Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ 1000 Picks Make For A Weird Guitar

  String instruments have a long history in civilization, helping humans make more complex and beautiful music. We wonder what our forebears would think of this guitar strummed with 1000 picks?

• New York Times ☛ Edinburgh Fringe: Out and About at the Festival

  The streets of the Scottish capital are packed as thousands of performers seek to entertain and entice.

• Hackaday ☛ RC Car Gets Force Feedback Steering

  Remote-controlled cars can get incredibly fast and complex (and expensive) the farther into the hobby you get. So much so that a lot of things that are missing from the experience of driving a real car start to make a meaningful impact. [Indeterminate Design] has a few cars like this which are so fast that it becomes difficult to react to their behavior fast enough through sight alone. To help solve this problem and bridge the gap between the experience of driving a real car and an RC one, he’s added force feedback steering to the car’s remote control.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel 18A Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest CPUs are booting — steady progress toward the next-gen lithography node

    Intel's 1.8nm-class process technology with RibbonFET and PowerVia is nearly ready for mass production.

  • Hackaday ☛ Tiny Trackpad Fits On Ergonomic Keyboard

    Cats are notorious for interrupting workflow. Whether it’s in the kitchen, the garden, or the computer, any feline companion around has a way of getting into mischief in an oftentimes disruptive way. [Robin] has two cats, and while they like to sit on his desk, they have a tendency to interrupt his mouse movements while he’s using his Apple trackpad. Rather than solve the impossible problem of preventing cats from accessing areas they shouldn’t, he set about building a customized tiny trackpad that integrates with his keyboard and minimizes the chance of cat interaction.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • NYPost ☛ The pandemic killed off Summer Fridays — and Hamptons-bound millennials are pissed

    “Like why am I still working? It’s 3 p.m. and I want to sip an Aperol spritz on my roof,” griped one young New Yorker.

  • New York Times ☛ Sadness Among Teen Girls May Be Improving, C.D.C. Finds

    A national survey found promising signs that key mental health measures for teens, especially girls, have improved since the depths of the pandemic.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Ricezempic' Is The Latest Fentanylware (TikTok) Hack For Weight Loss, But Does It Work?

    There are better options.

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFERL ☛ Iran Denies Reports Of Arrests Over Haniyeh Assassination

    A spokesman for Iran's judiciary has denied Western media reports that authorities have arrested several people, including senior intelligence officials, over the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

  • The Strategist ☛ Australia needs an influencers strategy for international affairs

    Australian government departments should develop an engagement strategy with online influencers and invite them to join the press in attending international and security events.

  • France24 ☛ Venezuela launches criminal probe against opposition leaders amid protest crackdown

    Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek Saab, announced a new criminal probe against opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and leader Maria Corina Machado after they posted a letter urging the country's security forces to "stand by the people" protesting President Nicolás Maduro's contested victory in the July 28 presidential election.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s embassy in Beirut urges ‘caution’ for nationals travelling in Lebanon

    China’s embassy in Beirut urged citizens to “travel with caution” should they visit Lebanon, warning they face “higher security risks” as fears of a regional conflict soar. In a statement issued Monday evening Beijing time, the embassy warned citizens the situation in the country was “grave and complex”. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the […]

  • New York Times ☛ As Israel Braces for Iran’s Retaliation, Diplomats Scramble

    President Biden convened his national security team and spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and foreign ministers from Islamic countries plan to gather in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

  • NYPost ☛ Pakistani national with ties to Iran tried to hire hitmen to potentially assassinate Trump, other US politicians: feds

    A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran has been charged by the Justice Department with plotting to carry out political assassinations – a scheme which prompted the Secret Service to finally boost Trump’s security detail.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-31 [Older] Guinea: Ex-dictator convicted of crimes against humanity

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-31 [Older] Germany summons Chinese envoy over 2021 cyberattack

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-01 [Older] Will the Congo-Rwanda cease-fire lead to lasting peace?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-31 [Older] 9/11 suspects reach US plea deal, Pentagon says

  • BBC ☛ Big rise in antisemitic incidents in UK - charity

    Reports of antisemitic incidents in the UK in the first half of this year have reached another record high, according to figures from a Jewish security charity.

    From January to June 2024, the Community Security Trust (CST) recorded reports of 1,978 anti-Jewish hate incidents, up from 964 in the first half of 2023.

    The CST says the record high total in the first half of 2024 is a continuation of the impact of antisemitic reactions to the 7 October attack in Israel and the ongoing war.

• Environment

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-07-31 [Older] How restoring river landscapes can keep flash floods in check

  • Energy/Transportation

    • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Airfare pain eases as pricing power swings back to passengers

      Passengers around the world are gaining some respite from the fare madness that followed the pandemic — and further price declines are coming.

• Finance

  • Charles Barkley & the 82-year-old McDonald's employee: Why employers must help staff navigate retirement

    And then we have the rather less high-profile story of Edward Eubanks, an 82-year-old McDonald’s employee in Las Vegas, Nevada who told KSNV that he continues to work because he simply cannot afford to retire.

