Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Autonomous Boat Plots Lake Beds

  Although the types of drones currently dominating headlines tend to be airborne, whether it’s hobbyist quadcopters, autonomous delivery vehicles, or military craft, autonomous vehicles can take nearly any transportation method we can think of. [Clay Builds] has been hard at work on his drone which is actually an autonomous boat, which he uses to map the underwater topography of various lakes. In this video he takes us through the design and build process of this particular vehicle and then demonstrates it in action.

• Ruben Schade ☛ Coffee shop chatter, August 2024

  I haven’t been to a coffee shop for a while, on account of Clara and I scrimping for an expensive move and buying a house. It was so much fun treating myself this morning, and writing a post about our first server.

• Ruben Schade ☛ Our first home server, and rekindling that joy

  We moved a lot when I was a kid, which was both a blessing and a curse. It was always a pain for my parents to have found the perfect set of furniture, only to have to shoehorn it into a new house or apartment with a new layout. But it also gave us an opportunity to try different things.

  In our second Singapore apartment, we had a dedicated study for the first time since we lived in Melbourne. Until that point, we had computers scattered around the house with our various printers, scanners, hard drives, serial dial-up modems, optical drives for ripping CDs, and later that Motorola Surfboard cable box everyone had. I had an idea to collect all of this into the study, with a dedicated computer to which they could be connected and used. My dad agreed, and gave me a bit of money to hit Sim Lim Square to see what I could build.

• New York Times ☛ Whimsical Parade of Banksy Animals Sends Fans on a Giddy Hunt

  Each day for nine straight days, a new Banksy artwork appeared somewhere in London. For some, it became a citywide treasure hunt.

• Science

  • Atlantic Council ☛ The case for the United States and China working together in space

    Washington and Beijing should work to revive the idea that the exploration of space should be undertaken for peaceful purposes.

  • NYPost ☛ Tim Walz taught at China’s state-run Macau Polytechnic University until at least 2007

    Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz made more than 30 trips to China, taught at Communist university in Macau

  • Science Alert ☛ Astronomers Witness Dark Matter Go Rogue in Epic Galaxy Cluster Collision

    It doesn't like slowing down.

  • New York Times ☛ For Stonehenge’s Altar Stone, an Improbably Long Ancient Journey

    A six-ton megalith at the heart of the archaeological site traveled more than 450 miles to get there, a new study concludes.

  • Science Alert ☛ Earth's Climate Faces Risk of No Return If Warming Exceeds 1.5 °C

    Our window is closing.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Comet' Tail of Speeding Star Cluster Solves 100-Year-Old Cosmic Puzzle

    A scientific first.

  • Science Alert ☛ Surprising Signs of Neanderthal Adaptability Discovered in Ancient Rock Shelter

    Far more resilience than we suspected.

  • Science Alert ☛ Stonehenge's Altar Stone May Have Journeyed Nearly 500 Miles

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Huawei already has a new chip to rival Nvidia's Hey Hi (AI) GPUs — Ascend 910C aims to replace Nvidia's Blackwell in China

    Huawei has prepared a new Ascend 910C GPU for Hey Hi (AI) to counter Nvidia's H20 and B20 in China.

  • Hackaday ☛ Handheld Oscilloscope Meter Reviewed

    We live in a time where there’s virtually no excuse not to have some kind of oscilloscope. As [IMSAI Guy] shows in a recent video, for what you might expect to pay for a decent meter, you can now get one that includes a scope. There are several options out there but it is hard to know how much to spend to get the best possible product. The Zoyi ZT-702S that he looks at costs under $80. But is it worth it?

  • Hackaday ☛ Handsome Sim Racing Button Box Is A Super Easy Build

    Sim racing is a lot more complex than playing Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit. You need buttons for all kinds of stuff, from headlights to brake balance to traction control. If you want to control all that in an intuitive and realistic manner, you’ll want to build yourself a decent button pad like [Chris Haye] has done. It’s surprisingly easy, too!

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ FDA Rejects MDMA For PTSD. What Does This Mean For Future Psychedelic Medications?

    A researcher explains.

  • Science Alert ☛ Hopeful Parkinson's Study Shows Risk of Dementia Is Lower Than Feared

    Good news.

  • New York Times ☛ Wealthy Nations Must Prioritize the Global Fight Against Mpox

    The virus is back on the rise, potentially with a vengeance.

  • New York Times ☛ What to Know About Mpox After the Global Health Emergency Alert

    The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over an outbreak that has spread to more than a dozen African countries.

  • France24 ☛ WHO declares monkeypox a global public health emergency

    The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global public health emergency on Wednesday for the second time since 2022. Following a major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that quickly spread to neighbouring countries, the WHO's highest level of alert will allow for more funding and research to help contain the disease.

  • New York Times ☛ W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency Over New Mpox Outbreak

    The epidemic is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the virus has now appeared in a dozen other African countries.

