Links 19/08/2024: Microsoft Shutting Down Mods, Google's Threat to Publishers
Contents
- Leftovers
- Science
- Education
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Art/Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Transparency/Investigative Reporting
- Environment
- Finance
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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Antonio Rodrigues ☛ A simple blog
Back on my post Design webpages to last I’ve promised I would put together a simple blog that anyone can edit and call their own. Why you would do that? Because it is fun. At the end of this post I will give you some pros and cons but spoilers alerts… there are more cons.
You can download the final project here. But I will try to guide you first through the changes you will need to make a new post and them explain what each piece of this simple-blog has.
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Science
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ Biotech potential set to soar with the help of digital technology
Biotechnology, which uses living organisms to create different products or processes, remains important in today’s production of food and drink. But it is also increasingly used for a wide range of industrial products, including medicines, where it combines ancient principles with cutting-edge technology.
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] ‘Monster plants’: an expert guide to alien invasive species and the epic battles they win
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] We’ve found there was an overseas trade supplying horses for sacrifices during the late Viking age
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Summer holiday science: turn your home into a lab with these three easy experiments
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] The biggest-ever sample of core material from Earth’s mantle could have valuable clues into the origins of life
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Boeing Starliner astronauts: what six months stuck in space may do to their perception of time
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] John Tyndall: how a lecture in Belfast 150 years ago supercharged the modern debate on consciousness
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] How we reconstructed the ancestor of all life on Earth
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Bartosz Milewski ☛ Sheaves and Topology
Previously: Presheaves and Topology. In all branches of science we sooner or later encounter the global vs. local duality. Topology is no different. In topology we have the global definition of continuity: counter-images of all open sets are open. But we perceive a discontinuity as a local jump.
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New York Times ☛ Fossils Show Giant Predatory Sea Scorpions Were Distance Swimmers
Specimens of what appear to be the largest eurypterid species found in Australia could shed light on the sudden extinction of the massive arthropods.
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Science Alert ☛ Surprise Discovery Reveals There's 3 Different Kinds of Great White Shark
We never knew!
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Science Alert ☛ The Mysterious Origins of Sapphires Have Finally Been Deciphered
Ice forged in fire.
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Science Alert ☛ This 600-Year-Old Coral Is Revealing Important Secrets About The Past
It knows stuff.
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Science Alert ☛ Your Choice of Pet Could Predict What Kind of Personality You Have
Who's a good boy then?
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Education
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Robert Birming ☛ Quit or Stay?
There's usually no rush. It's worth waiting a while. The most important thing is that it's the right decision, whenever and whatever we decide.
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Logikal Solutions ☛ The Two Page Myth
Most recruiters don’t even speak English. Most really horrible shops are using AI to pre-scan resumes. The rest got some freeware “grep” type utility and they put all of the resumes in a single directory. They start the utility, enter in a single keyword, then contact each and every person that pops up. Usually it is an autospam email.
I know this because I get 2-5 contacts every quarter looking for someone to design FDA approved sterile crush resistant packaging for medical devices. Why? I design software for medical devices and I create Debian/RPM packages for my OpenSource software. They search for “medical device” and “package” without ever actually looking at the resume.
The Two Page Myth only applies to shit-holes with cheap AI unable to process more than that. Grep utilities simply don’t care. They read ASCII files one line at a time and PDF is usually something like a page at a time. They will dutifully chew through every file in the directory tree.
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Omicron Limited ☛ Learning a language? Four ways to smash through the dreaded 'intermediate plateau'
The breakthrough came after I left Korea, a revelation that arrived too late for my students there but not for countless others. I learned about language scholar Paul Nation's own teaching methodology. He suggests a balanced approach to language learning and it transformed my entire perspective. He proposes that language education should be evenly divided among four critical strands: [...]
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Turkey's Main Opposition Party Applies to Cancel Law Targeting Stray Dogs
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Minister: Turkey closely monitoring Mpox
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Futurism ☛ ChatGPT Is Absolutely Atrocious At Being a Doctor
The findings show that in its current form, ChatGPT "is not accurate as a diagnostic tool," the researchers wrote, which would call into question the efforts by companies like Google that are experimenting with chatbots being used in hospitals. And as AI models are being released specifically for medical purposes, the authors worry that the public will overestimate the technology's capabilities.
