Leftovers

• Science

  • CER ☛ Everyday Equitable Data Literacy is Best in Social Studies, far more than in STEM

    We want students to be data literate. We want them to be able to understand, critique, and argue with data, both visualizations and tables.

  • Hackaday ☛ Low-Cost Cryocooler Pumps Out Cheap DIY Liquid Nitrogen

    A word of caution if you’re planning to try this cryocooler method for making liquid nitrogen: not only does it involve toxic and flammable gasses and pressures high enough to turn the works into a bomb, but you’re likely to deplete your rent account with money you’ll shell out for all the copper tubing and fittings. You’ve been warned.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Nitric Acid Is The Hot New Way To Pick Locks

    Lockpicking is a grand skill to have, and one that’s often presumed to be one of the dark arts of the burglar. However, a new technique has come to the fore in some European contexts. It appears nitric acid is being used to damage locks to allow criminals to gain entry into residential premises.

  • Hackaday ☛ Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The 24-Hour Macro Pad

    They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but this great little music-controlling macro pad by [nibbler] actually was. Why? Because as Hackaday’s own [Donald Papp] reminded us, we all need a win sometimes, especially as projects drag on and on without any end in sight.

  • CNX Software ☛ Qsen-07 multi-sensor wireless board can detect CO2, VOC, temperature, humidity, ambient light, and attitude

    The Qsen-07 multi-sensor board is an ESP32 wireless development board that combines several useful sensors into one device, making it easier to control, monitor, and enhance your home environment. It is a recent product from China-based hardware company, Maker Go, and integrates seamlessly with ESPHome and Home Assistant.

  • Hackaday ☛ Congratulations To The 2024 Business Card Challenge Winners!

    When you ask a Hackaday crowd to design a business card, you should expect to be surprised by what you get. But still, we were surprised by the breadth of entries! Our judges wracked their brains to pick their top ten, and then we compared notes, and three projects rose to the top, but honestly the top ten could have all won. It was a tight field. But only three of the entries get to take home the $150 DigiKey gift certificates, so without further ado…

  • Hackaday ☛ How The Bell System Was Built

    We’ve often thought that while going to the moon in the 1960s was audacious, it was just the flashiest of many audacious feats attempted and accomplished in the 20th century. Imagine, for a minute, that the phone system didn’t exist today, and you stood up in front of a corporate board and said, “Let’s run copper wire to every home and business in the world.” They’d probably send you for a psychiatric evaluation. Yet we did just that, and, in the United States, that copper wire was because of the Bell system, which [Brian Potter] describes in a recent post.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Latvia ☛ Some emergency team services will get more costly in Latvia

    The Emergency Medical Service's (NMPD) paid services will get more expensive, according to changes to the institution's price list prepared by the Ministry of Health (VM), LETA reports.

  • New York Times ☛ South Korea Bans Everything Bagel Seasoning

    The seasoning is sold by Trader Joe’s, a brand whose popularity has skyrocketed in the region in recent years.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Tuskegee syphilis study whistleblower Peter Buxtun has died at age 86

    By MIKE STOBBE NEW YORK (AP) — Peter Buxtun, the whistleblower who revealed that the U.S. government allowed hundreds of Black men in rural Alabama to go untreated for syphilis in what became known as the Tuskegee study, has died.

  • France24 ☛ As Europe prepares for summer holidays, WHO warns that the Covid-19 era is far from over

    With three out of four Europeans planning on travelling over the summer, the era of border closures, mandatory testing and vaccine certificates seems a half-remembered nightmare to many. But with more than 1,700 people still dying every week across the world from Covid-19 and vaccine coverage declining among at-risk populations, according to the WHO, the pandemic isn't something that can just be spoken about in the past tense.

  • WhichUK ☛ Covid summer wave: what does it mean for travel insurance?

    The level of pandemic-related cover offered by travel insurers varies, so always read the small print before buying

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Rethinking productivity measurement in the age of AI

    Executives are laser-focused on how generative artificial intelligence can have an impact on employee output. As the chief strategy officer for a DevSecOps software company, GitLab, I spend a lot of time speaking with customers about AI’s impact on software development.

