Leftovers

• DragonFly BSD Digest ☛ Lazy Reading for 2024/05/19

  No mini-theme this week. Soft Electronics.  Linked for the physical designs.  (via) Magic Numbers.  What shaped the 1500 byte Ethernet MTU. Languages as Symbols.  (via) Odie Directory.  Found Surveillance Giant Google Docs turned into HTML.  (also via) NON-OBJECTIVE.  All sorts of neat clock faces.

• Hackaday ☛ Radio Caroline At 60

  In the 1960s, if you were a teenager in the United States, a big part of your life was probably music. There was a seemingly endless supply of both radio stations and 45s to keep you entertained. In the UK and other countries, though, the government held a monopoly on broadcasting, and they were not always enthralled with the music kids liked. Where there is demand, there is an opportunity, and several enterprising broadcasters set up radio stations at sea, the so-called pirate radio stations. In 1964, Irish businessman [Ronan O’Rahilly] did just this and founded Radio Caroline. Can you imagine that 60 years later, Radio Caroline is still around?

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ The Solar Storm Was So Intense We Felt It Even at The Bottom of The Ocean

    That was unexpected!

  • Hackaday ☛ Rediscovering The Nile: The Ancient River That Was Once Overlooked By The Egyptian Pyramids

    Although we usually imagine the conditions in Ancient Egypt to be much like the Egypt of today, back during the Holocene there was significantly more rain as a result of the African Humid Period (AHP). This translated in the river Nile stretching far beyond its current range, with many more branches. This knowledge led a team of researchers to test the hypothesis that the largest cluster of pyramids in the Nile Valley was sited along one of these now long since vanished branches. Their findings are described in an article published in Communications Earth & Environment, by [Eman Ghoneim] and colleagues.

• Hardware

  • Tedium ☛ Defeating Mouse Lint

    The rise of the optical mouse, a device so good at its job that it effectively killed off the rubber ball, and the sometimes questionable people who invented it.

    Here’s something that you, as a computer user, likely have not had to do in a long time: Open up the mouse, and clean out the grime that had built up on the rollers over the last couple of months, revealing that no, your desk is not as clean as you believe it to be. No, it’s not because your desk got cleaner. Rather, it’s because we figured out that optical mice were significantly better designs, because they could work in many more settings, in fact, without even requiring a mouse pad. So, what was the aha moment where the ball mouse lost out to the optical one? And how did it happen? Today’s Tedium ponders a mouse-design murder.

  • Hackaday ☛ [Scott Manley] Explains GPS Jamming

    We always think of [Scott Manley] as someone who knows a lot about rockets. So, if you think about it, it isn’t surprising he’s talking about GPS — after all, the system uses satellites. GPS is used in everything these days, and other forms of navigation are starting to fall by the wayside. However, the problem is that the system is vulnerable to jamming and spoofing. This is especially important if you fear GPS allowing missiles or drones to strike precise targets. But there are also plenty of opportunities for malicious acts. For example, drone light shows may be subject to GPS attacks from rival companies, and you can easily imagine worse. [Scott] talks about the issues around GPS spoofing in the video, which you can see below.

  • Hackaday ☛ This WiFi Filament Sensor Is Unnecessary, But Awesome

    As desktop 3D printers have inched towards something resembling the mainstream, manufacturers have upped their game across the board. Even the quality of filament that you can get today is far better than what was on the market in the olden days, back when a printer made out of laser-cut birch wasn’t an uncommon sight at the local makerspace. Now, even the cheap rolls are wound fairly well and are of a consistent diameter. For most folks, you just need to pick a well-reviewed brand, buy a roll, and get printing.

  • Hackaday ☛ Lost Foam Casting In Action

    Even though not all of us will do it, many of us are interested in the art of casting metal. It remains a process that’s not out of reach, though, especially for metals such as aluminium whose melting points are reachable with a gas flame. The video below the break takes us through the aluminium casting process by showing us the lost-foam casting of a cylinder head for a BSA Bantam motorcycle.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti with memory mod easily beats RTX 4080 in Superposition benchmark

    The benefits of faster memory on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super have been ably demonstrated by Brazilian YouTubers. Hardware tinkerer Paulo Gomes and the overclocking team at TecLab both memory-modded RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics cards and overclocked the GPU to boost performance.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ When Tramiel left Commodore for Atari

    Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel leaving Commodore for rival Atari was one of the more surreal events of the 1980s home computer scene. Jack resigned after a disagreement with Irving Gould, Commodore’s chairman at the time.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ High-Potency Cannabis Linked to Dramatically Higher Risk of Psychotic Episodes

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Confirm Microplastics Now Detected in Human Testicles

    Very concerning.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • James G ☛ The backdoored Windows 98 Manual

    This afternoon, I went to a charity shop in search of books. I was hoping to find an old encyclopedia, for I am curious to learn more about printed encyclopedias of past times. In my search of the shelves of books, with my head angled so I could read every book title, I found something else that brought significant delight: an instruction manual for the backdoored Windows 98 operating system.