  • New York Times ☛ New York’s Promising Experiment in Making the Subways Safer

    The city is trying to improve both its mental health system and its criminal justice process. Other cities are watching carefully.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Surgeon general hones dual focus on mental health, gun violence

    The nation’s top doctor said the U.S. is “falling short” in protecting the public health of children and adolescents from the impact of social control media and firearm violence.

  • Science Alert ☛ CDC Declares Mpox a Continental Emergency. Can We Prevent a Pandemic? [Ed: It killed almost nobody.]

    A virologist explains.

  • Off Guardian ☛ WHO Declares Monkeypox a “Global Emergency”…again

    The World Health Organization has officially declared “Mpox” (formerly monkeypox) a global emergency…again.

  • Science Alert ☛ Oropouche Virus Outbreak Hits Europe as First Deaths Confirmed in Brazil

    Health officials urge precaution.

  • Latvia ☛ Why does state pay for some cancer patients and not others?

    Inequality in oncology treatment is ongoing. With the same diagnosis but different cancer locations, patients are forced to turn to donors for help when they are refused compensation by the state. The Minister responsible says that a lack of finances is to blame for the situation, Latvian Television reported on August 13.

  • European Commission ☛ European Commission coordinates procurement and donation of 215,000 vaccine doses from Bavarian Nordic to support Africa CDC in addressing the Mpox outbreak in affected countries in Africa *

    European Commission Press release Brussels, 14 Aug 2024 The European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, HERA, will procure and donate 175,420 doses of the MVA-BN® vaccine, the only FDA and EMA-approved mpox vaccine, as an immediate response to the mpox outbreak in Africa.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Suspected online resale of public hospital medication to be probed by Hong Kong Hospital Authority

    The Hospital Authority (HA) in Hong Kong has said it is concerned about the suspected resale of medication prescribed by a public hospital on online retail platform HKTVmall.

  • Latvia ☛ Covid prevalence on slight increase in Latvia

    In Latvia, the proportion of Covid-19 positive cases is gradually increasing in August, reaching 19% last week, so epidemiologists urge people to be responsible in summer and not to go out in public or to work with symptoms of respiratory tract infections.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ WHO: Mexico has 5th highest COVID test positivity rate globally

    Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are also rising as COVID-19 cases in Mexico spike by more than 50%.

  • UK Excess Deaths Remain Obscenely High (Mortality Still About 12% Higher Than Before the Pandemic)

    We see an increase of more than 10% each week and this week is no exception: Week 30 in 2019 saw 9,112 deaths in England in Wales or 9,023 on average between 2014 and 2019. This year? 10,169.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Hindustan Times ☛ Cisco layoffs: Company to cut jobs of 6,000 employees amid AI pivot

    Cisco layoffs: This is the second time that the tech company has announced layoffs this year. Earlier in February, Cisco had laid off close to 4,000 employees.

  • University of Michigan ☛ The value of language: What a machine can’t grasp

    In 2022, the launch of the large language model Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot shook the world. It answered niche questions with neatly summarized paragraphs, leapfrogging a labyrinth of manual searches. Overnight, all the information in the world became more than just accessible, but deliverable on a platter by a machine fluent in every language. 

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Federal appeals court rules that geofence warrants are unconstitutional

      The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that geofence warrants, which allow police to collect data on individuals’ whereabouts, violate the Fourth Amendment. TechCrunch reported the decision today. Geofence warrants enable law enforcement officials to identify who was in the vicinity of a crime scene when the offense was committed.

    • AccessNow ☛ Demand better privacy: hold Bumble accountable

      For many people, today’s quest for love is linked to the online dating industry. [...]

    • Reason ☛ A Ruling That Eliminates Important Privacy Rights in Many Stored Internet Contents—And The Legal Challenge to It

      With a petition for review now pending before the Supreme Court of California.

    • Reason ☛ Montana S. Ct.: Abortion Parental Consent Law Violates State Constitution's Express Right to Privacy

      From today's opinion in Planned Parenthood v. State, written by Justice Laurie McKinnon: The Consent Act conditions a minor's right to obtain an abortion on parental consent unless a judicial waiver is obtained. It imposes no corresponding limitation on a minor who seeks medical or surgical care otherwise related to her pregnancy or her child.

    • JURIST ☛ X faces European complaints over alleged data privacy violations

      Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) faces a series of complaints filed across nine European countries on Monday, accusing the company of illegal use of private data in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFERL ☛ Iran Summons Veteran Rights Lawyer To Prison For Signing Letter Against Political Executions

    Iranian authorities have issued a summons for the re-imprisonment of 76-year-old human rights lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh despite his ailing health, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said on August 14.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Myanmar junta chief, China FM discuss 'stability' as clashes rage

    Mr Wang Yi and General Min Aung Hlaing discussed “stability of the border regions,” according to a junta readout of the meeting.

