Leftovers

• New York Times ☛ Search Underway in Greece for British TV Doctor Michael Mosley

  Mr. Mosley, a popular science journalist, disappeared while on a walk on the Greek island of Symi. He was last seen at a bus stop on Wednesday afternoon.

• Hackaday ☛ Linamp, The IRL Winamp

  Anyone who first experienced music on computers using Winamp probably shares a memory of seeing that classic UI for the first time. Everything about it was a step ahead of the clunky, chunky interfaces we were used to, and even though it was supposed to be unobtrusive, it was hard to tear your eyes off that silky-smooth spectrum analyzer bouncing out your favorite MP3s.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ New Discovery Challenges Everything We Thought We Knew About Giraffe Necks

    "It’s a loooong story."

  • Science Alert ☛ Newly Found Dinosaur Seems to Have Had Arms Even Smaller Than T. Rex

  • Science Alert ☛ Ancient Cauldrons Were Used For Collecting Blood, Scientists Discover

    A revelation preserved for millennia.

• Hardware

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Intel phasing out hyper-threading

    Hyperthreading will be disabled on all Lunar Lake CPU cores, including both performance and efficiency cores. Why? The reason is complicated, but basically it’s no longer wanted as defective chip maker Intel strives to maximize power efficiency in portable laptops.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ One Stage of Sleep Seems to Be Critical For Reducing Risk of Dementia

  • Science Alert ☛ One Patient's Long COVID Improved After Taking Hallucinogens in Therapy

    A near complete recovery worth exploring further.

  • Off Guardian ☛ The Latest “Bird Flu” Death is “Covid” All Over Again

    Yesterday, the mainstream media widely reported that a new strain of Bird Flu had claimed its first victim, a 59-year-old man from Mexico. The big news here is that the strain allegedly responsible, H5N2, had allegedly never before been detected in humans.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Preparing Bird Flu Vaccines For Humans in Case of Pandemic

    We need to be ready.

  • Science Alert ☛ Poor Nutrition Could Be Behind Cases of Antenatal Depression. Luckily, There's a Solution.

    Are you getting enough micronutrients?

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • New York Times ☛ How the Humane Hey Hi (AI) Pin Flopped

    Humane’s Ai Pin was supposed to free people from smartphones, but sales have been slow. Now Humane is talking to HP and others about a potential sale.

  • Neowin ☛ An indie game company used a LA billboard to slam recent layoffs from big publishers

    Right now, lots of major and smaller game publishers and developers, along with members of the media, are in Los Angeles. While the E3 trade show is no longer a thing, they are still gathering to attend events like today's Summer Game Fest, Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase, Ubisoft Forward, and more.

    While these events are meant to hype up and celebrate what's coming next in the video game industry, the fact is that it has also suffered from lots of layoffs and game studio closures at nearly every major publisher over the past year. So, in the middle of all this video game promotion in LA, the indie game publisher New Blood Interactive decided to inject some cold reality for those who will be in town.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Meta faces backlash in Europe over training Hey Hi (AI) with Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram data

      Noyb, the European Center for Digital Rights, today filed complaints in 11 European countries to prevent Meta Platforms Inc. from going ahead with its plan to train its artificial intelligence products on personal posts and images taken from the Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram accounts of its European user base.

    • NYOB ☛ Two are better than one?! Kurier forced users to give their consent

    • EFF ☛ Security, Surveillance, and Government Overreach – the United States Set the Path but Canada Shouldn’t Follow It

      C-26 is not identical to US national security laws. But without adequate safeguards, it could open the door to similar practices and orders.

      As researchers and civil society organizations have noted, however, the legislation contains vague and overbroad language that may invite abuse and pressure on ISPs to do the government’s bidding at the expense of Canadian privacy rights. It would vest substantial authority in Canadian executive branch officials to (in the words of C-26’s summary) “direct telecommunications service providers to do anything, or refrain from doing anything, that is necessary to secure the Canadian telecommunications system.” That could include ordering telecommunications companies to install backdoors inside encrypted elements in Canada’s networks. Safeguards to protect privacy and civil rights are few; C-26’s only express limit is that Canadian officials cannot order service providers to intercept private or radio-based telephone communications.