  • Sony’s Bungie Game Studio to Cut 17% of Workforce

    Holy budget cuts, Bungie! The Sony-owned game studio known for its Halo and Destiny franchises is set to cut 17% of its workforce, or approximately 220 positions. Another 12% will be integrated into Sony Interactive to spare additional talent from the axe.

    “These actions will affect every level of the company, including most of our executive and senior leader roles,” Bungie CEO Pete Parsons wrote to staff.

    Like most recent layoffs, the restructuring has been blamed on the currently economic downturn. A shift towards less, more impactful, projects has begun.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ In Pictures: Hong Kong unveils new national security exhibition as officials urge vigilance against ‘risks’

    Hong Kong has unveiled a new exhibition about national security, with the city’s leader John Lee citing a recent key political meeting the “third plenum” and urged vigilance against “security risks.” The exhibition, which occupies over 1,100 square metres of the Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui, will open to the public on Wednesday.

  • Reason ☛ Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Darling of the Progressive Left, Is Harris' Running Mate

    Walz's track record as governor includes pushing for higher taxes, legalizing marijuana, and asking neighbors to spy on one another during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong police investigate suspected suicide of officer

    Hong Kong police have launched a probe into a suspected suicide of an officer who had sustained a gunshot wound to his head. The death marked the second suspected police suicide in less than two months.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Sun, Mail, Mirror, Express and Independent roll out ‘consent or pay’ walls

    The publishers are charging between £1.99 and £4.99 monthly for cookie-less access to their sites.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Off Guardian ☛ The People’s Court of New Normal Germany – Part Two

    So, my second trial for alleged thoughtcrime-tweeting is going ahead as planned on August 15 in Berlin Superior Court (Das Kammergericht). Full-blown anti-terrorism security protocols will be in effect in the courtroom.

  • Reason ☛ Lawsuit Over Alleged Discriminatory Refusal to Let Church Lease School Property on Weekends Can Go Forward

    From Pines Church v. Hermon School Dep't, decided last week by Chief Judge Lance Walker (D. Me.): Plaintiffs The Pines Church and its lead pastor, Matt Gioia, looking for a new space to accommodate their growing congregation, requested a twelve-month lease to hold Sunday services at Hermon High School.

  • JURIST ☛ Louisiana officials to seek dismissal of lawsuit challenging Ten Commandments public school display mandate

    Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and Governor Jeff Landry announced their intention to request the dismissal of the lawsuit challenging the southern US state’s new legal requirement to display the Ten Commandments in public schools in a press conference on Monday.

  • Associated Press ☛ NYC journalist who documented pro-Palestinian vandalism arrested on felony hate crime charges

    A New York City journalist was arrested Tuesday on charges that he accompanied a group of pro-Palestinian protesters as they hurled red paint at the homes of top leaders at the Brooklyn Museum earlier this summer.

    Samuel Seligson, an independent videographer, faces felony hate crime charges.

    According to a criminal complaint written by a police detective, Seligson, 31, traveled with the group of vandals as they defaced the facades of two apartments belonging to the museum’s director and president. The activists are accused of spray-painting doors and sidewalks with messages that accused the two leaders of supporting genocide. A banner hung at the home of the museum’s Jewish president called her a “white-supremacist Zionist.”

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify Is Reportedly Dumping More 4 World Trade Center Office Space Under a StubHub Sublease Deal

    Amid its most serious push to date for budget efficiency, Spotify is reportedly dumping even more 4 World Trade Center office space under a new sublease agreement.

  • Digital Music News ☛ More Advantage, Apple? — Disney+ Becomes the Latest Streamer to Increase Prices

    Disney+ is adding continuous playlists for a ‘lean-back’ viewing experience, but they’re also hiking prices beginning this fall. In the latest bout of “streamflation,” Disney is raising prices for all tiers of Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu in the US starting this fall, as well as that of most of its bundles.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ $1,000 awarded for NTECH multimedia patent monopoly prior art

    Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winner, Ekta Aswal, who was awarded $1,000 for her prior art submission on U.S. Patent 9,317,597, owned by NTECH Properties, LLC, an NPE. The ‘597 patent monopoly relates to efficient and entertaining information delivery. It has been asserted against ByteDance.

    We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent. The ongoing contests are open to anyone, and include tens of thousands of dollars in rewards available for helping the industry to challenge NPE patents of questionable validity by finding and submitting prior art in the contests.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Fourth CellSpinsoft data transfer patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On August 2, 2024, three months 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 11,659,381, owned and asserted by CellSpinsoft, Inc., an NPE.

• Copyrights

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Nvidia accused of scraping ‘A Human Lifetime’ of videos per day to train AI

    A 404 Media report sourced through an anonymous former employee accuses Nvidia of scraping millions of videos without the proper permission to train its AI.