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Thord D Hedengren ☛ What is digital balance anyway?
Digital balance is a lot about choosing what to do, and not just do other things because it's easier.
It's also about not choosing the digital option at all times.
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Art/Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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4Square Media Pty Ltd ☛ Outrage As Activision Forces Shut Down Of Modern Warfare 2 Mod
here has been outrage as a highly anticipated mod for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered was forcefully shut down by Activision hours before its expected launch.
The H2 Multiplayer Mod (H2M) was set to remake the multiplayer maps from the original Modern Warfare 2 inside the PC version of Modern Warfare Remastered, according to Digital Trends.
Beyond recreating the maps, it also featured upgraded graphics, brand-new maps, remastered weapons, and a new progression system.
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New York Times ☛ A Sharp Downturn in the Art Market
We explore how a slowdown is affecting a rising generation of artists.
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] The Paint Is Dry on Banksy's Animal-Themed Street Art That Appeared Across London Over 9 Days
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Music Ally Ltd ☛ AI-generated song charts in Germany, amid controversy -
It’s also something that would not have been made without AI: Butterbro created the song as an in-joke for friends and it’s highly unlikely that a song, which is essentially a throwaway gag, would have existed if he’d stuck to the traditional methods of creation – booking a studio, musicians, songwriter, vocalist, mixing engineer and so on.
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India Times ☛ California AI bill is amended; vote is expected by end of August
The bill has sparked fierce debate in the tech industry, with Silicon Valley giants, academics and investors taking sides on whether to regulate a nascent technology that has been hyped for both its benefits and its dangers. The bill would no longer create a new agency for AI safety, instead shifting regulatory duties to the existing California Government Operations Agency. And companies would be liable for violating the law only if their technologies caused real harm or imminent dangers to public safety.
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Futurism ☛ Chinese Company Approved to Test Robotaxis in California
The approval comes with some notable caveats: the three-year permit prohibits WeRide from accepting fares or transporting the general public, the news agency reports. WeRide will be testing out its fleet of just 12 vehicles in and around San Jose, with or without a company driver behind the wheel, along with passengers made of WeRide personnel.
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Reuters ☛ California allows Chinese robotaxi firm WeRide to test with passengers
The permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) - issued earlier this month for three years - allows WeRide to ferry passengers in test vehicles with a driver and without one. WeRide will not be allowed to offer rides to the general public and cannot charge any fares. WeRide has 12 active vehicles and will operate in San Jose and nearby areas, CPUC said in a statement to Reuters.
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The Verge ☛ Waymo’s robotaxi depot is still honking its San Francisco neighbors awake
San Francisco neighbors who live in a building next to a Waymo parking lot are still being haunted by overnight honking. That’s despite a fix from the ride hail company that seems to have fixed the original problem — the cars beeping their horns in the parking lot — but has also revealed that the issue is a little stickier than it may have first seemed.
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Futurism ☛ Journalist Resigns After Being Exposed for Fake, AI-Generated Quotes
If you're going to use AI to write for you, and if you also happen to answer to an editor, don't. It's not just lazy, it's plain stupid, because a keen reader can always sniff out the BS.
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New York Times ☛ Wyoming Reporter Resigns After Using A.I. to Fabricate Quotes
A novice reporter for the Cody Enterprise in Wyoming resigned this month after he was caught using generative artificial intelligence to help write his stories, resulting in numerous fabricated quotes, according to editors at the paper and published reports.
Aaron Pelczar left the newspaper on Aug. 2 after the Powell Tribune, a competing newspaper, presented him with evidence of made-up quotes in several stories.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Los Angeles Times ☛ Massive data breach that includes Social Security numbers may be even worse than suspected
Such a release would be problematic enough. But according to National Public Data, the breach also included email addresses — a crucial piece for identity thieves and fraudsters.
Having a person’s email address makes it easier to target them with phishing attacks, which try to dupe people into revealing passwords to financial accounts or downloading malware that can extract sensitive personal information from devices. In addition, because many people use their email address to log into online accounts, it could be used to try to hijack those accounts through password resets.
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Defence/Aggression
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] YouTube Shuts Portuguese Extreme-Right Group's Channel After NYT Queries
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Counter Punch ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Ten Years After the Death of Michael Brown, the Conditions That Led to the Uprisings Remain
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VOA News ☛ China’s ‘accidental’ damage to Baltic pipeline viewed with suspicion
In an interview August 13 with Estonia's public radio, ERR, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said he was skeptical of China's claim that a storm caused the incident.