  • RFA ☛ China says it ‘destroyed large network’ of Taiwanese spies

    Beijing has uncovered more than 1,000 espionage cases by Taipei, its spy agency says.

  • The Strategist ☛ Hastie: what would I do as the next minister for defence

    [A speech delivered to the Meet the Chiefs industry briefing, Canberra, 13 August 2024.]   I’m glad to have another frank discussion with you about securing Australia’s future.

  • JURIST ☛ Human rights organisation urges Algeria government to repeal new amendments to the Penal Code

    Free speech organization Article 19 urged the government of Algeria to repeal recent amendments made to the Algerian Penal Code to align with international freedom of expression standards in a statement published on Monday.

  • JURIST ☛ Red Cross president says international humanitarian law under strain

    The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, said Monday that international humanitarian law (IHL) is “under strain” due to “noncompliance.” In a speech given to mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, Spoljaric raised concerns about “overly permissive interpretations” of IHL.

  • New York Times ☛ Middle East Crisis: Palestinian Authority Leader’s Visit Highlights Turkey’s Unique Role in Gaza Conflict

    Turkish officials have bashed Israel and praised Hamas, complicating their country’s place in diplomacy aimed at ending the war.

  • France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: US, Israeli officials to attend Qatar peace talks without Hamas

    Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu confirmed Wednesday that an Israeli delegation will attend a new round of Gaza peace talks set for Thursday in Doha along with officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar. Hamas representatives will not attend but are expected to be briefed by mediators afterwards. The talks come as Israel braces for a possible retaliatory strike from Iran after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed last month in Tehran. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

  • JURIST ☛ Palestinian-American plaintiffs file suit against US Attorney General over placement on terrorism watchlist

    The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a lawsuit Monday against US Attorney General Merrick Garland  and other officials alleging two Palestinian individuals were wrongly placed on a terrorism watchlist.

  • JURIST ☛ Seven charged under UK terrorism laws for Palestine Action protest

    A group of seven have been charged over a ram-raid that the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service will say had “a terrorist connection,” according to a report released on Tuesday. Two further suspects remain in custody for further investigation and have not yet been charged. The seven are due to appear at Westminister Magistrates Court.

  • France24 ☛ US soldier pleads guilty to selling sensitive military information to China

    A US Army soldier who held a top-secret security clearance has pleaded guilty to selling defense information to China. The intelligence analyst faces several decades in prison.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US soldier Korbein Schultz pleads guilty to selling national defence secrets to China

    A US Army intelligence analyst pleaded guilty on Tuesday to providing sensitive defense information to China, including documents about US weapons systems and military tactics and strategy. Sergeant Korbein Schultz, who held a top-secret security clearance, was arrested in March at Fort Campbell, a military base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese ex-naval captain charged over entering Taiwan illegally said he wanted to ‘defect’

    A former Chinese naval captain arrested for illegally entering Taiwan by boat was formally charged Wednesday, but prosecutors said “no military or national security involvement” was linked to his act.

  • JURIST ☛ US Homeland Security says asylum migrants at Canada border have less time with lawyers as part of new security policies

    The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared internal documents with CBS News on Tuesday concerning two incoming changes to border policies for the Canada-US border, which will aim to expedite the processing time on migrants’ applications for border officials. 

  • JURIST ☛ Germany Minister of Interior announces intention to extend border controls

    German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser announced on Tuesday her intention to extend border controls beyond their initial deadline on December 15, 2024. The Minister revealed this intention to reporters during a security tour across various German federal states. 

  • JURIST ☛ UN’s migration agency warns of multiple crises in Sudan

    The United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration (IOM) warned that famine and floods will add to the ongoing challenges in Sudan on Monday. Sudan already faces displacement and significant loss of life after more than a year of civil war.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • JURIST ☛ Ukraine Security Service charges deputy energy minister in bribery case

      The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced the arrest of Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Energy, Oleksandr Kheil, along with three other suspects on Monday as part of an investigation into widespread bribery and corruption.  

    • LRT ☛ Russia moving troops from Kaliningrad to Kursk, says Lithuanian minister

      On Tuesday, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas said Russia was moving troops from its Kaliningrad exclave to counter Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine controls 74 Russian settlements in Kursk region, Zelensky says

      Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that his troops now control 74 Russian settlements in the Kursk region as some 200,000 Russian civilians fled the area. A presidential adviser said the incursion into Russian territory is designed to push Moscow into talks. Read our liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Launches Ballistic Missile Strike On Odesa As Ukrainian Forces Advance In Kursk Region

      Russian forces launched a ballistic missile strike on Ukraine's southern city of Odesa on August 14, hitting port infrastructure and injuring the driver of a grain truck, the regional governor said.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Ruble Rebounds After Touching 10-Month Low

      The Russian ruble rebounded against the dollar on August 14 after falling for six trading sessions in a row following Ukraine's biggest attack on Russian territory since the start of the war.

