Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ All The Air Ducting Parts You Could Ever Need

  If you have ever planned an air duct or dust extraction system for your shop, you’ll know just how difficult it can be to accommodate all but the simplest of arrangements. Off the shelf systems are intended for use in home heating or other domestic systems, and offer little flexibility of choice. Of course you could 3D print an adapter or two, but [Fabian] has taken it to the next level with a comprehensive library of 3D-printable pipe system adapters and accessories. We’re not sure we’ve seen such a complete collection.

• Hackaday ☛ Detecting Faster Than Light Travel By Extraterrestrials

  The idea of traveling faster than the speed of light (FTL) has been a popular idea long before [Alcubierre] came up with the first plausible theoretical underpinnings for such a technology. Yet even if such an FTL drive is possible, it may be hundreds of years before humanity manages to develop its first prototype. This does however not prevent us from for looking for possible FTL drive signatures in the spacetime around us. Such a concept was recently proposed by [Katy Clough] and colleagues in a recent article (Arxiv preprint).

• Tedium ☛ Shape-Shifting Companies

  How the aggressive machinations of investor interests and corporate culture can significantly reshape a company’s focus. Just ask the company behind Frogger.

  Every MBA knows the tale. Warren Buffett got so upset that he was being undercut on one of his investments, a textiles company, that he decided to screw over the guy who messed up his big payday. He bought so many shares of Berkshire Hathaway, the firm that did him wrong, that he became a majority shareholder—and his first task as majority owner was to fire the guy that tried to screw him over. (He calls the move “a monumentally stupid decision,” because he stuck himself with a declining textiles firm.) He gradually turned Berkshire Hathaway into a shell for his overall organization, one that does a bit of everything, including insurance, manufacturing, building supplies, even retail. It is the story of the great holding company, an organization that exists to manage a company’s larger operations. It’s slightly different from a shell company (a difference we’ll get into), but as that famous story implies, it doesn’t take much to divorce a company from its initial line of business. Today’s Tedium ponders the malleable nature of corporate ownership. A name is just a name.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ Palomar Observatory Bids Farwell to its Cosmic Restaurant

    Palomar Observatory bids farewell to a tradition of napkin rings, cowbells and astronomical table conversation.

  • Science Alert ☛ Breakthrough Brings Scientists Closer to Creating Heaviest Element Ever

    Pushing atomic boundaries.

  • Science Alert ☛ Water Does Something Very Weird When It Gets Trapped in Tiny Holes

    Water is much stranger than you think.

  • Science Alert ☛ Trees Have a Surprising Response to Wildfire Smoke, Scientists Find

    They do the same thing as us?

  • Science Alert ☛ Strange Link Between Board Games And Autism May Finally Be Explained

    The power of play.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China's CXMT begins mass-producing HBM2 memory well ahead of schedule — 2026 was the previously telegraphed target

    China-based memory maker CXMT begins to mass produce HBM2 memory, well ahead of telegraphed mass production in 2026.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: The global buzz around South Korea’s humble instant coffee

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Apple butterfly keyswitch afflicted users finally start to receive payouts of up to $395 per laptop [Ed: Apple admits its products are deeply defective]

    Eligible MacBook owners have started to receive payments relating to Apple's butterfly keyboard mechanism class action lawsuit in the U.S. Some have received checks of up to $395 per machine in the mail.

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFERL ☛ In Iran, Jordanian FM Says Not Carrying Message From Israel, But Pleads For Peace

    Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who arrived in Tehran on August 4 on a rare visit to discuss rising tensions in the Middle East, said he was not carrying a message from Israel to Tehran, but he nevertheless pleaded for "peace, stability, and security" in the troubled region.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea's Kim oversees delivery of new tactical ballistic missile launchers

    North Korea said it test-fired its new tactical ballistic missile in July.

  • RFA ☛ Taking over from the inside: China’s growing reach into local waters

    The superpower of seafood dominates more than just the high seas.

  • The Strategist ☛ Trump is likely to escalate the US-China trade war

    With Donald Trump still leading in polls ahead of the US presidential election, many are wondering how a second Trump administration would approach China. Trump’s stance on purely political issues is unclear.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China coast guard monitors Philippine patrol boats in Sabina Shoal

    China's coast guard said it was monitoring Philippine patrol and fishing vessels that have gathered around the contested Sabina Shoal, citing China's \"indisputable sovereignty\" over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

  • New York Times ☛ How Could Maduro’s Reign in Venezuela End?