    I used backdoored Windows 98 briefly when I learned about computer emulation, excited by the idea that I could use operating systems from the past rather than exclusively watch YouTube videos about them. I installed backdoored Windows 98 and played around with the system, taking delight in how different the user interface is from today.

  • Remy Van Elst ☛ Qt 5.15 LTS on backdoored Windows without a Qt Account [Ed: Extra barriers of proprietary software]

    I recently had to setup a backdoored Windows development environment with Qt 5.15.

• Defence/Nationalism

  • New York Times ☛ Chinese Firms Face Authoritarianism at Home and Hostility Abroad

    The experience of TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, in Beijing and Washington shows how much the ground has shifted for China’s entrepreneurs.

  • New York Times ☛ Biden’s Morehouse Commencement Speech Draws on Themes of Manhood and Faith

    The president’s appearance at the historically Black college in Atlanta drew some respectful but noticeable protest over U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong environmental authorities give conditional green light to planned tech hub on China border

    Hong Kong’s environmental authorities have conditionally approved an ecological report into a planned technology hub near the city’s border with mainland China, giving the project the go ahead despite green groups’ concerns.

  • The Straits Times ☛ UN warns of further ‘atrocities’ in Myanmar

    Clashes have rocked Rakhine since the Arakan Army attacked security forces in November.

  • University of Michigan ☛ UMich Board of Regents discuss protests, divestment and promotions

    The University of Michigan Board of Regents met Thursday afternoon via Zoom to discuss their continued investment in companies with financial ties to Israel, development of technology to combat media generated by generative artificial intelligence and staff promotions this year. 

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea to boost nuclear deterrence after US test

    It did not elaborate on what measures it would consider.

  • RFERL ☛ Slovak PM's Condition Upgraded To Positive Prognosis Following Assassination Attempt

    Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, remained in serious condition on May 19 but has been given a positive prognosis four days after he was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt that has sent shockwaves across the deeply polarized European Union nation.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Saudi crown prince postpones Japan trip over king’s health

    The trip set to start on May 20 was to have been the crown prince’s first visit to Japan since 2019.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Daniel Pocock ☛ Veteran of successful Upfield Railway campaign backs Galway-Sligo Western Railway Corridor

      The Upfield railway line in Melbourne, Australia was condemned to extinction three times by two successive Governments. Fortunately, due to the most vigorous pressure from the community, the Government backed down each time.

      Nonetheless, as every other railway in Melbourne was upgraded to electronic signalling and automatic boom gates, the Upfield line continued to operate with human gatekeepers who sit in a little hut and come out to move the gates. In other words, residents of the inner north were left with the feeling that the railway was on life support, on the verge of obsolescence.

      By the mid-1990s, the trains were no longer operating any later than 7pm while other lines had train service up to midnight. People felt it was only a matter of time before they trains would stop for good.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • JURIST ☛ China authorities announce investigation of government minister

    Tang Renjian, China’s Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, is under investigation for violations of discipline and law, the country’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced on Saturday.

  • RFA ☛ Lai Ching-te sworn in as Taiwan’s president

    He won January’s election with 40% of votes, annoying China which regards Taiwan as part of its territory.

  • RFA ☛ Chinese agents highly active in democratic Taiwan, dissidents say

    2 exiled dissidents say they have been approached and followed multiple times since fleeing to the island.

  • RFA ☛ Conform or be canceled

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines says China should allow scrutiny of disputed shoal

    Manila refers to Scarborough Shoal as the Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China sanctions US firms over arms sales to Taiwan

    They are barred from engaging in China-related import or export activities.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan president Lai Ching-te says peace is the only option, no concessions on freedom

    China's state media warned that Mr Lai could become “more and more provocative”.

  • New York Times ☛ New Taiwan President Lai Ching-te Faces Big Challenges

    President Lai Ching-te has vowed to stay on his predecessor’s narrow path of resisting Beijing without provoking it. It won’t be easy.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan swears in new leader Lai Ching-te as pressure from Beijing grows

    By Dene-Hern Chen and Amber Wang Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te was sworn in on Monday as president of the democratic island in the face of growing Chinese military pressure and a hostile parliament.