    • RFERL ☛ Man Involved In Nemtsov's Killing Reportedly On Guard Duty In Ukraine's Occupied Mariupol

      Novaya gazeta Europe newspaper cited sources on August 13 as saying that Temirlan Eskerkhanov, one of the five men imprisoned for their roles in the assassination of an opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in 2015, is guarding industrial facilities in Russia-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

    • RFERL ☛ Poland Says Received German Request To Arrest Suspect In Nord Stream Probe

      Poland's national public prosecutor's office, asked about the German authorities issuing a European arrest warrant in a case related to the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, confirmed on August 14 that such a warrant had been received.

    • RFERL ☛ Senior U.S. Diplomat Holds Talks In Kyiv

      U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien met in Kyiv on August 14 with Ukrainian presidential administration head Andriy Yermak, the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

    • CS Monitor ☛ US weapons help Ukraine advance. Will concerns about corruption put that at risk?

      While no evidence of fraud has arisen, Ukraine has struggled with corruption. Experts are urging the U.S. to guard the billions spent on defense aid.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Begins Moving Some Troops From Ukraine to Repel Kyiv’s Offensive

      Russia has begun moving some troops from Ukraine to deal with a Ukrainian incursion, the U.S. and Ukraine say. But Moscow appears reluctant to withdraw units from hot spots in eastern Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Germany Issues Arrest Warrant for Ukrainian Over Nord Stream Explosion

      The sabotage of the pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe has become one of the central mysteries of the war in Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Hunter Biden Sought State Department Help for Burisma

      After President Biden dropped his re-election bid, his administration released records showing that while he was vice president, his son solicited U.S. government assistance.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Incursion Into Russia: What to Know

      The incursion caught Russia by surprise and signified a shift in tactics for Kyiv after more than two years of war with Russia.

    • Citizen Lab ☛ Rivers of Phish: Sophisticated Phishing Targets Russia’s Perceived Enemies Around the Globe

      A sophisticated spear phishing campaign has been targeting Western and Russian civil society. In collaboration with Access Now, and with the participation of numerous civil society organizations, we uncover this operation and link it to COLDRIVER, a group attributed by multiple governments to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

    • AccessNow ☛ Spear phishing cases from Eastern Europe in 2022-2024: a technical brief

      Russia-linked phishing campaigns are targeting civil society and NGOs operating in the region and abroad, according to a new investigation by Access Now and the Citizen Lab.

    • AccessNow ☛ Caught on the net: Russia-linked phishing campaigns ensnare Russian and Belarusian civil society, as well as international NGOs

      Russia-linked phishing campaigns are targeting civil society and NGOs operating in the region and abroad, according to a new investigation by Access Now and the Citizen Lab.

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Russian hacking campaign targets rights groups, media, former US ambassador

      The government-backed hackers exploited fake friends and family with spear-phishing lures, according to research published Wednesday.

    • RFERL ☛ Serbian Deputy PM Discusses Improving Belgrade's Ties With Russia In Lavrov Meeting

      Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow to discuss “further improving the Serbian-Russian strategic partnership,” the Serbian government said in a statement on August 14.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. Citizen Detained In Russia For Allegedly Attacking Police Officer

      An American citizen has been detained in Moscow on suspicion of using violence against a police officer, Russia's Investigative Committee said on August 14.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Quits Framework Convention For Protection Of National Minorities

      The Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 14 that Moscow had withdrawn two weeks earlier from the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

    • France24 ☛ Germany issues arrest warrant for Ukrainian suspect over Nord Stream sabotage

      In the two years since mysterious explosions hit the Nord Stream gas pipelines, both Ukraine and Russia have denied any involvement in the attacks. German authorities on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian suspect over the 2022 sabotage.

    • France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Ukraine to organise evacuation corridors as Russian civilians flee Kursk region

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday on Telegram that humanitarian aid and a temporary military administration may be needed in the Kursk region as a Ukrainian official outlined plans to establish evacuation corridors for civilians looking to flee. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments.

    • Defence Web ☛ Countering terrorism in Africa requires effective multilateral responses

      Growing terrorism is a major threat to international peace and security and needs greater attention, while the South African Government must be bold and use its seat at the United Nations to condemn Ukraine for its alleged involvement in supporting terrorists on the continent.

    • Latvia ☛ Another 500 drones to go from Latvia to Ukraine

      The Ministry of Defense has received another load of drones manufactured by the Latvian domestic industry for shipment to Ukraine. The next shipment will include 500 drones, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release on August 13.

