Links 29/07/2024: Persistent Microsoft Layoffs Cause More Unions to Form
Contents
- Free, Libre, and Open Source Software
- Leftovers
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Free, Libre, and Open Source Software
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Web Browsers/Web Servers
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Sean Conner ☛ Fixing more Apache errors
An easy fix that should lighten the load on Apache as it serves up my blog. I'll see in a week if it all goes to plan.
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Leftovers
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Robert Birming ☛ We have a blogline
Blogging is a fantastic outlet for venting while also fostering a sense of community. Keeping a private diary doesn't have the same impact for me.
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Hardware
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Tom's Hardware ☛ AMD may have delayed Ryzen 9000 launch due to a typo — mislabeled Ryzen 7 chip emerges, Ryzen 5 9600X impacted, too [Updated]
An image of a Ryzen 9000 processor with incorrect product labeling has emerged, hinting at the reason for AMD's recent delay in its Zen 5 launch.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] German court orders stronger action to tackle air pollution
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] Japan: Executives resign over Kobayashi supplement scandal
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CBC ☛ 2024-07-21 [Older] Baby Gourmet Foods recalls organic baby cereal over possible bacteria contamination
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] COVID-19: German gov't suffers defeat in 'face mask scandal'
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-24 [Older] End of world hunger by 2030 increasingly unlikely, UN report
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CBC ☛ 2024-07-22 [Older] Canadians entering U.S. with their dogs won't have to fill out long forms after CDC drops changes
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New York Times ☛ Opinion | Food as You Know It Is About to Change
Though American agriculture as a whole produces massive profits, Mr. Barrett says, most of the country’s farms actually lose money, and around the world, food scarcity is driving record levels of human displacement and migration. According to the World Food Program, 282 million people in 59 countries went hungry last year, 24 million more than the previous year. And already, Mr. Barrett says, building from research by his Cornell colleague Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, the effects of climate change have reduced the growth of overall global agricultural productivity by between 30 and 35 percent. The climate threats to come loom even larger.
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VOA News ☛ Farmers in Africa say their soil is dying and chemical fertilizers are in part to blame
Like many other farmers, he blames acidifying fertilizers pushed in Kenya and other African countries in recent years. He said he started using the fertilizers to boost his yield and it worked — until it didn't. Kenya's government first introduced a fertilizer subsidy in 2008, making chemical fertilizers more accessible for smaller-scale farmers.
About 63% of arable land in Kenya is now acidic, according to the agriculture ministry, which has been recording a decline in the production of staples such as maize and leading exports of horticulture and tea. The production of maize declined by 4% to 44 million tons in 2022, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, which didn't say why.
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Science Alert ☛ A Hidden Defense Inside Llamas Could Be The Secret to Fighting HIV
It suppressed 96% of HIV strains in lab tests.
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Science Alert ☛ Ancient Viruses May Have Given Our Ancestors The Edge to Evolve
The infection behind our evolution?
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Science Alert ☛ Opioids Watched in Real Time as They Work Deep Inside The Brain
A painkiller's secrets revealed.
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Jonathan Dowland ☛ Jonathan Dowland: ouch
In mid-June I picked up an unknown infection in my left ankle which turned out to be antibiotic resistant. The infection caused cellulitis. After five weeks of trial and error and treatment, the infection is beaten but I am still recovering from the cellulitis.
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New York Times ☛ A Blood Test Accurately Diagnosed Alzheimer’s 90% of the Time, Study Finds
It was much more accurate than primary care doctors using cognitive tests and CT scans. The findings could speed the quest for an affordable and accessible way to diagnose patients with memory problems.
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New York Times ☛ A Doctor’s Medical Questions for Trump, Biden and Harris
Voters deserve transparency.
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France24 ☛ Libyan court hands jail terms to officials linked to deadly Derna dams collapse
A Libyan court on Sunday handed jail sentences to more than 10 current and former officials for their links to the deadly collapse of two dams outside the coastal city of Derna in September. The resulting flood killed thousands of people, according to the World Health Organization.
