to pretrial detention on a charge of repeatedly discrediting Russian armed forces involved in Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

      • Latvia ☛ Interest in joining National Guard trails off, more urged to join

        Interest in joining the National Guard (Zemessardze), Latvia's part-time militia, has waned, following an upsurge in the immediate aftermath of the Rusian invasion of Ukraine, reported LTV February 26.

      • Latvia ☛ Russian tourists in 2024? No thanks, says Latvia

        Latvia's government on February 27 decided to extend restrictions on the entry of Russian citizens to the country given Russia's continuing aggression in Ukraine and it "still posing threat to the internal security of Latvia".

      • Stanford University ☛ ‘Unpunished evil grows’: Ukrainian leaders warn of international complacency

        Two years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian military and political leaders addressed an audience at the Freeman Spogli Institute on Friday, calling for increased Western aid.

  • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • Reason ☛ China and Iran Have Their WikiLeaks Moment

      Hackers have unmasked some of the tactics Beijing and Tehran use to silence their opponents.

  • Environment

    • Energy/Transportation

      • European Commission ☛ Commission recommends that Member States continue saving gas to secure supplies and stabilise markets

        European Commission Press release Brussels, 27 Feb 2024 Gas savings by businesses and citizens across the EU have made an important contribution to tackling the energy crisis, spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago

      • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese electric carmaker BYD lands shipment in Germany as company expands exports

        Thousands of cars from China’s BYD rolled off a ship in the German port of Bremerhaven on Monday, as the world’s biggest electric carmaker brought its challenge directly to Europe’s auto making powerhouse.

      • YLE ☛ Finland's appetite for foreign garbage grows

        Despite warnings from the EU Commission over the practice, Finland has increased its capacity to burn waste for heat and electricity.

    • Wildlife/Nature

      • Science Alert ☛ Colorado Man Dies After a Nip From His Venomous Pet Lizard

      • YLE ☛ Court overturns lynx hunting permits for Eastern Finland

        The court ruled that the Finnish Wildlife Agency's justifications for granting exceptional permits were insufficient.

    • Overpopulation

      • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s fertility rate dropped to record low in 2023 [Ed: That's now fertility; that's Koreans getting smart(er) enough to 1) not want kids; 2) know how to avoid getting pregnant. Countries with low birth rates tend to be vastly better off from an economic and health perspective; it works both ways. Also, child mortality is low, spares not needed. Low birth rates are not a health issue.]

        South Korea has been the only OECD member to have a rate below 1.

  • Finance

    • The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: More Malaysians are opting for gig work. Here’s why it may be a problem

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia Edition: Bersih asks reformist PM Anwar to deliver | Worrying rise in gig workers

    • YLE ☛ Apartment prices continue downward slide

      Housing prices are expected to pick up towards the end of the year, according to the Pellervo Economic Research Institute's forecast.

    • YLE ☛ Gambling problems rise despite decline in players

      Problem gambling has significantly increased, according to the THL.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Thoughtworks shares plunge 28%+ on fourth-quarter earnings miss

      Shares of Thoughtworks Holding Inc. dropped more than 28% today after the technology consultancy posted fourth-quarter results that missed analyst expectations. Chicago-based Thoughtworks helps enterprises modernize their information technology infrastructure. Its professionals can optimize a company’s database environment, build new applications and take on other software projects.

  • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • RFA ☛ Disappeared ex-foreign minister Qin Gang ‘steps down’ as lawmaker

      Fired defense minister Li Shangfu's name removed from ruling party's military arm, as state secrets law passes.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang resigns as lawmaker after abrupt removal from office last year

      China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang, who was abruptly removed from office last year and has not been seen in public since, has resigned as a lawmaker, according to state media.

    • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

      • Scoop News Group ☛ Sen. Warner: US is less prepared to secure the 2024 election than 2020

        The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence chair expressed concerns about foreign intervention this election cycle and chided Biden lawyers for taking a “cautious” approach on social control media misinformation.

  • Censorship/Free Speech

    • RFA ☛ Exclusive: Chinese authorities release dozens of Tibetans arrested for dam protests

      Strict restrictions on movement and surveillance on outside communication continue in Dege county.

    • Techdirt ☛ No One Cares That Bill Ackman’s Wife May Have Plagiarized; They Care About Ackman’s Hypocritical Double Standard

      Earlier this year, we wrote about outspoken financier Bill Ackman’s threat to sue Business Insider over articles regarding accusations by the publication that Ackman’s wife, Neri Oxman, had plagiarized parts of her dissertation years ago. The timeline and context of what happened here is important because Ackman continues to ignore it.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China broadens law on state secrets to include 'work secrets'

      Chinese lawmakers have expanded Beijing's state secrets law for the first time since 2010, widening the scope of restricted sensitive information to "work secrets" according to a full text of the law published online, state media reported.

    • Reason ☛ Most Justices Seem Skeptical of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws

      The Supreme Court seems inclined to recognize that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment.

  • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

    • Techdirt ☛ The Vice Media Collapse Was Entirely The Fault Of Incompetent, Fail-Upward Brunchlords

      As we survey the rubble that once was the U.S. journalism industry, a common refrain involves lamenting that “online journalism just isn’t profitable.” But as the recent collapse of outlets like Sports Illustrated and The Messenger illustrate, the real culprit often isn’t that journalism isn’t profitable, it’s that U.S. media is predominantly run by utterly incompetent individuals who fail upward into positions of power.

