Leftovers

• Tedium ☛ Fill In The _____

  Pondering the evolution of Mad Libs and Droodles—two iconic brain games from the 1950s that share an inventor.

• Hackaday ☛ Sealed Packs Of Pokémon Cards Give Up Their Secrets Without Opening Them

  [Ahron Wayne] succeeded in something he’s been trying to accomplish for some time: figuring out what’s inside a sealed Pokémon card packet without opening it. There’s a catch, however. It took buying an X-ray CT scanner off eBay, refurbishing and calibrating it, then putting a load of work into testing and scanning techniques. Then finally combining the data with machine learning in order to make useful decisions. It’s a load of work but [Ahron] succeeded by developing some genuinely novel techniques.

• Hackaday ☛ Do Your Research

  We were talking about a sweet hack this week, wherein [Alex] busts the encryption for his IP web cam firmware so that he can modify it later. He got a number of lucky breaks, including getting root on the device just by soldering on a serial terminal, but was faced with having to reverse-engineer a binary that implemented RSA encryption and decryption.

• Science

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-11 [Older] Being a 'night owl' might make your brain sharper

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-15 [Older] Astronauts are stuck on the International Space Station after yet more problems with Boeing’s beleaguered

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] Bigger animals don’t always have the biggest brains relative to body size – new research

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-18 [Older] Tiny animals use stolen genes to fight infections – and could fight antibiotic resistance too

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] Did plague really decimate Neolithic farmers 5,200 years ago, as a new study suggests?

• Hardware

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] Robot carers: redefining nursing for the 21st century

  • CNX Software ☛ The Blette Stick relies on Bluetooth 5.0 LE for off-grid messaging with up to 1.1km range

    The Blette Stick is a Bluetooth 5.0 LE USB-C dongle designed to be attached to an Android smartphone in order to provide off-grid messaging and GPS coordinates sharing capabilities with a range of up to 1.1km in case WiFi and cellular networks are down. CNX Software readers may also be familiar with Meshtastic devices relying on WiFi to connect to the smartphone with Bluetooth and to other nodes using LoRaWAN to enable off-grid messaging while trekking or during emergencies.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel says 13th and 14th Gen mobile CPUs are crashing, but not due to the same bug as desktop chips — chipmaker blames common software and hardware issues

    Intel's official statement highlights the reported instability issues on mobile 13th and 14th Generation processors.

  • Hackaday ☛ Working Through The Art Of Electronics Exercises

    [The Engineering Experience] has an ambitious series of videos. He’s working through circuit examples from the awesome book “The Art of Electronics.” In the latest installment, he’s looking at a pulse generator that uses bipolar transistors. So far, there are 43 videos covering different exercises.

  • Hackaday ☛ New Additive Manufacturing Contenders: HIP And Centrifugal Printing

    Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a field of ever-growing importance, with many startups and existing companies seeking to either improve on existing AM technologies or market new approaches. At the RAPID + TCT 2024 tradeshow it seems that we got two more new AM approaches to keep an eye on to see how they develop. These are powder-based Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) by Grid Logic and centrifugal 3D printing by Fugo Precision.

  • Djalel Oukid ☛ NovaCustom V56 Coreboot Laptop: Unboxing and First Impressions

    I covered the best GNU/Linux hardware with open-source firmware. One of the standouts was NovaCustom laptops. Recently, I received one of their upcoming coreboot laptops currently in pre-sale—the V56—for review. 

    Open-source firmware (coreboot) is a major selling point for NovaCustom laptops, but there's so much more to explore. This post focuses on the unboxing and first impressions of the V56.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ 39 million motherboards expected to be sold in 2024 — shipments recover to pre-pandemic levels

    Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock expect to sell 38.8 million motherboards in 2024, surpassing the 2019 record of 37.6 million units.

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-18 [Older] Drones could revolutionise the construction industry, supporting a new UK housing boom

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Reason ☛ EEOC Gets $110K Settlement for Employer's Ignoring Religious Accommodation Requests as to Vaccine Mandate

    From the EEOC: Hank's Furniture, Inc. (HFI), a nationwide furniture retailer, will pay $110,000 and furnish other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung has a warning – another pandemic is inevitable

    Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung has done battle with some of the world’s worst threats, including the SARS virus he helped isolate and identify. And he has a warning.