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Science Alert ☛ Here's What 'Diet' Soft Drink Could Be Doing to Your Health in The Long Term
The bitter truth.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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India ☛ Game On: Understanding why game makers at Blizzard and Bethesda are forming unions
The creation of the two unions in Microsoft’s gaming empire is momentous news, and the timing seems just right. The potential for these unions to improve the lives of their members is significant, as they could collectively bargain for better pay, work conditions, timelines, and remote work, while also ensuring job security. Who knows, in the process, game makers might start having just as much fun as their players?
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Double Fine says one last goodbye to Psychonauts 2 with a surprise final episode of the game's documentary
Double Fine was also obviously acquired by Microsoft in 2019... Since Psychonauts 2, the developer hasn't released or announced any other games... That puts it in a questionable spot, especially considering the layoffs at Microsoft earlier this year, and the closure of studios like Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ Fighting deepfakes: Can laws be good weapons?
"The threat that deepfakes pose to our democratic society is extremely high," Franziska Benning, head of the legal department at the Berlin-based nonprofit HateAid, told DW.
To address the problem, lawmakers worldwide are debating new regulations that would specifically target the publication and distribution of deepfake content.
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Thomas Rigby ☛ The two reasons a Versa 3 is better than a Versa 4
Having used it for the last 320 days (give or take), it's fine but there are two features that feel like a backwards step in comparison.
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Security
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Integrity/Availability/Authenticity
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Terence Eden ☛ QR Code Hijacking Attempts Are Pretty Inept
Putting QR codes behind a glass screen isn't always practical, and reflections in the glass can make it hard to scan a code. It's difficult to make a code physically inaccessible for a scammer while also making it easy to scan.
The number one thing to do is display the official URl nearby.
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Axios ☛ Zoom is the new political rally
Zoom in: On Sunday night, just hours after Biden bowed out, over 90,000 people joined a Zoom call organized by Win With Black Women and raised at least $1.5 million in three hours, the group said.
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[Old] All Things Secured ☛ Should You Still Use Zoom in 2024? Security Recommendation
All of this was certainly very alarming and required immediate changes and a response from the Zoom CEO. But in spite of all this, they still have tens of millions of users.
Maybe you’re one of those people. Maybe you’re thinking to yourself “I’ve got nothing to hide. China can listen in to my boring conversations anytime they want to!“
If that’s you…listen up.
You need to stop using Zoom. And the reason has nothing to do with security.
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Gizmodo ☛ Zoom Contradicts Its Own Policy About Training AI on Your Data
Zoom updated its Terms of Service on Monday after a controversy over the company’s policies about training AI on user data. Although the policy literally says that Zoom reserves the right to train AI on your calls without your explicit permission, the Terms of Service now include an additional line which says, essentially, we promise not to do that.
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Kansas Reflector ☛ Data privacy after Dobbs: Is period tracking safe?
After the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 and abortion was banned in the state of Tennessee, Danielle Kelvas quit using an app that tracked her menstrual cycle.
“It frightened me … I actually got frightened because it tracked me for like, a week,” Kelvas said of the Oura Ring feature Cycle Insights. “And I thought, where’s this information going?”
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The Guardian UK ☛ Israel tried to frustrate US lawsuit over Pegasus spyware, leak suggests
Israeli officials seized documents about Pegasus spyware from its manufacturer, NSO Group, in an effort to prevent the company from being able to comply with demands made by WhatsApp in a US court to hand over information about the invasive technology.
Documents suggest the seizures were part of an unusual legal manoeuvre created by Israel to block the disclosure of information about Pegasus, which the government believed would cause “serious diplomatic and security damage” to the country.
