Leftovers

• EFF ☛ Careful with your marshmallows 🔥

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  We’re back with the final story from our friends, The Encryptids, who have come out of the woodwork to celebrate EFF’s summer membership drive! These creatures may be mysterious, but your digital rights shouldn’t be.

• Ruben Schade ☛ A return to computing innocence

  There is, nowadays, a collective bout of nostalgia happening, this article notwithstanding. I have already talked in a previous issue of this magazine about the wonders that an old DOS system, coupled with a rusty copy of WordStar, did to the creativity of George R.R. Martin. Imagine this: just you and your words, in a laconic white-over-black screen, without any distractions (because there cannot be any, as a matter of fact.) The length and breadth of his creation have now an easy explanation. I consider this return to innocence a required vacation for our brains, a way to escape an ever-growing complexity, or simply a mechanism to appreciate the goodness of our current computing world.

• Science

  • Reason ☛ "What Should a Court Do When Faced with a 40-Year-Old Conviction Resting on Science That Has Now Been Wholly Discredited?"

    A longish and interesting opinion by Justice Sotomayor, regarding the Court's decision not to review the matter for now (McCrory v. Alabama).

  • Science Alert ☛ Changing a Single Gene Gave Mice Supercharged Hearing

    Shh, they'll hear you.

  • Science Alert ☛ How Often Should You Weigh Yourself? An Expert Explains.

    Make it a habit.

  • Science Alert ☛ Missing Dwarf Galaxies Found Near The Milky Way in The Worst Place

    Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?

  • Science Alert ☛ Brains of The Living And The Dead Don't Read Key Genes in The Same Way

    Our brains change when we die.

  • Science Alert ☛ Horrific Bee Sting Leaves Barbed Stinger Hiding in a Man's Eyeball

    Serious ouch alert.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Whole Surface of This Hellish Moon Is Covered in Lakes of Lava

    The hottest destination in the Solar System.

  • Science Alert ☛ Trillionth of a Second Shutter Speed Camera Captures Chaos in Action

  • Science Alert ☛ Gravitational Wave Research Reveals Missing Details on The Mysterious Antikythera Mechanism

    From black holes to Greek calculators.

  • Science Alert ☛ FDA Approves Eli Lilly's New Alzheimer's Drug For Early Disease Symptoms

    "The kind of advancement we've all been waiting for."

  • Science Alert ☛ Hurricane Beryl Highlights Dangers of Rapid Intensification. How Does This Happen?

    An alarming start to an exceptionally active season.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Make A Cheap Robot Mower Much Smarter

    The Parkside range of tools as sold in European Lidl stores may be reasonably priced, but it contains some products of far better quality than their modest cost would suggest. This means that Parkside hacking has become as much of a cottage industry as IKEA hacking, and they’re a firm favorite for modifications. [Gabriel-LG] has taken a Parkside robot mower, and converted it from a relatively mundane device to a fully-connected smart robot, with the aid of an ESP32.

  • CNX Software ☛ Allwinner T527 digital signage and Smart Display board offers HDMI, eDP, MIPI DSI, and LVDS display interfaces

    MYiR Tech’s MYD-LT527-SX is a board designed for digital signage and Smart Display applications based on the MYC-LT527 Allwinner T527 system-on-module from the company and offering a range of display interfaces namely HDMI, eDP, MIPI DSI and dual-channel LVDS. The digital signage board builds upon MYiR Tech’s MYD-LT527 development board with a larger design featuring many of the same ports (dual GbE, USB 3.0, audio jack, HDMI output), and plenty of connectors for expansion including additional USB 2.0 interfaces, speaker and microphone, RS232, RS485, CAN Bus, and more.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • NYPost ☛ Mexican cartel violence could drive up prices of avocados in the US

    Get ready to shell out some avoca-dough. Cartel violence could drive up the price of avocados for Americans after the US Department of Agriculture suspended its inspections of the so-called “green gold” in a Mexican state over security concerns.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] Egypt blames Hajj deaths on 'unregistered' Mecca arrivals

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] Germany: 80 evacuated after building deemed unsafe

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • 344 Tech Firms Have Fired 100,000 Employees In 6 Months Of 2024

    As we know, the tech industry is experiencing a significant wave of job cuts, almost 1 lac employees got laid off from over 330 companies globally in the first half of 2024, according to the Layoffs.fyi.