    • New York Times ☛ 2 Bases in Germany Placed on Heightened Alert Over Suspicious Episodes

      The discovery led to the temporary lockdown of the base while the water supply was tested. NATO officials also reported that an intruder tried to forcibly enter one of the alliance’s bases in the country.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • RFA ☛ China fires lawyer who blew whistle on illegal sale of dead bodies

    Yi Shenghua is replaced as head of the law firm he founded after his allegations sparked a social control media storm.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Veteran foreign reporter in fight for justice over medical trial injuries

    Reporter creates own video documentary to expose concerns about clinical trials.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Uvalde Police Failed to Turn Over All Body Camera Footage

    Officials in Uvalde, Texas, revealed on Wednesday that they failed to release some officer body camera and dashboard footage related to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting as required by a settlement agreement with news organizations that sued for access.

    After the city released hundreds of records on Saturday to news organizations, including ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, an officer informed the Uvalde Police Department that some of his body camera footage from the May 24, 2022, shooting was missing, according to a news release from the city.

• Environment

  • Latvia ☛ Save our soil – Latvia's efforts to improve its earthy environment

    Between 60% and 70% of soil in the European Union (EU) is unhealthy as a result of factors like how it is managed, climate change, pollution, and urban development. In Latvia, some of the actions contributing to soil degradation are the use of fertilizers, heavy agricultural machinery, and a reliance on historical land amelioration systems. These lead to issues such as mineral deficiencies and surpluses in the soil, water erosion, and soil compaction. Is anything being done about it?

  • Energy/Transportation

    • New York Times ☛ Foxconn Is Building an Electric Car Factory Next to Where It Makes iPhones

      The Taiwanese company has built a manufacturing hub in Zhengzhou, China, for its star customer Apple, but it is starting almost from scratch in the auto business.

    • DeSmog ☛ 6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Critical minerals investment must avoid the mistakes of the past in African mining

      By getting mining investment right, the United States can set a new precedent for its collaboration with African countries in other areas, such as health, security, and technology.

    • DeSmog ☛ Project 2025: Tory Candidates Have Ties to Group Drafting ‘Dangerous’ Trump Agenda

    • DeSmog ☛ UK Regulator Weighs Greenwashing Allegations Against Latest Shell Ads

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Pro Publica ☛ Struggling to Keep or Find Housing After Maui’s Wildfires? Tell Us Your Story.

      People on Maui have heard the stories: neighbors forced from their homes not by last year’s wildfires, but by property owners seeking to take advantage of the housing shortage. In some cases, tenants have said property owners have rented to government aid programs that offered top dollar to shelter wildfire survivors. In others, landlords have rented to others who will pay more.

      Civil Beat has teamed up with ProPublica to more deeply examine what many say is a secondary housing crisis stemming from the loss of thousands of homes in the wildfires. We want to know how widespread these issues are, who’s responsible, who’s been harmed and what can be done about it.

    • Pro Publica ☛ Maui Residents Have Been Pushed Out as Landlords Profit Off Wildfire Crisis

      A year ago, after a deadly wildfire displaced thousands of residents of Lahaina, Hawaii’s governor and lieutenant governor invoked a state law blocking most evictions and prohibiting price gouging. The emergency order soon became a tool to prevent widespread displacement of all Maui residents, including people struggling to pay rent because they had lost work due to the fire.

      Despite that order, some Maui property owners have capitalized on the crisis by pushing out tenants and housing wildfire survivors for more money. Among those displaced: a couple and their two young children who, according to court records, were evicted so their landlord’s son could move in while renting his own home to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s housing program for $8,000 a month.

    • The Revelator ☛ The Te Awa Tupua Act: An Inspiration for Communities to Take Responsibility for Their Ecosystems

    • Science Alert ☛ Horses Show Unexpected Intelligence With Strategic Thinking in Game Play

      They can plan ahead to avoid work.

• Finance

  • Latvia ☛ Nordic Investment Bank reports increased profits

    During the first six months of 2024, the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), of which Latvia is a shareholder, grew its net net profit by 12.3%, from EUR 127 million to EUR 143 million, compared to the same period in 2023, according to results published August 14

  • SummitStone CEO explains 75 layoffs

  • Head Topics ☛ SoftBank scraps AI chips tie-up plan with Intel, FT reports

    The partnership did not materialize after the U.S. chipmaker struggled to meet SoftBank's requirements, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter. SoftBank has blamed Intel for the collapse of the talks, claiming Intel was incapable of meeting its demands for volume and speed, the report said, adding that SoftBank is now focusing on discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co , the world's largest contract chipmaker.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong court allows legal challenge against approval of large-scale tech hub study to advance

    Hong Kong’s High Court has granted an application for a legal challenge against environmental authorities’ approval of a report into the development of a large-scale technology hub. Critics have said the San Tin Technopole will destroy swathes of valuable ecosystems near the city’s border with mainland China.