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Kansas Reflector ☛ Spyware turned this Kansas high school into a 'red zone' of dystopian surveillance
I’m convinced of this because I’ve been following the news coverage of Lawrence High School. Just imagine you’re a student at Lawrence High (go Chesty the Lion!) and every homework assignment, email, photo, and chat on your school-supplied device is being monitored by artificial intelligence for indicators of drug and alcohol use, anti-social behavior, and suicidal inclinations.
That’s been the reality since last November, when the district began a $162,000 contract with Gaggle, a Dallas-based student safety technology company to provide around-the-clock surveillance. If a word or an image triggers an alert in the AI software, the result could range from the student being sent to an administrator to being referred to online counseling to getting a visit from local police.
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Defence/Aggression
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-24 [Older] Germany shuts down Islamic Center Hamburg
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-24 [Older] Red Sea shipping crisis worsens after Israel-Houthi attacks
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-07-22 [Older] Philippines' Eyes Defence Pacts With France, Canada and NZ, Minister Says
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-24 [Older] Germany, UK sign deal to boost military ties
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CBC ☛ 2024-07-21 [Older] University of Victoria issues trespass notice to pro-Palestinian protesters
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India Times ☛ TikTok user data collection: Justice Department claims TikTok collected US user views on issues like abortion, gun control
TikTok employees used Lark to send sensitive data about U.S. users, information that has wound up being stored on Chinese servers and accessible to ByteDance employees in China, federal officials said.
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Pro Publica ☛ Washington Gives Tax Breaks to Data Centers That Threaten Clean Energy Efforts
But with demand soaring and the power from dams finite, Grant County has been forced to look to other sources of energy. The problem is so acute that the county is headed for a daunting choice in the next six years: violate a state green energy law limiting the use of fossil fuels or risk rolling blackouts in homes, factories and hospitals.
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Vintage Everyday ☛ Amazing Vintage Photographs Capture Military Scenes of the Camp at Châlons of Napoleon III
For six weeks in August, September, and October 1857, 25,000 men from the French Imperial Guard, renowned for their victory in the decisive battle of the Crimean War two years earlier, conducted exercises under the command of Napoleon III to inaugurate a vast military camp at Châlons-sur-Marne. Gustave Le Gray was commissioned to take photographs of the camp, the inaugural events, and the officers. The pictures were later bound in albums and presented by the emperor to his highest-ranking officers.
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US News And World Report ☛ New Regulatory License for Social Media Platforms in Malaysia to Fight Cyber Offences
Malaysia will require social media services to apply for a license if they have more than 8 million users in the country from August 1, in an attempt to combat increasing cyber offences, said the government.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said in a statement on Saturday that the license was in line with cabinet's decision that social media and internet messaging services comply with Malaysian laws aimed at fighting scams, cyberbullying and sexual crimes.
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Rolling Stone ☛ GOP Shrugs at Trump Saying Supporters 'Won't Have to Vote Anymore'
The former president added, “You’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korea warns North may do nuclear test near US election
Pyongyang has a habit of timing its provocations to coincide with major political events.
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The Strategist ☛ Why the China model is failing
The authoritarian China model under President Pooh-tin Jinping’s leadership is facing increasing failure.
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New York Times ☛ U.S. and Japan Strengthen Military Ties
The two governments said the moves were a response to growing aggression by China, whose rapid military buildup has many leaders worried.
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RFA ☛ China’s frustration with the Myanmar junta’s incompetence is mounting
Beijing will not abandon the regime and sees the military as part of a future political settlement.
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Reason ☛ "Two Men Plead Guilty to Acting as Illegal Agents of the PRC Government and Bribery"
From Thursday's press release by the Justice Department (see also the Indictment itself): JOHN CHEN and LIN FENG pled guilty to acting as unregistered agents of the government of the People's Republic of China ("PRC") and bribing an Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") agent ...