  • Stellantis lays off 1,600 for temporary shift cut at Warren Truck plant

    Stellantis also said its Toledo South plant, which builds the Gladiator, will be down beginning July 8 to align production with sales, retool the plant for a new model and observe summer vacation. Production resumes Aug. 19.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Haiti gang violence displaced more than 300,000 children this year, UN says

    More than 300,000 children are displaced in Haiti since gangs forced out Prime Minister Ariel Henry and took over the capital Port-au-Prince earlier this year, UNICEF says. Many children, some of whom are forced to join gangs, are living in makeshift shelters and lack access to food, health care, clean water and sanitation, the agency says.

  • New York Times ☛ North Korea’s New Must-Have Accessory: The Kim Jong-un Pin

    With the introduction of the pin, Mr. Kim is said to be elevating his personality cult to the level once reserved for his father and grandfather.

  • New York Times ☛ North Korea’s Latest Missile Test Suggests Arms Race With South

    The North said it tested a missile with a “super-large warhead” on Monday. The South has similar missiles, meant to target underground bunkers.

  • RFA ☛ North Korea hails successful test of missile carrying super-large warhead

    South Korean military casts doubt on the North’s claim of success saying it could be a ‘deception’

  • The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: Why foreign retirees are losing interest in Malaysia’s residency visa scheme

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia court dismisses jailed ex-PM Najib’s bid to serve sentence under house arrest

    He said the former king's “addendum order” accompanied a pardons board’s decision to halve his sentence.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Robert Towne, Oscar-winning writer of ‘Chinatown,’ dies at 89

    Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of “Shampoo,” “The Last Detail” and other acclaimed films whose work on “Chinatown” became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, has died.

  • New York Times ☛ Robert Towne, Screenwriter of ‘Chinatown’ and More, Dies at 89

    Celebrated for his mastery of dialogue, he also contributed (though without credit) to the scripts of “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Godfather.”

  • RFA ☛ Philippines ‘ready’ to discuss continental shelf with Vietnam

    Manila says it is willing to explore a mutually beneficial solution to South China Sea issues with Hanoi.

  • RFA ☛ No Uyghurs from Xinjiang went on Hajj pilgrimage, data shows

    The apparent lack of participation is another example of China’s repression of Uyghurs, experts say.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China, Philippines agree to lower tensions in South China Sea, boost communications

    But analysts say there was little sign that either side was ready to back down on their sovereignty claims.

  • RFA ☛ Manila: Philippines, China agree to ‘de-escalate’ South China Sea tensions

    But both sides say “significant differences” remain on how to resolve their maritime dispute

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan says China seized fishing boat near Chinese coast

    The boat was operating near the Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands.

  • RFA ☛ US targets firms over training of Chinese fighter pilots

    The companies are tied to a South African flying school where Western ex-military allegedly trained Chinese pilots.

  • RFA ☛ China clamps down on social control media ahead of Dalai Lama’s birthday

    Beijing sees the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader as a ‘splittist.’

  • RFA ☛ Cleaning up our act

  • JURIST ☛ China immigration authorities issue new travel permit for Hong Kong and Macau residents

    The Exit and Entry Administration of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced Monday the issuance of a new travel permit for non-Chinese citizens of Hong Kong and Macau to facilitate the travelling procedures for those entering mainland China.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China gifts South Pacific nation Vanuatu new presidential palace in move likely to ignite concerns over Beijing’s reach

    The government of cash-strapped Vanuatu will soon settle into a suite of new buildings funded by China, a move likely to reignite concerns about Beijing’s reach in the South Pacific nation.

  • ADF ☛ Africa Corps Accused of Massacres in CAR Mining Communities

    ADF STAFF Authorities in the Central African Republic found a 19-year-old artisanal miner’s body burned and decapitated in the town of Koki, in the prefecture of Ouham.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s leader Pooh-tin Jinping heads to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan for state visits

    By James Edgar Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping left Tuesday for state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, during which he will attend a meeting of Shanghai alliance nations in the Kazakh capital Astana.

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Mexico, US Officials Agree on Security Plan to Protect Avocado Inspectors

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] UEFA Increases Field-Side Security at Euro 2024 Games After Selfie-Takers Pursue Cristiano Ronaldo

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] Canada Evacuates Maximum-Security Prison Due to Quebec Wildfires

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] Police prepare for major security operation in the run-up to the NATO 2025 summit

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • ADF ☛ Russia Sends 1,800 Fighters to Libya With Eyes on Greater Influence Across Africa

      Russia has deployed 1,800 fighters to eastern Libya in what it hopes will become a base of power to exert influence in other parts of the continent. Some of those deployed were Russian soldiers, and others were mercenaries with Russia’s Africa Corps, still widely identified by its former name, the Wagner Group.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Putin arrives in Kazakhstan for Russia-China dominated SCO summit

      Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for regional security and defence talks, the Kremlin said, as well as a series of bilateral meetings, including with Chinese and Turkish leaders.