"Personally, I find it very difficult to understand how a ship's captain could fail to notice for such a long time that its anchor had been dragging along the seabed, but it is up to the prosecutor's office to complete the investigation," he said.
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Exclusive-Turkey Pleased With F-16 Jets Deal With US, Defence Minister Says
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Exclusive-Turkey's Priority Is Fulfilling NATO Responsibilities, Defence Minister Says
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Teenager perpetrates random stabbing spree in Turkey’s Eskişehir, leaving five wounded
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Turkey: Police arrest teen after 5 stabbed in cafe
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Teen arrested after allegedly neo-Nazi inspired stabbing spree in Turkey's Eskişehir
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CBC ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Alleged Toronto ISIS attack plotter lived in Egypt, studied at U.S. college
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] US State Dept OKs Potential Sale of Tactical Missiles to Canada
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Make Tech Easier ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] TikTok Users Can Now Use Direct Messaging Group Chat
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] TikTok Craze 'Extra Hard' Gum Won't Chisel Your Jawline. It Might Even Hurt You [Ed: TikTok promoting self harm]
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Project Censored ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Dark Money and Project 2025: A Deep Dive into Political Secrecy and Conservative Ambitions
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Counter Punch ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Let’s Think About How to Build a More Peaceful World
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Strengthened Security Alliance Transformed Germany-Philippines ‘Vibrant Ties’
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Russia Summons Italian Ambassador Over Journalists Reporting From Kursk
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Ukraine Surprise Offensive Occupation To Russia, A Move for Negotiation
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Russia Readies for 'Decades' Under Western Sanctions
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Ukraine Says It Keeps Advancing, 'Strengthening Positions' in Kursk Region
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Ukraine Sends Humanitarian Aid to Occupied Part of Russia's Kursk Region
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Russia: Belgorod declared state of emergency
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Scheerpost ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] USA Lets Athletes Cheat With Steroids, as It Accuses Russia & China of Violating Anti-Doping Rules
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Russia: Dual US citizen jailed for 12 years over 'treason'
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Ukraine's Kursk offensive: How worried are local Russians?
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Ukraine Racks up Gains With Russia Incursion, Faces Challenge Holding Territory
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Britain Says Ukraine Can Use Donated Weapons Inside Russia
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Family of American Teacher Jailed in Russia Say He Was 'Shattered' to Miss Out on Prisoner Swap
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Russia Says Its Forces Advance Towards Key City in Eastern Ukraine
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Strategic Bomber Crashes in Siberia, Izvestia Cites Russian Defence Ministry Saying
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Two Killed, Seven Injured in Russian Bomb Attacks on Ukraine's Kharkiv Region
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Ukraine Touts Capture of Large Group of Soldiers Inside Russia
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] US Citizen Put in 2-Month Pre-Trial Detention, Russian Court Says
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Vox ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Ukraine’s shock Russia incursion, explained
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Scheerpost ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] NATO Countries Think Ukraine Won’t Be Able To Hold Territory in Russia’s Kursk
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Germany: Ukraine 'free to choose' its weapons for Russia advance
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Russian Drone Attack Kills Two Medics in Ukraine's Kharkiv Region, Say Police
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Ukraine Says Russia Strikes Missile at Port Infrastructure in Odesa
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] What We Know About Ukraine's Surprise Push Into Russian Territory
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Scheerpost ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Zelensky Acknowledges Ukraine’s Offensive In Russia’s Kursk Oblast
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] How far will Ukraine advance in Russia's Kursk region?
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Russia Calls Out Ukraine Allies at UN for Silence on Kursk Assault
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Russia Says It Thwarted a Ukrainian Charge to Expand Its Incursion. Kyiv Says It Won't Occupy Land
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Ukraine Says It Is Still Advancing in Russia's Kursk Region
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CBC ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Russian war evacuations extended to include part of a 2nd Ukraine border region
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Explainer-Is It the End for Russian Gas Supplies to Europe Via Ukraine?