  • The Straits Times ☛ New Taiwan president Lai Ching-te calls on China to stop its threats

    China's state media warned that Mr Lai could become “more and more provocative”.

  • Daniel Pocock ☛ Laura Smyth's journey from Belfast to Canberra: Irish and Australian politics

    One of the next questions that comes up in discussions with voters is the question of nationality. Is a representative who lived in multiple countries and holds multiple passports going to be more useful or less useful than somebody who only lived in Ireland and only holds one passport?

    There are various factors for voters to think about.

    For starters, anybody born in Northern Ireland has the right to both British and Irish citizenship. Anybody else holding an Irish passport also has rights in the UK that are almost on par with citizenship, including the right to vote and stand for public office. This creates a whole range of possibilities for people to move between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and make their own contribution to public life. I don't hold a British passport and I am not in one of the categories of people who can automatically obtain one.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • dwaves.de ☛ Twitter is bad? facebook + Instagram: full of fake profiles and false information – no one cares? – sciandnature.com scam fake science news site that tries to mimik nature.com

    • Off Guardian ☛ Screams for Billions – A Topical Fantasy

      Recently, billionaire Sheryl Sandberg (ex-COO of Meta/Facebook) released a roughly 60-minute film purporting to explore “the sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023.” Though denoted a “documentary,” the film (helmed by Israeli director Anat Stalinksy) is in fact a pastiche of falsehoods, debunked claims, slipshod interviewing and unverified Israeli propaganda.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ Delaware Court on the First Amendment Exception to "Speech Integral to Criminal Conduct"

    "Some courts have incorrectly used this exception to rationalize upholding a statute that criminalizes speech ... simply because their legislature passed a law labeling it criminal. The limited line of United States Supreme Court cases that have addressed this exception in no way supports such a broad reading."

  • CS Monitor ☛ President Biden addresses Israel-Hamas protests in Morehouse speech

    President Joe Biden addressed Morehouse College graduates on Sunday, acknowledging their protests over the Israel-Hamas war and describing the conflict’s scenes in Gaza as heartbreaking. His speech is part of a broader effort to reconnect with Black voters, whose support was crucial in the 2020 election.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Weibo blocks hashtag of new Taiwan president’s name

    A hashtag bearing the name of outgoing Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen was also blocked.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

• BBC ☛ 'Decisive' day for Assange extradition battle

  Julian Assange is under "enormous pressure" as he awaits a ruling on his right to appeal against extradition to the US, his wife says.

  Stella Assange told the BBC that Monday would be a "decisive" day in the Wikileaks founder's protracted legal battle.

  If the High Court rules against him, Ms Assange says the 52-year-old could be on a plane to the US in as little as 24 hours.

  She said her husband would then seek an emergency injunction from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as a last-ditch attempt to halt the extradition.

  US authorities say Mr Assange endangered lives by publishing thousands of classified documents.

• Mirror UK ☛ Julian Assange fails to attend court hearing that could decide extradition fate due to health issues - Mirror Online

  Assange has spent the last five years languishing in a British prison trying to avoid being extradited to the US where he faces charges of espionage after his website Wikileaks published a trove of classified information

Civil Rights/Policing

• JURIST ☛ France president declares state of emergency in New Caledonia amid violent protests

  French President Emmanuel Macron declared a state of emergency in New Caledonia Friday for the violent protests breakout. The protests have resulted in almost 200 arrests, dozens of injuries and at least four deaths since Wednesday. Protestors have been setting businesses and cars on fire, and shooting rifles to cause widespread panic. 

• JURIST ☛ Peru protesters call for repeal of legislation classifying transgender identities as mental illnesses

  Hundreds of demonstrators marched Friday in Peru’s capital Lima to call for the repeal of recent legislation that classifies transgender individuals as having a mental illness to provide them access to health benefits.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

• APNIC ☛ Verify MANRS compliance automatically with ROSE-T

  Guest Post: New first-of-its-kind open source tool can verify MANRS compliance automatically.

• APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: SANOG 41 / INNOG 7

  APNIC actively participated in SANOG 41, held jointly with INNOG 7 in Mumbai, India from 25 to 30 April 2024.

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

• Digital Music News ☛ Would People Buy More Vinyl If It Were More Sustainable?—Maybe

  The explosive years of vinyl’s recent growth trend have drawn down—is now the time for more sustainable vinyl to take center stage? A new survey reveals consumer interest in sustainable vinyl is at an all-time high. Here’s the latest.