    • RFA ☛ Xi heads to Central Asia amid waning Russian influence

      Once part of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan now look east.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Putin is using Belarus to escalate his nuclear threats

      Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is increasingly using Belarus to escalate his nuclear intimidation tactics against the West, writes Peter Dickinson.

    • The Strategist ☛ From the bookshelf: ‘Deterring Armageddon: a biography of NATO’

      In April the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or more precisely the Washington Treaty that forms the basis for the alliance, turned 75.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Bombing Europe’s breadbasket: Russia targets Ukrainian farmers

      Russia is attempting to destroy Ukraine's agricultural industry as part of the Kremlin's plan to undermine the economic foundations of Ukrainian statehood and pave the way for the country’s subjugation, writes Hanna Hopko.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ US signals long-term support for Ukraine with new security pact

      The United States has signaled its long-term commitment to Ukrainian security with a new pact but the agreement is not a formal treaty and does not oblige the US to defend Ukraine, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

    • France24 ☛ Orban calls for Ukraine ceasefire to pave the way to peace talks

      Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Kyiv Tuesday, a day after he took over the EU's rotating presidency. A vocal critic of the EU's support for Ukraine, Orban urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider a ceasefire to accelerate an end to the war with Russia.

    • LRT ☛ Algeria replaces Russia as Baltics’ main metal supplier

      After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions, the cost of metals and other construction materials in Lithuania has doubled. Now, suppliers from Africa are filling the gap.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. To Provide $2.3 Billion In New Security Aid For Ukraine

      The United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on July 2 during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Pentagon.

    • RFERL ☛ China's Pooh-tin Arrives In Kazakhstan For State Visit, SCO Summit

      Since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many in Kazakhstan and elsewhere have considered statements from Chinese leaders regarding Kazakhstan and other Central Asian nations to be a message to Russia

    • RFERL ☛ Hungary's Orban Presents Zelenskiy With Cease-Fire Proposal On First Visit To Kyiv

      Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with a cease-fire proposal aimed at pausing fighting with Russia more than two years into Moscow’s all-out invasion.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Authorities Charge Suspects With Murder Following Kazakh Activist's Death

      A Kazakh political activist who was shot last month outside his home in Kyiv has died, his wife said.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Hungary as honest broker

      The EU member often at odds with the European Union assumes the bloc’s presidency and immediately befriends Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ In Ukraine War, Hey Hi (AI) Begins Ushering In an Age of Killer Robots

      Driven by the war with Russia, many Ukrainian companies are working on a major leap forward in the weaponization of consumer technology.

    • New York Times ☛ U.N. Panel Adds to Chorus Calling for Russia’s Release of Evan Gershkovich

      The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions said the Wall Street Journal reporter was being punished for covering the war in Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary Visits Ukraine

      Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, who has resisted European military and financial aid for Ukraine, met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

    • France24 ☛ UN panel finds Russia arbitrarily detained US reporter Evan Gershkovich

      A UN panel found Russia violated international law by jailing American reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him "immediately".

    • RFERL ☛ UN Experts Say Russia Violated International Law By Imprisoning U.S. Reporter Gershkovich

      UN human rights experts say Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him “immediately.”

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Court Labels Self-Exiled Journalist Nevzorov, Wife As 'Extremist Group'

      A court in St. Petersburg on July 2 labelled one of Russia's best-known TV journalists, Aleksandr Nevzorov, and his wife Lidia as "an extremist group" and ordered their property in the northwestern Leningrad region to be confiscated.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Northern Fleet Ships Arrive In Venezuela

      A group of Russian Navy Northern Fleet ships arrived on July 2 in Venezuela’s port city of La Guaira, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

    • RFERL ☛ Serbian-Russian Relations 'Very Good,' Vucic Says Following Deputy Foreign Minister's Visit

      Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called relations between Serbia and Russia "very good" following a July 2 meeting with Russian Deputy Foeign Minister Aleksandr Grusko in Belgrade.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Youth Freestyle Wrestling Team Coach Detained On Terrorism Charge

      The Russian Wrestling Federation said on July 2 that Moscow police detained Alisher Ismatzoda, a coach of the Russian youth freestyle wrestling team, on suspicion of facilitating terrorist activities.

    • RFERL ☛ Explosion In Residential Building Kills 1 Person In Russia's Bashkortostan

      Authorities in Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan said on July 2 that a gas explosion in a residential building killed a woman and injured four people, including two children.