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JURIST ☛ ASEAN summit concludes with focus on Myanmar crisis and South China Sea tensions
The ASEAN summit concluded after three days of discussions on Saturday, centring on the violence in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. Laos’ Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith chaired the meeting, which included representatives from the US, Russia, and China.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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RFERL ☛ Putin Vows 'Mirror Measures' If U.S. Deploys Missiles In Germany
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia would deploy new strike weapons if the United States deployed long-range missiles in Germany.
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NYPost ☛ Putin vows ‘mirror measures’ if US puts missiles in Germany in 2026, as planned
Putin said Russia may deploy new strike weapons after the US announced earlier this month that it would affirm its commitment to NATO by installing missiles in Germany, beginning in 2026.
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NYPost ☛ Trump can end Ukraine war, Secret Service is not underfunded and other commentary [Ed: Murdoch media promotes surrendering to Putin in Ukraine and then hailing Trump as a hero for this]
Pundits claim a re-elected Donald Trump will “cut off aid to Ukraine, give away its territory, and deal directly with Vladimir Putin to impose an ignominious ‘peace’ on the country,” observe David J. Urban & Mike Pompeo at The Wall Street Journal.
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New York Times ☛ As F-16s Arrive, Ukraine Still Faces Steep Challenges in the Skies
Ukraine wants to deploy its first F-16 jets this summer, hoping to counter Russia’s dominance in the air. But stepped-up Russian bombing attacks on air bases complicate the effort.
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The Straits Times ☛ US discusses with India need for peace in Ukraine amid reported Modi visit plan
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday emphasized the importance of a "just and enduring peace" for Ukraine in a meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the State Department said. The discussion came amid a visit being reportedly planned to Ukraine by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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New York Times ☛ Russia Punches Through Weakened Lines in Eastern Ukraine
Military analysts say Russian forces are increasingly investigating Ukrainian lines to identify weakened positions before attacking and breaking through.
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RFERL ☛ Ukraine Claims Attack On Murmansk Airfield, Notes Russian Helicopter Losses
Ukraine's military intelligence claimed on July 27 that its drones attacked the Olenya airfield in Russia's far northern Murmansk region, saying it struck a TU-22M3 strategic bomber. It also said that three Russian Army helicopters had been destroyed on Russian territory over the previous week.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Oil Depot Ablaze After Suspected Ukrainian Drone Strike
Suspected Ukrainian military drones have struck an oil storage depot in Russia’s Kursk region, a regional Russian official said on July 28.
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RFERL ☛ Scholars Urge NATO To Invite Ukraine To Join Alliance
Dozens of scholars have urged NATO to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance, saying such a move would mark "a definitive step away from the politics of appeasement."
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s Wang Yi tells US counterpart Antony Blinken Beijing denies charges of helping Russia’s war effort in Ukraine
China’s foreign minister told his US counterpart Saturday that Beijing denies charges that it is helping Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
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France24 ☛ Mali rebels say they killed dozens of government troops, Wagner mercenaries
Tuareg rebels in northern Mali on Saturday said they had killed and injured dozens of government soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group in fighting over two days near the border with Algeria. Mali’s army said two of its soldiers were killed and 10 were injured.
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The Straits Times ☛ Turning to Asia, Russia looks to develop Chennai-Vladivostok maritime route with India
Russia in 2023 also opened the Vladivostok port to China to use as a domestic terminal.
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Environment
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Science Alert ☛ Mysterious 'New El Niño' Was Just Discovered South of The Equator
And it has a huge influence.
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The Straits Times ☛ Kim Jong Un inspects flooded areas near North Korea’s border with China
Record torrential rain in Sinuiju and nearby areas isolated about 5,000 people.
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Energy/Transportation
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The Straits Times ☛ Australia ponders $53 billion problem of how to remove ageing offshore rigs
There is debate about whether firms should remove the rigs entirely or leave parts of them in place.
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Wired ☛ Bitcoin Bros Go Wild for Donald Trump
Is Trump, who’s flipped from calling bitcoin a “scam” to being “good” with [cryptocurrency], sincere in his enthusiasm? “I always take people at their word,” Kennedy says. “I'm happy that President Trump has embraced it…The more he learns…hopefully some of his previous announcements will evolve.”
