Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Taking A Spirograph Mill For A Spin

  Spirographs can make some pretty groovy designs on paper, but what if you want to take it a step further? [Uri Tuchman] has used the pantograph on his milling machine to duplicate the effect in harder materials.

• Hackaday ☛ Make Your Own Point Contact Transistor

  Beyond the power variant, it sometimes seems as though we rarely encounter a discrete transistor these days, such has been the advance of integrated electronics. But they have a rich history, going back through the silicon era to germanium junction transistors, and thence to the original devices. if you’ve ever looked at the symbol for a transistor and wondered what it represents, it’s a picture of those earliest transistors, which were point contact devices. A piece of germanium as the base had two metal electrodes touching it as the emitter or collector, and as [Marcin Marciniak] shows us, you can make one yourself (Polish language, Google Translate link).

• Hackaday ☛ Your Name In Landsat

  We’re guessing most readers can cite things from their youth which gave them an interest in technology, and spurred on something which became a career or had a profound impact on their life. Public engagement activities for technology or science have a crucial role in bringing forth the next generations of curious people into those fields, and along the way they can provide some fun for grown-ups too.

• Hackaday ☛ CCFL Scanner Bulb Makes A Cool Desk Lamp

  The bulbs inside scanners (before transitioning to LED, anyway) were cold cathode fluorescent tubes that emit a fairly wide bandwidth of light. They were purpose-built to produce a very specific type and shape of light, but [Julius Curt] has taken this in a new, upcycled direction. Instead of just producing light, the light itself is also part of the aesthetic. A very cool 3D printed case houses the bulb and power supply and smartly hides the connecting wires to achieve a very clean look.

• BSD

  • [Old] BSDly ☛ That grumpy BSD guy: You've Installed It. Now What? Packages!

    Once you've installed your OpenBSD system, packages are there to make your life easier. A works for me/life is good guide for your weekend reading.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Incredible Placebo Study Shows Fake Pills Can Reduce Stress

    Even when people know they're placebos.

  • Science Alert ☛ Tall People Are More Likely to Get Cancer, And This Could Be Why

    There are a couple of strong theories.

  • Science Alert ☛ New Blood Test Detects Deadly Brain Cancers in Just One Hour

    Hope for early diagnosis.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Stunning Image Is The Highest Resolution We've Ever Seen Atoms

    Stop and take a look at this.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mummified Brains Found in Crypt Show Surprising Traces of Cocaine

    How far back does this drug go?

  • Science Alert ☛ Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming May Have a Simple Explanation

    What if there's more than one?

• Education

  • JURIST ☛ US book publishers sue Florida Department of Education over library restrictions

    Six major book publishers Friday sued the Florida Department of Education, challenging a 2023 state law used to restrict books in school libraries. The six book publishers filed the lawsuit along with the Authors Guild, several prominent authors, two students and two parents.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Universal Power Bank Customized To Your Liking

    One of the most troubling trends of almost every modern consumer product that uses electricity is that the software that controls the product is likely to be proprietary and closed-source, which could be doing (or not doing) any number of things that its owner has no control over. Whether it’s a computer, kitchen appliance, or even a device that handles the electricity directly, it’s fairly rare to find something with software that’s open and customizable. That’s why [Traditional-Code9728] is working on a power bank with an open-source firmware.

  • Hackaday ☛ The Trashiest Of Mains Inverters

    Switch-mode technology has made inverters which take a low DC voltage and turn it into a usable mains voltage within the reach of everybody. But still, there might be moments when a mains supply is needed and you’re not lucky enough to have AliExpress at your fingertips, and for that, here’s [Rulof] with a mains inverter that is simultaneously awful and awesome. He’s made a rotary converter, from trash and off the shelf parts.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake CPUs are unaffected by crashing issues — Vmin Shift Instability issue only impacts 13th and 14th Gen CPUs

    Intel releases an official update on its 13th and 14th Generation Core CPU instability issues and claims that future Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake CPUs are unaffected.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ My best friend is 30 years my senior. Here’s what she’s taught me about life

    Some people have long, healthy friendships with best friends 30 years older than them.

  • JURIST ☛ Poland expands abortion access with new medical guidelines

    Poland’s government introduced new guidelines on Friday concerning legal abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar indicated that there were many challenges in securing a parliamentary majority to legalize abortion up to the 12th week.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ Trump’s latest waffling on reproductive health shows he’s still struggling to find an answer for what he created

    Donald Trump said Friday that he will not support a ballot referendum to expand abortion access in his home state of Florida just 24 hours after suggesting he might.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli strikes kill almost 50 in Gaza as WHO rolls out polio vaccine campaign

    The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday began its campaign to vaccinate around 640,000 children in Gaza against polio amid renewed Israeli strikes that killed at least 48 people in the enclave. Israel on Thursday had agreed to daily eight-hour pauses in its military operations in specific areas of Gaza to allow the vaccinations to proceed.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ How penny-pinching youth transformed China’s bubble tea craze

    Sweet, milky and colourful — bubble tea is wildly popular in China, where people sipping through straws from large plastic cups is a common sight in high streets and shopping malls across the country.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • JURIST ☛ California lawmakers approve legislation that lays groundwork for Hey Hi (AI) regulation

    The California State Assembly approved a bill on Wednesday that lays the foundation for regulating artificial intelligence (AI) in the state, including requiring developers to meet certain conditions before beginning Hey Hi (AI) model training.