  • New York Times ☛ Inflation Cools to 2.9%, Shoring Up Case for a Fed Rate Cut

    The Consumer Price Index reading in July was the mildest year-over-year increase since 2021.

  • New York Times ☛ Harris’s Economic Plans: The Good, the Bad and the Unnecessary

    There may be a political need to “fight inflation,” but economically the issue is over.

  • New York Times ☛ Inflation Progress Cheers Biden and Democrats

    Soaring prices have been a political albatross for the Biden administration.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ Japanese PM Kishida announces he will not seek re-election in September

    Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who has been in power since October 2021, announced on Wednesday that he would not stand for re-election as head of his party in September, marking the end of his premiership. Both Kishida and the Liberal Democratic Party have seen their popularity ratings slump due to the effect of inflation on Japanese incomes.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • RFA ☛ Does a video show Israeli intelligence reaction to Haniyeh’s death?

      Verdict: False

    • WhichUK ☛ Which? Shorts podcast: should you be worried about deepfakes?

      We investigate the rise of fake yet realistic images, videos and audio of real people and explain how they're being used to trick you.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ "Personal Protection Order" Statute May Be Unconstitutional to the Extent It Authorizes Ex Parte Orders That Restrict Speech

    The court is discussing orders "enjoining protected speech or conduct ... without an adversarial hearing or adjudication on the merits that the speech or conduct is not protected."

  • BIA Net ☛ RSF: Erdoğan’s 10 years of presidency marked by legal harassment, censorship against journalists

    Seventy-seven journalists have been convicted of “insulting the president” since Erdoğan took office in August 2024.

  • France24 ☛ Venezuelan lawmakers consider laws to restrict NGO registration and funding

    The Venezuelan National Assembly is considering a package of laws that would tighten regulations on the registration and funding of non-governmental organisations.

  • Reason ☛ San Francisco City Council Targets Free Speech To Cover Up Its Own Housing Failures

    Desperate to control soaring rents, the city council bans rental data tools while ignoring its own role in the housing crisis.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ EU Commissioner just warned Elon Musk over dangerous content and it backfired badly

    EU Commissioner Thierry Breton shared words with X Corp. owner Elon Musk yesterday, reminding him that Musk and X have a responsibility to adhere to the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA.

  • JURIST ☛ EU Commissioner urges Elon Musk to comply with EU law in letter ahead of Trump interview

    European Union (EU) Commissioner Thierry Breton sent a letter to Elon Musk, owner of social control media platform X (formerly Twitter), on Monday to ensure that X complies with the due diligence requirements specified in the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

  • EFF ☛ In These Five Social Media Speech Cases, Supreme Court Set Foundational Rules for the Future

    The court did, importantly and correctly, explain that at least Facebook’s Newsfeed and YouTube’s Homepage were examples of platforms exercising their own First Amendment rights on how to display and organize content, and the laws could not be constitutionally applied to Newsfeed and Homepage and similar sites, a preliminary step in determining whether the laws were facially unconstitutional.Lindke v. Freed and Garnier v. O’Connor-Ratcliffe looked at the government’s role as a social media user who has an account and wants to use its full features, including blocking other users and deleting comments. The Supreme Court instructed the lower courts to first look to whether a government official has the authority to speak on behalf of the government, before looking at whether the official used their social media page for governmental purposes, conduct that would trigger First Amendment protections for the commenters.Murthy v. Missouri, the jawboning case, looked at the government’s mixed role as a regulator and user, in which the government may be seeking to coerce platforms to engage in unconstitutional censorship or may also be a user simply flagging objectionable posts as any user might. The Supreme Court found that none of the plaintiffs had standing to bring the claims because they could not show that their harms were traceable to any action by the federal government defendants.We’ve analyzed each of the Supreme Court decisions, Moody v. NetChoice (decided with NetChoice v. Paxton), Murthy v. Missouri, and Lindke v. Freed (decided with Garnier v. O’Connor Ratcliffe), in depth.But some common themes emerge when all five cases are considered together.

    Plenty of legal issues around social media remain to be decided. But the 2023-24 Supreme Court term has set out important speech-protective rules that will serve as the foundation for many future rulings. 

     

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Ex-Puebla governor linked to journalist’s 2005 torture freed from pretrial detention

    A judge said jailed ex-governor Mario Marín can await at home his trial for allegedly ordering journalist Lydia Cacho's torture in 2005.

  • JURIST ☛ Bangladesh Editors’ Council urges government to withdraw cases against journalists

    The Bangladesh Editors’ Council called for the government to withdraw cases against journalists under anti-free-press laws on Monday. Editors’ Council’s president Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of Bangladesh newspaper The Daily Star, hosted the discussion in the Daily Star offices.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Bangladesh former PM calls for investigation into deadly protest violence during national unrest

    Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, through a statement posted by her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy on the social control media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, called for an investigation into the killings that occurred during weeks of protests in Bangladesh.