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Iran Shows Long-Range Drones at Russian Event, State News Reports
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Russia's Putin Says Ukraine's Incursion Into Kursk Is an Attempt to Stop Moscow’s Eastern Offensive
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Putin Says Ukraine Wants to Destabilise Russia With Kursk Offensive
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Putin Says Ukraine's Attack on Russia Is Aimed at Ceasefire Negotiations
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Ukraine Boosts Grain Exports Despite Intensified Russian Attacks
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Ukraine Says Russian Guided Bomb Attacks Have Decreased Sharply in Kharkiv Region
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Ukraine Says Russia Tries to Accuse It of False War Crimes in Kursk
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Vox ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] What we know about Trump’s claim that Iran hacked his campaign
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CBC ☛ 2024-08-11 [Older] Moscow, Kyiv trade blame for blaze at Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
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NL Times ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Dutch PM Schoof: Support for Ukraine "undiminished" after Nord Stream sabotage report
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Ukraine updates: Kursk incursion aimed to start talks — Kyiv
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] The Invasion of Ukraine and Its Impact on European Energy Security
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Nord Stream pipeline sabotage: Ukraine denies involvement
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Ukraine updates: Kyiv says still advancing in Kursk
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Ukraine Opens Military Office in Occupied Kursk Region, Says It Is Still Advancing
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Ukraine updates: Kyiv to create 'buffer zone' in Kursk
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Hunter Biden Reportedly Sought US Government Help for Ukrainian Gas Company Burisma
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Ukraine updates: Kyiv says no interest in occupying Kursk
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Ukraine Receives 4.2 Billion Euros From EU, Prime Minister Says
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Ukraine updates: Putin vows to 'drive enemy' out of Kursk
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] On Geneva Conventions' 75th Anniversary, Fighters in Gaza, Ukraine and Beyond Ignore Rulebook of War
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Ukraine Emergency Workers Extinguish Fire in Grain Warehouse in Odesa Region
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Ukraine Sees No Sign of Belarusian Military Buildup Near Border
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Transparency/Investigative Reporting
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Science Alert ☛ Alzheimer's May Not Actually Be a Brain Disease, Expert Reveals
The pursuit of a cure for Alzheimer's disease is becoming an increasingly competitive and contentious quest with recent years witnessing several important controversies.
In July 2022, Science magazine reported that a key 2006 research paper, published in the prestigious journal Nature, which identified a subtype of brain protein called beta-amyloid as the cause of Alzheimer's, may have been based on fabricated data.
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Environment
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Counter Punch ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] How to Decolonize Our Battle Against Climate Change
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Will India listen to repeated environmental warnings?
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Turkey to face above-average temperatures throughout August due to African heatwave
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Turkey experienced hottest July in 53 years
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Red States Get 85% of the Benefit of Climate Law. Some Still Hate It.
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University of Michigan ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] City Council discusses German Sister City visit, climate action and Comprehensive Plan policy changes
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] World Court to Hold Hearings in Case That May Define Countries' Climate Obligations
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Germany: Climate activists block four airports
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Vox ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Even landlocked states aren’t safe from hurricanes
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] White House Climate Adviser Touts Key Law's Benefits for Red States
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Re-Initiating the Green Climate Fund
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Pacific Northwest Tribes Are Battered by Climate Change but Fight to Get Money Meant to Help Them
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Energy/Transportation
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Bolivia Swaps Energy and Hydrocarbons Minister Amid Fuel Crisis
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CBC ☛ Data centres are hungry for power, and Alberta is pitching itself as the place to build
There is strong demand in Canada for more data centres driven from two sources: cloud service providers and artificial intelligence companies. Data centres are filled with rows of computers and other machines used to store pretty much anything on your phone or computer such as pictures, music and more.
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Futurism ☛ It Has Never Been Less Profitable to Mine Bitcoin, JPMorgan Finds
As Coindesk reports, an analysis from JPMorgan found that the computational power required to mine the elite cryptocurrency has outpaced its value thanks to investors chasing artificial intelligence gains and abandoning crypto in the process.
The result: Bitcoin mining profitability is at an all-time low, and it remains to be seen whether or not it will keep going lower.
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ACM ☛ AI’s Increasing Power Needs
To support datacenters powerful enough to handle existing chat-caliber GenAI, Tirias’ latest report predicts U.S. datacenter energy consumption will increase from over 1.4 tera-Watt-hours (TWh) today to 67 TWh by 2028. Goldman Sachs estimates that when you add traditional AI to GenAI, about twice that amount of growth is expected in the same time period, resulting in AI consuming about 19% of overall datacenter energy power, or about 4% of total grid energy generation for all the U.S.