  • Salesforce cuts 300 jobs to streamline operations

    Salesforce Inc. has cut around 300 roles to streamline operations, emphasizing the tech industry's ongoing focus on cost control, reports BNN Bloomberg.

  • Salesforce Layoffs: Tech giant trims 300 jobs amid restructuring efforts

    Salesforce’s recent workforce reduction is part of a broader trend within the tech industry, which has seen numerous companies announcing major job cuts in an effort to control costs following years of rapid expansion. Several large tech companies have announced significant reductions this month alone: [...]

  • Salesforce Slashes 300 Jobs, Emphasizes Cost Control Amid Tech Slowdown: Report

    Salesforce, Inc. CRM reportedly cut around 300 roles to streamline operations, highlighting the tech industry’s ongoing focus on cost control.

  • EA to slash 6 percent of its workforce

    In a continuing trend, EA joins the growing list of companies downsizing their workforce to cut costs, reduce office space, and allay investor fears in the face of an impending recession. The downsizing would impact 800 employees, stated the video game company on Wednesday.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Latvia ☛ Signature collection ongoing for Fentanylware (TikTok) ban in Latvia

    A signature collection is ongoing on the public initiative portal "Manabalss.lv" to block access to the popular social network "TikTok" in Latvia, LSM.lv reports.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ YouTube releases tools that make TikTok-style video creation easier [Ed: Lowering the quality some more]

    I know many, especially in my millenial generation, neither understand nor like that Fentanylware (TikTok) is as popular as it is.

  • Reason ☛ Report from Israel: Israelis Aren't Out for Vengeance, But For Safety and Security

    One constant refrain I have seen in the media since Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre is that Israel is seeking "revenge" in Gaza, or "retaliating" for Oct. 7. Israel, by contrast, asserts two primary motivations--return of its hostages, and the defeat of Hamas to restore Israeli security.

  • France24 ☛ Assad's party expected to remain in power as Syrians vote in parliamentary poll

    Syrians headed to the polls on Monday to vote in their fourth parliamentary election since civil war broke out in 2011. President Bashar al-Assad's ruling Baath party, backed by its secular left-wing and Arab nationalist allies, are running virtually unopposed and are expected to remain in power. Syria's exiled opposition last week condemned the election as "absurd", with only Syrians living in government-held areas who are aged 18 and over, and holding an identity card eligible to vote.

  • The Record ☛ Feds break into suspected Trump shooter’s phone

    The bureau did not specify the brand of the phone, how it was locked or how they broke into it. Officials had told reporters Sunday that Crooks’ phone had been shipped to the bureau’s lab in Quantico, Virginia.

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar rebel army calls ceasefire after junta airstrike

    One person died and 10 were injured in the attack on a Shan state town.

  • RFA ☛ More than half of South Koreans reject ‘defector’ labels for North Korean escapees

    The official terms have a negative connotation, survey respondents say.

  • New York Times ☛ They Were Told They Were in a Safe Area. Then Came the Missiles.

    Survivors of a strike in Gaza on Saturday that Israel said had targeted Hamas’s top military leader described a scene of carnage, with fire, smoke, blood and bodies everywhere.

  • The Straits Times ☛ A senior North Korean diplomat defected to South Korea from Cuba, Chosun Ilbo says

    SEOUL - A senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, a South Korean newspaper said on Tuesday, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to the South since 2016.

  • RFA ☛ China's plenary session won't offer genuine change, analysts say

    Doubts about official rhetoric claiming reform is Pooh-tin Jinping's 'magic weapon' to boost economic growth.

  • RFA ☛ Woman faced backlash for claiming sexual harassment by Uyghur leader

    Activist says she was accused of aiding China after alleging such conduct within the human rights movement.

  • RFA ☛ ‘People’s court’ issues arrest warrant for Pooh-tin Jinping

    The tribunal finds China’s leader guilty of crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity and genocide.

  • RFERL ☛ China Denies Building Military Base In Tajikistan

    The Chinese Embassy in Dushanbe on July 15 denied media reports that Beijing is building a military base in Tajikistan, calling the reports “groundless.”