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFERL ☛ Iranian Police Commander Fired After Death In Custody

    Iran’s police force has fired the police commander in the city of Lahijan shortly after the death in custody of Mohammad Mirmusavi.

  • RFA ☛ China, Philippines trade blame over “ramming” at disputed shoal

    The Philippines says the incident is the fifth time China has harassed its vessels in the area in August.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Pacific leaders’ declaration scrubs Taiwan after China complaint

    A joint declaration by Pacific leaders was reissued Saturday morning with mentions of Taiwan removed after China slammed an earlier version as a “mistake” that “must be corrected”.

  • New York Times ☛ As Israel Keeps Fighting in West Bank, Residents in One Battle Zone Reel From the Damage

    In the Nur Shams area near Tulkarm, Israeli bulldozers have chewed up large chunks of the roads, and many homes have been left without running water and internet. One family mourned the death of a relative they said was killed in the raid.

  • France24 ☛ More than a dozen IS group operatives killed in joint US-Iraqi raid

    Fifteen members of the Islamic State (IS) group were killed and seven US troops wounded during a joint US-Iraqi raid in western Iraq, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday. The operation comes after months of talks between Baghdad and Washington over the presence of anti-jihadist coalition forces in Iraq, which have been targeted with drones and rocket fire as the Israel-Hamas war draws in Iran-backed armed groups across the Middle East.

  • France24 ☛ Afghan women are erased by the Taliban as the international community looks on

    The oppression of Afghan women continues unabated before the eyes of the world. The Taliban imposed severe new restrictions earlier this month, with women not only obliged to cover their faces but now forbidden from raising their voices, singing or reading aloud in public. Western countries – led by the US and EU – have condemned the new laws but also seem resigned to the Taliban regime, which offers some stability in the region.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • RFERL ☛ Armenian Nuclear Plant Reconnected To Grid After Lightning Strike Shuts Down Facility

      The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) was reconnected to the grid on August 31 after being shut down a day earlier following a lightning strike, authorities said.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Gov. Tim Walz to attend Minnesota State Fair on Sunday during a break in campaign stops

    He mentioned his plans to attend the Great Minnesota Get-Together at the end of a campaign speech Friday night in Virginia.

  • France24 ☛ Kamala Harris says Trump 'disrespected sacred ground' at Arlington National Cemetary

    The Democratic candidate for the US presidential election in November, Kamala Harris, lashed out at her rival Donald Trump on Saturday, saying that his visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday was a "political stunt" that disrespected military veterans. Members of Trump's team were seen filming in a burial section for those killed in recent wars, where photography is banned, and pushed a cemetery employee who asked them to stop filming.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • France24 ☛ Brazil blocks social control media platform X after Supreme Court ruling on disinformation

      A block on the social control media platform X in Brazil came into effect early Saturday after the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered its suspension following a months-long standoff with Elon Musk over disinformation. X shut down its business operations in Brazil earlier this month rather than obey an order from the judge to block dozens of accounts being investigated over fake news or hate speech, an order Musk denounced as censorship.

    • New York Times ☛ Why Brazil Banned X

      To combat disinformation, Brazil gave one judge broad power to police the internet. Now, after he blocked X, some are wondering whether that was a good idea.

    • JURIST ☛ Brazil Supreme Court suspends Elon Musk’s X amid legal standoff

      The Brazilian Supreme Court on Friday suspended the operations of X (formerly Twitter). This move came after the platform failed to comply with Brazil’s legal requirement to appoint a local representative.

    • JURIST ☛ Tanzania internet providers block X access amid political unrest

      Major Tanzanian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have restricted access to the social control media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) amidst escalating political tensions according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks on Friday. This shutdown takes place as authorities issue warnings about potential opposition party actions aimed at freeing political prisoners from police custody.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFERL ☛ Kazakh Activists Say Facebook (Farcebook) Accounts Blocked For Opposing Recycling Fees

    Members of a Facebook (Farcebook) group that opposes expensive recycling fees imposed by the Kazakh government, especially those on cars and other vehicles, have had their accounts on the platform either removed or restricted, the group said, attributing the moves to government pressure.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong arrests two for sedition under national security law

    The two were accused of spreading hatred against Chinese and local authorities.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 50

    In August, 50 months since Beijing imposed a security law on Hong Kong, two former editors of shuttered online media Stand News became the first journalists found guilty of sedition in the city since it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Off Guardian ☛ Self Reliance

    I was first introduced to the brilliance of Ralph Waldo Emerson when studying the principles of Science of Mind over 20 years ago. His essay “Self Reliance” written in 1841 is probably his most popular treatise. I picked it up to read again, probably for the fourth time, a few weeks ago.

  • JURIST ☛ Bangladesh interim government signs convention on enforced disappearances

    Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus led Bangladesh’s interim government in signing the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on Thursday.  Yunus, who holds the position of Chief Advisor of the Government of Bangladesh, shared the Instrument of Accession for the Convention on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

  • JURIST ☛ Bangladesh interim government signs convention on enforced disappearances

    Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus led Bangladesh’s interim government in signing the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on Thursday.  Yunus, who holds the position of Chief Advisor of the Government of Bangladesh, shared the Instrument of Accession for the Convention on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ 2 arrested for alleged ‘seditious intentions’ under new security law, reportedly over fake suicide note

    Hong Kong police have arrested two people under the new national security law over alleged “seditious intentions.” According to local media, police apprehended a 41-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman on Friday. Officers reportedly searched their residences and confiscated their electronic devices.

Monopolies/Monopsonies