    • EFF ☛ EU Council Presidency’s Last-Ditch Effort For Mass Scanning Must Be Rejected

      EFF strongly opposes this proposal, put forward by the Belgian Presidency at the EU Council, which is part of the EU’s executive branch. Together with European Digital Rights (EDRi) and other groups that defend encryption, we have sent an open letter to the EU Council explaining the dangers of the proposal. The letter asks Ministers in the Council of the EU to reject all proposals that are inconsistent with end-to-end encryption, including surveillance technologies like client-side scanning. 

      The Belgian proposal was debated behind closed doors, and civil society groups have only recently been able to even evaluate and discuss the proposal after it was leaked to the press. 

      Users who don’t agree to the scanning will be forbidden from sharing images or links.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Russia, China wrangle with US over UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire plan

    The US is seeking international support for the plan that Hamas is still studying.

  • Reason ☛ When a North Carolina Colonel Shot This Utility Worker, Journalists Suggested His Victim Was a Spy

    The reaction to Ramzan Daraev’s death is an extreme example of anti-immigrant panic and national security paranoia.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Two British judges quit Hong Kong’s top court

    HONG KONG - Two British judges on Thursday resigned from Hong Kong's top court, around one week after a landmark verdict in which 14 prominent democratic activists were convicted for subversion amid a national security crackdown on dissent in the financial hub.

  • RFERL ☛ 2 Men Detained In Georgia For Possible Links With Islamic State

    Georgia's State Security Service said on June 6 that its officers detained two men in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi for illegal firearms possession and for possible links with the extremist Islamic State group.

  • RFERL ☛ Concerns Grow For Detained Iranian Activist As His Whereabouts Remain Unknown

    The family of Hossein Shanbehzadeh, said they do not know where the Iranian literary editor and activist is after security officers arrested him for unknown reasons in the northwestern city of Ardabil.

  • RFA ☛ Vietnam’s National Assembly appoints new public security minister

    Luong Tam Quang was the only person put forward by the prime minister

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • CS Monitor ☛ As EU elections near, migrants surge again at Poland-Belarus border

      Poland accuses Belarus and its ally Russia of pushing migrants toward the EU, sometimes as many as 400 a day. Poland claims that this is part of Moscow’s plan to disrupt the EU just before the elections.

    • New York Times ☛ Mitch McConnell: D-Day’s Lesson Impels Us to Deter Russia and China

      On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, we are forgetting the lessons of World War II.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Detains a French National Suspected of Collecting Military Data

      The detention is the latest in a series in which foreigners have been arrested or held against their will in Russia, exacerbating tensions with the West.

    • The Strategist ☛ Old and new lessons from the Ukraine War

      Two years ago, I outlined eight lessons from the Ukraine War. Though I warned that it was too early to be confident about any predictions, they have held up reasonably well.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Allies stand with Ukraine as Russian threat looms over D-Day anniversary

      Putin has tried to justify his invasion of Ukraine by portraying Ukrainians as Nazis. But as this week's D-Day anniversary made clear, it is Putin himself who is seen as the greatest single threat to peace in Europe since Adolf Hitler, writes Peter Dickinson.

    • France24 ☛ Macron to supply Ukraine with Mirage 2000-5 warplanes and train pilots and troops in France

      France will transfer Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine and train their Ukrainian pilots as part of a new military cooperation with Kyiv as it fights the Russian invasion, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday.