The way this strong growth in energy consumption from the grid will be met, according to Goldman Sachs report AI, Data Centers and the Coming US Power Demand Surge, is by transforming power generation for the grid from coal-fired electrical energy generation to “60% [natural] gas and 40% renewable sources [mainly solar and wind].” In addition, Bloomberg points out that the move to gas and renewable sources will include delaying the retirement of some coal-fired electricity generation plants nearest the newest hyperscale datacenters.
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Wildlife/Wildfires/Nature
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Climate change raised the odds of unprecedented wildfires in 2023-24
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-11 [Older] Half of Greece on red alert as wildfires rage near Athens
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Turkey wildfires threaten homes and war memorials
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Uncontained wildfire threatens residential, industrial areas in Turkey’s İzmir
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Wildfires: Is Europe prepared?
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] How Much Should We Intervene to Save Species?
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Finance
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CBC ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Woman on the hook for $15K in unpaid wages at Ontario funeral home she says she never owned
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CBC ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Canada Jetlines becomes latest discount airline to ground flights as it plans to file for creditor protection
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Turkey's largest cities lead in internal migration amid economic challenges
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Activists Are Bringing the Heat to the Banks Funding Climate Crisis
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CBC ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] To pay for affordable housing, some non-profits bypass banks and get loans from their neighbours
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Gannett ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] ‘He Sounded Like a Disoriented, Racist Daffy Duck’ [Ed: Twitter is run by exremists and for exremists]
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Trump Returns to Twitter in a Weird Way
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Schengen.News ☛ Lithuania Ready for Entry/Exit System Launch, Ministry Confirms
The EES will replace manual passport stamping, which is considered to be time-consuming and does not allow proper detection of those overstaying in the zone.
Starting November 10, all foreigners, regardless of whether they need a Schengen visa or not, will have to register into the system.
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Schengen.News ☛ EU’s New Entry/Exit System Launch Date Postponed to November 10
The launch date of the new border system of the European Union – the Entry/Exit System (EES) – has been postponed once again.
EES, which will replace manual passport stamping, was set to launch on October 6 of this year.
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teleSUR ☛ Social Network X, Formerly Twitter, Closes Its Workshop in Brazil - teleSUR English
The social network X, formerly Twitter, announced on Saturday that it is closing its office in Brazil after accusing Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes of “threatening” to jail his legal representatives if they do not comply with judicial rulings.
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Digital Music News ☛ Sonos Layoffs Confirmed Following App Debacle -- 100+ Affected
In the bigger picture, the layoff round marks the latest in a line of cutbacks at Sonos, which in June of 2023 trimmed about 7% of its workforce. And though it perhaps goes without saying, the $20 million to $30 million in expenses Spence is anticipating from the app debacle certainly aren’t helping the situation. Furthermore, Sonos isn’t alone in opting to reduce the size of its team during 2024.
Solely in and around the music space, the long list of companies that have laid off personnel during or just before the year includes Universal Music, Spotify, TikTok, Proper Group (previously Utopia Music), Amazon Prime Video, Warner Music, and Google/YouTube.
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C4ISRNET ☛ Defense Science Board calls for greater commercial space tech adoption
A new report from the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board calls on the Space Force to integrate commercial space technology wherever possible — from planning and wargaming exercises to budgets and procurement strategies.
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Press Gazette ☛ New Conde Nast chief revenue officer to join from Yahoo
Conde Nast has appointed Elizabeth Herbst-Brady as its new chief revenue officer starting in September.
Herbst-Brady is currently chief revenue officer and general manager for Yahoo‘s advertising platform Yahoo DSP.
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Politico ☛ EU takes shot at Musk over Trump interview — and misses
It's Europe's latest quarrel with Musk, who last week clashed with British politicians who accused him of inciting real-world violence during far-right riots.