    • RFERL ☛ 5 Tajik Men Deported From Russia Appear In Pretrial Detention In Tajikistan

      The parents of five young Tajik men from the volatile Gorno-Badakhshan region (GBAO) told RFE/RL on July 1 that the sons had been arrested and are being held in a pretrial detention in GBAO's capital, Khorugh, on unspecified charges.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China is building and testing lethal attack drones for Russia

      Providing Russia a Shahed-like attack drone would mark a deepening of Beijing’s support for Russia.

• Environment

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] Climate Change Makes India's Monsoons Erratic. Can Farmers Still Find a Way to Prosper?

  • TruthOut ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] Study Shows Geoengineering Attempts Could Cause Catastrophic Climate Effects

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] The Role of IPCC in Shaping National Policy on Climate Change Mitigation

  • TruthOut ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] At Global Climate Talks, Food Systems Changes Are Kept Off the Table

  • CBC ☛ 2024-06-25 [Older] Fire jumps N.L. river, prompting full evacuation of power-generating Churchill Falls

  • CBC ☛ 2024-06-25 [Older] Crews battle 'significant fire' at Anicinabe Park in Kenora, Ont.

  • Truthdig ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Inside Big Oil’s Business as Usual: Climate Failure and War Profits

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Mission 2025 Group Urges Governments to Set More Ambitious Climate Goals

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] Six Climate Protesters Run Onto 18th Green and Spray Powder, Delaying Finish of PGA Tour Event

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] In the Race to Replace Sen. Romney, Utah Weighs a Trump Loyalist and a Climate-Focused Congressman

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Age AU ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] Nuclear energy: Discourse gets juvenile when facts are so scarce

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] German Economy Minister Urges China to Shift From Coal Power

    • CBC ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Alberta oil and gas sector exceeded flaring limit in 2023, data shows

    • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] Strategic Energy Collaboration: Enhancing US-Bangladesh Initiatives

    • The Age AU ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Australia news LIVE: Grocery stores face billion-dollar fines; Nuclear energy debate to dominate return of parliament

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-25 [Older] Massachusetts Senate Debates Bill to Expand Adoption of Renewable Energy

• Finance

  • Off Guardian ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Mission Creep: How the Police State Acclimates Us to Being Modern-Day Slaves

  • CBC ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] From fast food to construction, employers turn more and more to temporary foreign workers

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • CBC ☛ 2024-06-27 [Older] With questions swirling about his future, Trudeau largely stays on message in speech to donors

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-06-25 [Older] California Governor Defends Progressive Values, Says They're an 'Antidote' to Populism on the Right

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] India's parliament: How diverse and gender-balanced is it?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Middle East updates: Baerbock says planning Lebanon visit

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] North Korea resumes sending trash-filled ballons south

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] North Macedonia's parliament elects Hristijan Mickoski as PM

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ The Supreme Court's Reasoning Prohibits the Deplatforming Limits that the Parties Care About

    As the Moody v. NetChoice majority noted, the parties focused on Facebook's and YouTube's main feeds. The majority similarly focused on those main feeds in its extensive discussion of First Amendment principles, and, as co-blogger Ilya notes, it left little doubt about the unconstitutionality of the Texas and Florida statutes as applied to them.

  • Reason ☛ Free Speech Unmuted: Moody v. Netchoice and Murthy v. Missouri

    Jane Bambauer and I quickly run down what happened in these two cases (both of which involved First Amendment challenges and social control media).

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Supreme Court puts content moderation on solid legal ground

    Civic and tech groups say a ruling this week indicates a growing consensus that social control media moderation is free speech.

  • Reason ☛ A Law Professor's Beef With a First Amendment 'Spinning Out of Control': Too Much Speech of the Wrong Sort

    Even as he praises judicial decisions that made room for "dissenters" and protected "robust political debate," Tim Wu pushes sweeping rationales for censorship.

  • Reason ☛ S. Ct. Will Decide: May States Require Age Verification to Access Porn Sites?

    The Court just agreed to hear this case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. You can read the majority and dissenting opinions in the Fifth Circuit here, and the petition, response, and reply here.

  • RFERL ☛ 'Harry Potter' In Belarusian On Hold Over Sanctions

    An independent Belarusian publishing house in exile says the British copyright monopoly holder of the Harry Potter books has refused to work with it, citing Western sanctions imposed on the Belarusian government.