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] The global food system is owned by an ever smaller number of companies – it’s damaging our health, our communities and the planet

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-07-16 [Older] Supershoes have transformed competitive distance running, but they remain controversial

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • The Register UK ☛ FTC grabs controller as Microsoft jacks up Game Pass price by 81%

    Microsoft plans to raise the price of its Game Pass subscriptions significantly – and one US watchdog isn't amused.

    Earlier this month, the Windows giant announced it would be making some modifications to Game Pass, which is essentially Netflix for video games and allows users to pay monthly to get access to hundreds of games on Xbox and PC.

  • IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] The EU AI Act has been published

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • JURIST ☛ Nigeria consumer protection agency fines Meta $220M for data privacy violations and mandates compliance with new data protection laws

      Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced on Friday that Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms had been fined $220 million for discriminatory practices affecting Nigerian data and consumers.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Houthi Drone Strike Highlights Dilemmas for Israel

    Israel has few options to retaliate for the attack in Tel Aviv, which made clear the weakness of its air defense system against unmanned aircraft and heightened concerns about the threat of Iranian-backed militias.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli fighter jets strike Yemen's Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah, military says

    Israel's military confirmed Saturday that its fighter jets had hit Yemen's port city of Hodeidah with air strikes earlier that evening, alleging that the port had been used by the Houthis to receive weapons shipments from Iran. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV news outlet reported that the attacks had wounded at least 80 people.

  • New York Times ☛ Israeli Jets Bomb Sites in Yemen Linked to Iran-Backed Houthis

    The strike was retaliation for a drone attack launched from Yemen a day earlier, which evaded Israel’s defenses and hit a building in Tel Aviv, killing one person.

  • France24 ☛ Newborn saved from dead mother's womb as Israeli strikes kill dozens across Gaza

    A pregnant woman who was fatally wounded in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in central Gaza managed to make it to hospital in time for doctors to deliver her baby through an emergency caesarean section, medical staff at the Al-Awda Hospital said Saturday. At least 30 people have been killed by Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, rescuers and medics in Hamas-run Gaza said.

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-07-11 [Older] Mozambique defence minister thanks SAMIM for Cabo Delgado contribution

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-07-11 [Older] South African DR Congo deployment criticised – again

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-07-13 [Older] Terrorism and Organized Crime Rampant in Sahel and Spilling Into West Africa Coastal States, UN Says

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] IMB notes increasing violence against seafarers

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] Military muscle rather than mediation prevails in DRC

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] Peacekeeper deaths in DRC lead some to say SADC is outmanned and outgunned

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] The women who defied Nazi Germany

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-07-15 [Older] America's Toxic Political Climate Faces Calls to 'Tone It Down' After Assassination Attempt on Trump

• Environment

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] To tackle climate change, Michigan enlists a ‘corps’ of volunteers

  • TruthOut ☛ 2024-07-18 [Older] In 1977, Oil Giant Predicted Climate Change Could Lead to Widespread Starvation

  • Vox ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] Climate change is literally making our days longer

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2024-07-15 [Older] Climate and Political Heatwaves Kill

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2024-07-15 [Older] Malawi’s Farmers Face a Precarious Future From Climate Change-Related Storms

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-07-14 [Older] Only a few Dutch businesses are completely climate-neutral

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] The Secret Weapon Against Climate Change: It’s Not What You Think

  • Vox ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] The Vox guide to extreme heat

  • Vox ☛ 2024-07-16 [Older] The lessons Houston didn’t learn from Hurricane Harvey

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-07-15 [Older] Withthegrid, a real-time energy monitoring company, makes strategic expansion plans as climate change looms

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Zimbabwe ☛ ZESA Net Metering: Zimbabweans With Solar Encouraged To Sell Their Excess Electricity Into National Grid

      ZESA is asking Zimbabweans with solar installations to sell their excess electricity into the ZESA national grid.