But this time, the EU's reputation as the world's digital regulator is at stake.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Turkey restores access to Instagram after Hamas row
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Turkey restores access to Instagram as platform 'was already complying with government demands'
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BIA Net ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] Instagram continues to censor Hamas-related posts despite agreement with Turkey
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-13 [Older] Meta Welcomes Turkey Lifting Access Ban on Instagram, Spokesperson Says
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] ICC Prosecutors Are Monitoring Venezuela, Where Security Forces Are Cracking Down on Dissent
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CPJ ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] CPJ urges transparency as India broadcast bill raises censorship fears
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HRW ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] India: Hate Speech Fueled Modi’s Election Campaign
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-08-11 [Older] States Across the South Are Introducing Laws Punishing Pro-Palestinian Speech
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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Deccan Chronicle ☛ DC Photojournalists Bag Prizes in State-level Competition
The photo exhibition will be inaugurated by I&PR minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Monday. The event will also see the presence of Telangana Media Academy chairman K. Srinivas Reddy and Telangana State Working Journalists' Association president K. Virahat Ali.
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VOA News ☛ Italian journalists return home after their report from Kursk angers Russia
Two Italian journalists who angered Moscow with a TV report from Ukrainian-held parts of Russia's Kursk region will return to Italy, state broadcaster RAI said Saturday.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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International Business Times ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Ex-Twitter Worker Wins $600k After Allegedly Getting Fired For Not Replying To Elon Musk's 2022 Email
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ A Seven-Headed Monster of the Taliban: The Situation of Women Over the Last Three Years
Afghan women, the Taliban’s return to power has not just marked a political shift, but has also plunged them into a nightmarish reality akin to being ruled by a seven-headed monster. Each of these heads symbolizes a distinct form of oppression, collectively suffocating their hopes and dreams. In just three years, the Taliban issued over 50 restrictive decrees targeting women’s basic rights, turning their lives into a relentless hell. The Taliban has blocked girls from attending school, workplaces became a forbidden territories for women, and turned university education into a distant regret for many Afghan girls. Even the simplest joys, like visiting a park, have has been criminalized for women. Moreover, the imposition of an extreme dress code further imprisons them within their clothes. But the horror doesn’t end there. Women and girls have been detained under false pretenses, their bodies subjected to unimaginable torture. Young women without husbands have been forced into sexual slavery, masked as marriage. The Taliban has even forbidden women from traveling without a male guardian, reducing their lives to mere survival—eating, drinking, and breathing, but not truly living.
This article exposes the heartbreaking experiences of Afghan women over the last three years under Taliban rule, shining a light on their relentless fight against a regime determined to crush their spirit. Their struggle is not just for survival, but for the right to exist as human beings.
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Logikal Solutions ☛ Why IT Consultants Won't Work in Chicago
Want the real irony?
The professional black people I know, some of whom are good friends, all say the same thing. Back when it was widely known Chicago cops could beat a confession out of anyone, they felt safe in the Loop. We are talking CNAs, nurses, doctors, IT workers, basically, things you had to go to college for all say the same thing. If you didn’t start shit you had nothing to fear.
Even the cheaper places tolerated no shit. Didn’t matter who you were or what you looked like. If you started something they called the cops. If you got indignant with the cops there, you took a beating. What some call violence others call education. Those who learned from this educational process never did that again.
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NL Times ☛ The imbalance between rich and poor has increased in the Netherlands
The CPB reported in the estimate that a smaller share of the Netherlands' earnings last year ended up with employees and self-employed people. In other words, less money for labor and more for capital, according to FNV. "That means there is enough financial room for higher wages," Boufangacha adds.
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NPR ☛ 2 Soldotna troopers charged with assault over May arrest in Kenai
Law enforcement didn’t ask the person for their name, the charges say, and didn’t learn until much later that the person was not the man they were looking for, but instead his cousin, Ben Tikka.
The incident was recorded on Miller’s camera and the Kenai officer’s camera. Cockrell said Thursday that Woodruff’s camera was not activated during the incident because it had run out of battery power.
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CBS ☛ 2 Alaska State Troopers charged with violently assaulting the wrong man in case of mistaken identity
Two Alaska State Troopers who pepper-sprayed, beat, stunned and used a police dog on a man in a case of mistaken identity have been charged with assault, authorities said Thursday.