  • Project Censored ☛ 2024-06-27 [Older] Refusing the Language of Silence

  • HRW ☛ 2024-06-23 [Older] New Mass Media Law Threatens Freedom of Speech, Information in Kazakhstan

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] DW Freedom of Speech Award

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Pakistan: Police arrest 23 after 'blasphemy' lynching

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • RFA ☛ 10 Cambodian environmental activists sentenced to prison

    The conspiring against the state convictions are ‘another crushing blow’ to civil society, observer says.

  • CBC ☛ 2024-06-24 [Older] Decades-long negotiations end as B.C. First Nation initials treaty

  • ACLU ☛ Trump’s Attacks on DEI Reveal Administration's Agenda for Second Term

    When Donald Trump’s administration ended in 2020, two-thirds of Americans believed that Trump had increased racial tensions in the U.S. The Trump administration’s sustained assault on political, civic, and legal efforts to promote racial justice and the administration’s transparent pursuit of an agenda based on white supremacy had pushed the country to its breaking point.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Stop bashing celebrity endorsements

    The United States hosts a distinct election culture. It has more freedom of speech than any other country on Earth, meaning citizens can voice their opinions without retribution.

  • JURIST ☛ Australia court ruling finds state legislator Fraser Ellis guilty on deception charges

    Australia’s Adelaide Magistrates Court found South Australian legislator Fraser Ellis guilty of four counts of deception on Monday for misuse of the accommodation allowance available to members of parliament.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-06-22 [Older] Can Greece's new six-day workweek be a model for others?

  • CBC ☛ 2024-06-25 [Older] Why the health-care sector is hiring temporary foreign workers like never before

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Quarterly Index: April - June 2024

    E-mail subscriptions to the TTABlog are available. Just enter your e-mail address in the box on the right to receive a daily update via Feedblitz. Please report any broken or inoperative links, as well as any errors and omissions, to the TTABlogger at jwelch at wolfgreenfield.com.

  • Right of Publicity

    • Digital Music News ☛ YouTube Unveils New Hey Hi (AI) Likeness Protections — Covering Soundalike Audio and More — for ‘Uniquely Identifiable’ First Parties

      In a move that could prove significant on the music rights side, YouTube is officially enabling first parties to demand the removal of unauthorized lookalike and soundalike content.

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • Me post too!

      I started panicking about not having a permanent posting record, i.e. one that I was rigorously archiving, copying to other "more permanent" media, etc.

      And then I remembered concluding falling into/for that cycle ridiculous.

    • Here I am

      I made it. I've been looking for this kind of place for so so long. I sometimes feel so exhausted I need somewhere to shout into the void. But then guilt comes in because I feel I owe the world a bit of light. I have plenty. I have a good life. But migraines can make me quite depressed and then I just feel I have to shut up about how dark things go inside. But then the migraine is gone and all is bright again. So sorry if I am going to sound dark at times here. This is my safe place where I can let the light rest for a bit.

    • A new beginning

      I was not allways called this, may i add... i had a digital life under a different handle before that i used for about 2 decades, but about two month ago i had an online encounter with somebody which in a way scared me into killing this old handle and the digital life that was associated with it. I removed every bit of information i could get hold on, deleted websites, closed mail and social media accounts.

    • 🔤SpellBinding: CEULMRH Wordo: DRAWL

    • a felting

      burlap around legs and heat and, you can't find enough hot water here. there are four or five needles that are to be applied over, and over, and over, into an interlocking to gasp out a breathless not. a gust rails the lonesomeward towards the four or five needles. there is a patch at the base of your neck awaiting a signal. your hand on a stopwatch, hearing the clack of needles and the clack of relays.

      pantograph rising into to contact, three, or four clacks: the shoe, felt and feeling, not on the bogie. stop looking down when i talk to you, you: oh, a double you — a mirror you, staring back at yourself. you put the needle into the mirror and it reaches the double you. you have three or four needles left and there are no longer any pages in your book of sorts. a needle to the chin finds its home yet you still commute the long way.

  • Technology and Free Software

    • Retro Tech Vernacular

      A few days ago I came across a YouTube rip of a 1994 VHS I had owned as a kid. I enjoyed watching the video and the memories it brought back, but I hadn't paid much attention to the video credits before. This time I noticed that the crew included a position to manage Internet presence and marketing, and the position was called "On-line Editor." I hadn't seen this hyphenated version of the term in decades, and I'd almost forgotten it had existed in the first place.

      Everyone is familiar with "online", and I think many people understand its origins, even those who have not used dial-up modems. "Online" is a shortening of the phrase "on the line", in reference to early networking and Internet access being performed over telephone lines. If your computer was connected to a modem and sending or receiving data, it was "on the line", or on-line. Soon the term was ubiquitous, to the point that the hyphen was dropped and the phrase became a single word.