    • RFERL ☛ Macron Promises To Send Mirage Combat Aircraft To Ukraine

      French President Emmanuel Macron says France will provide Ukraine with Mirage combat aircraft to help the country defend against Russia's aggression.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. Urges China To Attend Peace Summit On Ukraine

      The United States is urging China to attend a planned summit on Ukraine this month in Switzerland, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told reporters on June 6.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Seeks Damages From Russia For Nova Kakhovka Dam Sabotage

      Ukraine's hydroelectric company Ukrhydroenerho said on June 6 it had initiated international arbitration seeking damages for Russia's destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and power station in June 2023.

    • RFERL ☛ 'We Will Not Walk Away From Ukraine,' Biden Pledges At D-Day Commemoration

      U.S. President Joe Biden, marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, said the free world stands with Ukraine and won't cave in to Russian aggression, drawing a parallel with the Allies' fight to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany's subjugation in World War II.

    • The Straits Times ☛ US encourages China to attend peace summit on Ukraine

      WASHINGTON - The United States encourages China to attend a planned summit on Ukraine this month in Switzerland, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told reporters on Thursday, with China thus far saying it will stay away as Russia had not been invited.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Ukraine’s push on border integrity

      To win the war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tries to revive a global norm on the sovereignty of national boundaries.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Shares Emotional Moment With U.S. Veteran at D-Day Ceremony

      The veteran, Melvin Hurwitz, embraced the Ukrainian president and called him “the savior of the people.” Mr. Zelensky told Mr. Hurwitz that he and his fellow World War II veterans had “saved Europe.”

    • New York Times ☛ In Normandy, Biden Linked the War in Ukraine With D-Day

      Also, an Israeli strike killed dozens in central Gaza. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

    • New York Times ☛ Biden’s D-Day Speech Links Fight for Ukraine With Allied Efforts

      Speaking in Normandy, the president argued that similar principles were at stake in both wars: the defense of freedom and a rules-based international order.

    • New York Times ☛ A Ukrainian City Becomes a Target of a New Russian Offensive

      Residents of Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, repelled Moscow’s forces in 2022. Now, after months of punishing airstrikes, Ukrainian officials say the Kremlin is preparing a new offensive.

    • Meduza ☛ The shallows One year after the Kakhovka dam disaster, a Ukrainian photographer captures the exposed riverbed and ruined villages left behind — Meduza

    • Atlantic Council ☛ On D-Day, beware the ‘new axis’

      The United States and its allies confront a purposeful set of powerful adversaries in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia convicts US-Russia dual citizen on grounds of ‘rehabilitating Nazism’ over social control media posts

      A court in St. Petersburg convicted and sentenced dual US-Russian Yuri Malev citizen to three and a half years in prison Wednesday on charges of “rehabilitating Nazism” for social control media posts which were allegedly disrespectful towards the military.

    • LRT ☛ Russian propaganda targets Baltics’ energy policies – study

      Mediaskopas, a media monitoring company, presented on Thursday a study analysing Russian propaganda reports on Lithuania's energy independence efforts.

    • RFERL ☛ Cuba Says Russian Nuclear Sub To Dock In Havana Next Week

      A Russian nuclear-powered submarine will visit Havana next week, Cuba's communist authorities said on June 6.

    • RFERL ☛ German Luxury Car Dealers Raided Over Alleged Russian Sanctions Violations

      German customs investigators and the public prosecutor's office took action on June 6 against the suspected illegal export of luxury cars to Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ French Citizen Detained In Moscow On Suspicion Of Collecting Military Data

      A French man has been detained in Moscow on suspicion of collecting information related to the activities of Russia's armed forces, the Russian Investigative Committee said on June 6.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. Soldier Goes On Trial In Russia On Charges Of Theft, Threatening To Kill

      U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, who was arrested in the Far East city of Vladivostok in early May, went on trial on June 6 in a case that further complicates relations between Moscow and Washington.

    • RFERL ☛ 1 Dead, Dozens Injured After Trams Collide In Siberia

      Authorities in the Siberian city of Kemerovo said on June 6 that one person died and more than 100 people were injured after a tram driver lost control of the vehicle and slammed into another tram.