Skeptics, like host of the Vegan Posse podcast Chrissy Benson, disagree. She points out Trump had four years to pardon Ulbricht and whistleblowers Julian Assange and Edward Snowden during his last term. He didn’t. She’s “leaning toward” voting for Kennedy. “The fact that I would even remotely consider voting for Trump is like, what has the world come to?” she says.
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Bridge Michigan ☛ Road trips are key to making EVs work in Michigan. They’re doable now. Barely
Nearly three years after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a multistate initiative for a lakeshore public charging network geared toward tourists, the so-called Lake Michigan Circuit remains spotty at best in many areas — as Bridge Michigan reporters discovered firsthand last week.
Chargers are often many miles apart and don’t always work. When they do, there are sometimes lines. And uniformity remains a hassle — some chargers only work for certain vehicles, while apps don’t work for every charger, requiring a half-dozen apps for longer trips.
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Bridge Michigan ☛ EV road trip update: We’re home after more than 1,000 miles
Ultimately, we made it home, with the last of us walking into her door a bit after 1 a.m.
The grand total of miles traveled: 1,180 — pretty close to Paula’s guess of 1,189 miles.
And the Bolt still had enough charge for about 30 more miles. Paula’s first stop on Saturday morning was to recharge.
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University of Michigan ☛ National champs: U-Michigan Solar Car Team takes first in American Solar Challenge - Michigan Engineering News
They came up with two potential solutions: fly a teammate from Ann Arbor with a motor in his suitcase, and ask for help getting the parts they needed. Much to their amazement, the second option panned out. Other teams offered support, and Principia College loaned them a spare motor and motor controller. (The Illinois-based squad had decided not to compete in the cross-country contest.)
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Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ Trump touts himself as the bitcoin president
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told a bitcoin conference on Saturday that the US must dominate the sector or China would, his latest move to court advocates of cryptocurrency, which Beijing has restricted and which he once dismissed as a “scam”.
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US Senate ☛ At Hearing, Warren Calls for Strong Anti-Money Laundering Protections to Prevent Cryptomines from Undermining U.S. National Security | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Increasingly, foreign companies are building cryptomining facilities on U.S. soil. These mines are actually warehouses stuffed with computers that process [cryptocurrency] transactions and produce new [cryptocurrency] tokens. They’re loud, they’re hot, and they suck up a ton of electricity, which can crash the power grid. And that’s why many countries have banned cryptomining, leading more foreign companies to set up shop here in the United States. According to a blockchain analytics firm, one third of cryptomining facilities in the U.S. are owned by citizens of the People's Republic of China, including people with direct ties to the Chinese government.
Cryptomining is a disaster for the environment, and it can pose national security risks as well. In May, at CFIUS’ recommendation, President Biden issued an order requiring the Chinese national owners of a cryptomining facility in Wyoming called MineOne to divest their ownership and remove the cryptomining equipment from the premises.
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WBUR Radio ☛ Trump says [cryptocurrency] will save the fossil fuel industry. Spoiler alert: It's magical thinking
But there’s more to Trump’s reversal than campaign money. Trump has bought into the theory that the cryptocurrency industry’s enormous energy demand will help him realize his gauzy vision of an economy juiced by unchecked fossil fuel expansion. It’s magical thinking that could impede the crucial transition to renewable energy.
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Wildlife/Nature
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Overpopulation
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Los Angeles Times ☛ Court stalls state effort to curb groundwater overpumping
Ference said his group aims to overturn the state’s decision and reject measures that farmers view as unreasonable, damaging to the local economy and “overreaching” beyond the requirements of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA.
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Finance
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Reason ☛ No Sealing of Goldman Sachs Employees' Names in Securities Fraud Lawsuit
From Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker (S.D.N.Y.) Thursday in Ap-Fonden v. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.: This securities fraud litigation, filed in 2018 arises out of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad ("1MDB") scandal. Plaintiffs were investors in Defendant the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ("Goldman").