  • France24 ☛ China's ruling Communist Party kicks off key four-day economic meeting

    China's ruling Communist Party on Monday kicked off a key four-day meeting led by President Pooh-tin Jinping that is focused on the economy, state media reported. The meeting is expected to outline economic policy amid concerns about the country's business environment and restrictions on access to American technology.

  • The Strategist ☛ Chinese soldiers gear up for winter warfare

    China is putting great effort into developing its soldiers’ ability to operate in high-altitude and cold environments, increasing its military capacity relative to India.

  • Defence Web ☛ SAPS has destroyed over 260 000 firearms since 2019

    On Friday 12 July, the South African Police Service announced the destruction of 14 595 firearms and firearm parts, emphasizing that the service “remains relentless in its efforts to detect and permanently remove illegal firearms and ammunition in circulation.”

  • JURIST ☛ President Biden announces review on security measures following Trump assassination attempt

    US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he ordered a review of the security measures for a rally in Pennsylvania where former President Donald Trump was injured and one spectator was killed.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ FACT FOCUS: A look at false claims around the assassination attempt on former President Trump

    By MELISSA GOLDIN and DAVID KLEPPER The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, who is running for reelection, is fueling a range of false claims and conspiracy theories as authorities seek information about the 20-year-old shooter’s background and motive, how he obtained the AR-style rifle he fired at Trump and security at the venue [...]

  • New York Times ☛ Secret Service Faces Questions of Trump’s Protection at Shooting Site

    Overlapping investigations will focus on the decisions the protection agency made before and immediately after bullets nearly hit former President Trump directly.

  • Hackaday ☛ Reverse-Engineering A Shahed-136 Drone Air Data Computer

    An air data computer (ADC) is a crucial part of an avionics package that can calculate the altitude, vertical speed, air speed and more from pressure (via pitot tubes) and temperature inputs. When your airplane is a one-way attack drone like Iran’s Shahed-136, you obviously need an ADC as well, but have to focus on making it both cheap and circumvent a myriad of sanctions. As [Michel] recently found out while reverse-engineering one of these ADCs. Courtesy of the Russo-Ukrainian war, hundreds of these Shahed drones are being destroyed every month, with some making it back down again intact enough for some parts to end up on EBay.

  • New York Times ☛ J.D. Vance on Where He’d Take the Republican Party

    In a long conversation, the first-term senator from Ohio talks about Trump, populism, the 2020 election, Ukraine and the Republican V.P. slot.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ The Taiwan Snub

    In addition to abandoning Ukraine in the RNC platform, Trump's party also abandoned its former commitment to help defend Taiwan.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ J.D. Vance’s Opposition to U.S. Support for Ukraine: In His Own Words

      “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other,” Senator Vance has said.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Battles to Contain Russian Advances Across the Front

      Russian forces appear to have captured Urozhaine, a southern village taken back by Ukraine last summer. In the east, they are closing in on a key supply road.

    • RFERL ☛ 'Fugitive' Ukrainian Soldier Shot At Moldovan Border

      Ukraine's main investigative office said on July 15 that it was looking into the circumstances surrounding the death in the Odesa region of a serviceman who it suggested was shot after going AWOL and trying to get to Moldova illegally along with three other men.

    • RFERL ☛ Kazakh Anti-War Activist Summoned To Police Over Online Rap Song

      Kazakh anti-war activist Maria Kochneva told RFE/RL on July 15 that Almaty city police summoned her over performing a rap song online that was critical of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Needs 25 Patriot Systems, Maps Out Plans For 2nd Peace Summit

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on July 15 that Ukraine needs 25 Patriot missile defense systems as he outlined three steps toward a second international peace summit at his first press conference since attending the NATO summit in Washington last week.

    • RFERL ☛ Trump Chooses Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Opponent Of Ukraine Aid, To Be His Running Mate

      Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has chosen Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a vocal critic of U.S. aid to Ukraine, as his running mate, putting the 39-year-old political newcomer on the ticket for the November 5 U.S. election.

    • RFERL ☛ Moscow Court Sentences U.S. Journalist Masha Gessen To 8 Years In Prison In Absentia

      A Moscow court on July 15 sentenced Russian-American journalist, writer, and outspoken Kremlin critic Masha Gessen to eight years in prison on a charge of distributing "false" information about Russia's military.