• Finance

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] Africa Proposes WTO Chief for Second Term, Document Shows

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-07-14 [Older] African Union’s G20 Membership: Effective Collaboration Towards Africa’s Economic Growth

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] German ties in West Africa 'not a charity campaign'

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-07-18 [Older] China’s approach to African Economic Development

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-07-18 [Older] South Africa Leader Pledges to Revive Economy, Include the Poor

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Latvia ☛ Josep Borrell pays a valedictory visit to Latvia

    On 20 July, the outgoing High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles, arrived in Latvia for what will prove to be one of his final working visits in the role.

  • JURIST ☛ UN human rights office expresses concern over disappearance of two Guinea activists

    The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday expressed concern over the disappearance of two Guinea activists after their arrest by the country’s security personnel.

  • New York Times ☛ At Trump Rally, Few Local Police Officers in Critical Area Before Shooting

    Local law enforcement officials, present in abundance, said they were not assigned security duties around a warehouse used by a man who tried to kill former President Donald Trump.

  • New York Times ☛ Death of Vietnam’s Top Leader Raises Questions of Succession

    The country’s political workings are notably opaque, but for now the president, who was until recently minister of public security, is carrying out the duties of general secretary.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] 'The systematic evisceration of Cambodian civil society'

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] "Passivation:" How Serbia is eroding the rights of ethnic Albanians

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] Pakistan under growing pressure to free ex-PM Imran Khan

  • New York Times ☛ Blinken Says Gaza Cease-Fire Deal Is ‘Inside the 10-Yard Line’

    The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was more cautious as both spoke ahead of next week’s visit to Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

  • New York Times ☛ Trump Campaign Prepares Attack Plan for Harris in Case Biden Withdraws

    The effort, which includes expansive advertising and polling, assumes that the vice president would be the most likely candidate to replace the president at the top of the Democratic ticket.

  • New York Times ☛ The Hope if Biden Withdraws

    The assassination attempt, like so much else, should be a wake-up call. It was a near miss for Trump but also for America — and a chance to make things better.

  • France24 ☛ Paris Olympics preparations move up a gear ahead of opening ceremony

    Preparations for the Paris Olympics intensified in the French capital on Saturday as security teams patrolled the six-kilometre route along the Seine for the waterborne opening ceremony, the first of its kind to take place during a Summer Games. While these preparations have greatly disrupted life for residents of central Paris, organisers say that a record 8.7 million tickets have already been sold.

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-07-13 [Older] Facebook Lifts Restrictions on Trump, Giving Him Equal Footing With Biden on the Social Media Site

  • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] Meta Gives Trump Free Rein on Instagram, Facebook Again

  • CBC ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] 'Malicious actors' could use X's blue checks to deceive users, EU says

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ "Someone Must Have Taken the Bar Exam for You" Was Just Insult, Not Libel

    "[A]nyone who has used Facebook (Farcebook) is aware that it is a platform that breeds spiteful and juvenile exchanges."

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-11 [Older] Are EU-Vietnam human rights talks a lost cause?

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-12 [Older] [Guest post] The ‘brat’ phenomenon: Exploring cultural influence and IP dynamics [Ed: "IP" as misnomer here, of course...]

• IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-19 [Older] The EleonORe Song

• Patents

  • 2024-07-16 [Older] USPTO Publishes Updated Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance Focusing on AI

  • 2024-07-17 [Older] Beteiro, LLC v. DraftKings, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2024)

  • 2024-07-18 [Older] Senators Get Their Colleagues to Agree on Drug Patent Litigation Legislation

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-19 [Older] UPC takes strong stance on therapeutic antibody inventions (Sanofi v Amgen, UPC_CFI_1/2023) [Ed: UPC is illegal and unconstitutional; in other words, it is not meant to even exist, but the court system is not captured by the crooks]

    • IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-17 [Older] The nutritional benefits of baby formula is not a therapeutic use (T 0815/22) [Ed: The EPO's own kangaroo court]

• Trademarks

  • IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-14 [Older] Nike and Puma fight over FOOTWARE

  • IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-19 [Older] [Guest post] BASMATI trade mark refused registration in New Zealand

• Copyrights

  • IP Kat ☛ 2024-07-15 [Older] [Guest post] CJEU: New licensing rules for the provision of guest TVs in Germany?