  • EFF ☛ EFFecting Change: Reproductive Justice in the Digital Age

    This summer marks the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Join EFF for a livestream discussion about restrictions to reproductive healthcare and the choices people seeking an abortion must face in the digital age where everything is connected, and surveillance is rampant. Learn what’s happening across the United States and how you can get involved with our panel featuring EFF Staff Technologist Daly Barnett, EFF Associate Director of Legislative Activism Hayley Tsukayama, EFF Staff Attorney Jennifer Pinsof, and Adri Perez.  

    Do you know what to do if you’re subjected to a search or arrest at a protest? Join EFF for a livestream discussion about how to protect your electronic devices and digital assets before, during, and after a demonstration. Learn how you can avoid confiscation or forced deletion of media, and keep your movements and associations private.

  • Defence Web ☛ Mchunu condemns corrupt cops who assaulted, robbed civilian

    Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu has expressed concern and disappointment over corrupt members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) after four members assaulted and robbed a civilian of nearly R200 000, while others were apprehended for kidnapping.

  • RFA ☛ Police order better treatment of delivery riders after one is humiliated

    Dozens of riders protest after a private security guard forces a colleague to kneel, threatening her with a fine.

  • JURIST ☛ Amnesty International urges immediate release of detained Angola TikToker

    Amnesty International urged Angola authorities to immediately release Angolan TikToker Ana da Silva Miguel, also known as Neth Nahara, on Tuesday. Amnesty International said Neth Nahara was arbitrarily detained and condemned Neth Nahara’s conviction of committing an outrage against the state, its symbols and bodies under article 333 of Angola’s penal code as absurd.

  • Federal News Network ☛ CBP settles class action lawsuit that says it discriminated against pregnant employees

    In today's Federal Newscast, after eight years, Customs and Border Protection has reached a $45 million class action settlement. 

  • JURIST ☛ Canada First Nations sue Ontario over Mining Act alleging treaty rights violations

    Six First Nations from northern Ontario announced during a press conference on Monday the initiation of a lawsuit challenging the province of Ontario’s Mining Act, arguing that the legislation infringes upon their treaty and equality rights as protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Sexual misconduct policy review paused pending federal action

    Changes to U-M's Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Policy are on hold until later in the academic year pending several federal lawsuits that have blocked enforcement of recent Title IX regulations.

  • NYPost ☛ The only way to end Midtown chaos is to forcibly take the mentally ill off the streets

    The dire conditions enveloping Manhattan as mentally ill and drug-addicted vagrants flood the streets unchecked can only end if Albany changes state laws on helping those who refuse to be helped.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • New York Times ☛ These Modern Homesteaders Live Off the Grid, but They’re Extremely Online

    In corners of the internet — and in wooded, undeveloped parts of the country — young men are documenting their efforts to to live off the land.

  • Hackaday ☛ Entangled Photons Maintained Using Existing Fiber Under NYC’s Streets

    Entangled photons are an ideal choice for large-scale networks employing quantum encryption or similar, as photons can use fiber-optical cables to transmit them. One issue with using existing commercial fiber-optic lines for this purpose is that these have imperfections which can disrupt photon entanglement. This can be worked around by delaying one member of the pair slightly, but this makes using the pairs harder. Instead, a team at New York-based startup Qunnect used polarization entanglement to successfully transmit and maintain thousands of photons over the course of weeks through a section of existing commercial fiber, as detailed in the recently published paper by [Alexander N. Craddock] et al. in PRX Quantum (with accompanying press release).

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • NYPost ☛ Widower of doctor who suffered fatal allergic reaction rips Disney+ subscription defense: ‘Borders on absurd’

    Disney's attempt to weasel its way out of a $50,000 wrongful death suit using a widower's Disney+ subscription "borders on absurd," the grieving husband argued in court papers.

  • Digital Music News ☛ SoundCloud Says ‘Streaming Isn’t Enough’ — Opens SoundCloud Store for Diversified Income Sources

    SoundCloud says streaming isn’t enough for artists to survive, that’s why its launching the SoundCloud Store to diversify income sources for artists. A select number of Next Pro artists can design exclusive merchandise for their fans with minimal effort, allowing artists to focus on their craft while driving meaningful revenue from sources beyond streaming.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Silicon Angle ☛ FTC enters Surveillance Giant Google v. Epic Games case and hints that Surveillance Giant Google should be broken up

  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly considering breaking up Surveillance Giant Google LLC following its intervention via amicus brief into the Epic Games Inc. v. Surveillance Giant Google case regarding Google’s practices relating to competition and payments in its Play store.

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ Sophos joins Unified Patents

    We are pleased to announce that Sophos Ltd., a security software and hardware company, is now a Unified Patents member. Products and services provided by Sophos are designed to protect users, networks, and endpoints from cyberattacks, including malware, ransomware, phishing, and exploits. Sophos is joining 300+ other companies committed to deterring the assertion of bad patents by non-practicing entities (NPEs).