    After another dubious election victory, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, appears firmly in power. The only real potential threat, history shows, may come if his own security forces betray him.

  • JURIST ☛ US Defense Secretary overturns 9/11 plea deal – Updated

    On Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected a controversial plea deal that would have prevented three alleged 9/11 terror attack planners from facing the death penalty.

  • New York Times ☛ With Smugglers and Front Companies, China Is Skirting American Hey Hi (AI) Bans

    The U.S. is trying to stop China from getting Nvidia microchips to advance its military. The private sector is fighting back.

• Environment

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Scorching heat wave brings record-breaking temperatures to eastern China

    Swathes of eastern China baked under a scorching heat wave on Saturday, with temperatures in some areas reaching record highs, weather authorities said. China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with unseasonable heat searing parts of the north and east while torrential rains have triggered floods and landslides in central and southern regions.

  • New York Times ☛ At Least 4 Dead and Dozens Missing After Landslide and Flood in China

    Hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes in a mountainous part of Sichuan Province. An expressway bridge collapsed amid heavy rains.

• Finance

  • India Times ☛ Return of pink slips? Intel, Microsoft, Tinder parent Match hit by layoffs

    Technology giant Microsoft has cut hundreds of jobs at its Azure cloud unit, adding to the flurry of layoffs reported in the technology industry this year. The job cuts impacted as many as 1,500 employees across teams, including Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering. In July Microsoft let go of 276 employees, mostly in its customer service, support and sales teams.

  • GeekWire ☛ More layoffs at Rad Power Bikes as Seattle e-bike maker aims to ensure ‘brand’s longevity’

    Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes made more cuts to its workforce in July, the latest in a wave of layoffs that have impacted the well-funded electric-bike startup.

    A spokesperson for the company declined to share how many positions were impacted and which departments were part of the reduction.

    “Last month, Rad Power Bikes made the difficult decision to reduce our team’s size so we can ensure the brand’s longevity, continue on our mission, and serve our rider community,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to GeekWire on Monday. “We have faced the challenges many businesses have, including rising costs and economic headwinds, and this difficult decision was necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of Rad’s business.”

  • Intel Layoffs Begin Today in Israel, Tech Giant’s ‘Biggest-Streaming Plan’ Estimated To Hit Around 17,000 Global Workforce: Report

    Intel announced it would lay off 15% of its global employees and was expected to ask them to sign up for their early retirement programs. Global semiconductor giant's latest job cut announcement will hit thousands of employees in different countries. According to a report, the Intel layoffs were set to begin in Israel and will affect several people working with the tech giant.

    Intel layoffs were estimated to hit around 15,000; however, according to a report by Globes, the number of affected employees could be as high as 17,000. The report said that Intel had been the most significant tech employer in Israel, and the tech layoffs would be one of the company's "biggest-streaming plans "that would affect the country's workforce.

  • Cryptocurrencies hit by huge selloff. Here’s why

    The cryptocurrency market saw its biggest three-day sell-off in recent years due to growing fears of a possible US recession and rising geopolitical concerns.

  • Infineon Layoffs: German Chipmaker Laying Off 1,400 Employees and Planning To Relocate Same Number to Low-Wage Countries Amid Revenue Drop in Q3

    Munich-based semiconductor company Infineon announced to lay off 1,400 employees in its latest round of job cuts. The Infineon layoffs were initiated because the company witnessed loss of revenue in third quarter of this fiscal year.

  • India Times ☛ This German chip company announces job cuts, to layoff 1,400 employees worldwide - Times of India

    TECH NEWS : Germany-based chipmaker Infineon announced plans to cut 1,400 jobs globally, with several positions in Regensburg being affected.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ In Iceland, a Feminist Inspired by the Country’s History Is the New President

    Though the president’s role is mostly ceremonial, Halla Tómasdóttir said that she would seek to raise “the right questions” and bring attention to critical health issues.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 49

    In July, the 49th month since the Beijing-imposed national security law came into effect, court proceedings in some of the city’s most high-profile national security trials were delayed.

Monopolies/Monopsonies