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] Is Laos facing a China debt trap?
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] Nigeria lawmakers double minimum wage after labor dispute
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Scheerpost ☛ 2024-07-19 [Older] Canada Makes an Unprecedented Push for Multifamily Housing
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] Can India's new budget tackle growing job crisis?
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] Bangladesh to accept cuts to job quotas after ruling
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Times Media Limited ☛ Flown to the US in chains, now Mike Lynch is free … and talking
A shin-high Shetland sheepdog bounds out of the front door of a grand, ivy-covered terraced house in Chelsea, west London, intent on striking fear into whoever has rung the courtyard buzzer. Running in circles, its high-pitch barks are entirely unconvincing. Mike Lynch, the 59-year-old British tech tycoon, beams from the doorway like a proud father. “All right, all right,” he says, chuckling. “He’s harmless.”
Lynch is a dog lover. He and his wife, Angela Bacares, have six: two dachshunds and four sheepdogs. But this one, Faucet, is special. For more than a year Lynch, known as “Britain’s Bill Gates”, and Faucet were under house arrest in America.
Lynch was extradited from Britain in May last year and spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco as he awaited trial on 17 charges of conspiracy and wire fraud — later reduced to 15 charges — brought by the US Department of Justice. If convicted, Lynch, with an estimated net worth of £500 million, faced up to 25 years in a US prison, where, given his age and a serious lung condition, it was unlikely he would have lived to see freedom. “I have various medical things that would have made it difficult to survive,” he says, settling into a tastefully appointed sitting room that is far removed, in every respect, from the hard wooden benches of the California courtroom where his fate hung in the balance.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-07-20 [Older] China, Canada Should Work Toward Strategic Partnership, China's Wang Says
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-24 [Older] What do we know about German sentenced to death in Belarus?
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-23 [Older] 50th anniversary of the restoration of Greek democracy
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-24 [Older] Fact check: Viral video claims Biden-Harris call made by AI
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-24 [Older] Meta removes Instagram accounts running sextortion scams
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[Old] BBC ☛ A Bugatti, a first lady and the fake stories aimed at Americans
The story appeared on an obscure French website just days ago - and was swiftly debunked.
Experts pointed out strange anomalies on the invoice posted online. A whistleblower cited in the story appeared only in an oddly edited video that may have been artificially created. Bugatti issued a sharp denial, calling it "fake news", and its Paris dealership threatened legal action against the people behind the false story.
But before the truth could even get its shoes on, the lie had gone viral. Influencers had already picked up the false story and spread it widely.
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[Old] CNN ☛ Deepfake video targeting Zelensky’s wife linked to Russian disinformation campaign, CNN analysis shows
The AI-generated video features a non-existent employee of the Bugatti dealership in Paris claiming Olena Zelenska purchased its new model, the Bugatti Tourbillon, for 4.5 million euros (around $4.8 million) on June 7.
The clip has several markings of a deep fake, from cuts in the video, to the strange accent and lip-and-mouth movements, according to Clément Briens, a researcher at cybersecurity company Recorded Future. Yet, it gathered some 18 million views in 24 hours on X, where it was reposted by pro-Russian influencers.
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Los Angeles Times ☛ Opinion: We're taking the wrong approach to counteracting conspiracy theories
Most shocking to those who knew him weren’t the conspiracy theories themselves. It was that he had come to believe them. Nearing 40 years old, he was a college-educated, upstanding guy with friends, a family and an established career. How, they wondered, had this perfectly sane person gone crazy?