    • New York Times ☛ Masha Gessen Sentenced in Absentia by Russian Court to 8 Years in Prison

      Masha A. Gessen was found guilty of spreading “false information” and sentenced to eight years in prison over remarks made in 2022 about the Russian military.

    • RFERL ☛ Cyberexperts Predict Pro-Russia Hackers Will 'Almost Certainly' Target Paris Olympics

      Finland-based cybersecurity firm WithSecure has warned that the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics "faces a greater risk of malicious cyber activity than previous Olympics."

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Sentences Self-Exiled Former Municipal Lawmaker To 7 1/2 Years In Prison

      A Moscow court on July 15 sentenced self-exiled former municipal lawmaker Yelena Kotyonochkina to 7 1/2 years in prison in absentia on a charge of distributing false information about Russia's military.

    • RFERL ☛ Latvia Bans Entry Of Passenger Cars With Belarusian License Plates

      Latvia's State Revenue Service says that, as of July 16, passenger cars registered in Belarus will be barred from entering the European Union through crossing points along the Baltic state's borders with Belarus and Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ Gas Explosion Reportedly Kills 5 In Russia's Chechnya

      Media reports in Russia said on July 15 that a gas explosion in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya killed five people.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian General Charged With Fraud Transferred To House Arrest

      A military court in Moscow court on July 15 ruled to transfer jailed Major General Ivan Popov from pretrial detention to house arrest.

    • RFERL ☛ Yandex Split Finalized As Russian Assets Sold In $5.4 Billion Deal

      A deal to split the assets of Russian technology company Yandex was finalized on July 15, with a Russian consortium of investors buying the bulk of Yandex's businesses in a cash and shares deal worth around $5.4 billion.

    • LRT ☛ US presence in Baltics ‘crucial’, Lithuanian president tells congressmen

      In his meeting with two US congressmen, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda insisted on “the crucial role of US presence in the Baltics as a deterrent against Russian aggression”.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ This might be NATO’s greatest struggle yet—and it’s global

      At its Washington summit, NATO acknowledged how China and Russia are working together to revise the global order. But what will the Alliance do about it?

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Kaspersky to shut down US operations following Commerce Department ban

      Nearly a month after the U.S. Commerce Department announced that it was banning Kaspersky Lab Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Russian antivirus software maker Kaspersky from selling its software in the U.S., Kaspersky Lab has announced it’s closing its U.S. business and laying off its employees.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian lawmakers want to ban adoption by citizens of countries that allow gender transitions. What would this mean for the children involved? — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ What’s happening with the ruble and yuan in Russia one month after the Moscow Exchange halted dollar and euro trading? — Meduza

    • LRT ☛ Kaunas unveils statue of Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon

      A new statue of Alexander Jagiellon (Aleksandras Jogailaitis), a fifteenth-century Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, was unveiled in Kaunas on Monday. Cast of bronze in Kyiv, the statue is a present from the businessman Pranas Kiznis.

    • Latvia ☛ Belarus-registered cars banned from entering Latvia as of Tuesday

      From Tuesday, July 16, vehicles registered in the Republic of Belarus will be banned from entering Latvia, the State Revenue Service (VID) said. The ban is included in the 8th European Union (EU) sanctions package against Belarus.

    • RFERL ☛ Anti-Putin Shaman Loses Appeal Against Refusal To Get Transferred To Less Restrictive Psychiatric Clinic

      The Primorye regional court in Russia's Far East on July 15 rejected the appeal against a lower court's refusal in May to transfer Yakut shaman Aleksandr Gabyshev to a less restrictive psychiatric clinic.