  • Civil Rights/Policing

    • EFF ☛ EFF to D.C. Circuit: The U.S. Government’s Forced Disclosure of Visa Applicants’ Social Media Identifiers Harms Free Speech and Privacy

      EFF recently filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit urging the court to reverse a lower court decision upholding a State Department rule that forces visa applicants to the United States to disclose their social media identifiers as part of the application process. If upheld, the district court ruling has severe implications for free speech and privacy not just for visa applicants, but also the people in their social media networks—millions, if not billions of people, given that the “Disclosure Requirement” applies to 14.7 million visa applicants annually.

      Since 2019, visa applicants to the United States have been required to disclose social media identifiers they have used in the last five years to the U.S. government. Two U.S.-based organizations that regularly collaborate with documentary filmmakers around the world sued, challenging the policy on First Amendment and other grounds. A federal judge dismissed the case in August 2023, and plaintiffs filed an appeal, asserting that the district court erred in applying an overly deferential standard of review to plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims, among other arguments.

      Our amicus brief lays out the privacy interests that visa applicants have in their public-facing social media profiles, the Disclosure Requirement’s chilling effect on the speech of both applicants and their social media connections, and the features of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X that reinforce these privacy interests and chilling effects.

    The Law Doesn’t Protect Immigrant Dairy Workers in Substandard Housing

    Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s lawsuit last month against a large dairy farm over alleged labor abuses, including millions of dollars in unpaid wages, was unusual in more than one way. It was his office’s first wage theft lawsuit against a dairy farm. And it put a spotlight on another issue that’s widespread but rarely addressed: substandard housing for immigrant dairy workers.

    According to the attorney general’s complaint, workers at Evergreen Acres Dairy lived in “squalid” conditions, including in converted barns and a garage, that did “not meet Minnesota’s standards for habitability.” Several living spaces lacked heat. There was no toilet in one barn where workers lived. Photos included in the complaint show bathroom and bedroom walls covered in mold, disconnected sink pipes and cockroach infestations.

    • RFERL ☛ After 18 Months Of Detention, Jailed Iranian Rapper Asks To Be Executed

      Jailed Iranian dissident rapper Saman Yasin, who was detained in 2022 and has detailed harrowing accounts of physical and psychological torture he has endured, has made a plea from prison to Iran's judiciary to "issue my death sentence" rather than continue holding him indefinitely without a trial.

  • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

    • APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: OARC 42

      Geoff Huston presented 'Is the DNS ready for IPv6?' at the DNS-OARC 42nd Workshop held in Charlotte, USA on 8 and 9 February 2024.

    • APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: NANOG 90

      Geoff Huston presented on BGP at NANOG 90 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA from 12 to 14 February.

    • APNIC ☛ China’s NXDOMAIN data: Part 2 — Prominent domain patterns from QAX recursive resolver

      Guest Post: Analysing the causes and impacts of erroneous domain names in China.

  Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Digital Music News ☛ Exclusive: TuneCore Is Suing CD Baby Over Allegedly Stolen Trade Secrets — Federal Judge ‘Temporarily Enjoins’ the Defendant Distributor from Using the Information

    Believe’s TuneCore is suing CD Baby over allegedly stolen trade secrets, and as part of the heretofore little-discussed lawsuit, a federal judge has “temporarily enjoined” the defendant company “from knowingly disseminating and/or using any of TuneCore’s confidential information.”

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Former AMD GPU head accuses Nvidia of being a 'GPU cartel' in response to reports of retaliatory shipment delays

    Nvidia's retaliatory shipments delays are more common than one might think, says AMD's VP Scott Herkelman, who used to work at Nvidia.

  • Trademarks

    • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is TABLEAU for Wine Confusable with TABLEAU for Bar Services?

      The USPTO refused registration of the mark TABLEAU for wine, finding confusion likely with the identical mark registered for "restaurant and bar services; cocktail lounges." Applicant Caymus Vineyards argued that the Office failed to prove the "something more" required to establish relatedness between these goods and services, and further argued that, of the 600,000 restaurants in the U.S., the Office's evidence of third-party overlapping use constituted only “25 ten-thousands of one percent, or fewer than one in 10,000." How do you think this came out? In re Caymus Vineyards, Serial No. 97040804 (February 22, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Wendy B. Cohen).

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ Sony Music Says It’s Reached a Settlement in the Copyright Recapture Suit Filed by Southside Johnny and Others

      Sony Music Entertainment (SME) says it’s reached a settlement in the class-action copyright monopoly recapture lawsuit levied by Southside Johnny (real name John Lyon), New York Dolls founding member David Johansen (known also as Buster Poindexter), the professional behind the namesake Paul Collins’ Beat, and others.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ OpenAI to court: New York Times’ lawsuit used evidence obtained through hacking [Ed: Headlines repeating Microsoft lies and projections]

      OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, asked a U.S. federal judge on Monday to dismiss a majority of a copyright monopoly lawsuit lodged against it by the New York Times in December, alleging that the Times paid someone to hack its service to create misleading evidence in the case.

    • Public Domain Review ☛ The Age of Impoliteness: Galateo: or, A Treatise on Politeness and Delicacy of Manners (1774 edition)

      An English translation of an influential 16th-century Italian etiquette guide. Its proposition is simple but difficult to get right: politeness is the art of pleasing others.