It’s a question more and more Americans are asking about their own loved ones. As disinformation permeates our culture, the road to QAnon-type territory is getting shorter. Healthy skepticism easily gives way to undue suspicion. The dizzying public reaction to Donald Trump’s near-assassination was a perfect illustration: Observers across the political spectrum raced to fill the information void with baseless assertions that have gained momentum despite mounting evidence to the contrary, revealing a nation increasingly at odds with reality.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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RFERL ☛ Georgian Opposition Takes Fight Against 'Foreign Agent' Law To Constitutional Court
Georgia’s largest opposition party, the United National Movement, will submit a lawsuit against the controversial “foreign agents” law to the Constitutional Court on July 29 [...]
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Deccan Chronicle ☛ Mobile [Internet] restored in violence-hit Bangladesh
The mobile [Internet] connectivity was restored at around 3:00 pm local time.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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VOA News ☛ Chad's largest online news website suspended
Access to Chad's largest online news platform has been suspended since Friday, an organization for Chadian online media reported on Sunday.
The group said the website for Tchadinfos.com, the leading news organization in the Sahel country, had been taken offline after it refused to comply with a request from former adviser to the Chadian President Abakar Manany.
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BIA Net ☛ Kurdish journalists sentenced to prison for ‘creating pro-PKK perception’
The court argued that the journalists' activities, such as financial transactions among themselves, reports on solitary confinement, social media posts, books and magazines seized during police raids, and reports from the Human Rights Association (İHD) on ill prisoners, constituted criminal behavior.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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CBC ☛ 2024-07-20 [Older] LCBO strike to end, with stores set to reopen Tuesday
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CBC ☛ 2024-07-21 [Older] LCBO strike to end Monday after workers ratify tentative agreement
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Task And Purpose ☛ Pentagon to review of Medals of Honor given for Wounded Knee - Task & Purpose
The Wounded Knee Massacre became a symbol of the violence and oppression done against Native Americans. In 1990, 100 years after the slaughter, the U.S. Congress issued a formal apology. The medals were not reviewed though. The Pentagon’s order this week comes after a recent push by lawmakers in Congress to get the Medals of Honor reviewed.
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India Times ☛ Apple: Apple has reached its first-ever union contract with store employees in Maryland
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' Coalition of Organised Retail Employees, which represents the employees at a retail location in Maryland, announced Friday evening that it struck a three-year deal with the company that will increase pay by an average of 10% and offer other benefits to workers. The deal came after workers at the store authorised a strike in May, saying talks with management for more than a year hadn't yielded "satisfactory outcomes."
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Reason ☛ Trump Wants Police To Be Above the Law
"We're going to give our police their power back," he told rallygoers in Waukesha, "and we are going to give them immunity from prosecution."
There are a few problems. As president, Trump would be constrained in immunizing anyone, including police, from prosecution, as most proceedings are in state court where his power wouldn't apply. And while it's true that some officers are charged federally—where he could lobby the Department of Justice to refuse to charge any cop—those prosecutions are often in addition to state charges.
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The Hill ☛ Apple reaches tentative agreement with first-ever unionized store in US
The announcement said that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ (IAM) Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE) reached an agreement with Apple that will improve work-life balance, increase pay and help protect job security. The union said that its members at the store in Towson, Md. will vote on the tentative agreement on Aug. 6.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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The Korea Times ☛ Taihan Cable & Solution's submarine cable business sails smoothly
On July 24, Taihan held a commissioning ceremony for its 6,200-ton submarine cable laying vessel (CLV), the PALOS, which is Korea’s only CLV dedicated to offshore wind power and can load up to 4,400 tons of submarine cable at once.
In June, the company completed and commenced operations of the first phase of its submarine cable factory, which has been producing array cables connecting wind turbines for a massive wind farm project in Yeonggwang County, South Jeolla Province.
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Copyrights
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Torrent Freak ☛ Pirate IPTV Services Blocked For Pirating The Olympics
The Olympic Games 2024 is well underway with France responsible for hosting and beaming the spectacular to a global audience. Unauthorized broadcasters, including pirate streaming sites and IPTV providers, are already finding themselves blocked by French ISPs, following legal action by the International Olympic Committee.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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