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NBC ☛ 2 Alaska troopers charged in brutal arrest of wrong man hit with stun gun, bitten by police dog
Two Alaska State troopers have been criminally charged after they brutally assaulted and unleashed a police dog that repeatedly bit a man they mistook as a person who was the subject of an active warrant.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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The Register UK ☛ AT&T and Verizon ask FCC to block Starlink cell plans
Starlink's rivals in the satellite phone service race are asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reject its request for a waiver relating to out-of-band emission limits on signals, claiming this would cause interference with terrestrial cell networks.
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IETF ☛ Secure Shell Maintenance
At the time of writing this charter, it has been more than 17 years since the previous Secure Shell WG has been closed and its documents published. In the intervening years, current day implementations and RFCs have diverged, although the (now closed) curdle WG and various AD-sponsored RFCs have updated some of the SSH documentation, but in a somewhat sporadic manner as there was no WG chartered to generally maintain the SSH protocol documentation.
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Don Marti ☛ 2024-08-11 [Older] Don Marti: how to break up Google
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CBC ☛ 2024-08-16 [Older] Apple looks for more money by changing the math on Patreon
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FSFE ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Apple vs EU Commission: the FSFE intervenes to safeguard Free Software [Ed: Google front group intervenes]
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Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ How Google's search dominance threatens publishers in the AI era
Google’s dominance in search — which a US court ruled last week is an illegal monopoly — is giving it a decisive advantage in the brewing AI wars, which search start-ups and publishers say is unfair as the industry takes shape. The dilemma is particularly acute for publishers, which face a choice between offering up their content for use by AI models that could make their sites obsolete and disappearing from Google search, a top source of traffic.
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CoryDoctorow ☛ Pluralistic: “Disenshittify or Die”
But Google Search used to work. Facebook used to show you posts from people you followed. Uber used to be cheaper than a taxi and pay the driver more than a cabbie made. Amazon used to sell products, not Shein-grade self-destructing dropshipped garbage from all-consonant brands. Apple used to defend your privacy, rather than spying on you with your no-modifications-allowed Iphone.
There was a time when you searching for an album on Spotify would get you that album – not a playlist of insipid AI-generated covers with the same name and art.
Microsoft used to sell you software – sure, it was buggy – but now they just let you access apps in the cloud, so they can watch how you use those apps and strip the features you use the most out of the basic tier and turn them into an upcharge.
What – and I cannot stress this enough – the fuck happened?!
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Patents
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TruthOut ☛ 2024-08-15 [Older] Big Pharma Exploited Patent Laws to Keep Medicare Drug Prices High, Report Finds
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Kangaroo Courts
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] [GuestPost] UPC Hague Local Division says that mushrooms are not plants in granting preliminary injunction [Ed: UPC is illegal and unconstitutional, but the EU is going along with instead of detaining those who conspired to go ahead]
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Software Patents
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-08-14 [Older] OpenAI's large language model (LLM) patents
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2024-08-13 [Older] 91%: That is the Rate at Which the PTAB Affirms Examiner Section 101 Rejections
Over the last two years, we have studied the examiner affirmance rates of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for § 101 rejections. The PTAB is the administrative court of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that handles applicant appeals of examiner rejections, as well as inter partes reviews (IPRs) and post-grant reviews (PGRs). Our analyses of 2021 and 2022 data were less than good news for applicants, with the PTAB affirming examiner § 101 rejections 87.1% and 88.4% of the time, respectively.
Given that the PTAB's overall affirmance rate is about 58%,[1] the extreme difficulty of winning a § 101 dispute at the PTAB is shocking. While some might contend that this is a natural process through which the PTAB weeds out weak inventions, it is actually because § 101 jurisprudence has evolved into a hot mess. The Supreme Court's decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l set forth a notoriously vague test, the Federal Circuit followed this with conflicting case law, and the PTAB does not even follow the USPTO's own 101 examination guidance. This has opened the door to arbitrary and conclusory reasoning often winning the day.
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Copyrights
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-08-12 [Older] Is the Community design the little sister of copyright?
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Torrent Freak ☛ Radiohead 'Leaked' Their Own Track in 2009, Now We're Accused of Pirating It
Almost two years after Radiohead released 'In Rainbows' as a pay-what-you-like album, the track 'These Are My Twisted Words' leaked on private torrent site What.cd. Many believed that the band itself was responsible, something we highlighted in our August 2009 article. Coinciding almost perfectly with the leak's 15-year anniversary, a complaint filed with Google now claims that the report violates copyright law and must be permanently deindexed from search results.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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