    • JURIST ☛ Grenade thrown at Ukrainian military draft office in Busk, no injuries

      Local police announced Monday that an unknown person launched a grenade at a military recruitment office in the Ukrainian town of Busk, leading to an explosion. No injuries were reported.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia ministry of defense claims capture of Ukraine village Urozhaine, 155 reported dead

      Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported via its Telegram broadcast channel that its forces captured the Ukrainian village of Urozhaine on Sunday. The village, located in the Donetsk region, was seized by Russian forces early in the February 2022 invasion but was liberated in August of last year, according to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania ending free tuition for Ukrainian students

      The Lithuanian government will no longer be covering tuition fees for Ukrainian refugees, but some universities and colleges say Ukrainian students will still be able to study for free.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • New York Times ☛ J.D. Vance Is an Oil Booster and Doubter of Human-Caused Climate Change

      He once said society had a climate problem but changed his position sharply while seeking Donald Trump’s endorsement in his Senate race.

• Finance

  • JURIST ☛ Afghanistan dispatch: success of new Taliban financial laws requires more engagement with international community

    Law students and young lawyers in Afghanistan are reporting for JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding the name of  our correspondent filing this dispatch.  

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Press Gazette ☛ Update: Family court reporting pilot widens to include private family disputes

    Journalists have wider discretion to report what they witness at family courts.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Dale Vince libel claim against Daily Mail publisher thrown out by High Court

    Judge says Vince's case against the Mail was "bound to fail".

  • RFA ☛ Vietnam jails Facebook (Farcebook) user for 7 years for ‘insulting Ho Chi Minh’

    Pham Van Cho was arrested in February and had to surrender mobile devices.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Media payments and freebies for Labour ministers: David Lammy tops the table

    Labour's shadow cabinet has not disclosed any meetings with media executives.

  • Michael Geist ☛ The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 209: Peter Menzies on Why the Canadian News Sector is Broken and How to Fix It

    It isn’t news that the Canadian news sector is broken: the Online News Act has caused more harm the good, the dependence on government funding and regulation has grown dramatically and undermined public trust, and implementing Bill C-18 has become mired in controversy. Peter Menzies spent three decades as a working journalist and newspaper executive, most notably with the Calgary Herald where he served as its editorial page editor, editor in chief and, finally, publisher. He then spent another 10 years at the CRTC, including four as Vice Chair of Telecommunications.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong should prepare ‘civil force’ to counter Western criticism over human rights, lawmakers say

    Hong Kong should prepare a “civil force” to rebut criticism from the West over the city’s human rights record, which has been repeatedly called out since Beijing imposed a security law in 2020, multiple lawmakers have said.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ A comprehensive review of RIR policies in the domain of ASN management

    Guest Post: Comprehensively examining various RIR policies and their ASN assignment and allocation practices.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ China to the US: If you won’t regulate SEPs, we will

    In an opinion piece written for the IAM website, Jonathan Stoud highlights what the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) letter to Avanci means to standards leadership.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Rothschild entity, Mobile Health, fitness monitor patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On July 15, 2024, three weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 11,468,984, owned and asserted by Mobile Health Innovative Solutions, an NPE and Leigh M. Rothschild entity. The ’984 patent monopoly relates to a mobile unit that analyzes a user's load levels.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ Facet traffic recognition patent monopoly challenge instituted

      On July 15, 2024, three weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 9,671,328, owned and asserted by Facet Technology Corp., an NPE.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ Cleveland Guardians Attack CLEVELAND SPIDERS for Clothing: Summary Judgment Motion Fails on Fraud, Succeeds in Part on Nonuse

    Major League Baseball's Cleveland Guardians trace their history back to a 19th Century team called the Cleveland Spiders. Applicant Adam Barrington's application to register the mark CLEVELAND SPIDERS and the two marks shown immediately below, for various clothing items, was met with an opposition by the Guardians, who alleged, inter alia, fraud, nonuse, and likelihood of confusion with the registered marks CLEVELAND and C for clothing. The Guardians then moved for summary judgment on the fraud and nonuse claims, with limited success. Cleveland Guardians Baseball Company, LLC v. Adam Barrington, Opposition No. 91277995 (June 21, 2024) [not precedential].

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ The Major Labels Are Suing Verizon — Infringement Complaint Targets Subscribers’ Alleged P2P and BitTorrent Piracy

    The major labels are suing Verizon over the alleged “pervasive” copyright monopoly infringement of its internet subscribers – with an emphasis on “P2P file-sharing networks” and BitTorrent itself.