    • RFERL ☛ Polish Soldier Stabbed By Migrant At Belarusian Border Dies

      A Polish soldier stabbed by a migrant at the border with Belarus has died, the army command said on June 6.

    • RFERL ☛ Serbia Transfers Belarusian Journalist To House Arrest

      Serbian authorities have transferred Belarusian journalist, filmmaker, and political activist Andrey Hnyot from jail to house arrest.

    • RFERL ☛ German National Goes On Trial In Belarus On Mercenary Charge

      The Vyasna rights group said on June 6 that German citizen Rico Krieger went on trial in Belarus on charges of being a mercenary, terrorism, creating an extremist group, intentionally damaging a vehicle, and illegal operations with firearms, ammunition, and explosives.

    • Meduza ☛ Man shot dead in Moscow, state investigators dismiss earlier reports of contract killing — Meduza

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • DeSmog ☛ No Environmental Review Required for Canada’s Largest Carbon Capture Proposal

    • DeSmog ☛ Labour Under Pressure for Reselecting Climate Denial Group Director as Election Candidate

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • ACLU ☛ Trump on Immigration: Tearing Apart Immigrant Families, Communities, and the Fabric of our Nation

    On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has promised to pursue even more extreme anti-immigrant policies if he wins a second term. These policies would disregard fundamental principles of democracy and the rule of law to devastate immigrant communities and erode freedoms for all Americans.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ Lawsuit Filed by Jewish Students Against UCLA

    The case is Frankel v. Regents, filed yesterday; two of the plaintiffs are UCLA law students. (I have not been involved in the lawsuit, and first heard about it today, the day after it was filed.)

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US lawmakers urge Surveillance Giant Google to restore protest song ‘Glory to Hong Kong,’ saying tech firm over-complied with injunction

    Two US politicians have urged Surveillance Giant Google to restore access to protest song Glory to Hong Kong, after Hongkongers were geo-blocked from viewing it on YouTube following a court injunction.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Charges against warden, guards at Wisconsin’s Shawshank-like prison renew calls to close it

    The prison at Waupun has long been a target for closure given concerns about deterioration, extended lockdowns and staffing shortfalls.

  • Reason ☛ Mike Solana: Can San Francisco Be Saved?

    Pirate Wires Editor in Chief Mike Solana discusses the lessons of San Francisco's politics, his vision for the future, and his critiques of libertarianism.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Interscope, Hulu, and Others Move to Dismiss ‘Dear Mama’ Infringement Suit Following ‘Pure Fantasy’ Settlement Demands

    Following evidently fruitless settlement discussions, Universal Music Group’s Interscope Records has officially taken a step towards seeking the dismissal of an infringement lawsuit filed by Tupac Shakur collaborator Master Tee.

  • Digital Music News ☛ What Are The Most Manipulated Songs of 2024?

    Hundreds of modified audio tracks are uploaded to social control media each day. Pitch shifting, speed up, slow down, and more are popular methods of track modification. But what are the most manipulated songs of 2024? Social media trends drive the creation of modified audio tracks, especially on TikTok.

  • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

    • The Verge ☛ Best Buy is shutting down its Samsung repair program

      It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for people who want ways to get their Samsung phone fixed, between revelations about the company’s onerous repair shop contracts and a failed iFixit contract renegotiation. To add to that, Best Buy’s Geek Squad is in the middle of shutting down its Samsung authorized service provider program (ASP), which lets certain Best Buy stores repair your phone with genuine Samsung parts, tools, and training.

    • New Statesman ☛ How the smartphone ruined live music

      But it would be wrong to say that something isn’t lost by inhaling all of a show’s magic at home. Part of what makes going to these shows exceptional is the surprise in the renditions, the staging, the mash-ups, the production, the choreography. They are as much about theatre and spectacle as they are about the music itself. It’s a ceremony. Without even trying, every nook and cranny of the entire experience can easily be excavated online.