  • EFF ☛ EFF Presses Federal Circuit To Make Patent Case Filings Public

    When EFF tried to intervene and push for greater access to a patent dispute earlier this year, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas rejected our effort.  EFF appealed and last week filed our opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

    EFF is not the only one concerned by the district court’s decision. Several organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of our appeal. Below, we explain the stakes of this case and why others are concerned about the implications of the district court’s secrecy.  

    Secrecy in patent litigation is an enduring problem, and EFF has repeatedly pushed for greater transparency by intervening in patent lawsuits to vindicate the public’s right to access judicial records.

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Dear Mr. President, A word on the composition of the Opposition Division – Part II [Ed: EPO is a big pile of corruption]

    This is part II of an open letter directed to the President of the EPO in his capacity to give directions on the composition of Opposition Divisions. Article 19 EPC explicitly permits the Primary Examiner to be member of an Opposition Division.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Family Planning Patent Style: Allergan, Cellect, and the ODP Maze

    Most U.S. utility patents are (or will eventually be) part of a patent monopoly family with at least one other U.S. patent. The recent rise in focus on obviousness type double patenting (ODP) has been unnerving to some, especially with the Cellect decision from 2023 that seemed to greatly expand the risk of family members colliding based upon differing expiration dates due to Patent Term Adjustment (PTA).

    The Federal Circuit’s new ODP opinion in Allergan USA v. MSN Labs, 24-1061 (Fed. Cir. August 13, 2014), provides some major relief to patent monopoly portfolio holders, holding that “a first-filed, first-issued, later-expiring claim cannot be invalidated by a later-filed, later-issued, earlier-expiring reference claim having a common priority date.” This ruling provides a measure of protection for first-filed patents that receive substantial PTA, shielding them from ODP challenges based on their own continuations sharing the same priority date.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ What’s on at the smaller local divisions [Ed: UPC is illegal, but this site was paid to lie for and promote the illegal]

      Ljubljana is the exception and Copenhagen a mystery. While the local division in the Slovenian capital is the only one of the UPC divisions to not yet see a case, the local division in the Danish capital has had one infringment [sic]case since February 2024. This is shown in the UPC’s monthly caseload statistics.

    • JUVE ☛ Nominees in IP for JUVE Awards Germany 2024 announced [Ed: It's also paid to give those fake awards so that lawyers can pretend to be "award winning"]

      Today JUVE announced the shortlist for this year’s JUVE Awards Germany, including the renowned JUVE IP Law Firm of the Year, and the IP In-house Team of the Year. The JUVE Awards cover Germany only and there are five nominees in each category.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ Precedential No. 19: Red-White-and-Blue Mark Not Confusable with Red-Top Mark for Fence Posts, Says TTAB

    Inter partes proceedings involving two color marks are as rare as a traffic cop in Boston. The Board denied this petition for cancellation of a supplemental registration for the color mark (red-white-and-blue) shown below left, for "metal fence posts," finding confusion unlikely with the registered color mark (red top) shown below right for "metallic fence posts." In a 69-page decision, the Board found the first DuPont factor - the dissimilarity of the marks - to be dispositive. Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. v. The Franklin Investment Corp. DBA Franklin Industries, Cancellation No. 92066927 (August 12, 2024) [precedential] (Opinion by Judge Cheryl S. Goodman).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Mariah Carey, Sony Music, UMG Move to Toss ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Infringement Lawsuit

    Attorneys for Mariah Carey, Sony Music, and UMG move to dismiss a copyright monopoly infringement lawsuit filed against them for ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You.’ All Mariah Carey wants for Christmas is to dismiss the copyright monopoly infringement lawsuit against her.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Songwriter Lawsuit Against PRS for Music Intensifies As Open Letter Takes Aim At Fee Structure & Transparency

    The lawsuit filed against PRS for Music by Pace Rights Management, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and others is intensifying, as the plaintiffs are calling out the defendant’s “simply untrue” statements and wider operations.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Two IPTV Pirates Sentenced to Prison But After 5 Years Questions Remain

    In the unlikely event that there's anyone left in the UK who hasn't been completely desensitized to the perils of IPTV, here's another case to strain the nerves. After being raided five years ago, two brothers from Ilford in Essex have been sentenced to prison. Whether both will actually see the inside of a cell is unclear; one turned up to face the music, the other failed to appear. The reason for his absence is unknown and just the start of a long list of other unanswered questions.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Popular Shadow Library 'LibGen' Breaks Down Amidst Legal Troubles

    Popular shadow library LibGen appears to be struggling with technical problems. Regular book downloads stopped working last weekend and remain unavailable. The reason for the issues are unknown but, for now, internal troubles at the site seem more likely than a copyright-related enforcement action.